71. Hidden Sun part 3
"What do you suppose are the implications of this, sir?" a dark-suited man leaned forward.
Booker stood behind his desk. Laboratory equipment and computer decks flashed behind him in the claustrophobic room of metal. He rapped his fingers on the desktop and eyed a tape deck containing an audio recording of the two Titans and the Sandersons in their heavily wooded home.
The subordinate was silent…waiting.
Booker rapped his fingers a final time, sighed, and looked up. "They've made contact, that's for certain."
"Were you expecting this, sir?"
"To be honest….yeah…," Booker walked over and came to a swinging-still seat in his office chair. "And before you ask…the answer is 'no'. I'm not concerned about the heat."
"These are the Teen Titans we're talking about……..sir," the man's eyes narrowed.
"You think I don't know that?" Booker smirked. "They're punks. Immature vigilantes swinging in from nowhere and expecting the day to somehow save itself around them. So they've bridged the gap between their City and Nova'm. So the little freak is in the hands of 'heroes' who know all about the Extraterrestrial Citizenship Act. There's one key advantage that we have here. An advantage that they have as well—or so they think—to a lesser degree."
"And what's that sir?"
"One of the Titans is also a freak," Booker smiled. "Nova'm's brand of freak. And where two of them are gathered together…there's bound to be a lapse of reason, logic, and sound decision in favor of fantastic emotion."
"And when that transpires…."
"We strike."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The sky rumbled.
Raven glanced up from underneath the porch. The bright sky between the pine branches and distant mountains were turning gray.
"A storm?" the dark girl blinked.
Jared and Susan Feldman swung on the chair. "Summer invades even the tightest of mother earth's corners!"
"Jerry! I swear!"
He chuckled.
Raven tried to hide her own. "I suppose I should get back to me and my friends' cabin. I like being dry and all….but….I came into this world in a glob of amniotic fluid…so destiny has it that someday I'll get wet again." She tipped her head and stood up from the stool. "So if you two would kindly excuse me….good day."
She walked off.
"Tis a shame…," Jerad shook his head, stretched, and stood up. "We were just minutes away from meditation."
Raven practically skidded to a stop. Her bulging eyes attempted to return to normalcy as she spun around, cleared her throat, and said: "Y-You do meditation?"
"Damned right I do," the old man straightened his slacks beneath a plaid, button-up shirt with wrinkled hands. "Wouldn't miss it any day for the world! Especially a world full of so much dukkha and obscurity."
She leaned her head to the side. "You're Buddhist?"
"Who isn't?" the old man smirked. "Though I must admit, I'm as liberal as they come. But someone my age—expecting the passage of this life to come into fruition—I realize how important it is to embrace the nature of oblivion, in total and utter faith that there's a greater existence out there….if you can even call it 'existence." He winked.
Raven stared. She glanced down at Susan.
The obese wife smiled. "I just like the stress-relief."
"Ah."
"Did you wish to join? There's a covered garden some neighbors of us made a couple of blocks up the asphalt of the cottages. It's open to anyone. Should be out of the rain too."
She blinked. She smiled ever so slightly. "I think that sounds…..nice."
"Well then!" Susan hoisted herself up. "Let's get to oblivion!"
"It's not as simple as that, honey---"
She waddled away.
"…….love you." He shook his head.
Raven found herself chuckling. She was only half surprised….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Nova'm sat in a lazy-chair, his body tense, his hands tightly clenching the arms of the furniture. His knuckles were white. His green eyes thin. His brow furrowed into a frown under a crown of short, jagged red hair.
He was as quiet as death.
Ruth and Kevin Sanderson sat silently in a couch perpendicular to him…but still not too far away. They were also silent…apprehensive.
Finally, Robin and Starfire sat on wooden chairs dragged in from a dining room. They didn't say a thing. Just stared.
Nova'm refused to return a gaze.
A grandfather clock in the distance ticked….ticked….ticked….ticked….
Silence.
Starfire's green eyes never left Nova'm.
The boy drilled his vision into the floor between his tense feet.
Ruth Sanderson bit her lip. Kevin scratched her head.
Robin looked at everyone. He shifted in his seat.
Tick…..Tick…..Tick….Tick…..
"So……….um……….."
Tick……Tick…..Tick…..Tick….
"N-Nova'm….is it?" Robin simpered.
Tick……Tick……Tick…..Tick…..
"I…um….I-I like your hairstyle. It's got a….I dunno….'cyberpunk' look to it."
"I hate my hair," Nova'm spat.
Robin sweatdropped.
Starfire took a deep breath. She was burning inside. From the look of Nova'm's little chest quietly heaving, he was experiencing the same thing.
Though they were both Tamaranians, they felt worlds apart.
Tick….Tick….Tick….Tick….
"Nova'm….honey….," Ruth placed a gentle hand on one of his stuck to the chair. "…these are good people. You've heard of the Teen Titans, right? They're here to be friendly, Nova'm. You don't have to worry about them."
"Why?" Nova'm frowned. His eyes bore through the two, casually dressed vigilantes. "They were spying on you and Dad earlier, weren't they? They're just like any other strangers…"
"But that isn't true, honey. Don't you see the one to the left? The girl?"
Nova'm's eyes narrowed. "Why…do you keep following me?"
Starfire didn't realize it at first, but he was speaking to her. "Eep!" she bit her lip, shook her head, and bore a hopeful smile. "Because—like I mentioned earlier—we are both similar! In background and in blood—"
"You don't like someone who's bled before…," Nova'm said thickly. "What do you know?"
Starfire looked down.
"Now, Nova'm…," Kevin said firmly. It was his part. "You trust us, don't you?"
