Author's Notes: Okay, I'm not the biggest Teen Titans fan, but Beast Boy
intrigues me... And when I started this fic, I had no idea where he came
from, so I figured it needed explaining of some sort. Since then, I've
figured out about that whole thing with the animal disease, and the parents
who died at sea, but by then I was already half finished, so I just kept on
going. Nayways... This is kinda based on Nataku from X/1999, but not too
much... After all, I haven't even seen all of that yet... I just know
that I really like Nataku! ^.^
So... Um... Enjoy the show, and R&R! Oh, and I might write a sequel with some Robin/Beast Boy coupling, but besides that... No pairings. Sorry.
Disclaimer: ...Not go own. Thank you bye bye!
Project Beast By Margarita Neko
The first thing I remember was... Water.
That's right, I can see it better now... There was this really weird looking water, tinted green and kind of thick, with silvery bubbles floating all around. And I could breathe it... Actually, come to think of it, it probably wasn't water at all. Some sort of science goo, most likely, but hey, I'd only just been "born," and all I knew was that it was kind of like water. So, for me, that's what it was.
So anyway, I woke up in this tank of green "water" and silver bubbles. I opened my eyes, and I could just barely see people outside the tank... People in white coats. With clipboards.
Okay, so I guess I wasn't exactly being born right then. It was more like waking up with amnesia. I remembered the basics: What water was, what people were, and, I would later find out, how to walk and talk and all that other good stuff. And, with the basics that I remembered, came a feeling... A realization...
People in white coats + clipboards = BAD.
As soon as I saw them, my brain froze up. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think... Terror was clutching at my heart like... Well, I really had nothing to compare it to at the time, but it was something bad. So, instead of being civilized and trying to make a good impression or whatever...
I spazzed.
Let me tell you, the only thing that hurts more than ramming yourself against a glass surface repeatedly and not having it give way, is ramming yourself against a glass surface repeatedly and having it eventually shatter. So, one of my first memories was lying in a puddle of blood and green goo water, with a huge shard of glass embedded in my arm and the white-coated people who terrified me so gathering around to make sure I wasn't dead. No wonder I turned out so messed up, huh?
So, anyway, all these people were crowded around, fussing and trying to help me, I guess, and I was kind of freaking out on them-Kicking, punching, biting, the whole deal-when a voice yelled out "Stop!" I guess whomever the voice belonged to must have had some authority, because everyone shut up and backed off right away.
Curious, I peered around some of the white-coats, forgetting for a moment that I was still gushing blood from my arm (I blame the blood loss; it does weird things to you). Standing in the doorway was a man, probably in his mid-thirties, with dark hair, glasses, and-thank God-a black suit, worn like a bit of a rebel, with the sleeves all rolled up and tie undone. He was glaring furiously at the people around me, but his eyes seemed to soften when they fell on me.
Within moments, he was by my side, rinsing off and binding up my shoulder as the white-coats went back to whatever they were doing, pretending not to notice me and failing miserably. But I didn't care anymore. This man... He was so familiar to me, somehow. Which was, of course, insane, seeing as I had just been "born". But I still couldn't shake the feeling that I *knew* him...
"My name is Dr. Reynolds," he spoke suddenly, snapping me from my reverie. He was looking at me, straight in the eyes, with the strangest look on his face... "Do you remember your name?"
'Hope,' I thought to myself, placing the emotion in his eyes quickly. But why would he be feeling hopeful...?
However, I had no chance to ponder that question as I suddenly realized that he had said 'remember.' So, I wasn't just born, then? And if that was true, then why didn't I remember anything? And, most importantly-'My God, what *is* my name?!'
But I didn't voice any of this. I was pretty stunned, I guess. So I just shook my head slowly, staring into his dark, chocolate-brown eyes as the hope blinked out of existence there, immediately replaced by its archrival-despair.
Dr. Reynolds opened his mouth to say something, which, I suppose, would have been my name, because when one of the white-coats cut him off, it was to tell me, "Beast. Your name is Project Beast, the result of years of research and technology involving animal morphology. A human who can turn into animals."
She was smiling at me, trying to be kind, but I can see through people like that. One of those nifty little talents some people are born with, I guess. I saw only a half-truth in her eyes as she said that; she was hiding something from me. And then, to top it all off, she shot a warning glance at Dr. Reynolds. She must have thought I didn't see it, but it was clear as day to me, as was the glare that the doctor sent back at her. I silently cheered his retaliation as she stalked off, but out loud, I only asked, in a whisper-soft voice, "She's scary."
That seemed to entertain him greatly. He grinned at me and chuckled, a deep, smooth sound that tickled the edge of my memory and made all that I had forgotten become so painfully evident. But not clear, no; there's a difference between evident and clear. Now, I could sense all that I was missing (eight years, I later found), knew that it was there, just below the surface, but I still couldn't see through the murky water.
Nonetheless, that oh-so-familiar laugh sliced through the tension like a knife, and I soon found myself giggling a little, as well. I liked this guy. He was nice and he was fun and he smelled like apples.
After a few minutes, we stopped laughing, and he leaned in close to me, glancing around for the scary lady before speaking. " 'Project Beast' is no name for a child," he whispered. "Just between you and me, your name can be Gabriel. How about it?"
I got this nice warm feeling in my tummy when he said the name Gabriel. It was as familiar as he was. I suppose it was my old name, too, and he just didn't want to tell me, probably because of the scary lady, but I shot him a look that said I understood, and he nodded.
Little did I know, that was the beginning of the end.
~*Four years later*~
"Gazelle. Gerbil. Giraffe. Goose. Guanaco."
I turned into each of the creatures dictated to me, rapid fire, albeit a green version of each. Dr. Reynolds had explained that my prolonged time in that lovely tube of green goo had died my skin permanently, and each of my transformations reflected that. The scientists were disappointed by this flaw in their "technology," but they decided that they could make up for my odd coloring by perfecting me in every other aspect of my transforming.
In other words, I had to deal with transforming perfectly into every single known animal-in alphabetical order-once daily. With Dr. Iarrobino (formerly known as "Scary Lady"), nonetheless. It was hell.
Today, however, nothing could get me down. It was my "birthday" today, and Dr. Reynolds had promised to take me to the zoo. This had become a yearly tradition since my birth four years ago. He felt that I should see the real versions of the creatures I was copying, instead of just seeing them in the picture books that I was given to base my transformations off of.
Anyway, so I was rushing through my switches as fast as possible, which barely gave the machines I was hooked up to time to recognize the change before I was halfway to something else. The Good Doctor Evil eventually stopped and glared at me as I went through the list on my own, without her dictation, in perfect order. It was about time, too. I'd been at "Orangutan" while she was still reading off "Hawk." Approximately five minutes later, I finished with zebra, then turned human again, a huge grin on my face.
"So, is that it, doc?" I chirped happily, then, as she began to open her mouth (probably to say "no" and assign me another pointless task), I booked it, yelling a quick "See ya!" over my shoulder as I raced down the hall towards Reynolds's quarters.
