Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.
The water coming out of the shower head was steaming hot, yet Terra shivered. Even though the extraction fan was running at full speed every glass surface in the bath was becoming fogged up, including the sliding glass door in the shower stall. Terra scrubbed her pale skin absentmindedly with the loofah, as she dwelled on the dream she just had.
She had clearly been unnerved by the Wild Man's return. The green savage had been absent since their confrontation just over a year ago. Not only had he returned but he brought a friend. Terra pondered the significance of her alter ego's sudden appearance, but couldn't think of anything that made sense.
The geomancer was soon done with her morning ablutions, stepped out of the stall and began to dry herself with a towel. She quickly dried her body off and grabbing the blow dryer on the counter she began to work on her long blond hair.
The mirror in front of her remained fogged as she finished drying her hair and she wiped it clear with a dry hand towel. She hung the small towel back up and shrieked as she looked back into the mirror, as she saw the Wild Man and her younger self in the reflection, both smiling at her.
She stepped back in shock and stumbled, falling onto the floor. She stared terrified at the mirror which had fogged up again and for a moment she didn't dare to move. Eventually she summoned the courage to stand up again and cautiously approached the mirror, wiping it clear again. This time all she saw was her current reflection, which still perturbed her as she saw dark circles under her eyes.
It was then that Terra noticed that she was trembling. She sat down on the toilet seat and she began to cry.
What's happening to me?
The alarm clock began to beep in the Logans' room, at first gently but it quickly started beeping louder and faster. Beast Boy was awake but couldn't summon the will power to raise his arm to shut it off, that is until he felt a sharp nudge in his ribs.
"Gar, get the alarm clock." Raven admonished him in a still sleepy monotone deadpan. A green arm emerged from under the covers and hit the snooze button.
Raven sat up, rubbing her eyes while Beast Boy just rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.
"You shower first Rae, I wanna sleep some more." He finally replied to her in a muffled voice as his face was buried in his pillow.
Raven had a disturbed expression on her face.
"Get up Gar, we need to talk. We can talk in the shower."
While Beast Boy always enjoyed showering with his wife the novelty had worn off somewhat after a year of marriage. Still, he wasn't about to turn down the offer so he slowly crawled out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. Raven was already in the steaming hot shower stall when he entered the room and after dropping his pajama bottoms he joined her. Still yawning he grabbed a soapy loofah and began to scrub her back as she washed her hair.
"What do you want to talk about?"
Raven finished rinsing the shampoo out of her hair before turning around and replying.
"I sensed something last night." She said as she motioned him to turn around, which he did. She continued talking as she scrubbed his back.
"Something evil has entered this house Gar."
Beast Boy turned around wide eyed.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure. I sensed it when it arrived but I can't feel it anymore. It's hidden now."
Beast Boy looked alarmed.
"Shouldn't we go look for it?"
Raven shook her head.
"It's not a physical being Gar."
"You mean it was a spirit?"
Raven stood still as the water dripped down her face.
"I don't know what it was. All I know is that it wasn't here before and that it arrived just before the alarm clock went off. The presence was so strong it woke me up."
Beast Boy continued to look troubled.
"How evil is this thing?"
Raven shut the water off.
"It was evil enough to make me nauseous. It reminded me of my old burden, but much worse."
"So what do we do Rae? Can you call for help?"
"If you mean Raphael, I haven't heard from him in over a year. I'm afraid we're on our own Gar."
"So, should we bring this up during breakfast?"
"I'm not sure." She said as they began to dry themselves. "There really isn't anything the others can do about it."
"But shouldn't they at least know?"
Raven stopped.
"I guess you're right Gar. I tried to protect all of you in the past from these kinds of things, and I usually failed. I'll bring it up when the meeting starts. Anyway, we'd better hurry up, or we'll be late."
Cyborg was whistling happily in the kitchen as he prepared breakfast for the team. He had a dozen pancakes cooking on the built in electric griddle while he cooked bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs and hash browns simultaneously in several pans, along with some tofu eggs for the grass stain. The mansion kitchen was a chef's dream come true and Cyborg was already beginning to plan yet another remodel job for the kitchen back home.
He looked up as he heard some footsteps approach and saw Terra and Aqualad enter the breakfast nook, which was larger than most formal dining rooms. He knew that Raven gave the cleaning staff time off when the house was occupied and only a single maid would come by in the morning to change the sheets, run the vacuum cleaner and tidy up the bathrooms. Raven would do everything else herself. Cyborg made a mental note to clean the kitchen immediately after breakfast.
"Good mornin' y'all. Ready for a Stone family style breakfast?"
Cyborg noticed that Terra didn't look well as she entered the room.
"Does my favorite rock-n-roller have any special requests?"
Terra looked up and Cyborg saw that she had dark circles under her eyes.
"Thanks Cy, I think you already have it covered."
Raven and Garfield entered just a moment later and both immediately noticed Terra's disheveled state.
"Terra, are you OK?" Beast Boy asked her with a concerned tone as the others began to file in.
