The day after was a rainy afternoon. The alarms had not gone off yet that day, and the Titans each collectively did their own thing, resting before another battle. These days, it was a matter of wasting time before they had a lead. It was a ring at the doorbell that got them attentive.
"Someone visiting?" Beast Boy asked.
"Don't know." Cyborg shrugged. "Let's go check it out."
The two teens walked down to the lobby. A curious Raven and Starfire following. Normally a guest wouldn't be that big of a deal, but since they lived on an island…it was a different matter. Cyborg opened the door to see a waterlogged punk. His leather trench coat fell off his shoulders and the raggedy bottom dragged on the floor. His black hair molded to his head and plastered to his face. His cheshire cat smile still shone on his pale face.
"Howdy ho! You know, it's quite a swim out here."
"Black! Man, what are you doing here?!"
"Dude, you SWAM here?"
"Well, I was going to walk, but I'm not as gutsy as Peter."
"Peter?"
"You know...walked on the water to meet Jesus, then started sinking when he saw the storm...?" Black elaborated. "Well, I guess you guys never went to Sunday school!"
"And you did?" Raven questioned as he came into the tower, his shoes squeaking with each step.
"Sure! At least recently. Free coffee, free music…comfy chairs."
"So to what do we owe this reception?" Star asked.
"Well," he put his fists on his hips. "I leave for a few hours to do stuff, and come home to find my hat gone!"
"Your hat gone?" Cyborg asked.
"Yes, my hat." The boy violently shook his head, sending water drops everywhere. "My humble abode betwixt roof and sky, nary a clue as to its remains…except a wrecking crew and a half demolished factory."
"Oh, the hat on the factory where that fight was two weeks ago." Cyborg elaborated.
"Bingo! Anyways, Jolene here," he pointed to Star, "said I could come to you guys if I needed anything. I think this constitutes as needing something."
"But you didn't need to swim out here, we could have met you somewhere!"
"And how would I contact you? Smoke signal? Rob a bank?" He shrugged.
Raven spoke up. "You're soaked."
"Excellent observation, Sherlock!" He promptly sneezed. "Oh great googly-moogly! My brain just blew up!"
"Let us get you into some dry clothes. You are becoming sick."
"Now darling," he laughed, patting her hands fondly. "I am already sick."
They started to lead him to the common room as they talked. "Huh, fancy-shmancy." He acknowledged as they traveled.
"Beast Boy, get some clothes for our guest. He looks about your size," Cyborg suggested.
The green teen gave a thumbs up and ran down the hall.
"So, it's not really in my nature to ask for help," Black paused. "I think. At least not that I know of. But I figure you all owe me one anyway, for rescuing you."
Raven crossed her arms. "You mean for making a legal mess for us? It's one thing to send a criminal to the hospital, but you paralyzed him."
"It's his fault for being old!" Black argued. "A young person wouldn't have snapped like that!"
"Perhaps we should not dwell on that situation," Starfire suggested. "You did help us, despite the great peril to yourself, so if we can help you, we shall."
Black shrugged. "Eh, not the first time I've stood in front of a firing squad. That, I'm certain of!"
Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire shared looks of concern.
"So what's this favor you need?" Cyborg asked, glossing over that whole thing.
"My hat, man! I can't find it! It had all my money in it! All two dollars and 17 cents! I need help finding it."
"Aw buddy," Cyborg rested a hand on his shoulder with a squish. "I'm pretty sure your hat is gone forever. They demolished that factory."
His jaw dropped. "And they didn't keep the hat!?"
"Why would they?" Raven asked.
"To put it on another building?"
"And…why would they put a hat on another building?" Starfire asked.
"Perhaps whimsy! Frivolity even! This city sucks!"
"Well," Cyborg tried to placate him. "How about this: why don't you stay here with us? For a little while, at least? Winter will be here soon. We'd all feel a lot better knowing you had a home when it's cold out."
The assembled Titans shared looks. They were doing this. It wasn't how they expected to lure him into the tower, but they needed to act now.
Black seemed to mull it over, then took a deep breath and answered. "Kay."