I skidded to a halt outside of the door that I had decorated with some of the paints I had gotten for my first birthday here, courtesy of Reynolds, of course. He'd loved my pretty picture of the mountains and valley, done in a childish scrawl on his bedroom door, and had refused any and all offers/commands to have it cleaned up. Giggling happily, I pushed open the door, a huge smile stretching ear to ear.
However, the sight I met wasn't really what I'd been expecting, and my grin dropped into a slightly confused look. Reynolds was kneeling by his bed, holding an odd sort of necklace in his hands and moving his mouth to silent words. Quietly, I crept up behind him, peering over his shoulder at the necklace. It was beaded, with a little figure of a cross and tiny man on it. A very odd piece of jewelry, to be sure.
"Doctor?" I asked, quiet as possible, but it still startled him. He jumped, whirling around to face me with wide eyes, which soon softened in recognition and were accompanied by an easy grin.
"Hey, Gabriel. Done early?" he asked.
I nodded energetically, my smile back in place. "Uh huh! You shoulda seen it! I was one big blur of fins, fur, and feathers!"
He chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Way to go, kid!" he said encouragingly. "Ready to go?"
I nodded again, and he got up to put away his funny necklace. However, resisting the temptation of curiosity was never my strong point. "What were you doing when I came in?" I asked.
"Praying," he answered simply.
I tilted my head in confusion. "What's that?"
"Talking to God."
"God...?"
He glanced over at me, an odd look on his facts. "You don't know about God?" I shook my head. "Well... He's the creator of all. Almighty. Omniscient. He's everything. The source of all."
I wrinkled my nose. "That's silly," I told him.
"Why is that?" Ah. His turn to ask questions.
"Because," I stated, "he didn't make me. You and the scary doctors did."
That look of despair crossed over his face again, but it was gone so quickly that I thought for a second that I'd only imagined it. I decided to ask him another question to get his mind off of whatever was hurting him. "What is God supposed to be, anyway? Is He human?"
That startled him a bit. "Well, um..." he stuttered a little, then continued as he regained his composure. "He's not human, but He made us in his image. I guess, it... It'd be easiest to describe him as an angel. A very powerful one."
Oh, great. More stuff I don't know. "Angel...?"
Instead of answering me, however, he began digging around in his dresser drawers again. At first I thought that he had finally gotten annoyed with me, and was just going to ignore my question, but then he turned back to me, holding out yet another necklace. This one, however, was on a gold chain, not beaded, and had a pendant of a man (or was that a woman?) with flowing wings and a ring over its head. He held it out for me to take, and I took it from him holding it gently as he spoke.
"An angel is an infinitely pure being. They live in a place called Heaven, where everything is perfect, and they have wings so that they can fly down to watch over us," he explained to me softly as I stared at the glittering pendant.
"So... They look like humans with wings, then?" I asked, and he nodded. Concentrating intently, I stared at the tiny figure in my palm. I pictured the creature that I wanted to become in my head, and willed my body to change.
Now, I had only transformed from picture books before, but I figured that this couldn't be much harder.
Dear God, was I wrong.
Almost immediately, I felt a sort of dizziness, and seconds later, pain began lancing through me from my head and back. I screamed, dropping the beautiful figure onto the floor as I clutched my head in agony. Reynolds was by my side immediately, leading me to the bed and forcing me down until the pain cleared up.
That didn't take too long, but I was still confused. That had never, *ever* happened to me before, even on my really tough transformations, and that really annoyed me. After a few moments, I stood up shakily. Reynolds made me promise that I would never try that again, and I agreed.
He let me wear his necklace to the zoo that day.
~*~
I leaned over the fence a little, and Reynolds pulled me back. I scowled at him, and he gave me a warning glance. "Don't," he said. "They're dangerous."
I rolled my eyes. Tigers were just big kitties, and besides, I could become one if I so wished. Then they wouldn't hurt me. But then, if I did transform in public, it'd be my head when we got home. We'd already had enough trouble covering up all my green skin, but a good deal of makeup and huge cloak seemed to do the job well enough. It was kind of annoying, being almost summer and ridiculously sunny out, but I could deal.
So far, we'd been to see every one of the marsupials, deer, and, counting the tiger pen that we were at now, all of the big cats, as well, and it was only noon. However, Reynolds was begging for a break ("I'm just not that young anymore, Gabe!"), so we decided to have an ice cream stop.
Then came the middle of the end.
We were just sitting in this nice little park area for people who were having lunch, when a huge explosion shook the ground. I snapped my head around before Reynolds could cover my eyes, and I felt the blood drain from my face. Some kids-probably about sixteen or seventeen years old each-had set off some minor explosive. The animals were freaking, and flames were beginning to engulf the park. Some people had actually been set on fire, and were rolling on the ground, desperately trying to put out the flames.
I was on my feet immediately, and, despite my doctor's cries of "Gabe, NO!", I began rushing towards the blaze. There was a tiny water hole right by there, and I transformed into an elephant, not thinking at all of the consequences, and began using my trunk to suck in the water and spray it onto the fire.
I was doing a pretty good job of playing hero, but the flames were playing villain even better. They were high, and I could tell that I was fighting a losing battle. Then, from behind me...
"Titans, GO!"
I turned my head towards the new sound. A group of four, barely older than myself for the most part, had gathered behind me. Immediately, one of them, a girl of about fifteen clothed in black and blue, stepped forward, chanting strange words. Dark light flowed from her fingertips to the water, which suddenly leapt towards the fire seemingly on its own.
The problem of the fire solved, two of the others, a half-robot man and a girl with red hair, began chasing the two arsonists who had started this chaos. That left only the dark-haired boy in the mask, who soon began walking towards me.
Suddenly, those consequences that had been burned from my mind from the fire came flooding back into my consciousness, and I froze. If anyone were to find out about me... God, I'd be dead the moment I got home.
"Hey there, boy," the masked kid said soothingly. "You're an interesting color, aren't you? Where's your pen?"
If elephants could laugh, I'd be rolling on the floor, hysterical with relief. He thought I was a real elephant! There is mercy in this world after all!
However, I soon realized that I had to get away from him anyway, before he caught me and turned me in to the zoo. Now, there aren't really that many places for an elephant to hide in most situations, but some rocks by the lion pen caught my eye, and I bolted, leaving mask-boy blinking after me.
I reached my sanctuary quickly, and, hidden safely behind a rock wall, I shrank down to my original self. My heart was beating fast, and my breath was short, so I sank to the rock floor and buried my head in my arms for a moment as I recovered.
Eventually, my breathing slowed, and a wave of fatigue crashed over me. Adrenaline. Gotta love it, really. I was all set to let myself drift off into a short nap to regain my nerves, and I would have, too.
If only it weren't for the growling.
My eyes snapped open as soon as I heard that sound, and I realized my mistake. It wasn't a rock *by* the lion pen, no. It was *in* the lion pen. And I was surrounded.
I screamed.
My instincts were really working against me that day.
Hearing me, mask-boy rushed in like the superhero that he was, just as the pack of lions was closing in on me. He kicked them each away, just hard enough to warn them away without doing any real damage besides a light cut. They scattered, and he knelt down beside me.
"Hey, kid," he said in the same soothing voice he had used before. "This place is off limits. Don't suppose I have to tell you why, either." He chuckled softly. "So, what're you doing back here?"
