Chapter ten: Crystalize

Beastboy was awakened by a wet towel connecting sharply with the side of his face.

"Oww, dude! What the heck?!" he exclaimed rising into a sitting position and rubbing his face. It was at this point he noticed the Batman standing directly over him, head framed in the halo from a ceiling light behind him.

Beastboy's eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open, in complete shock. "You…you're b-b-Batman." He stammered pointing a green finger up at the cloaked hero.

"Indeed and you are Beastboy, correct?"

"Y-yes…sir."

Batman motioned for him to follow him, before turning and walking out of the now open cell door. Oddly enough, he was looking forward to interrogating the green titan. His unique battle with the changeling had been interesting to say the least and he was strangely curious to know more about the teen and his abilities. Of course it helped that for the first time ever, Catwoman had shown her feline face two nights in a row and mere hours ago, he had been removing her leather costume in preparation for an encore performance. Batman shook a pleased look from his face.

It took a second for the stunned Beastboy to recover from his shock. He jumped up, or at least tried to; his legs gave way beneath him and he fell back to the ground with a sharp groan. Rising more carefully, he hobbled to the edge of the cell and stepped out of it wincing and looked around. The cube was located in a roughly hewn cavity in the solid rock with a single passageway carved out of the stone running away from the prison.

Beastboy noticed a pair of crutches leaning against the side of the reinforced prison cell and grabbed them gratefully before staggering down the corridor after the vanished Batman. His white hospital gown fluttered behind him as he hopped down the passageway, trying to make sense of what was going on. 'Wait a minute, does this mean I'm in the- Oh my God…'

The passage ended abruptly and Beastboy was greeted with an incredible view of the most infamous cave in the world. His eyes bugged out as he took in the huge supercomputer on the main floor, the decked out training area next to him and in the distance, he nearly fell over, a circular disk bearing the weights of all the bat vehicles. The only enclosed space he saw was a low metal structure, the front of which was smashed open.

Barely breathing, he limped forwards, mouth open at the overwhelming sight. He turned a full circle, "Awesome," he breathed. A firm cough came from his right. Turning, he saw the Batman himself in standing next to what appeared to be the kitchen. He was holding two black mugs and obviously meant for him to join him.

Extremely nervous and trying not to sweat, Beastboy shambled forward as Batman took a seat at the table and pushed the chair opposite him out with his legs. With anyone else it would have been an invitation to sit. With him, it was an order. Beastboy obeyed, leaning his crutches against the table and painfully sitting down.

"Rule one," Batman spoke without preamble, "You do exactly what I say when I say it. Understood?"

Though taken aback and having no idea what was going on, Beastboy possessed enough sense to nod solidly.

"Rule two – You do not touch the computer, vehicles, lab, shooting range or anything else you have even the smallest amount of doubt over operating. Understood?"

Beastboy had heard similar rules many times before. He had not always followed them, but felt it would wise to in this case. He nodded again.

"Rule three – You do not go through any doors, unless it's to the bathroom or medical bay. Understood?

Beastboy felt it best to simply nod again.

"Any questions?"

Beastboy resisted the urge to raise his hand and was about to blurt out 'Yeah, what the hell's going on?' but realised he was in the presence of the one and only Batman. He cast his mind back to the way he had spoken to his old boss Mento and decided that would have to be an adequate way to talk to the Dark Knight in front of him. "Yes," he said, "What's going on…sir?"

Batman began speaking immediately as though he had known the question was coming. "It's 12 pm on the 13th of September. Early yesterday morning you were observed falling from the sky just outside of Gotham city. You were taken back here were you received medical attention. Approximately five hours later, you underwent a transformation and broke out of the medical bay as you can see."

Beastboy followed Batman's head nod the partially wrecked bungalow type structure he had noticed earlier. His confusion turned to a dreading understanding. "I did that?" he breathed in disbelief. Batman carried on.

"Immediately after, you attacked me." Batman stopped to judge the green titans reaction. He tensed rigidly, mouth open and eyes bugging. Batman had suspected he wouldn't remember much of his time as, as Robin had called him, the Changeling. However he had not expected complete and utter amnesia of the event, which was clearly what Beastboy was exhibiting now.

"I," whimpered Beastboy not realising he was pointing at himself, "attacked… you?" He said reverently. There was no reaction from batman who disliked repeating himself. "No wonder I hurt so much," Added Beastboy, chuckling weakly; his natural comedic side coming through, even under the circumstances.

"You eventually passed out from a tranquiliser that was administered to you, after which you were placed in the cell you woke up in. You've been unconscious and on an IV drip for the past 24 hours. During that time, I contacted Robin. We agreed that you would recover here for a few days before your team collects you, thus the rules."

Beastboy was still too stunned by the revelation of his attack on THE BATMAN to respond much. He decided to put his extraordinary apologising skills, honed by six years with Raven, to good use.

"I-I'm really sorry for a-attacking y-you," he stuttered, mouth dry "and destroying your hospital." He added for good measure. Batman stared back at him and he desperately tried to keep his bowels from moving.

"That's not poisoned, you know." He simply responded, ignoring the question.

Beastboy looked down, confused to find a mug in front of him. Eager to please/pacify, he picked it up, sniffing it before bringing it to his lips. Batman raised an eyebrow, barely visible under his mask and Beastboy realised what he had done. "Sorry, sorry! Nothing but a habit, I swear! It's not that I don't trust you or anything or am afraid of a very painful punishment for wrecking your-"

"Where did you pick that up?" Batman inquired, cutting his rambling off.

