Hey, everyone! I'm back! Sort of- probably I won't be all that consistent in publishing until September. I doubt anyone missed me- I don't exactly have a ton of readers. But I'm glad to be sort of back for the time being.
I bring you all a Teen Titans story- obviously- but this one has much darker, more sadistic implications than the ones I usually write (with the exception of the very first story I published on here). It is set during the time Terra spent with Slade- and the conflict of the story is actually based off of the comics. If you are sensitive to implications of pedophilia- it's probably safest if you go ahead and check out a different story of mine. This story is set after the Teen Titans episode Betrayal and before Aftershock parts one and two.
Disclaimer: Cross Your Fingers will be discontinued and left as a one-shot; I suppose your imaginations will be left up to decide what you think would happen next. My apologies.
A quick notice: I've split the stories of my short story collection: Tower Troubles into separate stories as it has been difficult to update and that is not something I wish to worry about every day.
Okay, guys- think that's about it! I don't own the Teen Titans, and happy reading!
"Fine. If there's the slightest chance we can save her..."
"Why are we still standing around here just talking about it, then? We've lost enough time as it is."
The Titans were gathered in the common room, as usual- but the normally warm and nonchalant atmosphere was instead filled with tension and fear. They were all grouped around the couch, their expressions a mixture of several conflicting emotions, discussing something that very much needed to be discussed.
Terra.
It had been just over a month since the day Terra had revealed her betrayal and Slade had sent an army of robots to attack Titans Tower- and since then, the teammates had made somewhat of an unspoken pact to not speak of the event. But now, the teenagers' minds were in turmoil- there was a lot to talk about regarding the young blonde geomancer who'd devastated the juvenile team and ran off with their worst enemy.
Robin, leg propped up on the arm of the couch, wore a firm but grim look on his masked face; arms folded across his chest. "I still don't think this is a great idea. You were there when she gave herself up to Slade- and it's been a month. It doesn't seem like she's going to come back."
"And what are the odds she won't pull the same crap again? Waltz her way back onto the team begging for forgiveness, play us like a piano for a few more weeks, and then turn her back on us all over again- this time worse." Raven's voice was dripping with bitterness, and her expression was unrelenting and cold. Although the Titans hadn't discussed Terra in a while, the subject still made her edges sharpen and her blood boil.
"You don't know that," Beast Boy snapped in the empath's direction, lips pulled back into a fanged snarl. Raven did not meet his gaze, instead glaring placidly at her feet. "Know what? This conversation is over. She needs help- I know she wants to come back to us. So we're going in. We're finding Slade, taking him down, and saving Terra."
Uncomfortable silence. Raven still stared at the floor; Robin's eyes narrowed. Cyborg and Starfire both observed Beast Boy with doubtful and concerned expressions.
Beast Boy, completely fed up, stood up from his seat on the couch abruptly, his features contorted into a mask of anger. "Fine. You know what?" he growled, glaring at each of the Titans venomously in turn. "I'll go myself. I'll find Slade and rescue Terra- and I don't need your help. You just wait." And with that, he started to storm out of the room-
-but was instantly stopped by a rough, cold hand on his arm.
Beast Boy, incensed, whirled around to see Cyborg's metal hand with his arm firmly in its grip.
"What?" the changeling shouted, tearing his arm from Cyborg's grasp. At what, a growl emitted from deep in his throat.
Starfire let out a gasp. Cyborg's eye widened in shock, and Raven's biting gaze turned into that of mild fear. Robin's eyes narrowed into slits.
"You're not going," the leader of the team sharply informed his green teammate. His words were choppy and final: You're. Not. Going.
"Too late," Beast Boy growled, and he made a second move to leave the common room, cramming his communicator in his pocket.
This time, when he turned around to see who had stopped him, it was Raven- a thick black string of energy wrapped around his arm.
"You're not going," she emphasized, releasing him; and the sliver of energy slid back into her fingers. "You're too emotionally involved. But someone else can go."
Beast Boy's face softened, and he peered at Raven with a hopeful look, eyes wide. "Really? We can go save Terra?"
"One of us will go- and it's not going to be you," Robin clarified, staring meaningfully at Beast Boy. "But...if you're right about Terra wanting to come back-"
"It would be wrong of us to allow her to remain with Slade," Starfire sighed, strands of hair falling over her eyes as the alien turned her head to the floor. "Nothing good can possibly be happening between friend-" her voice hitched on friend "-Terra. Whether her allegiance is toward Slade or us, I think it is at least necessary that we try."
Uncertain silence.
"She isn't a bad person," Cyborg finally spoke up, a forlorn expression on his face. "She just...made some bad choices."
"Horrible choices," Raven added venomously, piercing gaze once again fixed on Beast Boy.
"I think it's best that Raven go." Robin ordered, straightening up slightly and indicating the cloaked empath.
Beast Boy's eyes widened in angry shock. "Why? She hated Terra from the beginning- she doesn't deserve to go."
