Fan Fiction ❯ The Sparrow's Burden ❯ After it All ( Chapter 12 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Fulawkam 
Raven fights for her fleeting life, and all the others can do is watch.
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.07.2005 | Updated On: 04.07.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 197 | Status: Completed
Raven fights for her fleeting life, and all the others can do is watch.
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.07.2005 | Updated On: 04.07.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 197 | Status: Completed
The Sparrow’s Burden
12
“I don’t get it. I mean, I’m glad, but I don’t get this at all.”
“Don’t get what? Everything looks pretty normal to me.”
“Well... That’s just it, Robin. She’s fine. There’s not a trace of that stuff in her
system, and that’s not normal.”
“What else did the doctors say? What can we do for her?”
“Not much to be done. We can let her rest, that’s it.”
“Okay. But we need someone to tell her when she comes to. It’s not gonna be
easy for her to hear-- wait a sec... Did you see that?”
“Starfire?”
Starfire forced her way past the dark and the weariness. She did not know where
she was, and she did not understand why she was still alive. The inescapability of peace
was the last thought she had, and still it lingered. She may be deceased presently. After
all, her pain was gone, although the recollection of such pain was a injury in itself.
Starfire was particularly comfortable, now comprehending her placement in a bed. She
was not sure if she was now blind, or if her eyelids simply refused to function. Starfire
could not see the two voices that stood on either side of her, though she did not need to,
to know the owners.
As though they were figures in a dream, Cyborg and Robin clouded into her sight.
The faces of the boys were a combination of curiosity and relief. The infirmary lights
above them were bright and very blinding. Robin must have seen that they bothered
Starfire, because on a rhythmic hand clap, they dimmed to a tolerable level.
Beaming as only he could, Cyborg stretched his chin and abdomen high.
“Welcome home, Star. How’s my girl?”
The answer was not one that Starfire understood, though she presented it
regardless. “I am... well.”
Robin grinned, as though he were waiting for Starfire to effectively speak before
he would give ease. “Not completely, you’re not,” he warned. “Take it easy for a couple
days, alright? Your body’s been through a big load.”
“Raven.” The name seemed to surface from Starfire upon it’s own will. It
provoked a tide of emotions within her, none of them pleasant. It did the same for
Cyborg and Robin. The two boys did not respond, only recoiled their joy and shied away
their gaze. “What has happened? I must know!”
They would answer, for if they did not, Starfire would leave her bed and discover
for herself. “Starfire,” Robin started, then held to find his words. “Raven was in the
early stages of radiation poisoning when we found you two. She’s in pretty rough shape.”
In an instant, Starfire had tossed her bedsheets to the floor and poised herself to
move. “Where is she?”
“Star, I don’t think--”
Cyborg was cut off by Starfire’s insistence that Raven’s location was not a
request. “Where is Raven?”
“Second floor,” Robin sighed. “She’s under quarantine, so you can’t--”
Starfire was, by that time, through the hallway and halfway down the stairs before
Robin finished his sentence. In a time period that a professional athlete would envy, she
was inside the observation room. Beast Boy was already present. His forehead was
slumped against the glass leading to the recovery room. Starfire took heed of him only
briefly before peering through the window herself.
Starfire could hardly see her friend through the marred body that lay in the bed.
Raven had become so hideously damaged and swathed in bandages, Starfire could not
even tell if she was conscious. Tears falling to her cheeks, she asked Beast Boy; “Why
are there not doctors working to heal her?”
He did not shift from his position of grief. Beast Boy only answered with a
mutter. “Because they said there’s nothing they can do for her.” Starfire’s silent weeping
graduated a level. “We can only make her comfortable.”
She could not bridal her sorrow. There was no furniture to direct her collapse, so
Starfire braced her back against the wall and sank to her knees. To make Raven
comfortable was an admission of defeat. What Raven had born to herself was pain
Starfire familiarised herself with. It was a pain that caused her to embrace her own
demise. “May I enter?” She asked, already knowing the answer.
Still, Beast Boy did not move. “Cyborg is the only one who’s allowed to go in
without a radiation suit. We don’t think she can infect anyone, but the door is still sealed.
