Two Birds With One Stone

Disclaimer: No, I do not own the Teen Titans. No matter how well I write them. Or whatever. The term "Sister-in-God" was borrowed from Tad Williams. I did not create it.

I was dreaming when I wrote this/ So sue me if I go too fast

Chapter Three: Terra

He barely knew she was there. She was quiet in his presence, feeling that they had exchanged all necessary words on the first day. Sometimes it bothered him, but then he thought of the people who had taken Starfire from him and expected him to accept Raven in her place. He hated that she wouldn't speak to him. He longed to shoot down whatever attempts she made at conversation. But if she spoke at all, it was to Bruce. And this vexed him as well, because he felt like a child while they sat there and talked, practically ignoring him.

And he hated her knowing that he had nightmares.

That stupid feather…

He'd meant to throw it away, of course. But he forgot, and it fell out of his pocket as he was undressing for bed. He left it on the floor, giving it a sort of scowl as he turned off the lights and pulled the covers around him. It had been a long day, and he wanted to sleep. Sometime around two in the morning he'd awoken in cold sweat, unable to get those images out of his mind. A patch of moonlight had draped itself across the floor. The feather shone in a most Raven-like way. Frustrated, he picked it up and shoved it under his pillow. His next dream was one of him flying on a large, black bird through blue, blue skies.

He continued to sleep with it under his pillow, and the nightmares stopped. Of course he didn't thank her. She might think he was getting used to her.

"I promised I'd help her fight. Nothing more," he muttered to himself. From the other side of the room, Raven opened one eye and regarded him like a bird regarding a branch where it intends to build a nest. Robin looked away, ashamed that she had heard or sensed what he said. His cell phone rang, allowing him a bit of distraction.

"There's trouble in the city, Robin," came Bruce's voice. "It's Salde."

"I'm on my way," Robin replied, glad to get away from Raven for a while.

"Take Raven with you," replied his mentor before hanging up.

Robin mentally cursed, dead certain that Bruce had developed some mind-reading technique from Raven.

"I'm going into the city," he said briefly to her. "Bruce said to take you, but you don't have to come." He really hoped she wouldn't want to. After all, she didn't seem the type to get out of doors much.

"I'll fly with you," she said in her signature monotone.

"I don't fly," he said, smiling in spite of himself. "I ride my R-cycle."

"Flying is faster," she argued. "I can fly us."

"Sure, Raven. Fly us into the city," he said in a sarcastic tone.

He would later regret saying that.

A dark shadow seemed to fall over them, wrap around them. When it had faded, they were standing in an alley, the sounds of a robot army tramping close by.

"How - ?"

"No time now. I feel someone is in danger. Us even."

"Stay here then. I'll be back."

"I'm going with you."

"I don't have time for this. There is a criminal out there. What can you do? You don't even have a weapon!" He was angry with her for being so quietly stubborn.

She lifted a hand and muttered something under her breath. Beside her, a dumpster became engulfed in the glowing blackness that had brought them there. It rose some feet into the air.

"This will be my weapon."

He must have looked pretty ridiculous, standing there, agape, because she dropped her mask of emotionlessness and grinned.

"Fine then," he said, as calmly as he could. "I'm going for Slade. You take out as much of his minions as you can, got it?"

She gave a curt nod and together they charged into the street. With one graceful sweep of her hand, the dumpster cleared through two dozen of Slade's robots, clearing a path for him.

Slade was running along the opposite side of the street, a hostage slung over one shoulder. A green leopard followed close behind. Robin recognized him at once.

"Beastboy!" he shouted. The leopard became a pterodactyl and swooped toward Robin, snatching him up. When they were high enough, he dropped Robin, who bulleted toward Slade with a flying kick.

Slade fell to the ground, and Beastboy ran ahead to catch the girl he'd captured. Raven beat him to it, though, catching her in a weaving of darkness. Beastboy made a noise of protest, but Robin made a gesture to him that got him to back off. While Slade pulled himself out of the dumpster Raven had flung in his path, Raven herself put a glowing blue hand to the girl's blonde head. Once the girl's eyes had opened, though, she seemed to recoil, and let Beastboy help her to her feet.

Meanwhile, Slade had recovered and was now involved in a sparring match with Robin. At one point, Robin went flying into the dumpster as well. Raven ran to him, leaving Beastboy open to attack. A split second after Robin was pulled out, Beastboy was knocked to the side and Slade and the girl had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Terra!" Beastboy moaned from the ground. He transformed into a bloodhound and ran off, sniffing here and there, trying to find her scent.

As a crowd slowly gathered around Robin, Raven, and the fallen robots, the Boy Wonder's anger reached boiling point. He shoved Raven against the brick wall with as much force as he could muster.

"What the hell were you thinking? Why did you let the hostage get taken!" He was breathing hard. She flinched and looked down at her feet. For a moment, he was almost sorry. But then it passed. "I wasn't important, Raven! You could have stopped him from taking her."

She looked back at him with the same empty stare she'd held since he met her. "You were important, Robin. You were more important to me than anything in that instant." He growled. If she thought she was going to win him over this way, she was wrong. "And this was a set up," she continued, steadily ignoring the wave of hatred he was emitting.

With another shove, he looked her right in the eye. "Talk," he demanded. She wrapped her hand around his wrist and closed her eyes. The darkness surrounded them and they were back in the study of Bruce's mansion.

"That girl was a spy for him," she said quietly.

Before he had time to ask questions, his communicator rang.

"Beastboy?"

"It's Terra, Robin. Slade's got her in a warehouse downtown. You've got to help me save her."

"I'm there."

He glared at Raven. It was rare that he got a second chance to save a hostage. He would not let Raven ruin it again.

"I'm going to help save Terra. You can come, but you will do as I tell you, understood?"

She nodded and let the darkness envelop them again.

In the coming days, Robin replayed the scene over and over again in his head. When they had arrived, it was as though an earthquake had chosen that very warehouse to run rampant in. There was nothing he, Raven, or Beastboy could have done. The earth opened up and swallowed most of the building, taking Slade with it. But what would give him grief over the coming days was Terra. Raven had been right. She had been a spy, but at the last moment she had begged Beastboy's forgiveness as she tried to control her power. She could bend and manipulate the earth to her will, and it was out of control. She told Beastboy to run and then let all of her power loose.

They found her, some hours later, in the very heart of all the destruction, frozen in time, turned to stone.

Writer's note: As always, a thank you to the readers, reviewers, and the people who decided to make this story part of a C2. So now Robin has an idea of the kind of powers Raven has. In the next chapter, Beastboy will come to the mansion. Slade is supposed dead. Stuff like that. I don't have a plan. I just write.

Go review already.

Signed,

The writer, you fools