Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
"Push."
Diana obeyed. Her arms were straight behind her, palms facing out as Slade held them in place. With a wince she completed the stretch, her sore muscles screaming in protest. It had been a long day. Not that she'd ever say as much, as her employer wasn't particularly fond of what he referred to as "useless personal commentary", and neither was she. Turning to face him, Diana rotated her shoulders and massaged her neck as she glanced to her right at the training room's exit. Terra was somewhere in the compound now, presumably in her room. The other girl's presence was like an itch on the back of Diana's brain, something she could never seem to fully stop thinking about.
"You seem distracted."
A jolt of adrenaline ran through her as she looked up at Slade with what she hoped were steady eyes. His arms were crossed but his tone was light and pleasant, which typically meant trouble. Perhaps he wasn't happy with the way her mission had gone, though she'd achieved the directive in a reasonable amount of time. Diana remained silent for what seemed like an eternity, but Slade didn't budge or change the subject as she'd hoped. He could out-stare anyone.
"It's Terra," she replied flatly, "I can't seem to put her out of my mind."
"Doubtless your sister's presence has put you on edge," Slade responded, and she fought the urge to correct him.
Half-sister. Not sister. Not someone she had anything in common with to speak of. The fact that they had some of the same DNA didn't stop Diana from resenting her very existence. It didn't matter now, of course, didn't matter that their unfaithful mother had cheated on Diana's father with one of his coworkers, that her parents had split up when she was a girl, that Terra couldn't reign in her power in the slightest. None of it should matter.
"Bringing Terra here has preoccupied you and amplified your feelings toward your family. When you joined me you swore that you had put those feelings aside."
"I have," she replied, fiercely staring up at him, "I won't lose focus again."
"See that you don't, my dear, or we will have a serious problem. Especially since you will be Terra's primary instructor."
Her eyes widened but Diana otherwise didn't react. She knew Slade would catch even this betrayal of her emotions, however, and she drew herself up to her full height and gave him a stoic nod. The childish side of Diana supposed that he was punishing her for something, but the adult part of her knew better. In the desert Slade had purposefully left his communicator on, letting her track his location as he hunted Terra and finally found her, filling her head with dreams of controlling her power and living in peace. All Terra would have to do, he'd said, was come with him. And she had. Diana could only wait and see what would happen and pray that the girl didn't become a permanent fixture.
"She should be in her room. I want you to go to her now that she's had a chance to familiarize herself with the environment," Slade continued, "You'll go alone, so the girl doesn't get the idea that you and I are trying to gang up on her. Stop in, let her know the schedule for tomorrow, and report back to me. Clear?"
"Of course," she responded a little too quickly, padding off of the cushioned training floor and slipping on her black sandals.
Walking the short distance to Terra's room, Diana rapped one knuckle on the door and folded her arms. The situation was ridiculous. It was like a scene out of a normal family's life, with the elder sister impatiently waiting on the younger to open up. The door to Terra's room finally slid open and she popped her head out, eyes wide as she took in Diana's carefully neutral face. She'd probably been expecting Slade, though he'd warned her that her half-sister would be there.
"Uh…hey," Terra said, slowly drawing back away from the door and allowing Diana to enter the room.
Her green eyes automatically flickered over the stark surroundings. There was nothing but a bed, dresser, mirror, and small nightstand, all made of somber aluminum, and Terra had brought nothing but the duffel bag resting on the bed's plain, navy-blue comforter. The girl in front of her was thin and frail looking, her long blond hair wind-blown and dusty. She wore tattered clothes that were equally as dirty. Obviously Terra hadn't taken advantage of her private bathroom yet to have a shower. Her blue eyes were large and solemn as they apprehensively took in Diana.
"Hello Terra," she replied flatly, unsure of how to get the conversation going.
"So you work for Slade now?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Weird. You kinda sound like him now too."
Diana felt her face grow hot and shrugged. Slade had specifically mentioned that he didn't want Terra to develop a "me vs. them" mentality, but Slade's resident computer specialist didn't really know how to approach the subject of Terra's residency any other way.
"Well, all of that aside, we've got some work to do, starting tomorrow at eight a.m. sharp. I'll be"—
"How am I supposed to get up in time? There aren't any windows in here, I can't even see the sun rise—oh."
With a heavy sigh, Diana walked over to the nightstand and reached under its rim, pushing a button that allowed the thin, square, built-in alarm clock to slide directly up from its slot, where it had previously stayed flush with the middle of the stand's surface. She programmed it to ring at seven every day and the blue numbers on the screen beeped once to confirm her submission.
"That's pretty cool," Terra admitted, plopping her gangly body on the bed, "Did you make that? I know you work with computers and stuff."
"No, this furniture is standard-issue military equipment…okay look, Slade gave me a plan for tomorrow. You're going to meet me in the kitchen at nine for breakfast, and then after that we're going shopping. It's not going to be fun, but you have to have new clothes and supplies and things, and I highly doubt that you'll want to sleep on those scratchy sheets forever. In the afternoon, we're going to start training. Meditation, basic exercises, that kind of thing. Got it?"
"I guess so," Terra said hesitantly, glancing behind her at the dirty duffel bag on her bed, "But who's paying for"—
"Slade's taking care of everything, don't worry. I'll see you in the morning. Try and get some rest."
"Okay," she tentatively responded, "Night."
"Goodnight," Diana stated, walking back out through the sliding door, which moved open to let her pass.
It had gone better than she expected, really. She'd managed to convey the message without any trouble or whining from Terra, and without the girl thinking that she and Slade were ganging up on her for whatever reason. Terra was still hesitant around her, as was understandable. Their relationship as younger children hadn't exactly been a picture of harmony. Hopefully Terra would embrace the training, otherwise she'd continue to be a danger to herself and others, particularly Diana. She couldn't afford for Jump City to deem the girl a nuisance, and although super-powered individuals were a dime a dozen, and Diana didn't want people poking into her past. She was being paranoid and Slade was just trying to be thorough, of course. She'd burned her birth certificate, driver's license, old photographs…pretty much everything that tied her to her previous life. But Terra was not so easily gotten-rid of, and there was no way in hell Diana was going to let her sister be the thing that exposed her actions as Slade's employee to the public. Entering the cavernous room where most of their computer equipment was stored, Diana stopped a few feet behind Slade's chair, where he busily sat writing code.
"How did it go?" He asked finally, removing his gloved hands from the keys and standing to face her.
"It went well. Terra's aware of our plans for tomorrow and hasn't expressed any unwillingness to cooperate so far, even with me."
"Good," Slade replied, "Get some rest. You'll need all of your strength for tomorrow."
Diana gave him a nod as he walked past her, her face betraying none of the apprehension slowly building up in her chest.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry I've neglected this story for so long! I'm currently re-writing it, as you can tell, and I'd really love to get some opinions/criticism of the re-write. I'm obviously going for something darker and I'm going to be switching from Slade's POV to Diana's in each chapter. What do you guys think about the redo so far?