These Black Eyes

by P0ST

The ongoing adventures and experiences of the Teen Titans, as witnessed through the eyes of a silent newcomer.

142. Raise the Titans

142. Raise the Titan

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Initialize Surveillance Protocols 92/41-SV (Yes/No)?

"Yes"

Initializing....

Initializing....

Initializing....

Initialization Process Complete

Protocols 92/41-SV In Effect

Input Devices at 125 Efficiency

Power Resources 94 And Holding At Nominal Rate Of 0.002 Decrease

Automatic Sensors In Effect

Opening Program "Rahab's House"

Subject: Simon Stone

Location: Phaser Labs In West District of City

Date: October 19, 2004

Time: 0426 Hours

Focusing In....

Recording...

Recording...

Recording...

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

In the darkness of basement level laboratory in Phaser Labs, a glowing aura emanated from a station in the far corner. Whirring sounds echoed through the room as robotic limbs traversed the proximity of a glowing, translucent cylinder. There was something inside of the cylinder. Something slender and graceful that stood four and a half inches high.

And there was something outside of the cylinder. Something flickering atop a circular holographic panel.

The visually-represented construct of Simon Stone huddled over the cylinder. His projected eyes were narrowed....and if they were truly real, they would be glistening. Static beams shimmered down the man's dark face of pixels as if to simulate sweat.

"Come on......come on.....you were working beautifully.....you were working beautifully...."

Whurrrrrrrrr!!

The robotic arms pivoted around glass structure. They glowed and shot forth thin lasers that pierced the glass and illuminated the slender object inside. A young and healthy rose rising up out of a plastic sheathe that held the stem. The red petals reflected the beams of magical light. The thorns dripped with scientific glow.

"Let's do it again...from the top....repeat....repeat....," Simon Stone's electronic voice rambled. He waved his holographic hands and a second phase in the robotic operation took place. The arms spread out in a coordinated ring around the cylinder. They all glowed at once.

Wreeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeee!!!!!

The entire rose glowed.

Stone's eyes narrowed.

Wreeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeee-FLASH!!!

The rose seemed to catch on fire. It pulsed like radioactive embers.

The holographic man didn't so much as flinch.

The robotic arms vibrated.

The cylinder shook.

Then...

Crawling upward from the plastic sheathe and climbing the length of the flower, a solid layer of rock congealed and cracked and crystallized into a statuesque whole.

CRKKKKKTTT!!

And...

The glowing stopped.

The robotic arms fell still.

Stone leaned forward and blinked....not that he needed to. But he did anyway. An electronic gasp escaped his lips.

"Okay.....okay.....a-and now.....reversal......"

Whuuuu—uuuuurrrr!!!

The robotic arms spun back to life.....and kept spinning. They formed a centrifuge around the glass cylinder. A cyclone. The tips of the arms glowed and shimmering lasers practically carved into the translucent surface.

FLAAA-AAAAAAASH!!!!!

The hologram flickered as a power surge was induced by the intense experiment.

The room vibrated.

The shadows ran away from a strong strobe of yellow and yellower light and--

FLASH!!!!

Almost an explosion.

The cylinder shook.

The glow dissipated.

The robot arms slowed to a gentle sway.

And inside the glass jar...the rose was back to normal. Perfect. Beautiful. And unscarred.

The hologram jumped like a schoolboy. "Ha!......Ha ha!!! Ha ha ha ha—Yes!! Oh my g—wait till they hear it....wait till they hear it!!!" The construct composed his emotional programming. "Gotta contact Vic." He spun around and faced the communication console on the other side of the dark laboratory. "Gotta tell them!! It's perfect! Absolutely perfect!! Ahem—Computer!! Place a webphone call in to the Titan's Tower! Priority Simon!"

BEEP! 'Mr. Stone......would such an action truly be advisable at this late a time in the morning?'

The construct rolled his eyes. "Dear Allah....if digital chicks are all I have to look forward to for the rest of my life, you're certainly giving a bad rap!"

Zzzt!! 'Does not compute.'

"Just freakin' patch me through already! Damn!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Knock Knock Knock

A beat.

Cyborg's door slid open.

The android peered out, yawning. "Nnngh....Raven--?? Oh, hi Noir."

I panted. I hand-signed desperately.

"Jeez...," Cyborg tiredly rubbed his human head. "Slow down, man. What's so important this late at night??"

I gestured rapidly, sweating.

"Uhhhhh...............," Cyborg blinked tiredly....on the verge of teetering over. ".........huh?"

I frowned. I shoved him back into his forward.

"Hey! Whoah!!"

I pushed him against a wall. I stomped over. I switched his computer on. I clicked a few buttons and flipped a few switches.

"Say, what's the big idea---"

Flash!!!

"Vic!! Finally!!"

"---oh. Well alright."

"Come down to Phaser Labs! Pretty damnable quick!!"

Cyborg yawned. "What's this all about, old man??"

"You know what I've always told you, young man......," the Construct of Simon smirked and leaned forward suggestively on the screen. "Not the best of things can be explained digitally only!"

A beat.

