Chapter 7 Part 2
Tara opened her mouth, to protest, but he was off before she could say a word. She sighed before catching up with him.
Beast Boy followed the signal, glancing at Terra every few minutes or so. Though as hard as he tried to keep his whole attention on the T-com his mind kept drifting off into thoughts. Would Terra stay? Would she leave as soon as she got the chance? Did she want to stay but thought she couldn't? Or did she just not want to stay? and the one question that kept nagging in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to push it back; Does she still love me? Did she ever?
The beeping got louder, Beast Boy read the T-com, the sewers? "Oh gross..." He moaned as he looked at the man hole then at Terra. "Hope you don't mind taking a shower later." he joked.
The whole walk there, all Tara could think about was what was happening. Would she stay? No… she couldn't stay. She wanted to though. No, Terra wanted to. Tara didn't! But she did… was she slowly losing Tara? She glanced over at Beast Boy a few times. You're still mad at him she would tell herself. Her Terra half would always protest. You only wish. And she did wish. But she was finding it harder and harder to stay mad at him. Who COULD stay mad at him? Anyone who looks into his face, into his eyes, and stays mad was crazy or had mental problems. Tara grimaced as she looked at the man hole. "Gross…" she repeated. She looked up at Beast Boy and shrugged. "Ah well, I'll live," she said.
Beast Boy handed his T-com to Terra "Here, hold this for me." He then bent over and pried the lid of the man hole up with a little bit of struggle, these things where heavy! He pulled it aside then looked down into the smelly sewer. "Always a sewer, just once I want some bad dude to live where it doesn't smell worse then Robin farts" he joked. Beast Boy stood up with some hesitation and jumped down into the nasty sewer cave. The murky people waist filled water splashed up around him "Ewww" He whined.
Tara laughed at his joke as she held his T-Com. When she heard the splash then him whine, she made another grimacing face. Oh, this was gonna be a trip to remember. "Here, your turn," she said dropping the communicator down to him, hoping he would catch it.
Beast boy held his hands up and caught the T-com that was still blinking. "Thanks Terra!" He yelled up at her. His voice echoed in the giant cave of a sewer line. He looked back down at the T-com; they weren't too far from the others, that was a good thing. But it meant they would have to be careful.
Tara bent down, holding the edge and letting her legs fall down into the man hole. She was about to let go, but her fingers slipped, and instead of jumping in, she fell down. She let out a gasp of surprise. She was so off today!
Beast boy had looked up to watch her come down, when he saw Terra(Tara?) slip he ran under her and caught the blonde before she hit the nasty sewage. His T-com was still in his hand that was under her legs while his other hand was holding her back. Beast Boy smiled shyly at her, and was hesitant on gently setting her back down on the ground.
Tara blushed a little embarrassedly with a sheepish grin. "Uh… thanks," she said as he set her down. "I guess I'm a bit off," she gave a small nervous laugh. See? Practice would do you good, Terra told her. "So, where to?" she asked in order of change of subject.
"It's okay," Beast Boy half grinned then held his T-com up and looked at it before looking at the dark tunnel ahead. "This way I guess..." He didn't sound thrilled over it. But who would be thrilled over going into a dark sewer tunnel that held a monster that wanted to kill you? He started slowly forward, looking up from his T-com to make sure he didn't bump into the walls. Though that did happen a few times despite his efforts.
Tara followed close behind him. Once when he crashed into a wall, she couldn't really blame him, it was really dark, she crashed into him. "Sorry," she said hurriedly. It was miserable down here. It smelled disgusting, it really was no fun to walk through, and she just wanted to get this over with.
"It's okay," Beast Boy told her. His nose was starting to hurt from crashing into these stupid walls. As they went on in the sewer it got darker in some areas and lighter in others. The sewage was sometimes up to their knees and others times there was none. Though in the darkest area's Beast Boy had grabbed Terra's wrist so they wouldn't get separated. And soon the T-com started beeping faster and louder. He closed it then peered past a wall, he heard something moving around.