"Believe me, I don't want to," Raven snapped, stepping closer to the peeved changeling. "But all of you would just get caught up in your emotions because you all were fond of Terra. I never felt that way about her- so I can think clearly on the mission."
Beast Boy scoffed in disbelief, a cynical look on his face. "You? Emotions? Ha!" He plastered on an expression of mock amusement and pretended to laugh boisterously. "Excuse me, Raven, but you and emotions don't mix. Two words: Emoticlones."
Raven's amethyst eyes began to narrow back into bitter slits- but she caught herself. "I've had practice since then," she replied icily. Her words were choppy and her lips were dry as she glared coldly at the shapeshifter, resenting the mention of the time the boys had invaded her mind. Although it had all worked out in the end, she'd rather have her teeth drilled than for it to happen again.
"Knock it off," Robin commanded sternly, eyeing both Titans disapprovingly. "Beast Boy- Raven will be the one to go- but you will keep a friendly demeanor in came she thinks you've come to fight," he added pointedly, eyes shifting towards Raven. "The rest of us will be nearby in case she needs backup- if that consoles you any. Make sure you stay alert- if Slade or his robots catch any of us, it's not going to be pretty. Also stay alert in the case that Terra still doesn't want to rejoin us and decides to attack." He then turned to address the rest of the team. "We need to start talking about what we'll do if Terra is willing to come back with us and returns to the Tower." Now he leveled his gaze towards Raven, who still looked irritated but remained silent. "You'd better go before you lose your nerve."
The violet-haired sorceress gave a single nod- and she was gone in a puff of black smoke.
Slade's lair was dark and smelled a lot like rain and gasoline. It was a fairly unsettling place- the only sound being the steady turning of gears and distant sounds of Slade-bots stomping, patrolling the area- that let Raven know she'd have to be careful.
The floors and walls looked to be made of rock and the air was damp- Raven didn't know what she had expected from an underground hideout. Slade changed his hiding place almost every day in attempts to elude the Titans, and a lot of the time it didn't work- although it was obviously unhealthy, Robin's nightly habit of stalking Slade paid off a lot of the time. Raven would never understand why Slade didn't just leave the state or something- he always stayed right in California, as did the majority of the criminals the Titans usually fought with. Raven suspected that their only motive was to antagonize the team- as most of the time they only reappeared to try and take down the team rather than actually further their own goals. She would always find it strange- fully grown people trying to kill a bunch of teenagers because they wouldn't let them commit crimes-
Crap. The Slade-bots, who had been tramping around somewhere far away from Raven in Slade's dark lair, were now getting closer- to the point where Raven could see them, small figures becoming hulking robots. Instinctively, she launched her body into the air, perching herself on top of a thick, hollow pipe connected to the ceiling and leading to God knows where. She clung to the metal with both arms, staying completely still and watching as the robots grew closer and closer-
-until they positioned themselves directly under her.
Raven swallowed hard, her stomach flipping, and she gripped the pipe tighter. She shrunk herself as far back behind the pipe as she could without falling over. The pipe was cold and slippery, and small, dingy water droplets were beginning to slither off of the metal. She couldn't fail this mission without even starting it- although she was unsure if it would be on purpose or not.
Raven stared at the droplets, almost glaring, watching them and hoping one of them didn't fall- the sound would alert the Slade-bots to look up, whether they suspected anyone was up there or not, they'd hear the noise- and if they looked up, they'd see Raven, who remained as still as she possibly could, watching the Slade-bots intensely. If they found her, they'd definitely knock her out and then her over to Slade himself. Raven was a powerful entity- but the bots greatly outnumbered her, marching in an organized group of at least thirty.
Please leave, please leave, please leave, Raven willed the robots silently as one water droplet snaked across the pipe, growing bigger and bigger, about to fall. Raven turned eyes of panic onto the water- and without thinking, in an attempt to conceal the noise, she whipped her hand out and placed it under the water drop to catch it-
-and felt herself slipping.
To Raven's horror, she felt her body start to turn completely upside-down upon removing her hand from the pipe- and she clawed frantically at the metal in a desperate attempt to stop her fall. And without thinking, she swung both legs around the top of the pipe and allowed her lower body to hang totally upside-down; cloak dangling over her head and arms wrapped with her legs around the pipe.
Raven was now hanging upside-down completely, resembling a bat sleeping in a cave- and she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. But suddenly she was aware of a silence, and aimed her eyes down below to see that the menacing Slade-bots had stopped in their tracks directly beneath Raven's dangling figure.
The empath's eyes widened- and she clutched the metal tighter, silently willing the hordes of Slade-bots to leave- surely they couldn't stay here forever. There wasn't anything to see. They couldn't see that she was up there, right? No, they couldn't, or they would have most certainly attacked by now. Still, Raven's heart sped up slightly, and she bit the inside of her cheek to prevent any noise from escaping her mouth.