The boy before him did not seem the type to check all food given to him for poison.

Embarrassed, Beastboy replied hesitantly, well aware that the hero in front of him would see through any flimsy excuse, "Ehh… it was just a reflex drilled into me a long time ago; I never really stopped doing it."

Intrigued, Batman stored that little nugget of information away for later. He had been unable to uncover any of the shapeshifter's past before the titans, but then he hadn't had time to conduct a thorough search.

Beastboy sniffed again, a thoughtful look on his face and Batman immediately paid attention. There was no need for him to smell the beverage twice, one inhalation more than enough to identify it was nothing more than hot chocolate. The only other explanation was that he recognised some other scent and was trying to place it, judging from his expression.

Batman watched intensely as a number of emotions crossed Beastboy's face. First deep concentration as he smelled again, not the drink this time but the air. Next a moment of satisfaction as he found what he was looking for, immediately followed by extreme confusion.

Then realisation.

This then slowly changed to full on terror as his eyes slowly moved from the mug to Batman. The Dark Knight realised only one explanation fit all the evidence.

He narrowed his eyes at Beastboy, who almost fell off his chair. Steadying himself, he forcibly relaxed his face resulting in a hideous expression while his eyes still screamed with alarm.

"What did you just recognise?' Batman asked slowly.

Beastboy's adams apple bounced as he swallowed, "I don't know what you're talking abo- He spluttered.

"What did you just recognise?" The hard voice demanded again.

Beastboy yelped before answering the quietest voice he had ever used. "I think I j-just found out who y-you are." He managed to peep out, slowly flinching away from the Dark Knight as if he expected an immediate physical punishment.

Batman hadn't moved, keeping the same body and face position as before. Without the slightest change in his voice he said, "Take a deep breath and explain."

Beastboy did as he was told and breathed deeply in before exhaling violently. Then he looked down and addressed his mug.

"T-this isn't my first time in Gotham. When I was… out of work I ended up here and holed up for a few months. It was easy to stay out of sight and find food. One night I was flying over the city and saw something was happening at the big ballroom near the city centre. Big events in places like that usually meant food so I snuck in as a fly.

"The event going on was a fundraiser for The-" He stopped and glanced up at Batman. He gave no response. Beastboy again focused on the cup in front of him and continued. "The W-Wayne Foundation. After I had snuck some of the food out from the buffet table, I noticed a fight going on. I watched it and noticed one of the people involved was Bru-the owner of the foundation. I was interested and went to get a closer look as a mouse." Beastboy chanced a look up at the terrifying figure in front of him. The intense look he received sent his eyes right back down to his mug and he continued.

"I remember noting that there was something odd about the man. He was acting drunk but I couldn't smell any alcohol coming off him. That's why he stuck in my mind and I remember his scent so well…" Beastboy trailed off, hoping the still unmoving batman before him would catch on.

Batman had suspected Beastboy had recognised his scent since he sniffed the air the second time. Usually, he wore an odour erasing deodorant in case he ran into Killer Croc or some other villain, or indeed hero that would be able to identify his scent. Batman quickly realised that his earlier session with Catwoman had caused him to sweat copiously and that the very act of love making had released pheromones bearing his unique scent signature in several glands. The combined effect had overpowered his cover up fragrance and revealed his own, allowing Beastboy to identify it.

Batman frowned beneath his cowl. The worst part was that there was no way of dissuading Beastboy from his discovery. People who recognised his voice could be convinced they had heard wrong. The same went for those who had caught a glimpse of his face. But a hero who had trusted and relied on his nose his entire life wasn't going to be swayed that easily. Batman could see it on his fearful face now. There was no deceit there. He had told the entire truth, Batman had detected no change in the fluctuations in his radial artery, nor had he displayed any micro-expressions indicating lying. Additionally, he had described Bruce's standard party exit perfectly.

There was no doubt.

Batman rose from the table quickly, time was on his side. Beastboy wasn't going anywhere. "We'll talk later."

Beastboy watched, mouth open, as the Caped Crusader walked towards one of the exits a red beam projecting from above the doorframe scanning him as he approached.

"Batgirl should be down later." He threw over his shoulder as he disappeared behind the door with a swishing of his cape.

Beastboy's mouth dropped, impossibly, even lower as he mouthed,

'Batgirl?'

Dun, Dun, Duuuu!

Not entirely happy with this chapter as it's a big moment in the story and I'm not sure I captured it very well. Comments and criticisms appreciated, welcomed and wanted.

I'm now officially back to work, so I'm afraid updates will be less frequent. However, I shall endeavour to work on!

Review Responses:
EX3451 – This story is going to revolve around the titans. Beastboy may be the main character in this story but I'm definitely not going to be forgetting about the rest of the titans. In fact, quite a lot of upcoming work planned will deal with the titans and how they respond to the situation.

Shugokage – I appreciate it!

Tsk91 – I thought so :)

FF8Cerberus – Hmm, I'll have to work this out carefully. Thanks for that.

WholocksAndPonies – ROAR

MarsTwilight – Cheers.

Iamking – Does the 'king' in your name come from the tekken character? And yes, I do get it. In Raven's words, 'You're a genius.' :)

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you had a pleasant Easter and got more eggs than I did which isn't difficult as I got zero. Damn, I feel old.
Later,
CJB