Tara hadn't stopped him from taking her wrist, though she partly wanted to. Terra had stooped her from stopping him. She listened as she heard something moving too, though stayed completely silent. Had they found whatever had taken the other Titans?
The light was dim in the room, but at least there was light! The white monster was checking over the knocked out Titans, making sure they where still knocked out.
Beast Boy glanced at Terra as if asking if she was ready to do this.
Tara nodded, bringing her gloved hands up as fists. She was ready. And after they won, she would leave. She would leave, and go back to school. She was confident that could win this. But she still thought she had to go back to being the regular girl she only half wanted to be now.
Beast Boy put on a broad smile then whispered to her "Just like old times," before saying "Ill go surprise him, then you come in from behind." Beast boy grew smaller and into the form of a rat. His little feet moved quickly over the near dry floor until he was right behind the giant monster. It was then Beast Boy's height grew into a rhino and before the monster knew what was happening was hit in the back with a sharp horn.
The white monster roared with furry at the green changeling before turning around and running at him.
Tara nodded her head once and watched. Lucky for her the walls were made of rock. She jumped out from behind the wall and big chunk of rock came out of the wall and slammed itself down in between Beast Boy and the monster, while another flew up behind the monster, getting ready to smash it into the first rock.
The monster roared in frustration once more, though the rocks posed little threat, he made the mistake of running into the rock walls and turning into a rock like monster himself.
Tara smirked triumphantly. Perfect. Rock monster, earth manipulator. She raised a glowing, gloved hand and a light yellow aura surrounded the monster, sending it shooting into the wall, hard.
Beast Boy morphed human and stood on the side lines waiting his turn all while cheering "Go Terra! Woot!"
The monster was flung into the wall so hard that the cave crumbled. When it slid down from the wall a large impression could be seen. It made an angry noise then ran at Terra. Beast Boy jumped in and morphed into a triceratops and rammed into the monster before it reached Terra.
The monster was thrown back but then grabbed Beast Boy by the horns and threw him into a wall, he was strong.
"Beast Boy!" Tara called out. She looked back at the monster, glaring. She made a good chunk of the ceiling come down on it, hoping it would at least stun it for a second.
The monster was crushed under the sudden weight of the ceiling coming down on top of him. But he would regain strength in a matter of seconds.
Beast Boy who was now in human form moaned while rubbing his forehead. "Okay, I'm going to have a headache till next week." He only half joked. You try getting swung into something by the horns and see how you feel. He looked over at the pile of rubble Terra had brought down as the rock monster stood up and roared angrily.
Beast Boy looked over at the other Titans; they needed to get out of here. He looked back at the monster and morphed into a lion before letting out one of his own roars as if trying to imitate it.
"Why doesn't this thing just die?" Tara asked in frustrated tone. She looked over at the other Titans too. As she looked them over… she began realizing how much she'd missed them. As if all the times she hadn't missed them were making up right now. Robin was always fun to play pranks on and joke about; Terra had done that with Beast Boy before. Starfire and her death-grip hugs… Terra missed those. Cyborg with his big-brother-like personality. Terra missed that most about Good Ol' Cy. And even Raven. They had had a bit of a rocky friendship. But still, Terra missed her.
Beast Boy morphed human for a minute and yelled over at Terra "Get the others out of here! I'll keep rocky here busy." He flashed her another smile, if it could be seen in this light then morphed back into the lion and charged at the monster, and it did the same.
Tara nodded her head, and said, "Got it!" She looked around as if looking for a way. Wait, duh! Four pieces of earth, one below each of the knocked out Titans, glowed yellow and lifted them up. Tara looked back at Beast Boy before running down the tunnel again, back towards the entry way, though it was difficult when the water was at higher levels. Once in a shallow area she stopped. She didn't feel right, leaving Beast Boy alone with that seriously brutal thing. She was considering leaving the Titans here to go help Beast Boy. He could handle it on his own. Right? Course he could. She was still considering it though.
