The Wicked One

Chapter Forty-Three | Zeal

Cyborg always hated hospitals. Even before his accident, just being around all the bright whiteness, the smell of disinfectant, the detached doctors; it always made him feel uneasy. But he sucked it up as he sat outside a particular room, hands crossed and eyes closed. Even if he tolerated it—it didn't mean he had to like it.

"Hey, Cyborg!" a loud voice suddenly rang in his ears, causing him to jump up in his seat. Looking around, he quickly spotted Bumblebee, hands on her hips and giving him an amused smirk. "Bout time, that's like the third time I called out to you. You forget to recharge today or somethin', Sparky?"

"Nah, just lost in thought," Cyborg answered after he had recovered from the surprise. The downcast way in which he spoke caused Bumblebee to glance over at the door he had been sitting in front of. "It looks like your back up to speed, though."

She looked back to the metal teen to see he was trying to force a smile at her. Bumblebee quickly collected herself before beaming back. "Yup! Back and stronger than ever!" she declared, flexing a bicep for emphasis. "You can test me on it if you want."

"I think I'll just take your word for it," Cyborg replied, waving her off as he sat back down in his chair.

Bumblebee remained standing as the two fell into silence for a few moments. Cyborg's eyes now seemed glued on the door as he leaned forward in his seat. The only time she had seen him that deadly serious was during their dealings with Brother Blood. Without saying a word, Bumblebee walked over and leaned against the wall space beside Cyborg and his chair.

"How are they doing?" she asked as she looked at the door as well. The window was far too small to make out any great details.

"Raven says it'll take them awhile to recover, even with her healing," he replied in that dead voice he recently developed. "If we still had the tower, I could have had them better in less than a week."

He said this with a hint of anger as his large metal hands clenched into fists. Bumblebee wanted to try and comfort him in some way, but she knew enough about this particular teen that it would more than likely only make the matters worse.

"How's the construction coming along?" she asked, opting instead to change the subject.

Cyborg didn't answer right away. First, he had to take in a deep breath before releasing it out in a very drawn out sigh. "I just came back from overseeing everything. I made sure they knew what they're doing, but...I really should head back soon if I want it to be standing for longer than a few days. I was thinking there might have been something I can do here, but Rae is watching over them. I don't think she's left the room since they got back."

Cyborg stood up again, but didn't seem inclined to move any further, his eyes still on the door, his hands still clenched into fists. Bumblebee looked at him, biting her lip, unsure if she should ask the question that was now on her mind. Before she could have the chance to, however, Cyborg suddenly let out a cry of fury, sending his fist into the wall behind him.

Bumblebee jumped at the action. Slowly, the metal teen removed his fist from the wall, the impact leaving a very large hole in the plaster. She could only watch as he then buried his face in one hand, the other fist shaking terribly at his side.

"I couldn't do anything," he said heatedly into his hand. Bumblebee wasn't entirely sure if he was still talking to her. "They went out there alone. They could have died. And Starfire...And I couldn't..."

"Cyborg..." Bumblebee started, slowly walking over to him, slowly reaching out a hand towards him.

Before she could, the Titan dropped his hand and turned away from her. "I'm going to go see about this hole in the wall."