Wow, such kind reviewers! My trio, Tia, Balkoth, and Clone Daniel—thanks again.
It looks like the end is near—but it's not quite there yet. There's still stuff that Terra needs to sort out.
Chapter 7.
Sometimes silence can be peaceful. But it can also be deafening.
For the three Titans waiting outside the infirmary, it was most definitely the latter. It had been only ten minutes, but it crawled.
Starfire, ever boundless with energy, paced back and forth in front of the door, arms crossed defensively. Her eyes looked conflicted with hundreds of emotions coming at once.
Robin of course was questionable about his feelings, which were hidden behind his mask. But the stillness of his face showed enough of his worry.
Beast Boy…Beast Boy was probably the worst of all.
He had cried in front of the door for two minutes after Terra had been torn from his grasp, and finally he had to stand by the door, leaning against the wall, eyes streaming tears but lacking life.
His eyes looked like his soul could bear this torture no longer. If Terra couldn't survive this, then he would fall apart. He just knew he would.
Ring ring.
The sudden ringing of the hall telephone nearly made Beast Boy jump from the shattered silence. But he didn't even flinch.
Starfire, however, jumped a little bit and stared at the device hanging on the wall curiously. "Who would be calling us by phone?" she wondered.
Robin stood up and picked up the receiver.
"Titans Tower, Robin speaking," he stated.
"Hello, this is Omar Markov. I just moved into town and I've heard about my daughter having connections with you."
"Who-What's your name again, sir?" Robin asked, hardly daring to believe what he just heard. Could this man really be Terra's father? He had thought she had no living family left.
"Omar Markov. I'm Terra's father," Omar clarified.
"Hold on, sir," Robin murmured, not exactly sure how to look at him.
He blocked the mouthpiece, and looked at his two teammates.
"Who is it, Robin?" Starfire asked.
Beast Boy nodded along.
"It's an Omar Markov," Robin replied. "He said he's Terra's father. Beast Boy, you know about her—Beast Boy? Beast Boy, what's wrong!"
Beast Boy had drastically turned pale in two seconds. "Hang…up that phone, Robin. He can't know she's here."
"Why not?" Robin asked.
"That man has made Terra do and see things that no one should ever do or see, especially when you're a child," the changeling growled.
"He…?" Starfire gasped.
Beast Boy nodded solemnly. "He did everything you have ever heard of to torture a little girl."
Robin, who had no intention of returning to the phone, had no choice but to weakly admit, "Beast Boy…we have to tell him."
"NO! We can't tell him, Robin!" Beast Boy pleaded. "If he finds her, he'll just hurt her again! Maybe this time it'll be even worse!"
"Sir…" Robin returned to the mouthpiece, "…Where are you living at right now?"
"I'm…" Omar cleared his throat, "…in a facility."
"A facility? For what, drugs?"
"Yeah. For years I've been an alcoholic, I'm afraid."
"What do you want with Terra?"
"I just want her to come see me. I'm not allowed to go outside, you see."
"Why do you want her to come?"
"I want to apologize for all that I've done to hurt her."
Robin was silent. He covered the mouthpiece again. "Did you two hear that?" he asked.
They nodded, with different facial expressions. Starfire looked concerned; Beast Boy looked angry.
"No apology will cover what he did to her!" he sighed.
"Beast Boy, we have to give it a chance," Starfire admitted. "Who knows? Maybe he HAS reformed."
Beast Boy still looked doubtful.
Robin sighed. "All right. One of us can go with Terra to visit with her father. Beast Boy, you know her best. You go."
Beast Boy nodded.
"But there must be some way we can help, too!" Starfire exclaimed.
"We'll keep in touch. Beast Boy, leave your communicator on so we can hear everything."
Beast Boy nodded again.
"All right, sir. We'll meet tomorrow morning, bright and early," Robin concluded, and hung up.
BBB
Beast Boy was the one who was designated with the duty of telling Terra about the call.
Two minutes later, Cyborg allowed him into the room, where Terra was laying on the mattress, sound asleep.
She no longer looked sickly. Her skin had become rosy again; it even glowed a little bit. She had been changed into her Titan uniform, which brought a wonderful wave of nostalgia over the changeling.
Raven had obviously cleaned her somehow; her hair was dry and shining, as well as her skin.
It seemed to him that the reality of Terra wearing her uniform made it official that she was back; that she remembered.
Raven stood near her, looking a little spent.
Beast Boy sat down in a chair at Terra's side, and he looked up at the empath.
"What happened to her, Raven?" he whispered.