"Then it is settled!" Starfire clapped her hands. "Please friend, may I take your coat?"
"Why certainly!" Black shrugged it off so it plopped in her arms. It was heavy. Heavier than just wet leather. It would be worth checking the pockets.
At that point, they arrived at the ops room.
"Whoa!" Black exclaimed as he ran to the window. "You can see everything!" He pressed his hands and face against the glass.
"It was Robin's idea." Star proudly stated, hanging the coat up to dry. "When the Gordanian ship crashed here, Cyborg thought it would be most beneficial to convert it to a home. Robin conceptualized the design and the window overlooking the town."
There it was again. The unexplained anger over this simple name. Granted, there wasn't much that Black could explain in his head anyways. But this bothered him.
"Who's Robin?" He tilted his head.
The team simultaneously fell sad. "He was our leader," Cyborg stated.
"Our teacher, mentor, and coach," Raven added.
"And our dear friend," Star finished.
Black was still puzzled. Robin didn't sound like such a bad guy, so what made him so angry? "I saw y'all talking' 'bout 'im on the flash box."
"The what?"
"Flash box. You know, it's a box in a window that shows things on it, usually really depressing things that you don't want to see. Like commercials."
"Oh, you mean the television!" Starfire translated. She swiped the remote from the couch and flipped on one of the channels. The window sprang to life with a cooking show.
Black stared in awe. "THAT'S THE MOST BEAUTIFULEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!" He attempted to hug it, but ended up sprawled out on the glass.
The team smiled to themselves.
"Alright dude, I got some civvies you can borrow. It just took a little while to find some that didn't smell funny." He held up a pair of gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt with 'I'm with Stupid' and a big arrow on it.
Black's attention was immediately away from the giant TV. "Excellent!" He walked over, taking off his long sleeved shirt. His chest was riddled with scars, some fresher than others. "Gimme." He reached out his hands and snapped them like crab claws.
"Black, man, what happened to your arm?"
The strange boy looked at his arms. Besides being covered in watches, one was covered in cuts and blood, and one single band aid. "Oh. I punched a window out because I was angry," He spoke nonchalantly.
"You better let us patch it up," Raven spoke up. "It could get infected."
He looked at his arm. "I already licked it. That's what I usually do when I get hurt."
Beast Boy shook his head. "Animals are known to have lysosomes in their saliva, which aids the healing of wounds. Humans, however, carry bacteria in their mouths that could infect the body."
Raven looked surprised. "One of your rare moments of knowledge."
"When it comes to animals, I gots the knowledge." He tapped his temple.
Black was still looking at his arm. "I don't want to lose my arm," he pouted to Cyborg. "Fix my boo-boo."
Cyborg couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, follow me to the medical lab."
As Black went towards the door, Starfire's eyes strayed to his back where she noticed something. It perplexed her at first, and her face twisted into a grimace the longer she looked.
"What is it, Star?" Cyborg asked, startled.
She shook her head in disgust and pointed at Black.
"Whoa…" Beast Boy exclaimed when he saw it.
"Yikes…" Raven followed.
Cyborg turned Black around to look at his back. "No way…"
"What? What is it? Is it a spider?! Get it off!"
Upon his flesh was a tattoo. Not any normal tattoo either, but a mess of lines and colors. First, there was an 'S' made of sharp angles in black ink. Then, it looked like someone went over it with a green and red smiley face with sharp teeth. It was clearly done outside of a studio, maybe even poke and stick. It was infected and raised, the jagged lines were weeping and blotchy. Around the smiley face were a bunch of lined scars that at first looked like hatch marks with a knife, but after staring for a while, the lines spelled out laughter, 'HAHAHAHA', that covered his whole back.
"Black, where did you get this tattoo?"
"Tattoo?" The boy asked, trying in vain to see his back. "I have no tattoo."
Raven spoke up. "I bet he got it before he lost his memory."
"And I believe Slade had a hand in making him lose it."
Black whipped around and looked at Starfire. "Say that name again."
"Slade?"
He nodded. "I know him, well, not personally, and not physically, and definitely not Biblically. But I know him."
"How?"