".............you never told me that!!!" Cyborg frowned.

I bit my lip.

"Well, I'm telling you now. So get your rusted butt over here! This is a very important day for the Titans."

"Day?!?! Man...it's nearly five in the morning!!"

"True true. Shove some Duracells up your wazoo then!! Uncle OUT!!"

Zzzzt!!!

The screen went blank.

I looked at Cyborg desperately.

"Man...did he tell YOU what's going on??"

I sweatdropped.

"Just....five more minutes....," Cyborg leaned back and groaned. "I'm so tired....I can outsleep Congress into a Euthanasia Bill."

I took a deep breath. I marched forward, and banged my hand over the android's chest.

CLANK!!

Slkkkkk! The metal disc/ignition key to the T-Car slid out.

Cyborg blinked. "Man...how'd you—"

I grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him towards the elevator outside.

"Whoah!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SCREEEEEECH!!!!!!!

Barely half an hour later, the T-Car barreled to a halt in front of Phaser Labs.

I jumped out of the driver's seat while a squawking, hot-red Cyborg stumbled out and practically engulfed me in shaking fists. "Okay...I am SO awake now, dawg!! You drive my Baby like that one more time and you're gonna be WEARING that steering wheel on your head! Well, maybe not mine because I had it custom made with rubber grips by a fine shopworke---er...I mean....SHAME ON YOU!!"

I tossed the 'key' into his arms and shoved him inside the automatic doors.

"Yo!! You got my attention already! Let me use my legs for once!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Cyborg and I marched side-by-side into the basement laboratory. The two of us froze instantly.

"........"

"........"

We blinked.

Two familiar people glanced across at us from a set of exercise equipment. That is to say....two half-peoples and half-androids.

"Hola. Buenas dias esta hora temprana, Titanes." Uttered Rachel Mendez. She smiled from where she walked on a treadmill and winked a robotic eye. "Fancy meeting you chicos this hour."

"..........y-yeah.....," Cyborg blinked. "Eheh....kinda forgot you and Slug were being rehabilitated."

"Jean-Luc Blair, to be precise....," uttered an exquisite voice across the room.

Cyborg and I glanced across the laboratory to where the semi-human was lifting weights with his slender, titanium hands. Sweat ran down his balding head as Jean-Luc glanced over and spoke: "Notice.....our worse parts are shut down?? This is all flesh."

I simpered.

"Well....more power to ya," Cyborg smirked. A beat. "Now where the Hell is my Uncle?"

"I'm the Hell here......," the holographic visage appeared on a nearby pedestal. The man's dark face smiled and beckoned at his nephew with a flickering hand. "And boy am I glad you got your bucket of bolts butt up and over here at this hour!!"

"Yeah....well....uh....," Cyborg glanced at me.

I frowned and crossed my arms.

"I was having a pleasant dream!" Cyborg sweatdropped and walked forward.

"Oh yeah?" Simon Stone tapped a shimmering foot. "About what??"

"Something out of your league, old man."

"Ouch."

Rachel giggled.

I glanced at her strangely under my shades.

"So....what's so damned important that I had to come all the way here and.........interrupt C-3PO's gym."

"We heard that."

I snickered breathily.

The hologram turned.

A flicker.

Simon Stone 'teleported' to another holographic pedestal sitting besides a huge computer display. He gestured with glowing arms. "Take a good, long look at it, my boy......"

Amused, Cyborg stepped up. He stroked his chin and thought aloud as he scanned the monitor. "Mitochondrial Intercellular Kineticism. Synthetic Biological Endocatalyst. Hmmmm.......Thermonucleic Amplification of the Greater and Minor Organelles." A beat. "It's been a while since my last anatomy class, but it sounds like you want to explode a toenail or something. HA!"

The hologram had a drunken grin as the construct said: "Do read the last portion, Victor......"

Cyborg sighed. He squinted his human eye. "'Possible Metamorphic Extraction of Crystalline Structural Neutrality When Applied With......W-With Geothermal Ultracurrents......'"

A beat.

Cyborg scratched his human head.

Silence.

He looked at the hologram.

"......."

He looked at the monitor.

"..........................W-Well...........damn."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The next morning in the Tower's Main Room.

"Yeah....uh....I just got here. So.....why do I have to be so suddenly versed on your surface-dwellers' holiday traditions?" Tempest made a face.

"Dude!! Don't ruin it now! I so have your costume done and stuff!! You're gonna be kickass! Now hold still!!" Beast Boy practically frolicked around a standing, crucified Tempest with a measuring tape in his gloved paws. "Sweet!! You're thin!! We won't have to buy so much leather after all!!"

Tempest raised an eyebrow. "Leather??"

Raven glanced up from a book she was reading across the way. "Leather?"

Beast Boy cleared his throat. "A jacket."

".......oh............," Raven returned to her book.

Tempest groaned as Beast Boy hobbled around him. "Please....someone....tell me what the big deal is..."

"It's not a big deal!!" Beast Boy stuck his tongue out. "It's a mandatory deal!"

"No it's not."

"Butt out of this Robin!!....assuming you get a butt first."