Okay, my nerves must have really been on edge right then, because the next thing I knew I had launched myself against his chest and was clinging onto him, shaking uncontrollably, tears coursing down my cheeks. He didn't seem too surprised, and he simply wrapped his arms around me and rocked me back and forth gently as I buried my face into his shoulder.
After a few moments, he pushed me back a little, still holding onto my shoulders and smiling a calm sort of smile. "There, now," he said. "Feel any bett...er...?"
I hadn't realized my mistake until it was too late.
Naturally, my tears and my rubbing my face against his uniform washed away a great deal of the skin-tone makeup I'd been wearing. And naturally, I didn't notice at all until his eyes were wide as saucers, staring at where his thumb was stroking the remaining coloring off.
Immediately, I shrank away from his touch and began struggling to get away, but he held tight. He must have seen the fear in my eyes, because the next thing I knew I was against his chest again, with him stroking my hair and telling me that it was okay, he wasn't going to hurt me, he just needed to talk.
There was silence for a few moments as I calmed down, and then he loosened his grip a little so that he could look into my eyes again.
"That was you back there, wasn't it? The green elephant, I mean?" he asked softly, and I nodded.
A pause. Then...
"I'm Robin. What's your name?"
Now, that was unexpected to me. I'd been expecting something more along the lines of "How did you do that?" and "What are you?" Therefore my answer was a stuttered, "P... Project Beast..."
He didn't seem to like that answer. "That's not a name," he told me, and then his eyes filled with concern. "You... Do have a real name, don't you?"
"...Gabriel..." I answered uncertainly. I knew I wasn't supposed to be telling people the name that Doctor Reynolds had given me, but I figured I owed this Robin boy for having saved my life.
He smiled, satisfied. "Gabriel... That's a nice name," he said. Then, "I'm a Teen Titan... It's one of those fighting for truth and justice gigs. We could really use your abilities on our team, you know. That is... If you want to."
I felt the blood rush quicker in my veins. This guy, who had just met me less than five minutes, was asking me to join his team. It was... Odd, flattering, and, quite frankly, I'd love to do it, but...
"I... I'm sorry," I said softly. "I really can't."
And then, before he could get another word in, I switched to cheetah and high-tailed it out of there.
~*~
We left as soon as I had found Reynolds. I didn't tell him what had happened between Robin and me. I figured I was in enough trouble as it was. The look on his face, solemn and sad, only confirmed my assumption.
We stepped into the building-Gotham Labs, a laboratory/housing area for amateur scientists (at least, that's what the government thought)-about half an hour later. Dr. Iarrobino was sitting in the common room just inside the door, staring at a news report on the television, with one of those calm-before-the-storm looks on her face. Any hope I had of surviving this ordeal shattered when I saw that look.
"Hello, Doctor," Reynolds said calmly, but I could read the fear in his eyes. And that scared me. He wasn't supposed to get scared. As discretely as I could, I moved to hide behind him, just barely peeking out over his shoulder.
She glanced at us, her icy gaze lingering on me for a moment longer than I was used to, before turning back to the TV. My heart sunk as I saw a flash of a familiar shad of green on the screen. "Reynolds," she stated simply.
He seemed to have seen the same thing that I had on the television, because he sighed and abandoned the step of pretending everything was fine, skipping straight to explanations. "Look, doc, it was life or death, and he's just a kid. What did you expect him to do? Sit around and watch as the only place he's ever been outside of this damn lab went up in flames?"
"He's jeopardized our research, Reynolds," Iarrobino stated calmly, still in that oh-so-unnervingly calm voice.
"No one realized he was that unusual!" Reynolds protested.
And that was when she snapped.
"Not that unusual? Not that unusual?!" she demanded, the calmness replaced with cold fire. "My God, Reynolds, it was a fucking green elephant! Not only that, but it just disappeared afterwards! What happens when they figure out that it wasn't part of the zoo, remember that we're doing studies on animals, and hold a search of the labs to see if we've been experimenting on endangered species, turning them green and whatnot? What then, Reynolds?!"
"Then we move," he stated, his turn to be calm. "We've planned ahead for this-we've got all of the paperwork and plans needed to fake a disappearance. Start over. No one has to find out about Gabriel."
Uh oh. Mistake.
He sees it too.
Shame it was too late.
"Gabriel?" Iarrobino hissed my name, like a curse. I buried my face into his back, squeezing my eyes shut to block out her image, face contorted in rage.
But Reynolds didn't back down. "Yes, *Gabriel*," he said defiantly. "That's his name. It has been for all twelve years of his life."
That came as no shock to me. As I stated earlier, I'd figured that Gabriel had been my name before I woke up. What Iarrobino said in response, however... That nearly stopped my heart.
"Reynolds, the first rule of science is not to name the lab rats... Especially not after your *dead son*."
My eyes opened again, and I found myself staring back and forth between the two scientists in shock. Reynolds looked like he was trying not to cry, and Iarrobino looked quite triumphant. What scared me, though, was that she also seemed to have come to a decision of some sort, and she had curled her lips into the single most frightening smile I'd ever seen, and I suddenly dreaded finding out what the decision was.
Unfortunately, I did find out... Too, too soon.
"All right, Reynolds," she said, the deadly calm back in her voice. "We'll play your way... But with a few changes. We'll run away. We'll start over. But, here's the thing..." Suddenly, there was a gun in her hand, and a second later my scream of terror was accompanied by a loud bang. "You aren't coming."
I didn't stay in the common room for much longer after the shot. Reynolds was bleeding. The shot had hit home, striking him in the chest, probably missing the heart by only millimeters, and I knew he would be dead soon, but I wouldn't let him die with her standing over him with that awful look of sick triumph on her face. I grabbed him, summoning strength born of terror to lift him awkwardly over my shoulder (a difficult feat, as he was over a head taller than me), and I ran, not stopping until I was standing in front of that familiar color-splashed door.
Shifting his weight slightly and trying to ignore the pain filled groan that the movement drew from him, I reached out and opened the door. I pushed the both of us into the bedroom, and placed him as gently as I could onto the bed. The next thing that I did was take off the blood-soaked cloak that had kept me hidden from prying eyes once outside, tossing it onto the floor in disgust. I couldn't understand how this had happened, all in one day. And the fact that it was entirely my fault was killing me.
However, it was certainly killing my precious doctor more. His breath was coming shortly, and the blood was still pouring from his chest, even as I pressed bandages against the wound futilely. I suppose it would have been easier to tend to him if I wasn't looking through a cloud of tears, but he held no grudges against me for it. He was very calm for someone who was dying, in fact, and not the deadly calm of Iarrobino. No... He was peaceful.
"Gabriel..."
The raspy voice broke me from my reverie, and I turned my tear-clouded eyes to his. He was smiling... Oh, God, that broke my heart.
"Gabriel..." he repeated, and I forced down my sobs. "I need you to get out of here. Don't let her take you. She's... A bit too passionate about her work... I guess I'm proof of that, now, aren't I?" He chuckled, but I saw no humor in the situation. Just pain.
"Doctor Reynolds," I whispered, but he scowled at that, holding up a shaking hand to silence me.
