In The Rearview Mirror

She hated that song, but whenever she turned on the radio, it was always there to taunt her. Those lyrics that made her think of all the horrible things she'd done were always there, reminding her of who she really was. But no matter how much she hated that song, she could never turn it off. She just listened to it, letting it haunt and torment her, before running off to her bedroom mirror to make sure she was still there, in a pair of faded old blue jeans and a loose-fitting sweatshirt. Anything but the harsh metal suit she'd worn when she'd worked for Slade.

He'd requested that song. Beast Boy wasn't sure if he loved it, or if he was just listening to it because it made him think of Terra, but one way or another he'd called Jump City's most popular radio station and requested What's Left of Me by Nick Lachey. Maybe some silly little part of him was hoping she'd hear it, hoping it would bring her back to him. But he hadn't put a name in the request. Even if she heard it, she would never know it was for her.

As always, she saw nothing but herself in the mirror. There was nothing wrong or out of place. No mismatched ripples in her blonde hair or asymmetrical features on her face. Her reflection was a perfect image of who she was. On the outside. But on the inside? Maybe that funhouse mirror had said it better. Maybe the shattered windows of the buildings she and Slade had destroyed showed her as she really was: Distorted. She wasn't the perfect girl staring out at her. Just as the song playing on the radio spoke of being broken and faded, she was a broken shard of glass. Tainted and jagged and dangerous, waiting to strike, all because she'd chipped away from the mirror and the wooden frame that had only wanted to keep each shard safe. She wanted to shout and cry, but instead she just laid her forehead against the cold glass

It was stupid, since he was the one who had requested the song in the first place, but the words were almost making it hard for him to breathe. The lyrics talked about not wanting everything to be inside his head, but Beast Boy knew everything was. Terra was just a memory. She'd said it herself. He wanted to scream at his reflection and tell himself to snap out of it and get over her, but when he looked in the mirror, he just couldn't. Maybe the funhouse mirrors changed how people look, whispering in untruths and deceit. Maybe the funhouse mirrors could turn a robot into Slade. Maybe the funhouse mirrors could him into that cold-blooded killer who murdered that robot, and would have murdered Slade just the same. But his bedroom mirror wasn't like that. His mirror never lied. Beast Boy knew that it was all his fault for letting her down.

When the song spoke of taking everything that's left and putting it back together, she couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed the mirror and shoved it against the wall, letting it fracture and drop to the ground. As the bits of glass fell, she dropped to the floor with them, her hair in her face and tears in her eyes. It didn't matter if the mirror was whole or in a thousand little pieces, she was still the same Terra. Still the girl who'd betrayed and hurt and tortured everyone who'd ever meant anything to her.

When the song spoke of taking everything that's left and putting it back together, he couldn't take it anymore. Beast Boy grabbed the first thing his hand touched and hurled it at the mirror. It wasn't until a crack broke through the glass that he realized what he'd thrown. A small, rusty butterfly clip lay on the floor among the tiny splinters of glass. All he saw in the mirror was the boy from the carnival. He'd thought that boy was gone. But maybe it was another beast inside of him, just waiting to come out.

Will you take what's left of me? the singer asked. The words echoed and echoed and echoed through the room, but what was left to take?

She turned off the radio.

He turned off the radio.

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Author's Notes

Today is July10th, 2007. Two years ago today, I wrote Wax Museum, and one year ago I wrote The Animal Game. Both are Beast Boy and Terra one-shots, so I have been calling today Beast BoyxTerra One-Shot Day! XD If anyone wants, feel free to join me in this tradition.

This story was inspired by Post-Game Mortem, an episode of Veronica Mars. There is a scene where Heather, a girl around ten, is being babysat by Logan, who's girlfriend, Veronica, broke up with him a few episodes earlier. Heather calls a radio station and requests What's Left of Me, by Nick Lachey, dedicating it from Logan to Veronica. Veronica hears the song, and promptly turns off her radio. The lyrics used and title of this story come from What's Left of Me.

I am not really sure what I think of this story. I think it is best described with the lyrics Now I'm broken/And I'm faded/I'm half the man I thought I would be/But you can have what's left of me. Those were the lyrics that helped me figure out where I was really going with this idea. XD I like how the story came out, but I am not sure if it gets any sort of point across. The point I was trying to make was that Beast Boy and Terra have changed, to the point where Terra literally becomes a different person in Things Change, but they are still the same people they were in Terra.

Anyone want to start a RobinxStarfire one-shot day with me? How about Flinx? XD XD