Chapter 10. Revelations

Beast Boy had turned into a Gorilla and as gently as he could in that form, had shoved Meliah into the chamber to protect her and the others from her. He barely heard the heavy doors hiss closed with a muffled echo around the chamber. Once inside, he let her go and she turned back into her wild human form. She had been struggling to free herself all the while.

"LET ME GO GARFIELD! I'LL KILL THE BASTARDS MYSELF" she yelled, rage and agony taking a hold of her in the frustration of being trapped once more when all she wanted to do was to get revenge.

"KILLING THEM WONT BRING YOUR MOM BACK, M… YOU'LL ONLY COMPLICATE YOUR LIFE…" He tried to reason but his words made her stop wide eyed.

"Complicate my LIFE!?" She asked in disbelief "HAVE YOU NOT NOTICED HOW SCREWED UP I AM ALREADY?… I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THAT AS LONG AS THEY PAY FOR WHAT THEY DID!" She was shaking from rage, every word she yelled sipping with pain and frustration and from that she turned into a rhino and slammed head on the thick doors.

Beast Boy cringed at the thud, imagining the pain she was causing herself without remorse in the attempt to get out. A buffalo, an elephant, even a T-Rex were having the same result. Not a single scratch on the doors.

"MELIAH, LET US HELP YOU… LET ME HELP YOU BUT PLEASE CALM DOWN, YOU'RE GOING TO HURT YOURSELF" He yelled trying to get her attention but she wasn't listening to reason.

From within she felt crumbling, felt her chest constrict and decided not to break in desperation. The rumble of a growl could be heard and she turned into a lioness and roared with all her might, then turned to Garfield who was trying slowly to approach her.

She lower herself growling predatorily, wild crystallized eyes looking intently at him. Flexing her muscles, baring fangs and sharp teeth ready to pounce at her pray. Paws stretching and claws showing, scratching the metal floor.

Beast Boy went wide eyed at the realization that she'll attack any second now. He lifted his hands in defense and said " M, I know you're in pain and I understand but this wont solve anything"

She hissed, roared again and pounced. Beast Boy jumped to the side and had turned into a gorilla before he touched the ground again and turned her way just in time to evade a Rhino that had charged his way. Then she turned into a lioness again and pounced at him once more. Beast Boy just catch the jungle cat in mid air and both tumble on the ground hard and slammed on the nearby wall.

She had turned human again and was shaking between sobs. He was also in his human form and held her there while she cried against his chest.

In the main time, the others had gone to the control room above the chamber and thru the thick glass and metal, they had witnessed how the upset girl had turned into every other animal to slam herself head on the doors. Raven had tried her magic again with the same result as before.

"Cyborg! OPEN THE DAMNED DOOR!"

"I cant Raven, is under the timer"

"SO OVERWRITE IT! YOU BUILT IT, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A WAY AROUND IT"

"THERE IS, BUT IT WILL TAKE LONGER THAN WHAT THE TIMER IS SET FOR!" Cyborg had said exasperated, he had been at the keyboard trying to bypass the wretched timer.

"And how long is that?" Raven asked in an angry lower tone, eyes glowing red. Cyborg hesitated for a moment, not taking his eyes off the screen "Four hours" He finally said.

"WHAT!? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?"

"Raven, I had no idea BB would jump in with her". Then, the sudden silence caught her attention. There was no more banging on the door, instead, she watched at the wild cat pounce at the green gorilla. She caught her breath in fear and watched as they tumble on the floor and slammed against the wall. She watched as they turned human once more, he held her tightly while she cried against his chest.

…

Back in the chamber, a trembling Meliah had been quiet for a while, her crying and sobs had subsided. For a moment, Beast Boy thought she had fallen asleep but she sighed deeply and started to talk.

"It was my fault" She simply said.

"what?" He asked, not sure he had heard right.

" It was all my fault" she said devoid of all emotion.

"M, what are you talking about?"

"If I hadn't lost control. If I had held on to what little sanity I still had, she would be alive now". She whispered the last few words. "They told me you know. They said they had already killed her. They tried to manipulate me in making me believe I had nothing else to loose. They knew I had let myself get caught in order to find them.. But I didn't believe them…" She said with a shaky voice. Garfield just hugged her more.

"There was no way for you to know…" He started to say but she interrupted him as if he hadn't said a word, so he let her vent.

