All was silent. Each of the titans made the motion to start talking more than once, but no words came out. Eventually, Raven found her voice. "If... If that was Robin... what... how... uh...?"
"Did he become sane again?" she nodded.
"I heard some doctor helped him. It took over a year, but eventually he got back to normal. It all makes sense now, Robin being the kid that Joker... well, the year or two after Batman found the kid, there were lots of rumors about Batman and company. one was that Robin had... attempted to commit suicide. I guess he tried it before he was fully sane. There was another thing going around, that because of his suicide attempt, Robin had been replaced by some girl. I think she's the same one who became a replacement Batgirl for a couple weeks a year back. Spoiler, or somthing?"
"Aww man!" everyone turned to Cyborg. "I feel like such a jerk! He obviously didn't want us to know about this, but I had to go dig it up! And when he was on the phone... I heard him say, 'it almost got out once'. What if that thing, that insane part of him, can come out? And when did it almost come out?" Everyone thought about that, a little more scared, besides Raven.
"Cyborg, are you trying to scare them? Obviously, he meant whatever beastboy hides in his closet almost got out." Everyone laughed at her rare joke.
"Yea, I guess you're right Rae. He could've been talking about anything."
But I wasn't... Robin thought, as he listened just outside the door. At least they aren't questioning Raven's logic and planning what to do if I loose it...
"What about that time with Slade and that dust though, Raven? He didn't seem too sane then. What if it had come out? What would we do? We don't exactly have Batman's number."
"We would contact Nightwing. He is only two cities away in the Bludhaven, and less illusive thent the Batman, yes?"
Spoke too soon. I guess calling Dick wouldn't be so bad. If anyone, I could count on HIM to not tell Bruce... and it's not like he isn't hold a grudge agains Joker too... wonder if he still has marks from that bullet... at least he has a decent alibi, being the one non-corupt cop in Bludhaven...
Robin was about to go and join his friends, when he heard the front doors opening. The only one who would use the front door without blowing anything up would be...
"Lez? That you?"
"Yes. How have you been, Tim?"
"Good. It's great to see you! I haven't seen you in forever! How's it been in Gotham?"
"Busy. There always is someone who needs medical attention."
"That's Gotham."
"So, where are your friends?"
"They're upstairs."
"Could you introduce me to them?"
"In a few minutes. I wana make sure they're done... discussing."
"May I ask what?"
"They found out."
"About wha-oh."
"Cyborg was evesdropping while I was talking to Steff. Beastboy knew about the whole... incident and told them about it. Last time I listened in, they were talking about how to contact Dick if It ever gets out."
"Not Bruce?"
"Nah. Too much work to get him here."
"Well of course, he is on the other side of the country... but I'm guessing that's not the sense they were talking about?" she asked, an ammused tone coming to her voice.
"Eh, you know Bruce. Not really the sociable type. Here, I'll show you arround."
They walked around the tower, Robin pointing out different places, finaly reaching a long hall. "That's Cyborg's room, he doesn't exactly need sleep, but he charges the same time the others sleep. I think to seem more normal." They moved to the next room, which was accross the hall. "That's Beastboy's room. Be careful though, it looks like a tornado went through it... And then an earthquake, and that someone threw a party right after." Her eyes widened in shock, taking in the mess. "Yea."
Robin lead her to a door in the middle of the hall, next to Beastboy's room. "This is Starfire's room." he motioned inside the room, which was almost blindingly pink.
As Robin started walking to the next door, Leslie asked, "Tim, who's room is this?" she pointed to the door accross from Starfire's.
"Oh, thats... Terra's. She's... not around, anymore." she nodded in understanding. They moved to the far end of the tower, and Leslie noticed the area seemed almost... darker, than the rest of the hall. She put the thought to the back of her mind, as he reached the last two doors. She was about to open the door on the side where Bestboy and Starfire's rooms had been, when Robin stopped her.
"Don't. That's Raven's room. Trust me, she would kill us if we went into her room without her consent. And I don't doubt that she could." she turned, and he motioned to the other room. "And that's my room."