Nova'm looked down.
"Don't you??"
"Yes sir…," the boy muttered.
"Can you trust us when we tell you that these people mean you no harm?"
Nova'm slowly looked up. His frown was gone. His green eyes were round. Wounded. Fearful.
Starfire wanted to cry.
"I…..I-I guess so….," he muttered.
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "'Guess so'?"
"But….wh-what if they're working for them??" Nova'm stammered. "Th-They've tricked us before!"
At that, Kevin's eyes trailed off.
Robin leaned forward. "I must ask….who specifically is them? That is…the government representatives you keep running into?"
Ruth looked up. She spoke: "A small group that followed us down south from Ohio. They keep…..'paying us visits' from time to time….it never ends." She sighed. "The threats began three years ago…."
"Threats?" Starfire breathed.
The Sandersons nodded.
Nova'm fumed quietly.
"Any names?" Robin asked. "Do these 'representatives' go by any identity?"
Ruth stirred in her seat. "Well….I-I dunno if that's entirely important—"
"Booker," Nova'm spat.
Robin's lips parted.
Starfire looked at him, surprised.
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Is that name familiar to you?"
"Technically…..yeah," Robin nodded. "Tell me…is 'Booker' tall, kinda young looking, slick black hair?"
Nova'm didn't say anything.
Ruth did. "That is exactly what he looks like," she nodded. She leaned her head to the side. "Have you….m-met him?"
"Yesterday," Robin said. "He was the one at the scene of the bus inquiring about Nova'm."
Kevin took a deep breath. "Bus??"
Robin winced.
"He did not tell you?" Starfire remarked.
Nova'm shifted in his seat. Uncomfortable.
"What bus????" Kevin asked firmly.
Starfire bit her lip. "The children…the children he saved from the tanker explosion."
Ruth gasped. "Nova'm?! You were there?! I-I thought only the Titans were there, according to the news!"
"Nobody knows that Nova'm was there,' Robin shook his head. "Nobody but us."
"And us," Kevin Sanderson frowned. He turned over and glared at his 'son'. "Nova'm…what did we tell you about going out that far?!"
"I can't help it!!" Nova'm exclaimed. "I-I can't stay in this house forever!! How would you like it?"
"Now son…," Kevin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Must we remind you about what happened that one time you thought you could trek anywhere in the county where you wanted---"
"Think about those kids!" Nova'm exclaimed with a wave of his arm. "What if I wasn't there?! Th-They would have gotten hurt! Killed even!"
Starfire spoke forth: "But I thought you did not care for strangers, Nova'm…"
He looked over at him. His green eyes blinked…then narrowed as he frowned. "Fine….you wanna come here and mess with my family…go ahead."
"Nova'm….d-don't—" Ruth pleaded.
The boy jumped up, fists clenched. He shook. "I'd like to see what'd happen if one of you got taken by them when you were minding your own business in the woods!! And it's happened to me twice!! And it doesn't make me want to sit around and collect dust! Those people are mean…but I don't want to be mean! And all you're doing with these 'Titans' is trying to make me weak! Well I'm not weak! I'm not!! And the next time Booker and his men try and—"
"There won't be a next time, Nova'm!!" Kevin exclaimed. "Not if you obey us and let these Titans help you!!"
"I don't need any help!!" Nova'm shouted. He stormed off towards the nearby hallway in an adolescent huff. "Nobody understands!! I'm alone on this!! I'm not gonna be weak!!"
"Nova'm—"
SLAM!!
He was alone in what must have been his room.
There was half of a sigh somewhere between the two Sandersons.
Starfire hugged herself and looked towards the floor. Silently.
"You must excuse him…," Kevin exclaimed. "He's been….through a lot. We couldn't protect him from everything….all the time…."
"It sounds like he's been….in the company of Booker before," Robin said.
The couple nodded.
A beat.
Robin asked: "What happened on such occasions?"
They didn't reply to that.
Robin realized that was a threshold. "Okay…….well, we're here now. We're gonna put a stop to whatever's going on here. You need not worry about your boy any longer."
"He is….m-more than just 'our boy', isn't he?" Ruth managed a weak smile. "What is it that you said, Miss Starfire? A prince of Tamaran?"
"A monarch….a long lost and beloved monarch…," Starfire murmured. She looked up with round eyes of green. "A living legend. I am still in awe of his presence…of his life."
A beat.
"Do you believe…th-that you can reach out to him?" Kevin asked. "In ways that Ruth and I haven't been able to?"
The couple held their hands together softly.
Starfire blinked. She stood up and took a deep breath. "I would be honored….to help Nova'm discover himself."
Robin looked up. He smiled.
There was a low rumbling that shook the inner foundations of the house.
"Wuh oh….," Kevin mentioned. "Summertime….storm's moving through."
"Funny time we chose to visit," Robin simpered.
Ruth smiled. "Do not worry. We are…most glad to have you here. We need your help with Nova'm. This day was bound to come. Kevin and I knew it. And—in a way—so did our boy. He just doesn't realize it yet."
"Then maybe I should assist him in the realization…," Starfire said. She slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway as the other three watched.
The couples blinked.
Robin spoke, gathering their attention: "Has Nova'm always been so…….hard edged?"
"Only around strangers," Ruth said.
"And when we're on his back about going on walks!" Kevin smirked.
The Boy Wonder leaned forward and breathed: "What is he like otherwise?"
The mother sighed. She smiled. "Like an angel…"
"Really…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Knock Knock Knock
Starfire stood in front of a door with a poster of the Andromeda Galaxy on it.
Silence.
