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Chapter IV : Midnight


As if in frozen time, we stared upon each other. All seemed quiet and we were by ourselves in the Titans Tower. There was a shuffle among our feet as the contretemps became awkward and uncomfortable. We focused our gazes upon the ground, deliberately avoiding each other's faces. Silence took over.

"Terra.." the green titan broke the silence with. My eyes repositioned as he whispered my name. Courageously, he moved forward to me tentatively. And as he did, our eyes met.

"Beast Boy.." I replied in kind. I, likewise, inched forward ever so slowly. Our eyes were glued upon each other and silence reigned. Time seemed to slow down specifically for us. I leaned in, only halfway, to see if our thoughts matched. They did.

Wrapping my arms around him, our lips delicately touched as I demonstrated the passionate feeling I had concealed from him. His fingers wove through my blonde hair as the kiss lingered on. Moments after, we pulled away. His eyes still stuck to mine as mine were to his. But as I leaned in for the second time, the lips I met were not of Beast Boy's. They were of a cold metal. I let out a gasp of fright but that proved short-lived as pain struck a blow across my face and sent me hurtling backwards.

It was Slade.

Anger distributed throughout my body at the sight of Slade's inimical mask.

"What did you do with Beast Boy?"

No reply.

Slade advanced in predation. Silence still reigned.

My hands glowed yellow in furious rage as a dozen of dagger-like rocks dismantled from the earth and targeted an unwary Slade. His skin was pierced brutally and his advancement ceased. Red blood spewed out as he clutched his newfound wounds. Except, it was not Slade who clutched his wounds but Beast Boy.

"Terra…why.." he questioned in a somber look full of hurt from the betrayal.

"Beast Boy..I didn't..Slade..he.." The impediment of stuttering from pure shock descended upon me. I couldn't comprehend what just took place. Instinctively, I ran over to assist Beast Boy and his wounds.

He thrust me backwards with his bloodstained gloves increasing the distance between us.

"Get away from me!"

"Beast Boy, it's not what you think!"

"There's nothing more enjoyable than severing a bond between two people. But, you see, you can't run away. You will cause trouble and suffering every place you inhabit. It is a curse, Terra. You try to do good but you futilely fail." Slade's voice echoed.

"Don't come any closer, Terra!"

The green changeling attempted to keep distance apart from me as he crawled away. He was evidently too damaged to even consider moving. Yet he did.

Trails of blood contaminated and stained the floor of the Tower as he made his way slowly but surely towards the door. The stone daggers still protruded his skin opening gashes of blood.

"Beast Boy, let me help remove these rocks from you.." I motioned my hand over one of the daggers upon his back. It had to be removed delicately without much force as it positioned itself firmly inside. Any sudden action upon it would rip and tear the wound further.

"I said GET AWAY FROM ME. I can do it myself." He yanked the rock ignorantly and compellingly from his back only to wince in additional agony. Staggering backwards, he toppled over in a grimace from intense pain.

Stretched between the wishes of Beast Boy and the prospect of his death, I stood immobile in fear and suspense. I observed a dying friend crawl away from me until, finally, he ceased. I walked over to him fearing the worst. There was no pulse.

"You try to do good but you futilely fail."

I woke up in cold sweat from a nightmare – just a nightmare. Shutting my eyes, I attempted to sleep but to no avail. Preferring restlessness over nightmares, I proceeded to check the clock and found it was still 3 in the morning – still dark outside. The other four were still fast asleep. Not even in my unconscious state could I get rest. Opening the door of my room, I decided to take a brisk walk to renew reality where villains could not pop out from nowhere.

There had not been much dialogue between myself and the other Titans since last night. After my confrontation with Slade, my body, though undamaged physically, was too mentally strained.

Peering beyond the window of the Tower displayed a beautiful ocean with waves undeterred. They swept back and forth unheeding nothing. For minutes there, I sat and observed the tides sweeping in then out. They provided soothing emotions for the horribly realistic terror that had crept upon me in my sleep. Cold sweat from the nightmare still existed upon my forehead as I watched.

How is Beast Boy faring with Slade?

"Nightmare get you?" asked a boy wonder whose reflection I could see in the window. Softly, I gasped. A residue from my dream haunted me as I, for a mere second, thought Robin looked a lot similar to Slade.

"Robin, shouldn't …weren't…you asleep? Sorry, did I wake you?" His reflection upon the window seemed real enough. Simply paranoia.

"No, I'm just..a bit of an insomniac. I was up all night thinking about things."

I turned around. 'Things' proved much too general for the Robin I knew.

"About Slade?"

He tensed and his eyes narrowed. The waves crashed upon the shore.

"We'll find him… for sure. But I just can't help but wonder what he's up to."

I shrugged.

"He just wants to kill me and anything remotely related to me. That's all."

Robin remained silent. The waves receded back into the ocean.

"Robin… can I … ask you a question?" With this, I finally rotated and faced the leader of the Titans.

"What is it?"

"Did…Beast Boy..did..um.. did he ever… talk about me while.. I was gone?" The question seemed awkward but curiosity took the better of me.

Robin tensed again. It struck me the stupidity and irrelevant prospect of the matter that I shyly returned to viewing the waves.

"Terra, I'm positive that he talked about you. Heck, he even bailed on us to search for you before."

"But do…you, do you think Slade….would..kill him?"

Waves crashed once more upon the seashore as silence abounded. I shut my eyes in deep thought.

"That, Terra…………I don't know……… I'm sorry."

With my back to Robin, he slowly backed away allowing me my personal pondering. My eyelids still held shut. I heard the door to Robin's room close. Then, as I reopened my eyes, a slow hesitant tear embraced my eyebrows before dripping onto the floor.


(A/N): Well, that concludes Chapter 4 while Chapter 5 is on the way. Sorry, Chapter 4 and 5 will be a bit slow-paced.

I would more than appreciate a review so to as know where the fic should be heading. Thanks.