Beast Boy told himself to fight till he was sure Terra and the others would be far enough away. He had morphed into several animals, just trying to keep the thing distracted. He was thrown into the wall more then once, and almost had his face punched in. the room was starting to shake from the harsh fight taking place. Beast Boy morphed into the dinosaur with the club for a tail and swung it at the monster. It was thrown into a wall and shook the area once more. Beast boy morphed human for a spilt second then jumped at the monster as a saber tooth tiger, long fangs and claws ripped at the rocky giant, but did little harm.
Tara hesitated before she kept going. Once she saw light at the end of the tunnel she grinned and set the four unconscious Titans down. They'd be okay now. She turned around and didn't walk, but ran back. Yes, she crashed into a few walls, but only shook off the feeling. She was going to help Beast Boy if he hadn't gotten rid of the monster yet.
BOOM
Beast Boy moaned as his back slid down from the wall in human form. That had hurt; He opened his eyes and glared up at the monster that seemed to be winning. Beast Boy's eyes turned pure white as he morphed into a giant gorilla and made wild swings at the monsters head that was now level with his own.
The monster was almost laughing at Beast Boy's attempts and grabbed the flying fist and threw the green gorilla into another wall.
BANG
Beast Boy morphed back human from the impact. He was frustrated, nothing worked to even hurt it! He could hardly run from it either because it was fast. He morphed into a bull then tried plowing into the white monster, but was again swung aside.
Tara heard a lot of banging around and a load of noise. She pushed herself to run faster until she finally turned a corner to see the white monster throwing a green bull into the wall. "Back off!" she yelled at it, knowing this would have no effect. She pulled another rock from the wall and threw it into the monster, giving out a frustrated yell.
The monster was taken by surprise and was knocked into a weak spot in the wall by the rock. He looked up but was too late to move. The ceiling gave way and crashed down on top of it.
Beast Boy stood up slowly, human formed. He looked over at the pile of rubble, nothing moved. Dust rose from the pile and a few rocks tumbled down from their perch. Other then that, stillness. Though that meant that the ceiling here wasn't stable, and could break down on them any minute. With one final glance at the pile of rock dirt and concrete Beast boy turned around and ran towards Terra, holding his hand out for a high five and smiling.
Tara stared at the pile of rubble with bated breath, just waiting for it to pop back out. When only a few pebbles and dust fell and hit it and still nothing moved, she smiled with a triumphant, yet unbelieving, laugh. She couldn't believe it, she'd stopped it. She looked to Beast Boy and gave him a high five, still smiling.
Beast Boy smiled brightly at her laugh, when she gave him the high five Beast Boy curled his hand around Terra's then pulled her close... real close. Close enough for him to peck her on the lips. That had to be one of the most daring moves he had ever made. He quickly let go of her hand and blushed brightly before saying "We should get out of here, this place could fall in."
Tara didn't even try to stop him. Or Terra didn't. What happened right there? She only blushed and when he let go she took a slightly hesitant step backwards. If she was still mad at him, she probably would have slapped him. Or punched him. As she had noticed before, it was impossible for her, for Terra, to stay mad at him. "Uhh… Yeah, that probably wouldn't be too great…" she said lamely.
Beast Boy nodded in agreement, grinning. He couldn't help it. "Where are the others? We should get them home before they wake up in this sewer and freak." He joked once more.
Tara laughed a little. "Yeah… I know I wouldn't like that too much if it were me," she half joked back. She had one hand placed on her arm. She often did that when she was embarrassed or nervous. "They're up by the entry," she added before starting the walk back.
Beast Boy chuckled then fallowed her. Though his face still burned crimson it was hardly seen in the dim light. "So after this is over..." He started slowly, turning his head to look at Terra for a brief second. His tone asked 'then what?'
Tara didn't answer. Her blush faded and was replaced by a more solemn look. She wasn't sure yet… She had started this confident in not staying. Now she didn't know. She realized how much she missed the other Titans too. Maybe she would just hang around for a few hours, then go home and everything would be like it was before today? Tara only kept walking, still not saying anything.
Beast Boy looked concerned now. The once goofy smile that was on his face was now a straight line that cut through his mouth. They came to the other Titans soon, they where still out. "Do you need help getting these guys out of here?" He asked in a quiet voice.
