A/N: First of all, I want to apologize for that extraordinary wait, and give you a bit of an explanation: first it was writers block, then it was a trip that had to be planned, then it was the reason for the trip (Life Improvement), then there was the fact that my computer's keyboard/case/thing was completely shot. At first it was just impossible to use D, E or S, but then the entire thing failed. Anyway, it was in the shop for three weeks and I hadn't written anything yet.
That said, I've had the plot of this chapter planned for a long time, as it sets up someone's past something fierce and forms the basis of the entirety of Book 3 in this series. (This is Book One, and there will be a total of Five) So it's been bubbling around in my brain for months, refining itself and defining itself and redefining itself. It's become something incredible, I think, so hopefully the wait will turn out to be justified.
Oh, and despite the ending of this chapter, it's not the ending of the first book. It's more the end of the first volume.
Mind and Body Chapter 14: A Bird of Omen
Robin and his current group could only stare at the oddest collection of beings that their highly odd lifestyles had brought them in contact with. Not only was there a "common" cat that happened to be the only impossible color, a man who looked like he could be George Burns' grandfather yet was clearly as fit as the Dark Knight, and finally, the only one that might have been considered vaguely human was not only covered head to toe with what looked like a vast blue blanket but also had completely imploded their first serious enemy with a single hand gesture.
The crumpled form of Cyborg lay silently to the side.
"Glad to see we made an impression," Raven said with heavy irony, "but what do you say we find somewhere to recover?"
No one reacted. Raven quirked an eyebrow and Beast Boy grumbled. Turning into a tiger, he approached Robin. Robin started to exhibit signs of unconsciousness at that. Beast Boy shoved a heavy, green-furred head into his face and rumbled, "Pull it together, dude, we need a base of operations."
Somehow, the modern slang helped Robin regain himself. He glanced quickly at Cyborg, hoping to have the big man's help in this, the most confusing situation he had ever been in. Including that crazy mind gas of Dr. Strange's. Once again, the newcomers tripped him up when both the blue cloak and green cat swiveled their heads in the direction he had glanced.
"So that's why I didn't detect him," he thought he heard the blue cloak mutter, "he's unconscious."
"Well," the green cat said in reply, "you can't really wake him up here—a tender, newly re-awakened mind in this chaotic situation? He would be truly FUBAR."
Robin shook his head as the rest of his team struggled out of the deep waters; he really wanted to know why the animal was using such modern, pre-teen words. "Ah, could you by any chance tell us who you are?" He asked.
"I'm Beast Boy," the green cat said promptly.
Blue cloak was slightly slow to reply, but she did, "I go by Raven," she said.
The grandfather grinned and said, "I used to go by Firestarter. For a while I was the Flame of the Isles and now I'm simply an old man who talks to fire."
Hotspot couldn't help but be interested, "You have the same ability I do?" he asked.
"What do you do?" Cael asked curiously, and grinned when Hotspot changed. "My control isn't that complete," he said over the crackle of Hotspot's red-hot skin, "but yes, we're both pyrokinetics." He glanced at the group and said, "why don't we do as Beast Boy suggested and find a safe place to continue our conversation? They came to investigate your offer." He unfolded one of the many copies of their poster.
Robin shook his head again, nodded, and started to lead the way to the building he was currently living in. The others fell in behind, except for the fact that Beast Boy (in the form of a hawk) Cael, Raven, Starfire and Argent were flying, being shown the way by a grinning Bumblebee, and Raven was carrying Cyborg with her telekinesis. Only he and Hotspot were still on the ground, until Hotspot tried to emulate Cael's foot-flame and found it extremely easy.
Starfire glanced down and noticed that Robin was trying to keep up, so she swooped down, grabbed his jacket and hoisted him into the air while ignoring his protests.
Oracle was tapping her finger on the remote chair's left armrest, impatiently waiting for Robin to return so that she could get out of the chair. Even the communication had cut out a little while ago, but she had the feeling everyone was all right.