Terra gave him a weak smile before replying.
"I look that bad huh? I didn't sleep well last night. I had a scary nightmare."
"You did?" Raven asked, clearly interested in what the blond had to say. "Anything you'd care to share?"
Terra shook her head. "No, it was just a stupid nightmare."
"Well, given your condition it's ok if you need to take a break later to catch up with your sleep." Nightwing added.
"I'm not some weak little girl Nightwing!" The geomancer snapped at him.
"I never said you were. All I meant was if you need to take a nap later you can."
"Well I don't! OK?"
"That's your choice Terra." He replied calmly before changing the subject.
"Let's eat before breakfast gets cold."
The combined team once again devoured the food that was placed before them, this time in relative silence. After Raven had eaten her fill and was satisfied she cleared her throat.
"There's something that I need to bring to everyone's attention." She said in her monotone.
"What is it?" Bumblebee asked.
Raven scanned the puzzled faces that surrounded the table.
"I sensed something last night. Something evil entered the house while we slept."
Starfire looked puzzled. "An intruder? But how did it get past our security system? Was anything stolen?"
"No Starfire, not a physical intruder."
"You mean an evil spirit came into the house." Speedy asked.
Raven nodded. "That's correct, and as soon as it entered the house it disappeared."
As Raven said this she noticed that Terra betrayed a nervous expression on her face, even if it was for just a moment.
"Terra, are you feeling OK?" Raven asked. "You're sweating a lot."
Terra rose to her feet.
"Maybe Nightwing's right. I'm not feeling well. I'm gonna go lie down for a while."
Aqualad rose to his feet.
"I'll come with you." He offered.
"No Garth, you stay and enjoy your breakfast. I'll be fine." She said and abruptly walked away.
Beast Boy heard a voice in his head.
Something's wrong with her Gar. I could feel waves of panic emanating from her.
Do you think this might have something to do with our visitor?
I don't know, but after breakfast I think you and I should go check in on her.
I hope she's alright.
So do I.
Terra was in a near state of panic as she entered her room. She slammed the door shut behind her and locked it after which she began to pace nervously around the room. Her mind was racing.
What's happening to me? I can't let them know, especially Raven. She'll know that something's wrong with me! I'll get kicked out again. I can't let that happen!
Terra saw the large floor length mirror at the other side of the room, and wondered if she should chance it. She walked over to the mirror and looked into it, seeing only her own reflection. She let out a sigh of relief.
Maybe I do need a nap. Maybe it was just a stupid dream and nothing more.
As she turned to the bed she gasped, as the Wild Man and her younger self were sitting on it. The Wild Man had a smug expression while the teen version of herself, who was dressed in her old Teen Titans costume, wore an evil grin.
"No!" She shouted as she pointed at them. "You're not real! You can't be! I'm imagining this."
Young Terra leaped from the bed and approached her, still grinning.
"Well, if I'm not real, then this shouldn't hurt!" She shouted as she jumped up in the air and connected a roundhouse kick to Terra's face, knocking her out.
Beast Boy and Raven had excused themselves from the meeting to check up on Terra. The room the geomancer shared with her fiancé was at the other end of the mountain top mansion and the Logans, who had been joined by Aqualad, were walking quickly to the room.
"I'm worried about her." Aqualad said out loud to no one in particular. "She's been kind of weird since … we found out."
"So you're saying that she didn't take the news well?" Raven asked.
"No, not really. I mean, it was a surprise. It was the only time we were intimate, who would have thought …"
"Dude! It's been known to happen before."
Aqualad shook his head, clearly expressing his dismay with the situation.
"Of course, as soon as we found out I asked her to marry me."
"That was very gallant of you." Raven replied.
Aqualad chuckled halfheartedly. "If I hadn't Aquaman would have ripped me a new one."
"So how did she react when you proposed?"
"Well, she did seem happy …"
Raven's eyes suddenly popped wide open.
"Gar! The evil! I can sense it again!"
"Where is it Rae?"
Raven paused and closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could. When she opened them again both men saw pure fear in her eyes. She turned to Aqualad.
"It's in your room!"
Aqualad took off running as fast as he could while Raven swept her white cape around her and Beast Boy, phasing them into the ground in an aura of white energy. Within an instant the Logans appeared in the bedroom and quickly scanned their surroundings. Beast Boy saw her first.
"Raven, over here!"
At that very instant Aqualad burst through the locked door, smashing it to pieces. He saw Beast Boy cradling a still unconscious Terra in his arms.
"What happened to her?" The Atlantean cried out.
"We don't know. We just found her." Raven answered.
"Someone hit her. Look at the bruise on her face!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
Raven cupped Terra's face with her palm and a glimmering white energy field appeared. The two men watched as the bruise quickly vanished and Terra opened her eyes a few seconds later.
"Terra, what happened? Who attacked you?" Aqualad asked her.
Terra appeared to be in a daze as she looked at her teammates.
