All right. I immensely apologize for the delay. I just got the new Microsoft Word Processor, and I am still learning my way around it.
I also went through an intense writer's block. It's like I know the ending, but I don't know the middle.
But anyway. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or any of the stuff in this chapter. (Such as DDR, or Garnier Fructis…)
BBB
Chapter 6.
"Please. Can you sense her now, Raven?" Starfire asked worriedly.
The empath shook her head in frustration. "I can't seem to feel her anywhere. I've been trying in all ways possible for the past twelve hours. Nothing is working."
All of them were in the Main Operations Center, in the space between the couches and the giant TV screen/computer screen. Like she said, for the past twelve hours, Raven had been trying to contact Terra.
Raven knew that Terra was alive, but the last time she had spoken to her was when she had been freed of her stone prison, with amnesia. Now, she couldn't even contact her, no matter how much Beast Boy said she was out there.
As a matter of fact, the green changeling had been sitting on one of the couches nearby, his demeanor sullen and unlike himself. The others had tried not to disturb him, for they didn't want to go into territory that Beast Boy didn't want to go into.
All Beast Boy could think about was what Starfire had told him twelve hours ago. That Terra had swung by and remembered Starfire. If she remembered Starfire, then she had to remember some of all that happened to her.
"I'm not getting anything," Raven repeated after one last try. "I'm sorry, Beast Boy. But I'm beginning to wonder if this is even Terra at all. I mean, I thought she was, but-"
Raven talked too much. And Beast Boy heard what she said loud and clear.
Suddenly alert, he sat up from his slouched position, and gaped at the dark girl.
"… …What did you say…?" he whispered.
Raven bowed her head.
"I contacted Terra the minute she was alive again, in physical form."
Everyone gasped, as they remembered what she had said yesterday,
"I did everything I could to bring her back. Nothing worked."
"Raven. Obviously you contacted Terra months before now," Robin stated.
"Why did you hide that from us?" Cyborg asked.
"Because I didn't do it on purpose!" Raven exclaimed. She sighed. "Just…just listen to me, all right?"
Everyone nodded.
"Remember when I defeated my father and everything that had been turned to stone was instantly reversed?" she asked.
It didn't take long for the Titans to realize what she had said.
"Of course…" Robin murmured.
"I can't believe we didn't even think of it," Cyborg sighed.
"We were so occupied with the Brotherhood of Evil soon after that we could not even consider it," Starfire realized.
"I was so busy with the Doom Patrol and the Brotherhood of Evil…" Beast Boy whispered. "Raven…I'm sorry for getting mad at you earlier. This…this is all my fault."
The other Titans gasped again.
"No, friend Beast Boy, that is not true," Starfire countered fiercely.
"If this is anybody's fault, it's Slade's," Cyborg said. "After all, if it weren't for him following her around from the very beginning, she wouldn't have gotten into such a mess."
"Cyborg's right. Beast Boy, this is not your fault. There's nobody to blame but the evil that influenced her," Robin finalized.
Beast Boy still wasn't convinced, but he nodded.
"Thank you, Raven. You tried really hard," he managed to choke out.
Raven, sensing his intense sorrow, bit her lip to hold herself off from crying.
"Whatever…" she murmured and teleported to her room. She still wasn't used to feeling so much. And as much as she had hated Terra in the past, right now she was upset that she wasn't able to contact her.
Secretly, Raven had forgiven her a little bit. Not entirely, but a little bit.
The empath sighed, slammed herself down on her bed, and began to meditate.
BBB
Terra was having a restless night, as well. She felt an odd feeling in her mind that someone was trying to reach her, but was having trouble.
The only person she knew who could do that was Raven.
But Terra wasn't ready to go back. She was still raging an internal war upon herself, in a debate whether she found herself worthy or not.
I know Beast Boy would be happy to have me back. Starfire, too. But Raven won't, nor Robin or Cyborg. But I don't deserve any of this…
Besides, it's not like BB's going to up and forgive me for my temporary amnesia…or leaving when everything came back, anyway.
It was hours ago that Terra has left her hometown (she couldn't handle being at her house any longer), and she was once again on the streets of Jump City, knowing she would be hidden well if she tried. Thanks to her patrols as Slade's apprentice, she knew every single street and alley in the city.
Memories of those patrols…they were still painful, because it caused a chain reaction. She remembered the patrols; the showdown with the Titans; Beast Boy's face as he realized her betrayal.
It was all brought back to her by one simple memory.
