A/N: I wrestled with this chapter because I felt it brings us farther into the story than I really wanted, but I couldn't see any other way to continue without filler. So, here it is! Enjoy!
Metropolis.
Tesla stared out the window of the Hall of Justice, observing the impossibly tall buildings, like something from a movie. She felt like she had been holding her breath the entire flight there, nestled in the guest seat of Beast Boy's section, glancing nervously out the window. This was where the Daily Planet newspaper building was - - the building from the memory of the scientist's daughter.
Robin's plan was to meet up with the Justice League here to cover more ground in the investigation. When he had contacted Batman, the masked vigilante had not been surprised in the least to hear about their new member; they didn't call him the world's greatest detective for nothing, after all. He reviewed the pictures, and what she could provide of the memory, and had suggested they meet up in the hall of Justice to discuss with Superman, as Metropolis was his turf and he probably knew most about it. She figured Batman was probably just being polite, as his deduction skills were obviously sufficient, but she chose not to say anything.
Now she sat in what seemed like an examination room, where she was being monitored and tested, much to Beast Boy's chagrin. The Justice League wanted to be thorough, and while the Titans had some pretty nice tech, she understood that it wasn't near the level of theirs. She currently was waiting for the next scientist to come in, their forensic specialist apparently. The view out the window had proven interesting, no matter how long she spent looking at it, so she didn't mind. She did wish that they had allowed the Titans in the room, as she felt uncomfortable without familiar faces around, but she supposed logically it was best to leave out anything that might cause abnormalities in her tests. Her eyes shifted to the large monitor that displayed her results so far. Though heavily encrypted, she was able to hack it easily. She had a feeling they had allowed her to do it, as the rest of the computer network in the Hall of Justice was completely beyond her comprehension.
Subject displays most advanced biotechnology recorded to date.
Subject displays high capacity for humanlike emotions and attachments, at least in terms of the Titans with which she is accustomed and on friendly terms.
Subject displays capacity to wield and control electromagnetic fields, including living electricity known currently as "Sprite".
Subject displays little to no memory of creation, contributing parties to creation, or any relevant information.
Subject displays inability to access repressed memories, as well as inability to locate scattered memories.
She rolled her eyes, turning her gaze back to the fathomless cityscape in front of her. The scientists here didn't seem to know anything more than she did. What a waste of time. The people on the street began to scurry as the clouds above began to weep, casting a light rain over the bustling city. She hadn't experienced rain yet, and so longed for the testing to be over in time to go play in it. By the time the door slid open behind her, her nose was practically through the window. The noise made her jump a bit, slamming her nose into the glass.
She turned sheepishly towards the door, rubbing her bruised nose. She was met with an amused redheaded man, wearing a crooked smile.
"That was unfortunate," the man said, blue eyes glinting with humour. "You alright?"
She nodded for her response, feeling strangely shy. The man didn't wear a lab coat, but rather a modest red sweatshirt and jeans, and held a clipboard in his hands as expertly as any other doctor.
"Don't look so shy, I'm a member of the Justice League. They said it was okay to come out of costume for you, so I figured this was most comfortable. I'm Barry, it's nice to meet you, Tesla." He placed the clipboard on the examination table and walked over to the computer monitor. "I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say they haven't found any juicy details you didn't already know, right? Well, being thorough doesn't always mean we'll find anything new I suppose." His blue eyes turned to regard her momentarily, and then back to the screen. "You know they're desperate for answers when they call me in. Even though I'm a forensic scientist, everyone knows that Batman's the real detective here."
She didn't respond. For some reason, she felt tongue-tied in this man's presence. A real member of the Justice League was standing right in front of her, and she didn't even know which one! He asked her to sit, which she did a little too eagerly. Embarrassment marked her cheeks as he chuckled at her. He asked her some basic questions, nothing new, and for descriptions of her memories. He jotted some things down on her chart.
"If you don't mind too much, I'd like to examine you a bit more closely. Your human appearance is remarkable, so I'd need to get a little closer to see the, er, hardware, I suppose you'd call it."
She nodded in affirmation, extending her hands to him upon prompting so he could examine her visual emitters. As his hands closed around her wrists, something changed.
She became rigid, like stone, frozen by a strong sense of fear. Goosebumps appeared rapidly on her skin, dread welled up in the pit of her stomach, and she felt as if invisible flames were licking her body. Her panicked face met the concerned cerulean eyes of the man in front of her, and in the next instant everything was black.
Beast Boy sat impatiently in the hallway outside the infirmary. He'd seen many doctors come and go, but they all denied his request to see Tesla, stating that her testing was not to be interrupted. Robin only confirmed what the scientists and doctors all said, leaving him pretty perturbed and moody.
Starfire had been diligently with him the whole time, whereas the others had all wandered off to explore-Raven to the legendary library held on the third floor, Cyborg to the kitchen, and Robin to assumedly rub elbows with the Justice League. Starfire had fallen asleep after the first couple of hours waiting, but Beast Boy couldn't shake this feeling he had that something felt wrong. He was still upset that Robin had involved the Justice League without consulting anyone else first, and the repeated refusal of visitation over the hours made him hardly quelled his uneasiness. Something might be terribly wrong and he was being left completely in the dark!
His emerald eyes glared daggers into the metal door again, for the millionth time. It had only been a few minutes since he'd seen the Flash go inside in plain clothes, and he hadn't been able to make out any kind of noise coming from inside that might be worrisome.
He groaned, sinking down into his chair. He was probably worrying too much. Of all the Justice League members, he probably had the least to worry about with the Flash. And it's not like there had been any indication that they thought she was dangerous or something. Maybe he should relax and go for a walk himself, if only to get away from Starfire's awful snoring.
