Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline and the original characters. Everything else belongs to DC Comics.
Chapter Eighteen
"Why is Rorek suddenly here?" Robin asks at breakfast the next morning. Raven chooses to take a bite of her food instead of answering the question. Rorek places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm not romantically involved with either of them." Raven's tone is almost bitter. "Rorek was injured. Malchior released me from his bindings. Malchior switched places with Rorek because Malchior is able to do much more for Azarath at this time."
"Why didn't they both just stay in Azarath?" the disgruntled leader demands. "There are very few things my brother and I agree on, Robin," Rorek says calmly, "the need for Raven's protection is one of them."
"Why is friend Raven in need of protection?" Starfire asks. Jinx shoots an angry glance at the alien girl, obviously not wanting her involved in family matters. Cyborg kisses her cheek, drawing her attention away from the situation at hand.
"That is none of your concern, Star. Raven has her own reasons for doing things. No one on the team objects to Rorek being here, just like no one objects to Jinx staying with us. Neither of them is actually on the team, they just stay in the Tower. So really, it's none of our business."
The lecture didn't come from Cyborg, surprisingly. Rather, the enlightening lecture came from the green changeling eating copious amounts of tofu. Raven glances at him, trying to portray gratitude without actually expressing it. Beast Boy nods once, accepting the unspoken thanks. It briefly occurs to the sorceress that the youngest member of the team really has matured since the team formed.
"I am sorry, Raven," Starfire says mournfully, "I did not mean to offend."
"You didn't, Starfire. Don't worry about it."
One long fight with a mutated scorpion later, the team stands in the middle of Titans Tower with a female vigilante. Raven hangs out near the back of the room, Rorek on one side and Jinx on her other. Raven analyzes the blonde character in front of her before allowing her face to slip into a grimace.
"I don't trust her," Raven tells her companion. Jinx's eyebrows raise and a small smirk settles on her lips. "You don't trust anyone, Rae."
"Yeah, but I really don't trust her." Rorek shakes his head, his face lighting up with a smile. Robin approaches the trio. He stands directly in front of Raven. "What do you think?" he asks her.
In the past, no matter their differences, Robin has trusted Raven to give him sound advice. After all, the Red-X incident resulted in him losing his team's trust, but Raven did warn him. Looking back, Robin knows he should've listened to her. His worst mistakes happen when he doesn't listen to the sorceress.
Raven frowns, contemplating. "I think we need to do an interview." At Robin's shocked look, Raven continues, "We've had too many dynamic changes. We're beginning to confuse the citizens. We need to figure out what to do with Terra confirm the team and then do an interview covering everything from the last while."
"Okay," Robin says slowly, "but what do you think about Terra?"
"I think she is untrustworthy and lacking in control. I also think she lacks self-confidence. I can feel her… anxiety at being around so many people that seem to accept her. Even if the four of us are unsure about her, just Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire accepting her presence is a bigger gift than she's had in a long time."
Robin nods, eying his close friend warily. "Well, let's sort out two of our issues now. Jinx, what are you planning to do?"
"I'm not staying with the Titans," the pink-haired sorceress says. Robin raises his eyebrows, obviously thinking his teammate's half-sister is planning to turn back to the HIVE. "No, no, no," Jinx waves her hands around in protest, "I'm not turning to the dark side! I just don't want to be a Titan. That's just too much publicity for me. I'm thinking of pulling a Bruce Wayne and turning toward the vigilante life."
Concern shows in Raven's eyes, but she quickly slams down an impassive mask. "Do be careful would you? I do not wish to deal with Arella to explain the loss of her daughter."
Jinx smiles easily. "Guess I should break the news to Cyborg, huh? I'm not breaking up with him, just not living at the tower. Think our friend will be okay with that?"
"I think," the ancient dragon mage says, "that Cyborg will be content with all of your decisions. He is wrapped around your finger, even without the use of magic." Jinx's smile turns into a mischievous grin. "I know."
She skips off to Cyborg, pulling him aside and talking to him. "Well, that's one thing down. Rorek, what about you?"
"I am not… becoming a Teen Titan, but I will be remaining in the Tower. I assume that is alright with the team?"
"It's not an issue," Robin says. "Alright, now we need to decide what to do about Terra. I was thinking of running her through the obstacle course. Seeing if she's capable of controlling her powers at all?"
Raven shakes her head. "It's a bad idea. She's a geomancer. One slip and she'll take out the entire city."
Raven inches closer to Rorek. He wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her body into his side. He knows what she's thinking as he's hearing it in the bond.