Robin smirked sarcastically. He stood against the brightly-lit windows with his arms crossed. "It's a tradition we have here at the Tower, Tempest. We like to call it the 'Titan Fall Festival'. It's nothing short of publicity thing. Basically...we invite a whole bunch of families with little kids to the Tower, deck the place up all Halloween like...and put on a safe 'indoor' Trick or Treat a week before October Thirty-First. It's our way of telling the City that—no matter what supervillains may be out there—the Teen Titans are around to keep things safe. This is becoming our third year here in the City...so it's our Third Annual Titan Fall Festival."

"Hehehe!! It is so full of adorable cuteness and merriment omega!!" exclaimed Starfire who flew by, already trucking a ten-foot high stack of Tupperware containers full of various ornaments and decorations. "How I do love catering to the infantile Terrans and their Hollow Wieners during the time of year that the air grows thin!" She plopped the tall stack down in the middle of the floor.

THWOMP!!!

Robin sweatdropped. "Uhm......well, for one thing Star. Don't say 'Hollow Wieners' when the kids' parents are here. And for another......the thing is two days away and you've got the rest of us here to help you! Why're you starting decorations this early?"

Starfire flew in with a second stack of containers in her deceptively strong grasp. "Robin, do you not enjoy lanterning the jacks and cobwebbing in diligent fashion?" THWOMP!! "With very little in the way of adversaries to presently face, it enthralls me to be employed in such a fashionably productive manner!!"

"The perfect housewife...," Raven droned into her book.

Robin glanced aside. "Who're you talking to?"

"...............no one, obviously."

"....."

Beast Boy cleared his throat. "I got Tempest's measurements! I've got Tempest's measurements!!"

"For what, exactly?" Tempest winced. "I'm getting freaked out."

Starfire jumped up and down giddily. "We are to don outfits of alternative identity!! Often it is something that corresponds with American Post-Modernism. Last year per Robin's suggestion—"

Beast Boy grinned.

Robin hissed for Starfire to be quiet.

Raven rolled her eyes.

"—I was that Lee-loo from the motion picture 'Element of the Fifth Power'."

"Fifth Element....," Robin grumbled. He glanced aside with a slight redness to his cheeks. "And I didn't exactly suggest that...."

Starfire blinked. "Was it not you who showed me the conceptual design of the outfit in the catalogue that I was perusing last year??"

"She has a good memory," Tempest smirked.

"Uh huh," Robin ran a hand through his hair and swallowed.

"Fifth Element....," Beast Boy smirked. "I used to hate that movie."

"What happened?" Tempest asked.

"Halloween came around."

"............ohhhhhhhh....haha....you guys are funny," Tempest chuckled.

"Don't you mean 'we're funny'?" Raven asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're part of us now," the dark girl droned. "Welcome to the asylum."

Robin chuckled.

"I'll take that with a grain of salt water...," Tempest then eyed Beast Boy suspiciously. "What movie are you stealing to get me costumed with?"

"Uh uh uh!! It's a secret, dude!" Beast Boy smirked. He pointed an amused finger and giggled evilly. "I swear...you're gonna look so perfect two days from now."

"Why are you insisting that I look so perfect in a costume??" Tempest asked. His dark eyes narrowed. "Is this some sort of nooby prank?"

"Don't mind Beast Boy," Robin said. "You don't have to partake in this festival thing if you don't want to. At least the costuming part."

"PPSSSTKKK!!!" Beast Boy pounced over and clamped his hands over Robin's mouth. "Don't listen to him!! He's sick! Unclean! Unclean!!"

"Do rest assured, Tempest," Starfire smiled and held her hands together. "The entirety of us will be engaging in this custom. Noir included...and it is his first time as well. There is no embarrassment to fear...for we shall be sharing in the experience."

"Uh...okay....," Tempest simpered with an Atlantean sweatdrop. "All in the family then?"

"Hemophelia...here we come," Raven said.

"This is your favorite time of year, is it not Raven?" Starfire asked.

"...................................," Raven smirked ever so slightly.

"Hehehehe!!"

Robin popped Beast Boy's hands off his mouth and shoved him aside. He cleared his throat, readjusted his outfit, and said: "Last two years in a row...Cyborg's won best costume."

Tempest did a double-take. "Cyborg?!?!"

"Yeah. Let's just say he's got a few lousy tricks up his sleeve...," Beast Boy pouted, bundling up the measuring tape. "Frickin' holograms and plastic prosthetics....I swear...."

"Cyborg is a genius!" Starfire beamed. She then put on a sympathetic face. "And Beast Boy's failure to win the best costume award two years in a row has been known to move him to tears."

"I did NOT cry!!!" Beast Boy cackled. "It was Raven's damn onion dip!"

"I didn't make that. Cyborg did."

"Cyborg's damn onion dip!! He made snacks the first year and the first year alone! And there you have it, the big bucket of bolts was cheating!!"

"Beast Boy...you were dressed as a spark plug the first year," Robin uttered.

"Hey! I had the words 'ignite me' written on the back! Come on, dudes!! Isn't that sexy or what?!"

