Lambbaby: I self-criticize all the time, and I think it's probably normal. Anyway, I'm glad you like everything, of course, and I'm also glad that you think I'm keeping everyone in character. That's the most important part, to me. I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well.
Polyhymnia: MY writing is "elegant prose"? That's a high compliment, and I thank you. I'm glad you enjoy the story. I hope things go as well with this chapter, though there is less action by far.
Kayasuri-n: Slade is a creepy guy, and Rose begins to see that. No romance and no pairings planned yet. Glad you are happy.
Dr.Evil99: Another fine review. Of course, we've discussed it, so I'll save space here. Hope you like the chapter.
CalliopeMused: Thanks for the compliments, of course, but we've spoken about them before. With regards to cliffhangers, I don't think this chapter ends in one, so that's a plus at least.
A/N: Ok, here's chapter four. Less action, more Rose. Anyway, it's a bit short but I hope you all enjoy it. More coming as it's written.
"Uh... Hi."
Rose winced as Beastboy leapt at her, hugging her happily. "Terra! I knew it was you!"
"Agh! Get off of me, Beastboy!" Rose struggled with the green teenager, as the Titans quickly snapped out of their surprised stupor.
"OFF!" Rose shoved Beastboy away from her, irritated with his exuberance.
"You have returned! It is most wonderful to see you!" Rose jumped as the voice came from above her head, looking up to see Starfire flying over here with a wide smile.
Rose started to speak. "I haven't-"
"When BB said he saw you, we couldn't believe it. It's great you're back!" Cyborg held out his mechanical hand, as if waiting for a handshake. Rose reached out hers as well, unsure of how to shake a hand three times the size of her own.
"How are you even alive? You turned to stone." Robin's tone was suspicious, and Rose was taken aback by it. Terra had been turned to stone? Why? How?
"Turned to st-gah!" Rose was again annoyed by interruptions.
"It doesn't matter how she's alive! She's back! She saved me! I knew she'd remember!" Beastboy seemed both excited at her appearance and irritated with Robin's suspicion.
"I don't-"
"We still need to run some tests-"
"Your room is just as you left it!"
"I will go prepare the glorg that you so love!"
The Titans were talking so quickly and so excitedly that Rose couldn't respond, and she was irritated with them all referring to Terra, just as Beastboy had done. She tried to get there attention. "Hey! I'm not-"
"Y'all know we gotta have a party to celebrate Terra coming back."
"With a meat crown of Throknar!"
"Pizza with anchovies too, right?"
Rose shut her eyes tightly in frustration, and shouted loudly. "SHUT UP!"
The ground trembled around her, and she heard the sounds of objects falling from shelves in the nearby shops, as the earth shook. The Titans immediately fell silent, looking at her with less happiness and more fear. Rose hadn't intended to scare them, just to make them be quiet for a moment. She felt guilty, and remembered Ashley's terrified face, and the staring eyes of her other classmates. Though it didn't calm her down, it did force her to control her powers a little more.
Robin was the first to speak again. "Ok, maybe we got off to a bad start. Hi. I'm Robin, from the Teen Titans. Thanks for helping out against Cinderblock."
Rose took Robin's offered hand, and shook it politely. "I'm Rose. Please stop calling me Terra."
"But you are Terra! You can move the eart-mmph!" Beastboy struggled against the metallic hand covering his mouth. Cyborg grinned at Rose.
Rose giggled, despite the tension.
Robin looked at Rose, and she couldn't help but feel like she was being studied. "Well, you do look like her. Do you mind if I ran some tests? I need to know if you are actually Terra."
Rose shook her head, getting angry at their seemingly stubborn stupidity. "No. Look, I'm not Terra. Ask Raven, she knows."
Raven looked mildly irritated with being referred to. "She came to the tower yesterday. She doesn't have the same mind as Terra, though she does have the same powers and the same trouble controlling them." As a response to a look from Robin, Raven added more. "She did ask me not to tell anyone that she was there."
