Rocky Territory
By Letselina
Chapter Three
Accusations
A soft humming caused Gaia to stir. Her eyes opened slowly, and she began to recollect what had happened before she had fainted. Looking at the long hair that fell over blankets, she yawned loudly, catching the attention of the hummer.
"Terra?"
Gaia turned her head to face the speaker. A giddy, grinning, green Titan stared at her. "Hi." She smiled softly, not knowing what to say. Her eyes searched the area behind him, and she became assured they were the only two in the infirmatry.
"How are you feeling?" he questioned, standing up closer to her.
'How would anyone who'd been petrified for nearly a year feel?' Gaia thought to herself. "I feel fine," she said sweetly.
"Oh good. Anything I can get you? Food? Water?" Beastboy offered eagerly.
Shaking her head, Gaia continued to smile. Thinking of her mission, she sighed, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" he pestered.
"I'm positive," Gaia said, doing her best to hide annoyance.
"So..." he exhaled loudly, fidgeting in his chair. He had dark evergreen eyes that didn't dare move from her form, causing her to feel a little uneasy. "How are you alive? I mean... how'd you get out of the cave?"
Gaia shrugged. "No clue," she lied. Looking around the infirmatry, she continued, "Where are the others?"
"Looking out for any signs of Sl-" Beastboy stopped himself, his eyes widening. "Err, out for pizza..."
"Signs of Slade?" Gaia said easily, ignoring his improvision.
Beastboy flinched, "Y-yeah..."
Smiling too brightly to be demure, Gaia nodded, "Good luck to them. Remember? I killed him."
"Of course I remember," Beastboy said quickly, raising an eyebrow at her attitude.
Gaia scrunched her nose, and laid back, "Do you remember," she closed her eyes, watching a scene flash in her mind. A scene she had never experienced, but a scene that changed the life of the girl she was impersonating. "Do you remember that night... when I... betrayed you all?"
A loud gulp and weak, "Uh-huh," emitted from the green Titan.
Instead of continuing, Gaia sat up again, "Did you mean what you said? About me having no friends?"
His eyes fell to the floor, and Gaia hid a smile as he shrugged, "I guess... at the time I did. You really hurt me... You hurt all of us."
"I see..." Gaia looked down, feigning pain and sadness in her eyes.
"But - hey!" Beastboy stood up, "You know... I forgive you..."
"You're the only one, I'm sure..." she muttered mournfully.
"C'mon Terra..." Beastboy took her bare hand in his, squeezing it gently.
Gaia looked at his fingers laced through hers and smiled. 'Perfect.'
"I'll make the others understand - if they don't already." Beastboy lowered his face near hers so he could see her better, "I owe it to you."
"No..." Gaia shook her head, still smiling, "I have a different idea." Her demure smile widened to a wicked smirk as her eyes began to flare a vivid silver.
Beastboy backed away, or attempted to, but Gaia kept a strong grip on his hand. "W-what are you doing Terra?"
"What? Don't you trust me?" Gaia said, grinning evilly as her aura spread around her and the changeling.
When the silver glow had engulfed them, the entire room lurched forward, then disappeared before their eyes. Something passed under them, but it was too quick to tell what it was.
Moments later, everything stopped, and Gaia let go of Beastboy's hand.
The Titan fell to his knees, in shock or loss of balance. His eyes frantically searched his new surroundings. He saw Terra, or someone who looked like her, standing above him, an evil gleam in her soft cerulean eyes. A dim light sent an eerie glow over everything. the walls were plain, and there were no windows. A plain hospital-like bed sat against a wall, and something was covered in long white sheets on it.
One corner was heavilly shadowed, but it was impossible to guess what caused it. All Beastboy knew was something was coming from the shadows, and he didn't know if he wanted to see what it was.
Stepping into the eerie light, a tall man was revealed, causing Beastboy's jaw to fall, and his eyes to widen. He wore armor, much like Terra had, and his face was hidden by a black and orange mask. "Hello Beastboy."