God, this was far too much trouble for someone like Terra. The traitor, Raven thought to herself bitterly, still eyeing the Slade-bots, almost glaring. But this was no time to stew- she had a mission to complete, no matter how much she would have liked to just teleport herself back to Titans Tower. And Raven had put way too much work into not abandoning ship due to her emotions and personal feelings to ditch the mission now.
Below her, the Slade-bots lingered a few more seconds, still besides their heads that turned this way and that to inspect the area- and off they went, their loud, stomping footsteps turning into pitter-patters as they disappeared without catching Raven.
After she was sure that the robots were gone, Raven heaved a sigh of relief and released the inside of her cheek, gently letting go of the pipe as to not fall to the ground and lowered herself to the floor without making any noise, looking left and right to make sure nobody else was there. After Raven had been reassured, she continued to look for where Terra might be.
As she navigated the gloomy lair, she hoped that Slade wasn't with Terra- although it was probably fairly likely that he was. Raven was aware that Terra had been initially approached by Slade telling her that he could help her control her literally earth-shaking abilities- as much as the sorceress hated to admit it, Terra more than likely hadn't joined Slade with evil intent.
Now how was Raven going to go about coaxing Terra back?
She could try and tell her that the Teen Titans themselves could help her control her powers rather than Slade. It was definitely possible. Obviously four of five of the Titans possessed special abilities of their own- there was four options right there. And Robin, albeit powerless, had plenty of experience with those who did have powers; so it was also possible he would be of great use to Terra concerning her powers as well as her physical abilities: combat, weaponry, etcetera.
Raven rolled her eyes- nope. That idea wouldn't be any good. Slade had probably taught her everything already, and if he hadn't, he'd probably be well on his way. And wasn't Robin's offer to help Terra with her powers the reason she'd run away to begin with?
Ugh. Well, now that was way out the window. Raven chewed her bottom lip as she continued to walk toward Slade's main quarters. She needed another idea.
Hmm- there was the emotion thing. Terra had made such a big deal about the Titans trusting her, and the fact that they'd been willing to be her friends and even allow her a spot on their team- not an honorary Titan, an actual Teen Titan. Raven narrowed her orchid eyes as she recalled the moment that the team had surprised the skinny blonde with her own room and a communicator with resent. How she regretted that entire day, regretted even meeting Terra to begin with. The girl hadn't been worth all of the trouble her friends had gone to- wasn't worth trying to learn to like herself.
But she was getting sidetracked. Raven could offer forgiveness- with the exception of herself, obviously, but Terra didn't have to know that- and once again offer the Titans' friendship. She would have to pretend to like the girl- again- and that would be even more difficult this time around.
Raven, giving up, tossed that idea aside with a wave of her hand. There was absolutely no way she would be remotely able to muster even an ounce of kindness toward the girl. Not after almost destroying the Tower and sending hordes of Slade-bots to capture the Titans- not to mention obliterating her trust. After this fiasco, Raven would probably never be open to the idea of a new Teen Titan ever again.
Raven was considering pulling out her communicator and asking her friends, who were waiting some distance outside of Slade's lair above ground as backup, for help- but then an idea popped into her head that she know would be almost impossible for Terra to resist.
Beast Boy.
Sure, maybe it was a little cruel to mess around with Terra's feelings- despite being a complete backstabber, the girl was only fifteen and showed quite a fondness for the green changeling in the very brief time she was on the team. But, Raven thought, if Terra could play dirty- she absolutely could too. She would bring up Beast Boy, subtly, and pull out a bunch of lovey-dovey sentimental junk about their blooming relationship- emotions may not have been her strong suit, but Raven had no problem with other people's emotions. She'd go on about how much Beast Boy missed her, missed her friendship- and maybe even say something about how much he- blech- loved her. Sure, it would be horrifically nauseating, and she would probably wake up in the middle of the night screaming for several days after- but if it meant her mission was completed, it would maybe be worth it.
She reminded herself, sternly, that she didn't care about Terra at all. Only to complete her mission. That was her only objective. And if she succeeded, Raven would simply not acknowledge the girl. Raven could be almost frighteningly aloof sometimes- who knew that better than Terra? She could even cast a spell on herself to just not be able to see Terra, hear her- essentially, she wouldn't exist in Raven's eyes. It was cold, that was for sure, but Raven wasn't sure if she'd be able to look Terra in the eye without blasting her to bits. She was sure, in her head, that anger was having a dandy old time feeding off of that night, the last night the Titans had seen Terra.
All of a sudden, interrupting her thoughts- she heard a sound. It was definitely movement, and too... not mechanical to be that of the Slade-bots. No- this wasn't that.
It might be Slade.
Or Terra.
Raven forced herself to take a few deep breaths. She was getting ahead of herself. The noise could have just as easily been Wintergreen, Slade's butler- or nobody at all. Raven had a tendency to hear things when she focused hard enough.
But still- it was worth checking.
