Hmm… That was weird.
Hannah was about to make a smart reply to the voice, but then she heard something else…
It was the flick of a switch, shortly followed by the high-pitched hum of a TV and the soft buzzing of a speaker. Hannah opened her eyes more cautiously this time, and slowly sat up. She was sitting on what appeared to be a grey bed/couch: one of those weird things they have in the school nurse's office (not very comfy). The lumpy bed/couch made a slight squeak as she shifted her weight and swung her legs over the side of it. She squinted her eyes until they were barely open, and tried to look past the bright light over her. What she saw scared the living daylights out of her: A plasma screen TV as wide as her arm span, showing the threatening face of…..ROBIN (dun-dun-dunnn!)
Aw crud.
Hannah felt the blood flow from her face down to her wobbly knees. She felt sick.
"Hannah," Robin said calmly and sternly, "We found you near Titan's Tower. You were laying on the ground, unconscious, so we carried you back here."
Robin was about to continue, but then Beast Boy appeared by his side.
"Hannah! What happened to you at the restaurant? You just disappeared!" Beast Boy was wildly waving his arms.
"Dude! Get off the screen!" An angry voice muttered from far off. A metal arm appeared behind Beast Boy, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him off the screen. Hannah could have sworn she saw a giant sweat-drop on Robin's forehead…
"Hannah!" Robin tried to regain her attention, "We need to know why you had this." Robin reached his hand behind his cape, and pulled out the small metal orb.
Why do they want to know…Crud! That guy in Halloween colors really was evil… They must think you're some kind of evil minion or something!
'Noo! I'm not evil! Err, at least I don't think so…'
Well then do something!!!
Hannah slowly sat up, licked her lips, and took a steady breath. Then, she told her story of how she had accidentally stolen B.B.'s food, freaked out at the diner, and was removed from the premises by a shadowed figure (She only left out a few details: the fact that she had powers, that the shadowed figure knew about her sister, that she was "removed" from the premises by one of her uncontrolled power surges, and that she had a voice in her head. Any of those things would have put her under their radar, and she wanted to be as unnoticeable as possible.)
Hannah finished her story and looked up at the TV screen. There were five curious faces staring back at her, analyzing her every move. Hannah looked down quickly, and shifted her feet.
"Wait a minute…" Beast Boy said suspiciously, "When you disappeared from the restaurant, you weren't pulled away buy some random dude! You literally disappeared!!"
Aw man. I guess he kinda remembered…
Hannah panicked on the inside, but her face remained calm and cool; almost as if someone else was taking over.
"That's crazy!" Hannah shrieked, "I can't disappear! If I could, I'd be gone by now!"
Hannah gave herself a silent round of applause: Not even Robin could have recognized that perfect, flawless fib.
"She's lying." Raven stated bluntly.
NoOo! SO close!!
Hannah's cool and innocent face fell; the mask was gone, and you could see the truth clearly on her face.
"Okay," Robin said, "Tell us what really happened."
Think…think….what do we do?!?!
Uhh…
Oh! I know! Don't say anything!!
We already tried that…
No! I mean literally. Plead the third!
….It's the fifth.
Whatever! You know what I meant!!!
Hannah sat there: her arms were crossed, and her lips were pursed tightly together.
"Robin, I do not think she wishes to speak…" Starfire said hesitantly, looking uncertainly at Hannah.
"C'mon Hannah. It's okay, you can tell us." Beast Boy urged gently.
"Ya better tell us, or Raven's gonna have to read your mind," said Cyborg, "And you definitely don't want that. Trust me" Cyborg shuddered. The stoic look on Raven's face sent chills down Hannah's spine.
Eh, let's not go down that path.
The chills that went down Hannah's spine returned, climbing back up her spine and settling on the nape of her neck.
'Okay voice: we can't get away with lying, so we'll have to tell them what really happened.'
*Sigh* Alright. Just don't give them too much of the truth.
Hannah started her story again, but this time she included the part where she sort-of-accidentally-might-have-teleported out of the diner. She even told them about "black-and-orange-mask-guy", and how he wanted her on his side.
"I figured that since he kinda saved me from unwanted publicity," Hannah continued, " he couldn't have been all that bad. So, I took the orb in case I needed his help again.." She finished lamely, looking down at the floor.
The television went black, and then the metal door swung open. Five Titans slowly walked into the small room.
"Wait a second." Beast Boy's eyes were the size of tofu burgers. "… You have powers?"
"Yep." Hannah said calmly, "I guess that's why Slade helped me."
"Slade didn't help you," Robin said bitterly, with a far away look in his eyes, "He tried to use you. It wouldn't be the first time he…." Robin stopped.
