Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

The Healer

Chapter 14: Missing Piece

Robin adjusted himself on the seat. He pressed his back against the backrest and sat straight. He continued to search for a comfortable position but he just could not be satisfied. Though he wanted to stretch his arms, he could not; he also wanted to stretch his legs, but that, too, was impossible. Wriggling his body a little, he managed to acquire some breathing space. A drop of sweat dripped onto his shoulder.

"Um, guys?"

Beast Boy and Cyborg turned to him.

"Yes?" answered Beast Boy.

Robin cleared his throat.

"Could you guys loosen the rope a little?"

But Beast Boy and Cyborg simply went back to what they were doing. They stood by a desk that took up quite some room near the wall. On it were piles of paper; some were toppled over and so a clutter of paper littered the area surrounding the table.

"No," the two responded together.

"What?! Come on! Give me a break here!"

Robin moved his body forcefully making the chair sway side to side. Every time the legs of the chair tapped on the floor, both Beast Boy and Cyborg grew more agitated. But, to their dismay, Robin was persistent and he continued to rock the chair. Cyborg slammed his hand on the desk. He quickly turned to Robin.

"Would you stop that noise?!"

Robin stopped.

"I will if you let me go!"

Beast Boy stepped forward.

"How many times do we have to tell you no!"

Robin simply looked away and proceeded to rock the chair to once again fill the room with the annoying tapping of the chair. It did not take long before Cyborg finally had enough. He came over to Robin and held the chair down. Their eyes met and neither one refused to look away.

"Stop."

"Then untie me."

"We told you: not until we trust you."

Cyborg let go and he walked back to his previous spot.

"Come on guys!" Robin protested. "I passed all of your tests! I am Robin and a good guy! The real threat is Crow who is out there—not me!"

"Data can be helpful," said Beast Boy.

"But," Cyborg continued, "it isn't enough."

Robin gulped.

"You see, raw data is not always accurate," Beast Boy pointed out.

He then picked up a piece of paper from a pile on the table and walked over to Robin. With his arm outstretch, he held it in front of Robin, waving it as he talked.

"This graph can tell us what was going through your mind at that moment, but whatever that passing thought was, this machine could only categorize it as 'truth' or 'lie' . So to a lie detector a thought wouldn't register as a lie as long as that thought was honest to yourself."

"Oh come on!" Robin began to refute. "This is ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous how?" Cyborg asked while making his way next to Beast Boy.

"You guys are doing everything you can to dismiss everything I say or do!"

"You're kinda right," added Beast Boy.

"It's prejudice!"

"I wouldn't call it that," said Cyborg.

"Then what do you call it?"

Beast Boy smiled. He held the paper in both hands now and then he ripped it in half.

"We call it being cautious."

"What are you really trying to say?" inquired Robin.

"Simply put, that could have been tainted data," responded Cyborg.

"If you're gonna rip up every evidence of my innocence, then how will I ever prove to you that you can trust me?"

Beast Boy smiled and then he looked at Cyborg. The half-man-half-machine titan turned to him with his own smile. To them, their expressions conveyed nothing more than lightheartedness but to Robin, these were devilish smiles, plotting his demise.

"W-What are you guys planning?" Robin asked, but he was too scared to hear the answer.

Both Beast Boy and Cyborg patted Robin on the shoulder, still wearing their goofy smiles.

"Don't worry about it," said the green shape-shifter.

"If you're really telling us the truth, then you have nothing to be afraid of," added Cyborg.

But Robin could not be calmed.

"I don't know… You're faces tell me I should be scared."

"Like we said, there's nothing to be afraid of as long as you're honest with us."

Beast Boy then looked at Cyborg and nodded.

"Robin," Cyborg started, "we'd like you to meet the ultimate lie detector!"

As if presenting a new car to the winner of a game show, Cyborg and Beast Boy stepped to the side and revealed behind them their secret weapon. All Robin saw was a figure wearing a red cloak with the hood covering the head. The hood casted a shadow on the person's face that covered the eyes and nose, only revealing the mouth. Robin sat motionless and in silence.

