Rachel had been sitting beside the infirmary bed since the incident, her posture as rigid as a statue. The only signs that indicated that she was, in fact, a living person were the sorrowful sighs she breathed out once in awhile and the way her slender arms reached out so that she could grasp Garfield's limp hand where it laid beside his immaculate self
Victor gave a grunt as he tore his gaze away from the heartbreaking scene he was seeing through the infirmary window. At times like these, he wished that he still had his limbs; the ones he was born with so that he could give Rachel and Garfield a hug; a real hug where he could feel the warmth of their bodies through his arms and they could feel his. The warmth so desperately needed by his two closest friends and the comfort it brought.
"Vic?"
The sound of Richard's voice melted through the silence as he exited the infirmary with Kori. The augmented young man noted with silent sadness how his other female friend was walking instead of gliding. Indeed, the situation had been trying for everyone and in many ways but for Starfire, it was like a death-knell.
"Yeah, Rob?" asked Victor hesitantly as he returned his gaze towards the previous couple.
"Kori and I…we went to STAR Labs and they gave us something to help Gar."
Victor turned a hopeful gaze towards Robin but it was met with a look of an uncharacteristically lack of confidence on the leader's part.
"They made it clear…it isn't a cure. Just another relief serum with a higher dosage…"
"Damn it!"
Victor's outburst startled no one; not even Kori. They were used to it. The scientists at STAR Labs were the best in what they did but even then, they were only human. Gar was not. Gar was something more. In body and in spirit, he was something that escaped the understanding of his doctors. Day after day. Week after week. All anybody could do was to relieve the pain and to stall the virus plaguing the Titan's being. It was like challenging the inevitable yet the Titans were adamant that they struggle on. A cure WILL be found. Garfield was worth the effort.
No matter what.
"I'm not liking it either, Vic, but we gotta stay strong…at least for Rae," said Richard quietly.
"I know, Rob. It's just that…I can't stand seeing them like this and not being able to do shit."
The Titan sighed.
"We all feel the same way, man. It's just…if you need someone to talk to; me and Kori are always around 'kay?" offered the young man kindly. Beside him, Kori stepped forward.
"Richard is right, dear friend. We will spare every effort in ensuring that all of us will endure through this together. I only wish that we could do more…," added Kori as she switched her gaze towards the viewing panel.
"Thank you Rob…Kori. That is very kind of you," said Victor sincerely as he struggled to maintain a wavering smile on his lips. "I guess I'd better give the grass stain his meds, huh?"
Richard smiled behind his mask.
"Yeah you do that. Kori and I will be taking a short rest before we head off to Gotham City to meet Bruce."
The half-metal man gave a surprised snort.
"Again? I swear Mister Wayne is spending more on Garfield's treatment than all his bat stuff combined."
"Bruce considers me his son, Vic," replied Richard with a light chuckle. "And the Titans as my family. That makes Garfield his family too, so that means he's sparing no expense."
Victor nodded.
"Tell him, all of us here appreciate all that he has done, Rob."
"I sure will…well then, gotta go."
"We will meet you later, friend Victor. Farewell, for now."
"See ya later too, Kori."
After the two left, the man resumed his gaze at his other two close friends inside the infirmary. Rachel had shifted but only a little; a head was now laid on top of Garfield's chest as she slept. Victor cringed as he tried to imagine the agony of having to see a loved one endure so much pain but unable to express the necessary emotion to comfort the person besides small and seemingly insignificant gestures.
He couldn't imagine.
Taking a deep breath, Victor opened the door of the infirmary. The action quickly roused Rachel from her snooze; her eyes snapped open and her senses becoming alert.
"Victor?"
"One and only, Raven. You look hungry, why don't you go grab some food or tea. I can keep an eye on Gar while you're away," offered the Titan.
The pale-skinned girl blinked before letting out a resigned sigh. Nodding an affirmation she looked back at her unconscious beau, stroking his green hair lovingly.
"I'm gonna go off for awhile, Gar, but I'll be back real soon. Be safe, okay?" said the empath before placing a soft kiss on the changeling's lips.
Rachel slowly got up from the chair she had been sitting on for the last few hours, stretching quietly as she did so. Turning to stare at her cybernetic friend, she caught sight of the small bottle in his hand.
"Is that what I think it is?" asked the girl hopefully.
Her friend shook his head.
"I'm afraid not, Raven."
Rachel was silent for a moment.
"I understand…take good care of him, Vic."
The resignation in her voice was enough to break Victor's heart
"You know I will."
Taking one last look at Garfield, Rachel left the room, giving Victor an affectionate pat on the shoulder as she passed him by.
She's too exhausted even to teleport to the kitchen. Noted the cyborg.
