Clash of the Titans by CidGregor

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 9

"Hey, Raven…?"

"What, Beast Boy?"

"Um…when the spell…y'know, uh…freed her…um…is there some reason that her, uh…clothes didn't come along for the ride?"

Raven glared at the changeling, whose reddening face made him look a lot like Christmas. "I don't seem to remember clothes ever being alive. That spell doesn't have any effect on things that aren't living. Besides…the last thing she was wearing was Slade's uniform. Not that I care, but do you really think the first thing she wants to see when she wakes up is that?"

Beast Boy winced. "Right…good point."

Raven and Beast Boy were in the Tower's infirmary; Raven stood near the window watching the Earth Titan fighting their friends in the distance; she could barely see it anymore now that night had fallen, save for the flashes of light and fire from their various weapons. Beast Boy sat beside the medical bed where they'd placed Terra, holding her hand as she dozed. Raven had taken her cloak back and given the blonde girl a hospital gown to wear, while Beast Boy brought some of her spare clothes down from her old room for when she woke up. They had been there for almost half an hour, waiting for the earth maiden to awaken.

"I'm worried about the others, Beast Boy," Raven said. "Their senses are growing slowly weaker. They're wearing out. We have to get Terra over there."

"But she's not awake yet…"

"Then wake her up!" Raven snapped. A second later a grimace crossed her face and she placed a hand to her forehead. "Unnh…sorry…I…"

"I know," Beast Boy nodded. "Malchior?"

"He's getting stronger," Raven said. "I won't be able to hold him back for much longer. Look, Beast Boy…once Terra stops the Earth Titan, you and the others have to…"

"Nuh-uh. No way," Beast Boy cut her off. "I know what you're gonna say, and you can just forget it, all right? We're not gonna sacrifice you just to get rid of Malchior. It's not worth it."

"And what would you know of worth?" she snapped again. "You fell in love with a traitor!"

"This isn't about Terra!" Beast Boy countered. "Look, Raven, we'll get rid of him, okay? And we'll do it without getting rid of you too. I don't know how, but we will."

"Don't you get it, you idiot?" Raven said. "I don't want to be controlled again. I don't want to go back to being a prisoner in my own head. I don't want to go back to standing helplessly on the sidelines while someone uses me against my friends. When the time comes, you have to do it, Beast Boy. You have to kill me. It…it's better this way."

"Better for who, Raven?" the changeling demanded, glaring at her from across the medical bed. "You? Cuz it definitely not better for us! I don't remember you ever being so selfish. You think it'd be easy for any of us to kill one of our best friends in cold blood just to stop some ghost? You might think that'd save us a lot of pain, but y'know what, Raven? If we killed you to stop Malchior, it'd hurt us a lot worse in the long run than anything Malchior could do."

Raven stared at Beast Boy, shocked that he had made such a good point. It wasn't a feat he accomplished often. And he wasn't done yet.

"And besides, if he's some ghost possessing you, what's to stop him from jumping out of your body at the last second? You'd die for no reason, and Malchior would just possess somebody else…maybe even one of us. Is that what you want?"

Raven's face paled, if that was possible, horrified. God, no! Of course I don't want that! How could I have overlooked that?

"N-no…I'd never…" she muttered.

Beast Boy held his glare for another moment, but then it softened as he realized the conflict in her expression. "Hey, I didn't mean…"

"It's fine," Raven said. "You…you're right. I…never thought about it that way. How did you come up with that?"

"Mega-Horror-Theatre episode twenty-nine," he answered promptly with his usual goofy grin. "The chick got possessed by the ghost of her evil ex-boyfriend, and the hunky new guy she liked killed her trying to get rid of the ghost, but…"

"I get it, Beast Boy," she tried to cut him off, but he kept going.

"…the ghost jumped out of her, and she died, and then the guy was all like, 'NOOOOOO!' and then the ghost possessed him too and killed everyone! It was the episode right after the one with the mind control chip."

"Fascinating," Raven growled. "All right, look, I admit you have a good point, but that still doesn't help us figure out how to stop Malchior when he takes control again. How do we…"

"Uunnhh…" a feminine groan uttered suddenly, cutting her off.

Beast Boy's head snapped sideways and his eyes, as they focused on Terra, bulged. She was stirring.

"Terra? C'mon, Terra, wake up," he said, gripping her hand.

The blonde girl's eyes fluttered half-open, looking sleepily at the changeling. He felt her hand ever-so-slightly squeeze his in response, and Beast Boy broke out into a relieved grin.

"Terra…thank God you're back…"

The corners of her mouth tugged into a half-smile, but faded a moment later, and frown overcame her instead. And suddenly her eyes were as big as saucers. She sat bolt upright in bed with a sharp gasp. She pulled her hand away from Beast Boy's and stared at it in amazement, like she couldn't believe it was there.

"I…I'm…not dead…what…?"

"You never were," Raven said, not looking at her. "When you stopped the volcano, you spent so much power that you turned your own body to stone. You've been that way for the last six months."

"Stone…? I was…" The earth maiden's eyes widened further. "Six months? I've been gone for SIX MONTHS?"

"It doesn't matter," Beast Boy said. "You're back now, that's all I care about."

She turned to stare at Beast Boy, like she was seeing him for the first time. "I've been…frozen in stone?"

