Hey yo, author here! Annnnnnd...we back :). Lot has happened last few weeks ahaha. Saw Linkin Park live in London, went to Germany on holiday with some friends, came back home and immediately fractured my leg playing rugby...so a mixed bag! Anyway, this chapter got re-written soooo may times, but finally happy with what I've got, so hope you all enjoy. The early engagement on this has been crazy and I really appreciate it!
As always, much love - Seadavid41
Ch. 4 Digging Deeper
None of the Titans had wanted to hang around once they were left alone in the chemical plant. The police had been on the way, along with the plant's private security detail. The police would have been full of questions that the Titans didn't have time for and well…none of them had any inclination to meet with anyone under the employ of the plant after what they had seen. So, on the spot, Robin made a quick decision as leader that they would tell the police they were in pursuit of Adonis so they could get out of dodge as quick as possible…
But not before Cyborg had logged into the computer in the room the shapeshifter had been locked in and downloaded every single file that was on it.
Which is what had led to the situation the Titans currently found themselves in within the Tower. Cyborg had gone straight to his room to upload the data he taken to the Titans mainframe, which left everyone else with nothing to do but wait for the metal Titan to come through the Main Ops doors. Robin paced behind the kitchen counter while Raven floated in the lotus position above the couch, gently murmuring her mantra under her breath. Starfire simply couldn't keep herself still and once she realised, she wasn't going to get any conversation out of the empath, she had taken to alternating between asking Robin how much longer Cyborg might be and flitting about the room just to keep herself busy.
Raven would have had no problem admitting that a large part of her simply wanted to meditate in her room and embrace the sweet silence and simplicity that her room provided. It had been a long day for everyone. It had been their day off, which had been unceremoniously stolen from them by, who she would consider to be her least favourite villain to deal with at any given point in time, and to top it all off, every single one of the Titans had gotten their ass handed to them on a plate by Adonis at one point, a fact that left the empath with a sour taste in her mouth already. She wanted the day to end…Azar, she would even put off meditating if instead, she could just curl up in bed with her book and eventually fall asleep with the novel falling gently to her side…
And yet she knew that if she went to her room…she'd just stare at the ceiling, her mind going a thousand miles an hour…because of the even larger part of her couldn't stop thinking about the green dog in the cage…the gorilla who'd stood between her and Adonis…the boy she had seen slide down the wall when he was tossed aside. Raven had never been one to dwell on events gone by or people she met. For the majority, she stood by her stance of people come, people go, with her friends in the tower being the main noticeable exception. Yet, the way that boy's emotions had struck out at her…caught her off-guard…resonated with her…she couldn't shake the thought of him from her head.
The sound of the sliding doors of Main Opens opening yanked Raven out of her thoughts with such force the empath, instead of gracefully lowering back down to the couch she was floating over, plummeted downwards, landing on the furniture beneath with a resounding thud. Starfire had been too far away to notice anything and had already flown over to greet Cyborg as he entered, but Robin, ever the aware one, noticed the empath's apparent fall from grace and cast her a querying look. Raven stood up and smoothed her cloak out before heading over towards Cyborg, ignoring Robin's gaze and silently cursing him for being so observant. However, all thoughts of the observational skills of the leader of the Titans disappeared from her head in an instant when saw the sombre look on Cyborg's face, a look that hadn't gone unnoticed by Starfire or Robin either. Robin was the first to break the silence.
"Well…I'm guessing you were able to breakdown whatever was on that computer then?"
Cyborg nodded, the expression on his face not relenting in the slightest.
"Yea, I did…there was a lot of stuff on there if I had to guess I've only scratched the surface of what's on there, but it's late and well…I have enough to give some context anyway…can work out what do from here later."
Robin nodded, seemingly happy with Cyborg's reasoning but somewhat worried by his teammates tone. Cyborg continued.
"We can go sit down…I'll throw the main stuff up on the big screen."
As everyone made their way over to catch, Starfire floated just over Cyborg's shoulder, a nervous expression on her face.
"Victor…Robin informed me that Earth does not have shapeshifters…was this person created in that laboratory?"
Cyborg let out a heavy sigh. "I…it's tricky…"
Raven had been expecting Cyborg to continue, normally happy to explain any points of confusion to the Tamaranean, so when he trailed off, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, a small pit beginning to form in her stomach at her friend's demeanour. Cyborg sat down on the couch, with Starfire sitting down beside him, while Robin and Raven chose to stand. Cyborg grabbed the remote that operated the large screen in Main Ops, turning it on with a click.