Tara's eyes closed for a brief moment when she heard his voice. This was killing her from the inside out. "Yeah," she said, quieter then she usually would be. "Help would be nice."
"Okay, I'll go ahead up then you lift the others up and I'll pull them out... how's that sound?" Beast Boy glanced at Terra without moving his head then looked down at the Titans that lay on the rocks below him.
"Sounds good," Tara said. She glanced around a little. Well, this was almost over. Which meant she had to make a choice soon. Did she want to go back with the Titans? No! Tara told her.
Yes! Terra protested. Or go to school again? School is lame! Terra told her.
You can't hang with the Titans. You don't deserve it. Tara told her. The poor blonde shook her head. School there was homework. Titans there was only fun and fighting. But there were also people there that she had betrayed and attacked. But she had made up for it. But still. This was so confusing.
"Terra? Are you okay?" Beast Boy placed his hand on her shoulder and cocked his head to the side a little.
The blonde haired girl who was confused on her own name looked up. "Yeah, fine," she said, not even bothering to correct him.
Beast Boy didn't look convinced, but he needed to get up to the surface so they could get the Titans home. "Okay..." He wanted to say more, but didn't know what else to say. Terra wouldn't have liked him offering to do it all himself, but was she Terra? So he let it drop then morphed into a hawk and flew to the surface in no more then three seconds then morphed back human and peered down into the sewer "Ready when you are Ter!"
She let him call her 'Ter' without stopping him. Bringing her hands up, they didn't glow this time; she summoned the rock holding Cyborg up to the opening so Beast Boy could pull him up out of the sewer.
"Oh sure! Bring the heavy one up first!" Beast Boy yelled down to Terra in a joking voice before morphing into a gorilla and heaving his giant friend up and gently setting him aside, then waiting for the next Titan.
The blonde merely laughed a little, and shook her at Beast Boy's joking. Next the rock with Raven on it steadily floated up to a stop right under the opening of the man hole
Beast Boy didn't want to crush his thin friend so went back to his normal human form. He grabbed Raven's arms and as gently as he could, pulled her from the rock and next to Cyborg. "Next!" He yelled down the hole.
The geomancer looked down. This was taking too long. She pushed Robin over onto the same rock Starfire was on. Okay, so she had cut that rock a bit big. With a motion of her hand the rock gently rose up to stop for Beast Boy again.
Beast Boy saw Robin and Starfire on the same rock and had to cover his mouth not to laugh, man he wished he had a camera! B got Starfire first since she was a girl and gently pulled her off and laid her next to Raven, then Robin.
He looked at his friends then looked back down the hole. "Need a hand?" He asked as he extended his arm out for Terra and smiled.
She smiled and nodded. She took his hand with one of her own and used her feet to push up a bit, grabbing onto the edge of the man hole when she could reach.
Beast Boy stood up and pulled on Terra's hand to help her up. She was still as light as a feather, being so skinny no wonder. So with both of them Terra was up in no time. Beast Boy was hesitant to let go of her hand. But did never the less then looked over at his friends and then back at Terra and smiled.
"So…" the blonde started as she brushed herself off. "Do we just take them back like this?" she asked. She had no problem with carrying them all back.
Beast Boy nodded, "I guess so. They'll probably be coming around soon." He looked back at his friends. He had only seen Raven go down, but he was guessing they all got hit pretty hard.
Tara, or Terra, nodded. The three rocks holding the four still unconscious titans lifted into the air a little ways. "I guess we should go then," she said a bit unsurely.
"Yeah..." Beast Boy agreed then looked back at Terra once more. "If there's anyway I can help with them let me know." He said eagerly.
"Would you mind taking one or two of them?" she asked, knowing he would probably be happy to help. It would be easier on her, plus easier to fly back.
Beast Boy grinned "I can take as many as you want; all you gotta do is set them in my mouth." He laughed, then thought she might not get it since she hadn't seen the day he thought that up. "I can always morph into a wale, so if it's less stress on you then I would be more then happy to take them all." He said smiling.
"I can take Robin and Starfire across," she suggested. It would be easier for her considering the two were on one rock.