He started walking away, when Leslie asked, "May I see it?"
"Sure, but it's just a normal room." she frowned, thinking. Weren't kids usualy proud of their rooms? She peeked inside. Instead of finding the posters and knick-knacks all over his room like he had in Gotham, the room was as plain as a hotel room. The only sign of life was the cluttered desk. "We have guest rooms on the next floor, if you want to pick one, or-"
"It's ok, I already booked a hotel in town."
"Ok then. You wana meet my friends then?"
"Sure. Let's go." They walked to the main room in silence, and Robin pushed open the door. All the titans looked up, noticing the visitor. They all stood up to greet her.
"Hello, Dr. Tompkins! Please, where are you from, how did you get here, what is your favorite color, and do you wish to be my friend?" Lez jumped back, startled by the girls behavior.
"Um... Gotham City, I took a plane, blue, and of course I'll be friends with you. Starfire, I'm guessing?"
"Glorious! I shall fetch the pudding of friendship!"
"NO!" the other four titans shouted, remembering what all the other 'puddings' had tasted like. Not to mention that some of them moved...
"Um... maybe instead of making your... pudding, I could teach you how to make brownies later..." suggested Robin, trying desperately to detur the girls mind.
"Wonderful! Please, Robin, what are these 'brownies?'" as Robin explained what brownies were, Dr. Lez Tompkins kept talking with the other titans.
"I'm guessing she isn't much of a cook?" the three friends shivered, a chill going up their spine.
"Dude, she could be like, the worst cook on the planet! Well, this planet. We went to hers once, and the food looked like the stuff she made here. But like, some of it moved around! Nasty!"
"We've learned to teach her to cook earth food, instead of having Tamaranian dishes practically shoved down our throat."
Cyborg smirked. "Well, almost all of us. She always manages to convince Robin to try her food when he's not paying attention."
Beastboy started laughing hysterically, "Yea, it's a very affective wakeup call! Hahahaha! Dude, my favorite reaction was when that one thing made him turn blue for a day!" Lez just raised an eyebrow at this, deciding to question Robin about it later.
"So, how about you all tell me a little about yourselves." They looked between each other, deciding who should go first. Cyborg and Raven pushed BB forward. "Okay, and you're Beastboy then?" he nodded, getting slightly nervous. "Okay, is there anywhere we can talk privately?"
Beastboy was about to open his mouth, when Raven interupted. "No, Beastboy, she will NOT want to talk to you in your room. You can barely walk in there!" When Lez gave her a quizical look, she explained, "Empath. Though, I try to stay far away from his thoughts. But he is extremely predictable in the stupid things he says. Try the evidence or interrogation room." Lez nodded a quick thanks, and Beastboy lead his way towards the interrogation room.
He explained, "The evidence room is way creepy. The only ones who go anywhere near there are Robin and Raven." They walked into the room, and sat down on hard metal chairs. "I'll be right back." A minute or two later, Beastboy came back with two bean bag chairs. "It'll be more comfy." Each sat down, and Beastboy asked, "Okay, so like, what are you gonna ask about, Dr. Tompkins?"
"Please, call me Lez. Everyone does. And to answer your quesiton, for today I'm just going to ask a little about your past, to get a sense of where you're coming from."
"Um... how far into my past? Like, when I was with the Doom Patrol, or...?"
"Could you start back before then? With your childhood. What was it like?"
"Um... I don't know..."
"If you don't trust me, it's ok. You just met me. But I assure you, everything will be kept confidential, accept for my mental evaluation." She leaned in closer, "And If you're worried about revealing peoples identities, I won't tell a soul. I've kept Batman, Batgirl, Robin and Nightwing's identities a secret, no matter who had been under the mask."
"Dude, you know who Batman is? Sweet! How?" She laughed.
"I've been the batclan's family doctor since Batman started out on his own."
"Sweet! Wait... does that mean you're the doctor?"
"I'm not sure I know what you mean..."
"Like, the one who... like, fixed Robin's... mind?" She sighed.