"I've already saved what I wanted to show you so I should just be able to just pull everything up."
With another few clicks of the remote, the screen went from being black to projecting what looked like a medical file and almost instantaneously, Raven felt her eyes widen at the picture that had been attached to the top right-hand corner, whenever the report had been scanned. She knew she had only caught the most fleeting look at the boy's face, but green skin aside, she recognised him straight away. Wide green eyes, pointed ears, short hair….it was the boy she had seen slide off the wall…but with one key difference that made her heart grow cold.
"He's…younger in that photo."
It wasn't a question from the empath, but a statement of fact. Cyborg nodded in confirmation.
"Much younger…this seems to be the report from the first medical exam they carried out…on the 24th of April 2003."
Robin's eyes widened. "Jesus…that's only a kid…"
Cyborg nodded. "Says his data of birth is 21st February 1990…he's only about 6 months younger than Raven…"
Starfire face bore an expression of deep concern. "The poor boy…Victor, what did they do to him to…make him like this? To turn him into the shapeshifter we saw?"
Raven couldn't help but let an eyebrow raise at the sight of Cyborg's expression finally changing from being forlorn to something slightly different…like he was mulling over a thought that had already bounced around his head a hundred times.
"Well…and take this with the caveat that…well, I have gone through everything yet…but it doesn't seem like they did anything…"
Robin's face scrunched up in confusion almost immediately. "What do you mean Cy? I mean, Raven saw him in the cage. Hell, we ALL saw him transform."
Cyborg shook his head as he held his hands up.
"No, that's not what I meant."
Cyborg proceeded to scroll a little further down the page as all the other Titans looked on with confused eyes until he reached a section that he'd clearly bookmarked before he came. Raven's eyes scanned through the info in front of her, her gaze flicking from box to box on the page. However, the more she read, the more annoyed she got.
"Azar…do they know anything about him?"
Robin couldn't help but agree with Raven's point. For a supposed medical history, it was severely lacking in, well…history. The most common answer on the page was the word, "unknown" and was annoyingly scribbled beside half of the questions that he could have used to learn anything about this kid. Robin's eyes kept scanning the screen in front of him till he came to an additional notes section at the bottom where he quickly read through what had been transcribed in the box an eyebrow briefly raising as he did so before, in a split second, he connected the dots and understood what Cyborg meant. When he next spoke, he sounded almost breathless.
"Origin of powers unknown…"
Raven and Starfire looked at Raven questioningly while Cyborg merely nodded a sombre smile on his face.
"Seems like our friends at the plant didn't make him…they found him…"
Starfire looked at Robin in confusion.
"But friend Robin, you said shapeshifters didn't exist on this planet?"
Robin shook his head as he realised Starfire was talking to him. "I know. We don't have them here on Earth. So, for them to have found him when he already had this ability…"
Raven felt her eyes widen as she too finally put the pieces together.
"A metahuman…they've been keeping a metahuman in a cage, like a lab rat, all this time…"
All the Titans jumped as a light bulb above them suddenly blew out above them, sending shards of glass tinkling to the ground. Robin looked at Raven, worry in his eyes, but the empath took no notice, instead choosing to burn a hole in the screen in front of her with her glare. There were a few seconds of awkward silence before Raven seemed to calm down herself, turning to Cyborg with a still angry, although somewhat calmer look.
"If they only found him as a metahuman a few years ago, he had to have grown up somewhere…been somewhere before. People like him…like us…we leave a trace."
Robin leaned forward with interest, the detective side of his mind engaging in an instant at the slightest possibility of an idea.
"It's more likely than not…news reports, anomalies…if a green shapeshifter ever reared its head in the past in public, there isn't a chance in a hell some media outlet didn't make a story out of it. I've got some contacts who may be able to help with this, but I'll need all the information that we can get out of these files Cyborg."
Cyborg nodded, his sombre look mellowing a little bit at the first sign of concrete action.
"I've already started uploading everything I have to the Titans mainframe. It'll take a little while but should be good to go by the morning."
Starfire looked worriedly at her friends. "This sounds like a good start…but what about his whereabouts right now? If he has been imprisoned within that horrible place for so long, surely, he is without a home or roof over his head right now? The poor boy…"
Robin looked at Starfire, his face softening at the obvious sadness in Starfire's voice.
"We'll find him Star, don't worry."
Starfire looked up at Robin, seemingly unconvinced.
"But he can shapeshift into animals? He could have flown hundreds of miles away at this stage. Or dived deep into the ocean! How are we supposed to find him? How do we even know he hasn't left the city?"