She heard the door open and called out, "Can someone please help me out of this thing?" Surprisingly, she received her help without anyone else coming into the room. She looked around in surprise, but all she could sense was a vague, comforting energy surrounding her, warm and slightly black when visible.
She watched herself hover out of the room, to see the now-larger group coming in the front door. Of course, she did recognize all of the ones she'd met before, but she hadn't planned on seeing an old man, or a young girl with a green cat raising her hand as if to guide something down the stairs….
When she glided down the stairs herself, Oracle realized this girl was the telekinetic, but also that she was a whole lot more. She gripped her knees with her hands and shifted them to the correct placement as she was lowered into the chair. She stared at the girl with incredible intensity, but was taken aback when violet eyes stared right back with as much or more of the unknown emotion.
Rachel had been slightly off-center since entering the building, sensing something incredible.
There was only one mind in this big building, but it was so expansive, so intelligent, experienced and cheerful that she had to resist the urge to kneel. It was just so clean, without any confusion or unpredictable thoughts besides the impatience to get to the next task, that she knew in her heart this was someone who had truly raised themselves above all their troubles.
So she wasn't surprised in the slightest when a vibrant voice called from an upper room, and she naturally brought the woman out as she had asked long before Robin or any of the others could decide to do it themselves.
There was a silent understanding between the two of them the instant their eyes met. It went beyond reading minds, and went into the realm of the spirit. They simply knew that this person was beyond everyone else they had ever known.
The reaction was so great, that the vast majority of its' effects went unnoticed…even by the ones involved. It simply shook them to their core.
"Er," Robin said, breaking the moment, "Cyborg's kinda…damaged here, so could we have a staring contest later?" They both started, and Raven rolled her eyes at Robin's unknowing interruption of the connection. Oracle couldn't help but chuckle. But her face became serious again when she noticed that Raven was also keeping the metal man floating prone behind her.
"Well, get out of her way," Oracle said quietly, "it's all well and good to alert me to any injuries you acquired, but not when that interferes with the healing of the injuries."
Robin flushed and moved aside. The rest of them filed in, avoiding the two young women as if they were untouchable, and Raven fully drew Cyborg inside.
"There's a table in the kitchen to the left," Oracle said automatically, and Raven nodded her thanks before sending Cyborg in there and setting him on the table.
"What do you see when you look at me?" Oracle asked her, and Raven replied,
"I see the healthiest person I have ever encountered."
"The healthiest?" Robin asked bitterly, "why do you say that?"
"She has a mind that is untouched by aberration," Raven said quietly, "the fact that her legs do not move is minor in comparison."
Robin stared at her as if it was all totally beyond him…which it was.
Raven turned to the others, "If you have an injury that won't heal on its' own, come with me." Only Robin fell in behind her when she entered the kitchen, but Beast Boy was still nestled in her second hood.
The kitchen was warm and comfortable, the dark, wooden cupboards and tile surfaces that had been scrubbed to perfection. Knives lined the niche behind the sink, and other utensils all resided in their proper places. The level of cleanliness was perfect for any medical procedure, Robin noted with satisfaction, but he was in for another surprise.
Raven ignored everything around her and turned to him, her right hand now glowing silver, and laid it on his right arm. The scratches and bruises faded instantly, and the gash on his left oblique muscles sealed itself, stopping the bleeding. Even his two broken ribs shifted back into position in his chest, making him want to hurl, but the internal bleeding that would have resulted vanished without a trace.
A minute into the procedure, and the only trace of battle damage was a tender chest. He gaped in amazement as Raven turned to Cyborg, allowing Robin to fall into slight exhaustion that he hadn't felt before. Beast Boy grinned unreservedly at the expression of shell shock adorning Robin's now-rosy face.
"You know, we did support ourselves as healers for 10 years," Beast Boy said in amusement as Robin sat down, "we were able to work miracles."