"They used that same trick years ago and that's how they caught me the first time. I believed them… I spent years in desolation, in pain, with no flicker of hope and no point to live. Oh, but they tried their best and worse to find out about my shape shifting. And from within, when I had no more reason to breath, something snapped in me. I felt like being carried and dragged by fury and rage but not on my own will. And then… Batman found me. I was in a deprived, wild state.… his first words to me were that my mother was alive, I attacked him with all my fury" she laughed sadly and took a shaky deep breath.

"I called him a liar, "how dare you mess with mother's memory?" I had said, but he was saying the truth, she was alive. Somewhere inside I felt relief but I was too far gone into my wild side that I couldn't completely comprehend nothing beyond the fact that I was free…"

She paused and sat down straight in front of Beast Boy. He saw her eyes blue again in a red background due to her crying. Pale and dehydrated. She look away from his eyes, self conscious of his scrutiny and moved next to him, leaned against the wall and continued.

"When I was in better control of myself, he told me that before I got back with my mother, that I would have to get some help first. He let male nurses of some loony hospital take me in an ambulance, but the hospital smell just reminded me the ordeal I had just been in, memories just rushed back in and I started to get anxious. When the nurses tried to contain me, all hell broke loose. I turned into a gorilla and started to throw the nurses around the ambulance. The movement made the driver loose control of the vehicle and run off the road and tumbled a couple of times. I was disoriented but alert enough to get out and run away from there" .

She paused, taking in deep breaths, the memories were too much. Beast Boy was silent all the while. He grabbed her hand and without looking away from the ceiling, she squeezed his hand a little more.

"What happened next?" Garfield asked quietly.

"I didn't really go far. In fact, I followed him. I figured, he was the only one that knew where my mother was, so I followed him to a cave, deep within a mountain"

Garfield couldn't help but gasp in surprise "you've been in the Bat Cave? But that's like a fortress, there is no walking around without Batman knowing about it" He stopped only to realized he had interrupted her "I'm sorry.. Please continue". she chuckled a little, but never stopped looking at the ceiling.

" The name is right, the entire ceiling of the cave is plagued with bats of all kinds and sizes. I went in the same way they did. I perched myself up there for what it seemed an eternity. Finally I saw him arrive, get off the car and walked to a huge computer. He spent hours there. I was tired and hanging upside down made, it worse. Then, an older gentleman showed up with a tray of food, left it on a table and walked away. Batman caught up with the gentleman and left entirely. I was so famished that I didn't wait long and dropped to the ground close to the table and took a couple of sandwiches. I didn't even chewed them, I just swallowed for fear they might return. Started to bite an apple when I heard a door opening. I dropped it and flew back up the ceiling."

"It was the older gentleman who had come back for the abandoned tray. You should have seen his face… surprised at first then he frown. He cleaned up and left. He came back later on with a tray again. I waited to see if the Batman would show up but he didn't. instead, I found a robe folded neatly on the chair."

"They knew you were there'' Garfield said.

"Yes. There was a note on the tray. It said "please don't be afraid, cover yourself and eat""

"What did you do?"

"I sat there like an idiot, reading the note over and over. I couldn't believe he was being nice to me. No one had ever been nice to me for a while. It was strange"

"Oh, M…" He started to say, a knot on his throat. He couldn't believe in how much pain she had been. She slowly turned to look at him. She let go of his hand and with the same, pulled his head to rest on hers. "it's ok" she whispered. "No its not" he tried to argue but she said "Alfred put it this way "That which did not kill you, better run pretty damned fast for it has made you stronger" she smiled despite herself.

"He really told you that?"

"Yes, much to Batman's chagrin I'm afraid… you see, after I read the note, and put on the robe and ate, I decided to wait. A few minutes later, Batman showed up. Imposing as always…"

Flashback

Meliah had quickly put on the robe. Ripped her clothes in the ambulance when she turned into the gorilla. She ate contently, for she had not had any food in at least two days. There was some milk and water, bread, cheese, strawberries, grapes, some ham and berries. She ate it all in a haste, not having time to enjoy the flavors. The note sitting on the table next to the tray.

Then silently, out of nowhere, Batman came out of the shadows and in a grave voice he said "you broke into my home" He saw a flick of panic cross her features but immediately it was replaced with a predatory demeanor and right in front of him, her eyes crystallized in shreds of blue.

"You didn't really expect me to go into a place like that did you?… because if you did, you were sadly mistaken."

