I'm Fine (book 2)

Time for Bed

Bee got up after making the group dinner and took a plate to Damien. She walked quietly only to be surprised but Damien, sitting up and wide-awake.

"You look like your feeling' better!" Bee exclaimed as she passed him a plate of jalapeño poppers and sat down in the stool by his bed.

"Yeahhhhh." Damien sighed surprising Bee with a a down demeanor. "I just wanted to be helpful..." he trailed of as he grabbed a popper to eat.

"I understand that kid, trust me." Bee mumbled as she stole one of his poppers and ate one as well.

Ignoring the missing popper, Damien couldn't shake Nightwing's words before he left. "So I found out more about Nightwing's motorcycle accident from Beastboy...I didn't realize it was so bad..." Bee looked  caught off guard by his phrase which let him know Beastboy wasn't supposed to tell him that.

"Yeah, that was a large part of why I came here the first time..." she shrugged before setting Damien's empty plate aside.

"Do you think he'll ever be happy?" Damien asked with the child in his voice coming out. Bee paused for a long time, reflecting on his callous treatment of his announcement and how disheveled he looked after missing practice.

"That's an excellent question, kid... I think he has moments of being happy with you and Starfire in his life... I think being happy is too relaxed for bird brain!" Bee joked but could tell it wasn't well received. "He does seem a little worse for wear lately..."

"Yeah, I wish he didn't leave today..." Damien admitted.

Raven was back to 100% but the newest dilemma occupying her mind was the spotty unusual mind link with Nightwing. Today had started out clear and filled with overwhelming sadness and then suddenly hazy with no details again. She had been having a lot of haziness lately and was beginning to wonder if it was something wrong with her. She picked up her communicator and paged Nightwing directly.

"Nightwing come in." Raven whispered alone in her room.

"Yeahhhh?" A groggy voice responded.

"Are you okay? I could feel your sadness in the mind link earlier and then suddenly nothing." Raven urged with concern in her voice. Nightwing instantly felt a pang of guilt with she felt.

"Yeah, uh...sorry. I just fell asleep on the train just now." Nightwing whispered back in a hazy voice but didn't convince Raven.

"Yeah, it's just been happening a lot lately... I got concerned." She stated flatly. She felt the guilt from her statement validate her feelings.

"Yeah, I've been really out of it lately. I keep falling asleep randomly." Nightwing admitted hoping that got the attention off of the missing mind link he presumed was from the painkiller usage. The train was rolling through the night rain and didn't help his alertness while waiting for Raven to respond. He felt himself dozing off again as she called back.

"Okay, do you need any help with surveillance when you get back? I could do some of it so you can get caught up on sleep." Raven offered.

"Uhm..." Nightwing thought for a moment, "yeah, that'd be nice." He was so tired he wasn't thinking through his answers.

"Anything else you need me to do?" Raven asked a little irritated at his lack luster responses.

"Damien..." Nightwing blurted.

"Excuse me?" Raven asked confused.

"How is he?" He slurred before he yawned.

"Doing better. Bee said a little bummed to be out of commission but he should be back in a day or two. He misses you already." Raven spoke quietly.

"Good. He needs to be back as Robin." Nightwing continued evading the last part of her statement.

"Alright I'll let you get back to sleep. Let someone know when you get there." Raven called back.

"Will do." Nightwing spoke softly and leaned back in his seat in the empty train car. He pulled a New York Yankees navy blue baseball cap onto his head to hide his eyes. The soft rattles of the rails lulled him back to sleep.

Raven sat on her bed with the communicator in her hands with more questions than answers. Beastboy came in with a cup of hot tea and the book she left in the living room. She saw Beastboy's smiling face and decided it was a puzzle for tomorrow's energy as she took the mug from his green hand. She sat back with the book and mug and Beastboy changed into the fan favorite kitten and curled up into her lap as she read.

Starfire was in her room with the small brown box in her hands. She sat down on her bed to open it. She needed a distraction from the the day. As she pulled away the brown shipping paper, the white wooden box underneath had Tamerainian writing in sliver paint. She carefully popped the top of the box off to reveal a round black gemstone. She gently tapped a finger on the cold surface and a small green spark flashed under the surface. She attached the gem to her belt as she changed into her pajamas. She left her clothes in her closet on the floor and hung her belt in a special shelf. Quietly, she let herself into Nightwing's bedroom and sat on his bed. Missing him, she got under his covers and let her tiredness pull her to sleep.

Cyborg discharged Damien that night with the strict warning to stay in the tower until further notice. For the first time in his Titian career, he obeyed. He quietly walked out to the living room to play some video games for the first time in a long time. It was just enough of a distraction to get his mind off of his cousin Dick.