"Why investigate my team then," Robin asked, his bewilderment removing the last traces of superiority from his voice, "if you could directly save so many lives?"
"Because," Beast Boy said seriously as Raven began telekinetically straightening out Cyborg's dented head, "we only work well when together, and my power isn't exactly suited for the gentle stuff." Robin nodded, as it made sense.
"That's ignoring the fact that most of my powers are violent, too," Raven murmured, "the healing is the only power I know cannot harm people."
Robin wandered out blindly, leaving her to focus on her healing.
"Whoa," Hotspot said at his new condition, "Whatever she did, it worked fast." Oracle's eyes widened and she started to grin unreservedly before saying, "Maybe we've found our last two members after all."
"Well," Robin said reluctantly, the overwhelmed reaction starting to fade, "accepting Raven means accepting the cat…unless, of course, you're saying we need a mascot, in which case I see no problem."
Oracle glared at him, "No, I do NOT mean accepting HIM as a mascot, Beast Boy would be just as much a member of your team as Raven."
Robin growled back, "I am not treating a lower mammal with the same respect I treat people or others with powers."
Cael's face became red with outrage, his eyes seemingly glowing a brighter blue than before, and he took a couple slow breaths before replying, "Then I suggest you treat him as you would someone with power, as his is one of the most versatile and useful in existence."
"So he can turn into other animals," Robin said, thrusting his jaw forward, "but can he change into anything else? Like a human for instance?"
Cael fell silent at that, but his eyes were almost incandescent.
Robin snorted, "Thought not, that means that even if he can speak English, he's never on our level—huurk." Before he could finish the sentence, Cael's hand was clasped around his throat, threatening to tighten. His face was mere centimeters from Robin's, white and red hair bristling, blue eyes shining like lanterns and missing the pupils, and skin heating up enough to blister Robin's face.
"That…animal," Cael said with loathing, "is more human than you are. He experiences joy, sadness, fear and safety. He knows how cruel the world can be, and has a photographic memory.
"He has already been able to work past the pain of a human form enough to speak English. He is still incapable of taking the full form without collapsing from it, but he's always getting closer.
"His dedication, loyalty, skills and sensitivity are all far above yours, and have been for a much longer time, little bird, so NEVER belittle someone that you have never known before, because you never know if they are better than you."
Robin was utterly silent except for a little whimper at the temperature, and everyone else was unable to say anything as his or her jaws were congregating on the floor. Even Oracle was shaking, but even though it was mostly fear for Robin's life and fear of this terrible old man, there was a little more….
She was trembling from the injustice that Robin had delivered to Beast Boy behind his back, but finally there was something else about the enraged grandfather that brought back…memories.
Long ago…so long ago that she shouldn't really have an image of it, her father had brought her to the hospital when Bruce had lost his parents. A dark hallway stretched out in front of them as Commissioner Gordon shifted his daughter on his shoulders. It wasn't something planned, but without her mother or a nanny she had to stay with her one parent no matter what, and perhaps her presence would cheer up the young Wayne anyway.
At the end of the hallway, there was a marble bench at which a young boy sat, being comforted by his family butler. Some feet back were another couple of middle-aged men, one in a wheelchair with black hair, the other standing behind him with a small, red moustache and crop of thick hair. They were watching the small scene with understanding.
The one that was standing radiated an anger that couldn't be ignored, a deep-seated rage that flickered beneath the surface like the unquenchable fire on Mount Olympus. But that rage wasn't directed at any of the people in the room. Rather, it was anger for the small figure sobbing into Pennyworth's shoulder, an anger that was directed at the no-name criminals that had the gall to kill such an important and kind family as the Waynes. A righteous anger that burned bright in the hearts and minds of all the grown men in the room, but that in him seemed on the verge of appearing unhindered by mortal flesh.
Oracle snapped back into the present in shock. That memory was one she had almost never recalled, but she knew immediately that it was real.
"I know you," she whispered, and Cael suddenly froze, the temperature of his skin immediately returning to normal, and he dropped Robin.