Only Cy and Robin know the code.” Starfire nodded without objection. She could not
touch or speak to Raven, so she would wait until she could.
Starfire did not stay with Beast Boy for long. There was not a word spoken
between them before she fainted. Her exhaustion met her during consuming moments of
grief, and she did not recall anything prior to awaking in her hospital bed. This time
Cyborg was the only one in the room, keeping a close eye on both the girl and the door.
Cyborg smiled noticing her uneventful recovery, which she politely returned. He
did not, however, appreciate her removing herself from the bed a second time. “Look
Star,” He said extending his full self to block the doorway. “I don’t wanna have to strap
you to the bed, but I will.”
“Please Cyborg,” she said. “I cannot remain here.”
Cyborg’s stern pose faltered. “You can’t see Raven. You get too worked up
when you think about her.”
“I am always thinking of her!” Starfire snapped. A moment passed and the two
lost their resolve. Starfire, knowing Cyborg was doing nothing but minding her wellness,
eased her voice. “I will not go to see Raven. I must be alone.”
“Where are you going?”
Starfire had not thought of the answer. “I do not know.” Cyborg only stared at
her. “It would not be far, and I will shortly return. Just for a moment, it would be nice to
forget all that has happened today.”
Cyborg laid a gentle hand on her trembling shoulder as he stepped aside. A
grateful Starfire stretched upward to put a kiss on his cheek before leaving. “Wait Star,”
Cyborg called from behind her. “I think I might know what’ll cheer you up.”
*
Until now, Starfire had not known how much of the day had passed . She sat
alone on the beach, watching across the bay for the fireworks to start. Her knees were
huddled to her chest and supported her dipping head. It was a lovely suggestion, but
Cyborg could not possibly know how much cheering up she was in need of.
The night was clear. The moonlight against the glassy water provided her with a
focus point for her empty gaze. Any other night, Starfire would have leaned back and
attempted the wonderfully impossible task of counting the stars. However, she could not
recall a time when her mind had been this troubled.
There was so much of Raven’s condition Starfire did not understand. All she
knew for certain is that she previously suffered in the same manner, and presently she was
unharmed. What had Raven done? The boys did not know any more than Starfire, surely
they would have informed her.
And what of the things only Starfire knew? She had lost consciousness in
Raven’s arms while the two of them exchanged most devoted words. Whether they were
genuine from Raven was something Starfire could not be certain of, but it was of great
importance to her that she find out.
Starfire took note of the age of the night by way of the moon. The fireworks
would not start for several hours, a fact Starfire was fully aware of when she left for the
beach. She did not wish to leave and she did not wish to stay. There was no place now
that would provide her peace or even any relief. Raven’s side would have been the only
correct location for Starfire, and that was an impossibility. She would wait here for the
fireworks. They would provide no solace, no comfort, but what else was she to do?
Her position would not have faltered for the night. Starfire was prepared to
remain for the display and into the morning had it not been for a light clamour from
behind that focused her attention. Starfire could not see what it was, not needing the
confirmation of sight to put her into a defensive stance with a starbolt ready under each
palm. “Who is there? Show yourself!”
*
“Okay,” Robin said as he pulled off the radiation suit. “She’s not radiating
anything, so we don’t need these anymore.”
Cyborg and Beast Boy continued to gawk at Raven who lay between them. Beast
Boy took his suit off without a word or distracted glance. Cyborg acted like he couldn’t
carry his weight, leaning against a wall for support and using his hand to push back his
head.
Being around Raven now seemed to take it’s effect on all of the team. The
hopelessness of the situation filled whoever looked at her and made sure that no one
could even pretend to be happy around her. Even Robin found it difficult to look at
Cyborg and Beast Boy, let alone issue his orders. “I still don’t think Starfire should be in
here, not yet.”
Still, the two did not respond verbally, only looked at Robin, puzzled. “She’s
been through too much. Her body might have healed, but,” he shook his head. “You
guys know how she gets.”
They both nodded quietly. Robin didn’t want to say how he heard Starfire in her
sleep calling out Raven’s name. Her voice shook the walls, an it was enough to make
Robin think she had woken up. Whatever was on Starfire’s mind, it was probably best
she wasn’t around Raven until she got over it.