"Then I got Robo butt and Rea." Beast Boy nodded. "I think I can carry them to shore, but once there I need you to put them in my mouth." okay that didn't sound weird or anything.
Nodding her head, Terra, or Tara, whoever she was, started off. The walk to the shore took longer then when they had come from the shore. Probably because they need to hurry anymore. Once at the shore, she stopped and waited for Beast Boy.
Beast Boy caught up with Terra in his giant big foot like form. Cyborg on one shoulder and Raven on the other. He took longer, a lot longer. Cyborg weighed like a ton! He stopped in front of the sandy shore and dropped both as gently as he could then morphed back to his human state. "Phew, don't let me forget that Cyborg owes me one." He joked then rubbed his shoulder as he walked over to the water, minutes later morphing into a giant whale and sticking his tongue out. This was gross, but the only other way he could think of.
Tara felt a little bad for Beast Boy. She did as she was told and put the two unconscious Titans in the giant whale's mouth. "Ready?" she asked as she jumped onto one of the left over rocks. The one that Starfire and Robin were on lifted up as she did, and started over the water, slower then on the first trip over the lake.
Beast Boy slowly brought his tong back in then started home. Slowly, taking his time so he didn't swallow the two Titans in his mouth. That would be an uh... big problem. He was at the Titan's shore though in good time, 10 minutes maybe. There he stuck his tongue out and rolled his friends off his long tong the best he could before morphing back human. "Yuck... I'm not going to get that flavor out for weeks."
Tara laughed as she set the rock bearing Robin and Starfire down gently. "We're almost there," she said in a voice of joking triumph as though it had been a perilous quest. Well, it kind had been, in a minor way. She started back up again, having the piece of earth follow, above and behind her a little ways.
"I hope so; this journey is really taking it out of me." Beast Boy laughed then morphed back into the giant big foot like animal and picked his two friends up gently so he wouldn't wake them up. He felt like sleeping himself, the back of his head was throbbing from being hit but he pushed aside the pain and went into the tower. Setting Cyborg on one end of the couch and Raven on the other. Since he wouldn't go in Rea's room and he didn't know how to plug Cyborg in. He morphed back human and waited for Terra while rubbing the back of his head and keeping the yawn to himself. He would rather stay up and try to keep Terra from leaving other then sleep and let her go.
Tara came in, carrying first Starfire with some difficulty. She wasn't the strongest person but she managed. She put set Starfire down on the couch. It was running out of room. Then she went back for Robin who she also put on the couch. She looked away from them and around the tower. As she looked around, she also looked at Beast Boy, but quickly returned to looking around again. Still not much had changed. It was still the coolest looking place to live she'd ever seen.
Beast Boy was smirking, an evil prank idea for poor Robin had come to mind. "Pst Terra, watch this." He had a hint of laughter in his voice. Beast Boy bent down and slowly grabbed Robin's arm and put it around Starfire's shoulders then slowly moved their heads till they touched. It was so hard not to laughing right now. He dashed over to the counter in front of the giant TV and grabbed a camera (Which just magically happens to be there) and snapped a picture.
Tara laughed. She remembered Robin and Starfire. Okay, so they'd never really gone out or were boyfriend and girlfriend, but they totally flirted. Terra knew they liked each other. It was a given. "Nice," she said with a laugh, holding a hand up for a high five.
In his unconscious state, Robin stirred a little, and his other hand moved to rest around Starfire's waste.
Tara stifled a laugh. "Get a picture of that!" she said excitedly.
Beast Boy bit his lip to keep his laughter in before snapping more shots at the cute 'couple'.
At the flash of the camera, Robin stirred slightly. Though still he didn't wake.
However, at the flash, Raven's eyes slowly opened. Her vision was a bit blurry, but after blinking her eyes a few times, she could see clearly again. "Oh…" she sat up, holding her head. "What happened?" It was then that she spotted Beast Boy and… Terra? "Terra?" she asked
Tara… or Terra as both Raven and Beast Boy were now calling her looked up. She didn't smile. She had been afraid of running into the Titans ever since she came back. Looked like there was no turning back now. She gave a weary, nervous smile. "Hey Rae…" she said quietly.