Along the dingy stone wall there was a long line of doors- thick and metal and only containing one window that was in a rectangular shape at the top of the door. They were about four or five feet apart and there were ten doors altogether, all identical. She figured she'd go down each one and peek through the windows- better safe than sorry. She pulled her hood over her head, cloaking herself with her magic to hide her eyes in case there did happen to be people on the other side of the doors.
Nodding her head with resolve, Raven floated toward the first door, not wanting to make any unnecessary sound with her footsteps- and peered through the first window. It was an empty, dull and small room, much resembling the rest of the lair. All there was was a bed- low to the ground and with a dingy pillow and a single thin faded blanket. It didn't look inviting- Raven figured this was the bedroom in which Slade kept prisoners of low danger and low importance and such. Bigger threats were likely kept in much thicker walls and with no beds at all.
One door down- nine to go. Raven peered through the next window, which was foggy and smudged- but it was easy to see the room was completely dark- no sounds emitted from the room and there wasn't a single flash of light that Raven could see. She squinted harder- but to no avail.
No time to waste, Raven told herself firmly. It had to be only a matter of time before she was discovered- there were probably cameras all around her right this second. A quick jolt of paranoia ran down her spine and she jerked her head around, half-expecting to see a horde of Slade-bots directly behind her with laser guan pointer at her chest. Still seeing nothing, a quick questioning thought flicked through her head- why hadn't she been found out yet?
Now Raven hit herself in the head, forcing her thoughts to refocus. She didn't have all the time in the world- she'd lost enough of that during her escapade with the robots a few minutes earlier. Her friends probably thought she was dead.
She hurried over to the third door before her thoughts could lose themselves again, and peeked through the window- and almost jumped out of her skin.
Inside the much larger room there were around forty Slade-bots, the same amount as Raven had had a previous encounter with — all standing straight up and hands at their sides. There was a low hum behind the door, and the entire room looked made of metal. Raven, stomach twisting, dropped down to the ground and lit up her ivory hands with shimmering black energy, launching into position and immediately fixing her gaze on the door, ready for battle. She felt her face heat up with beads of nervous sweat- this wasn't going to be an easy fight when they burst of of the room.
But- after a few seconds- there were no Slade-bots breaking through the doors and trying to attack her. There were no laser pistols being fired. As a matter of fact, there was silence- with the exception of the mysterious buzz inside of the room.
Raven, puzzled, cautiously got to her feet, and tiptoed back to her perch at the window, briefly peeking back into the room- and that's when she saw the long cords plugged into the backs of each Slade-bot and volts of luminescent teal electricity zapping up the lengthy black cords, disappearing into the robots. Their eyes were illuminated with a white glow and their laser guns were nowhere to be seen.
They weren't going to attack- they were charging.
Raven closed her eyes and threw her head back in relief, letting out a sigh. She'd been so sure she was going to have to fight them all- and that was probably not going to end well.
Raven, still moving as quietly and softly as possible, slipped from the third door and onto the fourth…
…then the fifth….
….then the sixth….
….then the seventh….
….then the eighth and the ninth. No such luck with any of those doors.
Raven, despite her thick emotional barrier, began to feel tension slip up into her shoulders and back. She was feeling more and more like someone was going to attack her from behind- capture her when she least expected it. The sorceress pressed her arms into her sides and into her cloak, wanting to feel a little more protected.
Raven took a deep breath and let it out as she approached the final door- the other doors had been for nothing, either having empty rooms behind them or the same prisoner rooms that Raven had seen behind the first door. So far, her search for Slade and Terra had been futile- and she was sick of being so jumpy. She'd flinched when a bug had raced over her shoes. It was unlike Raven, who usually kept a stoic, cold demeanor and had an even icier personality- for the most part.
She lifted off of her feet once more and peered through the last window absently, not anticipating anything of interest to be behind the slightly rusted metal door- but she was wrong.
Very wrong.
Through the foggy glass, Raven caught a glimpse of none other than Terra, in a moderately-sized room, sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair in front of a tiny, square-shaped table. She still wore the outfit Slade had apparently designed for her- the large, scarlet-and-black, jagged emblem of Slade on her small chest inside of a circle that was the same colors as the symbol. She had two fingers held up, her index and her middle, and they were coated with a dim bright yellow light as she levitated a pebble back and forth, moving her fingers with the rock with a bored expression on her pale face. She looked exactly the same- not an ounce of guilt or shame on her face. And across from her sat the masked mercenary himself- Raven couldn't see his lips moving, but he seemed to be showing the blonde something- probably to do with the pebble.
Raven instantly dropped to the ground, huddling her legs close to her, seeing red. What kind of person wasn't ashamed of something like what she'd done to the Titans? Had she even thought about the team at all in the weeks that she'd betrayed them and sent robots in to capture them? Did she ever care?