Soon, Terra found a deeply hidden alleyway, where she curled up by the heater from the neighboring Italian restaurant, and was soon asleep.
No one would disturb her, no one would hurt her.
Well…not someone, maybe. But something just might.
It was getting colder. Very quickly.
BBB
That night, Beast Boy slept soundly, but had a heart-wrenching memory that engulfed his dreams. It was a very intimate, yet fun memory. One of the precious few that he shared with Terra before she admitted her truths.
BBB
"Hey, Terra. Wanna play some DDR?" he asked one rainy Saturday, when hero work was thinning. So they were both out of uniform, in T-shirts and jeans.
"Sure! Let's go," Terra replied eagerly. She loved to play DDR.
They traveled down to the basement's big-screen TV, with the PlayStation. They took their shoes off, and Terra laid out the mat. They only had one. It's just how the package came. Beast Boy got everything else set up, and soon there came the screen, asking him to choose a song.
"Do you want to go first?" he asked her.
"No. You go first. I went first last time," she reminded him.
"Oh, right. You're right."
So he stepped up, and chose the song Constantinople on Standard. He did a little shake with his hands; it was his good luck charm
Beast Boy got an A for his score. He grinned. Higher than his lowest, which was a B. He was, for some unknown reason, exceptionally good at this video game. Maybe it was because he was so nimble. He would never truly know.
Once Beast Boy was finished with his dance, he stepped off for Terra to chose. She stared at the screen, mocking serious thought. Then she smiled, switching it to Butterfly on Standard.
"I knew it!" Beast Boy laughed.
"It's my favorite song," Terra smirked.
"Only because it gets stuck in my head!"
"And mine."
So as she took the first few steps, Beast Boy sat back and watched her dance with fascination. Watching the screen, she wasn't watching him, so he could stare for a while and not be obvious.
He watched her slim legs as they moved around the mat's arrows in perfect timing with the song. Her long, blonde hair was bouncing, too, since it was set in a high ponytail, swishing around like the style's name--a pony's tail.
As she finished a particularly difficult step that she had been striving at for so long, Beast Boy didn't hesitate to comment, "Great job, Ter."
"Thanks," she replied, not even breaking a sweat. She still didn't turn around, either. This was the ending, and she was up to 125 combos, the digital crowd cheering.
A few seconds later, the song was finished, and Terra stood in a victorious, defiant stance until her score--AA--appeared.
"YAY!" Terra cheered, throwing her arms up triumphantly. Beast Boy leapt up, laughing victoriously, and hugged her from behind, lifting her off the ground for a moment.
His face was buried in the crook of her neck, so he was extremely tempted to kiss her there, but he only touched it with his lips, closing his eyes and sighing, not putting pressure on it like he would if he were kissing her.
Still giggling, Terra felt something tender, gentle, in the crook of her neck that sent shivers up her spine, and her laughter became softer and loving.
She hooked her arms around Beast Boy's waist from her position and smiled. "What's your record?" she asked softly.
"Lowest is a B," he whispered back, smelling her hair. He loved the fruity scent. "What shampoo do you use? Random question."
"Garnier Fructis," Terra replied. "'For hair that shines with all its strength'," she added, quoting the commercial.
"I just asked because your hair smells delicious…"
"Thanks, Beast Boy. I try."
Beast Boy laughed and playfully slapped her butt before releasing her. "C'mon, I'm starved."
Terra, who was on the verge of squealing with happiness from that action, nodded. "Me, too."
And so they took off for the kitchen, hand in hand, smiling and pumped up from the music.
BBB
Beast Boy woke up from his sleep slowly, relishing the cleansed feeling. He remembered his dream, and a small smile graced his features.
"That was fun," he murmured to himself as he got out of bed and into street clothes.
BBB
Terra wasn't holding off so well.
She awoke, all right, but she soon realized that she wasn't well at all. Her bones ached when she was still, and they roared with pain when she even wiggled her toes inside her boots.
She opened her eyes, and squinted into the too-bright sun that lingered at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. She looked away, letting her tender baby blues succumb to the light.
A minute later, when they were normal again, she tried to hoist herself up, but found it extremely exhausting and painful.
Okay, Terra, she told herself, if you want help, you have to help yourself by getting to a visible spot where people can see you.
She slowly counted…
1.
2.
3.
She picked her upper body up off the ground with her slim arms, shaking, and rose one knee so she could support her weight down there. Then, she picked up the other one. Soon she found herself, painfully, on all fours.
Hey. At least I can get somewhere now.
Terra took a breath, and began to crawl.