"That usually would be kept confidential, and it's not something I go bragging about, but yes. I helped him regain his sanity. Now, could you please start sharing about your past?"
"Okay, well, you seem trustworthy. My real name is Garfield Mark Logan. My parents were genetic scientists, and we'd travel a lot. We lived in Africa for a few years... that's when everything changed. See, we moved all over when we were there, and we always lived just like the others who lived there, instead of staying in fancy hotels or anything. My parents and I were really into animals too. That ended up being a problem.
"When I was about five years old, I was playing outside the hut. I started to wander off. I saw somthing moving in a tree, and started to follow it. Finally, I saw it. It was a rare green monkey, aparently the only one of it's kind. Well, I tried to pet it, because it was tiny, and I was a dumb five year old. Animals usually liked me. Not this one. The stupid monkey bit me, and it HURT. A LOT. I started screaming and crying, because it hurt so bad. My parents found me, and rushed me inside. They found out I had a rare disease only animals could survive. Sakutia."
Lez gasped, having heard of the illness. She knew many had been killed by the disease. He was the only survivor he'd met. "Go on..."
"So, my parents wanted to save my life and stuff, so they used this untested serum on me. Well, it messed with my DNA, and ultimately saved me. As a side affect, it turned my skin and eyes green. Before, I had green eyes, but olive colored skin and blonde hair. My parents were fine with me looking how I did, and were just glad I had lived. When I was around six or seven, my mom was being attacked by a snake, and that's when I found out about the shapeshifting. I turned into a mongoose, the natural predator of that type, and scared it away. Well, I was freaked out. My mom was freaked out. We all freaked.
"My parents did some test on my DNA, and they found that the serum had mutated my DNA to that of an animals. I practiced a little, and soon was able to control my powers. I could only turn into small animals though." He smiled, but that soon turned into a frown. "Then things took a turn for the worst.
"One day, when I was eight, we were out on a boat, and the engine caught on fire. We couldn't put it out, and the boat started sinking. The currents were bad, and hard to swim in. My mom told me to turn into a bird and fly away. She said they'd be ok..." Lez noticed a few tears escape Beastboy's clenched-shut eyes. "They weren't. I flew away like my mom told me to, but turned back into a human half way accross. These guys came into the water and saved me. My parents were never saved... It's my fault they're dead." More tears escaped. Lez put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's ok... there's nothing you could've done, you were only a child..."
"But I could have! I could've turned into a whale, or a dolphin or something and saved them, but I didn't."
Lez sighed. "You know, this conversation seems awfully familiar." he tilted his head, confused. "I know I can't convince you that it isn't your fault, and you probably won't belive me when I say it isn't, but, it isn't." He smiled a sad smile.
"I know, but I need someone to blame. It's easy to blame myself I guess."
She smirked, and got a tired expression on her face. "Now, if only it was that easy to convince Nightwing..."
"Nightwing? Isn't Batman his dad?" her eyes widened a little, revealing she had just said somthing she shouldn't have. She looked at Beastboy's earnest expression and sighed.
"Not exactly. Nightwing is Batman's... ward. It's not my place to tell you the details, but Nightwing still believes it is his fault his parents were killed, even though it's been... seventeen years since the accident." Beastboy's eyes widened.
"So... could you tell me what happened, after the men saved you? Or do you want to call it quits for today?"
"I think I'd like to stop there... It gets kinda worse before it gets better." she nodded, understanding.
"Could you send one of your other friends in here? Maybe the alien girl?"
"Sure." he nodded, and started walking out of the room. "You want me to grab you a drink or something?"
"No, thank you." he left to grab Starfire, and she wrote down some observations.
. comes from nice family life
. got powers from Sakutia
. parents diseased- boating accident. blames himself.
. said it gets worse before it gets better - somthing with the men that saved him?
. very nice kid. cares about others well being.
A curious face peeked from behind the door. It was time to talk to Starfire.
**so, there you go BB fans, a little bit of his past. Hope you all liked this chapter! Though, it'd be nice if you told me whether or not you did... hint hint. haha :)