"The best part is that not only can she tell us if you're lying or not, but also everything else that goes on in that mind of yours," Beast Boy pointed out confidently.

"Alright, Raven," said Cyborg, "do your thing."

The red Raven pulled down her hood and looked at Robin. All of a sudden, her gaze started to make him feel warm. Robin knew it was a different Raven—way different from the Raven in his world—but the fact that they looked alike did not help him calm down. Memories of his time injured and trapped on that hospital bed began to flood his mind. What shone brightest among these passing scenes were the moments when Raven walked in to check up on him. He started to remember them all: her smile as she greeted him, how she laughed, the way her hair would sway as she turned her head—everything about her—started to pound on his heart. All of his feelings he could not contain as his mind did not see the difference between this Raven and his Raven. Rather, his heart refused to see the difference. He has been away from her for too long, and the way things have been going, he feared that he may never see her again. So, as his emotions determined, this was as close to Raven as he was ever going to get.

But still, Robin did not want to accept that fact wholly. To accept it would mean to betray Raven back home. At this point, he paused. He could not believe that he let himself go on like this.

I'm making it sound like we're married! he thought. I never even told her about my feelings! But more important than that, I don't even know how she feels about me! And yet here I am going off about how I'll betray her if I make a move on this Raven… Still, though, to look at another would mean betraying…or, at the least, would mean I'm betraying my feelings.

He looked up and caught Raven's eyes. Her eyes looked empty; again, different from the Raven that Robin knew—yet he could not help himself from looking away. He felt shy around her. In the end, Robin thought, she could still ignite his feelings deep down.

Raven looked at Cyborg.

"This is pointless," she said. "I don't need to dissect his mind to know the menace that he is."

"But he insists that he's not Crow," Beast Boy noted.

"That's an easy fix," Raven turned to Beast Boy. "Don't listen to him. Why didn't you end him? We've got Crow in our hands."

Beast Boy crossed his arms and said,

"That's what I said!"

"What's stopping you?"

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg. Raven followed his gaze.

"Why?" she asked.

Cyborg sighed.

"Not this again," he said.

Raven asked again:

"No seriously. Why?"

"It's just as I have said, and will always say: we cannot turn into monsters," declared Cyborg.

"Maybe you can't," Raven answered fixing her eyes now on Robin, "but I can."

Her words made Robin jump a little in his chair; a chill ran up his spine.

Yeah, definitely different, he thought.

"I'm already a monster so I have nothing to fear turning into one."

When she said this, Robin could not miss the melancholic voice that she tried to hide underneath the menacing tone. He felt his chest tighten, as if he himself had that pain and sadness within.

Raven started to walk towards Robin.

"Let me take care of this."

But Cyborg held her back by grabbing her shoulder.

"Not before you go into his mind."

"Why do you insist that this isn't Crow. It's simple: he looks like Crow, sounds him, moves like him—yup, it's definitely Crow."

"I want to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Does he deserve it?"

"I'm not sure, but something in the way he talks makes me wanna believe him."

"But I don't want to give him a chance."

Raven pushed Cyborg's hand off of her shoulder and proceeded to go closer to Robin.

"Come on, Raven, everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt."

Raven stopped. Then she turned to Cyborg.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Yes. I mean we gave you the benefit of the doubt. We looked past the monster that you say you are and found the real you: a kind, sweet girl that wants nothing more than to protect others."

Raven was quiet. She looked at Robin and their eyes met. Then Cyborg added,

"You are not a monster, Raven. Remember that. And right now, I just wanna know if this is the real Robin—the Robin that we all knew… Don't you miss him?"

"Fine, I'll do it," Raven finally said. "Stay back."

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy took a few steps back.

Raven sat on the floor in front of Robin. She looked at him and asked,

"Do you have anything to say before I enter your mind?"

"Go through whatever you need to in order to convince you that I'm not Crow."