"Because he has nowhere to go."
Robin and Starfire both turned to Raven as the empath finished pulling her hood up, obscuring the expression that resided on her face.
"He's been trapped in there for years…anyone he knew before; he has no idea where they are. He doesn't know what's changed, what to do…but more importantly, don't confuse him being able to shapeshift with him being an animal. I felt his emotions. No matter what that place did to him, he's still very much a human being…and one who stepped in to help us when he didn't need to. He's just found freedom for the first time in far too long…my guess is he's out in Jump City right now and he has no idea what to do with it."
Robin thought through Raven's logic and couldn't help but find himself agreeing with her. After being locked up for so long, he'd need to gather his bearings, find food…clothes…and there was no point leaving a city like Jump until he'd at least been able to gather himself somewhat.
"Well then, we go back to patrolling. We'd have to at this stage anyway because, lost in all this, Adonis managed to escape, and from what Raven said, he's not working alone, a worrisome thought. We keep an eye out for both him and his possible accomplice and at the same time, we scour the city for the shapeshifter. We can start in the morning and before we head out, I'll send some messages out to see if I can find out anything about him.
The other Titans nodded, the atmosphere in Main Ops finally lifting ever so slightly as the foundations of a plan finally came into existence. Robin was about to call for the Titans to finally get some sleep when Cyborg cleared his throat.
"One last thing though if we're doing that…I was able to get one decent bit of info out of these damn files tonight that would probably be useful to know if one of us finds him."
Starfire looked at Cyborg with wide eyes.
"And what's that Victor?"
"The kid's name is Garfield…Garfield Logan."
Jump City had always been a popular tourist destination, especially during the peak summer months. One of the few areas on the west coast that managed to strike the balance perfectly between city escape and a beach holiday, there was a little something for everyone, and the morning that had risen out of the cool night encapsulated that perfectly. Even though it was still early, the first few rays of sunshine were already causing the gentle waves that rolled on the surface of Jump City Bay to sparkle in the early dawn. On the highways along the coast, cars were already zooming along, with plenty of people having important places to be, while early morning swimmers and joggers were already present on the City's main pier. It was a perfect Summer's Day and in Raven's opinion, the best backdrop for her to do some morning meditation in and clear her head.
She had tried to sleep…Azar, she had known she'd needed too, what with everything that had happened the day before and in fairness to her, she had managed to get a few hours, but once she woke up and found herself staring at her ceiling, the thoughts in her head only gaining momentum as she tried in vain to clear her mind, she'd realised pretty quickly that her efforts were futile. So, she'd gone upstairs to the roof…because if she wasn't going to be able to sleep, she may as well do the next best thing…or if she was going to be awake, she'd at least be in a nicer setting. There was something about the roof of the tower that was just…calming. She'd never quite been able to put her finger on it…maybe it was just the wind in her hair, the faint scent of salt in the air from the bay far below. Maybe it was because it was on the roof where Robin had told her that anything was possible before Trigon had invaded…a time when she herself had lost hope…
It just put her mind at ease.
However, while the environment may have brought her more peace than her room, it unfortunately did not provide her anything more than that…finding answers to the questions that plagued her mind…that was up to her…and despite her change of scenery, she still wasn't able to come up with any answers.
Raven didn't know how long she had been up there when her thoughts were interrupted by the gentle clicking of the rooftop door, the telltale sign that she was about to be joined by another. As she gently floated down from the lotus position to land on her feet, she almost whispered a silent thank you to the newcomer. She had always been stubborn and well…sometimes an interruption was the perfect excuse to take a break. Raven didn't even need to turn around to know who she had been joined by. Only one other Titan was ever up this early.
"Morning Robin."
Robin chuckled as he came to stand beside Raven, who cast him a glance once they were shoulder to shoulder, her eyes widening immediately when she saw that he had two mugs in his hand. One contained the engine fuel that Robin called coffee, a liquid with a consistency closer to tar than water, while the other contained what Raven recognised as the result of a somewhat decent attempt at brewing her tea. Robin gave another gentle laugh at the empath's look of surprise.
"Figured you'd be up here…I may not have your powers, but I ain't bad at reading people either way."
Raven took the mug from Robin, her eyebrow arching at his opening remark.
"And what have you read from me exactly?"
Raven took a tentative sip of the tea Robin had made for her.
"…you could have used less honey…but a solid effort…thank you."
Robin smiled before looking out at the bay.