Beast Boy nodded. "We've been trying to find a way to free you for a long time now…" Beast Boy hesitated, wondering how much to tell her about Raven's deception, and decided to not say anything of it. "Raven finally found a spell that could bring you back. And, well…heh…looks like it worked, huh?"

Terra brought up her hands and laid them over her heart. "I don't believe it…I'm alive…I thought for sure I'd be toast…this is…"

Another wave of surprise came over her then as she abruptly began feeling around her shoulders and upper body. "The uniform…it's gone…" she said with obvious relief. "But I thought…S-Slade…he said…"

"Oh, yeah, that…" Beast Boy said, reddening again. "Well, um…the spell Raven used, it uh…won't work on things that aren't alive, and well, clothes aren't alive, so the uniform stayed stone and you kinda…um…came out in your birthday suit…um, I didn't see anything, I swear!" he added, waving his hands frantically.

Terra breathed a sigh of relief, though not due to her earlier nakedness. "When he said it was a part of me now…I thought…I thought I'd be stuck with that thing forever…oh, thank God it's gone…"

"Yeah, that wouldn't have been…" Beast Boy hesitated as he saw a tear falling down her cheek.

"…Terra…?"

"…Why?" she whispered.

"Why what?" he said.

"Why…did you free me? After everything…everything I did to you…you still…you didn't…leave me there…"

"Trust me, I wanted to."

Beast Boy paled. "Raven!"

Terra turned to the dark girl, surprised. "What…?"

"Let's be clear on a few things, Terra," Raven said, moving over to stand face to face with the earth maiden and glaring at her. "As far as I'm concerned you should still be down in that cave, rotting away as a statue for the rest of your life. What you did to us was unforgivable, and if I had a choice, I never would've revived you."

"Raven, stop it!" Beast Boy shouted. Raven ignored him.

"But the fact is, that's not an option. We…the city, I mean…needs your help."

Terra's eyes fell to the floor. "Raven…I…I'm sorry…I don't blame you for hating me…"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it…traitor."

Terra flinched at the word; it stung, badly.

"Raven, will you shut up already?" Beast Boy demanded. He looked back at Terra and gripped her hand in both of his. "Look, Terra, don't listen to her. It's okay. I forgive you. I'm still your friend, remember? I'll always be your friend."

"I don't deserve a friend like you," she answered, trying to pull her hand away. "I did…so many bad things…Raven's right, I should still be down there!"

Beast Boy refused to let go of her hand. "That's not true, Terra…"

"Yes it is," she insisted. "I hurt so many people…I almost killed all of you…"

"Both of you, shut up," Raven said. "This isn't the time. We have more serious issues right now."

Beast Boy sighed. "Terra…Raven's right…I wish we had time to talk, but right now we need your help."

"You need…m-my help?"

"Yeah. Really badly."

"But…why me?"

"There's a gigantic monster ripping up the city," Raven said. "The others are fighting it as we speak. Fighting and losing."

Terra's eyes widened. "Starfire? And Robin, and Cyborg? They're in danger?"

"Yes."

"But…why do you need my help?"

"Because this monster is an earth elemental. Like you. In fact, its entire body is made of rock and earth. The rest of us haven't stood a chance against it so far…but you just might."

Terra looked away. "But…after everything I did…I couldn't just go back to being a Titan, just like that…"

"You were NEVER a Titan!" Raven snarled.

"RAVEN, WILL YOU LAY OFF HER FOR ONE DAMN MINUTE?" Beast Boy exploded. "This is hard enough without you making it worse!"

Raven opened her mouth to shout back, but her eyes bulged suddenly, and then just as abruptly squeezed shut in another grimace. "Aaahhh…" she groaned, clutching her forehead. "No…get back…"

Terra stared. "What…what's wrong with her?"

"This bad guy, Malchior…he summoned that rock monster," Beast Boy said. "Except he's like, a ghost now, and he's possessing Raven. She's in control for now, but he's trying to take over."

"I'm fine," Raven said, shaking it off. "Look, Terra…we don't have a lot of time. You're the only one who has a chance of stopping this thing. I can't believe I'm saying this, but…will you help us?"

Terra looked at Beast Boy, whose eyes were pleading her to help them. She looked back at Raven, whose eyes were turned away, refusing to meet the blonde girl. It was a position she never, ever thought she'd be in. After everything she'd done to the Titans…here they were now before her, asking for her help. Not wanting to throw her in jail or, worse, simply kill her.

At least…not yet.

Still, there was no question in her mind what she had to do now.

"I…" she started, paused, and then went on. "I know…I can't be forgiven for everything I did so easily…but…I want to help…I want to…I need to make up for my mistakes…even if it takes the rest of my life…"

Beast Boy smiled. "So you'll help us?"

Terra smiled too, ever-so-slightly. "Yeah…I'll do whatever I can."

Beast Boy leapt to his feet and hugged her. "All right, that's great! This'll be so awesome, fighting bad guys together again! And here, I even brought you your old uniform!" He lifted the black t-shirt, gold shorts, and blue-tinted goggles from the chair beside him and held the articles out to her.

Terra took them with shaking hands. "You…you kept it?"

"Of course. Heck, I kept your whole room just how you left it," Beast Boy said.

"But…why?"

"Because…I always knew, someday…you'd come back."

Terra's tiny smile broke out into a full-blown grin. "Thank you…that means a lot to me, Beast Boy."

"No problem. Now get dressed and let's go. I'll explain everything on the way."