Chapter Two: Just close your pretty eyes and you can be with me. . . dream on.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Notes: I need to use less pronouns, because being mysterious isn't getting me anywhere. Also, this is kinda just me wanting to give Wintergreen a semi-important intro. (Wintergreen was that butler guy in the first few episodes of Teen Titans, when we were getting our Slade intro)

A few weeks after her fainting spell in a dining room she didn't recognize, Terra raises a shaking hand to touch the corners of her eyes, and says in shock, "I've changed."

She isn't referring to the time spent re-learning how to use most of her muscles-the ones Slade couldn't fix in surgery-or the time it took for her to trust him again. It's still too soon for her to be sure of how to act around Slade, even if he trusted her enough to not wear his mask around her. He hadn't brought up anything from before the incident at the volcano, and he had mostly left her alone.

The rooms where she was basically re-trained her to move around didn't have mirrors, nor did the bathrooms. It wasn't until today that Terra asked to see herself in one. Slade had spent as much time as he could keeping her away from mirrors until she had filled out a little more, to lessen the shock of her eyes.

"It's because of the lack of exposure to light," Slade explains, standing by the door. "You'll have a sensitivity to light, and may develop sunburns, even on cloudy days."

"My eyes are gray," is Terra's response as she tries to recognize the pale face that would give Raven a run for her money. They aren't gray, as much as a much paler blue, but she always had the ability to overexagerate small things.

"That is an unfortunate side effect." He sighes, and adds, "I'm sorry."

"Its not your fault." she says automatically. She stares at the mirror in silence, for a while, until she realizes that she's staring past her face, and at his. "So, um, Wintergreen still works here?" she says, breaking the silence.

"Yes, but he's retiring soon. Maybe another year."

"Oh." they are silent again. Then-

"Are you hungry?" Her face lights up at his request, and she follows him down the hall.

Wintergreen sat in the kitchen, stirring his soup with one hand and, every minute or so, turning the pages of his current novel with the other. He was only half listening to Terra and Slade talking quietly in the dining room. He had chosen not to eat in the other room with them for about a week now; something about the familiarity they still have is a bit unsettling for him, only because he's seen what has happened to women Slade used to know...and Terra's too nice for that.

He looks up when the door opens, and Slade walks in carrying the dinner dishes, and they nod to each other. Slade quickly washes and stacks the plates and silverware, while Wintergreen sits quietly. When Slade gets to the door, Wintergreen speaks up. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Just remember, even though she kept growing inside that statue, she's still a scared teenage girl. If she still has control of her powers-"

"She doesn't."

"Still, we need to be careful." They both know that when he says 'We," he means "You."

Wintergreen had suggested, when it seemed as if Terra wouldn't wake up, that she be brought to a hospital, where she could hopefully re-enter the system. It was the closest he had come to telling Slade that she did not belong here, living with them (especially living with Slade).

Wintergreen knew Slade didn't care much for caution, and this idea was reinforced when Slade simply answered "I will," and left the room.

UGH I couldn't think of a good way to finish this chapter. I just wanted to get that out, but I didn't think it would be enough by itself. More later

Song of the night: Teo Torriate (Let us cling together)-Queen