"A severe case of hypothermia," Raven replied. "Sleeping out in the low 30's with only a T-shirt and shorts on in November won't exactly pull you through. Not to mention that the heater by her turned off in the middle of the night."
Beast Boy looked at the geomancer's face, so peaceful.
"You know she might not want to visit her father," Raven added.
The changeling's head snapped up. "How did…oh. Empathy, right… Yeah, I know she might not."
"But you have to tell her."
"Raven, you guys don't understand," Beast Boy tried again, "Omar has hurt Terra in ways that are unforgivable and cruel. He raped her when she was seven."
Raven looked away.
"He hit her daily. He let her burn on the stove like it was nobody's business."
"Beast Boy, stop it," Raven cried out, covering her mouth. This was familiar to her own past, but she didn't want to say anything.
He opened his mouth to say more, but he lost his zeal, and he sighed. "I'm sorry…I just hate to imagine that Terra was hurt like that. It's not your problem."
"Yes, it is, Beast Boy. Terra's problems are our own. We're family. She's family, too."
If Beast Boy noticed Raven's sudden acceptance towards her, he didn't say anything about it. He somehow knew that she would in the end.
"She's going to be all right. Nobody's going to hurt her again," Raven reassured him, and left the room to give them some well-deserved time alone.
Beast Boy looked over at her, and watched as she began to stir. She opened her eyes, and looked over at him; her eyes filling up with such sadness it nearly broke his heart.
"Hey, Ter…you feeling all right?" he asked in a tender voice.
She nodded. "Yeah. I feel better than I have in ages, actually. How long have I been asleep?"
"Well you kind of floated in and out of consciousness this morning when Starfire and Raven brought you in. Do you remember coming in?"
"… …No… …"
"Well, you told me that you remember everything, and…I accept your apology."
Terra looked at him. "I told you the truth?"
He nodded.
"Oh, good. And thanks for the acceptance."
"No problem, Terra."
They sat in silence for a while, letting their own thoughts fly.
"Terra…" Beast Boy began, "…while you've been recovering…your father called the Tower."
Terra's eyes bulged as she looked at him.
"How? Where is he?" she asked. Her voice was one of those you got when you were trying to stay calm, but still your fear crawled out.
"He's in a facility for drugs here in Jump City," Beast Boy explained. "He seemed innocent over the phone, but I'm still scared for you. He wants you to come see him at the facility. He wants to apologize."
Terra sat back.
"I can't bring myself to believe he actually wants to…to heal," she finally choked out.
"I know. I can't, either," the changeling admitted. "Robin told me to go with you for support and protection, so you won't be alone."
Terra considered.
"And if things get out of hand?"
"My communicator will be left on, so they'll be hearing everything over here. Anything suspicious-sounding to them, they'll be over in a heartbeat. We won't let him hurt you again, Terra."
Terra sighed. "I…this is all wonderful that you're willing to protect me, but…I can't trust Omar anymore. He's gotten to the point where he's not accepted me as his daughter, y'know?"
Beast Boy nodded. "Terra, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. The others think you have to, but you don't. I won't let you go if you don't want to."
The geomancer was silent once more.
"… …I'm sick of this pattern I've been following. Ever since I've gotten out of stone, I've had fragments of memories I didn't understand, because I really didn't remember at the time. But as the pieces came together, and finally my awakening, I kept on running. I wanted to get away from everything and live a new life.
"But I can't do that in that fashion. I'm not going to run anymore. I've been running all my life. Running away from my father, you guys, Slade… Sometimes you have to face your problems instead of running away; or else they'll turn around and give you a slap in the face, like they did to me.
"I'm going to see my father tomorrow. I don't want to, but I need to do it. If I want to continue living this second chance I've been given, I'm going to do it right."
She looked up at Beast Boy for the first time since she started talking, and she was shocked to find that his eyes were full, his chin quivering.
He stood up, and embraced her in a tender, secure hug. Terra nearly gasped, and knew that the feeling was similar, but she just didn't know how. It was like she had never felt it in real life before—only in her fantasies.
"It's really you," Beast Boy murmured shakily, sniffling. "You're back…Terra…"
As Terra wrapped her own arms around him, and tucked her face into his neck, she realized where she had "felt" this position before.
It was in her imagination—on how a father or a big brother would hug you out of love. It would be strong, loving, and protective.
Therefore, Terra thought, with wet eyes, Beast Boy loves me.
BBB
Wow, more emotion and "coming out"!
Seriously, I was really touched by the reviews that my regulars gave. I'm not going to give you three the extremely long thank-you until the end of the story, which will, sadly, be in the near future.
But…any suggestion after Terra's reunited with Omar? I'm kind of lost there. Thanks!