Robin looked down once more on his dying friend. He didn’t need to tell the
others that she was getting worse. People in Raven’s condition didn’t recover. “Beast
Boy, you’re on watch.” Beast Boy nodded as Robin and Cyborg began to leave the room.
They’d done all they could.
“Uh, guys?” Robin had barely gotten through the doorway before Beast Boy
turned him around. He and Cyborg stopped cold as Raven’s supposedly immobile body
began to glow with a white light. It wasn’t intense, not at first, but it quickly grew. It
emitted from every section of bare skin on Raven’s body, and became strong enough that
Robin had to cover his face.
From the corner of his eye, he watched Raven’s body lift into the air as the light
continued to grow. Cyborg and Beast Boy both had to turn away, but Robin’s mask
shielded some of the light, ensuring he saw more than they did. Raven’s body was now
close to six feet off the bed.
Robin did not know whether he should evacuate the room, but before he had to
decide, the light subsided. Much more quickly than it grew, it faded and disappeared.
Raven’s body, still limp and unconscious, lowered back into her bed in almost the exact
position it had been before. “Cyborg,” Robin was the first to regain his head. “Give me a
reading on her.”
Cyborg had little trouble shaking off the confusion as he punched combinations
into the sensor on his forearm. He stopped, dumbfounded as he saw the results, and
punched into his sensor again. “She’s... fine.” He did not believe what he was saying any
more than Robin did.
“Fine? Fine how?”
“Fine like fine. She’s good, healthy, not dying.” Robin shot his gaze down to
Raven, who now didn’t have a scratch on her. The bandages had fallen off, and her skin,
while still pale, was back to Raven’s color. “Raven has just made...” Cyborg’s words
trailed off as the impossibility of what he was about to say sank in. “...A full recovery.”
It was then that Raven began to stir. A few murmurs and moans escaped as she
blindly adjusted her position in the bed. Robin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Watching Raven float in the air in a blinding halo was one thing, but this was incredible.
Raven opened her eyes as if she was mearly coming out of a deep sleep. They
were having trouble adjusting to the light, but were pointed towards the foot of the bed
where Robin stood. He smiled, “Welcome home, Raven.”
12
“I don’t get it. I mean, I’m glad, but I don’t get this at all.”
“Don’t get what? Everything looks pretty normal to me.”
“Well... That’s just it, Robin. She’s fine. There’s not a trace of that stuff in her
system, and that’s not normal.”
“What else did the doctors say? What can we do for her?”
“Not much to be done. We can let her rest, that’s it.”
“Okay. But we need someone to tell her when she comes to. It’s not gonna be
easy for her to hear-- wait a sec... Did you see that?”
“Starfire?”
Starfire forced her way past the dark and the weariness. She did not know where
she was, and she did not understand why she was still alive. The inescapability of peace
was the last thought she had, and still it lingered. She may be deceased presently. After
all, her pain was gone, although the recollection of such pain was a injury in itself.
Starfire was particularly comfortable, now comprehending her placement in a bed. She
was not sure if she was now blind, or if her eyelids simply refused to function. Starfire
could not see the two voices that stood on either side of her, though she did not need to,
to know the owners.
As though they were figures in a dream, Cyborg and Robin clouded into her sight.
The faces of the boys were a combination of curiosity and relief. The infirmary lights
above them were bright and very blinding. Robin must have seen that they bothered
Starfire, because on a rhythmic hand clap, they dimmed to a tolerable level.
Beaming as only he could, Cyborg stretched his chin and abdomen high.
“Welcome home, Star. How’s my girl?”
The answer was not one that Starfire understood, though she presented it
regardless. “I am... well.”
Robin grinned, as though he were waiting for Starfire to effectively speak before
he would give ease. “Not completely, you’re not,” he warned. “Take it easy for a couple
days, alright? Your body’s been through a big load.”
“Raven.” The name seemed to surface from Starfire upon it’s own will. It
provoked a tide of emotions within her, none of them pleasant. It did the same for
Cyborg and Robin. The two boys did not respond, only recoiled their joy and shied away
their gaze. “What has happened? I must know!”