Rose nodded. "Thanks for at least not telling them before now. But see? I'm not her."
Beastboy had wrestled free of Cyborg's hand. "Ter-... Rose, look, I know you think you aren't her, but maybe you just forgot, or just won't let yourself remember. I mean, you have the same powers. How likely is that?"
Rose frowned. "Beastboy, I'm not Terra. Leave it alone, OK? Geez, how many of you people have super strength? Having the same powers doesn't mean anything!"
"Cyborg and I are the only super strong ones." Starfire looked mildly confused.
"By 'you people', she meant superheroes in general, Star. I kind of see her point." Robin seemed to be thoughtful, unsure of how to proceed.
"Look, say whatever you want, but she's Terra. I know it. Just because she doesn't remember, or Raven's creepy magic says she isn't, doesn't mean that she's not!" Beastboy seemed to be getting as angry at Robin as Rose was getting with Beastboy.
"Shut up about that! I've already told you! I'm not Terra!" Rose felt her powers stirring, but was too angry to bother messing with them.
"Yes you are! Your parents died when you were like eight, you ran away from your home, you wandered around trying to help people, but ended up messing stuff up with your powers."
Rose's voice was quiet, but angry. "Shut up."
Beastboy seemingly didn't even hear her. "Then you met us though! You didn't know how to control your powers still, but I found out first, and you helped the Titans for a while, but then Robin figured out you couldn't control them, and he said so, but you thought I told them, and you ran away."
"Seriously, I'm not-"
"I don't know where you went for a while, but when you came back you could control it! You were a Titan for like a month or two, and it was so great. We fought all kinds of bad guys, and you helped out, and it was so cool to have such a great-"
"SHUT! UP!" The ground around Rose suddenly shattered, as the city around her shook violently. Masonry and glass fell from nearby buildings, as people panicked, running from open doors. The earth itself seemed to reject the Titans, spines of stone jutting upwards from the Earth around Rose, nearly impaling them.
Rose grabbed her head with her glowing hands, her vision almost completely obscured by the yellow glow that had overcome her. She could dimly see Beastboy flying away as a bird, with Starfire carrying Robin and Raven pulling Cyborg away with her powers. Rose's head was pounding, and she couldn't get ahold of her abilities. The buildings nearby were starting to crumble apart, and she was surrounded by shattered and broken earth, and the strange stone spikes that had appeared.
It was only a few seconds, but felt like an eternity. The earthquake was over, and Rose collapsed to the ground. It had happened again. Suddenly, she was aware that she was standing in the middle of what was obviously the epicenter, and had no mask or anything to hide her identity. Though she didn't see anyone, she couldn't help imagining people looking at her like her classmates had; with fear in their eyes.
Rose climbed over the spikes, and ran. She ran away from the earthquake, away from the imagined staring eyes of the civilians, and away from the Titans with their fixation on Terra.
Rose ran, she ran far away, and she didn't pause to look back.
When Rose finally stopped running, she found that she had returned almost to her apartment. She panted for a while, tired and sweating from the long run. After she had recovered, she started walking, unable to think of anything better to do than to just go home. It wasn't far.
Rose looked up at her apartment building. It seemed to loom over her, frowning. She didn't like the thought of returning to her empty apartment, and just sitting there with her thoughts all night. She turned from the building, and started walking down the street, heading towards Shawna's apartment. She walked alone, in a crowd of people, as everyone walked to and fro, worrying about their own lives, and paying no attention to the downcast looking blonde girl.
Rose waved at the doorman for Shawna's apartment building, as she knew him pretty well. He smiled and waved back. "Hello Ms. Wilson. I believe Ms. Blaike is in at the moment."
Rose smiled also. "Thanks Mr. Palmer."
She walked up the stairs, forgoing the painfully slow elevator, and then down the hallway. Shawna's apartment was only on the second floor. She knocked lightly on the door, which was answered shortly by Shawna's mother.
