…

*Gasp!*

Adam sat up straight in the bed.

The view showed the dark Infirmary room. The night sky glittered outside the windows. He still had a bandage wrapped around part of his head. Adam gripped his head and groaned. "Ow…"

"Hey man."

Cyborg entered the view. He held a tray in his hands. "You feeling better now?" He asked.

Adam looked to Cyborg, then nodded his head. "Just a small headache." He said.

Cyborg set the tray down in Adam's lap. A small meal was on it.

"What happened?" Adam asked. Then he groaned in pain and held the side of his head again.

"Starfire hit you pretty hard in the head man. You're lucky you have one thick skull, otherwise, you'd have a much worse headache now." Cyborg replied with a smirk.

Adam chuckled. "I might have gotten that comment before. I can't remember though." He said. He grabbed the spoon off the tray, then he started to eat the oatmeal looking thing in his bowl. There was silence for a moment as Adam ate.

"So did you want to tell me what that was all about earlier?" Cyborg asked.

Adam looked up curiously. "About what?" Adam asked.

"Oh, you know, when I had to inject you with a tranquilizer to calm you down," Cyborg said nonchalantly.

Adam blinked in surprise. "Wait, you had to what-" Then it was like a light shined in his head.

"Worthless." He muttered to himself. He suddenly looked more depressed, and he set the spoon back down. "I guess that's all I am."

Cyborg's smirk dropped. "Hey, I didn't say anything like that man-" Cyborg was saying.

"No. It's fine." Adam interrupted. "I'm just having… bad memories is all." Adam finished.

Cyborg sat back down in a chair. "Would you feel comfortable talking about it, Adam?" Cyborg asked.

Adam shook his head and pushed the tray away. "No. I'd rather not." He said.

Cyborg nodded. "Okay. Just know that we all care about you man." He said as he took the tray off of Adam.

Adam rolled over. He didn't say another word.

Cyborg sighed to himself and looked down at the tray. Before looking back at Adam. "Man, if he has amnesia, I wonder what the hell he saw that made him depressed like this." He said under his breath before he walked away to a computer.

…

Though Adam was rolled over, his eyes weren't closed. He still looked depressed. "A worthless retard… was that all I was before this?…" He muttered to himself quietly.

The scene faded to the morning. The sunlight was filtering in through the Infirmary windows.

Yawn!

Cyborg yawned in his chair next to the charging station in the Infirmary. He unplugged himself and started to stretch out his neck. He opened his eye.

His eye widened. "Huh?" He said in surprise.

The view showed an empty Infirmary bed in front of him. Cyborg got up and looked around the Infirmary. He was the only person in there.

"Yo, now I did not just sleep in a chair all night to wake up to an empty bed!" Cyborg said angrily.

Boom… Boom…

The sound of small explosions was heard. Cyborg turned to the window in surprise. Smoke was rising up behind the Tower. He walked up to it and looked down.

"Um… is he doing what I think he's doing?" Cyborg asked quizzically.

The view moved down to the ground.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Adam didn't have the bandage wrapped around his head anymore. And he was summoning spear after spear. Chucking them at the different dummies that appeared running from the ground. All of them had big red X's painted on their foreheads.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each successful hit blew up a dummy. It wasn't the spears doing it, but rather the setting Adam had placed on the course's dummies.

Adam switched out the spear quickly for a bow.

Twang! Boom! Twang! Boom! Twang! Boom!

Arrows flew through the air, hitting the many different moving dummies. The view showed a close up of Adam's calm, angry face.

Finally, only one last dummy came out of the ground. Adam's bow disappeared, and a sword appeared in his hands. He pulled his arm back and watched the dummy target move quickly across the ground away from him.

He threw his sword, spinning it end over end.

Thunk! Boom!

The sword sank into the chest of the dummy, blowing it up.

Adam stood in his spot, panting from the exertion. A scoresheet appeared virtually in the air next to him, showing a 100% on targets hit. A 77% on his accuracy. And 10:32 for the time it took to destroy three hundred dummies.

Adam turned and walked past the virtual scoresheet back towards the Tower. The view showed Cyborg sweatdrop behind the window.

"Something tells me I'm going to have to order more dummies," Cyborg said to himself, an anime sweatdrop rolling down his forehead. "And that Adam's going to be unapproachable for a while."

