Teen Titans: Apocalypse

~Two~

Destiny walked up the stairs slowly. As she passed the living room, she heard Olivia shouting. Destiny didn't blame the younger teen for being angry about the whole thing. She was just as scared and angry as her and everyone else. Scared for the people she considered family for so long. Scared that they'd all end up hospitalized like Lloyd.

"Oof!" Someone grunted, followed by a thud as they fell back onto their butt. Destiny stumbled back, but grabbed the railing to keep from falling down the stairs (which she had a nasty habit of doing) again. She shook her head and stared in alarm at the boy on the floor before her. Richard Grayson offered a sympathetic smile.

"Sorry, Dick." The girl apologized, offering a hand toward the blue-eyed sixteen-year-old. Richard shrugged, but accepted the gesture, and was soon back on his feet. "It's alright. I wasn't paying any attention. Not your fault." He assured, still smiling a little.

The boy's smile was odd; being that two of his sharpest teeth were long fangs that protruded from between his pale pink lips. Even though he was smiling in a warm way, Destiny could see deep in his sky blue eyes, that the boy was exhausted and worried. She sighed a little.

"Whatcha up to?" Destiny asked, feeling though making conversation would help ease the growing awkwardness between the two. Richard held up a folder full of many papers that stuck out from all angels. "I am researching cures." He announced, beaming proudly. "Bruce doesn't know, but I am not just going to sit around and do nothing while Lloyd is suffering."

Destiny couldn't help but smile at the younger teen. His hard work, hope, and dedication to the ones he loved was enough to ease her of worries of Lloyd for the time being. She had faith in Richard. And she could't hold herself back from practically tackling him to the floor in a bone-crushing hug.

Richard stumbled back from the unexpected force, but was soon hugging her back with a sheepish smile. "Don't work too hard, Birdy." she teased, pulling away. Richard chuckled. "Me? Work too hard? Never."

Destiny flashed a knowing smile before waving a goodbye and continuing her trek to Lloyd's room.

As she walked down the right hall, Destiny paused briefly in front of the doors aligning each side. As she passed she could't help but read the names painted on the front in the favorite color of the one who occupied it, or once did.

"Richard, Olivia, Scarlet, Secret, Senki, Jason, Sammy, Destiny, Lloyd..."

Once reaching his door, Destiny stopped. She gazed at the name printed across in bright green. It was his favorite color. Ever since he had been hospitalized, Destiny had been sleeping in his room. She wanted to keep it lively for when he returned. If he returned. The thought terrified her. She shook it away and sighed. "Get well, Lloyd."

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"Gotham citizens are urged to stay indoors. If anyone in your household starts experiencing the following symptoms; please contact the Center for Disease Control right-"

Bruce clicked off the television with a frustrated grunt before tossing the remote aside as if it were garbage. He looked around at the worried, confused, and frightened faces of the children gathered around the dinning room table. Although they never used to have a television in the dinning room, in order to keep informed Bruce decided to move one in. But he could only take so much of the news. It was always the same thing. And tonight he noticed the kids were extra anxious.

The man cleared his throat, deciding to make casual conversation with the teens to ease the tension.

"So, how was school?" He asked, looking at each kid in turn. Destiny shrugged, continuing to push food around on her plate. Richard hadn't heard Bruce speak, as he was too busy reading the many papers beside his untouched plate to have noticed. Olivia stared up at the ceiling, wide-eyed; as if expecting it to bite her. Scarlet Wilson was lost in thought, staring at the rice on her plate. Jason was the only one to answer.

"Pretty good." He shrugged, "they had to take another kid out though."

All eyes fell upon Jason. Even Richard looked up. Scarlet gave a nod of agreement. "Yeah. His screams filled the hallways. It was like he had been shot or something; loud and agonized."

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the room. Bruce regretted asking. He sighed and looked down toward the rice on his plate. "I'm... I'm going to pull you guys out of school." He admitted, looking up to see their reactions. He was met with blank expressions. "We figured you would." Scarlet admitted, "It's okay."

Olivia suddenly bolted up and dashed out of the room without a word. Bruce watched her go, his gut clenching anxiously.

"He tried to attack her." Richard piped up, "The kid. Went right at her like a wild animal."

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Olivia stumbled into the hall, everything a blur of colors and ringing sounds. All she could hear were those boy's inhuman screams as he dove right at her. His teeth barred, his eyes crazed and bloodshot. All Olivia could see was him snarling like a wild animal before collapsing off her when Richard tackled him.

It was something she wished she could forget. But she knew it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

The insanity was the second stage. At first everyone thought it was rabies. But there were differences. The first stage was fever, with a tendency to cough up blood that slowly went from crimson to black as it began to rot. The second stage was accompanied by episodes of insanity that ate at your mind like a parasite. Your flesh began to rot, and the pain would drive you to attack others. The third stage was organ failure. You would slowly die as your body shut down. The fourth and final stage; you became them.

It had been two months since it had started. Olivia remembered only pretending such things existed. But then people started getting sick. Fear even worse than any criminal could have produced gripped the city like the plague that had infested it. People fled, stole, killed, as they were driven crazy by the fear of not knowing.

Olivia shut her eyes, desperate to shake away the sounds and images in her mind. Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't breathe!

"Olive?"

Richard's gentle voice cut into her foggy mind and pulled her back to reality. She gazed weakly up at the teen, trembling like a lost kitten. He knelt before her and quickly wrapped his arms around the distraught girl. "You're okay. Breathe."

She followed his example and resumed a normal breathing pattern. As soon as she was able, he let go. "Thank you." she shook, drying her grass green eyes on her sleeve. Richard stood, ruffling her hair. "Get some rest, Olive."