Forgotten Bonds – Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen
Hit or Miss

November 10th, 2008. Monday, 7:30 am.

The air was stale in the tiny compartment that Beast Boy was waiting in. He buzzed his wings to get the stale air to breeze around him. There were a few holes, so that he could breathe, but it was still extremely stifling inside this thing.

This was the second week that Cyborg and Beast Boy were infiltrating the H.I.V.E. Academy. So far the two of them had been perfectly undetected. Cyborg fit in perfectly with his ‘classmates’ and no one questioned the small container that was always on Cyborg’s wrist.

That’s where Beast Boy was – in a tiny container. He could see out of it, but no one could see him. He was shape shifted into a little green fly, ready in case there was an emergency.

But there wasn’t one.

Beast Boy honestly was getting tired of the mission. He knew and understood that it was of the utmost importance. But sitting in this container day in and day out was trying on the young changeling. He had to admit it: he was bored out of his mind. He knew that Cyborg depended on him a lot, but this was getting so boring.

Luckily, Cyborg did let him out to stretch his limbs and do the necessities when needed, but Beast Boy wish he could do something fun in his fly form. He really needed to shrink a comic book or something. He was dying in here.

But he really wanted to prove himself to Cyborg. He really looked up to his older friend. Cyborg was the oldest out of the entire group and was really almost like an older brother to Beast Boy. He was almost thirteen now – just under a month away – and he was anxious to get out of the little kid mold and into the teenager one.

He wasn’t just some little kid.

But he was getting bored. Adults got bored, too, didn’t they? Getting bored was not a sign of his young age. No, it wasn’t at all. Anyone would get bored after being stuck inside a container all day long – except for breaks – for two weeks. They’d have to be some kind of radioactive zombie not to be.

And it wasn’t as if he could talk to Cyborg either. It wasn’t possible to talk in his fly form. All he could do was watch Cyborg as he went through the day in classes. His older friend would casually ask questions to the other students, but from what Beast Boy gathered – he only managed to pay attention sixty-five percent of the time – no student had anything to offer.

And it was like that every single day. No one had anything to say about Slade. Well, many revered the man. Beast Boy couldn’t believe how many of the students wanted to be the man’s apprentice. But no one had any concrete information that could prove useful. It was discouraging.

Beast Boy was going crazy. He was now at his limit. He buzzed his wings furiously, trying to signal Cyborg. He needed a break. He needed out of this stupid thing. He was trying – he really was, but this was just getting too hard on his young nerves.

And no, he wasn’t a kid.

Luckily, Cyborg got the message. He excused himself from the class that he was currently attending and hurried to the public lavatory. He locked the door behind himself, so no one could walk in on them. Then, satisfied that no one would enter, Cyborg popped the lid open to the little compartment.

Beast Boy flew out immediately; morphing into his human form and collapsing to the floor onto his back.

“What’s going on, BB?” asked Cyborg, sounding a little worried.

“Duuuude,” cried Beast Boy weakly. “I can’t take it any more. I’m bored out of my mind.”

Cyborg folded his arms and sent a stern look his way. Beast Boy almost squirmed under that glare. With the human hologram that Cyborg was using to cover up his synthetic features, the chocolate skinned boy that towered over him looked like a powerful, strong football player that could totally kick his butt.

“Is that what this is about? You made me get out of class because you’re bored?”

Beast Boy shot up from the floor, crossing his legs in front and leaning on his hands in his lap.

“Dude! I’ve been stuck in that thing for two weeks now!” cried Beast Boy. “I’ve done pretty good, okay? But I’m at my limit. I’m going stir crazy!”

Cyborg sighed and shook his head. “Look, BB. We need to keep this up. You’re the only one who can remain undetected right now. I still need you.”

Beast Boy folded his arms with a grumpy huff and turned his head away.

Aw, why’d Cy have to go and say that?

That was just going to make Beast Boy feel all bad inside and want to do better. But he truly was going crazy. He couldn’t handle this any more. But he really wanted to live up to Cyborg’s expectations. He really wanted to do anything to help save Robin. He missed his friend so much. He admired Robin a ton, especially since he had been the Boy Wonder, partner to the Dark Knight of Gotham.

Sometimes, though, there was only so much he could stand. He really, really was trying as hard as he could. He needed a break from the endless boredom that was crushing his brain. He needed stimulation and he needed it fast.

“Isn’t there anything else we can do?” asked Beast Boy, trying not to whine, but failing at it. “Nobody has had anything good to say! Maybe if we were getting somewhere…”

“BB—” Cyborg stopped suddenly as he let out an exasperated sigh. He swiped his hand over his face tiredly. “Look, I know it’s hard. It’s not all fun and picnics for me either. I have to act like I’m studying this crap – and remember it. It’s boring for me, too. But we have to find something here. We have to do this for Robin. You want to rescue him, right?”