The scene switched to show the Common Room screen.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Two robots were battling it out on the TV. A black one and a white one. So far they looked even.

The view showed Adam sitting on the couch. He was blankly looking up at the screen as his fingers moved on the controller in his hands.

Robin's face appeared from behind the couch anime style, a large question mark above his head while he looked confusedly at the screen. Adam was playing all by himself, facing a bot set to its hardest setting.

Robin's face turned to normal, and the question mark disappeared. "Hey Adam, are you feeling okay?" Robin asked.

Adam nodded his head. "Yeah." He said. "Never better."

The view showed the white robot on the screen pick up the black one.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The white robot started to punch the black one in the face repeatedly while it was held up.

The view showed Robin again. "Are you sure?" Robin asked.

Adam's face was still blank. "Positive." He said dryly.

The white robot on the screen threw the black robot onto the ground.

Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!

The white robot jumped up and down on the black robot's face. When Robin looked closely, he saw the black robot had two red lines that looked like an X on its chest.

Robin sweatdropped. "Okay. Just making sure..." Robin said awkwardly, before walking away towards the sliding doors.

Boom!

The white robot on the screen picked up the black robot and threw it into the wall.

"Take that you little fetch! Who's the boss now!?" Adam yelled at the screen as he stood up triumphantly.

Robin sweatdropped, and left Adam to his anger at the game.

The view switched.

"Urgh!..."

Adam groaned underneath the squat bar. Beads of sweat were traveling down his face as he strained to get upright with the bar and all its weight on his shoulders.

He did get upright. He breathed in deeply and then strained as he squatted again.

Thmmm…

The doors to the training center slid open as Adam tried to get upright again. Starfire walked in with a medium-sized bowl in her hand.

"Friend Adam, I have made for you the pudding of forgiveness-" She was saying.

"Ah-" Slam!

Adam's right knee buckled, and he fell forward. The bar luckily landed on the safety bars above him.

"Stupid fetching mother of fetch!" Adam yelled in anger. He got up facing the bar.

"It's all your fetching fault I'm not getting fetching stronger! You could actually try to make it a little fetching easier on me! But no, you're just a fetching little fetch that loves to fetch around in fetching everything in my fetching life!" Adam yelled at the weight bar.

Little anime tears fell from the inanimate object onto the ground as Adam's voice became background buzzing. He continued to (cuss?) at the poor piece of metal. Dropping the word fetch like he was a one-eyed carpenter.

Starfire sweatdropped at the sight and turned back around. "I think friend Adam might not be feeling the well right now." She said to herself.

Thmmm.

She walked back out the sliding doors. "And your fetching mom was a fetching piece from a fetching snowblower! And your fetching dad was used to make a fetching bunch of fetching dirty nickels!"

It didn't appear that Adam had even noticed that Starfire had been in there.

The scene showed the T-Tower. The sun was high up in the middle of the sky. The day around looked beautiful.

The scene changed to the Common Room table. Showing Cyborg in his seat. The air above him was filled with a large dark cloud.

"Man is it just me, or has Adam been a little… off lately?" Cyborg asked quietly.

The view moved to show Robin sitting on the other side, holding a cup in his hands. The dark cloud was also over him. He frowned. "I don't think it's just you." He said back quietly before he looked over his shoulder.

The scene behind him showed Adam sitting criss-cross on the couch. He was looking down at the book in front of him. His back was to them. But it looked like he was at the epicenter of the dark ominous cloud filling the top half of the Common Room.

Robin looked back at the others sitting around the table. "Ever since the fight with Red X, he's been off," Robin said.

Starfire nodded. "Yes, it is almost like he is holding the grudge as you earthlings put it." She said.

The view showed Adam's back. He tensed up slightly on the couch.

"I don't know Star. When he first woke up a few days ago, he admitted that he had some pretty bad memories pop up in his mind. The fight might have brought up an old grudge or two from his past." Cyborg said.

"That, and the fight with Red X, wouldn't be a good combination for anyone," Raven said plainly.

Adam looked taut. None of the Titans were looking at him. Yet he could tell that they were talking about him.

"The problem is he won't talk about it to anyone," Cyborg said.

Robin nodded. "Yeah, I wish we could figure out what it was he saw so we could help-" Robin was saying.