Beast Boy looked over at Raven and without missing a beat snapped a picture of her just waking up. "Good afternoon. Or what's left of it! You slept the whole time." He said in his usual joking tone. With Terra around it was a lot easier to do that. He was smiling, glancing at Terra then looking back at Rea then over at Cyborg, someone probably needed to help him wake up.
Tara and Raven exchanged quick glances. "Thanks for that," Raven said sarcastically as she blinked the bright flash of the camera away. "Who put the happy pill in your waffle mix this morning?" she asked. In other words, she was asking why he was so happy all the sudden, but she knew why. The answer stood right in front of her.
Tara just listened. She didn't know what to say now.
Since the camera was a Polaroid he took the picture and set it on the coffee table with the few of Robin and Starfire that he would use for blackmail or intense joking later. Beast Boy looked up at Raven and just shrugged then looked over at Cyborg "Someone needs to help him... I don't know how though and I don't think he would want me to try." He had the hint of laughter in his voice. He felt hyper from his sudden excitement. Maybe it was because the others would see Terra really was here. Not that he didn't think they hadn't believed his story it was just... exciting. The toothy grin stayed plastered on his green face and refused to leave; he held the camera with both hands and made a sudden turn then snapped a picture of Terra. Cameras where fun.
As soon as Tara caught that he was taking a picture she smiled, holding up one hand in the 'rock on' sign. She laughed a little and let her arm fall back to her side.
"I might be able to do something," Raven said, looking over at Cyborg. She was sure Cyborg wouldn't want Beast Boy to try either. Kind of funny actually.
Beast Boy laughed at Terra then looked over at Raven "Careful you don't wake the love birds up." He snickered and pointed to Robin and Starfire for a minute before getting his camera ready to snap a shot of Cyborg waking up.
Raven shook her head. "Did you do that to them?" she asked as she went over behind Cyborg. She looked over the wires and took two in her hands. She looked them over again. She was almost one hundred percent sure these were the right ones. She reconnected the wires, and stepped back.
Tara looked down at the ground where she kicked at the floor a little. She didn't know why. With every Titan that woke up, she got a little more nervous. What did she want to do? Stay or go? She sighed to herself, glancing up with only her eyes, head still tilted down slightly.
Cyborg's circuits returned to their normal blue selves and his head rose. "Oh man, my ne-" He was cut off by being near blinded by the camera "Beast Boy!" He snapped in an irritated way that only made Beast Boy laugh. Cyborg rubbed the back of his neck and looked around before spotting Terra. He grinned "Yo! There's my little rock 'n' roller!" He glanced over to his side then looked over again and cracked up laughing. "What's with our two love puppies?" He laughed.
Beast Boy smiled proudly. "We did that!" we meaning Terra and himself.
Tara laughed a little at Beast Boy taking more pictures, and looked up. "Hey Cyborg," she said. She had to admit… that was an awesome nickname! She'd always loved it. She looked over at Robin and Starfire again, grinning a kind of cocky grin.
"Robin is going to kill you," Raven said with a smirk ok her face.
"No he wont" Beast Boy said in a dead sure way. "If he tries then I'll post these all over the city" He snatched the pictures up and waved them in the air. "Blackmail is a wonderful item." He laughed.
"Way to go! Now I can tease them till the worlds end!" Cyborg looked ready to start now, if only they weren't still asleep. He then looked back at Terra "Girl, you need some meat on those bones. You're still as skinny as before." He joked then stood up and walked to the kitchen.
Okay, this poor girl had no idea now. Stay or go? Terra or Tara? Everyone was calling her Terra. Terra was all they knew. She grinned a little though. "You know me, I can eat all I want and still look like this," she only half joked. You know me? No… they knew Terra. But she was Tara… right?
Raven didn't even have to use her powers. She could tell something was up with Terra without them.
As the laughing and talking of the Titans continued, Robin slowly, very slowly started to come around again. His eyes were hard to lift and he ached all over, which made him want to fall back asleep.
