A/N: Thank you kindly for all the great reviews left so far. I really enjoy reading them, and it motivates me to write more!
His eyelids felt so heavy, as if weighted down by stones. He struggled to open them, and, upon failing, settled instead for cracking one open slightly. The harsh light of the Titans Tower infirmary greeted him unceremoniously, and he closed the eye again with a groan. Jumbled voices were heard faintly around him, speaking in low, urgent whispers. He struggled to pay attention long enough to understand the conversation. He hurt all over, from his toes to his pounding headache, as if he was hit by a truck. He vaguely remembered electricity wracking his body, and attributed that to the dull ache he felt. His brain began to wake up, and he tuned into the conversation around him.
"But why can we not just place her back in her metal computer bed? Surely she will return to the normalness then?" Starfire, he observed.
"We can't be sure that the Stasis chamber will work, Star," came Robin's voice, with a hint of defeat. "The magnitude of that explosion was in line with an EMP grenade. As a bioandroid, it could have done irreparable damage to her systems. Plugging her into the chamber could damage it, or worse, damage her further."
"We have to sit and wait, basically," spat Cyborg with distaste. The situation seemed to be placing an inordinate amount of stress on him, and it was obvious.
"The good news is, her body is responding to what I can heal physically," Raven added, in her usual monotone. "If...I mean, when she regains consciousness, we can have her run a systems check and see if it's safe to hook her in."
Were they talking about Tesla? They must be. He forced his eyes open a crack to try and see what was going on. The Titans stood gathered at the end of his infirmary bed, still discussing in soft voices. He felt a twinge of pain as he moved his neck to look around to the bed next to him. His fingers twitched, trying to reach out to the motionless form of Tesla in the next bed over. Wires ran from her to Cyborg's computers, depicting too many pieces of data on the screen to count. She was covered in half-healed burns on her exposed skin, including a long, thin slice on her cheek that looked like it might scar.
His hand found it's mark, coming to rest on hers. His chest felt tight as his fingers met her cold skin. Something was horribly, horribly wrong here. He cleared his throat, noticing the scratchy feeling in it for the first time.
Raven was there before he could start talking. She gently removed his hand from Tesla's, to which he weakly struggled against.
"Don't try to talk yet," the Empath said, and suddenly the white healing light filled his vision, and the chill soothed his throat and aching bones. He let out an unconscious sigh as she pulled away, feeling his strength returning to his tired muscles.
"Thanks, Raven," he mumbled hoarsely. He threw a glance back at Tesla, laying still in her bed.
"Tess is...fine," Robin said hesitantly. "Cyborg says her systems seem normal, but we can't be sure. How are you feeling?"
The weight on his chest lifted. At least she was stable. With a huff, he struggled to a sitting position. "I feel better, thanks to Raven," he said, with a weak smile. He turned his gaze up to his friends. "So, like...what happened?"
"After you leapt in to save Tesla, whatever was goin' on just...stopped," Cyborg said. "And then you and Tess came tumbling down to the ground and fainted. We rushed you guys back here, treated your wounds, and now we're just waitin', I guess."
"The explosion was similar to an Electomagnetic Pulse grenade, and seems to have knocked Tesla right out. You didn't fare much better, but at least you're…" Robin trailed off, regretting his word choice. "Well, you're the first awake, is all."
"We believe this is the memory that friend Tesla has found," Starfire said, drawing his attention to a jar in her hands. Inside the jar, a blue light danced hypnotically, loosing bolts occasionally. "After you fell, it floated to us. The memory followed us all the way from the city."
Beast Boy accepted the jar from her, feeling a tingle similar to when Tesla took his hand for them to fly. The memory twinkled at him mysteriously, almost daring him to play with it.
"So what do we do with it anyway?" He turned the jar over in his hands, peeking back over to Tesla. "Do we give it to her, or…?"
"We think it's be best if we wait until she wakes up," Robin said, removing the jar from his grasp and placing it on the table next to the bed.