"Do you?" he asked Oracle quietly as he turned away from Robin with the air of someone about to flush the toilet and like it, "do you know my past? It is a story of far more years than you can imagine."
"I may not know everything about you," she said with a level tone, "but I have, in fact, met you before. And so has Batman."
Cael looked at her again, his face clearing somewhat, "Ah, so you're that girl, odd, I didn't expect you to become a big name in the superhero business."
Oracle frowned, "well I was 6 months old, how could you know?"
"There's that," Cael said quietly, "so how much do you know about me?" Bumblebee raised a hand, as if she was back in school, "Should the rest of us go elsewhere?" she asked, "and we can give you privacy, if you want."
Cael nodded, "That would be best, child," he said.
"Come on guys," she said to the others as she headed for the kitchen, "lets watch Raven do her thing."
A couple minutes later, Oracle had not learned much more: only that Cael had indeed been present at the funeral for Bruce's parents, as had his unknown friend, and that they had already had a great deal of superhero experience at the time. It was interesting to note that the fact made Cael something on the order of the world's first active superhero, and therefore shouldn't have been in the presence of kids Robin's age.
"I encountered them in Chicago," Cael said quietly, "I was attracted by the scent of two extremely powerful abilities. I'll be honest, Oracle, as much as I can be, but I can't say much. Their powers, even if they haven't fully manifested yet, are of the same level as Superman's.
"My friend and I worked out a system for identifying the strength of abilities we find—a younger man has even adopted it in his search for those of his kind—but Superman's would be what we call an Omega, or Class 5. And both Raven's and Beast Boy's powers are on that level."
He stared grimly at Oracle, who said, "I believe I know what you're trying to say. If they become part of the team-,"
"They will," Cael said, "but that's besides the point."
"I suppose so," Oracle said, taking the interruption in stride, "with them on the team, we have to make especially sure that the group has the role of a family, as betrayal and pure analytical orders can push them off the edge even faster than other superheroes. It will be a slightly double-edged sword until true bonds are forged between them and their teammates. So I'll probably need to stay a little longer than planned in order to make sure it happens."
Cael smiled, "Thank you for understanding: I should go and find a home for myself," he stood and headed for the door, looking over his shoulder as he said, "perhaps I'll tell you, and them, my full past sometime. It would be interesting to learn how much I've influenced future generations after this long." And he vanished out the door, seeming for the entire world to be just some old man, occasionally goofy, occasionally mean, but always old.
Oracle sighed and stared into nothing for a while until the entire group came back in like schoolchildren, teasing Robin for having to get healed again so soon after the first time, admiring the purple hair that was revealed by Raven's hood being lowered, and laughing in joy at being awake.
Cyborg was standing tall and proud in the middle of the group, looking none the worse for the wear for his systems failure. Raven was flushed with success, having revived someone that was part machine for the first time.
"I have to thank you, Raven," Cyborg said with a smile, "it wouldn't have done for the metal man to be taken down before anyone else."
Raven nodded in surprise, "You're welcome, Cyborg, but you don't seem uncomfortable around me…."
Cyborg gently poked her shoulder, "Look, I can guess some of what you went through, simply from having no one that cared for you for years, but that's not what it's like now. People just like you surround you. They like gossip, they love pizza, and they have incredible abilities that ordinary people can't understand. These are people that will get to know you—unlike anyone else you've probably ever encountered. That's got to be important."
Raven stared up at him, "I think you've healed me as much as I healed you," she said in wonder, "strange, I had thought Beast Boy was all I'd ever need: friend, protector, sanity, he's been all of that and more for 10 years. Did you know we're the same age?"
"No," Cyborg shook his head, "I didn't: he looks a lot younger than 16. That's almost the end of a cat's lifespan."
"Not his," Raven said with a slight shudder, as if she could never contemplate such a terrifying idea, "he wouldn't leave after just this long."