"Go back to your masked friend," a voice muttered from inside.
Starfire looked through the door and spoke: "How did you realize it was I?"
"The same way you know that I'm in here."
Starfire took a deep breath. He was right. She was burning deeply inside of herself.
"Please…I only wish to talk with you. I will not force you to do anything else but listen."
"…….."
"I acknowledge the fact that you do not trust me…," Starfire spoke to the door, "…but I can tell that you deeply trust your parents. You love them. But besides them…who are you to trust, Nova'm? You seem most adamant about getting out into the world around you, and yet when a piece of that world comes in the form of Robin and myself, you push away. Are you so afraid, Nova'm?"
"I'm not afraid." The voice growled in response on the other side. "To be afraid is to be weak."
"What is it that keeps you from wanting to talk to me, then?"
The room was silent.
A few seconds passed.
-click-
Starfire blinked.
It was the doorknob. She wasn't sure if he had locked it or unlocked it just then.
So she reached a hand out, gently gripped the handle, and twisted.
And the door opened…
The redhead slowly stepped in. Her graceful body in a slight crouch. Green eyes blinking. She peered left and right and saw a dark room with walls stickered all over with glow-in-the dark stars. Models of solar systems and planetary structures dangled by homemade string from the ceilings. Besides a gray, translucent window rested a telescope. Against the far wall rested a bed fit for a grownup. Nova'm sat with his back to the headpost, his thirteen year old body swallowed by the stretching plateau of bedsheet. He hugged his knees and frowned into nothingness. He breathed slowly.
Starfire slowly closed the door behind her, rested back against it, and ate the room once again through her eyes.
"You obviously know…..Y-You obviously must know of where your origin lies…."
"I like astronomy…" he pouted. It was an excuse.
Starfire smiled at that. She gracefully drifted over and ran a soft hand over the metal of the telescope.
"On earth….stargazing is almost a religion, I have noticed. For a culture incapable of crossing light years, their focus on the skies is most admirable…"
"Can't see anything from here anyway…," Nova'm mumbled. He hugged his knees tighter to his chest and glared out the gray window. "Mountains and trees pretty much hide all the stars. I don't know why I have that thing."
Starfire glanced at him…at the telescope…then at him again. She took her hand off and clasped it with her other as she tilted her head to the side and uttered: "You have been searching for your home, have you not?"
He looked at her. Two angry pinpricks of green. "I know where my home is."
"Yes?"
"It's right here. Where it's always been." He looked back into space. "I'm not from where you came from."
Starfire thought for a moment. She drifted over and leaned on the foot of the bed. "Would you like to…..know where I come from, Nova'm of Earth?"
He opened his mouth to protest….but just as Starfire predicted, nothing came out. He bit his lip and looked off.
Starfire smiled. She sat down softly on the end of the bed and supported herself with a hand. There was a rise of pitter-patters as a steady rain descended on the mountains, drenched the trees, and splattered gently against the windowglass…trailing down in warbling waves that scattered the already gray light meandering into the star-studded boy's room.
"It is a planet called Tamaran. A most beautiful and glorious planet. Alive with the lush jungles woven from the motherly hands of the great X'Hal herself. The air is warm and moist; alive with the same heated green of life that fills each and every one of my people. Purple mountains rise from the crown of the Jebregor Continent, encircling the majestic golden spires of King Vieveret'm's Temple of Rajador…a monument of the Virgin Age that trails down to the sea with hanging gardens of green life and fuchsia spirit. Then across the Sepia Sea in Triveg'r City, the bay waters glitter against the ivory marble of houses and courtyards and worship centers to X'Hal that rise up out of the liquid like ancient arms piercing through blue satin. There are places where you can walk the beaches of Tamaran and no longer know if you are above or under water…for the air is so much saturated with warmth and flowing life that it is impossible to separate the two mediums. Families picnic on the soft Banks of Emerald Vryae'm…breathing in the aroma of birth and death mixed into one, and children learn from the very first day of their emergence to smile, for they are filled with the joy of expectation for the Great Nebula where all of our souls will gather in time for the Collection of Benevolence, and we will all rejoin the glowing epicenter of Life within the bosom of X'Hal's migrating spirit across the cosmos…"
The girl's eyes were somewhat moist and accompanied with a soft, dying smile as she gazed deeply through the rain-slicked window. The sunlight danced across her amber features. She looked like a projection…something that wasn't really there. A hand could almost filter straight through her.
"A Tamaranian….never truly leaves her home planet…," she went on softly, "….even if there are many places that she might call home—out of ignorance or dedication—the warmth of green never fades away. It stays with her. Like an anchor of predestined purpose. I know….I know….that no matter where I am or where I may go….I know where I will end up. I know where my spirit will return to. And—the truth be told—it fills me wish such happiness. Happiness that no trial or tribulation may come close to vexing my soul free of. For though the dark powers of this world may hold the keys to my death…they shall never, ever…hold the keys to my life."
Silence.
Starfire looked over and smiled beautifully at the boy.
"Earth is my home as well, Nova'm…," she said. "But it is not me. Love it that I might…fill my days with it as I might…there is a greater purpose—and a greater happiness—that burns inside of me and points me elsewhere."
Nova'm was looking at her. His eyes had returned to a soft jade. The angel was showing through. At the end of her speech, he looked away and tried to frown forth the demon again.
"I….I do not have a burning…," he murmured.
She tilted her head aside. "Do you not?"
He glared at her. "No."
Starfire's lips curved. Without moving, her hands glowed starbolts and likewise her eyes intensified.
