Terra Nostra

Part Two

Unease was not a strong enough word to describe the situation. Out and out hostility better described the feeling floating around the tower. And Terra knew she was right in the middle of it. The flow that the tower had been running on for the last few days seemed to have shattered when the geomancer was brought in. While she was recovering in the medic room, two of the original Titans passed in a meeting, trying to figure out what they were going to do.

As happy and Cyborg and Robin were about being able to save Terra's life, Terra's presence in the tower was having an adverse effect on comradeship. Beast Boy was too pleased to seem to notice the state of unrest in the tower; he spent all day by Terra's side, keeping her company and trying to ease her doubts about being a Titan again. Starfire didn't seem to have an opinion on the subject. Her lack of stance was not due to disinterest, but because she had Blackfire to think about and that was her primary concern. Aqualad and Bumble Bee rode the fence on the situation, they'd never met Terra and both felt out of place to say anything.

That left Celine, Robin, Sakura, Cyborg and Raven. Celine sat across from her boyfriend and Robin, Sakura to her right. The tension was high because Raven wasn't in the room; she hadn't left her room for three days. The Titans present knew the reason they were having the meeting was because of the effect Terra's incidence was having on Raven. Robin remembered how light Raven had felt, as if her whole body had been drained. He had held her close before, feeling her heartbeat under his arm or against his chest, but this felt different. This wasn't fear; this wasn't frenzy, shock or surprise. This was terror. Deep in his heart he knew that Raven felt she had made a horrible mistake. It would up to Terra and the rest of the Titans to determine if she was correct.

Robin rested his head in his hands, this was going to be a lose-lose situation. If they kept Terra, the morale of the team would be in limbo, at least for the immediate future. With the end of the world imminent, the team needed to be ready. Raven had trained and prepared her body rigorously for the last few weeks, trying to keep Trigon away from her energy. In her weakened state, who knew what control Trigon could exert over her? She was probably locked in her room deep in mediation as the others pondered what to do… If it were only Raven's distress, making a decision wouldn't have been as difficult. But there were two factors that prevented the Titans from sending Terra away once she was better. The first was her power: she had nearly destroyed the Titans when she saw the desire… being turned away could be her excuse to exercise her way of showing gratitude… with everything else falling on their shoulders, having to handle Terra as well would simply be too much.

I hope it doesn't come to that… but we've seen how Terra returns friendship…Robin rubbed his neck and considered the greater issue of having Terra leave…

"Beast Boy…"

Celine and Cyborg nodded and Robin realized he had been thinking out loud.

"He'd never forgive us… and I don't think I could forgive myself either… I mean she gave her life to save the city… that's got to count for something." Cyborg said, leaning forward in his chair.

"If it were that simple, she'd stay." Sakura began. "I know that she means a lot to Beast Boy… but she's hurt you before… she has the capacity to do it again."

"She hurt the team, but so have I… so has Blackfire… so has Raven and Cyborg… for whatever reason or means, we've all broken the trust within the team even if for the greater good… The only one who hasn't… is Beast Boy. He's the faithful one and he'll be the one most devastated if we let her go."

"What about Raven?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, how is Dark Bird dealing with this?" Cyborg asked.

"She isn't taking it well… but I think there's something else behind it. She's been under stress… a number of little things have been flaring emotions in her…" Robin rubbed his brow worriedly.

Sakura got up from her chair. "I think maybe we should check on her. I'll go… I need some air as it is." Sakura walked away.

Cyborg and Celine turned to Robin.

"What I wouldn't do for a super power right now… Foresight would be infinitely better than my biased logic and emotions…"¹

"Being super can sometimes take away the human element… it's your best quality Robin and that's what we need now." Cyborg replied.

"We can't let her go." Celine said.

"It's not a matter of can't letting her go…" Cyborg began.

"It's holding onto her that's the kick." Robin finished.