The first step was dizzying. Her world tilted sideways and she fell. She cursed under her breath, getting up briskly, making it hurt even more.
This is worse than the hospital's skin grafts…
She crawled slowly, and kept on breathing rhythmically so oxygen could get into her, making her more and more sane and alert. She couldn't afford to be distracted and halfway there now. She was vulnerable in a sometimes dangerous city.
Soon, she was at the end of the alleyway, where she found a payphone. She gazed at it in thought.
"I could call the Titans and ask them to help get me to a hospital," she pondered aloud. "Or, at least, call BB."
She shifted her weight to her knees, so she could reach with one hand for the phone, and the other for the support of the tiny shelf the payphone had.
She didn't make it. She got the phone, but the weight shift was too much for her, and she fell to the ground.
Her world was making her nauseous.
Haven't eaten in hours…
Beast Boy…help…
Dad, get out of my memories…
Momma, where are you?
Terra closed her eyes to regain focus.
"… …Help… …" she croaked to the people passing by.
Help didn't come. They didn't even look at her. And she didn't blame them.
She opened her eyes, and her heart leapt in her throat for sheer joy.
Starfire and Raven were standing at the mall across the street, talking, standing outside the doors. They were out of uniform.
Star was clad in a pink athletic skirt, a black tank top, and white flip-flops. Raven was in a simple black long-sleeved T-shirt, black jeans, and black All-Stars.
"Starfire…Raven…" Terra gasped.
They didn't hear her. Terra now felt a little stronger in her voice.
"Star…fire! Raven!"
God, my voice is so ugly… How could I get so sick in one night?
Starfire and Raven heard a sickly voice calling their names, and they looked over.
Terra was lying on the ground, face-up, and pained.
Starfire gasped. "Terra!"
Raven, alarmed also, ran over with her redheaded friend over to the geomancer. She gasped--she looked even worse up close.
Terra seemed to lose all health in a single night. After all, it was under thirty degrees--cold for November.
Her skin was deathly pale--it had a bluish tint to it, even. Her face was gaunt, and her clothes seemed to hang on her. She looked dead, yet she heard her breathing.
Raven felt for a pulse, and nodded. "She's alive, but she's seriously sick."
"Oh, friend Terra, please do not leave us a second time!" Starfire pleaded on the verge of tears.
Raven bit her lip. "C'mon, we need to go home. Get her to the infirmary."
She engulfed the three of them in her soul-self, and teleported them back to the island.
"Starfire, I need you to carry Terra. I'm gonna take the lead, here," Raven said once they got there. "I'm gonna do some work on her, along with some of Cyborg's scientific medicine."
"Right."
Starfire took Terra's fragile body into her arms. She hardly struggled under the weight.
Raven lead the way as they flew up to the roof, where Raven made a pathway through the window for herself and Starfire.
The other boys were in the hall, but they heard the noise, and they came in to find Starfire carrying an innate Terra in her arms, Raven looking deathly pale.
"We need to get Terra some medical attention right now," she said rapidly. "Cyborg, get the infirmary ready to treat whatever's got her."
Soon they were in the hall, walking rapidly. All but Cyborg, who ran to get a stretcher.
"She was found on the streets," Starfire explained. "I think that she slept there last night."
"Last night? It was thirty degrees!" Robin exclaimed.
Beast Boy was silent. All he could do was stare at the girl that he thought he had lost forever. Twice.
Cyborg came back with a dresser, and Starfire laid Terra on the white sheets. Terra groaned a bit, squinting.
"Where…where am I…?" she whispered hoarsely.
Beast Boy grabbed her hand.
"Shh, Terra. Don't exert yourself. You're very sick," he murmured, trying to be calm. "Do you remember who we are?"
Terra didn't lie again. Her new life plan was sabotaged as it was, and she didn't want to lie to him or the others. Lying would only make things go down again.
"…Yes, Beast Boy. I remember…I remember…everything," she sighed. "No matter how much I wish I didn't."
Beast Boy clutched her hand tighter.
"All right, Cyborg, we need to work together," Raven said. "The rest of you, wait outside."
Beast Boy looked down at Terra one more time, and heard the two words that had been haunting her mind for the past three days:
"I'm sorry, Beast Boy. I'm so, so sorry…"
That was it.
Beast Boy's grip broke; Terra disappeared behind the doors, leaving Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy in the hall.
Beast Boy didn't hold it back; try to be the tough guy like Cyborg or Robin. Or try to block it, like Raven; controlling it.
He leaned his head against the doorway, fell to his knees…and cried.