Nova'm shuddered with a gasp. His eyes illuminated…and the tips of his fingers shimmered like tiny embers. He looked at his digits…shaking a bit.
But soon, the glowing ended.
Starfire's hands returned back to amber and her eyes to softness as she continued smiling at him. A short jet of air escaped her nostrils; the gentlest of giggles.
Nova'm's mouth was dropped. He looked from his now-normal hands and back at the girl. He was clearly and youthfully dumbfounded for a moment before he shook it off, frowned, and swung around so that he sat on the edge of his bed with his back facing her.
"Whatever you're doing to me, stop." He muttered. He hugged himself and seemed to shiver as he looked off into the last bit of space he had left to himself: the dusty corner of the room. "I've had enough of people messing with me. Trying to get me….get me…."
"Get you what, Nova'm—?"
He spun at her. "ANGRY!!"
She literally jerked back. She bit her lip….
The boy fumed. Heaved. And looked back at the corner from where he huddled on the side of the bed. "It's all the same. That's all they ever want. They want me mad. Mad and hurt…"
Starfire blinked. "But it is not my desire to make you angry or hurt, Nova'm! N-Not at all!" She parted her lips with a look of concerned and leaned across the bed. "Tell me….who are these people who do this to you?"
"What does it matter….," he sighed. "They'll find me anyways. And it's all because….because of what I am."
"Huh??"
"A freak!"
"You are not a freak, Nova'm!" she exclaimed emphatically, her voice rising in a sort of anger of her own. But not at him. At whom…she couldn't put her finger on it. "Who could you ever make you think that about yourself??"
"I said it doesn't matter." He grumbled.
Starfire blinked. Her eyes rested on his short butchery of red hair. It was so Spartan…so military….so demonic. Too demonic for an angel…or a prince…
"Your hair…," she murmured. She raised a hand and lightly touched his follicles.
The boy flinched…but merely trembled as the burning in both of them intensified with subtle green. He hugged himself and shivered as her hand ran through the red strands.
"Why is it so?" she asked.
"It grows too fast…," he grumbled. "I'm always cutting it. Every week. I hate it."
"You a-actually cut it?"
"Scissors…knife…whatever it takes," he huffed. "I hate it…"
"But you must not!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know that it is a beautiful thing? Your hair? All Tamaranians' hair grows extraordinarily! It is a sign of the joy and exuberance of life itself—"
He slowly turned and frowned at her.
She blinked.
He gritted his teeth and batted her hand away. "I…am…not…Tamaranian!" He fumed. "I am a freak! Do yourself a favor and take your friend and get out of here! Get out of my Mommy's and Daddy's house! Get out of the forest! Get out of this planet!"
"But…..but….," Starfire breathily remarked, "….you are so alone. What sort of a true Tamaranian would I be if I abandoned you—"
"I am abandoned!!" he shouted, pounding his fist on the bed and glaring at her. "If I am so beautiful and important….then how come I've been alone all this time, huh?!" He shook and he thinned his green eyes until he couldn't bare to look at her anymore. So he covered his face and shuddered, still shouting: "It's always been this way!! I'm just a freak! Always have been! Always will be! Only Mommy and Daddy care, and everyone else is either afraid of me or wants to hurt me!!"
"Nova'm, but that's—"
He lowered his hands as the fury vomited forth. "I don't want your lies!!"
Starfire leaned back, holding a trembling wrist up to her lips. She swallowed and softly said: "Nova'm…..y-you are getting angry…."
The boy's green eyes widened. He took a deep breath.
And then…above the dull drone of rain against the household…the low rumbling of a pickup truck.
Nova'm practically flew off the bed.
Starfire stood up, panting. "The……those men…..the FBI??" she blinked. She turned to the boy. Her eyes widened. "Nova'm???"
He was pressing himself tightly against the wall. Panting. Sweating. His green eyes wide like saucers.
For a boy who denounced the act of being fearful…he was the suddenly the living embodiment of utter panic.
"Nova'm!" Starfire rushed over and knelt down in front of him, parting his butchered bangs with a sympathetic hand. "Nova'm…you must calm down! What is wrong?"
"It….It….It's him…." He panted.
"Who is 'him'?" she asked.
He swallowed dryly and hyperventilated. "Booker."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin parted a window curtain. His eyemask thinned as he stared out through the glass and saw the same four darkly-dressed men coming out of the truck and walking up to the front door.
"They must have followed Starfire and here somehow…," Robin said. He leaned back. "Dang it…"
"It's the second time they've been here this month," Kevin Sanderson grunted from behind him. "I doubt your presence here has anything to do with it."
Robin headed for the door. "Well…you and your family aren't alone. I"ll take care of this—"
"No!" Ruth exclaimed from the other side of the room.
Kevin rushed over and gripped Robin's shoulder to stop him before the Boy Wonder could open the font door. "Please, Mr. Titan. D-Don't…"
Robin looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Mr. Sanderson? You've got a new authority here. As a representative of the Titans, I'm entitled by the Vigilante Acts to declare this household a 'zone of investigation'. Imagine it as a sort of sanctuary. If you just allow me to—"
"Please…," Kevin insisted with firm, brown eyes. "These aren't your typical FBI agents. They're corrupt. Pure rats."
Ruth stepped forward, nodding: "If you so much as try to interfere…they might react violently."
"Booker could take Nova'm away from us today. Right now," Kevin said.
Robin stared up at the two. He blinked under his mask. He looked out the peephole.
Booker walked up and knocked on the door.
Robin leaned back. A beat. He took a deep breath. "Okay…I'll hide."
"Th-Thank you, Mr. Titan…."
"But the soonest he so much as threatens you or your son, I'm intervening. You have my word on that."
