Hello, guys ! This is a collection of oneshots which I'd like to consider a place for possible outcomes of the Elemental Chronicles Book IX, my pet project. Its main fandom is Teen Titans, a north american cartoon. Yeah, I know, if this is about TT, then what's it doing on the Mutant X section ? Well, this is part of a crossover. Enjoy ! And, please, do not forget to review !
Grown Up Does Not Always Have To Be Grown
" I really don' t see what is the problem. Hadn' t we decided that I would stay for four weeks ? Only four weeks ? " – Terra said as calmly as she possibly could, from her place at the sink while leaving a dish to dry along with the others in a pile that kept growing on itself. Why could they not see that she was doing this for everyone's sakes, especially theirs ?
She knew it, how could she not remember what had happened the last time she got attached to a half a dozen of superheroes like herself ? They all knew, and not thanks to Jesse's search but of her own admission, of her past, of her horrible deeds, of all the things that she had done but could never take back no matter how much she wanted to. Surprisingly enough, they did not sent her to jail, merely asked questions.
Questions whose answers brought them to this very moment. It was one o' clock in the afternoon and a rubber – gloveless Terra had been spending the last half an hour working on making the kitchen of the Sanctuary look pristine all over again. ' I like feeling the water on my hands ' , she had said on the first time. '
Sitting at the table, Shalimar, Lexa and Emma watched her. Their faces expressed different levels of concern. But in their minds the same question : ' What could have happened to her to make her grow so fast ? ' The list of options was endless.
Three days. Yes, in fact, that had been the window of time that the fun – loving, though determined and full of strong beliefs, adolescent of long blonde strands and sparkling blue eyes had politely asked – and received – to spend three days at the home of six adults she had never met before. The fact is, one of those beliefs was that she was supposed to pay up all of her debts, no matter how small of insignificant they were. So, when very much starved and sleep deprived she had asked for a place to crash, none of them ever thought of refusing, The next morning, they were shocked to see all common areas of their place clean and tidy. When they found her engrossed on the same activity she was right now, Terra laughed and simply said she was " doing her part to pay the rent " and would not stay unless they let her do so.
She had been essential on the rescue of hundreds of people from a facility where they, including herself, were being forcibly experimented on, including the men they all considered their father. How could they refuse ? Besides, they were not cold – hearted people. They were three women and two men gifted with special abilities and the scientist, Dr. Adam Kane, responsible for their creation. In resume, a group of people dedicated to the defense of a world that does not even know of their existence. Invisibility, mind reading, sharpened senses, electric bolts, walking through walls and others aside, life did actually follow a certain routine. They laughed, hang out, had fun, and beat up on some villains, of course.
Terra, on the other hand, was a complete mystery. After hours and hours of fruitless – and extremely boring, if you asked Brennan – search through dirty old files and binary databases, they came to the conclusion that there were not any traces of her presence, no record whatsoever to prove that she also was a result of the genetic experiences for fertilization done by the scientist, which only served to confirm her story of her power of controlling the very Earth she walked on was natural.
Now, unnatural was the fact that when they joked, she would joke back, but never give a real, meaningful smile. They also discovered her furious appetite for learning new things, which was probably an explanation as to why she spent a great deal of her time on her own little world around the Sanctuary, reading either a magazine or a book. Several times they had to remind themselves that, nevertheless, Tara was just a kid.
" What does T.F. mean Terra ? And Y.E. ? " The sound of the pan making violent contact, that reverberated within the room, with the linoleum sink was enough answer. For all of them. The girl scrambled for the supply and let the running water wash the soap off of it, as she mentally chastised herself for talking on her sleep again. A little over ten years ago, when she was not even in first grade yet, her biological parents had died.
The official story, the one that made it to the papers as it was on the coroner' s report was that the couple, along with their twelve young children, ( six daughters and six sons, ages varying between twelve years old and one year old ) must have perished due to a terrible fire that consummated the entire house and property where they lived. Must have because no body was ever found to confirm the theory. Neither were any piece of DNA or print that might have help solve the tragic death of the Markov Family.
Whichever was their meaning, it was clear that those words meant more than everything for her, who had spent the last 72 hours, among other things, arranging work, school and volunteer work. A new place to crash was an entirely different matter. Terra had already made herself familiar with the perfect place where she could use her powers to touch up a new cave on the outskirts of the city for as long as she needed when she left them.
Which deep down she knew she would have to, before things got too personal between her and them. Of course, it did not help being with them reminded her so much of how much she missed being with her best friends, the Teen Titans and fighting evil full time. Back when she started crashing on their sofa, the first thing she did was retrieving her bag. Inside, alongside with others of her dearest possessions, was her TT communicator.
Taking courage, she breathed in deeply. " When I asked for three days, you said that I could stay for as long as I wanted. I guess you didn' t need another teenager runaway with powers laying around and causing havoc, after all "
The three tried to open their mouths to explain that now it was much more than that, that now she had a place in their hearts and they were genuinely concerned about her, but were silenced by the hard look on her face when she turned around and crossed the kitchen in order to get her bag, the same one she always kept her eyes on.
" Loo – " Shalimar started, but was interrupted. " If I'm going to stay here longer, then I'd rather let some things clear first. Do you mind ? " " Go ahead. " Emma conceded. " I'm staying, if only so I won' t have you chasing me around the globe with the Helix. Good. But nothing else changes. I don' t receive orders from you. As long as I think it won' t affect anyone badly, I will go wherever I want, whenever I want and do whatever I please. You are not my parents, don' t even think of treating me as if you were. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are more dishes waiting for me at the dinner. Have a nice day " Adjusting the straps on her shoulder, she turned around to leave when an arm grabbed hers. Tightly. It was Lexa. Oh, why did it have to be Lexa ? Of all six of them, she had been the one the geomancer had became closer with.
" I wouldn' t dream of treating you like my daughter, but you gotta understand: you are just – " . The blonde teenager felt for her. Really. But she also had had way more than her fair share of strangers thinking they could control her life just because they were older than her. And to hell if she was going to let it happen once again. " Sixteen. Yes, I am. That means that I may not be an adult yet, but then again I'm no child either. And I refuse to be treated as one. Now let go of me. " Yanking her arm back roughly, she bored her eyes into the three women, wishing things could be different, but at the same time knowing they probably never would. Taking another breath, she finised softly: " I don' t want any trouble. I just want to live my life the way I want to. Okay ? " And then she left. Terra never looked back. They never saw the tears on her eyes.