"Considering that you were pretty much twelve at the time....no....not sexy," Raven flipped a page. "Besides....."

Robin finished: "It's the sparkplug that ignites something. Not the other way around."

"Nuh uh!! Not if you were in zero g!!"

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Disprove it! I dear ya!" Beast Boy pointed a finger. "What...you ever been into outer space??"

"...................."

"......oh....wait.....my bad."

"Yeah."

Starfire bit her lip. "Spark plugs......cannot be ignited by anything.....in outer space—"

"He knows, Starfire," Raven groaned. "He knows...."

Tempest smirked. "Say....speaking of being in disguised...are Noir and Cyborg being the walls this year?"

"Uhm...."

"Cuz I'm not seeing them."

"Oh....that," Robin shrugged. "They left a note."

"Saying.....?"

"They were paying Simon Stone a visit at Phaser Labs."

"Wasn't that very early today?" Raven asked.

"Finally. An experiment on morning wood!"

THWAP!!

Robin shoved Beast Boy over a chair without looking. ".....right. I'm sure if it was important, they'd call us or somethi—"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The computer console at the end of the main room chimed.

Beast Boy crawled back up to his feet. "Speak of the devil.....the ONION DIP CHEATING DEVIL!!!"

"Pfft....take a pill of the chill, man...," Tempest said.

Beast Boy slapped a hand over his forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you, dude! Just stop TRYING!!"

"Hey!! So sue me!!"

"Heheh...that worked!!"

"Hehehehe!" Starfire added.

Robin smirked, rolled his eyes under his mask, and walked over to the computer console where he opened a close channel. "Hello?"

In the meantime, Raven spoke: "How many levels are we going to have accessible to the visitors this year?"

"I do believe most of the middle levels and this upper floor," Starfire said as she opened the first of many containers and produced fake plastic fall leaves. "Perhaps even the ceiling for a special superpowers show. We did that last year, do you recall?"

"I do," Raven nodded. She returned to her book. "They damned well better not go into my room."

"Raven...when have they ever?" Beast Boy shrugged with a smirk.

"Who says I don't have the skin of children in my closet??"

Tempest blinked. "You're freaky."

"And proud of it," she flipped a page.

Robin continued with his muddled conversation in the background.

Beast Boy barely noticed. "So....anyone else need help with his or her costume?? Hmmm??"

"Oooh! Oooh!" Starfire beamed. "I do believe I am in need of a new sling!"

"Ah, well then how can I be of ser---oh wait. Er...nevermind."

Starfire pouted.

Raven suddenly blinked. She glanced up and over at Robin a good minute or two before the others. She was the first to notice the blank expression on his face before he even turned from the console and walked over to face the Titans. And she was also the first to see the teeth biting his lips as empty eyes gazed beyond his mask and towards the floor. The dark girl was silent.

"Robin??" Starfire blinked from behind a Tupperware castle. "Does something ail you?"

"Uhm....," Robin cleared his throat. He bore a pleasantly fake smile. "Nope! I'm fine!"

"What did Cyborg and Noir have to say?"

"Uh....I-I'll tell you in a little bit. Say Beast Boy, you got a moment?"

"Do I ever?!?! You need help with your costume, dude?"

Robin walked over and patted the changeling's shoulder, leading him into the elevator. "Uh...sure. Why not. Let's go chat about it."

"Yeah...cuz....like...," Beast Boy 'framed' with his fingers. "I've been thinking Johnny Depp all the way!"

"Eh....w-we'll see," Robin simpered.

SCHWISH!! The two were sealed away in the descending elevator car.

Tempest glanced over. He gestured while talking: "Is this one of those moments when surface-dwellers refer to a 'fruit basket'?"

"Hehehe!" Starfire giggled. "Do not be cruel!"

"I'm just saying!!"

"........," Raven stared at the elevator doors quietly.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Inside the silently humming, descending elevator...an excited Beast Boy wrung his hands and uttered: "Okay....I know this sounds goofy....but....Mario! Ya know...the Nintendo character?? Not to say that you're stout or anything, but you aren't exactly super tall. Like....you could put on overalls and a mustache and—I dunno—Raven could be Luigi! What do you think?"

".........," Robin stared at the doors.

"Well....actually....Raven's a tad bit shorter than you so she wouldn't make a Luigi. Maybe a Bowser. Heh. Am I going overboard?"

-click-

Robin's gloved finger pressed onto the 'stop' button on the elevator controls.

The car slowed to a stop in the shaft.

Beast Boy chuckled. "Okay...need a long conference, huh?"

"Beast Boy....," Robin began quietly.

"Yeah, dude?"

"They think they have a cure."

"A cure for what?" the changeling smiled.

"......," Robin looked at Beast boy directly. "For Terra."

".......," the smile stayed plastered on Beast Boy's face. But after a blink or two, it started to fade into a mesmerized pursing of the lips as Robin spoke...

