[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. I had fun messing with Gizmo's backstory in this one! Hope you enjoy.]
There were a lot of sounds in the jungle - it almost reminded Gizmo of home, with Jinx and the rest of the HIVE. There was the constant humming and buzzing of foreign insects that played like background radio, accompanied by the swaying of jungle leaves and the howl and growls of predators.
The sun was starting to set in their strange new home, and Gizmo tried to focus on the sound of Wonder Girl's rustling of leaves instead of the awakening howls of just awakening nocturnal predators. The setting sun cast a purplish glow across the mucus green shrubbery and leaves of the jungle, and the sky was deepened with a dark purplish melding into red color. It was beautiful, but it didn't help Gizmo think of anything other than the predators lying in wait for that last drop of color to finally leave the sky.
"Done!" Wonder Girl shouted louder than Gizmo felt was necessary. He was still very much on edge about everything in the jungle, especially since next to none of his tech was working.
Gizmo turned around to see that Wonder Girl had built them a shelter of some kind. It was made entirely out of leaves and branches, and it formed a small sort of tent for them to sleep under.
"Well?" Wonder Girl said, gesturing for Gizmo to crawl inside the pillow fort shaped hut.
Gizmo crawled inside with a sigh, tired of everything. He plopped down to his own little spot to a corner of the hut, though it wasn't exactly big enough for there to be a lot of space between him and Wonder Girl anyway.
Gizmo was tired; he was tired of everything. He was tired of being musty and sweaty from the blistering heat of the jungle, he was tired of this feeling of helplessness - of not being able to know where his friends are and how to help them, and he was especially tired of not having his friends with him. Gizmo claimed and fought tooth and nail that he hated his friends, but they were all he had left. They were the only ones that saw that he was more than just some little kid.
"Are you alright?" Wonder Girl asked, breaking Gizmo from his thought process.
"...I'm fine." Gizmo said in a final voice. Wonder Girl started to get blurry...and he realized he was crying.
No wonder everyone treated him like a stupid little kid, here he was being a crybaby and in front of a superhero!
Gizmo prepared for insults, or maybe yelling, something he could fight. But Wonder Girl didn't do anything like that, instead, Gizmo felt the tall girl pull him into her arms and actually hug him.
Gizmo found that he didn't have the strength or care to fight back and make a scene, sniffling quietly into her shoulder.
They went through an entire fifteen minutes or more of dead silence, the only sound being Gizmo's babyish sniffling. In that time, Gizmo looked up to see that it was finally pitch black outside, and the only source of light they had was the strange, ethereal glowing from Wonder Girl's whip. Wonder Girl sighed before she reached over and brought the whip to lay in between them, giving off light as Gizmo obviously wanted.
"...Gizmo, why do you stay with your friends?" Wonder Girl asked. It made no sense to her. Of course Gizmo was a genius and he was leagues above any other child his age, but above all, he was still a child. What could've driven him to a life of crime so early in his youth, what's more, what drives him to stay there?
"...I had a mom once. I...I never really knew my dad, just that he didn't get along with my mom and they didn't live together. She was...she was so, so pretty." Gizmo said with a distant look not befitting a child.
"She had golden hair that was always fluffy and bright, and when she smiled it just...it made everything better. And she had that kind of voice...when she said things would get better, I believed her, y'know? We didn't have a great life, but it wasn't terrible either, because we had each other. I never had the clothes or the toys the other kids did, but I had my mom. There was always only one of her." Gizmo said.
"...She kept...getting older. It was too much...to take care of me, to feed me while we were on the streets and to keep clothes on both of us. One day...this weird old man came up to her, and told her he could make it all better. I never liked him, but mom did." Gizmo said, his voice slowly getting quiet and sad.
"...He told her all she had to do was give me to him and promise that she wouldn't ever come in contact with me again. But...I didn't…I never wanted to go with him, but my mom loved me and wanted a life for me more than she wanted to be able to be apart of my life. She...she ran away, she left me with the old man, and she never came back." Gizmo said among sniffles and sobs.
"...Who was the old man, Gizmo?" Donna asked, more angry than she thought she should be.
"...Brother B-Blood." Gizmo replied, sobbing into his arm.
"My mom is gone...Blood made sure I wouldn't ever be able to find her again, and she still thinks Blood took me and gave me a good life so...she doesn't want to find me." Gizmo explained.
"The HIVE's all I have left. They're my family, they mean so much to me and I-I can't...I can't l-lose them like I lost h-her!" Gizmo stuttered.
Wonder Girl, almost on instinct, picked Gizmo up and starting trying to shush him, letting him cry into her shoulder again.
"...I...I've got a sister, Jinx...and...and a whole lot of o-older brothers…" Gizmo said with a smile, trying to cheer himself up and getting a small laugh out of Wonder Girl.
"...But I'll never have a mommy again. I can't...I won't lose another member of my family." Gizmo said.
"...I'm sorry, Gizmo. I'm so, so sorry." Wonder Girl said, laying down and holding Gizmo so that he could still cry if he needed to, but could also fall asleep once he got too tired.
"...Have you ever told your team any of this?" Wonder Girl asked, concerned for Gizmo's mental health. It can't be anywhere near healthy for a ten year old to go through something like this on their own.
"...No." Gizmo said, getting a frustrated sigh from Donna in return.
Donna softly wondered how Gizmo would feel about having two big sisters before she fell asleep, determined to protect the small child in her care.
Diana failed Donna. She failed her and Donna paid the price nearly her entire life. She wouldn't allow the same to happen to Gizmo, even if that meant becoming the big sister herself.
[Read and Review please!]