“Of course!” snapped Beast Boy, hating the tone that Cyborg took as he asked the question. It made him feel like a little kid. Of course, he wanted to rescue their friend. Wasn’t that obvious? What a stupid question!

“Then, we just have to endure this. Can’t you hold on for just a little longer?”

How the older teen managed to sound like a patronizing, yet soft older brother, Beast Boy would never know. It wasn’t Cyborg’s usual style, but he had been doing things differently as the current leader of the Teen Titans. Color didn’t matter here with Cyborg’s rich chocolate skin and Beast Boy’s dark green skin – Beast Boy honestly felt like his whiny little kid brother.

And that made him both annoyed and mad with himself.

He was supposed to prove that he was mature enough to handle stuff like this. Beast Boy desperately wanted to prove himself. He hated it when Cyborg went all authoritative on him, but Beast Boy knew he had to sometimes – especially since Cyborg was the leader right now. He wanted to show him and the others that they could depend on him. He wasn’t just the goof ball in this team; he wasn’t just a little kid even though he was the youngest.

He honestly had to help bring back Robin. Nothing would be normal any more if Robin didn’t come back. Who would play video games with him? He loved playing with Robin just as much as he loved playing with Cyborg. Beast Boy respected Robin as a leader and greatly admired him. He missed his friend a ton.

Beast Boy bit his lower lip.

He could do this. He had to do this. He could remain strong for Robin, who was probably enduring worse things than being bored for hours on end. If Robin could endure anything, then Beast Boy could endure another round of boredom.

Beast Boy leapt to his feet easily and stretched wildly. He turned and twisted out all of the kinks in his body. Then, without another word, he bolted into a stall in the bathroom; leaving behind Cyborg with a lifted eyebrow. Two minutes, one flush, and a quick wash of his hands later, Beast Boy stood in front of Cyborg and looked up into the older teen’s face.

“Beast Boy reporting for duty, sir,” said Beast Boy with a broad smile; saluting him. Cyborg grinned and shook his head; playfully dropping a hand onto Beast Boy’s head of green hair and ruffling it.

“There ya go,” said Cyborg; smiling. “All right, morph and we’ll get back to class.”

And with that, Beast Boy morphed into his fly form and settled back into the compartment. The lid clamped down; sealing Beast Boy inside. He watched as Cyborg left the lavatory and walked back to class. Beast Boy could tell that they really hadn’t missed anything. This school droned on endlessly about stupid things – like in the current class; something about creating a homemade supersonic weapon. Beast Boy honestly couldn’t believe they really taught these kids the effective routes of becoming high profile villains.

It was nuts.

Who in their right mind went to a school to learn about becoming a villain? How crazy and stupid could a person get? Sometimes Beast Boy couldn’t believe how weird some people were.

Beast Boy blinked his large fly eyes. He was getting a bit drowsy. He might as well try to go for a nap. It was either be awake and be bored out of his mind or sleep – and sleep seemed the best option right now. It wasn’t like he was going to miss anything important.

His wings lowered slightly on his back. He knew he probably should stay alert – you never know when something was going to happen. But Beast Boy was sure that since nothing majored had happened in the past two weeks that something wasn’t going to pop up all of the sudden.

Such words usually always bit one in the butt, though.

What Beast Boy didn’t know – or would’ve known had he been paying attention in class – was that not only was this class creating a homemade supersonic weapon today, it was also going to test it.

Beast Boy probably hadn’t been asleep for more than an hour when an enormous sound blasted through the air, shocking him out of his sleep. It rattled his container so strongly; it startled him so bad that he wasn’t quite with it. His mind was still foggy with sleep; thus, his body began to morph automatically.

The compartment that contained him shattered as his body grew to an enormous size. Students were shouting and screaming in shock as they scrambled out of the way. Well, who wouldn’t? There was now a giant green Tyrannosaurus Rex in the middle of the classroom, who was shaking his head in confusion; blinking his large reptilian eyes blearily. Cyborg did a complete face palm as his hand smacked his forehead in frustration.

“Beast Boy!” shouted Cyborg at the top of his lungs. The Tyrannosaurus Rex blinked rapidly; surprised at hearing his name so loudly. Then, he looked down and his heart sunk deep into the pit of his stomach. He instantly morphed back into his human form, sending Cyborg a sheepish and repentant smile.

