The Awful Truth, Part 3: Chapter 3: Worries

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More weeks passed. The Titans continued their normal rounds, apprehending criminals, averting the occasional natural disaster. Omega and Athena returned from their respective missions, and Robin immediately paired Kitten up with Omega, and Athena with Cyborg. He was still working on some way to pair up the soon-to-be newlyweds with other partners, so as to give others a chance to get accustomed to the sectors normally patrolled by Beast Boy and Terra. He kept on trying to think of a way to include Blackfire in the group without setting Starfire off. So far, he hadn't come up with one that was workable. Raven swore the Tameranean had changed. Nobody knew why or how, but Raven, the empath, stated she could tell these things. None of that mattered anything at all to Starfire, of course.

Starfire's problem wasn't Blackfire; it was Starfire.

Back at the Tower: it had been a hard day, and Beast Boy and Terra were preparing for bed. He was in the act of pulling off his boots; she had already gotten out a clean sleep shirt, which she'd put on after their shower. The days when they changed clothes in separate rooms were past. "Gar? Could we talk a minute?" She came over and sat by him on the bed.

He glanced at her. Since when could they not talk? Then—"Oh. You wanna talk about…that."

"Yeah, that." She hesitated. Then, "It happened again, today."

He looked at her. "I didn't black out."

"No-o. But, do you remember breakfast? Raven offered to help? And she totally burned the scrambled eggs?"

"Yeah." He smiled ruefully. "Poor Raven. I mean, she's never had to cook before, and doesn't have a ton of money to go to any kind of cooking schools or take any classes. But what does all that have to do with-?"

"You remember, Cyborg started to laugh? But stopped when Raven gave him that look?"

"Yeah, well, I'd stop, too. I've seen Raven when she's angry—so have you—and I definitely wouldn't want to cross her…." He stood up and started to unzip his uniform.

"Gar, she wasn't warning him about herself. She," and here she drew a deep breath, "She was warning him about you."

He wriggled out of his uniform, and sat back down by her. "About me? But, but I didn't…"

"You went all four-eyed on us, Gar. Again. That's….not the first time that's happened. Lately." She looked down at her hands, nestled in her lap, her blond hair falling around her head, obscuring her features.

"Lately? But I haven't been….have I really been doing that a lot, lately?" He couldn't keep the apprehension out of his voice.

"Not a lot. Just every now and then."

"How…how often?"

"Maybe once a week. Not every week. But…you seem to've gotten, like, hyperdefensive of Raven."

He turned to her. "Terra. You're not…jealous, are you? 'Cause this is really nothing to be jealous of. I mean, me losing control…"

"Oh, of course I'm not jealous!" She turned to him and hugged him as best she could, the two of them sitting there, side by side, on their bed. "I'm just….a little concerned, that's all. Okay, a lot concerned. And, and something else. It's a small thing, but I've noticed you haven't played any pranks on her for, for weeks now. I mean, previously, it was like once or twice a month, but now…it's no times a month."

He held her there, feeling the beating of her heart against his chest, her body beneath her shirt. It was an intoxicating feeling. "I think I just outgrew that, Terra. I mean, come on. Here, I'll be twenty soon. It's just….it seems childish, somehow. I haven't played any pranks on anybody, have I?"

"That's true, you haven't. Well, maybe it's just me."

"No, no. If I've been 'hulking out,' or nearly so, that often, then I gotta learn some way of mastering that, that's all there is to it."

She drew back and looked him in the eye. "Maybe…maybe some kind of biofeedback technique? I know Slade used some of that, taught me using some of that. Maybe you could use something similar?"

"That's an idea." They'd drawn apart, and he was sitting on the side of the bed, leaning forward, rubbing his hands over his face. "Maybe…maybe I'll get with Raven an' see…" He didn't see her eye twitch. "Or, no, on second thought, maybe not. Machines don't like Raven. They start making funny noises or go boom when she's around. So my best bet would be Cyborg. Raven would have to help, of course. Show me what mental and emotional states I should strive for and those I should avoid. She uses meditation to control her powers; maybe something similar, just more advanced than what I already use, could help me." He turned to her. "Terra…you're not afraid of me, are you? 'Cause I'd never, ever hurt you. Surely you know that."