Starfire brought up that Beast Boy must be hungry, and the others made efforts to change the subject. As they began to trickle out to cook, train, or meditate, he was certain they were hiding something from him. He spent the next couple of hours in relative silence, regarding the screen by Tesla's bed, trying to make sense of the data on the screen. He mustered up the courage to touch her again, curling his green fingers around hers. Her skin was still cold. He leaned in, and heard the faint th-thump of her heartbeat going inhumanly worry made his head spin. His limbs felt slow and useless. He shook the thoughts away, and focused instead on helping her. He even brought in some comic books to read to her while she slept.
The Titans filtered in and out, bringing food, condolences, and companionship. Starfire offered to watch her so he could rest more, but he declined, and so instead she sat with him, taking turns reading to their sleeping teammate. Starfire told stories of Tamaran, and past adventures of the Titans, before finally retreating to bed in the late evening, leaving them alone again.
Beast Boy checked the clock. 10:00pm. He yawned. He'd been watching over her for nearly six hours. One again he laced her fingers with his, noting her noticeably warmer skin and heightened heart rate. He supposed he shouldn't have worried, she was an incredibly complex bioandroid, not human. He laid his head down on his free arm, running his thumb over the back of her hand thoughtfully. He felt his eyelids give way and allowed himself to drop into a light sleep, hoping for the best when he wakes.
Systems check complete. Minor damage detected. No major damage detected. Tesla's brain did all the work as she stirred mentally. She recognized what she saw - - the white expanse she called the mindscape, for when her brain was active but not her body. Like a virtual world. It felt weird, like she was hacking herself. She greenlit a system repair and watched her data scan itself, sitting on a bench she conjured. She swished her hand every now and then, fixing, replacing, removing damage. The pulse had not hurt her much. She saw evidence that her physical form was scarred a bit, but that could be dealt with upon waking.
She glanced around, hoping to find a glimmer of the memory that had caused the malfunction. Or, more specifically, the memory's "companion". She shrugged. The other thing must still be "outside". She struggled to remember what her memory had been, as so summoned her files to pick through. After a little sorting, she found the new memory. Reliving the memory would be a good way to pass the debugging time anyway. She pulled the file out of the pile and stepped into the past.
She stepped into the training room, but could not see any of the usual training materials. In fact, the whole building was dark, and she couldn't sense any humans around her except - -
A gentle, familiar hand touched her shoulder and she turned to see the scientist's kind, dark eyes smiling back at her.
"Why am I awake?" she asked, confused.
"None of this will make sense right now, my child, so just listen and know that it will come together later." She nodded. He continued. " You will lose your memories. You will feel lost. You will wake up without me one day. Do not despair. This will be the first memory you recover, trust me. I will pair it with a friend that will ensure you find this first. Now listen closely."
The scientist gripped her shoulders tightly, his eyes fierce and serious. "Bad people are after you. They are after your powers, and after something that nobody else has, something hidden in your being, something only my research has made possible. I will not let them have you, X. You are my precious daughter, do not forget that. You will find me. After this memory, your new companion will help you find the others when the time is right. When all are found, you will find me. I have faith that this will happen."
"Father, I do not understand."
"I know. You do not need to understand now. This message is not for you as you are, but rather who you will be."
The scientist drew his hand over his heart, then placed it over hers.
"Remember the sunflowers," he said, his visage fading….
Tesla's eyes shot open, her heart pounding. She traced the room swiftly with her gaze, finally calming down when she realized she was in the infirmary in Titans Tower. She exhaled, suddenly becoming aware of the dull pain in her body and the weight on her hand. She didn't need to look rto know that Beast Boy was weighing down her hand. His snores were light but audible, almost soothing to her. It was early morning, just before the Titans usually woke, she noted. After a quick scan revealing she was repaired, and another revealing her physical form was well, she slipped her hand reluctantly from Beast Boy's grip and swung her legs down over the edge of the bed, sitting up. She glanced around the room, eyes settling on a jar with a little blue light bouncing off the walls. Her breath hitched. Her "father" had meant this. This was her new companion.