…

Her body told her something that her eyes couldn't. The world around her had changed and in a big way. The Titans were different than she remembered. It wasn't because there were some faces she didn't know, but because all the faces were faces she didn't know. When she had woken up and found herself in the medic wing she could barely discern up from down and tomorrow from yesterday. Her memories and dreams were jumbled painfully behind her eyes and what made sense didn't seem to anymore.

But it's been like that my whole life… I've always had bad judgment and recklessness… I guess I can add carelessness and disregard to that as well…

Beast Boy moved the towel over her forehead, drawing her eyes to his face. At least one thing is the same, he has the most wonderful smile.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Like a mile and a half of unpaved road." Terra replied.

"Is that better or worse than getting sick on the carousel?"

Terra laughed weakly. "Better… I'm glad you're here Beast Boy."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else. I'm glad that you're here Terra."

"I bet you're the only one."

"Don't say that…" Beast Boy replied gently. He thought about taking her hand, but instead rested it on her arm.

"Beast Boy, you're a kind person. Maybe you can forgive me for all the terrible things I can do… but the others…"

"There's no maybe about it Terra. I do forgive you and I think if you try to show everyone the good things about you, like you do with me, they'll come to forgive you too."

"What about Raven? I did awful things to her, worse than to anyone else…"

"Raven was the one who freed you. Her and Celine and Sakura used their powers to get you out."

"She did? I… never thought she'd…"

"We've all changed a bit Terra. I'm not the same, neither is Robin, Cyborg, Raven or Star and neither are you… you'll fit right in. I can't promise undying friendship, but at the very least we'll give you honesty and compassion."

"Thank you Beast Boy."

…

Sakura had been prepared for a battle. Walking towards Raven's room was a fight within itself. Four days ago they had brought Terra back to the tower and Raven all but collapsed from exhaustion. Three days ago Raven had locked her door and ignored everyone and everything. No one had seen her or heard a word from her and it was starting to feel unsettling.

Sakura knew that Raven was supposed to do very bad things: that she was born to destroy this world and everyday Raven worked hard to hold back all the demonic energy in her that longed for that day of destruction. Sakura had seen how hard Raven worked; mediation, physical training, entrapping her feelings to keep them stable… she had worked so hard and in a moment of generosity, all her work was torn down.

Sakura knew she was being hard on Terra. She knew she was, but the look on Beast Boy and Celine's faces was not enough to make her forget how the other Titans looked: Cyborg's scrawl, Starfire's restrained smile, that Robin just wouldn't look at the girl… and Raven…

Sakura stood outside of Raven's door and prepared to knock. She had no idea what to say or do. She wasn't even sure if she was the person who should be talking to Raven at all. While she had faced her own demons, had her share of terrible nightmares, what Raven was facing was totally and utterly out of her league.

With her mind made up, Sakura turned to leave when a shriek erupted from Raven's room. Sakura faced the door, panic apparent in her huge brown eyes. "Raven?" Sakura stepped forward and placed a hand on the door. It felt hot, like a fire, but there was no smoke. "Raven! Are you okay?" Sakura pushed at the key pad but the door stayed shut. "Raven, open the door!" Another shriek erupted. Sakura thought only for a second before steadying her feet. She had to get in; something was terribly, terribly wrong. Sakura shifted all her weight behind her fist and slammed her right hand into the door. The moment her fist connected, a blast of dark energy countered and hurled Sakura through the corridor wall.

A stunned Aqualad found Sakura unconscious, the hole made from her body made a new window in his bedroom wall. He picked the girl up, glad to find she was just stunned. Aqualad turned his dark eyes to Raven's room. He could see the dark energy flexing and seeping from her bedroom: it was pulling at the door, keeping it closed tight… Raven's powers were trapping her inside.

Aqualad punched in his communicator. "Titans… We've got trouble."

End of Part Two

A/N

¹Robin would never, ever say that, but I think this line plays to the stress of the situation.