"It's.....it's based on recent experiments by Simon Stone and a few of the head scientists at Phaser Labs...but mainly Simon Stone. He's been slaving late at night, working around the clock on turning things into crystallized forms and rejuvenating them again. Being that he's a computer program practically, it's of little consequence to him. But....still he's put a lot of time and effort and there's no denying him when he says that everything he could possibly conclude in an empirical matter is sound. He's repeated the experiment dozens of times. He's listed and reanalyzed every bit of data from the experiments possible, and he's made a comparison to Terra's crystalline condition. The absolute specifics of his findings I cannot say for sure....b-but.....he's found a solution, Beast Boy. He's found a solution to Terra's condition. He called Cyborg over early this morning. Cyborg and Noir went over to Phaser Labs and they witnessed six successive repeats of the same experiment on various small plants and animals. And it's worked like a charm everytime. Organic matter has been turned into rock and back again without a hitch....and remaining alive and healthy afterwards. Cyborg and Noir are absolutely ecstatic about it. And now Simon Stone wants us to go and see it all for ourselves....so that we can consider the next step. And that is using this process....to revive Terra."

".........," Beast Boy blinked. His eyes fell. He swallowed. He opened his mouth as if to say something but all he could do was tremble and shudder in an inaudible breath.

When Robin spoke, his attention was again grabbed:

"I wanted to tell you first....before the rest of the Titans," the Boy Wonder said. "I....I-I think only you deserve to know at this point. Before all the others. I wouldn't be telling you this one on one unless I had a firm reason to believe, Beast Boy, that we're dealing with the real thing here. Simon Stone has found a cure for Terra. All that's to be done now—however quickly or however slowly—is to cautiously try it on Terra herself. And she will be back."

Beast Boy took a deep breath. He ran a nervous hand through his hair. "You.....y-you think we should...r-run some more tests? Cuz.....c-cuz.......wow....."

Robin nodded. "I want to see them for myself too, Beast Boy. But I could hear the enthusiasm in Cyborg's voice. And if he's enthusiastic about what his Uncle has done...then they both must be on the same page about something remarkable here. I do trust my teammates' judgment after all...." Robin tried on a legitimate smile.

But Beast Boy wasn't looking. He hugged himself and scrunched into the corner. "Ah jeez......ah jeez ah jeez ah jeez...."

"Hey....," Robin placed a hand on the green elf's shoulder. "You okay?"

"I......I........," Beast Boy gulped. He smiled painfully and the corners of his eyes are wet. ".....it's......it's hard to explain, dude. It's almost like.....l-like being told I could see my parents again, Robin." A sniff. He hugged himself tighter. "That's what th-this sort of news means to me..."

Robin slowly nodded. His voice was of a unique gentleness the whole time. "Take it easy. Believe it or not....this is good news."

"Is it?"

".........," Robin was silent at that.

"I mean...th-th-that's NOT what I meant. I.....," Beast Boy hugged himself and looked off. "....if this is true....i-if Terra has a cure.....and she's free.......w-will she want anything to do with us? After we practically threatened h-her head following all sh-she's been through with Slade......will sh-she want anything to do with me?"

"Beast Boy---"

"I've been nothing but a complete goomer since she got stuck like that!!!" the changeling clutched his head and shook towards the floor. "A nerd!! I haven't proven myself to be or do anything!! I'm the same pathetic little joker that made life depressing for her before she helped Slade!!"

"Beast Boy!" Robin shook his shoulders. "Listen to me...."

The changeling closed his eyes and nodded with a painful breath.

Robin leaned forward. "Let's just see what we can do to bring Terra back. If this works...and if she walks away free. Then leave it up to her for how she will think about or react around you. But being a team leader, I notice many things." He smiled sincerely. "And I know for a fact that Terra truly cared for you before she ended up in such a tragic fate. But something tells me you know that far more than I could ever explain or pretend to explain it to you."

A beat.

Beast Boy sniffed. He wiped his cheek with a sleeve and smiled weakly. "I.......I just hope she's okay is all. Ya know?"

"I know, Beast Boy."

"We will.....w-we will be there for her, Right?"

"......"

"I-I mean.....we've forgiven her for everything...........r-right???"

Robin took a deep breath. "Yes, Beast Boy. We have."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"I can't believe it......," Cyborg murmured.

His titanium fingers turned the dial.

Inside the small, translucent cylinder a potted plant rested.

Robotic arms spun around the display.

With a whirring sound and a glow of revolving needles, a strong beam was projected onto the flora. A wave of crystal traveled up the pot, the roots, the stem, the stalk, and eventually the leaves. A perfect statue of a fern rested inside the cylinder.

"I just can't freakin' believe it!!"

Cyborg's fingers turned again.

The arms spun.

Glowing.

And....

The plant glowed. The crystallized mass dissipated outwards. A living, healthy plant appeared thereafter.

"I still can't believe it!!!"

"Keep saying it—I promise you—you will NOT wear it out!" Simon Stone's hologram smirked from the human-sized hologram pedestal across the laboratory. He folded his flickering arms and said: "Throughout the extent of my experimentation on this project, I've incorporated over nine hundred hours of intense uninterrupted work at a processing rate six hundred thousand times that of a normal human being. Do you have any idea how concentrated that state of mind is?"