Cyborg grabbed his chef hat and started cooking another meal for his friends and himself. Silkie waited on the floor for any scraps that might fall. Anything would suit
Beast Boy watched Robin slowly start to wake up, that idiotic, laughing grin still on his face. He brought the camera to his face then snapped a picture of Robin.
The sudden flash made Starfire open her eyes in an annoyed type of way.
Robin made an annoyed groaning sound and opened his eyes, looking up at Beast Boy. "What was that for?" he snapped, not even realizing what was going on. Too tired to notice he was holding Starfire. Though that should end soon.
Tara tried not to laugh at his obliviousness.
Raven smirked, nearing a laugh.
It was then that Robin caught on. He had looked over and seen Starfire, lying awful close. Then he realized his arms were nearly wrapped around her. He quickly withdrew his hands, his face turning an automatic beat red. "Uh… um… I- er… uh... S-sorry," he stuttered out.
Beast Boy took another picture. "Your look! Priceless!" He laughed.
Starfire sat up and yawned, stretching her arms out and hadn't seemed to notice what had happened till a few seconds and more yawns later when Robin drew back she looked at him then also turned a bright red. "Oh uh... it is... okay..." She said slowly.
Beast Boy held up the pictures to Robins face, though not close enough for Robin to grab. "We are going to have a lot of fun with these." He was grinning insanely.
Cyborg was almost laughing as well, if most of his attention wasn't all on the meat he would be in tears laughing right now
Robin's mouth dropped. "Hey! Gimme those!" he mad to snatch the pictures away from the green Titan. He was too caught up in Beast Boy's little game to notice Terra.
Raven smirked. "I have to admit," she said. "That was pretty funny," she paused to think. "You know, for one of Beast Boy's pranks."
Tara laughed quietly to herself, holding one hand up a little. Okay, so this was hilarious. She just didn't want to bring attention to herself.
Beast Boy pulled the pictures away from his leader and laughed "No! These are mine! Maybe Cyborg's too if we want to go on a teasing streak." He laughed.
Starfire watched the boys blankly; this was amusing, embarrassing, but humorous. Her eyes caught side glimpse of black and yellow. Starfire snapped her head around and saw Terra. "FRIEND!" She screamed as she flew off her seat and grabbed the poor blonde in her famous death grip hug.
"GAH!" Tara was caught in a death grip hug. She swore she felt her bones crack. She coughed a few times. "Hiya, Star," she choked out before coughing again.
Robin had been ready to make a lunge at Beast Boy, ready to tackle him for the pictures. But Starfire's sudden yell of 'Friend' had stopped him and he looked over. "Terra!" he asked in a surprised voice. Okay, surprised was a bit of an understatement.
"What's up?" Tara asked with a weak wave from the hug.
Starfire let go of Terra, her hug had gotten stronger since she had gotten stronger. She looked about as excited as her green skinned friend who was currently over in the kitchen now yelling with Cyborg over food for the first time in weeks.
"Please friend inform me, have you been well are you hungry how is it you got here and do you wish to do the hanging out later?" Starfire asked all at once.
"I told you! I am not making no tofu crap in a pan even close to my meat!" Cyborg argued.
"Why not? It's not touching the meat!" Beast boy pointed to the stove top.
"It's too close for comfort!" Cyborg protested.
Tara glanced around. Had she been well? "I've been okay. Uhh… as for food, I'm kinda hungry," she said. When Starfire asked to hang our sometime, Tara looked down to the floor. "Umm… I think I'm busy… sorry…" she said a bit sadly, one arm hand holding her other arm.
Robin's brow furrowed. "Busy?" he asked. "With what? Can't you hang out some other time?"
"Oh..." Starfire's face fell. "I um... understand." She said in another disappointed voice then looked away.
"Oh you did not!" Cyborg yelled.
"Ha! Serves you right you stove hog!" Beast Boy laughed.
"You little- you ruined the meat!" Cyborg wailed.
"It's not 'ruined', it's still edible." Beast Boy sounded proud of himself. He had thrown a bunch of tofu on top of Cyborg's meat.
