Prompt 2: Hours
Set early in "Betrayal", before Terra is extracted.

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The wall mounted clock in the star-dotted room ominously hit 5:02 PM, and Terra heaved a weighted sigh at the sight of it.

Three hours. Three measly hours. That was all that remained of her stay with the Titans. Not that they knew it. She hadn't even been told of her extraction until just moments ago, when she'd contacted Slade with the access codes and schematics of Titans Tower. As far as Slade was concerned, she'd just sent her confirmation of his plan; his sick and twisted plan, that she'd willingly partaken in. She could distinctly remember the buzzing at the base of her skull as she loaded the data from Cyborg's prized computer onto a tiny disk, then transferred a copy to her boss, although she wasn't sure whether the feeling was that of guilt or excitement.

That wasn't to say she didn't have her regrets, but her reasons outweighed her regrets ten to one. It was almost ironic. The whole reason she'd agreed to partner with Slade was to earn approval from the very people she'd eventually condemn to death. She devoted so much to gain just a few short glimpses at having true friends; a family. Oh, Terra knew she'd have to destroy the picture perfect image in her mind as soon as Slade came trooping in, but for now…it was a nice thought.

The things she regretted most, unfortunately, was the people she would be betraying. Despite her pending but probable blow to their defense and psyche as a whole, she still wished there was something she could do to stop it. After all, they'd taken her in with no reason to trust her. It was her own fault that she couldn't control her powers. Robin had always been so strong and willing to help in her daily improvement and making sure everything ran smoothly in Terra's transition into Titans Tower. Starfire was so kind and open, willing to share Tamaranian advice for whatever problem the Terra had, and the earthmover appreciated it, however outlandish the alien's words were. Of course, there was Cyborg too, constantly there to cheer her on in training and pizza eating tournaments, keeping her spirits up and her head high, even when she didn't do so well on course runs. Despite all that, they were not the ones weighing so heavily on Terra's mind.

Raven…was a curiosity to say the least. The girl who had started out so untrusting, so distant, so cold, was actually trying to forge a bond. There was no doubt that the empath remained distant, to say the least, but she was definitely less frigid than before. Just this afternoon Raven had offered her a book, saying that sometimes the Tower could get boring, hard as it was to imagine, and a good novel was always handy for times such as those. She'd even gone through her mountains of books to find one Terra might relate to and actually enjoy, something about a desert wanderer finding peace at last when he found his family. The blond girl was unsure whether she was supposed to take the contents of the book as a generosity or a sting, but the look in Raven's eyes had been genuine. The empath was really trying to bridge the gap between them.

The volume sat beside Terra on her bed; she'd dropped it there before going to hack the Titan database. Thinking of it now made her smile slightly, though she was torn between feeling touched by Raven's act of peace and amused at her stupidity; being kind to someone who was willingly signing her death contract in exchange for stabilized powers and ultimate acceptance from the very people she would eventually destroy.

Terra felt tears ebbing at the edges of her eyes, which surprised her. Who'd have thought that the witch, of all people, would elicit her compassion? Even so, it was like two radically different people were controlling her mind at the same exact time, and each was fighting for dominance. Part of her pitied the Titans; loved them for the wonderful people they were and wanted desperately to save them from a fate that she, Terra, was sealing. The other half of her was enjoying the power she'd acquired by doing so, and laughed at how easy it was to lead each of the Titans blind in a deadly dance of false trust.

Just three hours…that's all there was left…three short hours left of her lies…and it would all be over.

Beast Boy. Oh, God, Beast Boy. The very thought of him, all he'd done for her and all she was about to do to him, caused her lungs to buckle and deflate. He was the biggest regret of them all. Just ten minutes ago he'd come up to her, baring his heart to her. She, in turn, had tossed it to the floor. She wanted so badly for everything to be normal between them…everything to be okay and not twisted by lies and greed and power.

But he's so gullible. How could he not see through her?

Part of her found a sick satisfaction in playing him; in making him fall in love with her while she betrayed everything he held dear. There was no denying that. The rest of her, however, really liked him. She did. She loved his smile, his childish eagerness, and his corny jokes. He was always trying to make someone smile, and there was no doubt that Terra felt a certain degree of warmth when his attentions were turned on her. He was quite possibly the nicest person she'd ever met, the person who'd been kindest to her…

And you're going to hurt him for your own selfish indulgences, despite your feelings for him?

Terra had never wished more than now that she possessed the ability to tell herself to shut up.

Three tiny, short, miniscule, rapidly passing hours…

Terra looked up at the clock on the wall. Six minutes had passed since she last checked. Who was she kidding, anyways? Each second felt like a century, each minute an eternity. She couldn't even find the words to describe how long an hour would take to pass in her convoluted perspective. All these hours were torturing her; making her pay in advance for the betrayal she'd eventually inflict. Part of her welcomed the redemption from her past and future crimes. The rest of her snarled at it with pained fury.

The tears were returning, much to her displeasure. They disobediently slid down her cheeks, and she cursed their visibility as it only made her feel more vulnerable. Then, before either half of Terra could protest, she wiped her eyes, hopped off her bed, and went in search of Beast Boy. She'd take him up on his offer, she decided, although she was unsure her motives were entirely pure. Part of her was using him as a way to get rid of all those damning hours, but her other side only wanted to spare Beast boy from what was to come.

Most people complained about never having enough hours in a given day. Terra, however, found that sometimes there were several hours too many.

--

I wish you were a stranger I could disengage.
-Cable Car/The Fray-