She put her arm around him, drew them closer together. "Afraid of you? No. Afraid for you? Maybe a little. It's like you said, I know what it's like to have a power you can't always control. I just….hope you, you can find a way to control it. That's all." She stood up and began removing her clothes. "Well, shower time." He immediately followed her lead in getting undressed. At one time, that would've embarrassed him no end, but now…

"You know…" She began, taking him by the hands, standing in front of him, both of them completely and unashamedly naked, "We can do more in the shower than just wash off." Her smile seemed a little nervous to him…but it was probably just his imagination.

He turned her face up to his and kissed her. "Well, if you're looking to get an argument from me, you won't. But fair warning: I intend to pleasure you as much or more than you pleasure me. I mean, that's what it means to be partners, right?"

She smiled. It was remarkable, he thought, how just her smile seemed to illuminate the room, like a thousand watt lamp fixture. "Sounds like a good plan to me." And she led him, both of them naked, into the bathroom's large shower stall. En route, he looked her up and down. Especially down. I've gotta be the luckiest guy on Earth.

But later on that night, with a sleeping Terra in his arms, he lay awake, wondering. Why was this happening now?

….

"Okay, biofeedback." Cyborg was busy hooking together some modular components from a vast array of supplies he kept. The two were in his personal lab. "Let's see: heartbeat, respiration, pulse, skin temperature and conductivity, maybe even brain wave activity. 'Course, we really don't know what we're looking for, but I'm going on the assumption that it somehow involves you losing your temper, but big time. And that's something we can't—well, perhaps it's better put, dare not—recreate in the laboratory. At least, not any laboratory we wanna keep in one piece. So. Pull down the top part of your uniform, an' I'll attach these electrodes…yeah. You'll be hooked up to remote telemetry. Don't know if they'll stick on you when you change, however."

"My clothes stay on me."

"Actually, they don't. If they did, you'd have torn up uniforms all over town. What happens to your clothes when you morph is kinda up for grabs…though if this 'demon' thing is true, and I see no reason to think otherwise, maybe their…disappearance has more to do with magic than any scientific principle. That really does explain a lot. But there's no guarantee these will stick on you."

"They did on Bruce Banner," Gar quipped.

"Actually, they didn't. Remember, he was always losing his watch? And shoes. And shirt. In fact, I'm fairly sure the only reason he kept his pants was due more to the movie ratings board than any real-life principle. Can't very well fight the Forces of Evil and Injustice in the buff; sets a bad example for the younger generation. But these…incidences…when you've gone four-eyed on us, but haven't actually transformed—that, maybe we can work with. But first we gotta get a database on your emotions, and how they affect your morphing abilities." He busied himself, programming his diagnostic computer.

"Cy?" Cyborg turned to his friend. "Why…why do you think this is happening more now than ever before? I mean, it never happened before….except for that 'beast' incident."

"Honestly, BB? I got no clue. It may just be the natural—if you want to call it that—evolution of your powers, as they mature. Of course….nah, I don't think that."

"What, Cy? Don't keep me hanging!"

"Well, something I've noticed. Now mind you: correlation doesn't equal causation, but…."

"'But'?"

"Have you noticed, you only seem to transform like that when Raven's physically present? Maybe there's some kind of proximity thing goin' on there. Maybe it doesn't really have all that much to do with just you and your emotions. Maybe it's some kinda magical interaction. Maybe she has to be within a certain radius of you for it to happen." He held up a stainless steel finger. "Not saying that's what it is, mind you. Just something I've noticed."

Garfield was silent for a long time. Then, "I think Terra's jealous."

Cyborg stopped what he was doing and pulled up a stool to sit on. He looked at his friend soberly, all traces of humor absent from his voice. "Does she have reason to be?"

"No! I mean, yeah, now I know Rae's my half-sister an' all, but, but I've always thought of her as a sister, anyway. Nothing's changed about that!"

"So you've never thought Raven was…pretty?"

Gar shook his head. "Only in the sense you think you're sister's pretty. I mean, I, I never had, y'know, like, fantasies about her or anything."

"So you never….?"

"No. I can say that absolutely."

Cyborg sighed. "Well, it may just be the natural territoriality lover-type females feel towards anybody else, any other similarly-aged female, that you're close to. Or you may be totally misreading her emotion. You know? I mean, that's possible."

Garfield was silent for a moment. Then, "No, Vic. I'm not."

To be continued…