A hot feeling began to flare up in the empath's chest- but she willed it away, at least for now. This was no time to get caught up in feelings. She'd found Terra as well as Slade- now she needed Slade to leave Terra alone so that Raven could get the chance to speak to her.
Raven, jaw clenching, pressed her ear up against the door to listen to the diabolical pair on the other side.
"Do I really have to do this?" the empath heard Terra's muffled voice on the other end. She sounded impatient. "I'm not a beginner, you know."
As usual, Raven thought bitterly, pursing her lips and then releasing them. She narrowed her eyes as she continued to eavesdrop, remaining unseen and unheard by Terra and Slade behind the door.
"Yes, Terra- it is necessary for you to become the best earth-mover there is. It seems tedious now- but believe me, darling, it will pay off." Slade's ominous voice slithered into earshot. Raven clenched her jaw tighter- she remembered that voice, that snake-like hiss creeping into her ear on her apocalyptic birthday, the owner of the voice gripping her arms so tightly they bruised and burning the red-hot Mark of Skath into her wrist.
"You've been saying that for weeks," Terra snapped, seemingly not listening to Slade's words at all. "And I'm still not doing anything other than moving this stupid pebble." There was a clanking noise- Raven assumed that was Terra, restless as always, dropping the minuscule rock onto the ground. "When am I actually going to learn something?" Her voice rose in volume until Raven had to temporarily take her ear from the door, rolling her violet eyes at Terra's outburst.
There was silence- and then Slade's voice again. "Always the impatient one," the one-eyed man noted, voice steady and even as usual- it was almost infuriating how difficult it was to make the man lose his temper. "You shall learn soon enough." The words soon enough had a slight tinge of venom- and Terra didn't respond for a few more seconds.
"You're sure?" came her tinny voice, no longer full of irritation and impatience. Now it resembled that of a young child- one that needed reassurance and validation everywhere they turned. Raven despised people like that- she thought it weak.
She heard no response from Slade- only the scraping of a chair against the rocky floor, then sounds of shuffling and other movements Raven could not decipher. She couldn't hear any more speaking.
Oh, no. Had they heard her outside?
Raven froze in place- her stare leveled evenly but blankly at the metal two inches in front of her face. She remained as quiet as possible, holding on to the sliver of a chance that Terra and Slade hadn't heard her.
Then, after more agonizing seconds, Raven heard a murmured "Of course," from Slade. It sounded weird- his voice was usually muffled because of his infamous split-colored mask. But it seemed a little clearer now.
Okay, something was off about this whole thing. Raven's eyes narrowed and, indignant, she promptly got to her feet, still being careful not to make a sound, and took a quick peek into the room-
-and keeled over immediately back down to the ground.
She bit her lower lip so roughly that she could taste the metallic tang of blood on her tongue and her chin clenched. She let out a breath, held it, then inhaled and exhaled again, doing this a few more times before shutting her eyes. What Raven had just seen was something she'd never wanted to see or wanted to see ever again.
In the room, Terra had stood up from her chair and was face-to-face with Slade. The much older man had actually removed his mask- revealing an aged but not old-looking chiseled face with blank yet stormy gray eyes and white hair. He had had Terra's chin in his hand- almost enveloping her entire face- and his lips were firmly pressed against hers in a fiery kiss.
A kiss.
Slade and Terra were kissing.
It took every ounce of willpower the demoness had to not throw up right there- which was saying something. Raven was hardly fazed by anything at all. And while she couldn't care less about the geomancing blonde, this was beyond disturbing in more ways than Raven could count. Her chest began to hurt tremendously- Terra wasn't someone she'd ever like, but this wasn't something Raven had ever wished on the girl. This was just-
And what about Beast Boy?
Oh, God, Beast Boy.
She didn't even really process everything before she acted without thinking. Raven needed a diversion- quick. Before it went further than a kiss. Impulsively, Raven ripped a stalactite from the ceiling using her magic and hurled it as hard as she could into the pipes above her, the lengthy rock hitting the metal with a loud clang. Then, before Terra and Slade broke from one another to inspect the sound, she cloaked herself- leaving nothing but her eyes visible; and then floated up to the ceiling beside the pipe she'd thrown the rock at. Now she just needed them to come out of the room.
Sure enough, just as Raven had made it up to the ceiling, Slade and Terra burst out of the room- Slade's mask back on his face as usual, more menacing than ever, and Terra just barely having regained her composure; the door hitting the wall with a deafening slam that surely must have cracked something. Raven, smothering the swirling thoughts in her head for the moment, stared down at them blankly for a few idle seconds.
And then she attacked.