"Will you all just shut up already!"

The Titans looked in surprise from the table. Adam was now standing and facing them. The book was gripped tightly closed in one hand.

"I already know I'm fetching messed up! I know I'm worthless to the team! But guess what?! I'm fine with that! So the last thing I need is my 'friends,' nitpicking into a life that I can't even remember! Just fetching shut up about it and leave me the fetch alone!" Adam yelled angrily.

Boom! Crack!

He stormed towards the sliding doors. The anime storm cloud thundered over his head and followed him out.

"Wait, friend Adam-" Starfire tried to say.

Thmmm.

Adam stormed out the doors. Grumbling angrily to himself.

The doors closed behind him.

The view went back to the surprised Titans at the table.

"Well. That was disastrous," Raven said dryly.

"Friend Adam… considers himself the worthless?" Starfire asked.

Robin looked to Beast Boy. "You want to try talking to him?" He asked.

"Um… why me?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin crossed his arms. "Because out of all of us, you're the least likely to be offended by anything he'll say out of anger." He reasoned.

"But he's also the one most likely to offend him." Raven dryly pointed out.

Beast Boy directed a light glare at the empath. "A "Take Raven out in public free" pass says you're wrong."

The other Titans looked at Raven, expecting her to flat out reject the proposal. Imagine their surprise when she lightly sighed. "Fine, if I'm right though, you have to do all my chores for a week." She said dryly back as if she didn't care whether it went one way or the other.

Beast Boy smiled widely. "Deal!" And with that, he turned and raced out of the room. "I'll do my best! But I won't promise anything!"

...

"Just try," Robin said, staring forlornly at the doors. The rest of the Titans stared as well, hoping their green friend could help Adam out.

The scene showed the bay in the evening light. The Golden Gate bridge was visible in the distance…

Ploop!

A rock fell into the water. Small ripples traveled out around the point of impact.

The view lowered a bit.

Adam sat on a large rock by the water. He didn't look as angry now as he did frustrated.

"Why can't they just understand?" He said quietly to himself. He picked up a flat rock next to him.

Ploop!

The flat rock sank down into the water after the second one. "Why can't I just be allowed to be angry about this?" Adam asked as he picked up another flat rock.

Ploop!

Again, the rock sank into the water when he attempted to skip it. Adam sighed to himself and put his head between his knees.

"This is fetching ridiculous." He said. "I'm just messed up…"

There was quiet for a moment.

Suddenly, a rock skipped five times across the surface of the water in front of him, before finally sinking into it. Adam looked up in surprise at the first skip and watched the rock across the rest of its short journey.

A second after the rock sank Beast Boy appeared. He sat down silently next to Adam. Not saying a word.

Adam glanced at him. Then he looked back at the water in front of him. There was still silence between them for a moment.

Finally, Adam sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to burst at you all there… I've just been a little angry lately. And I've been trying to get it out of my system." Adam said.

Beast Boy nodded. "Was it because of Red X Adam?" He asked.

Adam looked down at the bay. The view showed his reflection in the water. "Red X was very annoying… but it's more than that."

There was a pause. The reflection in the water looked younger by a couple of years. It was frowning, just like he was now. "I had… I heard a brief glimpse of my past..."

The view showed behind them from the side. Adam looked angrily up. "I only heard it though… And it was all so… so fetching horrible!" Adam yelled angrily.

Beast Boy didn't react. "I can't even imagine what my past self was like without getting depressed! It sounded like everyone thought of him as nothing but a loser! A weakling! A pathetic, worthless, retard!" A sword appeared in his hand for a second, before disappearing. "I don't understand why I can do this, and still have things like that said to me! Were they making fun of me for that!? Or was it something else I'm not aware of!? It's just so… so… urgh!" Adam growled at the end.

He stopped speaking.

Beast Boy nodded. "Hey, I can at least understand in part." He said. Adam looked at him. "I've had green skin and fangs and stuff since I was five. Do you think everyone I've met found it cool that I could turn into any animal?" He asked.

Adam looked a little surprised.

"Cy wasn't always a cyborg too you know. And Starfire doesn't come from this planet. Rae isn't even from this dimension. We've all gotten made fun of for being different from other people. Yet you don't see any of us complaining about it." Beast Boy said.