They would answer, for if they did not, Starfire would leave her bed and discover
for herself. “Starfire,” Robin started, then held to find his words. “Raven was in the
early stages of radiation poisoning when we found you two. She’s in pretty rough shape.”
In an instant, Starfire had tossed her bedsheets to the floor and poised herself to
move. “Where is she?”
“Star, I don’t think--”
Cyborg was cut off by Starfire’s insistence that Raven’s location was not a
request. “Where is Raven?”
“Second floor,” Robin sighed. “She’s under quarantine, so you can’t--”
Starfire was, by that time, through the hallway and halfway down the stairs before
Robin finished his sentence. In a time period that a professional athlete would envy, she
was inside the observation room. Beast Boy was already present. His forehead was
slumped against the glass leading to the recovery room. Starfire took heed of him only
briefly before peering through the window herself.
Starfire could hardly see her friend through the marred body that lay in the bed.
Raven had become so hideously damaged and swathed in bandages, Starfire could not
even tell if she was conscious. Tears falling to her cheeks, she asked Beast Boy; “Why
are there not doctors working to heal her?”
He did not shift from his position of grief. Beast Boy only answered with a
mutter. “Because they said there’s nothing they can do for her.” Starfire’s silent weeping
graduated a level. “We can only make her comfortable.”
She could not bridal her sorrow. There was no furniture to direct her collapse, so
Starfire braced her back against the wall and sank to her knees. To make Raven
comfortable was an admission of defeat. What Raven had born to herself was pain
Starfire familiarised herself with. It was a pain that caused her to embrace her own
demise. “May I enter?” She asked, already knowing the answer.
Still, Beast Boy did not move. “Cyborg is the only one who’s allowed to go in
without a radiation suit. We don’t think she can infect anyone, but the door is still sealed.
Only Cy and Robin know the code.” Starfire nodded without objection. She could not
touch or speak to Raven, so she would wait until she could.
Starfire did not stay with Beast Boy for long. There was not a word spoken
between them before she fainted. Her exhaustion met her during consuming moments of
grief, and she did not recall anything prior to awaking in her hospital bed. This time
Cyborg was the only one in the room, keeping a close eye on both the girl and the door.
Cyborg smiled noticing her uneventful recovery, which she politely returned. He
did not, however, appreciate her removing herself from the bed a second time. “Look
Star,” He said extending his full self to block the doorway. “I don’t wanna have to strap
you to the bed, but I will.”
“Please Cyborg,” she said. “I cannot remain here.”
Cyborg’s stern pose faltered. “You can’t see Raven. You get too worked up
when you think about her.”
“I am always thinking of her!” Starfire snapped. A moment passed and the two
lost their resolve. Starfire, knowing Cyborg was doing nothing but minding her wellness,
eased her voice. “I will not go to see Raven. I must be alone.”
“Where are you going?”
Starfire had not thought of the answer. “I do not know.” Cyborg only stared at
her. “It would not be far, and I will shortly return. Just for a moment, it would be nice to
forget all that has happened today.”
Cyborg laid a gentle hand on her trembling shoulder as he stepped aside. A
grateful Starfire stretched upward to put a kiss on his cheek before leaving. “Wait Star,”
Cyborg called from behind her. “I think I might know what’ll cheer you up.”
*
Until now, Starfire had not known how much of the day had passed . She sat
alone on the beach, watching across the bay for the fireworks to start. Her knees were
huddled to her chest and supported her dipping head. It was a lovely suggestion, but
Cyborg could not possibly know how much cheering up she was in need of.
The night was clear. The moonlight against the glassy water provided her with a
focus point for her empty gaze. Any other night, Starfire would have leaned back and
attempted the wonderfully impossible task of counting the stars. However, she could not
recall a time when her mind had been this troubled.
There was so much of Raven’s condition Starfire did not understand. All she
knew for certain is that she previously suffered in the same manner, and presently she was
unharmed. What had Raven done? The boys did not know any more than Starfire, surely
they would have informed her.