Shawna's mother looked a little surprised, and not just a little worried, when she saw Rose standing there. Rose spoke first. "Um, Hi Mrs. Blaike. Is Shawna here?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, she's here, Rose. She's in her room. Is everything OK? The police were here yesterday, asking about you."
Rose forced a smile. "Yeah, everything is Ok. I'm still getting used to everything."
Shawna's mother let Rose in, and Rose walked towards Shawna's room, waving and smiling at Shawna's dad as she went. She ignored the furtive whispers between the married couple as she knocked on Shawna's door. Shawna opened it, and let her in quickly, closing and locking the door behind her. "Hi Rose. What's up?"
Rose noticed that Shawna was trying her best to act normal, but there was something in the way she was moving and watching her that showed that she was nervous. "Um, I just sort of saved Beastboy from dying, and then sort of attacked the Titans. Maybe. Anyway, there was an earthquake downtown."
Shawna nodded. "Yeah, it was on the news a bit ago. I kinda thought it was you, but I didn't tell mom and dad. The news just said it was an earthquake."
Rose smiled. "Thanks for not saying anything. I really don't know what to do. I can't go to the Titans. All they talk about is Terra."
"Yeah, but maybe they are right. I mean, you don't remember anything about your past anyway, so it's sort of possible. Don't get mad."
"I don't know. Maybe. But I still think that I'm not Terra now, even if I was. Does that make any sense?"
Shawna smiled. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe you'll figure out how to control it on your own or something. I don't know how it works."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Finally, Rose spoke. "Look, thanks for at least talking to me. You're the only friend I have left, and it's so hard to be all alone with all this mess going on."
Shawna smiled. "Don't worry. I know you need someone to talk to. Hey, why don't you try the Titans again? Maybe they calmed down."
Rose shrugged. "I might as well, I guess. I don't know what else to-"
A loud banging on the door suddenly interrupted the conversation. The voice that came from the other side was angry and commanding. "Rose Wilson! This is Police Sergeant Bronsky. Come out quickly and unarmed. You will not be hurt."
Rose's eyes widened, and she froze, unable to move. Shawna looked equally panicked. Sergeant Bronsky continued. "Come out now! You have ten seconds before we will force entry ourselves!"
Rose stood up, coming out of her shock, and falling instead into worry. "Ok, I'm going to open the door. Don't shoot me; I promise I won't do anything!"
Rose walked over to the doorway, and Shawna followed her. She turned the handle, and opened it slowly. About a dozen submachine gun barrels met her there, wielded by stern looking policemen. Apparently Jump City didn't take metahuman threats lightly. A man spoke from the front of the group, holding only a pistol. Apparently he was Sergeant Bronsky. His voice was a little calmer now that she was cooperating. "Are you unarmed, Rose? No meta powers?"
Rose nodded, a little dumbstruck with all the guns pointed at her. "I don't want to fight! Please put the guns down!"
Sergeant Bronsky made a gesture, and the policemen relaxed, lowering their weapons, but not putting the safety on. Bronksy holstered his sidearm. "I'm sorry, but it's protocol for metahuman arrests. Turn around now, we need to put the handcuffs- Hey!"
Rose suddenly bolted, not wanting to be cuffed and arrested by the policemen. She focused just briefly, and the metal in the guns responded to her powers, throwing themselves and the policemen strapped to them across the room. Bronsky tried to grab her, but wasn't quick enough, as the girl shouldered past him. She tore through the apartment, running out of the still-open door while Mrs. Blaike shouted after her to come back.
Rose looked down the hallway, seeing another group of policemen leveling their guns at her. She turned the other direction and ran, even though no staircase existed that way. She heard hustling boots behind her, and was forced to stop at the end of the hallway, backed up against a wall, with a window showing the twenty foot drop to the concrete below. She turned around, facing Bronsky and the two groups of policemen, as well as their angered faces. Bronksy reached out for her, but she panicked, and backed away quickly. Her foot hit the wall behind her, and she looked back, seeing the window set about a foot off the floor. She looked at Bronsky, and stepped up onto the windowsill.
