008

— the boy and the broken —

HAZEL STOOD IN FRONT OF THE WINDOWS IN THE TITAN'S INFIRMARY. She nervously chewed on her nail; her phone squeezed tight in her hand as she waited for Hank's message. He and the other older Titans had gone off to face Deathstroke and bring back Jason. They had only left an hour ago, but the way Hank explained Deathstroke and how much he had scared the Titans the first time around, she couldn't help the swirling mess of emotions in her stomach.

Her eyes glowed gold letting her see the streets easier as she watched the sidewalks just in case the meetup Deathstroke demanded was a setup. Gar stood up from the chair and stood next to Hazel. He rocked nervously on the balls of his feet and hummed. "I uh, don't wanna be creepy, but I heard you and Hank talking about me," Gar started, his hands in his pockets. "I can be too caring?"

"Is that all you heard?" Hazel's eyes, blinking the colour from her eyes.

"I felt creepy listening to you," Gar admitted, chuckling nervously.

Hazel shook her head softly. "I didn't say it as a bad thing," Hazel assured, a small taking over her face. "I say it because you are, you care about people, genuinely. I'm a hypocrite though, I trust people too easily."

"Well, I'm glad you trust me. You trust me, right?" Gar questioned, his eyes going wide.

Hazel laughed, leaning to bump against her shoulder against his making Gar smile. "Of course, I trust you Tiger Boy," Hazel assured.

"Haze! Gar!" Terran yelled, skidding into the infirmary. She was panting and her hands gripped the edges of the doorway. "The others are back." Hazel and Gar rushed out of the room, pausing when they saw the others stumble in with Jason.

"Jay," Hazel said, smiling. Relief washed over but she couldn't help but notice the bruises and cuts covering his face.

"Hazel, I need your help," Dick called. He and Kory carried in an unconscious boy, with short black hair and a red and black Superman shirt.

"Shit," Hazel cursed. "Um, take him to the infirmary, I'll see what's wrong in a sec."

"Hazel-"

"In a minute!" Hazel snapped at Dick.

Dick and Kory dragged the boy away and Hazel took Jason's hand, walking him back to his room. As soon as Hazel shut the door, Jason wrapped his arms around Hazel, holding her as tight as he possibly could. Hazel heart broke as he whispered her name, his voice shallow and shaky, "Haze, I-"

"You don't have to say anything," Hazel assured, running her hands through Jason's hair. "Let me fix you up and then you can just rest, okay?" Jason nodded, his bloody hair smearing against Hazel's skin, but she couldn't care less.

Jason sat down on the edge of the bed, clicking open the easiest parts of his suit before ultimately letting Hazel peel off the abdomen, arm and shoulder pieces. Silently Hazel pierced back together the broken skin scattered along his chest, up his neck and across his face. She fixed his broken ears drums and he let out a heavy sigh, his head dropping onto Hazel's shoulder. "My leg..." Jason whispered, his voice shallow.

Hazel ran her hand down his leg until her fingers met the gash in his thigh. She healed it in a moment and Jason's shoulders dropped, relaxing against Hazel's body. His hands moved to squeeze hers, his body starting to shake. "Please don't leave me alone."

"I won't," Hazel said softly. "But you need to shower Jay, you'll feel better."

He nodded and slowly lifted himself to his feet, pulling the rest of his armour off and Hazel turned as he stripped his pants off and wrapped a towel around him. He cleared his throat, and she looked up, her heart dropping. "Hold on," Hazel called softly. Jason stopped, letting Hazel walk to him, his fingers grazing over the slashes across his back.

"I must have got them in the tunnels," Jason murmured as Hazel quickly healed them.

"I'm so sorry," Hazel whispered, her forehead pressing against his shoulder blades for a moment. He took a shaky breath and stepped away, walking towards the connected bathroom. He nearly shut the door but ultimately kept it open. Hazel dropped her head but sighed softly as the water started to run.

She looked in the mirror, her light blue shirt stained with blood and dirt. Hazel pulled it off, looking for one of Jason's to borrow when he called out to her. She stepped through the door, keeping her head turned even though the shower curtain hid his body. "Haze... I don't wanna be alone."

Hazel sighed, "Jason..."

"I don't wanna feel, or think about anything," Jason pleaded. Hazel looked at the shower, and Jason pulled the curtain back to reveal his face. He pressed his forehead to Hazel, drops of water falling across her skin. "Please Hazel." Hazel pressed her hand to his cheek, pulling him closer.

❁

HAZEL PULLED UP HER SLEEVES AS SHE LOOKED OVER THE DARK-HAIRED BOY. Kory said they couldn't get the IV's to penetrate his skin so it was now up to Hazel to keep this boy alive. Hazel carefully peeled back gauze to see the bullet wounds littering his skin. Dawn, Kory and Dick watched her closely as she assessed the damage. "Is he stable?" Dick asked.

Hazel nodded softly and Dawn hummed in agreement. "For the moment," Dawn confirmed, standing by the end of the bed, watching over Hazel as she checked his vitals. "He should be better now that you're here." Dawn squeezed Hazel's shoulder and she smiled softly.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Dick asked, moving his attention to Hazel.

Hazel sat on the side of the bed, her hand hovering over his chest. "Some sort of toxin," Hazel answered, her eyes a bright green again. "I can't tell what, I need a few minutes..." Hazel trailed off as her finger pressed against one of the gashes.

