Terra stood up and walked hesitantly towards her cave. She was tired and cold. Maybe things would be clearer in the morning. As she entered, Terra knew immediately that she wasn't alone. She saw that, sitting on one of her makeshift chairs, was a teenage boy. He had tousled, dark blond hair, and severe-looking pale eyes that stood out in the dimness of the cave.

"Who are you?" Terra's hands began to glow faintly. She didn't like the look of this guy. Taking notice of her clenched fists and seeming mildly surprised, he stood up. "So," he said, his voice carrying casual curiosity, "you're the famous Terra."

Terra's hands glowed a brighter shade of gold, "That wasn't an answer."

"Forgive me, my name is West." West held out his hand, but Terra made no move to shake it. He dropped it back down to his side.

"What do you want?"

He held his hands up, as if to show that he meant no harm, "Just to talk." He sat down on the stone again, indicating with his head that Terra should have a seat as well.

She relaxed her fists and sat on another rock a few feet away. "Okay, so talk."

West waited a moment before he responded, putting his thoughts to words. "Well, of course you remember how your family used you as a guinea pig to test technology to give metahuman powers to normal humans?"

Terra hesitated, and then nodded. What is he getting at?

"That test yielded some less-than-satisfactory results," he said, taking notice of the frown that appeared on Terra's face. "No offense. So, about fifteen years ago they decided to try again. The scientists thought that if the test subject was younger the serum would take. The twins, Ember and Serena, were first. They were still in the womb when they received the first injection. The scientists didn't count on their subjects already having metahuman abilities in their genetics, an indelible memory.

"They realized their mistake too late; as soon as they were born, the twins were to be disposed of. No one knew what would happen if a metahuman was given a second metahuman gene and they didn't want to risk the effects being catastrophic. One of the lab assistants took pity on the two and dumped them in an orphanage. Meanwhile, the scientists had found a new test subject. I was a normal child, only just born to a single mother, who needed the money they were offering her."

I can't believe this. They're experimenting again, and on children! She, herself, had been only six years old and she still remembered that the process had been very painful. Terra could only imagine how the twins felt, being able to remember every step of the process, all of the pain. She shuddered slightly.

West took a breath and continued, "We want you to help us stop them, and to help us get our revenge."

Terra wasn't certain about the revenge part, but West did have a point. They had to put a stop to the experimentation. "Okay, sure. I'll help you."

West nodded.

He stood up and Terra followed him outside. A strong gust of wind kicked up the desert sand, causing Terra to squint her eyes. She watched as the wind lifted West into the air. So that's his power.

He turned around, "I'll be back tomorrow morning." Then, he was gone.

Terra went back inside the cave, closing the makeshift door behind her. She curled up in her sleeping bag and thought long and hard. She didn't quite trust West, of course, she had difficulty trusting anyone these days. She had heard the emotion in his voice, though, and she felt that he had been telling her the truth. Her eyelids grew heavy and, eventually, she gave up trying to figure him out, and fell asleep.

o-o-o

Terra looked at the way the light was entering the skylight. After spending so much time in that cave she had become quite good at telling the time by just looking at the way the light played on the cave walls. Judging by the long shadows, it was a little after sunrise, which meant it was about 6 o'clock. She sat up and walked outside, wondering if West had already come and was waiting for her, but he was nowhere to be seen.

She sat down on a flat rock and tossed stones down into the canyon. It wasn't nearly as fun as skipping stones across the bay from the shore of Titans' Tower, but it occupied her time. Soon enough, there was a strong gust of wind and she stood up, turning around to see West standing roughly five feet away from where she was seated.

"Ready to go?"

Terra narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Where are we going?"

West just smiled slyly, "Follow me."

He flew upwards and Terra hurried to follow, levitating the rock she had been sitting on and pulling her goggles down over her eyes. She had to struggle to keep up as West jetted over the city. At the speeds they flew it did not take long for them to reach their destination, an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city.

They landed and West walked over to a large, steel door, holding it open for Terra and closing it behind them. Terra looked around. The warehouse was huge and filled with assorted crates and boxes. The walls were lined with doors leading to offices and vaults for storing high-security items.

West led her through the labyrinth of crates and they emerged into a more lived-in looking area of the warehouse. There was a large rug covering the stone floor and a small sofa was set to the side. There were also some crates that someone had organized into a table and chairs. At the table sat two girls who looked very much alike. The first had long, black hair and dull dark eyes that were staring blankly ahead. She was pale and seemed to be very weak. Terra wondered if she was blind.

"Terra, this is Serena," West said, indicating the frail-looking girl, "and this is Ember, who I believe you have already met."

Terra turned towards the other girl. She had spiky, shoulder-length, black hair and deep amber eyes. This second girl looked much stronger and healthier than her twin, and also strangely familiar.

"It's you!" Terra was immediately on her guard, her hands glowing as she clenched her fists. Ember just smirked as West gently ushered Terra to the seat directly across from her. West then took a seat next to Serena. The girl's eyes lit up and the ghost of a smile appeared on her face as their arms brushed.

"Okay, so I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, but-," Ember began, not sounding very sincere at all.

"You say that like just yesterday you weren't toasting fire hydrants and causing general chaos."

The smirk disappeared from Ember's face. She clearly didn't like being interrupted. "I think we could both benefit from a clean slate."

Terra knew what it was like to be judged on things she did in her past. She sighed, "You're right. So, how exactly can I help you?"

"We are going out into the city later to create some...respect for our cause. We would like you to help us spread the word."

Embers tone was level, calculated, but there was something in it that Terra didn't like. There was something in her voice that reminded Terra of herself, and it was not something good.

Terra narrowed her eyes, "This isn't about stopping the experiments, is it? This is about you getting your revenge on the world. You don't want me to help you create respect, you want me to help you create fear."

Ember didn't try to hide the hate in her voice this time, "You don't know what it's like, to remember everything as if it were happening right now." Ember gestured towards Serena. "Just look at what those monsters did to her!"

At this Serena's eyes began to water and she looked down at the table. West put his arm around her protectively. Terra felt sorry for the girl, but she couldn't let these three make the mistake of taking out their anger on innocent people.

"I understand that you're angry, believe me, I've been there before, but this is no way to handle that anger. You are talking about taking your revenge on people who've done nothing to you. Just because those scientists made the mistake of inventing that serum doesn't mean that all of those people need to suffer."

West spoke up, "Look, we need to do this. We don't want to hurt innocent people either, but sometimes fear is the only way. Stay with us Terra, we know that you have nowhere to go, and it would be great to have your support..."

West appeared to be sincere about not wanting to hurt people, and the thought of settling down, of belonging again, was a tempting one. It would be great to be with people who understand what I've been through... Then, her discussion with Raven came to the front of her mind. I won't make the same mistake twice. She remembered the hate in Ember's voice, and how readily her anger had surfaced. West may have the restraint to keep himself from hurting people, but the same can't be said about Ember.

Terra kept her voice even, "No, I've been down that road before and I won't let myself make that mistake again. You three can do what you want with your life, but just leave me and Jump City out of it." She stood and began walking in the direction of the exit.

"I think you should reconsider our offer," Ember hissed. Terra stopped and turned around to face her.

"Give me one good reason."

The smirk appeared on Ember's face once again, "Because, if you don't you'll never see your boyfriend again."