And what of the things only Starfire knew? She had lost consciousness in
Raven’s arms while the two of them exchanged most devoted words. Whether they were
genuine from Raven was something Starfire could not be certain of, but it was of great
importance to her that she find out.
Starfire took note of the age of the night by way of the moon. The fireworks
would not start for several hours, a fact Starfire was fully aware of when she left for the
beach. She did not wish to leave and she did not wish to stay. There was no place now
that would provide her peace or even any relief. Raven’s side would have been the only
correct location for Starfire, and that was an impossibility. She would wait here for the
fireworks. They would provide no solace, no comfort, but what else was she to do?
Her position would not have faltered for the night. Starfire was prepared to
remain for the display and into the morning had it not been for a light clamour from
behind that focused her attention. Starfire could not see what it was, not needing the
confirmation of sight to put her into a defensive stance with a starbolt ready under each
palm. “Who is there? Show yourself!”
*
“Okay,” Robin said as he pulled off the radiation suit. “She’s not radiating
anything, so we don’t need these anymore.”
Cyborg and Beast Boy continued to gawk at Raven who lay between them. Beast
Boy took his suit off without a word or distracted glance. Cyborg acted like he couldn’t
carry his weight, leaning against a wall for support and using his hand to push back his
head.
Being around Raven now seemed to take it’s effect on all of the team. The
hopelessness of the situation filled whoever looked at her and made sure that no one
could even pretend to be happy around her. Even Robin found it difficult to look at
Cyborg and Beast Boy, let alone issue his orders. “I still don’t think Starfire should be in
here, not yet.”
Still, the two did not respond verbally, only looked at Robin, puzzled. “She’s
been through too much. Her body might have healed, but,” he shook his head. “You
guys know how she gets.”
They both nodded quietly. Robin didn’t want to say how he heard Starfire in her
sleep calling out Raven’s name. Her voice shook the walls, an it was enough to make
Robin think she had woken up. Whatever was on Starfire’s mind, it was probably best
she wasn’t around Raven until she got over it.
Robin looked down once more on his dying friend. He didn’t need to tell the
others that she was getting worse. People in Raven’s condition didn’t recover. “Beast
Boy, you’re on watch.” Beast Boy nodded as Robin and Cyborg began to leave the room.
They’d done all they could.
“Uh, guys?” Robin had barely gotten through the doorway before Beast Boy
turned him around. He and Cyborg stopped cold as Raven’s supposedly immobile body
began to glow with a white light. It wasn’t intense, not at first, but it quickly grew. It
emitted from every section of bare skin on Raven’s body, and became strong enough that
Robin had to cover his face.
From the corner of his eye, he watched Raven’s body lift into the air as the light
continued to grow. Cyborg and Beast Boy both had to turn away, but Robin’s mask
shielded some of the light, ensuring he saw more than they did. Raven’s body was now
close to six feet off the bed.
Robin did not know whether he should evacuate the room, but before he had to
decide, the light subsided. Much more quickly than it grew, it faded and disappeared.
Raven’s body, still limp and unconscious, lowered back into her bed in almost the exact
position it had been before. “Cyborg,” Robin was the first to regain his head. “Give me a
reading on her.”
Cyborg had little trouble shaking off the confusion as he punched combinations
into the sensor on his forearm. He stopped, dumbfounded as he saw the results, and
punched into his sensor again. “She’s... fine.” He did not believe what he was saying any
more than Robin did.
“Fine? Fine how?”
“Fine like fine. She’s good, healthy, not dying.” Robin shot his gaze down to
Raven, who now didn’t have a scratch on her. The bandages had fallen off, and her skin,
while still pale, was back to Raven’s color. “Raven has just made...” Cyborg’s words
trailed off as the impossibility of what he was about to say sank in. “...A full recovery.”
It was then that Raven began to stir. A few murmurs and moans escaped as she
blindly adjusted her position in the bed. Robin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Watching Raven float in the air in a blinding halo was one thing, but this was incredible.
Raven opened her eyes as if she was mearly coming out of a deep sleep. They
were having trouble adjusting to the light, but were pointed towards the foot of the bed
where Robin stood. He smiled, “Welcome home, Raven.”