"Gabriel... Please... Call me... 'Father...'"
And that was when the memories came back.
*I was sitting on that nice spinney-chair in that scary lady's office. She worked with Daddy, but I didn't like her. She had mean eyes, and her name was funny. I-are-something. I couldn't even pronounce it in my head. But, Daddy said that she could make me stop being sick, so I'd trust her for a bit more. She was saying something about how they wouldn't be able to save me until I was almost dead from the sick, and I didn't much like the sound of that. But Daddy was desperate, and scared, and he'd be lonely without me if I died, since mommy had gone to Heaven a few months ago. Come to think of it, I'd be lonely, too, but he promised me his pretty angel necklace would keep me company if I died. He said he'd put it in the ground with me and grandpa...*
*I was coughing again. It hurt now, and there was blood on my hands when I took them down, but Daddy said that it would be all over soon. I was hooked up to all these machines, and the scary lady was there too, but I knew that Daddy wouldn't let her hurt me. There was a big tube of what looked like green water in one corner of the room. Daddy said I'd have to take a nap in that later. I told him that I was too big for a nap, but he told me that it was necessary if I were to get through this alive. The sickness I had only spared animals, he said, so he and scary-lady were going to make me part animal. The special chemicals in the water would go into me through my skin, and it'd change my body just enough to keep me alive. Apparently, scary-lady had been working on this for a long time, but until me, there'd been no one willing to be her "lab rat." I didn't like it when she called me that, but right now I don't think I would've noticed if she'd called me "lab fuzzy blueberry muffin." There were dark spots in the air in front of me, now, but when I tried to ask why, no sound came out. The dark spots were getting bigger, and they soon filled my entire vision. It was kind of like falling asleep, so I figured it must be time for me to take my nap. Just before I did, though, I grabbed Daddy's hand, smiling up at him, though I couldn't actually see him, and then I fell asleep.*
These flashes of memory, along with a few select others of less importance, flashed before my eyes, and I lost it. I threw myself onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably as I realized that I had just indirectly killed my own father. He, however, just stroked my hair, pulling me close and whispering into my ear.
"Get out of here, Gabriel," he said. "Go be free, and be happy. I'll see you in Heaven, someday, because... You are my angel..."
"Daddy," I whimpered into his chest, and he gripped me tightly for a second, and then went limp.
He was gone.
And that was the end.
~*Two hours later*~
I'd gotten out in bird form through the window just as Iarrobino had burst into the room. I'd done what my father had told me to do. I'd escaped. I was free.
...And I had absolutely nowhere to go.
So, I was sitting on a swing set in a little park I'd found in the city, when a familiar face-er... Mask...-found me.
"Hey, Gabriel," Robin said calmly. I didn't say anything. I just stared at my shoes. After a moment, he continued. "I... Just got back from the Gotham Labs... The police had checked it out to see if they could find out anything about the 'mysterious green elephant.' There wasn't anyone there, but... There was a body. A man by the name of William Reynolds. I found a journal under his pillow, and I figured it might provide some clues, so I read it, and..." He stopped here, hesitating a moment before asking me, "Did you know that he was...?"
"My father?" I finished for him when he trailed off. "Yeah, just found out... So what are you doing here?"
"Well, when they caught the crazy doctor lady"-I allowed myself a triumphant smirk at that-"she admitted to having killed Reynolds as soon as she was under any pressure, but she said she had no clue as to where 'Project Beast' was, so, while the guys were taking her in, I decided to find you."
I nodded, and he took a seat on the swing next to me.
A pause. Then, "You know... If you need a place to stay, my offer's still open..."
For some reason, something in me snapped right then. I guess that the idea of a new home really ended that stage of my life, and, maybe, I wasn't ready to accept that yet, because the new stage was one without my father. So... I started crying.
Robin, of course, was by my side in an instant, and he picked me up, carrying me to his swing and holding me on his lap. He made those calming shushing sounds, stroked my hair, and kicked the swing back and forth slowly in a really relaxing way, all in all, acting like a father himself.
And so it was that, my first night of freedom in years, night found me curled in the arms of a stranger with tears drying on my cheeks.
~*~
I guess I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up I was in a nice soft bed with sunbeams falling on my face through an open window. Slowly, the events of the day before came back to me, and I sat up. Looking out the window, I saw a magnificent view of the sea and, behind it, the city. However, that didn't exactly explain where I was.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," a voice called from somewhere to my left. I turned my head away from the window, which was on my right, and saw Robin standing in the doorway, holding a tray. "I brought breakfast for you."
I smiled and thanked him. "Is this your room?" I asked as I took the tray from him, eying the contents warily. Eggs, bacon, toast, and a glass of orange juice. I took a bite of the toast, ignoring the meat and eggs despite my hunger. I'm no cannibal.
"No, it's yours," he told me, then, at my look of surprise, he added, "That is, if you want it. The Tower's got a ton of guest rooms, so it's no problem or anything."
I nodded. "I... I think I'd like that very much," I told him.
His face lit up in a huge, enthusiastic smile. It was the first time I'd ever seen him wearing anything but his cool, calm, and collected look. "That's great!" he exclaimed. "You've gotta meet the guys, as soon as you're done with breakfast, that is."
I glanced down at the tray. The toast was gone, and the glass of orange juice was nearly empty, as well. I was done. "Lead away," I told him as I placed the tray on a bedside table.
He led me downstairs, where the other three members of his team were gathered, all of them cheering as the robot-man played a game of some sort on a large-screen TV. Robin cleared his throat, and all three turned around, at attention at once. They were eying me confusedly, and I realized that Robin hadn't told them about me yet. Their stares were kind of unnerving me, and I felt myself shift over to a more secure spot, half- hidden behind Robin.
"Everyone," Robin began, reaching behind him and drawing me out in front to show everyone, "this is our new teammate. His name is Beast Boy."
I cast him a confused look at that, and he leaned over and whispered to me, "I figured you might like to start over from scratch. New home, new family, new name... The whole deal."
I nodded. He did have a point, I guess, and regardless of whether I liked it or not, there was no time to ponder it as the rest of the team came over to greet me.
"Welcome to our home!" exclaimed the red-haired girl, who seemed to have an odd sort of accent that I couldn't place. "I am Starfire, and I hope that you will enjoy your employment with the Teen Titans!"
I told her thank you, yes, I'm sure I would, and then moved on to the next new teammate, robot-man.
He just kind of stared at me for a moment, then finally stated, "Dude, you're green. What's up with that?"
I raised my eyebrow, and retaliated with, "Dude, you're part microwave. What's up with that?"
"Oh, great, a joker," the dark girl said sarcastically, rolling her eyes in exasperation. I blinked. Joker, huh? I guess I could play that part...
"Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, play nice," Robin chided jokingly. I laughed. I liked these people.
~*~
So, that's where I am now. A new home, a new identity... A new start.
I still have my father's necklace. I wear it under my team uniform, hidden from sight. I'd like to think that my father is there with me through that necklace, watching over me and helping me to do the whole "truth and justice" thing. After all, I'm doing all of this for him. I want to be good, and pure, and free... For him.
Because I'm his angel.