"P-Please….you must go hide!" Ruth exclaimed. "In Nova'm's room, there is a special place. Go there and warn him! He'll know what to do!"
Robin nodded. "Here…take this."
He handed Kevin something. A small, gray disc. It fit in the palm of the man's hand.
"What is it?"
"Press the red button and put it in your pocket," Robin pointed. "It'll record all audible frequencies over the next forty-five minutes. When Booker is gone, give it back to me. I may make use of it."
The man smiled. "God bless you, Mr. Titan." He slipped the disk away.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson??" Booker's muffled voice.
"Go!" Ruth desperately whistled.
Robin nodded and jogged down the hallway.
Ruth opened the front door.
Booker practically burst in. Flanked by two of his men. He whipped off his shades….blinked…and grinned tyrannically.
"Nice to see you too, Sanderson."
"Why don't you make yourself comfortable?" Kevin frowned.
"Will do…will do indeed," Booker forced himself past Kevin, spun around, and snapped a finger at his three men.
They nodded and walked off in random directions throughout the household.
Ruth held her hands together and said: "Please….you can't just barge in here and—"
"My good woman…," Booker swiveled around and leered, "…we already are. Now where is your….'son'?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin stumbled into Nova'm's room. The slick refraction of light through rain danced across his features. He panted and looked around.
"Star?? Nova'm?"
Silence.
He walked towards the bed's side of the room. "Booker's here! Where's the hiding pla—WHOAH!!"
A graceful hand yanked him out from under. Like a wet noodle, the Boy Wonder's body was dragged under the bed and through a crack in the wooden floorboard. A trap door of sorts. He was now kneeling in a dark crawlspace next to a hushed Starfire and Nova'm.
"I believe we must initiate the 'shhh'!" Starfire hissed.
Robin nodded. He swiftly swung his hands up and closed the wall panel above them.
The three shuffled back…staring up. Starfire's green eyes blinked through the cracks in the wood. Nova'm's eyes were clenched shut. He was shaking his head and trembling.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Booker…you can't be here…," Kevin frowned. "We've got the local authorities on you. You aren't as ambiguous as you think you are."
"Ambiguity may have been my ally once….," the dark-haired agent wandered past the mantel. He eyed the numerous photos of the amber-skinned boy and his parents while the three associates noisily perused the place. "Today, I have to rely on greater powers."
Ruth wandered over and held onto Kevin's arm while the husband replied: "Yeah? What kind of powers?"
"Oh….I dunno…," Booker spun around and glared. "Let's start with malice." He knocked a pair of photos down that crackled with glass shards onto the hardwood floor below. "Where is the little prick?"
"Don't you call him that….," Ruth burned his face with her eyes.
"Oh…and what am I to call him again?" Booker slowly marched towards the couple. He thumbed something through his suit. Something flat and curved. The Sandersons stepped back cautiously… "Your little precious? Your pride and joy? The spawn of your loins? When are you morons ever gonna wake up? He's an alien! A freak! A plague to this planet! One day he's gonna be all big and badass and that nasty little temper of his is gonna blow a green-glowing hole through someone. Who knows? Maybe even you!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Booker's loud, barking words echoed with eerie ambiance into Nova'm's lonely room and filtered into malevolent mutterings through the filtered lines of the floorboards.
Robin was breathing slowly. Poised. A frown on his face.
Starfire's lips were parted. Her breaths came out intermittently. She felt the burning intensify. She looked down…and realized that a trembling Nova'm was clinging hard to her left side, burying his frightened face into her shoulder. Hiding. Trembling into her. A thirteen year old angel suddenly clipped of wings with miles of ground beneath him.
She wrapped her arm around him without saying a thing.
And he didn't protest.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Kevin shook. "The only reason Nova'm would ever possibly be angry is because you---"
"I want to unleash the demon inside of him while its still young and easy to stifle," Booker said. "An alien menace is all that boy is. And you two are getting in the way of my protecting the valuable citizens of this county, this state, this country, this planet!"
"What is it you're really after, Booker?" Kevin exclaimed. "How does mangling that poor boy's life bring you glory? It can't be that complex. You're a small man. What does it all amount to?"
Booker frowned. He pointed a firm finger. "You're not in any position to say things you might soon regret, Sanderson. I suggest you think twice before you leap up your own ass."
One associate paused on the way to Nova'm's room. He looked Booker's way.
Booker returned the glance. He nodded.
The associate quickly ducked in through the door with the galaxy poster.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The floorboards creaked and dust fell onto the Titans' faces.
Starfire gasped, but quickly hushed herself. She hugged the shaking Nova'm close to her with one arm and raised a glowing hand up with the other. She looked over and realized that Robin had pulled two birdarangs out and was holding them up at ready in an agile hand.
The shadow of the thug beyond the sides of the bed cast over them in the warbling kaleidoscope of rainwater transfused aura.
Robin breathed silently. He regripped the birdarang.
Starfire's free hand glowed brighter. She again glance at Robin.
His head shifted…as if to signify that he was looking back at her.
As Starfire simultaneously felt Nova'm's body trembling against her, she had the sudden imprint of a family. A transient mother…father…and child. And it was enough of a startling sensation to happily distract her through the tense minute and a half of the dark-suited man shuffling about the room above.
As soon as he came, he left.
Nova'm shuddered into a sigh.
Robin slowly lowered his bidarangs.
Starfire exhaled.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Gradually, the three associates congregated back into the main room.
Booker glanced at all of them.
They shook their heads.
"Satisfied?" Kevin asked. "We're never handing him to you. Ever."