Sergeant Bronsky stopped moving towards her, and shook his head. "Come on now, Rose. You don't want to do that. We're not here to hurt you. We're trying to help-"
"I just caused an earthquake downtown that probably did thousands of dollars in damage. You want to arrest me. I can't get arrested, I can't!" Rose felt the panic rising inside her, and she could feel a slight trembling in the building. Her powers...
Bronsky seemed to not notice the shaking. "Rose, calm down. You can't get away. The building is surrounded by police. Just come quietly, and we won't hurt you."
Rose shook her head, hesitating a moment. "You are lying! I can't go with you. You'll put me in some prison, and I'll never get out!"
"Rose, there's no other choice. You can't run, and you can't fight this many of us. Calm down. We can help you." Bronsky almost sounded like he'd practiced this a hundred times.
Rose didn't believe him, and finally just decided to trust in her powers. She focused, and the window suddenly shattered under her will. The policemen hesitated as they saw her eyes glowing yellow as she stood among the falling glass. Rose jumped out of the window before they could recover, landing on a stone that quickly levitated up to meet her feet. Her hands and eyes glowed brightly as she flew into the air, holding on to the stone. Rose felt insane, running from the police using her powers like this.
A hail of gunshots broke her sense of power. She turned her stone quickly, turning a corner around a nearby building putting her out of sight of the policemen. She focused, moving her stone quickly, tearing through the air faster than she could really react. Sirens wailed from the streets below, but quickly faded as she outpaced the cars, stuck in the midday traffic. Her stone held together better than last time, as she fled unthinking. She moved in a straight line, soaring high over the bay and across the opposite shore. The earth beneath her quickly changed from city to a desert, as she entered the wastes north of the city.
The rock began to crumble, and Rose lowered herself quickly. The rock finally fell apart, dumping her hard against the long-dried soil. She stood, brushing herself off, then looked around. She forced her mind to focus on her surroundings, not wanting to think about her situation with the police. She was in some long canyon, near a huge pile of broken rock and rubble. Rose rubbed her eyes. Her powers seemed to cause a lot of dust. Maybe some goggles would help things.
Rose walked around the rubble, hoping to find some shade from the suddenly hot and oppressive sun. She stopped short as she saw what looked like a dessicated husk of some giant insect. Some kind of scorpion had been crushed by the fallen rubble. Rose looked around frantically, half expecting some huge insect to come attack her. Nothing was there, of course, and in a moment she stopped panicking.
With nothing else to do, Rose started walking down the length of the canyon. The usage of her powers had exhausted her, and she felt no need to fly up to the top of the cliffs right now. While she walked, she basically stared at the ground, letting herself think.
She was a fugitive. The police had been there, and her first instinct had been to run away. Rose shook her head in disbelief. It was hard to believe that just over a week ago she had been a completely normal girl, with no powers, no criminal history, and no policemen chasing after her. She sighed.
"Ok, so I'm a criminal. What do criminals with superpowers do when they run away?" Rose spoke aloud to herself again, not feeling embarrassed since she was all alone in the desert anyway.
"Well, they don't wander around in the desert until they die of sunburn and thirst, I guess." Rose half-smiled to herself. She did feel a little silly talking to herself, but it might help her work her problems out, and so she continued.
"Ok, so I'm a runaway supervillain, or something. It's not like that is hopeless. I mean, supervillains stay free for a long time sometimes. I mean, some of them even go good."
"Yeah, the Titans helped Jinx go good for a while, they might be able to help me. It's not like I killed anyone. I just accidentally earthquaked the city, and my school, and ran away from the police. No one can get mad that I ran away from two dozen guys with guns pointed at me."