"Why? Rather, how could you trust me so much in your mind?"

Robin smiled.

"This wouldn't be the first time that someone's entered my mind."

Raven shrugged her shoulders in response. An air of silence descendent upon the room at the onset of her ritual. She sat motionless, her breathing easy and consistent, and her eyes were closed. Everyone in the room just watched her, anticipating what was to come next. Despite saying what he said earlier, Robin felt uneasy about the whole thing. The fact that this Raven is still a different person remained, so it was only natural for Robin to worry. He does not know her, making her unpredictable; this unpredictability was the core of Robin's apprehension. Regardless, he was willing to trust her. Different dimensions or not, Raven is Raven and nothing could (or should) change that…right?

After some time, Raven's eyes finally opened: they were glowing with a white light, a sign that her powers were at work. Then in a low, soothing voice, she uttered:

"Azarath metrion zinthos…"

As those words escaped her mouth, her powers took the form of a black bird that rose from her body. It spread its wings and cawed. Then it shot forward, entering Robin's mind. As soon as it disappeared, Robin fell unconscious.

And to the side, Beast Boy beckoned Cyborg over. When Cyborg stood next to him, Beast Boy nudged him with his elbow.

"What?" asked Cyborg.

"What do you think she'll find in there?"

Cyborg sighed.

"I don't know."

"Oh come on. Not even a small idea?"

"The truth."

"That's kinda vague."

"I just wanna know if he's telling us the truth."

"He might be."

Beast Boy stopped, looked up, and crossed his arms. Then his eyes went to Raven and Robin in the middle of the room.

"Or he might not be. Why do you need to know so badly?"

"I could ask you the same. Why're you still here?"

Beast Boy shrugged.

"At least mine's simple."

"How?"

"I'm just curious."

Cyborg shook his head. Then he gave a small chuckle.

"That doesn't make sense."

"You still haven't answered my question. Why're you so hung up on this?"

"It's fundamentally the same as yours: curiosity. I want to know whether his story really is possible… Or is this just Crow trying to trick us to get to that power. If that's the case, we cornered him… we got Crow and it's over. All the fighting is over…at last."

"But?"

Cyborg looked down, smiling a little.

"But the main reason is something more powerful than mere curiosity. I'm holding onto a shred of hope that we'd get to see Robin again…even if he did come from another dimension."

"You need to accept the fact that we lost Robin—"

"Along with a chunk of me, you, and everyone."

Beast Boy was silent.

"Accepting that he's gone means accepting that we're not whole anymore. We're all like a jigsaw puzzle: we have all the pieces to create the most beautiful picture; all the pieces are here…except one."

They silently watched Raven and Robin. It was Cyborg who first broke the silence.

"Admit it, Beast Boy. The day he left, the day we all realized that he will never come back, he took a piece from each of us. That selfish jerk just took them."

Then he looked at his fellow titan.

"Look, I'm not saying that you, Raven, and Starfire aren't feeling this way, but as far as I'm concerned, the empty spot is killing me. It's torturing me, Beast Boy. The reason I really want to believe this Robin is because I want to feel whole again, even for just a second. I wanna know what that feels like again, so that I won't forget; to remind me that, hey, I was like this once. At one point in my life, I was complete."

At length, Beast Boy finally responded.

"I, um, gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back."

Cyborg nodded and he returned his attention to the middle of the room. Beast Boy slowly walked out. As soon as he was in the hallway and the door closed behind him, he punched the wall, the blow echoing throughout the tower. Cyborg heard it clearly: the metallic groan of the plated walls giving in under the force of Beast Boy's fist. But he was not surprised by it. He simply continued to stand not moving, his attention still on Robin and Raven.

Beast Boy leaned back against the wall, slowly slipping down until he was in a sitting position. He stretched his legs before him as his arms hung loosely at his sides. He tilted back his head, looking up at the ceiling. A weak smile crept onto his face.

"Dammit, Cyborg, I hate it when you're right."

Chapter end