She slipped silently off the bed, padding gently over to the jar to observe the sprite. It sensed her approach and began to go wild, bolting left and right, nearly knocking the jar over with a small tinging sound. She picked the jar up off the counter, gingerly unscrewing the lid. The thing zipped out, whirled around her head, and buzzed at her. It seemed to say "Hello!".
She adjusted her sound receptors until the soundwaves made sense.
"Ella! Ella!" The thing squeaked. "Ella! Ella!"
"Hello, Hello!" she responded, her voice scrambled to it's frequency. It kept repeating itself, saying hello over and over. It seemed to have a limited vocabulary, so she turned her hearing receptors back to normal in time to comprehend Beast Boy's voice calling to her sleepily. The sprite bumped against her chest, prompting her to move her hand, and disappeared. She felt a warmth in her chest, and something clicked - - this thing was a part of her powers, living electricity. It had been separated when the memories were. So that means…
She held out her hand, focusing on the sprite in her mind, and to her surprise, it materialized in her hand again, shouting it's hellos again. With a thought, it tucked away again. She wondered if every memory would come with a new power.
"Mmm...Tess? Hello?" Beast Boy's sleepy voice rang out again. She turned around and returned to the bedside, where he picked his head up off his arms. The bags under his eyes did nothing to dampen the elated grin he wore. "Hey, you're awake!"
He stretched his legs, then his arms.
"Good morning, Garfield," She said, inclining her head and torso towards him slightly, almost bowing, in greeting. "It is very early for you to be awake. It is only just past dawn."
"Yeah, but I feel really rested for some reason." His eyes flicked to the empty jar behind her. "So you got your memory, huh? From the jar?"
"Oh, no, that was not the memory. I received the memory back when we initially found it." His blank stare prompted her to continue. She summoned the little sprite in her cupped palms. "This little guy is a part of my powers that had to be separated in order to scatter my memories. Living electricity. I'm vague on the details, but he will probably be very handy."
He watched in awe as the sprite bounced and tittered in a high-pitched tone ("Ella! Ella!" it squeaked, though only she could understand.)
"It seems he is only capable of saying 'hello', though," she noted, trying to hide her disappointment. She returned the sprite to it's resting place with a flick of her fingers.
"You were hoping he had some answers for you?" Beast Boy trained his gaze on her, right as always. He was observant, to say the least. She nodded. "Well, at least you got a piece of the puzzle back, right?"
She smiled brightly at him. Yes, it did feel good to have a new memory, even if it was cryptic as could be. She turned slightly as her auditory sensors (Ears?) picked up the sound of the door opening. Robin entered, a friendly smile decorating his usually scowling face.
"I thought I heard voices in here," he said pleasantly. "Good to see you awake, Tesla. How are you feeling?"
"Functioning at full capacity, thank you," she responded, bobbing her head slightly in affirmation.
"Glad to hear it. The others are waking up, and Cyborg is making breakfast. When you guys are ready, let's meet in the living room to debrief?" It sounded like a question, but she sensed it was probably more of an indirect order. She responded in the positive, and Beast Boy nodded as well. After he left, she wondered exactly how long the debriefing would take, and how much she wanted to tell the Titans.
"So, this little dude right here is a living ball of electricity you created?" Cyborg was, for a lack of a better word, petting the little sprite while it chittered happily. During Tesla's explanation, it had taken its time flitting back and forth, greeting each Titans excitedly. Tesla responded positively, and they began to talk about details. Beast Boy couldn't follow at all, his brain had long since turned to mush from all the Tech-talk going on.
He turned his gaze towards the rest of the Titans. Robin was reviewing his notes about the memory Tesla revealed, convinced there was some hidden code in the scientist's words. Starfire was waiting patiently for her chance to speak with Tesla, content with sitting quietly until she was done. Raven was sitting in silence next to Beast Boy, an indiscernible blank look on her face. She seemed to notice Beast Boy's gaze, matching it with her own. He wondered what she thought of all this. She had made much of a comment or acknowledgement of Tesla or her situation at all, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
"What?" She asked, using her usual monotone.
"What do you think about Tesla?" He asked bluntly. He wanted answers, and she wouldn't answer him straight if he didn't ask her straight.