Cyborg twitched a shoulder, "They've been known to live 25 years, I guess…."
"No," Raven said abruptly, "You see, Beast Boy's not just a cat. He's a shape-shifter."
"Really?" Cyborg said in interest, "that might be fun to see some time."
"And a couple rounds of Space Monkeys would be even better," Beast Boy said at that, startling Cyborg, who hadn't been awake for their first encounter.
"Your cat plays my favorite video games?" he grinned, "We are SO having a marathon when there's time."
"You're on," Beast Boy said with a bold look, causing Raven to blush as she tried to hold in a laugh.
It was incredible. For once, no one feared her for her hair color. In fact, she looked as ordinary as the rest, with their crazy getups. Argent had even managed to become paler than her somehow.
Raven looked up, with Beast Boy's face pressed against her cheek and stars in her eyes at finding a family, to find that Cael was gone. "Where is he?" she asked Oracle urgently.
"He's finding himself his own home," Oracle said equably, "he'll be back. I don't think he'd ever leave you."
Raven sighed with satisfaction, smiled at Bumblebee, Starfire and Argent, and rubbed her own cheek against Beast Boy. It seemed that her journey was over.
Or at least, she had found the strength to keep walking forward.
With friends and family.
END OF VOLUMNE 1
On the outskirts of the city, a small shadow stared across the borders. It was a deep, inky blackness where he was, but the city lights glittered in the distance, looking almost like a fleet of ships sailing through the darkness. Above his head, the stars cast their own light in the millions, shining down in approval. He liked the light: it was like a friend. Like those friends, inside the city; the lights of life interacting in an endless dance. Or at least, that was what his teacher said. That was why they had to keep them happy, because the light faded with sadness. And the light was precious.
"I wonder what it would be like to be one of them?" the boy asked himself, flashing a brilliant grin, "Naw, I like how I am."
And he vanished.
So guys, please please PLEASE tell me what you think. I think I've finally reached the first plateau of my ability with this chapter, and I'll be striving for the next one from now on. Also, despite all the troubles with the computer, I have many other fics that you might be interested in.
There are some other Teen Titans ideas I have, such as Beast Boy in B Flat, where his own emotions become hardwired into the pattern Raven has, The Vo'Tusamol Race, with green aliens up the wazoo, and Small Town, Big Trouble, where our heroes prove that powers aren't what makes the man.
Another fanfic is Batman: Reanimated, AKA A Legacy in Black Leather, a remix of Batman to accompany the remix of Teen Titans to show you Oracle's journey from a spoiled rich kid to the intense and wonderfully funny cyberheroine we know and love.
I also have a host of Naruto fanfics in the works—universally NaruHina of course—including Tsuin, where Naruto actually has a twin sister named Naruko (dur); Swift as a Snake, Fierce as a Fox, where only Anko recognized his potential, N, where Neji finds himself teaching Naruto, and A Loving Family, where the sandaime took Minato's place in order to seal the Kyuubi.
Other stories I have fanfiction for include Smallville, +Anima, Bleach, Megaman NT Warrior, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Black Cat, Digimon, Danny Phantom, Eureka 7, Flame of Recca, Gargoyles, Transformers Animated, How to Train Your Dragon, Hunter X Hunter, Iron Man, Jackie Chan Adventures, Godzilla (with Matthew Broderick), Legion of Superheroes, Meet the Robinsons, Megamind, Rurouni Kenshin, X-Men, X'amd Lost Memories, Pumpkin Scissors, Lelouch of the Rebellion, Xiaolin Showdown, the Warriors novels, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Pokemon Special, Yakitate! Japan, Princess Mononoke, Static Shock, The Mentalist and The Secret Saturdays.
I can name the specific fanfictions at your request.
In case you were wondering, I DO have a life outside of fanfiction. Mostly original fiction. And attempts at a zoo-keeping college. And a concerted effort to get into the acting arena.
I'm just a madly creative and enthusiastic typist.