"He's here somewhere…," Booker said. "I'd tear the place apart to get to him….but…..I'm not ready to make that much noise." He smirked and leaned forward. "You two are frankly not worth it."
"So you're a coward…," Kevin smiled back.
Booker said nothing. He motioned towards the front door. He and his associates stepped back into the rain.
Kevin and Ruth breathed easier…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Nova'm?…………Nova'm?"
The boy gasped. He looked up, his lips quivering. His eyes still bright with fear.
Starfire looked down. She smiled. "They are gone now. As flattered as I am to be your 'protector', I will not force you to hug me any further if you do not desire such…"
He blinked. He looked at an impression in the shape of his face in her casual shirt. He leaned back with a gasp, swallowed, and shook on his own…as if he hadn't tried to cling anything or anyone the entire time.
A wave of watershed light fell into the crawlspace as Robin pulled the plank of wood open and crawled out first.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
THUD!
Booker's number one man closed the driver's side door, brushed the drops of rain off his coated shoulders, and sighed. He looked over at Booker. He stated: "So….what has that accomplished?"
Booker leaned back and smiled. "Keeping them on their toes….of course."
The truck started up. It ambled down the muddy path. "And the Titans?"
"Turns out….I may not be the biggest coward in town after all…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin wandered first into the living room and rushed immediately towards a window, through which he peered out at the rain and exiting truck.
Starfire slowly sauntered out and stood in the back, her hands clasped together.
Kevin swallowed…staring blankly out the window besides Robin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the disk. "You think….your little recording's gonna do anything?"
"Mr. Sanderson…as far as I'm convinced…," he graciously took the disk from him, "…it's already done."
"How could you three have lived under the constant oppression of that man and his minions?!" Starfire exclaimed. "Is this not the 'Freedom of the Land'?"
"'Land of the Free', Star," Robin corrected. "But quite frankly…wherever there're powermongers like Booker…there's injustice." A beat. "But not for long." The Boy Wonder pocketed the disk. He faced the two parents. "I have a friend back at Little View Cottage. His name's Cyborg. Together…we can replicate this disk and then study it for clues as to who Booker is and why he's doing what he's doing."
"But is he not a member of the FBI?" Starfire remarked.
Robin turned around. "I'm beginning to doubt that. I've dealt with the Federal Bureau of Investigations before. They just don't smell the same."
Ruth looked over the two Titans' shoulders. "Nova'm??" A beat. "Wh-Where are you?"
Starfire's eyes widened. She spun around. She crept back into his room. "Nova'm?" He wasn't there. She wandered through the hallway. "Nova'm?" Nothing. She came back into the living room and looked all around. "Where have you departed to---" She froze.
The back door was opened partially…letting in spray from the rain.
Ruth gasped. "Not again!!"
"Huh?!" Robin ran. He burst through the door—with Starfire shortly following. The two Titans stood in the rain. Their bodies seeped with liquid as they spun around and looked for a sign of the youngster amidst the mess of leaves and mountain pebbles.
Kevin and Ruth stood in the doorway, side by side.
"There!" Kevin pointed.
The Two Titans spun and looked up the mountain side.
A panicked, green-trailing figure was blurring up the mountainside.
"Nova'm!!" Starfire exclaimed, a hand reaching forth.
"Booker did it…," Robin gritted his teeth. "That kid's really…really scared. He's trying to get away from it all."
Starfire spun and faced the Sandersons. "How far is he known to traverse when this distraught?!"
Ruth shook her head. "He's called us from a payphone in Tennessee before…"
"Not good…," Robin wetly muttered. He looked at Starfire. "Catch up with him!! You're fast enough!"
"W-What about you?" the Tamaranian replied.
He pointed at his slacks' pocket. "I got a package to deliver. Cyborg and I will get this processed! I promise you of that!" He turned and faced the Sandersons. "All of you!! We're gonna hunt down Booker and free Nova'm! Don't you worry!"
Kevin nodded. "Whatever you say! Just get to it!!"
"Most definitely the affirmative!" Starfire exclaimed and zoomed violently over the treetops.
"Star!" Robin called out for her.
But she was already gone.
He stared up after her. Dripping.
"Just be yourself….it'll all be fine…," he muttered.
He turned and ran through the forest towards the distant Little View cottages.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In a garden…
In the rain….
Shaded by a practical, metal overhang…
There were two benches.
And on each bench was a person.
One person was a man well into his 70s with clamshell eyes shut to the sleeping world around him.
The second person was a pale girl with dark blue hair and eyes shut under a red gemstone.
The water trickled down everywhere from the sides of the overhang.
Like liquid white noise.
Constant, droning, lazy ambiance.
Chaos that drowned and was drowned out.
The concentration of the two meditating entities was admirable…especially considering that they had been involved in the act for the last hour and forty-five minutes.
It was with more or less irony that both opened their eyes at the same time.
They glanced at each other from across the spaces between their benches.
Instantly awake…
"Any enlightening thoughts?" Raven droned.
Jared Feldman slowly nodded. "Yes. My stomach's growling."
The dark girl rolled her blue eyes. "You have got to be kidding me. You did not achieve any zen at all?"
"I've noticed that my wife has left us…," he remarked, glancing over at a third and empty bench. "She left her shoes. Unless she's been raptured by her previous religion…I think she just went to use the little relic's room."
Raven smirked ever so slightly. "How fascinating…"
"Tell me, young lady….," Feldman pleasantly spoke over the low roar of falling rain against the metal overhang. "What was your enlightenment?"
She shook her head. "There'd be no point in telling you."
"Then why inquire as to mine? Unless—of course—you expected me to offer no answer."
