She felt like a dissected insect under a microscope.
After Robin saw the obvious mark of Slade on her back, the infamous zigzagging 'S' glimmering a steel silver, he freaked, as expected. When the others arrived to see what all the noise was about, Robin simply pointed at Raven as if she were some kind of creature.
Even though it was her back that was aching and throbbing as if it were burning her flesh, the Titans were more concerned with the symbol instead of its effects.
"Guys…guys!" she yelled, trying to get their attention while she lay uncomfortably on her belly for the longest time. "I need to get up."
"Rae, we're still not sure…" countered Cyborg, scraping a skin particle from her as he spoke.
"Now."
Instead of enduring the wrath of the witch, they gave her a foot of space and she pleasantly, or rather unpleasantly, groaned her way up to a seated position. They had been sampling and observing the new markings for more than several hours, and she needed a break.
Awkwardly pushing her severed hospital gown into a place where no one would be able to get a free glimpse, she raised a serious brow at her frazzled teammates.
Starfire kept her eyes low and tried to blend in, Cyborg remained at the scanners switching new materials in and out of testing, Beast Boy, for once, wasn't speaking or cracking any jokes but simply sat asleep in a chair, and Robin…
Well, he was there, but not really. He kept close to Cyborg, having to be involved in anything Slade-related; however, she could sense his mind was far away from any test tubes, beakers, or samples, but more on his anxiety over another teammate being subjected to the criminal's horror.
Surprisingly enough, though, they hadn't interrogated her about how she thought she obtained the strange tattoo, and simply threw themselves into chemistry and lab work in trying to resolve the situation.
Maybe they won't even ask…
"Raven," Robin spoke distantly. "Have any idea where you got this?"
I spoke too soon.
Sighing, her objective was now a total failure.
"No."
He came away from the busy Cyborg's side and stood stoically next to her, arms crossed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Obviously, he wasn't buying it, and she didn't expect him to. How could she tell him?
He nodded superficially, and went back to help the robot teen. That conversation was far from over, but she needed time to prepare herself. At some point, the truth would have to come out, it always did. It didn't stop her, though, from procrastination.
A loud buzz of a monitor interrupted her worries and the team, save Beast Boy, all peered at it, expecting it to reveal a magical cure to all their problems.
Slowly, a long sheet of paper exited a slit in the machine, to which Cyborg snatched it up, and carefully read the results.
Not speaking, he looked up and went across the room to a file that lay open- apparently, he had a connection in mind. Flipping through the analytical slips until he found the one he was looking for, he then compared the two notations.
After no breathing or shared glances, he peered up, dropping the heavy manila envelope as he did.
That's not good. She thought as the white sheets of tree collapsed upon the ground with an uncomfortable thud.
No one dared pick the thing up, but it did startle the green changeling awake.
"Hey! What the…?" he muttered loudly, drool hanging at the corner of his mouth.
When he saw the intensity and tension resonating through the room, he soon went quiet, his emerald eyes scanning the scattering of paper and the stiff stance of his usually jolly friend.
After what seemed like an eternity, Cyborg quickly turned to Robin and motioned for him to follow.
Although the moment was of upmost seriousness, Raven still rolled her eyes.
Their muffled voices were heard but not comprehended. Both were whispering at first, but after Cyborg dealt the bad news, Robin started yelling. Moments later, the door slammed open, making all three jump.
The boy wonder said nothing, he simply gave Raven a deep stare filled with hurt. Pushing his way lightly passed, Cyborg came into to explain what had happened, everyone should know.
Their shadows grew in length as they day went on, now they were twice the height of one another, all circled and clustered around her like beasts hiding in a forest where she was now intruding.
"What's goin' on?" Beast Boy squeaked.
Cyborg's mechanical fingers scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, but it was clear he would do most of the talking, their leader was dead set on being mute- his gloved hand still gripped the edge of the door with severity.