Hannah looked up, confused. She looked around at the others, trying to figure out just what Robin was saying. Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his black boots. Cyborg was staring at a blank wall, as if looking back on the events of the past. Starfire's hands went up to cover her mouth, to stifle a gasp; She looked stunned, horrified, and sad all at the same time. Raven was the only one who seemed excluded from waves of emotions.
"What happened?" Hannah asked quietly, "I mean… Who else…?"
"Her name was Terra." Beast Boy said quickly and quietly. He closed his eyes and looked away, trying to avoid painful memories.
Hannah froze. Every hair on her body stood straight up. She felt the blood rushing to her face, and a torrent of emotions surging throughout her body. Her heart pounded loudly. She felt dizzy. The headache was back in full force.
Terrra? As in your sister Terra?
What did she have to do with Slade?
How did he find her?
…….Is she alright?
Hannah took a large gulp, and prepared herself for whatever she might hear: good or bad.
Beast Boy remained silent, so Robin continued the story:
"Slade had been watching Terra for some time: He knew she had powers that weren't easy to control, and that she often left paths of destruction wherever she went. He offered Terra a way to make her powers totally under control."
"D—Did it… work?" Hannah asked in an unsteady voice.
"Well, not how she thought it would…" Cyborg said hesitantly. There was a long silence before Starfire continued the story.
"Slade provided Terra with a suit." Starfire said quietly. "A suit that would allow him to control her movements, her powers." Starfire's voice faded out.
The room was quiet for what seemed like eternity.
"He controlled her… Like a puppet." Hannah's soft ominous voice reverberated throughout the room.
Hannah felt a fiery rage pulsing through her body. Almost as if she was a volcano, and the raging lava was flowing higher and higher. The ends of her fingers were tingling. Her throat was scorching. Her thoughts were churning like an angry ocean. But then, all of a sudden, her fury dissipated, and she was left with sadness.
"I—is she… okay?" Hannah asked in a small voice. Her eyes rose up to meet Robin's mask, which did not seem so menacing anymore. She knew that behind Robin's mask, his eyes were just as sad as hers.
Robin opened his mouth to speak, but quickly snapped it shut. Then, he slowly shook his head, and bowed it somberly.
"We prefer not to talk about it." Raven said icily, "It's a sensitive subject."
"What Slade did to Terra was unforgivable." Starfire cut in, "And we must prevent the past from repeating itself."
"Well, I can take care of myself, if that's what you're asking.." Hannah said slowly.
Robin raised his head, "You're going to need our help, Slade is tougher than he looks." He insisted.
"Yeah," Beast Boy exclaimed, "We've been fighting him for like 3 years, and we still don't know what he really looks like!"
"One of our greatest adversaries." Raven said gravely.
Uh-oh! (the voice piped in)
What? (Sarah asked)
I can see where this is going….
Suddenly, Starfire gasped loudly, and a large smile appeared on her face.
"YOU CAN STAY WITH US!!!" She screeched happily. "Oh! What great fun we will have! I can introduce you to Silkie, and we can apply a thin layer of pigmented liquid onto our toenails, and then we may go to the mall!!!" Starfire squealed happily and leaped into the air.
Hannah was the only one in the room that was in pure shock (The rest of the Titans had grown used to it by now). Hannah's eyebrows were raised to her hairline, and her left eye was randomly twitching.
Uhhhh… What's wrong with her?
I don't know, and I don't intend to find out.
Hannah regained control of her left eye, and put on a fake smile.
"Oh! There's no need!" She waved her hand as if casting something off.
"It would be no trouble!" Starfire countered
"That's very kind of you, b---"
"It's settled then! You can have the spare room on the third floor!" Starfire smiled triumphantly.
"But I—"
"Are you hungry?" Beast Boy cut her off, "Tonight's tofu night!!"
"I'm really not—"
"Here! Let me show you to your room!" Starfire grabbed Hannah's right arm and dragged her through the door, down the hallway, and into an open elevator. Beast boy was following close behind, but just barely managed to squeeze into the elevator before it shut.
Robin, Raven, and Cyborg were left alone in the small interrogation room.
"Well," Robin smiled, "This should be interesting."
"Whatever." Raven grumbled as she walked down the hallway, heading for the stairs, "They just better not keep me up all night."
________________________________________________________________________
Lol! As you can see, I did not kill off Raven (she's just too cool. I couldn't go through with it.) lol!
~Be sure to review; any advice on the next chapter would be awesome!!!!
~Jade
PS: did any of you guys have snow days or ice storms or power outages? it was crazy down here! Tree limbs everywhere!! :O