Terra could destroy the city. I will destroy the world. How can I possibly be so hypocritical toward Terra when I know what I will do in the end? At least, we're all aware of Terra's lack of control. I've never even told the team about my destiny. They're going to hate me. Rorek and Malchior already hate me.
"I do not hate you, my Raven," Rorek's thoughts entwine with Raven's in a reassuring caress. Raven squeezes his hand. "You should, but you're far too forgiving."
"We need to keep an eye on her than. You can use your powers to stop hers, right?"
Raven swallows. "Theoretically I could place a stasis on her abilities to manipulate earth in order to stop anything should she trigger a natural disaster."
"Good, we'll do that then. Once we decide on Terra, I'll arrange the Press Conference."
The next morning, breakfast is significantly quieter after Jinx decided to leave the Tower. Cyborg took it well though, stating that it may be better for their relationship to have some space. She left almost immediately after she finished her conversation with her boyfriend to go find refuge for the night. Jinx leaving left a hole in the Tower's dynamics, but Terra's arrival makes up for it somehow.
After breakfast, Robin and Cyborg set up the obstacle course. The team's leader stands behind the control panel with Raven. Normally the sorceress wouldn't stand there, but when she needs to be able to place a stasis on someone? Well, then Raven would stand in the prime spot to intercept something. She'd been standing there when Cyborg went through the course as well. She doesn't want Terra to suspect anything.
Raven internally beams with pleasure when she sees Cyborg's time. Two minutes and seventeen seconds was an extraordinary score, not that she would tell him that.
"Boo-yah! New course record!" Raven rolls her eyes in exasperation. She wouldn't need to tell Cyborg he did well. The robot man was cocky enough to know it on his own.
"Well, yeah, but you're the first one to do the course." So naturally, she has to knock him down a peg or two. Robin glances at her. 'You ready?' She responds with a discrete nod. Robin in turn looks down at Terra.
"Okay, Terra! Ready to show us what you can do?"
"I just hope you're ready to see it."
Raven watches as Beast Boy approaches Terra. "That isn't going to end well," she tells Robin softly. "He's going to fall for her, and he's going to fall hard. I can feel the emotions welling up in him already. They're easily comparable to what Cyborg feels for Jinx, or to what Starfire feels for Aqualad."
"Starfire and Aqualad?" He asks, his face betraying the fact that he had no knowledge of that pairing. Raven waves her hand in a dismissive motion. "Yeah, that's been going on since we helped him out with the Triton thing."
They both begin to acknowledge Terra again. Upon seeing that she was ready to begin, Robin starts the timer. "Countdown initiated! Good luck, Terra."
Raven shoots him a glare. He shrugs. "I do have to put on appearances." Rorek looks up at the two behind the panel as the others cheer on the newcomer. "This is going to be interesting, isn't it?" He asks. Both heroes nod. Rorek sighs. "That's what I was afraid of."
Robin and Raven watch the entire thing from the panel. As she clears each round, the other three Titans' admiration grows. As she clears each round, the worry from Raven and Robin grows. She's proving herself to be very powerful, working through each challenge Robin sends her way, but extreme power is what Rorek, Raven and Robin all feared. The more power, the less control; the less control, the more danger.
"We're going to need a new obstacle course," Raven grumbles as Robin starts another obstacle. She carefully examines Terra's movements. Fear begins to manifest as she realizes Terra truly lacks control. It's exactly as they all feared.
"You rock!" Beast Boy's euphoria is evident. Obviously, the changeling assumed that Terra passing the course would mean automatic acceptance to the team.
"One minute and fifty-six seconds. She's twenty-one seconds faster than Cyborg, and he built this course," Raven murmurs. Both Robin and Rorek acknowledge this as Raven announces it to the others.
"I must have softened it up for her."
He really doesn't accept loss well, does he?
"You were incredible!" Beast Boy's announcement goes along with a sweeping monster hug. "I did it! You said I could do it, and you were right!" Beast Boy's euphoria does nothing to compare to Terra's, Raven notices as she begins to push out the overwhelming happiness her teammates are pushing on her.
"She isn't safe," Raven quickly tells Robin. "She has no precision in her movements, not the way Rorek does and he's pyrokinetic. No precision means she learns on her own, she was never taught any proper technique."
"What's your suggestion?"
Raven hesitates, here's where it gets tricky. "Invite her to join the team. It's better for her to be here, where we can keep our eye on her and teach her control, than to let her go join the likes of Slade as an apprentice."