Starfire carried a large platter toward the infirmatry, a giant smile on her face. She had heard a conversation between two people when she had passed earlier, and immediately rushed to tell the other Titans. She was excited about Terra being alive, and back. She was once the only friend she could pour her heart into, unlike Raven who could only handle so much of Starfire's gushing behavior.
"Hello?" she called, knocking on the slightly open door with her free hand. "I have food of the morning meal to serve you!" she said, balancing the breakfast platter on a single hand. "Hello...?" she pushed open the door with her hand.
Her bright emerald eyes flickered back and forth as she scanned the room, searching for any sign of life. "H-hello?" she called out, quietly and nervously. The red haired alien set down the platter and looked at the bed where Terra had been. The blankets looked as if someone still sat in them, but there was no one. "Beastboy? Terra? Anyone?" she turned carefully, her mind racing. "Oh dear..." she mumbled, hurrying out of the room.
Starfire was confused, and wondered if perhaps the Titans had already greeted Terra and brought her and Beastboy to a different part of the Tower.
Something told her that wasn't the case.
She roamed the halls, searching for any of the Titans, and to her relief, Robin turned the corner, nearly running into her.
"Starfire!" Robin cried in surprise, obviously startled by her sudden appearance.
"Oh Robin! There you are!" Starfire clapped her hands together, "Perhaps you have seen Beastboy?"
"He was in the infirmatry with Terra," Robin shrugged, raising an eyebrow at the slightly out-of-breath girl. "Are you okay?"
Starfire bit on her lower lip, shaking her head, "I fear Beastboy is not present in the infirmatry."
Robin shrugged, "Maybe he went to the bathroom or to get food, or-"
"Terra was not present either," Starfire interrupted.
Robin's eyes widened under his mask, and he took off in a dash toward the infirmatry, Starfire on his heels. He burst through the infirmatry's door, his heart pounding loudly as he quickly skimmed the room with his eyes. "Gone..."
Starfire watched as Robin investigated the room, touching the bedsheets carefully. When he let out a groan of confusion, Starfire spoke, "What has you puzzled, Robin?"
"They were both here recently. They haven't been gone long. Go find Cyborg. We'll need to check the security tapes."
The Titans, minus Beastboy and Raven, sat in the control room of the Tower, the largest of them sitting in a chair at a keyboard. Cyborg shook his head, "They're no where in the Tower, unless they decided to hide in someone's room-"
"They aren't," Raven said, entering the room. She removed her hood from her head, revealing a slightly angered visage. "I checked. We are the only ones here. Terra and Beastboy are gone."
"Let's check the tapes... You said they weren't gone long, right Robin?" Cyborg inquired, typing furiously while he spoke.
"Not long. The bed was still warm, and Starfire heard them talking only a few minutes before she realized they were gone," Robin replied.
When Cyborg finished typing, a screen popped up, showing a tape of the infirmatry.
Beastboy sat on a chair close to the bed. Terra's chest slowly rose up and down, but her eyes were closed. Beastboy's mouth moved, but there was no sound to the tape. He stopped talking and rocked slightly from side to side. He slowly ran his fingers though the girl's hair, shaking his head slowly. Almost instantly as he pulled away, Terra's eyes opened slowly. She was facing away from Beastboy, toward the camera, and yawned widely, then rolling over to face Beastboy. The two talked; once in a while Beastboy's eyes widened, and he looked nervous or afraid. Then, Beastboy stood, and took Terra's hand, a grin on his face. Sitting up tall, Terra kept her grip on his hand, and a soft, but bright, aura surrounded them. The color was impossible to tell, since it was a black and white movie, but it engulfed the two completely. Moments later, it faded, and the infirmatry was empty.
"She's never been sorry," rasped Raven. She face was twisted into anger. "The damn witch has always been out to kill us!"
"Do not say such things!" ordered Starfire, "Terra is our friend. It was her dying wish to protect us!"
Raven shook her head, "She must have known she would be back. She wanted to be taken in when she did."
