The Awful Truth, Part 3: chapter 2: Defenses

Weeks passed. The Titans patrolled their assigned sectors, Terra and Beast Boy teaming up (though Robin was toying with the notion of pairing each of them with other people, in light of their upcoming marriage; it wouldn't do to spring a whole new sector on anyone completely unfamiliar with it), Raven and Hank, Cyborg and (for now) Kitten, with Angelique rotating between the various pairings. It would give her good experience. Occasionally, they were joined by Missy, who'd taken to calling herself Ghost, and who could apparently shift between the solid and energy states of matter at will, as well as being able to channel any available energy to a considerable degree. He and Starfire rounded out the itinerary, although he knew some changes would need to be made once the two Osirans rejoined them. And, privately, he was trying to think of a way to include Blackfire in their lineup, in such a way as not to set Starfire off. Unfortunately, that was far easier thought than done, since every time Starfire was reminded of her formerly-errant sister even being on the same planet as she was, all in the immediate vicinity were treated to another of Starfire's sometimes literally explosive outbursts of temper.

The jewelry store robbery came in Terra's and Beast Boy's sector. It wasn't difficult to find; people running away from a smashed in window tend to attract the attention of resident heroes. Terra dove in on her boulder, while Beast Boy took lead as a green hawk.

The pair had barely showed themselves when the masked gunmen noticed them, and immediately turned their guns towards them. With anybody else, this might've been an effective strategy.

Terra had long since learned a lot about automatic weapons, both from Slade and from experience. A cloud of swirling dirt and dust engulfed and choked the perps, even as solid plugs of earth did the same to their machine guns' barrels. One of the men tried to make a run for it.

When a goat rams one from behind, it's annoying. When that selfsame goat (even if it is green) rams you from in front, and you chance to be male, it's….more than annoying. The runner went down, clutching his privates.

"Got this one down," Terra congratulated herself and her fiancé, calling Robin to let him know. Barely, out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the perps lunge at her with a large knife…

…and something green and snakelike wrapped around the man's neck. The robber spasmed, dropped the knife, and followed it down to the ground a moment later. Garfield changed back from the electric eel he'd become. "You okay, honey?"

"Y-yeah, Gar, I'm fine. Good looking out." Once again, she activated her communicator, to let Robin know where the prisoners would be.

Beast Boy was watching the now-handcuffed crooks, as though just daring them to try something like that again. He didn't see the curious expression that stole over Terra's face…as she watched him.

…..

Later that night, Garfield and Terra were preparing for bed. "Gar? Gotta question."

"Sure, honey. What's on your mind?" They'd both showered and were in bed, trying to decide what movie to put on.

"Well, that guy today, with the knife. How…how did that make you feel?"

"Feel? Me? Angry, of course. Nobody threatens you, sweetheart. Not while I'm around." He looked at her, sitting beside him in the bed. "Is something wrong?"

She smiled sunnily at him. "No, of course not. I just…I just noticed, you didn't go all four-eyed on the guy."

"Yeah, and it's a good thing, too. Maybe I'm learning some control over that. I hope so, anyway. I mean, you know what it's like, to have a power or powers you can't control. When that happens to me…I black out." He frowned. "I really don't like doing that."

"Yeah," she laughed, "Well, it's just as well you didn't go all demon-y on his butt. I mean, Raven wasn't there to, to bring you back."

He kissed her as they slid under the sheets. "You were there. Remember? You brought me back before, that first time you noticed."

"Yeah, that's right, I did, didn't I? Course, we couldn't very well have done that there in public, not without getting arrested ourselves. Well, I guess I'm just being silly. A silly girl, that's me." And she wrapped her arms around him as they prepared to watch the movie.

He kissed her again. "You're. Never. Silly. Never. Not to me. Ever."

…..

Raven had been keeping to herself a lot lately. It had nothing to do with her personal life or lack thereof; not long ago, the Entity had given her some alarming news, and she was trying to sort it all out.

Evidently, although the Entity hadn't been too specific (Raven wondered, wryly, if all such super-beings read from the same rule book: "Must always be mysterious, imparting the least amount of information, and mostly in the form of vaguely implied innuendoes," or something like that), it seemed that all life on Earth was in grave danger. She hadn't been able to pin it down as to whether or not it was from some natural source, such as a black hole or neutron star, or something even stranger. The Entity had only said that it was something about current trends of life on Earth—and the ending of all that life because of that. That didn't make any sense to her.