Rose walked in silence for a moment. "I hope Shawna is Ok. She didn't have anything to do with it. I guess I need to start thinking about the people I associate with. I can't keep putting people I care about in danger. Maybe it's better to hang out with a bunch of weirdos like the Titans. At least then I wouldn't mind so much if they got in trouble because of me."
Rose fell silent, mulling over her discordant thoughts in her mind. Everything had been so insane in the last day that she could barely focus. The heat of the sun wasn't helping either. She stopped walking, seeing the end of the canyon in front of her. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looked up at the cliff face. There was a smallish pathway, roughly formed with stone, that led to a cave opening. Something about the place made her want to go in, and so she shrugged, and started climbing the stone stairs.
It wasn't long before she found herself peering into the shallow cave. It didn't go deep, and seemed almost like it had been carved into the mesa. It was a corridor that dug directly into the side of the mesa, and then turned abruptly. She walked inside, moving slowly and letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. After the turn, the corridor went about another thirty feet, and then terminated in a smallish, flat-floored room. Rose looked around the room, surprised that it showed signs of habitation. No one had been in here in a long time though, as there was dust and sand piled around everything.
The room was maybe ten feet on each side, not naturally formed, but the walls weren't flat either. There was a hole in one wall, leading diagonally upwards, and letting in a bit of light. There was a basin underneath the hole, maybe to catch water. It was empty at the moment, however. There was an old radio in the corner, mostly buried in sand, as well as a small backpack. There were also a few stone furnishings. A crude table, and a few stones that may have served as chairs. They didn't look heavily used. There were also a few jugs nearby, full of what looked like water, but not knowing how long they'd been there, and who they belonged to, Rose didn't bother with them.
Rose walked across the room, dusting the sand away from the radio, and flipping the switch to turn it on. Nothing happened. Not surprised, Rose carefully set it back down, not wanting to just break it further by tossing it away. She looked at the backpack a moment. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to just start digging through stuff, but she felt that she may as well, since it wasn't being used frequently anyway.
She picked up the backpack, pulling it from the small mound of sand that had blown in by chance and surrounded it. Rose walked over to the light, using her powers to move a stone next to the small pool of light, and sitting on it. Setting the backpack in front of her, she unzipped it, looking inside.
She pulled the items out one by one. First, a grey long sleeved shirt. Hardly useful in the desert. Rose shrugged, putting it aside, on the sand nearby. Secondly, a small, short sleeved black shirt. She held it up, looking at it skeptically. It might fit her. Maybe. She lay it on top of the grey shirt. Next was a pair of jean shorts, about her size. Getting a little unnerved by the clothing, she put it aside quickly. A pair of goggles was the next thing. She smiled, and put them on. Maybe they would help with her powers, if she needed to use them again.
Reaching to the bottom of the backpack, Rose pulled out a small book. It was bound in a simple black leather case, hardback, and wasn't more than six inches by four inches. She opened the cover, wincing as the dried old leather cracked from the movement. The front page read simply "Tara Markov".
Rose looked at the name for a moment. Something about it was familiar, and she felt strange, thinking of it. The handwriting was extremely similar to her own, and it was disquieting. She turned the page. It was a diary entry, dated about two years ago.
Dear diary number four,
Diary three is still in Kansas, in the cave west of Smallville. It's in the lead box, so that jerk Conner can't read it if he ever finds it. Anyway, this is my diary for Jump City. Hopefully things will go better here. I made this cave today, it took about three hours I guess. My watch is also back in Smallville. The sinkhole there wasn't too bad, and no one got hurt, but I still had to go. Why can't I do this?
Anyway, yeah, just made the cave. There's a weird scuttling noise sometimes nearby, and I can't really place it. I think I'll walk around the city tomorrow, see what's up. It seems like a cool enough place, and the Titans are based here.