With the screech of an actual raven, her astral projection of herself launched itself from her physical body, streaking directly toward the two. Slade and Terra's heads both jerked up to the direction of the sound with identical yells, Slade unsheathing two gleaming silver swords and Terra's eyes turning a fluorescent daffodil. But before either of them could attack, the physical body of Raven lashed out at the one-eyed man, and with a rush of black, smoke-like magic, Slade was instantly knocked out, and Raven slammed his body into the rocky floor, embedding his body there, ribbons of magic still billowing ominously around his muscular frame. Then, the shimmering astral projection bird proceeded to tackle into Terra just as she was beginning to lift a large boulder using her earth-moving abilities, pushing the girl straight back into the room she'd come out of and despite the mangled doorknob, flinging the door shut and fusing it so Terra couldn't bust it open. Terra scrambled to her feet despite the harsh blow to her back caused by Raven throwing her into the wall, gritting her teeth in pain as she shakily tried to summon her powers again- but finding she could not; only receiving a few dim yellow flickers jumping from her gloved fingertips.
Meanwhile, the astral projection had morphed from a bird to a tenebrous version of Raven- only glowing white eyes completely visible as the rest of her body was only a shadowy outline with a pitch-black inside. She appeared directly in front of Terra, who was looking back and forth in a panicked manner from Raven to her hands as she tried in vain to muster her powers- still to no avail.
Finally, she gave up, shrieking at the wizardress in an anguished tone. "What are you doing here?"
Raven remained silent. It was difficult to tell what was going through her head without her facial expressions- although that didn't make much of a difference anyway. "I don't want to be here any more than you want me to," she replied evenly, her tone steady. Her voice was somewhat ghostly and sounded a little echo-y, like she was in a hollow cave.
"So why are you here?" Terra snapped, chest heaving with fury. The Slade emblem on her attire moved in sync with her chest. "I told you all to leave me alone." Her head whipped this way and that, as if searching for something. "Where are the rest of you? Going to turn me in? Lock me up in jail for the rest of my life? Guilt trip me for trying to help myself?" Her tone was accusing and the exact opposite of calm.
"Quit with the dramatics. I just told you I didn't want to be here. Don't make this more difficult than it has to be." Has to be was more of a snarl than a statement, her stony demeanor dissolving briefly
Terra's glare moved past Raven and outside the door. "What did you do with Slade?!" She was still screaming- despite Raven's previous comment.
"Oh, he'll be fine. My physical body is keeping him unconscious and pinned to the ground for now." Raven followed Terra's gaze outside, then looked back at her, eyes narrowed into near slits. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to your lover, now would we?" The word lover had a venomous, sarcastic spin on it- and Terra's eyes widened to the size of frying pans.
"What- don't be ridiculous." Terra lowered her eyes again and waved her hand in a dismissal with a condescending scoff. "Slade is my mentor- not that my life is any of your business."
The glow in Raven's eyes flared. "Drop the act, Blondie. I'm not an idiot- unlike some of my friends have been acting about you lately. I saw you two kissing-" here she put on an uncharacteristically vicious fake-sweet voice "-how adorable."
Terra's eyes flared as well- but only for a few seconds due to the temporary disabling of her powers. "And?"
One could practically hear Raven roll her eyes. "And? You're dumber than I thought you were, aren't you?" She snorted bitterly. "You can't actually believe he loves you."
There was a brief crack in Terra's malevolent expression- but she sealed it just as quickly as it came, staring up at Raven acidly. "What would you know about love? It's not like anyone would ever love you. You're a witch. A four-eyed demon freak who everyone's scared of." Her voice was rising again as she regained her confidence. "Your friends only took pity on you- after I came, there was no need for you anymore."
"Who's to say they didn't take pity on you as well?" Raven replied airily, the outline of her "body" rippling a little. "You were a skinny kid living in the desert alone- you certainly weren't let on our team because of your looks."
A low growl emitted from the back of Terra's throat, and Raven allowed herself a small, self-satisfied smile. She knew she was losing sight of her original objective- but Terra had already gone too far.
"You can't do this."
Terra glared vengefully at Raven. "Who's going to stop me?"
Raven sighed, her body language softening slightly. "This isn't an argument. What you're doing is dangerous and wrong. I haven't the slightest clue why- but there's some dangerously small part of me that still cared about you. Wants the best for you."
The blonde girl was silent, her expression softening too. She turned her eyes toward the ground, biting the inside of her cheek.
The two girls were silent for a while.
"I- wondered. What you all did after I left. I wondered if you'd forgotten about me. But mostly I thought about you guys." She lifted her head- her eyes fixed on Raven. "Mostly you."
The empath didn't respond, taking in Terra's words. She was being sincere- Raven could sense the pangs of regret and sorrow pulsing through Terra's body.
"I didn't want to betray you," Terra continued, her tone gloomy. "It was never my intention. I didn't join the team with the intent to backstab you. You were the only people who treated me like family. I was- I'm just scared." Her voice hitched on scared. "You knew how out of control my powers were- I was going to kill one of you in a matter of time. And I didn't want your help- you guys were always so collected and you were so good at managing everything- your powers."
More melancholy silence.
Suddenly, Raven, in an abrupt change of demeanor, looked daggers at Terra. "There comes a time where you need to swallow your pride. You already almost hurt my friends dozens of times. You could've killed them- but at least you'd have your pride." Her voice dripped with poison.