Adam pondered on it, then looked a little sad. "How did you guys learn to deal with anger when others made fun of you?" He honestly asked. Feeling terrible about being so self-centered on the topic.

Beast Boy shrugged. "I honestly don't know dude. Every time I get insulted now, I have a desire to unleash the Beast and maul whoever it is." He admitted.

Suddenly, Beast Boy morphed into the ten-foot tall Beast. Adam almost fell back into the bay in surprise. The Beast looked down at him, sniffed, then turned back into Beast Boy.

"A little warning next time!" Adam yelled, gripping his chest to make sure his heart was still beating properly.

Beast Boy laughed. "Sorry about that dude. Anger is a part of all of us. Some more than others." He said still chuckling. Then he became serious. "It's in either learning to control that rage, or letting it go that's allowed me and the other Titans to move forward."

Adam seemed puzzled, and then looked down at his lap. "So, you're saying I either have to control this anger I have inside me so it doesn't consume me… or I need to forgive those I can't even remember?" He asked.

"It won't be easy." Beast Boy continued. "But I can promise you that it works dude."

Adam stared at the water of the bay. Then he took a deep breath, and it was like watching a sack of bricks being taken off his back as he exhaled.

He looked to Beast Boy and finally smiled. "Did you mature in the last couple weeks dude? Cause I really needed to hear that." He joked.

Beast Boy morphed into a parrot. "Awk! Polly want a tofu!" He squawked.

Adam laughed, and Beast Boy turned back into himself. He was laughing too.

"Boys."

The two Titans looked, and Raven appeared. She rolled her eyes at them as she stopped in front of them. Both of them looked surprised by her appearance.

"I was just making sure he didn't say anything stupid is all," Raven admitted dryly. Looking at Beast Boy. "And unfortunately, he did at the end. Just when I thought he might actually have a brain in that head of his."

Adam started to laugh again, and Beast Boy looked offended. "Dude! Not cool!" He said angrily. "Besides, I won our bet!" He said happily before he started doing his victory dance. "Go Beast Boy! Go Beast Boy! Uh-huh! Oh yeah!"

The smallest smirk came onto Raven's face.

"Dude, your girlfriend really knows how to roast you!" Adam said through his laughter.

Beast Boy stopped his victory dance, and the two of them looked at him in shock. "Oh come on, you really don't think I didn't notice what happened on the roof a couple weeks ago? Or that I don't notice it every time you two sneak out of the Tower when no one is paying attention? You two are practically screaming relationship at this point." Adam said in between laughs.

"But, but I thought we were being careful…" Beast Boy said in a tight worried voice.

A dark clawed hand gripped Adam around his arms and chest, lifting him up into the air. He found himself gazing into the blood-red eyes of Raven's demonic side. "If you tell any of the other Titans about this then by Azar, I swear you will never see the light of day again!" Rage gutturally bellowed.

Adam paled in fear at the ominous threat and began nodding his head quickly. "Yes, got it, message received… please let me go." He squeaked out scaredly at the end.

Rage turned back to Raven, and Adam dropped coughing to the ground. "Come on Beast Boy. Let's go." Raven said dryly.

"You know, I just don't understand something," Adam said from his spot on the ground, stopping the other two Titans in their tracks. "If you two are testing out a relationship now, why are you hiding it from the other Titans? Are you afraid they'll disapprove of it?"

...

Before either one of them could really stumble for an answer, Beast Boy's comm sounded. Beast Boy pulled it out and opened it. Robin's face appeared on the comm. "Beast Boy, who's with you?" He asked.

Adam and Raven appeared on opposite sides of Beast Boy's head. Robin almost did a double-take. "Oh, um, I guess everyone else then." He said. Starfire and Cyborg's faces appeared on his side. "Is Adam… I mean are you…"

"Yes, I'm good for now. What's going on Rob?" Adam asked.

Robin composed himself. "Red X was just spotted. He's breaking into Wayne Industries." He said.

All five of them looked at Adam. Maybe expecting anger or something close to it. All they saw though was calm indifference on his face. "Alright, what's the plan?" He asked.

Robin again did a double-take, before smiling widely. Cyborg and Starfire also smiled widely at seeing their friend back to normal again. "Here's what we're going to do…"

The scene faded out.