-Terra
Rose stared at the name. Terra. The girl that the Titans had confused with her. She flipped a few pages, and a small photograph fell out. It was old and faded, and it didn't look like the desert heat and dryness had been good to it, but she picked it up anyway, and took off her goggles to see better. Rose's mouth fell open.
Anyone. Anyone in the world would have guessed that it was a picture of Rose smiling and giving a peace sign as she stood on the shore of the bay, with Titan's Tower in the background. The girl in the picture, presumably Terra, was smiling happily. She was wearing the clothes that had been in the bag, or clothes exactly like them, as well as heavy brown gloves. Rose also noticed a small, butterfly shaped hairpiece. She looked at the page that the photo had fallen from. It was another entry, about a week after the first.
Dear diary four,
Got my picture taken with Titans Tower in the background. The guy who took it was just a tourist who seemed nice. Anyway, he gave me the Polaroid after he took the photo, so that's cool. The city isn't bad. There are bad sections, which I guess is good for a superhero, but there are also a lot of nice areas. It's sunny here. warm, nice sunny, not cold and windy sunny, like Kansas.
That scuttling noise gets worse at night. It sounds like some huge thing, walking around outside. It doesn't seem like it can get in though, so I guess it's ok. The chairs and table, if you could even call them that, are working out ok. Food is pretty easy to come by. There's a river that runs nearby, and empties into the bay, and plenty of fish are there.
Anyway, I'm going to mess around with the land nearby. The sand is annoying; I might have to get something to keep it out of my eyes. Also the rock seems really odd, it feels unstable somehow. After I move it, it tends to break a lot. I'm going to see if I can find a way to stop it from doing that.
-Terra
Rose flipped the page again. The next entry seemed hastily written, undated, and it was short.
Diary,
Met Titans. Just getting things. Back soon.
-T
Rose grinned. It was sort of cute that the girl had stopped to write in her diary when the Titans were waiting for her. The handwriting was still a lot like hers, but it wasn't bothering her as much. Somehow reading this diary gave her a sense of calm. Plus, it was interesting to read about the girl that the Titans had so adored. The next entry was dated two days later.
Dear Diary,
He told. Beastboy told them. He promised he wouldn't, and he told them.
Why is it always like this?
Anyway, I stayed at the Titans' overnight. They were pretty impressed with my powers. Beastboy knew I couldn't control them, and he told them.
I met their enemy guy. I guess every superhero has an enemy or something. Slade was his name. He's a big guy, tall, with only one eye. He talked to me when I ran away, after almost hurting Beastboy during a fight. It was an accident! Slade told me he could help me control it. He said he could help me stop the mistakes. He gave me my butterfly back, I lost it with the scorpion.
Oh, right, that was the scuttling noise. A giant scorpion thing. I smashed it with a rock. No problem.
I don't know about Slade. He seemed like he might be able to help, but he's so... creepy.
I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now; maybe things will make sense in the morning.
-Terra
Rose frowned at the description of Slade. It brought back memories of her father's conversation with Agent Fite. She wasn't sure why the description of Slade was so close to her father, and she was pretty certain that she didn't want to know. Why would her father have met with Terra? Did he have some interest in talking to superheroes? Rose sighed, and turned the page again.
Diary,
I still don't know. I practiced all day today, and I still feel like my powers won't obey me.
Maybe Slade is right. Maybe he's the only one that can help me.
I bought a paper today. I'm not mentioned in the story about the Titans defending the mine. I guess that's fine. I don't want to see Beastboy again anyway.
-Terra
Rose turned the page to the next entry. It was dated about two weeks past the previous.
Diary four,
Slade contacted me.
Well, he left a package at the mouth of my cave. How he found me, I don't know. The package had a weird suit in it. It looks like a costume. Long sleeved black shirt with a "T" on it, yellow shorts, and a little belt with bags on it. I don't know what it's for. There was a little ear piece as well. I put it on, and immediately I heard him talking to me.