"You got five seconds to run." Cyborg growled. "One-"
Beast Boy screamed then ran for the others.
"Five!" Cyborg yelled then dashed after the green titan.
Tara gave Starfire a saddened look. She didn't mean to hurt her… she looked away and to Robin who was giving her a stern look. That look only made her feel guiltier. She looked to Raven who just looked away. Tara sighed and looked to Beast Boy instead.
Raven watched the Cyborg chase Beast Boy because of the meat. "Here we go again," she said in an annoyed voice, but on the inside she was happy that Beast Boy was his normal self again. Or… as normal as Beast Boy got anyways.
"Guys! C'mon!" Robin yelled over his two friends.
Cyborg stopped and looked at Robin then pointed at Beast Boy "He started it!" he didn't realize how childish that sounded for a minute.
Beast Boy morphed into a puppy and hid behind Terra, then stuck his little puppy tongue out at Cyborg.
Cyborg glared down at the little green dog as if saying 'I'll get you sooner or later'.
Beast Boy only barked happily before morphing back human and still giving Cyborg a mocking look.
Tara glanced down at the little puppy. It nearly killed her to not go, 'awwww, how cute!' Like a little girl. She looked down at the ground again before hesitantly saying, "I should really get going…" she nearly had to force the words from her mouth. She had realized again how much she'd missed the Titans, and a large part of her wanted to stay. But she couldn't…
"What?" Raven asked.
"You just got here," Robin said, his look hardening a bit. Not in an angry way. Just in the Robin way.
Beast Boy looked at Terra the best he could from behind her, he walked to her side. "Why?" He asked in a near quiet voice. In a way he knew she was going to go, she had only come to help him with this favor right? What if this time when she said she had to go she meant for good? He couldn't find anything else to say really, he felt that lump start to slowly form again.
Cyborg also looked at Terra. "But," He also seemed tongue tied. BB had told them she hadn't wanted to be around them really, but she was here wasn't she? He didn't understand.
"Please friend, do not leave so early!" Starfire yelped.
Tara kept her eyes to the ground. "It was a one time thing, Beast Boy," she reminded the green Titan. "I was just helping you this once. Then I was going to go back… Well, it's done. And I'm going back," she half shrugged.
Robin didn't know what to say. Something wasn't right with this though. He just knew it. Something was wrong with Terra. Seriously wrong. But what?
Tara looked up. She was holding back tears as best as she could. She didn't want to leave! What was driving her to say she had to go? She started backing away, slowly though. "I'm sorry…" she said. "It was a one time thing," she repeated herself. Just because of this one time favor, it wouldn't make her a Titan again. She didn't want to be a Titan. Wait… yes she did. But she couldn't. It would be too hard.
"But-Terra!" Beast Boy pleaded, taking a step forward. His mouth hung slightly gaped open and his eyes showed how much he didn't want her to go.
Raven and Robin didn't want her to go either. She'd just gotten back… Maybe they hadn't seemed as excited as Beast Boy and Starfire, but that didn't mean they didn't like having Terra around.
Tara couldn't bring herself to look at Beast Boy. Or any of the Titans for that matter. She shook her head. "I have to go. I have to get to the school and get the homework I missed. And schedule a time to come in and make up my test," she said this in the same tone she'd used when she had told Beast Boy how she didn't want to be hero.
Starfire kept her lips pressed tightly together; she didn't want her old friend to leave after such a short visit! She didn't want her to leave at all.
Beast Boy was about to reach out and say more. But felt a strong hand on his shoulder he knew to be Cyborg telling him to let her go. He opened his mouth, but found nothing to say so closed it and looked down to his left so he didn't have to watch her go.
It pained Tara to leave…. It pained her bad. But she felt she had to. Even though the Titans were practically begging her to stay… she couldn't. She finally looked up. She saw Beast Boy there, Cyborg's hand on his shoulder. Her eyes stayed locked onto Beast Boy after she glanced around the room once. She finally turned around and walked out the door for the last time.
Middle part of the chapter. Starts weird, kind of ends weird. I found a good cut off point this time XD PLEASE R&R