~*End*~
Author's notes: So... Whatcha think? ^.^ It's the longest one-shot I've ever written! Go me! It was also an experiment with the first person point of view, so please R8R to tell me how that came out. Possible sequel out soon, with Robin/BB slash (sorry, but I like the pairing. It's cute).
Until next time... See ya!
So... Um... Enjoy the show, and R&R! Oh, and I might write a sequel with some Robin/Beast Boy coupling, but besides that... No pairings. Sorry.
Disclaimer: ...Not go own. Thank you bye bye!
Project Beast By Margarita Neko
The first thing I remember was... Water.
That's right, I can see it better now... There was this really weird looking water, tinted green and kind of thick, with silvery bubbles floating all around. And I could breathe it... Actually, come to think of it, it probably wasn't water at all. Some sort of science goo, most likely, but hey, I'd only just been "born," and all I knew was that it was kind of like water. So, for me, that's what it was.
So anyway, I woke up in this tank of green "water" and silver bubbles. I opened my eyes, and I could just barely see people outside the tank... People in white coats. With clipboards.
Okay, so I guess I wasn't exactly being born right then. It was more like waking up with amnesia. I remembered the basics: What water was, what people were, and, I would later find out, how to walk and talk and all that other good stuff. And, with the basics that I remembered, came a feeling... A realization...
People in white coats + clipboards = BAD.
As soon as I saw them, my brain froze up. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think... Terror was clutching at my heart like... Well, I really had nothing to compare it to at the time, but it was something bad. So, instead of being civilized and trying to make a good impression or whatever...
I spazzed.
Let me tell you, the only thing that hurts more than ramming yourself against a glass surface repeatedly and not having it give way, is ramming yourself against a glass surface repeatedly and having it eventually shatter. So, one of my first memories was lying in a puddle of blood and green goo water, with a huge shard of glass embedded in my arm and the white-coated people who terrified me so gathering around to make sure I wasn't dead. No wonder I turned out so messed up, huh?
So, anyway, all these people were crowded around, fussing and trying to help me, I guess, and I was kind of freaking out on them-Kicking, punching, biting, the whole deal-when a voice yelled out "Stop!" I guess whomever the voice belonged to must have had some authority, because everyone shut up and backed off right away.
Curious, I peered around some of the white-coats, forgetting for a moment that I was still gushing blood from my arm (I blame the blood loss; it does weird things to you). Standing in the doorway was a man, probably in his mid-thirties, with dark hair, glasses, and-thank God-a black suit, worn like a bit of a rebel, with the sleeves all rolled up and tie undone. He was glaring furiously at the people around me, but his eyes seemed to soften when they fell on me.
Within moments, he was by my side, rinsing off and binding up my shoulder as the white-coats went back to whatever they were doing, pretending not to notice me and failing miserably. But I didn't care anymore. This man... He was so familiar to me, somehow. Which was, of course, insane, seeing as I had just been "born". But I still couldn't shake the feeling that I *knew* him...
"My name is Dr. Reynolds," he spoke suddenly, snapping me from my reverie. He was looking at me, straight in the eyes, with the strangest look on his face... "Do you remember your name?"
'Hope,' I thought to myself, placing the emotion in his eyes quickly. But why would he be feeling hopeful...?
However, I had no chance to ponder that question as I suddenly realized that he had said 'remember.' So, I wasn't just born, then? And if that was true, then why didn't I remember anything? And, most importantly-'My God, what *is* my name?!'
But I didn't voice any of this. I was pretty stunned, I guess. So I just shook my head slowly, staring into his dark, chocolate-brown eyes as the hope blinked out of existence there, immediately replaced by its archrival-despair.
Dr. Reynolds opened his mouth to say something, which, I suppose, would have been my name, because when one of the white-coats cut him off, it was to tell me, "Beast. Your name is Project Beast, the result of years of research and technology involving animal morphology. A human who can turn into animals."
She was smiling at me, trying to be kind, but I can see through people like that. One of those nifty little talents some people are born with, I guess. I saw only a half-truth in her eyes as she said that; she was hiding something from me. And then, to top it all off, she shot a warning glance at Dr. Reynolds. She must have thought I didn't see it, but it was clear as day to me, as was the glare that the doctor sent back at her. I silently cheered his retaliation as she stalked off, but out loud, I only asked, in a whisper-soft voice, "She's scary."
That seemed to entertain him greatly. He grinned at me and chuckled, a deep, smooth sound that tickled the edge of my memory and made all that I had forgotten become so painfully evident. But not clear, no; there's a difference between evident and clear. Now, I could sense all that I was missing (eight years, I later found), knew that it was there, just below the surface, but I still couldn't see through the murky water.
Nonetheless, that oh-so-familiar laugh sliced through the tension like a knife, and I soon found myself giggling a little, as well. I liked this guy. He was nice and he was fun and he smelled like apples.
After a few minutes, we stopped laughing, and he leaned in close to me, glancing around for the scary lady before speaking. " 'Project Beast' is no name for a child," he whispered. "Just between you and me, your name can be Gabriel. How about it?"
I got this nice warm feeling in my tummy when he said the name Gabriel. It was as familiar as he was. I suppose it was my old name, too, and he just didn't want to tell me, probably because of the scary lady, but I shot him a look that said I understood, and he nodded.
Little did I know, that was the beginning of the end.
~*Four years later*~
"Gazelle. Gerbil. Giraffe. Goose. Guanaco."
I turned into each of the creatures dictated to me, rapid fire, albeit a green version of each. Dr. Reynolds had explained that my prolonged time in that lovely tube of green goo had died my skin permanently, and each of my transformations reflected that. The scientists were disappointed by this flaw in their "technology," but they decided that they could make up for my odd coloring by perfecting me in every other aspect of my transforming.
In other words, I had to deal with transforming perfectly into every single known animal-in alphabetical order-once daily. With Dr. Iarrobino (formerly known as "Scary Lady"), nonetheless. It was hell.
Today, however, nothing could get me down. It was my "birthday" today, and Dr. Reynolds had promised to take me to the zoo. This had become a yearly tradition since my birth four years ago. He felt that I should see the real versions of the creatures I was copying, instead of just seeing them in the picture books that I was given to base my transformations off of.
Anyway, so I was rushing through my switches as fast as possible, which barely gave the machines I was hooked up to time to recognize the change before I was halfway to something else. The Good Doctor Evil eventually stopped and glared at me as I went through the list on my own, without her dictation, in perfect order. It was about time, too. I'd been at "Orangutan" while she was still reading off "Hawk." Approximately five minutes later, I finished with zebra, then turned human again, a huge grin on my face.
"So, is that it, doc?" I chirped happily, then, as she began to open her mouth (probably to say "no" and assign me another pointless task), I booked it, yelling a quick "See ya!" over my shoulder as I raced down the hall towards Reynolds's quarters.
I skidded to a halt outside of the door that I had decorated with some of the paints I had gotten for my first birthday here, courtesy of Reynolds, of course. He'd loved my pretty picture of the mountains and valley, done in a childish scrawl on his bedroom door, and had refused any and all offers/commands to have it cleaned up. Giggling happily, I pushed open the door, a huge smile stretching ear to ear.