"Well…" the robotic teen began explaining, his gaze landing on her. "It's not good news."
"Please, any information would be most beneficial at this hour," comforted Starfire, motioning kindly for him to continue.
Nodding, he once again turned to the task at hand.
"I ran the components of the...the..." he paused. "...thing, and tried to find any matches to its basic molecular level," he said, losing Beast Boy already. "And there was nothing. There's nothing like it, not on Earth at least…"
"I do not understand," the scarlet-headed alien commented. "Does that mean I am to blame? I am not from this planet, after all."
"No, no," Cyborg assured, raising his hands in a peaceful manner. "But, that doesn't mean one of us isn't to blame necessarily…" he trailed off, rubbing his skull with more emphasis.
Sucking in a breath, she was ready to ask the question no one wanted to hear.
"Raven," the once silent leader broke in, all their faces immediately snapping up to meet his look of stone. "It's a direct match to the composition of your energy."
"Wait, does that mean…?" the changeling questioned.
"Whatever did this…"
"Whoever is more like it…" Robin grumbled under his breath, breaking Cyborg's train of thought, but she didn't need to hear the rest.
Breathing and living became exponentially more painful. The conclusion of this study was horrible and terrifying, but instead of face it head on, she turned her attention to a certain spiky-haired prick.
"What's your problem?" she hissed, not liking his attitude toward her ever since he came in. "You're acting like this was my fault."
Flicking his attention to her for a split second, she understood.
"No," she said, slightly shocked and definitely pissed. "You know it's my fault."
"I never said…"
"Didn't have to," she snapped.
This time, he wasn't going to let her tread all over him, not when it came to the protection of his team, not when it came to Slade.
"Well, what if it is?" he bristled back, his mask crumpling in a glare. "The evidence is concrete, how else could it have happened?"
"Oh I don't know, Robin," she said, her voice raising an octave from its usual monotone. "Maybe Slade…"
"Did what?" he cut in, the very mention of his eternal enemy enough to send him into a quiver of fury. "Somehow became a wizard? No, I don't think so."
"Well what do you think, fearless leader?" she sarcastically replied.
"I think you need to take a rest... a vacation. The longer- the better."
Going slack-jawed for the briefest of seconds, she stitched her lips back together in a menacing grimace. He was practically demoting her to sidekick, or worse…
"Just because you run this team…" she argued.
"Means that I can decide who's here and who's not," he finished, unplugging his hand from the side of the wood door and crossing it over the other tightly. "Raven, I'm only looking out for your best interest."
She had most certainly heard that one before.
"By benching me? Like that will help…"
"It will, trust me," the experience of haunted memories flashed quickly through his face.
They both gave one another long, hard stares, their spirits and selves waging war. Although her passion and deep emotions called for rebuttal, her reason and logic suggested that perhaps he was right.
He only asked of her the same thing she had asked of him so many times when Slade was added to the equation.
This was different. He wasn't after destroying her, hopefully, or cracking some hare-brained scheme just for the fun of it. This was serious and complex. His need of her seemed to be tribal and came to the basics of biology. Simple gender roles, and it was perhaps his most wicked plan yet.
As someone who expected mysteries of extreme ambiguity and contradicting, it was most unsettling to her. Regular villains were supposed to be after money or weapons or something like that. With the masked psychopath, everything was topsy turvy.
Slade wasn't a "normal" criminal.
The fact that he regressed to something so trivial is what really gave her goosebumps.
Finally, she nodded, the thought of the split-masked man throwing her off a cliff beginning to get under her skin. Signing her fate in blood and handing him the ribbon-tied parchment of treaty, she slumped her shoulders.
"Fine," she snipped, folding her arms in front of her chest petulantly. "I'll sit it out for a while."
The entire room exhaled in extreme relief. Now it could be certain their friend was safe from harm's way, well, at least until they figured out what Slade's angle was.
Unfortunately, his plan was already etched into her skin.