Terra jolted back, caught off guard by Raven's attitude change. "That's what I just said. That's why I went with Slade."
"Like that's any better," Raven retorted quickly. The air of sentimentality was gone- and now the heat in the room could've melted steel.
"And apparently made him your boyfriend. Cute."
"Slade's told me he loves me plenty of times," Terra responded, cocking her head in a show of overconfidence at Raven, who did not act in reply.
"Words aren't everything." Terra knew that Raven's hard glare was fixated firmly on hers right then- it was unmistakable.
"Nothing's ever good enough for you," Terra retorted nastily, taking an abrupt step closer to Raven. "Words are good enough for me."
"Desperate as usual." Raven's voice was barely a whisper. "And apparently- words weren't enough from Beast Boy."
Terra's breath at the name of the changeling whose heart she'd broken noticeably hitched, and she turned her eyes to the ground. This time it was Raven's turn to tilt her head- Beast Boy was still a soft spot. She could use that to her advantage.
"I could care less about that weirdo. He was only holding me back."
"Not enough to keep you from hurting your friends."
"I don't have any friends." The bitterness was seeping back into the thin girl's voice. "Wanna know who told me that?"
Raven was silent.
"Beast Boy."
Terra, in a sudden display of malice, slammed her fists into the wall behind her, her blonde locks draping over her shoulders. Raven simply watched, quiet and observant. Her hair had definitely grown since her time on the Titans- it easily draped down to her lower back now.
Raven watched Terra's breathing slow- and then she straightened back up, her eyes cloudy. "Now." She took a deep breath. "Why are you here? Spit it out so you can get out of here already." She seemed to have lost her fight- all she wanted was Raven to go. Painful memories of her time on the Titans were coming in strong waves into her head- her chest hurt. She didn't want to start questioning everything all over again the way she had with the Titans when Slade had first offered Terra his skills and leadership. It had absolutely crushed her to leave the Titans- she still wasn't exactly sure what had pushed her to go. But if the Titans were going to send spies- much less Raven-
"Get out." Terra repeated. She was slouched in an odd position with most of her hair draping over her face, hiding her expression. "Leave. Now."
"I'm not finished yet." Raven replied icily, her stare hard and unfriendly. "I hate to do this- but we'd like you to come back to the Titans."
This drew Terra's attention- and her head snapped back up to look at Raven, her expression unreadable. "Come back?"
Raven nodded stiffly. "I don't want a whole speech or some sob story about your pathetic little life and how you were some troubled kid in the desert that found hope within the Titans." She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Just say yes or no. I need to be getting back to my body soon." She turned and peered out the door window- her body was floating in the air, holding a still unconscious Slade into the ground. It was good that her body was continuing to do her job- but Raven herself was starting to feel a little discombobulated, which was not a good sign.
"Way to convince me," Terra mumbled wryly. Her stare didn't exactly meet Raven's, she seemed like she was looking more through Raven rather than at her.
"Just answer the stupid question. I don't have all day. I don't care about you- I just need an answer so I can leave like you wanted me to."
At this point, Raven didn't care if she failed her mission. She wanted to get as far away from Terra as possible before she blasted her to bits- she could feel Anger begin to rise in her head; which definitely wasn't helpful, especially out of body.
"Fine. No," Terra answered simply, her blank stare remaining. It seemed she'd completely shut herself out- there was likely no convincing her now. And Raven wasn't about to try. The other Titans were going to have to live with the disappointment.
So why waste her time?
"Suit yourself," she replied airily. She wasn't about to waste any more time. Beast Boy would have to live without Terra- not that he needed her anyway, Raven thought bitterly. She just didn't care about Terra. She wasn't worth anything.
Mission failed successfully.
The astral projection of Raven began to fade away to reenter her physical body- but paused. "You know you can't keep this relationship up much longer."
"And you care because?" Terra backed away from Raven into the wall, propping her leg up against it in a bored fashion, arms folded and head down.
"It's illegal and it's just gross. You're making out with a man that's three times your age- not to mention he's your mentor or something." Raven wrinkled her nose pointedly in disgust at the mention.
Terra let out a wry chuckle. "Yeah, because I'll definitely break off my intimate relationship because almighty Raven said so. Seriously- if you don't care about me, what's with the interrogation?"
Raven said nothing for a short while, then spoke, ignoring Terra's question. "How intimate have you two gotten?"
Now it was Terra's turn to pause.
"Well?" Another wave of disorientation hit Raven- it was definitely about time to be getting back to her body. If she didn't make it soon, her spirit would be implanted in someone else. She'd be reincarnated- in a completely new body, having to totally start over as an infant- and her old body would simply cease to exist.
Raven peered out of her peripheral vision at the door a little nervously.
"Fine. You want all the details?" The blankness was gone, replaced by the same fire Terra had had earlier. "We've kissed. Several times. And we slept together once. It started about a week after I ditched you guys. And I don't care what you have to say- I'm happy."
