So way back in January I posted In a Split Second, which took place during Betrayal, and which got no reviews and very few hits. I had always meant to rewrite it and repost it. Then today I'm looking at some old documents and find that I had started rewriting it already. Today I finished it up so here it is. The original was inspired by Franz Ferdinand's song, Fade Together, but this one goes in a very different direction than In a Split Second, so it's no longer really based on the song. Anyway, hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
She's not your friend. She's my apprentice.
And in the amount of time it took Slade to say those seven small words, Beast Boy's life was shattered.
Because he had thought, had truly believed, that now that he had Terra, nothing could ever hurt him again. But just like every other time he had ever found happiness- just like every other time he had thought he was invincible- his world came crashing down so fast he barely had time to react.
And so, as a favor to Beast Boy, time slowed down.
Time slowed down and he was able to see what he had never seen before. He saw his life from the outside, like watching a movie but knowing you're safe in your living room; the monster can't get you. He saw the events of the past six months through new eyes, through unbiased eyes.
He saw himself meeting Terra for the first time.
He saw her losing control for the first time.
He saw her coming back to them three months later, and in seeing the new way she carried herself and projected confidence, realized she could not have possibly gained control all on her own.
The most important realizations always come too late.
For a moment his love for Terra and his hatred of Slade slipped away as he realized the hints she had dropped. He realized she wasn't that good of an actress, he was just a good believer. Because that's what he had wanted. To believe.
But he couldn't believe any longer, because now he realized that even as time was slowing to a snail's pace it would never stop completely, and he would never regain what he had lost.
When she walked back in the room he refused to look in her eyes, because he was scared of what he would see. He didn't want to look in her eyes and see the glint of evil he had grown so accustomed to in villain's eyes. He didn't want to see her smirk and laugh and say "You thought I was in love with you?" He wanted only to remember her the way she had been before.
And in that split second after she confirmed Slade's words, Beast Boy found he could no longer remember her how she used to be. How she had pretended to be. He could see only the weak, skinny, scared girl standing in front of him. He could see only the device Slade had used to infiltrate him and his friends. He could see only the T on her chest, which he had believed had stood for Teen Titans, or even Terra, but that he now believed stood for Treachery.
In that split second, Beast Boy stopped believing.
In that split second, Beast Boy began hating.
And in that split second, he wished that for just one more second he could believe.