"Yeah, I know...," Cyborg muttered as he repeated and re-repeated the plant experiment while turning the dial. "...I can reach about half of that when I'm on a roll."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah....takes an hour of weightlifting and a Twinkie, though.................or maybe a good issue of Maxim."

I raised an eyebrow.

Cyborg glanced back and faced Simon beyond me. "Whatever got you started on this whole mess, old man?"

"Heheheheh....you? A Titan? Calling this a mess??"

"If it's something you're working on, man.....hell yeah."

Simon's hologram chuckled. He smiled and gestured: "Well into my first month of existing here at Phaser Labs. Following my installment, I collected my digital wits to recover from Anderson's damn Triad thing...and then thought I'd....ya know...."

"No, I don't know! Fill me in!"

The hologram leaned forward with an elderly smirk. "I felt bad, Victor. I felt bad about what happened to me and how you had to learn about it. Most of our family is gone...and I thought I'd do what I could to make sure that the most of your 'new family' that could be preserved got preserved! You get me?"

".......," Cyborg turned and smiled at his electronic relative. "Now that's just sappy as all get out."

"But it's true, young man!! I read up on Terra the most I could, and believe you me I felt bad for the poor chick!" the hologram looked at me. "Wouldn't you feel the same?"

I grinned with a happy nod.

"See? Even your white friend agrees with me!"

"His name is Noir!"

"Really? For a second there I thought it was gonna be 'Hey You'," Simon winked.

I smirked....then winced as a shiver suddenly and sharply ran up my body through the metal prosthetic.

The hologram looked at me with a sideways glance, concerned. "My my......is that arm STILL giving you the chills after all of these months??"

I bit my lip. I nodded with a shudder.

"Here......"

With a flicker, the hologram teleported to a miniature pedestal on a nearby computer frame.

"Slip it in this slot for a second."

I nodded.

-CLICK-

-HISSSSSS-

I detached my left forearm.

The chill left.

I sighed with relief and marched on over to the wall of gadgetry. I slipped my metal arm in. The slot closed around it and beeped away. Clicking sounds...then....

A display popped up on the monitor before me. The miniature hologram gazed up at it and scratched his flickering chin.

"Hmmmmmmmmm..."

A beat.

"Schematics say that it's functioning normally and jazz......," Simon Stone uttered.

I leaned my head to the side and gazed stupidly at the data scrolling upwards.

"Have the symptoms been getting worse at all? The chills with the nerve sequencing?"

My black eyes trailed off under my shades. I thought about the night previous. I thought about the nightmare. I thought about waking up with the unbearable cold rocketing so my body so mercilessly I swear I could have breathed vapors into the Main Room's air.

And I shuddered again.

I smiled, looked at Mr. Stone, and waved my hand from side-to-side.

"Well......it better not be getting any worse......," the hologram 'thought' out loud. "I suppose we could always reformat the artificial synapses and basically give you a refit......but we haven't made anything more advance than the preexisting model. It does serve its purpose though, eh Noir?"

I nodded vehemently.

"I mean......REALLY serve its purpose?" the man winked.

I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"Heheheheh."

"Old man....you're bad as Hell."

"Oh go suck on a battery."

There was a chiming sound that resounded through the laboratory.

Cyborg beamed. "That's them! Robin and the gang! Oh man...I gotta go see them!! Noir, you coming?"

I shrugged. My mind was elsewhere.

"Stick to here, man. You too, Simon."

"Where the Hell am I going??"

Cyborg waved him off and trotted off on Titanium toes.

The automatic doors to the laboratory opened and closed behind him.

A beat.

I was alone with the construct.

I paced over quietly, one arm dangling. I knelt a bit and stared into the translucent cylinder where the now-organic plant rested. I breathed a shuddering breath and fog formed against the polymer.

The hologram flickered onto a tiny pedestal beside me. "I didn't realize it......but......you weren't around when this 'Terra' chick was making a legacy for herself, were you?"

I slowly shook my head.

"You were still lone rangering it, weren't you?"

I smiled gently.

A beat.

The hologram seemed to pace playfully from pedestal to pedestal....taking on multiple different shapes and light intensities. "What I find fascinating......from research at least......," the construct uttered. "......is that when the Titans first found Terra, she was a lone ranger of her own. Lone ranterette, that is. Am I correct?"

".......," I nodded.

"I wonder......if fate had it in store for them to befriend you so easily after time went by......," the holographic man ported to a pedestal before me and smiled. "Maybe Terra prepared them for whatever you were to bring?"

I was silent.

"And if I dare say, Mr. Noir. After Anderson took me away from Victor for good......I was nearly afraid that his 'new family' would bite the dust. But as it turned out......Wyldecarde was simply that. A Wyldecarde. An elaborate game to show the Titans how truly much they need to rely on each other."

I exhaled through my nose and looked towards the wall.

And the damn construct appeared before me on the pedestal there.

"Have I......ever thanked you for what you did for them?" his holographic eyes fell down my left limb to the metal-encased stub.

I took a deep breath.

I smiled.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Later that very morning....