Sighing loudly, Victor began to hook up the medication to the I.V. drip connected to Garfield. Browsing through the medical equipment monitoring the stricken Titan to make sure everything was still up and proper; the older man took a seat beside his friend.
"You shouldn't even have been there you stubborn jackass…," muttered Victor covering his face with his hands. Remembering the events that had led to the changeling back into the infirmary, Victor wept quietly.
"Oof!"
Victor let out a wheeze as he received yet another punch from a rampaging Cinderblock. The blow knocked him straight through a brick wall. Rubbing his sore back, the cyborg assessed the situation to find and exploit any advantage over the villain.
"Things ain't looking good, Rob," yelled Victor as he charged his sonic cannon.
"I'm aware, Cy!" yelled back the leader as he dodged a large piece of debris thrown in his direction. "Titans! Drive him into that open lot. He can't escape and he can't use anything to fight with!"
The Titans fought with renewed ferocity, surrounding Cinderblock and forcing him into open space. For a moment, it seemed as though victory was within their grasp but it Robin had forgotten one crucial aspect of fighting a battle; to always give the enemy the impression that he could still escape or he would fight with the vigour of desperate men.
True enough; desperate and frustrated, the stone giant began to fight back in a more bestial manner. Its movements overtaken by instincts alone.
"Robin, Cinderblock is getting too agitated to be affected by my starbolts," said Starfire as she dodged and weaved about the giant's flailing limbs while blasting at his joints.
Blasting his enemy repeatedly with his cannon, Victor watched the battle unfolding around him.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
Flying overhead, Raven released tendrils of black magic that bound themselves to Cindrblock's limbs. The villain let out a roar as he tried to free himself. It was not long before Raven began to weaken from the strain.
"Anytime right now to finish him is just fine, you guys," said the empath with gritted teeth.
"Titans! Go!" ordered Robin as he surged forward with some freeze discs in his hand. He intended to relieve some pressure of Raven by immobilising Cinderblock in a layer of ice. Unfortunately, the flailing giant managed to knock the projectiles away before they could do any damage.
And coincidently hitting all the Titans save Raven.
One by one, the Titans fell to the ground in a heap, each one encased in ice. Victor managed to free his head by melting the ice with a built-in laser in his eye. Thus, that made him the only spectator of what was to follow.
Rachel was already exhausted by the time calamity struck. Now alone and with no one else for Cinderblock to direct his fury at, Rachel was pushed to the breaking point. With a mighty roar, Cinderblock tore loose from his bonds bringing the empath to the ground. Hard. Too exhausted to even get up, Rachel weakly conjured up spells to slow the villain down as it charged towards her.
Victor could only watch helplessly as he saw his little sister about to be pummeled to death by the raging behemoth.
"RAVEN!" shouted Victor with tears in his eye.
Rachel laid on the ground, frozen with fear as she could only watch the rampaging stone villain charge towards her in beserk fury.
Until a blur of green-coloured movement and Cinderblock literally flying in the opposite direction into a row of empty cars.
The Beast crouched protectively over Rachel as it roared at Cinderblock. Changing back to Garfield, the cyborg saw his friend kneeling down to tend to his girlfriend. They shared a brief hug before a recovered Cinderblock demanded the changeling's immediate attention. Morphing back into the Beast, Garfield roared in pain and in anger as he leapt forward to challenge Cinderblock.
"He'll be alright, Vic. I know he will."
Victor turned towards the voice to see Rachel standing at the infirmary entrance. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying so much and her body looked emaciated from worry and exhaustion.
The older Titan could only watch her sadly.
"He'll be fine by next morning, you'll see. All he needs is rest. Just rest. That's all he needs," said Rachel with a cracking voice.
"Rae…"
You have been saying that everyday for the last three days, Rae.
"…And he'll be up cracking his stupid jokes…and making that awful…tofu of his just like he always does. And everything will be alright."
By now, Rachel had resumed her crying as she collapsed onto the floor. Getting up from his chair, Victor rushed to pick her up and placed her on his seat. Giving his sister a hug, the man tried to soothe the young woman before she accidently breaks any medical equipment keeping the changeling alive.
"Raven, Garfield needs you to be strong. He needs all of us to be strong. He would not have wanted you to be like this wouldn't he?" asked Victor.
Rachel nodded in reply.
"Good. Now let's get you cleaned up and looking all pretty. That'll give the grass stain such a damn good reason to stay awake he'll never want to be in a coma ever again," said the man again with a grin as he tried to enliven the sombre mood pervading the room.
Rachel looked up at Victor and managed a small smile before letting herself be helped out. The two Titans spared one more glace at Garfield before leaving the infirmary. The comatose Titan lay on his bed, just as still and silent as he was since he first arrived.