Raven didn't answer, wavering slightly as a wave of lightheadedness hit her again. She had to go- she wasn't going to make it. But this- this was something else.
"It's disgusting. You're aware this is statutory rape- right?"
"Not if I consented."
"Statutory rape is when a person of age has sex with someone who is underage. It doesn't matter if you consented or not. It's the law- I would think you'd know that from your very short time on my team. And speaking of my team-" Raven floated toward the door- "I think they'd be quite interested to hear all this- I have a mission to complete, after all."
Terra jerked to attention- and her eyes began to glow yellow, her powers restored and her fingertips crackling. "I don't think they'll be hearing this." And with that, she ripped a chunk of the rock wall out of it with an earsplitting crack, and hurled it at Raven with a loud grunt of exertion.
The boulder traveled straight through Raven, her being in her spiritual form- but it did knock into the other side of the wall-
And that's when things started to crumble.
At first it was pebbles, small rocks, just kind of raining from the ceiling. But then they were the size of tennis balls, basketballs- and only getting bigger.
The ceiling was going to collapse.
Terra gasped, the sparks at her hands fizzling out, but her eyes remained luminescent. She stared up at the ceiling with a panicky look in her eyes, her breathing turning erratic. This was her worst nightmare- losing control and destroying the world around her.
She dropped her hands to her sides and retreated from the rapidly falling stones, eyes wide with alarm. She glanced wildly around the room, glanced one last time at Raven- and started to run, breathing hard through her moth as she tried to escape the disaster she'd caused. Her blonde hair flew behind her as she tore another boulder out of the ground and hopped onto it, stumbling a bit as she lifted herself up off the ground; the rock enveloped in glowing energy- and she disappeared.
Raven, meanwhile, was running out of time- it was beginning to grow very difficult to move herself, and her body was still several feet away, holding Slade to the floor. Her vision faded in and out as she was reduced to walking; too weak to fly any longer. The outline of her shadowy figure was rippling like waves at the beach- she was beginning to fade, and she wasn't sure how long her physical body was going to be able to hold Slade down. She could feel his increasingly strong resistance from her physical body- he was going to wake up very soon if she didn't get to her body quick.
Around her, rocks began to fall- and they were starting to scrape her actual body, which began to tremble in the air. Time was running out- she wasn't going to make it-
Now her body was only a little bit away- but Raven was feeling incredibly drowsy. Maybe her body could wait...she just wanted to sleep...
No. Snap out of it!
Raven managed to get herself off of the ground a few inches- just as her physical body gave out and began to fall from the air, the magical hold on Slade dissolving.
Slade was just beginning to get up, throwing massive falling boulders out of his way like candy, a frightening look of utter malice in his good eye-
-but just as Raven thought she wasn't going to make it, her physical body fell directly into her astral projection, and the two combined once more as Raven fell unconscious.
Raven woke up to the concerned faces of her friends standing over her; which lit up once her eyes fluttered open to reveal that she was alright. She sat up immediately, clutching her head.
"Friend Raven? You are well?" Starfire exclaimed joyfully, clapping her hands with glee.
Raven squinted, trying to find the answer to that question. Her body seemed fine, despite a few scrapes here and there- and she still felt a little bit dizzy, but it was definitely something she could walk off. But she found that she was exhausted in more ways than one- her chest still felt tight and
"Yeah- I'm fine." She swung her legs over the bed and propped her chin up on her thigh, shutting her eyes. Did everything that happened really just happen? There was no way it had- it was ridiculous.
But Raven knew there was no use trying to convince herself otherwise.
"You sure?" Robin moved toward Raven and placed a caring hand on her shoulder, masked eyes open and sincere. "You seem a little shaken up."
Raven opened her eyes but kept her stare leveled at the ground, quiet.
The lack of reply was enough to let the other Titans know that something was wrong. They exchanged confused and worried expressions, then turned back to their teammate.
"It's Terra, isn't it?" Beast Boy broke the silence with a monotone question. "We know she isn't coming back, Raven."
Raven turned her head to gaze at Beast Boy, trying to keep her stare as concealing as possible- and gave a small nod. Beast Boy stared back at Raven keeping his face as stoic as possible, but the crack in his eyes was painfully visible. Starfire dropped her head, and Cyborg and Robin's faces both fell.
Raven bit her tongue. Maybe she could've pushed harder for Terra- at least for her teammates. Their crestfallen expressions made her feel guilty- although she knew there was no point in feeling that way. Terra wouldn't have come back even if Raven hadn't been harsh.
"There's something else." The green shapeshifter regarded Raven with a disconsolate expression. "I can tell. I've already heard the worst of it- so just spit it out."
The other Titans, hearing Beast Boy's words, lifted their heads toward Raven with inquiring faces. They wanted to hear what Raven was going to say.
Raven sighed.