"I…" the boy looked to the floor. "I think he's my dentist."
Cyborg gently steered him toward the hall. "Let's get you cleaned up. We have a lot of questions for you."
Beast Boy handed over the clothes he had brought earlier.
"What? No undies?" Black pouted.
"Uh…we'll buy you some…"
"I want a pair with Spongebob on them," he explained, removing his belt. "Or Spiderman. Spiderman's the coolest!" Without preamble, he dropped his pants, and then realized he was still wearing his shoes. He frowned and tried to balance to take them off while his pants were still around his knees.
Raven and Starfire quickly turned around to give him privacy.
Cyborg and Beast Boy were trying to figure out how to help, but it was a little awkward.
"Uh, your shoes don't match," Beast Boy noted, for the first time. One was a mid-calf combat boot, and the other was an Oxford. Both black, of course.
"This one's my dancin' shoe, and this one's my ass kickin' shoe." Then he pointed to his butt. "And this is my shoe kickin' ass."
"Isn't it uncomfortable?"
"No, I just lean to one side."
Once he got his shoes and disgusting, mismatched socks off, he was left in his underwear. Bright green with white Hawaiian flowers on them.
Unexpected, to say the least.
But besides that, he clearly had lines of scars down the back of his legs, and they probably continued onto his buttocks. His knees were black with dirt and bruises.
Cyborg groaned. "You know what? You should take a shower, man."
Black looked down at himself. "I am quite crusty."
Raven and Starfire shivered.
"I'll show you to the bathroom, come on."
Black toddled along, leaving his dirty clothes behind on the floor. Raven would collect his shirt and pants for cleaning, but the rest would be incinerated.
Cyborg led him to the bathroom, and gave him Robin's shampoo and conditioner to borrow, as well as a towel. Then he stood outside the door, making sure he had some privacy, but wasn't completely unsupervised.
"Found the dude some underwear and socks," said Beast Boy, a new package under his arm. "He can keep 'em."
"Now that you found it, it's gone! Now that you feel it, you don't! You've gone off the rails!" Black was singing at the top of his lungs, apparently enjoying his shower.
Beast Boy shivered. "You think he picked up singing from Robin?"
"Don't know. I honestly don't know how I feel about Black. Unsettled, but he's kinda funny and seems nice when he's not a whacko. I just…don't want to believe he killed—" he stopped there, not wanting to say more.
"Yeah," Said Beast Boy. "Ditto."
"WHAT DO YOU LOOOOOOOOKKKKK LIIIIIKKKKEEEE—WHEN YOU'RE NUDE?"
After a moment, the water shut off, and Black was humming.
The door suddenly swooshed open, revealing a totally nude young man, toweling his hair dry.
"How did I know that was gonna happen?" Beast Boy lamented. "Here dude."
"Yes! Undies!" He opened the package. "White?! What kind of malarky is this!?"
"Put the underwear on," Cyborg demanded.
"Yes sir." Black dressed quickly, throwing on the underwear and pants. Then he gathered all of his watches, like a bouquet, and smiled at them. "I'm ready for my doctor's appointment!"
In the medical lab, Black sat like a good little boy on the table, gently swinging his legs. Cyborg had a cotton ball and was disinfecting the multiple cuts on his arm. Raven gently cleaned the tattoo with a soapy cloth.
"Well, nothing too deep. It doesn't look like you'll need stitches."
"One alien is enough trouble," Black mumbled to himself.
"So," Raven stared at the gorey markings as she dabbed it all dry. "When did you lose your memory?"
He scratched his head with his good arm. "Well, I didn't really lose it…I just…misplaced it. I think I've been memory-less for a few months."
"Only a few months?" Cyborg raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Or maybe it was a few years, I'm not sure. But in all honesty, I have some fuzzy stuff from before then and I have dreams of what I think was my past life."
"What are the dreams like?"
"I would rather not talk about them…they make me…hmmm…not happy."
"What is the first memory you have?" Starfire asked.
He put a finger to his lips. A tap tap tap. "There are little things, dark and bloody and scary things…but I remember clearly waking up in a dark room. Alone and NAKEY."