Simon Stone's hologram stood on a pedestal erected at the end of a thin, dimly lit conference room. As he spoke, a power point presentation was projected onto a hanging white screen against the wall.

"As you can see by these microscopic images...the cell structure of the organic entity being turned to 'stone' has simply crystallized. The molecular energy of the organelles in the cell slow down—but not in the same way that matter freezes. As you can see, there's no polar bonds forming in the water contained inside the cells. Rather, the matter is being forced into a state of flux that forces it to slow down remarkably in comparison to the rest of the matter surrounding the subject in question. Now...the catalyst that forces the molecular energy of these organelles can be found chiefly in the chlorophyll of this plant cell. And—as I change the slide for you to see here—the mitochondria of this animal cell. Now...what we're concerned about right now is the mitochondria, as you would find in Terra's body. For some reason or another, her mitochondria exhibit an energetic pulse that absorbs the molecular energy of surrounding electrons. That is to say, there is no charge inflicted on the electrons themselves....but rather their orbits around the nuclei are slowed down dramatically. This spreads outward from the mitochondrial pulses and inflicts the cytoplasm and cell walls with the similar effect. Soon, the entire body of the organism slows down and takes on a crystalline form to calibrate for the mismatch of electron energy speeds with the contrasting universe. I know this sounds like an awful lot of hogwash....but simply keep in mind that Terra isn't exactly 'stone' per se. In reality, her microscopic parts have slowed so dramatically that she is simply out of sync with the rest of organic processes around her. It's almost like a biological time machine, and she's rocketing inexplicably into the future. Now....I've been able to simulate this unique energy pulse in the chlorophyll of plants and the mitochondria of animal flesh and small amphibians and mice, and this was all done through synthetic means within the labs here using an extraordinary amount of power. How Terra was able to concoct this energy pulse in her microscopic being all by herself is beyond my ascertaining at the moment, but my hypothesis is that her earth elemental powers—mysterious as they are—have managed to push her into this flux. But how could she manage such a huge surge of energy? Quite simple, really. As we all know, she was exercising the greatest outburst of superpowers in her life to stop the spontaneous volcano that had formed in Slade's overrun City. The sheer exertion of this—combined with a possible self-defense mechanism of her biological psyche—Terra was able to achieve the same result as my experiments. All she did was use her powers, and when the body sensed the impending surge of lava and destructible brimstone...the girl's body compensated on the molecular level and preserved her as so. In 'stone', as we deem it. Really...Terra hasn't frozen at all. She's still using her powers and still 'saving our City', and for all we know her neurons may indeed be immune to the whole ordeal, leading to the additional hypothesis that all this time she's been aware of things taking place within normal, organic time. Regardless of her possible or impossible state of being, I predict that a strategically supplied pulse of energy can adequately reawaken her frozen mitochondria and incite a reverse flux capable of reverting her condition, bringing her back to our level of biological 'existence' and—in effect—saving her...................Any questions?"

"............." All seven of us sat at random in the many mostly-vacant rows of chairs in the conference room. "............"

The holographic construct craned his 'neck'.

A beat.

Tempest raised his hand.

"Yes!" Simon pointed. "You there......the Atlantean!"

Tempest lowered his hand. He blinked. "Who's Terra?"

I bit my lip.

Robin and Starfire sat side by side, shifting uncontrollably.

Beast Boy was silent.

"Err......," Simon sweatdropped.......holographically. He glanced over. "Victor?"

Cyborg cleared his throat. "Uhm....Garth....didn't you read the Titans' historical archives?"

I glanced the aqua lad's way.

Tempest's dark eyes scanned the ceiling. He thought and thought and thought and—"Oh!" Tempest beamed. "Now I remember!! The villain girl!"

Beast Boy shuddered.

"The traitor!! The Second Apprentice of Slade!! The young lady who won the Titans' trust and tried ever so ruthlessly to murder them and take over the City—Mmmmf!!!"

I had a metal hand over his mouth.

I simpered, blushing, and escorted the confused nooby out of the conference room.

"..............."

"..............."

"..............."

"...............ahem.....," Raven broke the silence. "So....uh....Cyborg tells us that you've been researching this for—"

"A month and a half." Simon said.

"Really....," Raven blinked. "And just like that---"she gestured "—you've come up with this solution?"

"Indeed I have. Lord knows the Titans have their hands full too much with villainy the world-over to ever possibly contribute a near twenty-four/seven hour commitment to this problem at hand."

"It's not a problem....," Beast Boy frowned.

The other Titans looked over.

The changeling folded his arms and glared off towards a wall. "What Terra did for us in the end...it was NEVER a problem. It was sacrifice."

Silence.

"Well....then....uhm.......a-all the more reason to revive her, correct??" the hologram simpered.

"I think it is glorious!" Starfire beamed. "Alas, Terra...we are embarking upon your rescue!!"

Robin held a gloved hand up. "I have a question."

"Yes......the spikey-haired one in the second row."

Cyborg rolled his human eye, smirking.