However, the sight I met wasn't really what I'd been expecting, and my grin dropped into a slightly confused look. Reynolds was kneeling by his bed, holding an odd sort of necklace in his hands and moving his mouth to silent words. Quietly, I crept up behind him, peering over his shoulder at the necklace. It was beaded, with a little figure of a cross and tiny man on it. A very odd piece of jewelry, to be sure.
"Doctor?" I asked, quiet as possible, but it still startled him. He jumped, whirling around to face me with wide eyes, which soon softened in recognition and were accompanied by an easy grin.
"Hey, Gabriel. Done early?" he asked.
I nodded energetically, my smile back in place. "Uh huh! You shoulda seen it! I was one big blur of fins, fur, and feathers!"
He chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Way to go, kid!" he said encouragingly. "Ready to go?"
I nodded again, and he got up to put away his funny necklace. However, resisting the temptation of curiosity was never my strong point. "What were you doing when I came in?" I asked.
"Praying," he answered simply.
I tilted my head in confusion. "What's that?"
"Talking to God."
"God...?"
He glanced over at me, an odd look on his facts. "You don't know about God?" I shook my head. "Well... He's the creator of all. Almighty. Omniscient. He's everything. The source of all."
I wrinkled my nose. "That's silly," I told him.
"Why is that?" Ah. His turn to ask questions.
"Because," I stated, "he didn't make me. You and the scary doctors did."
That look of despair crossed over his face again, but it was gone so quickly that I thought for a second that I'd only imagined it. I decided to ask him another question to get his mind off of whatever was hurting him. "What is God supposed to be, anyway? Is He human?"
That startled him a bit. "Well, um..." he stuttered a little, then continued as he regained his composure. "He's not human, but He made us in his image. I guess, it... It'd be easiest to describe him as an angel. A very powerful one."
Oh, great. More stuff I don't know. "Angel...?"
Instead of answering me, however, he began digging around in his dresser drawers again. At first I thought that he had finally gotten annoyed with me, and was just going to ignore my question, but then he turned back to me, holding out yet another necklace. This one, however, was on a gold chain, not beaded, and had a pendant of a man (or was that a woman?) with flowing wings and a ring over its head. He held it out for me to take, and I took it from him holding it gently as he spoke.
"An angel is an infinitely pure being. They live in a place called Heaven, where everything is perfect, and they have wings so that they can fly down to watch over us," he explained to me softly as I stared at the glittering pendant.
"So... They look like humans with wings, then?" I asked, and he nodded. Concentrating intently, I stared at the tiny figure in my palm. I pictured the creature that I wanted to become in my head, and willed my body to change.
Now, I had only transformed from picture books before, but I figured that this couldn't be much harder.
Dear God, was I wrong.
Almost immediately, I felt a sort of dizziness, and seconds later, pain began lancing through me from my head and back. I screamed, dropping the beautiful figure onto the floor as I clutched my head in agony. Reynolds was by my side immediately, leading me to the bed and forcing me down until the pain cleared up.
That didn't take too long, but I was still confused. That had never, *ever* happened to me before, even on my really tough transformations, and that really annoyed me. After a few moments, I stood up shakily. Reynolds made me promise that I would never try that again, and I agreed.
He let me wear his necklace to the zoo that day.
~*~
I leaned over the fence a little, and Reynolds pulled me back. I scowled at him, and he gave me a warning glance. "Don't," he said. "They're dangerous."
I rolled my eyes. Tigers were just big kitties, and besides, I could become one if I so wished. Then they wouldn't hurt me. But then, if I did transform in public, it'd be my head when we got home. We'd already had enough trouble covering up all my green skin, but a good deal of makeup and huge cloak seemed to do the job well enough. It was kind of annoying, being almost summer and ridiculously sunny out, but I could deal.
So far, we'd been to see every one of the marsupials, deer, and, counting the tiger pen that we were at now, all of the big cats, as well, and it was only noon. However, Reynolds was begging for a break ("I'm just not that young anymore, Gabe!"), so we decided to have an ice cream stop.
Then came the middle of the end.
We were just sitting in this nice little park area for people who were having lunch, when a huge explosion shook the ground. I snapped my head around before Reynolds could cover my eyes, and I felt the blood drain from my face. Some kids-probably about sixteen or seventeen years old each-had set off some minor explosive. The animals were freaking, and flames were beginning to engulf the park. Some people had actually been set on fire, and were rolling on the ground, desperately trying to put out the flames.
I was on my feet immediately, and, despite my doctor's cries of "Gabe, NO!", I began rushing towards the blaze. There was a tiny water hole right by there, and I transformed into an elephant, not thinking at all of the consequences, and began using my trunk to suck in the water and spray it onto the fire.
I was doing a pretty good job of playing hero, but the flames were playing villain even better. They were high, and I could tell that I was fighting a losing battle. Then, from behind me...
"Titans, GO!"
I turned my head towards the new sound. A group of four, barely older than myself for the most part, had gathered behind me. Immediately, one of them, a girl of about fifteen clothed in black and blue, stepped forward, chanting strange words. Dark light flowed from her fingertips to the water, which suddenly leapt towards the fire seemingly on its own.
The problem of the fire solved, two of the others, a half-robot man and a girl with red hair, began chasing the two arsonists who had started this chaos. That left only the dark-haired boy in the mask, who soon began walking towards me.
Suddenly, those consequences that had been burned from my mind from the fire came flooding back into my consciousness, and I froze. If anyone were to find out about me... God, I'd be dead the moment I got home.
"Hey there, boy," the masked kid said soothingly. "You're an interesting color, aren't you? Where's your pen?"
If elephants could laugh, I'd be rolling on the floor, hysterical with relief. He thought I was a real elephant! There is mercy in this world after all!
However, I soon realized that I had to get away from him anyway, before he caught me and turned me in to the zoo. Now, there aren't really that many places for an elephant to hide in most situations, but some rocks by the lion pen caught my eye, and I bolted, leaving mask-boy blinking after me.
I reached my sanctuary quickly, and, hidden safely behind a rock wall, I shrank down to my original self. My heart was beating fast, and my breath was short, so I sank to the rock floor and buried my head in my arms for a moment as I recovered.
Eventually, my breathing slowed, and a wave of fatigue crashed over me. Adrenaline. Gotta love it, really. I was all set to let myself drift off into a short nap to regain my nerves, and I would have, too.
If only it weren't for the growling.
My eyes snapped open as soon as I heard that sound, and I realized my mistake. It wasn't a rock *by* the lion pen, no. It was *in* the lion pen. And I was surrounded.
I screamed.
My instincts were really working against me that day.
Hearing me, mask-boy rushed in like the superhero that he was, just as the pack of lions was closing in on me. He kicked them each away, just hard enough to warn them away without doing any real damage besides a light cut. They scattered, and he knelt down beside me.
"Hey, kid," he said in the same soothing voice he had used before. "This place is off limits. Don't suppose I have to tell you why, either." He chuckled softly. "So, what're you doing back here?"
Okay, my nerves must have really been on edge right then, because the next thing I knew I had launched myself against his chest and was clinging onto him, shaking uncontrollably, tears coursing down my cheeks. He didn't seem too surprised, and he simply wrapped his arms around me and rocked me back and forth gently as I buried my face into his shoulder.