He stood, stretching his whole body as he did so. His joints whined in protest, having been stationary for the better part of the day. He swung his arms around a few times until he heard and felt a soft pop in his lower back. Much better.
As he started to step forward, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his animal instincts began going wild. He whirled around to face the door as a piercing, prolonged scream shook the Hall of Justice, followed quickly by the panicked shouting of the Justice League resident speedster calling for help.
The sliding iron door stood no chance as Beast Boy's gorilla arms and Starfire's starbolts blasted it off its hinges, giving way to the worried Titans' fury immediately.
Tesla was floating over the examination table, wrists held securely by the Flash's strong grip. Her eyes glowed white and electricity was crackling from them. The scream was more of a digital high-pitched whistle now, at a frequency Beast Boy wasn't sure anyone else but him could hear. Flash was shouting that he couldn't move, and he didn't know what had happened, but Beast Boy couldn't barely hear him over the whistle and his own heartbeat.
Starfire was quicker to react, flying forward and yanking their friend from the speedster's grip, releasing him from whatever force had been holding them together. She landed agilely on the ground as the sharp whistle cut short, leaving a silence almost as deafening and cradling the technopath in her arms. Beast Boy could hear the other Titans and some Justice League members filing in with a clatter as he slid himself over to Tesla. He gripped her shoulders, pulling her head slightly off of its resting place on Starfire's lap. The electricity faded, and her eyes returned to their normal violet hue, though unfocused and dull. She managed to blink before her eyelids closed, and he felt the sense of urgency fade from her body as she began to breathe regularly.
"What happened here?" Robin's voice came from behind him, anger lacing his words, his phrase directed at Flash.
"I really don't know, one second I was performing a routine examination and the next she went catatonic; I couldn't even move a muscle of my own body until Starfire separated us." Beast Boy caught the panicked, grateful look on the man's face and ruled out foul play.
He felt Tesla's hand tighten around his bicep and quickly turned his attention back to her. Her eyes were glowing again, purple this time. She was speaking to him, but he didn't recognize the words.
"Wait, Tess, slow down, I don't understand you," he pleaded, gripping her upper arms as she spoke unaltered.
"Wait, Beast Boy, she's not speaking english," Raven said, coming forward from her spot by the door. "It sounds like Spanish, or maybe portuguese. I...I can't tell, but it's Latin-based."
"That sounds like Esparanto," came the gruff voice of Batman from behind. The other onlookers moved aside as he approached, and Beast Boy shrunk a little into himself as the detective knelt down next to them. "Now it's romanian...and italian...She's switching between tongues quickly. Something seems to be going on but she's unable to communicate it."
The vigilante pulled a device out of his pocket and began fiddling with some dials. Beast Boy barely recognized it as a universal translator, something Robin often carried with him as well. There was a whine as the device came on, and then white noise. Suddenly there was the sound of a computer voice translating as Tesla cycled through languages:
"Daily Planet front page headline...Justice League saves the day...Superman aids city once again...Metropolis Academy for Technology saved from destruction...zero deaths in enemy plot against local school...Flash saves valedictorian incumbent from certain death...Daily Planet front page headline...Justice League saves the day...Superman aids city once again...Metropolis Academy for Technology saved from destruction...zero deaths in enemy plot against local school...Flash saves valedictorian incumbent from certain death...Daily Planet front page headline...Justice League saves the day...Superman aids city once again...Metropolis Academy for Technology saved from destruction...zero deaths in enemy plot against local school...Flash saves valedictorian incumbent from certain death…"
"I think she's repeating these phrases in different languages," Cyborg said from the examination table. "She must be experiencing a vision of some sort and is unable to access proper communication protocols."
"Wait, I remember that headline," the Flash said, standing up with a wince. "It was about three years ago, when Superman was dealing with a Darkseid threat. The JLU pitched in to help with the smaller things in the city so he could deal with Darkseid, and I saved a teenage girl from a burning science building. I distinctly remember that she was a huge fan of me, because when she came to, she screamed and fainted again."
"I think I recall that incident, but I wasn't able to leave Gotham to help," Batman added, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the sound of Tesla speaking Cantonese. "Perhaps the JLU database has information on the case, and the girl."
Beast Boy adjusted his grip so that Tesla was leaning more on him, and began to tune out the rest of the conversation. The way they were talking didn't sit well with him, it made it seem like she was just an encrypted file to be decoded instead of a person with feelings who was probably terrified right now. He brushed her cyan curls out of her face and watched her eyes begin to blink as her speech slowed down, finally trailing off in swahili. She sighed as she let her head fall onto his chest, resuming normal breathing once again.
The translator continued, ignored.
"Daily Planet front page headline...Justice League saves the day…"
"Daily Planet front page headline...Justice League saves the day...Superman aids city once again...Metropolis Academy for Technology saved from destruction...zero deaths in enemy plot against local school...Flash saves valedictorian incumbent from certain death."
Tesla sat in the mindscape, watching the words flash across the white landscape repeatedly. She could see the door to the memory, but she didn't want to look at it. The feeling of dread was still wracking her bones, and she knew something monumental was behind the door. The feeling in her joints told her that her life was about to change for good.
She didn't exactly sense any evil from the door, just a sense of change, and a sense that it was a traumatic memory. She felt disconnected from it, so it might be another that wasn't really hers. She turned her head slightly, feeling the door watching her, hesitating.
No more time, she couldn't wait any longer.
She steeled herself, focused her energy, and turned towards the door.
The door beckoned with hands of fire, and she walked toward the flames.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, things are starting to pick up! Please review, it really helps to motivate me if I know people are enjoying the content. See you next time!
Thank you so much for reading!