"I don't know." She lied. "I guess I never saw it coming."
"Rae, is the evil presence still here?"
Raven shook her head.
"No, it vanished again just as quickly as before."
"You mean to say that I was attacked by an evil spirit?" Terra asked innocently.
Beast Boy and Aqualad were now staring at Raven, who sighed.
"Apparently so."
"Who was it Raven, I mean, can you identify who it was?" Aqualad asked.
"I'm afraid I can't. Just because I used to be a half demoness doesn't mean I know every demon out there by name, and even if I did it disappeared so quickly that there's no way I could identify it."
Garth hugged his fiancée. "Don't worry Terra, I'll stay with you."
"Good idea." Raven added. "Terra, you might want to get some sleep to complete the healing process I performed on you."
"Sure, I guess." She replied.
"Well, we'd better go tell the others." Beast Boy announced. "Nightwing isn't gonna be happy about this."
Aqualad tucked his fiancée into the king size bed they shared in the south facing guest room. She looked physically and emotionally exhausted.
"You'll stay with me, right Garth?"
The Atlantean reclined next to Terra. He had a pair of comic books he had borrowed from Beast Boy.
"I'll be right next to you. You just rest and recover and I'll keep the bad guys away while you sleep. OK?"
Terra smiled and leaned over and gave him a kiss, after which she snuggled up next to him and soon fell asleep.
Terra began to dream almost immediately. She recognized the old amusement park, where she had taken Beast Boy away so he wouldn't be present when the SladeBots attacked tower.
The amusement park was quiet and deserted; there was no sign of anyone, not a single soul as she walked around the empty park for many minutes. Suddenly she heard the sounds of giggles and laughter in the distance. Feeling curious, she ran towards the source of the sound and was greeted by a scene from her past.
She saw younger versions of herself and Beast Boy sitting on a bench, talking and laughing. She smiled as she recalled the happy moments she had shared with the changeling that wonderful night, a night that was ruined by her betrayal of her friends. Terra began to sniffle, as she pondered the wonderful opportunity she had thrown away, because she had pledged her loyalty to a madman.
At that moment though the dream stopped being true to what had happened that night as the couple began to make out without any inhibitions. At first it was just some passionate kissing that moved onto some heavy petting. Then her doppelganger jumped onto Beast Boy's lap, straddling his legs so that they where face to face. After another minute of passionate kissing Beast Boy pulled her top off and began to fondle her, which she replied to with heavy moans of pleasure.
Terra was bug eyed at this point and was beginning to walk away from the indecent couple, but walked backwards as she couldn't take her eyes off them. Then Beast Boy surprised her as he looked in her direction and smiled. Young Terra also looked at her as well.
"Tell me this isn't what you really wanted to do that night." She said as she pulled the changeling's shirt off.
Terra continued walking backwards, the shock and horror were painted all over her face.
"But we were just kids then…"
Beast Boy laughed. "C'mon Terra, why don't you stay and watch? We're gonna go all the way." He said as he looked at younger Terra. "Isn't that right baby?"
The younger girl nodded eagerly and stood up as she began to remove what little clothing she was still wearing. Terra turned around to flee and tripped over a bench that she was certain hadn't been there just a moment ago. She hit the hard concrete surface with a thud and picked herself up immediately, continuing her flight as she heard them laugh at her. She ran all the way to the park's exit, where she found her doppelganger again, this time fully clothed and without Beast Boy.
"OK!" Terra said with indignation. "Who are you and what do you want?"
Younger Terra smiled slyly.
"I already told you, I'm you! But if you can't handle that then just think of me as your best friend, because I'm going to help you get the man you really want."
We did it! We blew past the 20,000 hit mark! Thanks!
Mail bag time!
Hinn-Raven – "And then the Wild Man's back... that can't be good..."
Beastboyfangirl – "I can't believe the Wild mans back!"
The Mighty One – "ARHGH! WHY WON"T HE GO AWAY!"
Bk00 – "but what could possibly go wrong besides that idiot the Wild Man returning?"
Wonderless Angel – "I kind of hoped that Younger Terra and Wild Man wasn't going to corrupt this Terra, but unless Raven had a distant lover in the past, this is the only way for adventure and drama."
Wolvmbm – "who knows what's going to happen now that the Wild Man's back. :("
Dark Rapture – "And the friggin Wild Man is back AGAIN!?!? Oh Motherf*! WHY CANT THIS GUY JUST DIE ALREADY!?!?"
Well … the story is called "The Wild Man's Journey."
I must say though, I'm proud of myself. I've created an OC that fans actually hate more than Terra! That is a true accomplishment!
lpwriter4life – "I read this while at school!"
You were at school on a Saturday?
Novus Ordo Seclorum – "'Saccharine' isn't a word most people consider using in their work, so it is refreshing to see someone (besides me) use it."
Thanks! I noticed though that you didn't compliment me for using 'syrupy'
Asura09 – "Love the story"
Thanks! New reviewers are always welcome!