After a few moments, he pushed me back a little, still holding onto my shoulders and smiling a calm sort of smile. "There, now," he said. "Feel any bett...er...?"
I hadn't realized my mistake until it was too late.
Naturally, my tears and my rubbing my face against his uniform washed away a great deal of the skin-tone makeup I'd been wearing. And naturally, I didn't notice at all until his eyes were wide as saucers, staring at where his thumb was stroking the remaining coloring off.
Immediately, I shrank away from his touch and began struggling to get away, but he held tight. He must have seen the fear in my eyes, because the next thing I knew I was against his chest again, with him stroking my hair and telling me that it was okay, he wasn't going to hurt me, he just needed to talk.
There was silence for a few moments as I calmed down, and then he loosened his grip a little so that he could look into my eyes again.
"That was you back there, wasn't it? The green elephant, I mean?" he asked softly, and I nodded.
A pause. Then...
"I'm Robin. What's your name?"
Now, that was unexpected to me. I'd been expecting something more along the lines of "How did you do that?" and "What are you?" Therefore my answer was a stuttered, "P... Project Beast..."
He didn't seem to like that answer. "That's not a name," he told me, and then his eyes filled with concern. "You... Do have a real name, don't you?"
"...Gabriel..." I answered uncertainly. I knew I wasn't supposed to be telling people the name that Doctor Reynolds had given me, but I figured I owed this Robin boy for having saved my life.
He smiled, satisfied. "Gabriel... That's a nice name," he said. Then, "I'm a Teen Titan... It's one of those fighting for truth and justice gigs. We could really use your abilities on our team, you know. That is... If you want to."
I felt the blood rush quicker in my veins. This guy, who had just met me less than five minutes, was asking me to join his team. It was... Odd, flattering, and, quite frankly, I'd love to do it, but...
"I... I'm sorry," I said softly. "I really can't."
And then, before he could get another word in, I switched to cheetah and high-tailed it out of there.
~*~
We left as soon as I had found Reynolds. I didn't tell him what had happened between Robin and me. I figured I was in enough trouble as it was. The look on his face, solemn and sad, only confirmed my assumption.
We stepped into the building-Gotham Labs, a laboratory/housing area for amateur scientists (at least, that's what the government thought)-about half an hour later. Dr. Iarrobino was sitting in the common room just inside the door, staring at a news report on the television, with one of those calm-before-the-storm looks on her face. Any hope I had of surviving this ordeal shattered when I saw that look.
"Hello, Doctor," Reynolds said calmly, but I could read the fear in his eyes. And that scared me. He wasn't supposed to get scared. As discretely as I could, I moved to hide behind him, just barely peeking out over his shoulder.
She glanced at us, her icy gaze lingering on me for a moment longer than I was used to, before turning back to the TV. My heart sunk as I saw a flash of a familiar shad of green on the screen. "Reynolds," she stated simply.
He seemed to have seen the same thing that I had on the television, because he sighed and abandoned the step of pretending everything was fine, skipping straight to explanations. "Look, doc, it was life or death, and he's just a kid. What did you expect him to do? Sit around and watch as the only place he's ever been outside of this damn lab went up in flames?"
"He's jeopardized our research, Reynolds," Iarrobino stated calmly, still in that oh-so-unnervingly calm voice.
"No one realized he was that unusual!" Reynolds protested.
And that was when she snapped.
"Not that unusual? Not that unusual?!" she demanded, the calmness replaced with cold fire. "My God, Reynolds, it was a fucking green elephant! Not only that, but it just disappeared afterwards! What happens when they figure out that it wasn't part of the zoo, remember that we're doing studies on animals, and hold a search of the labs to see if we've been experimenting on endangered species, turning them green and whatnot? What then, Reynolds?!"
"Then we move," he stated, his turn to be calm. "We've planned ahead for this-we've got all of the paperwork and plans needed to fake a disappearance. Start over. No one has to find out about Gabriel."
Uh oh. Mistake.
He sees it too.
Shame it was too late.
"Gabriel?" Iarrobino hissed my name, like a curse. I buried my face into his back, squeezing my eyes shut to block out her image, face contorted in rage.
But Reynolds didn't back down. "Yes, *Gabriel*," he said defiantly. "That's his name. It has been for all twelve years of his life."
That came as no shock to me. As I stated earlier, I'd figured that Gabriel had been my name before I woke up. What Iarrobino said in response, however... That nearly stopped my heart.
"Reynolds, the first rule of science is not to name the lab rats... Especially not after your *dead son*."
My eyes opened again, and I found myself staring back and forth between the two scientists in shock. Reynolds looked like he was trying not to cry, and Iarrobino looked quite triumphant. What scared me, though, was that she also seemed to have come to a decision of some sort, and she had curled her lips into the single most frightening smile I'd ever seen, and I suddenly dreaded finding out what the decision was.
Unfortunately, I did find out... Too, too soon.
"All right, Reynolds," she said, the deadly calm back in her voice. "We'll play your way... But with a few changes. We'll run away. We'll start over. But, here's the thing..." Suddenly, there was a gun in her hand, and a second later my scream of terror was accompanied by a loud bang. "You aren't coming."
I didn't stay in the common room for much longer after the shot. Reynolds was bleeding. The shot had hit home, striking him in the chest, probably missing the heart by only millimeters, and I knew he would be dead soon, but I wouldn't let him die with her standing over him with that awful look of sick triumph on her face. I grabbed him, summoning strength born of terror to lift him awkwardly over my shoulder (a difficult feat, as he was over a head taller than me), and I ran, not stopping until I was standing in front of that familiar color-splashed door.
Shifting his weight slightly and trying to ignore the pain filled groan that the movement drew from him, I reached out and opened the door. I pushed the both of us into the bedroom, and placed him as gently as I could onto the bed. The next thing that I did was take off the blood-soaked cloak that had kept me hidden from prying eyes once outside, tossing it onto the floor in disgust. I couldn't understand how this had happened, all in one day. And the fact that it was entirely my fault was killing me.
However, it was certainly killing my precious doctor more. His breath was coming shortly, and the blood was still pouring from his chest, even as I pressed bandages against the wound futilely. I suppose it would have been easier to tend to him if I wasn't looking through a cloud of tears, but he held no grudges against me for it. He was very calm for someone who was dying, in fact, and not the deadly calm of Iarrobino. No... He was peaceful.
"Gabriel..."
The raspy voice broke me from my reverie, and I turned my tear-clouded eyes to his. He was smiling... Oh, God, that broke my heart.
"Gabriel..." he repeated, and I forced down my sobs. "I need you to get out of here. Don't let her take you. She's... A bit too passionate about her work... I guess I'm proof of that, now, aren't I?" He chuckled, but I saw no humor in the situation. Just pain.
"Doctor Reynolds," I whispered, but he scowled at that, holding up a shaking hand to silence me.
"Gabriel... Please... Call me... 'Father...'"
And that was when the memories came back.