He just told me that I could call him with the ear piece if I ever needed him, and the suit was for the Titans, if I saw fit to join them.
He still creeps me out. I like the costume though.
-T
Rose flipped a few pages, until she came to a blank page. She flipped back, and read the last entry.
Dear Diary number four,
I'm not sure, but this might be my last entry for a while. I've been talking to Slade, and he makes sense. He seems to know how to control himself, and he might help me get under control. He wants me to meet him downtown,in the city. I'm going to go.
Whatever he is planning to do to help me control myself, it's not going to be just a weekend or something. He's a martial artist, and that means it will be a long time before he gets done training me in anything. I'll come back and write here when I'm able.
Thanks for being a friend, and I hope I'll be back in a few weeks or so.
Bye.
-Terra
Rose set the book down, and sighed. Judging from the Diary, Terra had gone to work with Slade. Slade seemed like a bad person, and at the very least he was an enemy of the Titans. Rose thought again of her father, and his continued antipathy for the group. She shut the thought out of her mind. That wasn't possible. Her father was just some kind of businessman. The one eye and the weird talk with the Agent were just coincidences. She sighed heavily, and then suddenly heard a noise from the corridor. Sounded like a footstep in the sand.
"Who's there?" Rose stood quickly, and felt her powers come to the ready.
The girl stepped into the light of the chamber as she spoke. "It's just me. I came to talk."
Rose calmed herself, not sure why she felt so combative. "Hi, Raven. Sorry. How did you find me?"
Raven stepped across the sand, looking around with interest. "I could sense you from the Tower. what is this place? Those clothes look like Terra's."
"They are. I was reading her diary. I came here after-"
"Getting chased by the police, resisting arrest, and scaring some girl's parents half to death?" Raven's voice was even, but there was a hint of a smile her it, though her face didn't show it.
Rose nodded, and sat down, not amused by Raven's joking manner. "Yeah. I don't know why I came here. Maybe I am Terra, maybe I'm not, I don't know. I can't work anything out, and my powers are getting too uncontrollable. I need help."
Raven used her own powers to set a stone near Rose's. "That's why I'm here. Well, that, and I'm supposed to be an emissary from the Titans. Beastboy says he's sorry."
Rose laughed bitterly. "I'll be fine. I won't die or anything, he's just annoying. What do the Titans want?"
"Well, either we want you to join us, and work with us to find a way to control your powers, or at least try to stop damaging the city with them. We won't turn you in to the police. Many so-called superheroes work rather outside the law anyway." Raven looked at the ground as she spoke, seemingly a bit uncomfortable.
Rose sat quietly a moment. "I'm sorry that I sort of attacked you guys. It wasn't me. My powers did it. I know that sounds lame."
Raven didn't respond at first. When she did, her voice sounded forced, as if what she was saying didn't come out easily. "I... have trouble controlling my own powers. If I feel any emotion, or at least any strong one, they activate by themselves. I have to keep myself in check all the time."
"That's... kind of awful. I hope my powers aren't like that." Rose didn't know how to respond.
Raven looked at the ground. "At the very least, they aren't caused by the same thing. I'm not metahuman. I'm... I guess 'demonic' would be the closest to accurate. I'm telling you this in confidence, because you seem like you need someone to talk to honestly."
Rose thought for a moment, then spoke. "Demonic? You're a superhero though. That makes me... well, I guess it makes me happy. If you can overcome something like that, my being metahuman sort of seems like a petty problem."
Raven looked towards her. "I'm here, and I don't have to leave for a while. Let's talk. I'll try to help you, and maybe we can sort all of this out."
Rose nodded, slowly. "Ok, let's talk."
A/N: Poor Rose has to wade through some emotional baggage. Things are starting to clear up, as Rose learns more about Terra, and starts to see holes in her father's facade. Here's hoping that you enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you have things to say about it, I like comments and criticism. See you in a few weeks, with a new chapter!