"I think nothing of her," Raven answered, just as bluntly. She rose to her feet. "I haven't known her long enough to have an opinion, anyway. She seems alright, but so did…" He knew she wanted to say Terra, but she had apparently thought better of it. "People aren't always what they seem, so I'm cautious. That's all."
She punctuated her sentence with her exit, slipping quietly out of the living room. Beast Boy's eyebrows knit together with frustration. It wasn't like Raven wasn't right, but…
He felt a tiny jolt, making him jump like a frightened cat. He whipped his head around to face the sprite accusingly. It tittered at him, seemingly laughing.
"I think that it likes you," Tesla said, waving her hand. The sprite disappeared. She took the seat vacated by Raven. "You seem distressed."
"Oh, uh, I'm just still a little sore is all. I guess I don't heal as fast as you," he said, plastering a grin on his face. He didn't want her to know that he still had doubts about her. It made him feel awful to know he didn't completely trust her, but after Terra...well, there was a lot of reasons why. He was still wondering what he would do if she turned out to be evil when she regained all of her memories.
"I'm sorry, Garfield. You only got hurt because I was too weak to take my memory without damage."
"Nah, don't blame yourself. I'll be okay in a day or two, and what was I supposed to do? Leave you to die? I don't exactly roll that way."
"I see. You value my life above your own?" Well, that wasn't entirely what he'd meant. "Or, perhaps, that this is one of those 'what friends are for' situations?"
"Ah, BINGO! We're here to help and protect you. We'd be pretty bad friends if we let you be tortured and didn't lift a finger to help."
She regarded him with an inquisitive look, and he wondered what she was thinking, what the inside of Tesla's head looked like. Her amethyst eyes hid something he wasn't sure he could ever understand. He noticed a faint brushing of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Had she always had those? He felt a blush spreading on his face as he realized he had gone from not trusting her to thinking she was cute in a matter of seconds. He turned away from her, not sure what to say to her at the moment.
"Am I interrupting somethin' here?" Cyborg's voice startled him. He'd forgotten they weren't alone in the room, and he sheepishly grinned at his best friend.
"Ah, no, no, we were just talking."
"Really? 'Cause to me it just looked like you two staring at each other silently."
"I will retire now, if that is alright with you all," Tesla said suddenly. They turned to look at her, and Robin looked up from his notes. "I need some time in my chamber to resume completely normal function, and I'd like to meditate on the memory I've recovered. I will only be a couple of hours."
"Sure thing, Tesla," Robin said tentatively. He seemed like he really wanted her to stay, but probably just so they could go over notes.
"Thank you all." She bowed slightly in regard, and exited the room. The remaining Titans watched her leave in combined silence, broken only by the largest Titan clearing his throat.
"Anyone else notice she's suddenly bowing all the time?" Cyborg asked.
"Yes, I too thought that was the weird. She has never regarded us with such formality before," Starfire agreed, hovering contemplatively next to Robin.
"I wonder if that's something to do with her new memory," Robin said, more to himself than anyone else. He scribbled something in his notes. "And why does the scientist keep calling her his daughter? What's the significance of sunflowers? And who is after her? It would have been much safer if he'd just told her who." Robin sighed, and flipped his notebook closed. He sounded exasperated, but looked excited. "I'm going to pack it in for a couple of hours, too, to work on these notes. Maybe we can find a clue about her next memory in here!"
Before anyone could respond, the Boy Wonder was leaping over the back of the couch, and exited the room himself, muttering. Starfire trailed after him without a word. Beast Boy was once again left alone with his- -
"Soooooo, BB…" Beast Boy regarded the metal Titan with surprise again. He didn't know why he kept forgetting he was there.
"So, Cyborg?" He tried. Cyborg's grin turned into a gigantic, teasing smile, and with horror, Beast Boy realized exactly what was happening. He scrambled to get away before the larger Titan caught his collar.
"Where do you think you're going, pipsqueak? You still gotta tell me aaaaaaaall about your date!"
A/N: I'm trying to get some other interactions with the titans in there, I hope it's working. Let me know your feedback. Words-wise, this chapter was much longer than the others, as well.
Please review!