"Of course she knew she'd be back! We have been attempting to revive her since her death, have we not?" Starfire argued.
"Her mind doesn't work like yours Starfire!" Raven snapped, "She is a wicked witch who happened to dodge Hell on her way down!" Behind them, glass shattered, but it wasn't noticed by either of the females.
"Terra was - is - a good person Raven!" Starfire said, an equal amount of anger in her voice, "She made a mistake, but that is in the past!"
"Her mistake was coming back," the dark girl muttered.
"You are much too cold-hearted to understand her!"
"You are much too naïve and ignorant to understand her!"
"You know nothing of her past!"
"And you do!"
"STOP IT!" both Robin and Cyborg yelled over the females' verbal battle. One of the screens split in a crooked line as the two sent angry glares at each other.
"Fighting will get us nowhere," Robin said sternly, "We don't know what's ahead of us, or what exactly is going on."
"I guess we have to figure out where Terra took BB," Cyborg said, nervous in the tense atmosphere.
"No need," a crisp voice interrupted. Eight eyes flew to the main screen, a chorused gasp coming from their mouths as a masked face appeared. "We've got Beastboy right here with us."
Beastboy sat in the background, quizzically looking around as Terra stood tall above him, a smirk plain on her face. He didn't seem aware the Titans could see him.
"Beastboy!" Cyborg called.
"What do you want with him?" Robin demanded fiercely.
"Well Robin," Slade said, amusement in his voice, "If you want to know so badly, why don't you come here and find out."
The screen went black.
"Trace it," Robin ordered, the second time in two days.
"Hiding behind a mask again?" Gaia, still in Terra's appearance, rolled her eyes. "That makes you weak."
Slade walked toward Gaia, glaring at her, "It would do you best to keep your comments to yourself."
"Oh, woe is me," Gaia produced an equally dark glare, then turned swiftly on her heel. "So BB, surprised? The Titans will be here soon, I expect."
The green Titan's face was a twisted expression of confusion, shock, and anger. He stood to his full height, looking around the dimly lit room. "But why Terra? Why would you go back to Slade?" he shook his head, "Don't you remember what he did to you?"
"Oh, that's right," Gaia snickered quietly. "The name's Gaia." Her eyes flared silver once more, and her appearance exploded in a fury of light. Moments later, it faded, revealing the short-haired blonde again.
Shock and confusion dissipated from his face, and only anger remained on the changeling's appearance. "You!"
"Yeah, me," Gaia smiled. She stretched out her right arm, the light blue flared sleeves hanging down. Pointing her index finger past Beastboy, she spoke. "I think she's the one you're looking for."
Beastboy turned around, looking at who she was pointing at. Gaia was pointing at the bed behind him. Almost magnetically, he felt himself walk toward the bed, and removed the sheets. He bit on his lower lip as he saw Terra - not an imitation - unconscious on the bed. She appeared much more beaten and bruised than Gaia had when she played the part. "Terra," he whispered, touching her face with his hand. Even through his gloves, he could feel her skin was like ice. Her flesh was pale in most areas, but obvious arrays of colors appeared in areas that were tender and bruised.
"And it's all thanks to you," Gaia chuckled.
"What?" Beastboy spun around swiftly, glaring at the blonde.
"If it wasn't for your pitiful trips to her statue, we would never have figured out how to get past the security your robotic friend set up," Gaia grinned. "All those tears you shed, you couldn't let anyone know about them. It was simple to sneak past the security once we watched you."
"Why did you wake her?" Beastboy demanded, nearing Gaia.
"You'll see soon," Slade answered.
Beastboy let out an aggravated yell, "You've done enough to her! There's no more you can do to make her life worse! Let her rest in peace!"
"Never," Slade hissed.
A/N: I finally know exactly where this story is going. I have a five day weekend starting Thursday, so I expect to get chapter four up by Monday. I'm so excited about chapter four. I really hope you understood the argument between Star and Raven. I want to show that Terra is kind of ripping apart the team. Well, I'll stop before I give away something. Review on your way to the 'X' button. - Letselina