Robin nods and steps down from the control panel to talk to Terra. "A little rough around the edges, but you've got some real talent there," he comments. Terra grins. "You think?"
"With a little more training, you could-"
Robin is cut off by the alarms going off. Raven's warning system built into her uniform blinks, as does the one built into Starfire's and Beast Boy's. Robin's communicator simply sounds like a fire alarm in a public high school. Cyborg's robotic eye blinks. Rorek just adopts a mask of annoyance. He'd hoped to spend some time with Raven working on defensive magic.
"Why is everyone blinking?" Terra asks, mimicking Rorek's annoyance. "Trouble," Raven answers simply.
The incident in the diamond mines racks everyone's nerves, but especially Terra's. When everyone is in the Tower that evening, Terra stands in the common area with her backpack slung over one shoulder.
"Well, guys, it's been uh real. Seriously, thanks for everything but I should-"
Her short, and mildly aggravating, soliloquy is given to the other Titans, save Cyborg, and Rorek. She tries to walk out at the end of it, but when the door opens, Cyborg is blocking her exit. "Don't even think about it."
Terra freezes. "Okay, what's going on?"
Raven shrugs. "Well,"
"We talked it over and…"
"We wish for you to stay here, with us!" Starfire giggles as she finishes Cyborg's sentence.
"We think you'd make a great addition to our team."
Rorek scowls in the background. Why are they sugarcoating everything? Why not just tell her that they want to teach her control?
"So, do you want to be a Titan?" Beast Boy asks excitedly. Robin holds out a communicator and Terra just stares at it. "Me? Really?" Robin nods and Terra hesitantly takes the communicator.
"Of course, but you'll need more training. You have trouble controlling your powers, but Rorek and Raven can help with that."
The communicator falls to the ground. "You told him?" Terra shouts the question.
Beast Boy shakes his head adamantly. "I didn't!"
Raven steps forward, seeing that Terra is about to blow up. "Calm yourself," she orders the geomancer. "Beast Boy didn't betray any trust you placed in him. Robin asked me to watch you while you went through the obstacle course this morning. It was very easy for me to tell that you lack any proper training with your powers. We aren't judging you for it, Terra, but we are concerned. However, in that fight today I realized that what you lack in proper control, you make up for in determination. Your powers are much like that of Rorek's and mine. We can help you, teach you. Do not make rash decisions when you don't know all sides of the story."
Terra frowns, and then looks at Beast Boy. "You didn't tell them anything?" He shakes his head rapidly. "Promise?"
"Yes."
Then she turns to Rorek and Raven. "And you two would... teach me? You wouldn't judge me if I don't pick things up quickly?"
"No, of course not," Rorek says. "There is a word for what you do, Terra. You are a geomancer. It's a lot like one of my gifts, which is pyrokinesis. Except, I manipulate fire instead of earth. The technique, however, is almost exactly the same."
The geomancer in question slowly nods. "Okay… okay, I'll join the team."
Camera's flash. The snapping sound that signals pictures being taken echoes in Raven's ears. Her annoyance flares. Even if this was her idea, she hates it. These interviews are the bane of her existence, second only to the existence of her father. That is how much she hates them.
"Robin, what is the official layout of the team?" A reporter asks. Robin steps forward, quickly checks his microphone, and begins answering. "I am the leader. That decision was unanimously upheld by all six members of the team, and I did say six. Raven is my second-in-command, and acts in my place if I am somehow unavailable. We have a new, official member of the team. Terra, step forward."
The blonde girl moves to Robin's side and waves to the crowd. Raven notes that she's very charismatic. 'Well, even if she ends up getting us all killed, at least she'll give us good publicity.' She sends the message to Rorek, portraying her classic snarky attitude as best she can. Rorek chuckles out loud in response.
"Terra is a geomancer and very recently joined the team."
"And who is the other newcomer to the team?" The same reporter asks. Robin gestures for Raven to take this question. She glares at him. He grins sheepishly in response. He's your, well, whatever he is. Raven rolls her eyes.
"His name is Rorek and he runs team communications while we are on a mission." She crosses her arms, daring the reporter to ask anything else.
"T-Thank you, Ma'am."
Raven smirks. Maybe this isn't so bad after all.
AN: And so Terra joins the team! Don't worry, I have plans for her. I said earlier that I planned for this to be done by the end of September... well, I wasn't counting on my homework load so as I still have about twelve chapters to write, I'm going to give myself extra time and plan for the end of October. Still considering a sequel... I haven't decided yet. Anyway, I hope the extra long chapter makes up for the lack of updates.