"You need help, or what? don't you want to see your mother again? I don't think it would be in your best interest or hers for you to show up like that"

"mm, I see you will retort to blackmailing me with my mother as well" she said sarcasm and venom in every word.

"I am only stating the facts" he said in a monotone. She started to walk slowly, circling around him. His hand immediately went to his belt.

"For your information… Batman… my state of mind is in its right accord at the moment, and you had better said the truth about my mother being alive"

"And unless you get the treatment you need, you're not allowed near her"

"Let me get this straight… you dare to tell me what and what not to do? Is that what you're trying to say?" she said, snarling furiously and pounced at him, he evaded her attack and jumped towards the car but she had turned into a panther and with heavy paws, she landed on his chest bringing him down with a thud, his suit protected him from her claws to dig deep into his skin. He managed to kick her off him and he got up in a jump. She turned into a cheetah this time, pounced once more at the Batman while got out of the way not before retrieving a small dart gun from his belt and shoot at her.

She landed on all four behind a console and turned to her human form again, the monitors covering her from her chest down. Glared at him while she pulled the dart from her stomach.

She started to laugh almost as if she had inhaled the joker's poison. "Silly man, after all I've been thru, do you think this…" she said lifting the dart so he could see it "would actually do something to me, I barely even felt it"

Batman was taken a back by a split second. Hardly anyone had ever done that and this girl was mocking his attempts but before he could react a stern voice called him out on his behavior.

"I am most appalled at your sensitivity to this situation sir" Alfred said from the door and continued walking towards the table where Meliah had dropped the robe, ignoring the death glare Batman was shooting at him.

"Alfred?…" Batman warned, but the older gentleman just kept focused on his own goal. He picked up the robe, walked towards Meliah who was watching him curiously. He gave her a small smile, trying not to make her feel uncomfortable, dropped the garment over the monitor and walked back a few feet to give her space.

"Alfred.. What are you doing?" Batman said thru gritted teeth.

"Showing this young lady some hospitality. And you sir would do good in doing the same" he admonished. Then walked to the big computer, stroked a few keys and a video call started. There was some silence at first then a woman spoke "Mr. Pennyworth?" Meliah gasped "Mom?" she whispered. And walked around the console towards the monitor completely ignoring the Dark Knight standing in the middle.

When she got there, Alfred gave her a smile and pulled the chair out for her and motioned for her to sit. Still suspicious at the gesture but forgot all about it when her mom spoke to her this time.

"Meliah?… is that you?… My dear girl, finally you're safe" she started to cry, from happiness.

"Mom, is that really you?…" Meliah broke in tears hardly able to speak

"Mom, they …told me …you were …dead." she said between sobs.

"I know baby, they told me the same thing about you. I was devastated. Batman found me and I begged him to help me find you one way or another and… here you are…"

Meliah was crying now. Had it really been that long since she saw her mother last? The same beautiful features, eyes as blue as Meliah's but they seemed tired, dark circles under them, some white hairs could be seen. But there she was, her smile so loving.

Mother and daughter kept on talking what seemed for hours while Batman and Alfred talked quietly. "I told you not to contact the mother before getting the girl the treatment, what happened?" he said with a visible frown.

"Forgive me Master Bruce, but I didn't think that just the idea of her mother still alive would have been encouragement enough for her"

At that moment Meliah approached them and said with a teary eyed and happy expression "Mr. pennyworth?…" she said softly. Alfred turned to her and gave her a small bow and a smile "Please, Miss Simmons, call me Alfred. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Alfred, thank you so very much for allowing me to speak with my mother. Its such a relief to know she's alive and ok, thank you!" She said fervently and hugged the butler, who was a little taken by surprise but patted her on the shoulder trying to be polite.

"It was my pleasure dear"

"She also said that you should have something for me?" she said shyly, quickly glancing at Batman then back to Alfred,

"Oh yes of course, I believe it has already arrived" Alfred said letting go of her and looking thru the pockets of his jacket. He found a small pouch and handed it to Meliah. Then with a soft "I'll be right back" he walked quickly over to the table to get water.

Meliah had turned to Batman and she looked apologetically at him and said "Thank you for finding my mother, and for finding me… and I'm sorry about earlier" she said almost in a whisper but he heard her.

"You're welcome" was all he said before Alfred came back.

"Here you go my dear" Alfred said handing her the glass of water. She had poured the contents of the pouch in her hand. they were a few pills of yellowish hue. She popped two of them in her mouth and took the glass that Alfred had brought for her. Immediately, she felt better. Her eyes changed to solid blue again and her heart beat slowed considerably.