Raven shrugged. "Simple curiosity."
"Or perhaps…," Feldman went on, "…you are dissatisfied with the answer unto yourself?"
"…….," Raven stared at him. She looked down towards the floor of the garden.
Feldman was perfectly silent….patient…..veteran…..
"I've not been….enlightened in a long time….," Raven blinked. "I've been so…..so self-centered lately. Not so much that I'm thinking about myself all the time….but….thinking about what I am to others around me. In so doing….I've put too much weight on the 'self'. And….I am concerned for what imbalance such focus could create for both me and my friends…"
"Concerned?" Feldman lifted an eyebrow. "You mean you're afraid."
She stared. "I don't do fear."
He chuckled. "But of course."
For a split second, she was actually glaring at him. But she shook it off, sighed, and said: "I'm trying to do two things at once. And in such…I'm creating an ugly dichotomy. Something that rubs up against me the wrong way. I'm trying to conform to what my friends want of me—and thus grow closer to them. At the same time, I'm trying to maintain what a secure life should have of me—and thus I'm distancing myself from my friends. It's an utter paradox…an oblivion all in its own. And I can't get over the feeling that….th-that I'm actually hurting those whom I most respect. I'm hurting them by trying not to hurt them."
"I see…..," he muttered with a slight nod. "And the reason for all of this anxiety to begin with…."
"I've already hurt them….," she said under her breath. "I've hurt them….and I can't ever make up for it…."
Silence.
"Do you know how I came across meditation?" Feldman said.
Raven looked at him.
"It was while stationed in Japan," Feldman said. "Both before and after my duty. A Zen master taught me the basics of finding enlightenment. I've been trying to awaken myself ever since."
Raven leaned her head to the side. "Where did you go to do your 'duty'?"
"Why…Korea of course."
Her lips parted. "You were in the Korean War??"
He nodded. "Marched to Pusan myself. Survived ambushes. Butted heads with Charlie one too many times…barely came back with the toes of my right foot in tact…not to mention my ankle."
"W-Were you….."
"Purple heart after eight months."
"Ah."
"But I had my chance to throw my own rocks…," Feldman said with a crooked smiled. "Ended three lives, I did." His smile faded as he stared off into the rain. "Three boys. Barely my own age. They all were living so much when they died. I did it each time with a bullet, and they just wouldn't go down flat. If they had six legs, they'd all be twitching the whole time."
Raven was silent.
Feldman closed his eyes and breathed in silently. "When I returned to the States…I had no idea how I was to live with myself. Not after all that I did. Whether I was forced to end those lives or not is not what matters. The importance lies in that I knew what evil I was capable of doing. As well as the rest of humanity." His eyes opened and he was staring straight at Raven. "But after I met Susan…I realized that there are people in this world……..worth the risk. And that I have to live with the evil that is in my past and inside of me as well. And though there may not be anything I can ever do to excuse the lives I have taken…it still doesn't keep me from living life to its fullest. I'm a very old man, Miss Raven. I do not have many years left to rob myself of in self-loathing. A pity it would be—indeed—to rob one's self of such life nearly sixty years early…"
The dark girl was silent in response to that. But judging by the slight curve in her lips…she was enlightened.
And Feldman gave a silent reply to silent gratitude.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Starfire desperately eyed every clearing and break in tree canopy beneath her. She soared across the rain-drenched mountain slope, her red hair clinging into a tangled mass of satiny desperation.
Nova'm was not too far off. She could sense it with the hidden fire inside of her. But the chaos of the rain and the emotion of the moment tangled her nerves into a tense bunch, and she could not pull the knot loose for the life of her.
She squinted her eyes…and caught sight of a green glow just ahead by ten meters under the shade of pine branches.
She gasped, stretched both of her arms forward, and performed a spiraling dive down to the floor of the earth far below.
She hovered to a stop, touched down, and spun about on the rainsoaked grass. Panting. Looking. Surrounded by bodies of bark. Branches dancing up and down in the weighted impact of water drops.
"I…..I-I could have sworn he was—"
FLASH!!!
Nova'm all but plowed into her in his blurred sprint.
"Ooof!!" she stumbled back, balanced herself, and stood before him.
Nova'm shook his head, looked up, and gasped at the sight of her.
"Nova'm….please….," she took a step forward with an arm out-stretched. "Cease running…"
"Don't tell me what to do!" he shouted, clenching his fists. "Booker and his men were there because of you! Wasn't he?! S-Somehow he must have sensed it! He must have sensed that there was another freak present! Now my mom and dad are in danger!! I hate you!!! I hate you and wish you would just leave me alone!!"
He turned and ran towards the edge of the clearing.
Starfire swiftly hovered over—soaking—and blocked his passage. "No more retreat!" she said firmly with fair arms outstretched. "You need my and the Titan's assistance desperately! And you are most aware of it, are you not?!"
"I don't need anybody!!" Nova'm shook. His butchered red hair had turned into a thin mat of dripping scarlet over bright, hateful eyes of green. "My Mommy and Daddy and I were just fine until you came along!! Now get out of my way!! RRRAUGH!!"
He swung a fist.
Starfire's hand glowed a strong green and she easily blocked his punch. "You were not fine!" she exclaimed firmly. "Booker and his men….they have gotten to you before!! They have taken you as captive, have they??"
"Shut up!!!" he shouted and swung another fist.
She blocked and circled around him in a hover with charged starbolts. "They hurt you! Only to make you angry! They called you things that you are not…but now you are forced to think these ugly things about yourself because all you know at the hands of them is pain!!"
"Stop it!! STOP IT!!" Nova'm dove at her.