“Um… good morning?” said Beast Boy. Cyborg groaned loudly. The Headmistress of the school, a tall, old woman, stepped forward from the front of the class. She had been standing at the blackboard; completely unaffected by the chaos that had ravaged her classroom. She stood tall and erect before Cyborg and Beast Boy.

Immediately, Cyborg sent the alarm to Raven and Starfire for their backup. He dropped the hologram and powered up his cannon, pointing it at the old woman.

“The Teen Titans,” commented the old woman uniformly. She watched as Cyborg adjusted his cannon slightly. Beast Boy was internally beating himself up. He completely blew their cover. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t fallen asleep and transformed suddenly from that noise, none of this would’ve happened. He seriously wanted to hit himself. But he was sure Cyborg would probably do that later and Beast Boy wouldn’t have the heart to stop him.

“Madam Headmistress,” said Cyborg, keeping his tone curt, yet polite. “Look, we’re not here to take down the H.I.V.E. We’re just here for some information.”

“So, you’ve been masquerading as Stone these past two weeks?” asked the Headmistress. Cyborg nodded. The old woman raised an eyebrow on her rigid face. “And no one here managed to figure it out. Impressive.”

That seemed to take Cyborg off guard. Then, a moment later, the dark power of Raven’s magic seeped from the wall of the classroom in the form of a black raven. Once the power faded, in its place stood Raven and Starfire, both equally ready for a fight if the need arose.

“Well, that’s four of you. Where’s the little leader, hm?” asked the Headmistress.

“Abroad on another mission,” said Raven; her mouth twitching once.

“Look, all we want is some information. Shouldn’t be too difficult,” said Cyborg, obviously wanting to steer the conversation away from the topic of Robin.

The Headmistress raised her eyebrow again.

“Information? For instance?”

“We know Slade has contracted students from this school. We want any info you’ve got on Slade,” said Cyborg. The Headmistress shook her head.

“I am impressed that you managed to infiltrate my school,” said the Headmistress, lifting her hands to touch her fingers together in front of her chest. “I will offer you some information as a small reward since I am greatly impressed with your skills. On anything else, I could comply. Slade, however, is information I cannot give you.”

“Why not?” demanded Beast Boy suddenly. He cowered instantly afterwards, his pointed ears drooping from the hard look that Cyborg shot his way.

That’s right. I oughta keep my mouth shut…

“I just cannot give you anything on him,” said the Headmistress. “It is part of our agreement with him.”

“Can you not lead us to someone who can?” asked Starfire.

“Once again, that would go against my agreement with the man,” said the Headmistress. “I’m sorry, Teen Titans. You’ll have to look elsewhere for your information. If you leave without incident, I’ll let you go without a fight. I rather not have the lot of you tearing apart my school like this little urchin here did to my classroom.”

Beast Boy flushed at that and ducked his head.

Cyborg lowered his cannon as it powered down; his human eye glinting dangerously. Beast Boy could just about hear his thoughts. Cyborg was furious that the mission was now a failure. And it was probably all Beast Boy’s fault. Beast Boy bit his lip nervously. Why’d he screw up like that? Was he really just some little kid after all who couldn’t do a man’s job?

“Come on, guys,” said Cyborg, his voice tight and resentful. “Let’s go back home.”

Cyborg strode out of the classroom with steps that were completely familiar to himself. He turned down a hallway as the other three began to follow him. Beast Boy trailed in the back, his long ears drooping heavily. He felt like crap – completely and totally hated himself at that very minute. It was so bad that his eyes were burning with the intense desire to cry. He just screwed up their only chance to find out how to save Robin.

This was all his fault.

He quickly swiped a hand over his eyes, just to make sure they wouldn’t break down and tear up. He wasn’t about to cry in front of the others. That would only prove even more that he was just a little kid.

“Stone, wait.”

Cyborg stopped suddenly. Starfire and Raven did so as well and turned towards the direction of the voice. Beast Boy wasn’t paying attention and he ended up bumping into Raven’s back. He tried not to cower more than he already was underneath the fierce glare that Raven sent him.

Jinx walked into the main hallway. Her bright lilac hair – which was styled similar to a horseshoe – always unsettled Beast Boy’s stomach. There was something about her that made him nervous. The girl wore a black and purple dress, a pair of striped stockings of black and purple, and black ankle boots. Jinx set her lilac eyes onto the three of them and glared darkly, before turning her gaze back to Cyborg; her gaze softening as she did so.

“I thought you were one of us,” said Jinx.

“I’m sorry,” replied Cyborg, his tone gentle. “But I was always here just for some information on Slade. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Jinx folded her arms and looked down at the ground for a few moments. A glimmer of emotion passed over her eyes as she looked back up at him. A defiant expression passed over her face.

“I’ve got something.”