Of course, Raven remembered some of her physics, particularly Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle: sometimes merely observing an event can alter it. Perhaps the Entity was imparting all the information it could, without contaminating the timeline, and maybe bringing about the very fate, or a worse one, that it sought to prevent.

She found herself preferring to believe that.

But still…there were just too many unknowns. Too many possibilities. And she wasn't even sure of the right questions to ask. As it was, she didn't even have enough to put into a report for Robin, who, true to his upbringing as a detective, required constant updates. And she just didn't have any.

Upstairs, Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing "Ninja Monkey Racing," for about the ten thousandth time. Terra was toasting bread for a tomato sandwich and watching the progress of the game. She'd already mentally vowed to challenge the winner.

Robin and Raven entered. "*-not doubting that you're doing your best, Raven, that's not the point, it's just…"

"My best hasn't been good enough?" Raven crossed her arms and tilted her head at him, giving him an "I dare you to say it" look.

"I wouldn't have put it that way, and that's not really what I mean. I just need more information. Not just about this shadowy menace looming in the background, but about these godlike beings in the first place. I mean, you have been in communication with this Entity, as you call him, for some time now, but we still don't know that much about him. Or it. Or…whatever. I could understand about not having much information about Typhon; I'll have to make a note to ask Missy a few questions, if I can ever get her to stay in one place long enough, but about the Entity…"

"Robin. I'm not exactly in a position of authority over the creature. True, I can ask questions, but it may choose not to answer. Or it may answer in such a vague way as to be completely unhelpful; I'm encountering that a lot lately. I really don't have any leverage."

"But you're the only one of us he will even talk to. That is leverage, of a sort. And that puts the burden of all this squarely on your shoulders, like it or not. And, not to put too fine a point to it, but right now, we're really no better off than we were before. I guess I'm beginning to wonder if you're really trying as hard as you can. You're not afraid of him, are you?" He opened the fridge, got out a carton of milk.

"I-*"

"Robin." Beast Boy spoke up quietly from the curved couch where he and Cyborg were playing their game. He spoke while playing the game, holding the wireless controller, his attention riveted on the screen. "She's doing the best she can. Don't push it. It won't accomplish anything."

"That's just it, Gar, nothing's being accomplished. We've got no more information now than we ever did, except that now we know these beings exist. That, by itself, isn't much help."

"Robin, believe me when I say I'm doing the best I can."

"But still, Raven, nothing's getting done! Maybe you need to take a different app-*"

"Dude." Beast Boy's voice was no louder than before, but there was an intensity to it that made Robin look around. Terra and Cyborg looked up, too. Gar had paused the game, something he hardly ever did. "She already said she's doing the best she can. Lay off."

"Gar, I don't need you to defend me-*"

"This doesn't concern you, Beast Boy." He turned back to Raven…

But now Beast Boy was up on his knees on the couch, facing the dueling duo. "I said, lay off her." And while he wasn't shouting, not exactly, his voice was certainly nowhere near quiet, either. Something made Robin turn…

There were four eyes visible in Beast Boy's contorted face. The rest of the Titans, including Raven, backed up, just a little.

Robin held up a hand in a conciliatory gesture. "Okay, Beast Boy, calm down. Maybe I was pushing, just a little." He turned to Raven. "I'm...sorry, Raven, if I came across a little strong, there."

"It's…alright, Robin. And perhaps you're right; maybe I should adopt a different approach. It might be more productive. It certainly can't be less."

"H-hey, BB, you, uh, wanna finish the game?" Cyborg was holding out Gar's Gamestation controller, a nervous smile playing over his face.

Gar slid back into his seat. He looked at the controller, then back at the paused game on the screen, his double set of eyes having faded back to his normal pair. For a long moment, he hesitated. Then he threw the controller down on the couch, scowling. "Stupid game, anyway." He got up and stalked off. "I'm gonna get some air."

Terra watched him go, and as she did so, a single tear coursed down the side of her face. She hoped nobody noticed.

…

To be continued…