She twirled away in mid-air and floated up high. "They exploited you, Nova'm! They thought they could crush you! They thought they could manhandle the hidden fire of Tamaranian glory that resides inside of you. They thought they could turn it into something furious and angry all the time. But you are not this angry shell that quivers and quakes before me, Nova'm! For I know who you are! You are the Prince of the Virgin Age! Descendant of the legendary King Vieveret'm himself! A relic of glorious, immaculate nature! An unknown martyr and an eternal name of immensity all the same! Do you not realize how incredibly special and innocent you are?!"
He clutched his head. "No….N-No!!" He glared up at her. Eyes glowing green. "I know who I am!! I'm a monster!! So help me, I'll rip you apart and every pathetic living thing on this planet!!" He charged up two small hands and growled. "RrrrrrrrRRRAUGH!!!!" He unleashed a surprisingly large starbolt.
Starfire gasped. She dropped down just before the flying energy field could singe her hair.
FLASH!!!!
Pine trees snapped. Branches flew. A wall of rainwater soared up straight in the air…and settled down with a slosh.
Starfire shook the stringy hair out of her eyes. She panted.
Nova'm was down on his knees in the middle of the clearing. His hands smoked from the discharged energy. He shook and trembled. His face was tense….high-strung….about to collapse.
"This…th-this feeling…..this awful feeling inside of me…." He clenched his eyes shot and held a hand to his chest. "Burning…..so much…..it can't be good….it can't be…."
"But it is, Nova'm…," Starfire gently said as she drifted over and knelt in front of him. "And, truthfully, good things come painfully from time to time." She gently reached a hand out and touched his rain-drenched shoulder. "I sensed from the beginning….that your life is something constantly battling with sorrow. You have had the misfortune of dealing with monsters in this world that would rob you of any chance for boundless confidence or glorious joy. But I assure you….Nova'm…things can change. Once you realize who you are…and what you are…that burning inside of you will turn into an everlasting warmth. Like a hug from the inside out that will never go away."
He shook and flinched from her touch…shaking his head desperately. "No….I'm a freak! A freak!! I-I can only hurt people!"
She smiled with a deep inhale. "Is this the same Nova'm I saw saving a bus full of children? The same Nova'm smiling and laughing with his father over a football on a mantelpiece photograph?"
He bit his lip. He looked up at the Titan.
She raised a hand up and stroked the wet bangs out from his crown. "Do you not see, Nova'm? You are so…so very beautiful. And innocent. This furious 'freak' is not you. It never was you. I am glad to have found you…for now you have someone else besides your parents to show you who you are. Someone who has the same fire as you…the same galactic blood…the same yearning for meaning in a lonely world full of nightmares."
His lips quivered. His eyes started to shake. "I…..I-I do not know what this feeling is….," he trembled. "…it….it feels like anger….but….I-I do not like it. I do not like it at all…."
She smiled and softly said: "Be at ease, Nova'm….be at ease…."
He shook, his eyes clenching shut. "The burning…i-it is rising into m-my eyes….."
"It is called 'crying', Nova'm…"
He hugged himself and started to teeter over. "I'm so sick and tired of being scared….being sc-scared for Mom and Dad….for everyone and everything I don't know…."
She caught him before he could 'fall over' and held him close into a hug identical to the frightened embrace under the floorboards of his room minutes ago.
"Rest assured, Nova'm….," she stroked his back gently and spoke into his ear. "There are plenty of 'everyone and everything' like you and me….waiting to know you. And they will be so….so very happy to know that you exist…and that you are who you are…"
He hiccupped, and green tears streamed out of his eyes for the first true time in ages. He surrendered into Starfire's arms.
"P-Please….I don't want to be alone anymore……d-don't want to be a-alone anymore…."
"Shhhh….and you are not, Nova'm…," she stroked and hugged the cold rain away. "You are not…"
And Starfire felt like a sister again…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
CREEEAK!!!
Booker's face appeared as he opened a locker inside his lab from the outside.
Metallic 'sleeves' hung from a mysterious suit in front of him. He picked up one of the sleeves and held it in front of him. It looked like a brace. There were half-spheres of glass and wires equipped all along the framework of the metal.
An associate stood behind him. "Just needs one extra charge, right sir?"
Booker nodded….admiring the device. "Then it'll be a complete prototype. The first bidder will be very lucky indeed. But we'll be even luckier."
"How much luckier?"
"Enough to run our asses around the world four times. That satisfy you?"
"Whatever, sir. As long as you're right about the Titans leading us to the kid."
"Once we finish this thing…not even the Titans will be a threat to us."
"…..were they to begin with?"
Booker was silent. He smirked. "Merely a game…..merely a game."
A beat.
"You and the others got something constructive to do this evening?" Booker asked.
"Not yet, sir."
"Go coast by 'Little View'. Let's see if our visitors are up to anything fishy."
"Sure thing."
Booker hung the 'sleeve' back up…and swung the doors to the locker back closed.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In the lower areas of Asheville, North Carolina…a lone commercial building of less-than-aesthetic proportion stretched up slick and smooth in the rain-swept afternoon. Three dark-suited men walked out of an entrance lined with black windows. They lethargically filed into a notorious pickup truck and rolled off northward.
Across the street as they left—parting the rain atop a rooftop—a figure materialized in a flash of smoke.
I walked towards the edge of the building top and leaned over. My black eyes narrowed through my shades as I focused in on the building.
Water drops ran down my back and off the scabbard that housed Myrkblade.
I took a breath, vaulted off the rooftop, and crept alone and silent towards the black windows of the suspicious structure.