"That you have a lot on your mind…I mean we all do…but you seemed…more rattled than everyone else yesterday…"
Raven wanted to shut him down. Azar, she hated talking about what was on her mind. If she had a problem that could be fixed, she let all relevant parties know as soon as possible what the issue was and how it could be addressed. When the problem was her own…that was an entirely different ball game…and one she typically liked to play by herself. But in this instance…and maybe against her better judgement, she just found herself sighing as she took another sip of her tea. Maybe she was just tired…or sick of not hearing her thoughts out loud…maybe she was unconsciously acceptant of the fact that Robin knew something was up and was looking for confirmation more than anything else…
"I don't know why it's playing on my mind so much…we've helped countless people before…"
"But this one's different…isn't it?"
Raven cast an eye over at Robin, thinking that he was once again trying to gauge what she was thinking and was slightly surprised when she saw he was still looking out over the bay, his own face just a touch more sombre. If he noticed Raven looking at her, he didn't say anything as he took another sip of his coffee.
"We received a message from the chemical plant in the early hours of this morning…sems they've realised that their…asset…has gone missing, although they don't seem to have realised that we know he's human. They sent along the description of a green dog…asked for our help in getting him back to them due to its importance to their scientific research."
Raven looked at Robin in horror and was about launch into tirade before he held his hands up in a calming gesture.
"I haven't responded yet…even I had to step away from that particular message…just in case I said something a little too colourful on behalf of the Titans."
Raven glowered at nothing in particular.
"They deserve that and more…"
This time, Robin did turn to look at Raven.
"I know they do…but for the moment, our priority must be on helping this poor kid. I think that's why it's playing on my mind so much. They clearly only saw him as an animal…and Cyborg knew there was something up the first time we were there, and I didn't push it as far as he wanted me too…"
Raven cut him off in an instant, turning on him in a second, her purple eyes boring lasering onto his mask with such focus that Robin swore sometimes that she could see through it.
"You can't do that to yourself. None of us could have fathomed what was going on. Even Cyborg had only thought it was an animal being tested on."
"I know…but that doe-"
"No buts…we can't change the past…we can work on what's in front of us."
Robin nodded, although didn't seem entirely convinced before glancing out towards Jump City in the distance.
"I do think that he's out in the city now…but man…I can't even imagine what he's been through. He was only a child when they got their hands on him…forced him down into a life that he never could have wanted…"
Robin's words bounced around her head, like an echo in a cave, his voice almost trailing off into a whisper in her mind as she finally made some kind of connection as to why she cared so much about Garfield Logan, outside of him saving her life.
"Yea…I wouldn't wish that on anyone…"
The Titans had set out that morning with a relative amount of optimism. Things hadn't gone as expected the night before, but they had a clear plan set out in stone. It wouldn't be the first time they actively patrolled the city rather than waiting for an alarm to send them on their way. Any time a villain managed to get away or Robin had suspicions of a bigger plot happening under their noses, the Titans would each take a sector of the city, keeping an eye out for suspicious activities, with the last patrols taking place when Slade had returned as Trigon's messenger. Robin had briefed each of them individually about the areas to keep an eye out for within their sectors and the goal was simple. Monitor the areas for villain activity and call the others in if anyone one of them found anything and, at the same time, keep an eye and an ear out for any talk of a green animal…or for the shapeshifter himself. Despite its popularity, Jump City wasn't that big. Starfire, in particular, was adamant that they would find something relevant to their mission.
Unfortunately, a positive attitude could only get you so far.
It had been almost two weeks at this stage and none of the Titans had come across a single trace of Adonis, his mystery accomplice or the green shapeshifter who'd disappeared into the night. They'd manage to stop a few extra petty crimes here or there by being out and about, and to be fair, Raven had managed to stop Johnny Rancid before he'd had a chance to tear through downtown when she came across him mounting his bike and had him subdued before he could even turn on the ignition. However, even something like that was just a consolation when it came to what they were really looking for and it was beginning to drive the Titans insane.
Raven stood perched on the edge of a five-storey building in the upper part of Jump City, the relatively warm winds of the summer night whipping at her cloak as she gazed downwards at the unaware civilians below. It had been a quiet day. No crimes. No emergencies…on any other occasion, Raven would have been able to catch up on her reading in her room in piece. But that was not the case this time. In moments like this, Raven had developed a new habit that had taken her a few days to master. Taking a vantage point like the one she had now, rather than attempting to read an individual's emotions, she cast her powers out wide, like a fisherman casting a net out to sea. It was an odd sensation, feeling so many different emotions, all quite similar and yet all so unique in their own ways, but after a few days of practice, she'd begun being able to navigate the maelstrom so that she could home in on a particular emotion. Her reasoning was simple. The odds of her spotting any given green animal at any given time were very low…but she'd recognise his emotional spectrum in an instant and the shapeshifter didn't need to be in her line of sight for that…he just had to be near here.