"Well, if it's a toxin, can't you just take it out and heal him?" Kory questioned walking closer to Hazel.

"Uh, no, something's different." Hazel took a breath and pressed her hand against the boy's chest. "It's like the toxin is fusing with his body, toxins usually only effect bodily functions."

Dick watched Hazel's hands for a few more moments before he sighed. "Maybe we should take him to a hospital," Dick suggested, crossing his arms.

"The boy has special abilities," Kory pointed out.

"Yeah, I think he's safest here," Hazel agreed, glancing up at Dick.

"Okay," Dick nodded.

"And I think you should call Bruce. He catalogues these things," Dawn reminded. "He might know who he is."

Dick sighed, looking down at the boy, going silent. "Dick?" Kory called.

"I'll call Bruce,"" Dick confirmed.

"Good. You check on Jason?" Dawn questioned. Hazel stopped to look up at the pair and Dick shrugged.

"On my way," Dick nodded and left the infirmary.

Hazel healed a shot from a piece of debris that hit the boy. She wiped away a splash of blood and tossed the rag away. "If you guys wanna get some sleep, I can watch over him," Hazel called, looking up at Kory and Dawn.

"I trust you can take care of yourself, but I don't wanna leave you alone with him," Dawn disagreed. "We don't know anything about him."

"He saved Jason," Hazel argued. "That's good enough for me."

"Go," Kory nudged Dawn on. "I'll stay with Hazel." Dawn sighed but nodded anyway, leaving Kory and Hazel alone.

Hazel tilted her head as her senses reached the toxin in the boy's body. Her hand pressed against his skin as she pushed her power deeper. "I might sound insane, but I'm pretty sure it's kryptonite poisoning," Hazel spoke up, looking at Kory.

Hazel spent the next few hours sifting through the boy's body, hoping if she pulled enough of the deadly chemical out, she could heal the boy and wake him up. Instead, she sat on the edge of the bed, her foot tapping against the floor, her nerves growing at the toxins resistant.

Terran knocked on the doorway before walking through to sit on a chair in front of Hazel. "Aren't you bored?" Terran questioned, stretching her arms over the chair.

"It's severely outweighed by the crushing feeling of uselessness," Hazel groaned.

Terran kicked Hazel's leg softly. "You do remember one of your best mates is a tiger, right? How do you even know you can heal him?" Terran asked and Hazel shrugged. "Maybe he's an alien or some shit, resistant to your human charms." Hazel laughed at her, shaking her head as Terran chuckled.

Terran pushed herself from the chair and turned towards the door. She spun and hung off the doorframe, her leg swinging behind her. "I'm gonna go beg the others to order some food, any requests?"

"Chinese, please, I need cheaply made fried rice," Hazel pleaded.

"As you wish. Oh and," Terran tossed a small bracelet at Hazel. She turned it over in her hands, the small orange and red beads reflecting in the light. "I got bored so... a gift."

Hazel smiled up at Terran, "Thank you."

Terran nodded. "You want pineapple in the fried rice?"

Hazel slipped the bracelet on and looked up at Terran, her eyebrow raised. "You mean like a normal person?" Terran laughed and slipped down the hall.

Further into the night, Hazel still sat against the bed, shovelling fried rice into her mouth like her life depended on it. "Alright, I'm going for round two," Kory said, pushing herself up and grabbing her plate. "You want some more?"

"I would fucking love some more," Hazel mumbled, quickly finishing the rest. Kory took her plate and slipped out the door.

Hazel quickly whipped and washed her hands before turning back to the boy. Hazel started to slowly pull bits of kryptonite from his blood when sweat started to bead on the top of his forehead. Hazel grabbed a cold damp hand towel and laid it across his forehead.

"I just got you more rice and Mongolian beef, Hanks taking everything else," Kory joked, setting the food on the side counter. "He also said it's payback for all the dinner's he made."

Hazel laughed, shaking her head softly. "I visited a while back, I ate nearly all his casserole," Hazel smiled. "Not my fault he's a good cook." Hazel folded the hand towel and pressed it against the side of his neck. His eyes snapped open and gripped Hazel's wrist with a strong force.

The boy growled at her in a language Hazel didn't understand. "You're okay, we're here to help," Hazel snapped back, trying to calm him but it came out in a rush of Spanish. Whatever he said, he repeated it again. Kory gripped the boy's arm and snapped back at him in the same language. The boy's grip on Hazel's wrist loosed and she took her hand back. The boy's eyes rolled back, and his head sunk into the pillows.

Kory took Hazel and stepped them both back. "Are you okay?" Kory asked, spinning Hazel's wrist around.

"I'm alright," Hazel nodded, quickly healing her bruising wrist.

"Did you yell at him in Spanish?" Kory questioned, walking back to the boy's side.

"Most people speak Spanish. Thirteen percent of Americans know Spanish," Hazel defended, stepping closer. "I just said we're here to help. What did you say?"

"To let go of your damn arm."

Hazel nodded, still spinning her wrist. "Was he speaking Tamaran?" Hazel asked.

"No. Kryptonian. It's a dead language," Kory explained.

Hazel walked back to the boy's side. "Guess it would explain the Kryptonite poisoning." Hazel grabbed the towel from his chest and the boy started to whisper.

"Where's Eve?" He mumbled softly.

"Eve," Hazel repeated. "He's saying where's Eve?"

Kory furrowed her eyebrows, "Who the hell is Eve?"

— pain —