The group of Teen Titans stilled suddenly as if each forgot to breathe. Finally, Cyborg tilted his head to the side.

“Well… are you gonna share with the rest of the class?” asked Cyborg with a small, impish smirk.

“I dunno,” shrugged Jinx. “You were expelled just now, weren’t you?”

“Please, Jinx. It’s really important.”

Jinx sighed and shook her head. “Fine, but I don’t know how much it’ll help you out – and this doesn’t make us friends or anything just so you know.”

Cyborg only smiled softly at that.

“Okay, so, all I know is there was this girl that had a connection to Slade. I think, personally,” continued Jinx. “She came to this school for awhile, but left soon after. She kept to herself a lot – really didn’t like to be around anyone. And when you did try to be friendly, she blew you off. When the Headmistress was looking for students to contract under Slade, she first offered it to this girl, but she flatly refused. Said something like she didn’t want anything to do with the man.” Jinx shrugged. “I dunno, it just seemed like she knew more about Slade than the rest of us.”

“Do you know anything else? Like where we might find her?” asked Cyborg.

“She’s probably still in the city,” said Jinx with another shrug. “I can tell you what she looked like. She had long white hair and violet red eyes. Besides that, I’ve got nothing else. She never told anyone her name. We just called her the albino.”

“Thanks, Jinx. We appreciate this,” said Cyborg. Jinx’s eyes darkened slightly. A sadness seemed to flow over her.

“You could’ve been one of us…”

“And you know what, you could be one of us,” said Cyborg with a smile. He patted her once on the shoulder as he walked by her. “Think about it.”

Beast Boy nervously glanced at the girl before quickening his steps to catch up to the others. Jinx didn’t move as she watched the four of them leave. Beast Boy was a bit surprised that they were going out without a fight, but he was thankful. He wasn’t sure if he had the heart to fight right now.

Cyborg had parked the T-Car near the hotel that Raven and Starfire had been staying at while they waited on standby. With another hologram, Cyborg had camouflaged the car to look like a normal civilian car – looking a bit on the junky side, in fact. It was Beast Boy’s turn to sit in the front, but he didn’t really want to sit next to Cyborg right now. He felt too bad about the whole thing.

So, without a word he took his usual seat in the back and shut the door; leaning on the door ledge with his elbow to look out the window. There was a deep churning inside his stomach. He felt sick. He really needed a cold glass of soy milk to soothe his stomach.

The car ride home was quiet – the all permeating silence seemed to drill into Beast Boy’s head. It was so loud that he was going crazy. But he couldn’t bring himself to break it. His mouth was going dry. Had he completely ruined their chance at saving Robin? Would their friend be stuck forever because of his single stupid mistake?

The mere possibility of that fact was more than Beast Boy’s young heart could handle.

“A–am I in trouble?” stammered Beast Boy the second they walked into the main room of Titans Tower. He felt instantly stupid for asking that – of course, he was in trouble; but with the group being so quiet the entire way home, he just couldn’t handle the silence any more. He thought he was going to burst. He totally screwed up and he wished someone would get the scolding over and done with. He honestly expected some snide remark from Raven and he really hated the disappointed look Cyborg had given him in the H.I.V.E.

Oh, man. He seriously wanted to crawl into a hole and die right now.

It was his fault. They might’ve gotten a little lead, but what if there had been more? He totally messed up. He always messed up. It just wasn’t fair!

Beast Boy’s lips began to tremble.

“Look, I totally get that I screwed up, but I really didn’t mean to. Really, I’m really sorry, guys,” said Beast Boy, running a hand through his hair once; the words pouring from his mouth like a torrent. “I’m such an idiot. I’m sorry. It’s—”

He was cut off instantly by a hard hand ruffling his hair. Beast Boy managed to look up to see Cyborg smirking down on him.

“Seriously, little dude. Chill. You did just fine,” said Cyborg; his hand seeming to endlessly ruffle Beast Boy’s green hair.

“Re–really?”

“Yeah, in fact, I totally didn’t expect you to last the first week,” said Cyborg with a smirk. “But you proved me wrong and lasted not one but two. Good job, BB. What, you seriously haven’t been worrying about this the whole way home, have you?”

Beast Boy honestly wanted to shout that, of course, he’d been worrying the entire time and that, in fact, he’d been going crazy with worry. But he didn’t. He wasn’t sure if he should take that first comment as a compliment or an insult, but he decided on the former since he did last two weeks, after all. His ears perked up happily.

“And we got a small lead in the end. Even if we hadn’t, it still wouldn’t change the fact that you did pretty good, little man,” said Cyborg in an approving tone.

Beast Boy beamed.

ooOOOOOoo 

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