"Talk to me, Robin," said Garfield worriedly as he witnessed the ongoing battle with Cinderblock.
"Things ain't looking so good, Beast Boy. Cinderblock has gotten smarter and stronger since our last fight. He's holding the four of us at bay longer than I like."
"Any weaknesses so far?"
"None that we can see…sorry."
"Any serious injuries from you guys? Um, is Raven alright?"
Garfield heard Richard let out an exasperated sigh.
"Beast Boy now is not the time but yeah, she's fine and so is everybody else."
"Hehe. Sorry about that."
"It's okay Beast Boy…HEADS UP RAVEN!"
"What was that? What happened?"
"Rae's got a near miss from a flying Chevvie, that's what," replied Richard. The sound of twisting metal and exploding objects dominated the background.
Then lowering his voice a little so that nobody else but Garfield can hear him, the leader spoke, "Listen Gar, I know Raven's your girlfriend and all. Heck I'd probably do the same if I were you but you gotta focus on your job, man. You're our intel and we need your help to bring down Cinderblock. Don't worry about Raven so much. You know us Titans look out for one another, right?"
Garfield nodded sheepishly.
"You're right, Robin. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, man."
"Thanks…hey you guys are fighting at the outskirts, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"There's an open lot nearby. Just wasting space as much as I can see. Drive Cinderblock there; with open space all around him, he's got no cover and neither can he use anything to help him fight."
"That's not a bad idea, Beast Boy."
Garfield heard Victor's voice in the background as he shouted something at Richard. The leader shouted back.
"I'm aware, Cy…Beast Boy, I'm going through with your plan. Things are gonna get hot for awhile."
The changeling was just about to say something when his friend seemingly read his mind.
"And don't worry about Raven."
"Thanks, Rob. Go kick his ass."
"Will do, bud. Robin out."
Garfield knew what was going to happen next. He did not need any reminiscing for that one but it still hurt even to think about it; how everything went from bad to worse, the entire team incapacitated; Rachel on the ground, helpless against the rampaging monster.
And the pain.
The excruciating pain of turning into the Beast once again.
If Garfield could scream, he would. All he could do was scream in his mind before drifting off in exhaustion…
"Oh, thank god. Thank god…"
Victor's deep voice was the first thing Garfield heard when he regained self-awareness. Nevertheless, he was still in his comatose state. He could also hear the heart-wrenching sobs of a woman beside him.
What happened while I was out?
He heard Victor speak again.
"He's stable now, Rae but I'll just hook him to my system while I go recharge…talk to him. Give him a reason to keep fighting."
Stable? I thought I was just sleeping.
Garfield heard the infirmary door close shut. There was a moments silence that lingered uncomfortably until it was finally broken.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, GAR?" shouted Rachel as beat her fist onto the bed. Even in her distraught state, she still had the presence of mind to resist the urge to smack the changeling silly for doing something as stupid as being…
"DEAD! You were dead for 10 minutes, Gar. Why did you do it? Why?"
The empathy was sobbing pitifully as she struggled to control her emotions. So far, nothing important had been broken. The infirmary needed a new door, however.
Caressing his hair, Rachel sniffed.
"Gar, I know time is short and attempts at getting a cure for you are getting nowhere. But please; please don't give up. For me. I love you, Garfield Logan. I love you with all my heart and even now, I can't imagine carrying on without you by my side like you always have. You have been my rock, my anchor, my compass when all seems lost. Please don't leave me..."
Rachel let out a giggle but there was not a hint of humour in her voice.
"It sounds all too corny, I know. But that's what you are and what you have done for me. Because of you, I feel like I'm never alone and for that I'll be eternally grateful to you, Garfield my love."
You have nothing to be grateful about, Rae. What I did is straight from my heart and it doesn't need any repayment. I only wish I can open my eyes, Rae...
Rachel looked on as tears streamed down Garfield Logan/s face; a sign that he was alive and responding in the most sincere way that he could. Smiling softly, the empath kissed them away before kissing her man on his mouth.
"You're not alone, Gar. I'll always be beside you."
Carefully laying her head on his chest, Rachel faced away from Garfield's face thus she did not see what was to come; Garfield opened his eyes.
"Rae…?"
Chapter 4!
this story is proving harder to write den 'change'. not dat im losing faith of course but more on the fact that much more emotion is being used in this story. so i have to be careful not to sound too sappy yet still maintain the sincerity in the characters as they react to the situation.
all in all i hope u guys like dis update. give me plenty of advice kay? ill do my best to improve the quality of my work for u guys to enjoy. oh and happy holidays!!!:)
-spartan585