*I was sitting on that nice spinney-chair in that scary lady's office. She worked with Daddy, but I didn't like her. She had mean eyes, and her name was funny. I-are-something. I couldn't even pronounce it in my head. But, Daddy said that she could make me stop being sick, so I'd trust her for a bit more. She was saying something about how they wouldn't be able to save me until I was almost dead from the sick, and I didn't much like the sound of that. But Daddy was desperate, and scared, and he'd be lonely without me if I died, since mommy had gone to Heaven a few months ago. Come to think of it, I'd be lonely, too, but he promised me his pretty angel necklace would keep me company if I died. He said he'd put it in the ground with me and grandpa...*
*I was coughing again. It hurt now, and there was blood on my hands when I took them down, but Daddy said that it would be all over soon. I was hooked up to all these machines, and the scary lady was there too, but I knew that Daddy wouldn't let her hurt me. There was a big tube of what looked like green water in one corner of the room. Daddy said I'd have to take a nap in that later. I told him that I was too big for a nap, but he told me that it was necessary if I were to get through this alive. The sickness I had only spared animals, he said, so he and scary-lady were going to make me part animal. The special chemicals in the water would go into me through my skin, and it'd change my body just enough to keep me alive. Apparently, scary-lady had been working on this for a long time, but until me, there'd been no one willing to be her "lab rat." I didn't like it when she called me that, but right now I don't think I would've noticed if she'd called me "lab fuzzy blueberry muffin." There were dark spots in the air in front of me, now, but when I tried to ask why, no sound came out. The dark spots were getting bigger, and they soon filled my entire vision. It was kind of like falling asleep, so I figured it must be time for me to take my nap. Just before I did, though, I grabbed Daddy's hand, smiling up at him, though I couldn't actually see him, and then I fell asleep.*
These flashes of memory, along with a few select others of less importance, flashed before my eyes, and I lost it. I threw myself onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably as I realized that I had just indirectly killed my own father. He, however, just stroked my hair, pulling me close and whispering into my ear.
"Get out of here, Gabriel," he said. "Go be free, and be happy. I'll see you in Heaven, someday, because... You are my angel..."
"Daddy," I whimpered into his chest, and he gripped me tightly for a second, and then went limp.
He was gone.
And that was the end.
~*Two hours later*~
I'd gotten out in bird form through the window just as Iarrobino had burst into the room. I'd done what my father had told me to do. I'd escaped. I was free.
...And I had absolutely nowhere to go.
So, I was sitting on a swing set in a little park I'd found in the city, when a familiar face-er... Mask...-found me.
"Hey, Gabriel," Robin said calmly. I didn't say anything. I just stared at my shoes. After a moment, he continued. "I... Just got back from the Gotham Labs... The police had checked it out to see if they could find out anything about the 'mysterious green elephant.' There wasn't anyone there, but... There was a body. A man by the name of William Reynolds. I found a journal under his pillow, and I figured it might provide some clues, so I read it, and..." He stopped here, hesitating a moment before asking me, "Did you know that he was...?"
"My father?" I finished for him when he trailed off. "Yeah, just found out... So what are you doing here?"
"Well, when they caught the crazy doctor lady"-I allowed myself a triumphant smirk at that-"she admitted to having killed Reynolds as soon as she was under any pressure, but she said she had no clue as to where 'Project Beast' was, so, while the guys were taking her in, I decided to find you."
I nodded, and he took a seat on the swing next to me.
A pause. Then, "You know... If you need a place to stay, my offer's still open..."
For some reason, something in me snapped right then. I guess that the idea of a new home really ended that stage of my life, and, maybe, I wasn't ready to accept that yet, because the new stage was one without my father. So... I started crying.
Robin, of course, was by my side in an instant, and he picked me up, carrying me to his swing and holding me on his lap. He made those calming shushing sounds, stroked my hair, and kicked the swing back and forth slowly in a really relaxing way, all in all, acting like a father himself.
And so it was that, my first night of freedom in years, night found me curled in the arms of a stranger with tears drying on my cheeks.
~*~
I guess I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up I was in a nice soft bed with sunbeams falling on my face through an open window. Slowly, the events of the day before came back to me, and I sat up. Looking out the window, I saw a magnificent view of the sea and, behind it, the city. However, that didn't exactly explain where I was.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," a voice called from somewhere to my left. I turned my head away from the window, which was on my right, and saw Robin standing in the doorway, holding a tray. "I brought breakfast for you."
I smiled and thanked him. "Is this your room?" I asked as I took the tray from him, eying the contents warily. Eggs, bacon, toast, and a glass of orange juice. I took a bite of the toast, ignoring the meat and eggs despite my hunger. I'm no cannibal.
"No, it's yours," he told me, then, at my look of surprise, he added, "That is, if you want it. The Tower's got a ton of guest rooms, so it's no problem or anything."
I nodded. "I... I think I'd like that very much," I told him.
His face lit up in a huge, enthusiastic smile. It was the first time I'd ever seen him wearing anything but his cool, calm, and collected look. "That's great!" he exclaimed. "You've gotta meet the guys, as soon as you're done with breakfast, that is."
I glanced down at the tray. The toast was gone, and the glass of orange juice was nearly empty, as well. I was done. "Lead away," I told him as I placed the tray on a bedside table.
He led me downstairs, where the other three members of his team were gathered, all of them cheering as the robot-man played a game of some sort on a large-screen TV. Robin cleared his throat, and all three turned around, at attention at once. They were eying me confusedly, and I realized that Robin hadn't told them about me yet. Their stares were kind of unnerving me, and I felt myself shift over to a more secure spot, half- hidden behind Robin.
"Everyone," Robin began, reaching behind him and drawing me out in front to show everyone, "this is our new teammate. His name is Beast Boy."
I cast him a confused look at that, and he leaned over and whispered to me, "I figured you might like to start over from scratch. New home, new family, new name... The whole deal."
I nodded. He did have a point, I guess, and regardless of whether I liked it or not, there was no time to ponder it as the rest of the team came over to greet me.
"Welcome to our home!" exclaimed the red-haired girl, who seemed to have an odd sort of accent that I couldn't place. "I am Starfire, and I hope that you will enjoy your employment with the Teen Titans!"
I told her thank you, yes, I'm sure I would, and then moved on to the next new teammate, robot-man.
He just kind of stared at me for a moment, then finally stated, "Dude, you're green. What's up with that?"
I raised my eyebrow, and retaliated with, "Dude, you're part microwave. What's up with that?"
"Oh, great, a joker," the dark girl said sarcastically, rolling her eyes in exasperation. I blinked. Joker, huh? I guess I could play that part...
"Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, play nice," Robin chided jokingly. I laughed. I liked these people.
~*~
So, that's where I am now. A new home, a new identity... A new start.
I still have my father's necklace. I wear it under my team uniform, hidden from sight. I'd like to think that my father is there with me through that necklace, watching over me and helping me to do the whole "truth and justice" thing. After all, I'm doing all of this for him. I want to be good, and pure, and free... For him.
Because I'm his angel.
~*End*~
Author's notes: So... Whatcha think? ^.^ It's the longest one-shot I've ever written! Go me! It was also an experiment with the first person point of view, so please R8R to tell me how that came out. Possible sequel out soon, with Robin/BB slash (sorry, but I like the pairing. It's cute).
Until next time... See ya!