Sher hadn't said it to anyone, but she had been quietly optimistic and quite pleased with herself for developing this method. However, now if anything, she almost regretted because as time passed and there was still no sign of Garfield Logan, she knew it wasn't that she hadn't seen him…it was because he wasn't near her at all. And sure, maybe he was in a different part of the city, or maybe she hadn't mastered this technique enough for it to be full proof just yet…but an ever-growing, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach was starting to tell her that maybe her and Robin had been wrong from the start…maybe Garfield had simply…moved on.
Raven jolted out of her thoughts as her communicator vibrated on her belt. Withdrawing it, she was greeted with the serious, yet somewhat apologetic face of the leader of the Titans. Raven arched an eyebrow immediately. She recognised that look in an instant. It was one that said, "I hate what I'm about to ask you to do…but I need you to do it."
"What do you need?"
Robin didn't even act surprised that Raven had read him like a book.
"I've finally heard back from my contact in Gotham about our green friend so I'm heading back to the tower to see what they have to say. I'm calling you and the others back as well for the night…but first, I need you to do one quick job."
Raven face had brightened ever so slightly when Robin had mentioned that he'd finally heard back from his contact in Gotham. Robin obviously knew she'd been inside his head and that she knew who he was alluding too, and Raven had a lot of faith in the information that his source could provide. However, she had reverted to being stoic when Robin mentioned the job.
"….what do you need me to do?"
Robin took a deep breath.
"You know how with a case like this, anything could potentially be a lead. I wouldn't norma-"
"Robin. What do you need? Answer the question."
"…The police had linked in with me…there's a shopkeeper about a mile east of you who is causing a scene…he's saying he's been robbed, but there's no signs of…anything."
"You want me to have a look…at the non-existent robbery…"
Robin resisted the urge to shrink under Raven's deadpan voice and held his nerve.
"I know…it's not exactly glamorous…but anything can be a lead, and the police don't seem to be taking him seriously…can you just go talk to him…please?"
Raven took a deep breath and rolled her eyes.
"I guess because you were so goddamn polite."
Robin gave a small smile of appreciation.
"Thanks Raven. When you're done there, get back to the tower as soon as you can. I'll have whatever info we get from Gotham waiting for you."
Raven nodded before clicking her communicator closed and glancing to the east. It had been a long day and the last thing she wanted to do was to go talk to…well anyone. But still, with a sigh and the shuffling of her hood upwards, Raven allowed herself to tip over the edge of the building before catching herself in midair and slowing her descent with her powers as she approached the street below. Flying just above the cars on the main road, it didn't take Raven long to find the source of the commotion Robin had been speaking about.
If the shopkeeper had truly been robbed, Raven struggled to think of what items of value could have been taken. The shop itself was a hybrid between a convenience store and a deli, with a green sign that was mounted onto the brickwork above the white shop entrance that simply read: "McCarthy's est. 1992". Being established in 1992…yea, Raven could believe that. The windows looked they hadn't been cleaned on this side of the century and the only things that the empath could make it through them were there smudgy neon lights of some fridges holding different drinks and the flashing red, neon sign, which proudly proclaimed: "OPEN". There were a few newspaper boxes against the outside walls, two of which has broken doors, resulting in pages being blown loose into the street.
As Raven gently touched down to the ground, she finally took a second to look at the people that stood out front. Tow Jump City police officers stood in front of a short, older man, a green apron across his waist, as he wildly gesticulated with his hands. Raven gently probed the minds of the officers with her powers and felt herself get slightly annoyed when she felt the emotions they were giving on. They were enjoying this…whatever it was. Whether the shopkeeper was right or wrong…he was still just a person looking for help.
Raven strode up between the two officers and cleared her throat, signalling her presence to everyone involved, causing the two officers either side of her to jump whilst the owner of the shop looked at Raven in delight. Raven nodded at him before turning to the officer on her left.
"What's the issue here then…"
Having recovered from his initial shock, the officer Raven was speaking to see straightened himself up in an instant.
"Wow…I can't believe they sent a Titan for this…Mr. McCarthy believes that he has been robbed."
"I WAS ROBBED!"
