I do not own the Teen Titans or any characters in this story.
Terra's clear blue eyes looked at the clock on her computer; it was after one, she should get to bed. The thin girl brushed away a few stains of long blond hair from her face as she closed her laptop. She yawned as she rose, stretching out of her seat.
The titan looked around her room. Her eyes lingered on the desert scene painted on her wall, a daily reminder of how of how she had met the other titans. A small smile fell across her face.
"They like me…" Terra whispered to herself.
"Oh, do they?" said a cold voice in her head, not unlike her own.
"They're my friends, they like me," Terra said aloud.
"Some friends…"the voice said.
Terra shook her head. Not now, she didn't want to think about that now. As if act on cue a low growl came from her tummy. Suddenly her thoughts wondered to the leftover Chinese they had ordered for dinner.
"I don't see what's wrong with a little midnight snack," she thought as she walked out of her bedroom. "I just hope Cyborg didn't eat it all."
Terra walked through the quite halls of the Titan's Tower, it looked like she was the only one up. It had been a quite day in Jump City, which meant a quite day for the Titans. They trained in the morning but had the rest of the day to do as the please. She only had to change her uniform once all day, a rarity in titan life.
On her way to the main room, Terra stopped outside Beastboy's room. She could hear him snoring loudly through the door. The geomancer giggled softly to herself imagining green changeling sleeping. She couldn't help but laugh or smile when she thought about Beastboy. He was hilarious even if Raven said he wasn't. Most of all he really cared about her, which is something the girl had never experienced in her short life.
"He'll leave, you know? Just like everyone else," said the same cold voice from before.
"I said shut up!" she thought angrily to herself continuing down towards the kitchen.
It did look like she was the only one up, even Robin had his lights out.
"I guess even Boy Wonders gotta sleep sometime," she chuckled to herself.
Terra left the lights off as she entered the main room of the tower. The moon was full and the floor to ceilings windows gave more than enough light for her to move around in. She looked out the windows at the Jump City. It was beautiful at night, almost felt like a home.
Pulling herself away, Terra walked into the kitchen to and opened the fridge. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright light of the fridge. She searched for her leftover ku pow chicken.
"That's that breakfast Starfire made…I'll eat that tomorrow…BB's tofu hotdogs," Terra muttered. "Aw man, did Cy eat all...YES! Looks like he ate everyone's but mine."
Terra rose triumphantly from the fridge, when she noticed the lights were on. Looking quickly at the door her blue eyes lock with the mask of Robin. The Titan leader smiled and cocked his head as he dried a layer of sweat off his face with a towel.
"I didn't think anyone was still up," he said walking over to check the fridge himself. "You should get to bed, you need your rest."
"Are you kidding me? You're up this late every night, Robin," Terra said leaning her small frame against the countertop to give Robin room to raid properly. "What do you do this late anyway?"
"I plan the next days training exercises. Run them myself so I can focus on you guys," said the young male titan grabbing few pieces of cold pizza. "It's not as though I need lots of sleep. I used to only work at night with my old partner, but that was a long time ago."
"You mean with Slade?" Terra said instantly regretting it. All she could do was to stare at her fork sitting in her half empty carry out carton.
"No…" Robin said slowly.
When she finally looked up a dark shadow seem to come across Robin's face. Of course he wasn't talking about Slade.
"But you were thinking about Slade, weren't you?" the voice in Terra's head said.
"Oh…um, I'm sorry…Beastboy said…Stupid!" Terra was stumbling over her words. "I was just- I mean, I know that you worked for-"
"I didn't work for Slade," Robin said cutting her off. His tone was different, not mad but serious. "He used me. He put my friends' lives in danger to make me do it."
"I'm so stupid, Beastboy told me not to say anything," said the blond titan. " I'm totally sorry, I know you use to be his apprentice. I guess it kind of slipped out."
"It's ok," Robin said quietly. "You have to understand Terra I never wanted to be Slade's apprentice. Slade's a madman who represents everything I stand against. Slade only cares about himself. If you serve him no purpose, or get in his way he'll destroy you without a second thought."
Robin's demeanor had completely changed from when he had walked in. The white slits in his mask had narrowed, his gloved hand was clenched tight. Gone was the carefree attitude of a teenager, replaced with that of a seasoned crime fighter.
Terra now more than ever understood why Robin was the leader. His strength, his determination, his passion for what's right; they were more clear than ever in Terra's eyes. The team would never fall apart with Robin as their rock. She also saw why Slade would want him so much. The things that made his a great leader, is what would make a him worthy apprentice.
Terra had never talked to Robin this long and there was a question that she simply had to try. She bit he bottom lip, questioning if she should ask at all. She knew Slade was a touchy subject for the Boy Wonder and his brief apprenticeship even more so, but she had to know.
"When Slade forced you to work with him was there a time when you thought, you know…you might join him?" Terra said quickly looking at Robin to try to gauge his reaction. Robin bowed his head took a bite of pizza chewed thoughtfully.
"Honestly?" he said after swallowing. "Yeah…there was a part of me that could have."
"Really?" Terra was shocked.
"It's would be easy, you know?" Robin said finishing his last slice of pizza. "Not having to care about anyone but me. Not having to worrying about if the city might explode, or what I'll do if there's a jailbreak."
"For a while I was worried I'd lose myself," said the Titan's leader as he headed out of the kitchen and towards the hall leading to the bedrooms. "But my friends saved me. They never gave up on me because I'm a Titan, just like them. They made me realize that even if there is an easier way it may not be the right way. That's the big difference between guys like Slade and us. We do what's right, even if it's not easy."
The automatic door slid open as Robin reached it. Turning he looked back a Terra and smiled.
"Get some sleep," he said looking back at Terra still eating cold Chinese. "Good night Terra."
"Good night Robin," Terra said watching the door slide back down in place.
"You better e-mail Slade," the cold voice in Terra's head, "He'd want to know about Robin's late nights."
"You're right," Terra said as she turning the lights off, "I'll do it tomorrow."