"So you still don't know where the tat came from?" asked BB.
"I still don't know what you're talking about."
"Here," Starfire took a tablet they used for medical exams and took a picture of it. "This is present on your back. It takes up the majority of it." Starfire kept trying to show the photo to Black, but he wouldn't look at it. Not a straight refusal, but he seemed to be distracted by different things in the room.
"It's Slade's mark," Raven elaborated. "And something else, that I don't recognize."
"Like a curse?!" Black jumped from the table, wiped his hands frantically on his pants, spun around in a circle, and spat on the floor.
"I'm afraid it is much worse than a curse," Raven spoke gravely. "No doubt he's the reason you can't remember anything."
Black scrunched his nose. "I guess I owe him a thank you."
"What?" Cyborg squawked.
"Whomever I was in said past, is not this present person. And said present person is more pleasant to exist as than person in the past."
"What?" They asked unanimously.
"Me good now, no good before. Si?"
Raven's eyes narrowed as she looked over the strange boy. "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Black?"
"What do you want to know?" He finally calmed down enough for Cyborg to finish wrapping his wounds. Raven put on some nitrile gloves and gently applied some antibiotic cream to the tattoo.
"Just about you. Likes, dislikes, stuff like that. We're friends, aren't we?" Raven spoke casually, but she was probing for deep answers. Beast Boy's theory that this boy was the one from the video nagged at her mind, but she still had doubts.
What were the chances?
She had heard Slade's voice before. Everyone on the team had it burned into their brains. Whoever those men were on the video, neither of them were Slade.
But was there still a connection?
"Well," he scratched his chin. "I like to pee in the rain."
They all simultaneously blinked.
"Don't judge until you try." He wagged his finger. "I also enjoy fishing for golf balls, watching buildings burn, censoring offensive graffiti, and having happy thoughts while listening to sad music."
"Hobbies?"
"Kicking names and taking ass. Sometimes I tie people up upside down and make them sing for me. They usually just scream."
"Uh…that's pretty messed up," said Beast Boy, chuckling anyway.
"I don't do it to innocent people, just criminals, like drug dealers and door to door salesmen."
"There." Cyborg said, taping off the last bandage. "All done. Here." He handed over the shirt, which Black gingerly put on.
"Would you like something to eat?"
The boy looked up at the robot with wide, bright eyes. He clenched his fists and nodded excitedly.
In the kitchen, the team watched as plateful after plateful was scarfed down by this puny kid. He did look incredibly skinny to the four, but as he was homeless, they didn't think much about it.
"More Grutchlog?" Starfire smiled hopefully.
He nodded only.
"Don't you want to know what you're eating?" Beast Boy asked, looking queasy.
"Why? It'll make a turd." He shoved a spoonful of black fuzzy goop into his mouth. When he got to a single Hot Dog on a plate he froze completely. "Oh. No processed meat please."
Beast Boy grinned. "Yes! Another vegetarian around here!"
"I'm not a vegetarian," Black clarified, "I just don't eat processed meat."
"That's what a––you know what? Never mind. I'll fry you up some tofu sesame noodles! You'll love them!"
"You ate a chicken leg," Raven pointed out.
"Because it wasn't processed."
"I'm sure it wasn't organic."
He set his silverware down and folded his hands in front of him. "I don't eat anything that you could hide human meat in."
The team fell silent.
"That's…something you had a problem with?"
Black took a far off look and he stared passed them. "Nightmares."
Cyborg scooted a plate of waffles closer. "No meat in this."
"Don't mind if I do!" And he tore into the food.
After his meal, they escorted him to the guest room. It had been Terra's room, a long time ago, but Beast Boy took it upon himself to repaint it, to help let go of the bad memories. The walls were a desaturated brown, a black ceiling, and gray carpet. There was a bedside table, closet, and double bed.
"BED!" He screamed and ran full tilt toward it. His arms spread wide as he leapt and collided with the mattress, bouncing slightly.
"It's like a cloud." He whispered to himself.
"Why don't you get some sleep? Don't worry about the morning, just sleep as long as you need to." With that, the Titans left their new friend alone.