Raven turned towards the stout man at his outburst, her eyebrow raising at both the fervour he had spoken with and at the immediate chuckle that followed from the guard beside her.
Raven turned back to the guard; a questioning looks on her face.
"And you don't believe he has been?"
The guard gave Raven a smug smile, like he knew he was coming to the punch line of a joke that he thought was genuinely hilarious."
"Oh I'm suuure he has been…Mr. McCarthy, why don't you inform this member of the TEEN TITANS what you told me and my partner?
In an instant, the older store owner seemed to revert into himself, rubbing his hands together nervously as he averted his gaze to the floor.
"Well, you see…ehm…I was…well, when the man came in, he wasn't…let me…
"Mr. McCarthy."
The old man's eyes shot up towards Raven's and locked onto her purple irises. Raven motioned with her hands for him to slow down, ignoring the snickering from the two officers behind her, who were both really starting to get on her nerves.
"Take a deep breath…and just tell me what you told these two…I'm not here to judge…"
The old man stared at the empath wide-eyed before he seemed to visibly relax a little bit, his shoulders dropping just a little bit.
"Okay…well…they didn't even take that much…just some sandwiches from the fridge and some protein bars…but the boy who entered my shop was…well…green-."
Raven's breath hitched.
"-and when I called him out for trying to take things…well…he…uhm…"
"…shape-shifted into an animal."
The laughter from the guards behind her stopped almost instantly and the old shopkeepers' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the empath's finishing of his sentence.
"YES! HE DID! He turned into some breed of dog! I didn't get a good enough look at it to be able to tell what it was though."
Raven shook her head. "Sir, if you don't mind, can you please tell me how long ago this was and which way the dog went when he left your store?"
He nodded his head eagerly.
"No problem at all! It was only about half an hour ago and he went that way!"
Mr. McCarthy turned and pointed down a narrow alley that ran alongside his store. Raven followed where he was pointing before looking back at the shop owner with a look of gratitude.
"I'll pursue this for you…consider this official Titan business from this point."
The shopkeeper simply looked at Raven in awe as she turned towards the now completely stunned police officers.
"This man was robbed. You two…need to take people's stories more seriously."
And with that, the empath summoned a disk of her powers and went flying down the alleyway, leaving two shellshocked officers of the law and one incredibly smug looking store owner in her wake. As Raven moved, she cast out her powers like a net, like she had been practicing for the past two weeks, allowing the different spheres of emotions of individual citizens to cascade over her. Luckily for her, it was getting late and the number of people on the streets had drastically reduced from the height of the day. It only took a few seconds but when she felt it, she almost lost control of her flight. She didn't know how to describe it exactly, but it was almost like a sonar ping as she detected his unique emotional traits for the first time since she'd seen that dog in the cage two weeks ago.
"Got you."
With that, Raven zoomed forwards before taking the first left down another alleyway, her determination completely renewed as she knew, for the first time in weeks, she was only fingertips away from efinding the proverbial green needle in a haystack.
Cyborg and Starfire walked side by side into Main Ops, both visibly exhausted from another day of patrolling the city, only to find absolutely nothing...zilch…nada…zip. Starfire was in the mood for some good, old-fashioned TLC. She'd run a bath…wash her hair…maybe she would even partake in one of the human activities that she found most strange, which involved the cutting up of cucumber, but not for consumption, but for placing on one's eyes. She'd never tried, but a lot of the movies she watched made I seem most enjoyable.
Cyborg just desperately wanted whip up a quick meat feast before slipping off for a recharge and had been hoping he'd have the kitchen to himself. So, he could barely hide his disappointment when he saw Robin sat at the kitchen counter. However, he quickly felt his disappointment vanish when he saw the expression Robin turned to him with. Cyborg couldn't remember the last time he saw Robin properly shocked…surprised maybe…but not like this…he looked like he'd seen a ghost. He knew he'd come back earlier cause his contact had found some info on their shapeshifter…but the news couldn't be that crazy…could it?
"Robin?...You good?"
Robin stood up slowly from his chair at the counter and walked over to Cyborg and handed him a printout he had been leaning over…
"Seems Garfield Logan had made quite the name for himself before he came to Jump City…"
Cyborg's eyes canned the page in front of him, his forehead creasing in confusion. This was just a news article about how the Brotherhood of Evil had been foiled a few years ago and slapped across the front was a picture of the team that had put a stop to them…and Cyborg felt his heart skip a beat.
"THIS KID WAS IN THE DOOM PATROL!?"