Alfred showed some relief he didn't know was lacking and smiled to the girl. " Come with me Miss Simmons, I have drawn a bath for you, I can assure you it will help you get that much needed rest and relaxation you need to get better" he said with such an inviting smile that she had no reason to refuse.

Present

"I cant believe Batman could be so mean, I mean, yeah he seems to have no feelings at anything but man!, to try to blackmail you like that?" Said Garfield with surprise "How did he know that you were there?"

"I found out he had managed to attach a tracking device on my hair earlier before the ambulance issue. And when I saw him at the computer, he was actually tracking me down, Alfred told me he was in real shock to find out that I had followed him in. he had sent him a text message to bring the tray of food and find out my intentions"

"But now, how is it that they found you again? He said quietly, not wanting to upset her again. She sighed deeply and said "I had gone to Africa to let my wild side free. My mom was still sending me my medication but she said if let the animals out every now and then would help. She didn't want any attention on me for fear that those bastards would find me or her again, but it turns out, they did find us after all"

"What do you mean, how?"

"The shipments with my medication. At first there were a few pills missing, nothing really alarming, I figured just a short batch. It happened again the following month but this time there was more than a few. I contacted my mom to tell her about it. We started to get suspicious and on the next shipment I didn't wait for her answer. I followed the truck back the entire route. It took me weeks before finding out the truck was being intercepted half way the village, high jacked and the driver was replaced. I never received the shipments personally so I think they were trying to get a lock on me."

"I followed it back, the driver got off an abandoned warehouse by the airport and someone had left for him a duffel bag full of money. Now all this time I had had my medicine but had run out a couple of days before. So by the time he was getting ready to leave, I attacked him. Made him tell me what was gong on."

"Did he?" asked Beast Boy, concerned of what was coming next.

"Yes. He pointed at the plane ready to take off and that the people I wanted to talk to were there. So ii followed it, managed to get in thru the landing gear chamber and waited. The plane brought me back to the USA. The trail led me back to Gotham. A power plant old as time but still in use…"

She stopped, her breathing was getting faster with anxiety as she recalled the ordeal. She closed her eyes at the memories and continued softly.

"When I got there, I found out they had my mother. I saw her thru a monitor. A live camera feed. I tried to find the right room but I got caught instead. I tried to make a deal with them.. Me in exchange of my mother. They laughed and said that she was dead anyway, my deal wasn't that appealing and that since I had walked in voluntarily, I had no way out."

"They came on to me. Too many to handle by myself and I was knocked down. When I woke up, I was in a cage. With a chain attached to my neck. When I tried to pull it an electric shock brought me to my knees. I spend there I think over a week or longer. I lost track of time. Barely any food and water In days and I was ready to give up when he rescued me…"

Beast Boy's ears perked up at this. "Who?… Who rescued you?"

"Let me rephrase that… he didn't rescue me. He wasn't looking for me in the first place.. Rather helped me escape when he came across the room I was in…" she said with a ghost of a smile. "He was… looking for something else"

"Who Meliah… I need to know who" Beas Boy said anxious. It didn't go unnoticed. She glanced at him. Took a deep breath and focused again on the ceiling.

"I don't know his name. He didn't want to tell me and I didn't ask. But when I asked him to help me find my mother, he said he wasn't the hero type but knew someone who could do the job… he said I reminded him she of you. Of course I had no idea you were even alive, let alone you were a superhero with a superhero name but when he mentioned the only difference between you and me besides the gender, was the color. He said that "Beast Boy is green"…" She looked at him then, his expression in somewhat surprise and disbelief. She smile a little.

Garfield was in stupor. Searching in his brain for such a character. An errant thought cross his mind but dismissed it immediately. She turned to him and said "My heart skipped a beat that moment. So much went thru my head and yet I could think of nothing else. I asked him, begged him to bring me to you. At first he refused, he said it wasn't in his agenda to go back to Jump City any time soon but would be glad to show me the right way… and well… here I am".

Beast Boy got on his knees in front of her, pulled her up and hugged her as hard as he could. His face buried in her neck and hair, eyes closed trying to fight back tears. He let go of her for a moment and looked in her eyes "Can I ask you one more thing? She nodded, seeing concern in his eyes.

"How did the power plant got destroyed, what was in it?"

"Xenothium"