Robin leaned forward. "Assuming we do successfully reawaken Terra.....will there be any side effects of her circumstances? Could reversing the process of her 'flux' in this stone-form cause her any physical ailments or detriment back on our level?"

Simon shook his flickering head: "None of my test subjects have exhibited any negative resul—"

"Ferns, flowers, and mice are all great," Robin gestured. "But this is Terra we're talking about. A human being. What's to say that her DNA might not be—oh—'kosher' with this treatment? We want her back allright....but we want her back safely."

Starfire nodded.

"Honestly......," Simon said, "......that is up to conjecture."

Robin nodded.

Beast Boy sighed.

"But.........there is always a way to find out for sure......," Simon's holographic hands gestured. "......a 'final experiment' if you will."

Robin's eyemask thinned.

"A human test subject...," Raven droned.

Starfire gasped.

Cyborg bit his lip.

A beat.

"Well that makes sense," Robin leaned back with an exhale. "What would that involve?"

"First......a test subject. Second......positioning him or her in the energy dispersal chamber. Finally......exposing him or her to the synthetic energy catalyst needed to sufficiently produce the 'stone effect'."

"So....turning into Terra's 'condition' and back again?" Cyborg uttered.

Simon nodded. "Precisely."

"But who would undergo such a procedure?" Starfire murmured. "It sounds most harrowing?"

The hologram took a deep 'breath'. "We have scientists here who are willing to undergo such a process. This experiment is not only beneficial in Terra's case, but its impact on the biological world could be earth-shattering.........if you pardon the pun. Basically, anyone could sign up......o-only—"

"It's far too dangerous for just anyone...," Robin said firmly. His brow furrowed. "Such is a job for a hero."

Simon solemnly nodded.

A beat.

The Titans looked at each other.

And after a while....Starfire stood up.

"I volunteer to undergo the procedure!" she uttered with fists firm.

Robin glanced up. There seemed to be something snapping inside his head as he absent-mindedly breathed: "Star??"

The Tamaranian took a deep breath. "Terra is a dear friend of mine! And friends give themselves for one another! I gladly accept the challenge of undergoing the test for her benefit! As well as for the sake of all other people!"

"But...Star!" Robin shot up rather defensively and gestured to her. "Give it some thought first!! This could be dangerous and—"

"It wouldn't work...," Simon said curtly.

The two Titans looked over.

Starfire's mouth fell. She seemed hurt.

The hologram's eyes narrowed. "She isn't human. Whatever results we acquire with her will not correspond with the likelihood of Terra's success."

A beat.

Starfire hung her head. "That....is true, I do suppose."

"Then I'll do it...."

The other Titans looked over.

Beast Boy was standing this time. His lungs were slowly heaving. "Everyone knows it. It's m-my place. I'll do it. I'll do it for Terra."

"But you can't Beast Boy...," Raven said.

He glared at her. "Why not??"

"You aren't human either."

Cyborg pointed. "You're an elf."

The changeling took a deep breath. "Then.....Th-Then I will be human. F-For the test!!"

"Whoah!!"

"Goodness, no!!"

"Beast Boy...don't say—"

"You heard me! I-I'll be human—"

"Beast Boy....," Robin marched firmly towards him. "Don't do this. It's not that dire."

"What are you talking about?!? It sure is!! This is Terra we're talking about here!!" Beast Boy cackled.

"We all know that if you were to turn back human...you'd die...," Robin pointed.

"Dude! Only if I'm human long enough for the disease inside of me to take hold!! I've had to do it before, and I've lasted five minutes before I started to get symptoms. Five minutes! It's my record but it's a big enough window in my book!" He turned towards Simon. "I'll do the experiment. But only if you can get it set up fast enough."

"No you won't," Robin firmly said.

Beast Boy clenched his fists and spun to face the Boy Wonder. "For the last time, Robin—"

"How about this for the 'last time'??" Robin frowned and pointed. "'N-O'. No! I will not let you risk yourself over this type of experiment! It's too dangerous!! Nothing should force you to have to switch back to human form!! As the leader of the Titans, I aim to look after you and there comes a point when I draw the line!!"

"Then I'll quit the Titans if I have to you and you won't boss me around!!!!" Beast Boy shouted.

Robin leaned back.

Starfire held her hands clasped together.

Raven and Cyborg stared silently.

".......," Beast Boy seethed. "I'm sorry, Robin. I respect you, dude, and I owe you a lot of stuff...I know. But Terra means far too much to me!! She means more to me than fighting crime. Even more than breathing sometimes—I swear. If throwing in my communicator and uniform is what it takes to save her, then by my dead parents' watery grave....I'll...do...it....."

"............," Robin looked aside.

Silence.

Cyborg rubbed the human half of his head. He sighed. "Aw come on, Robin....let him do it."

"But—"

"And who would do it if he didn't, dawg?" Cyborg pointed. "You?"

"........."

"This is Terra we're talking about. Give B.B. a chance."

A beat.

Robin sighed. He looked weakly in Beast Boy's direction. "You know you've had plenty of warning, right?"

"I know what I know...," Beast Boy said.

"Ohhhhhh....," Starfire bit her lips and her eyes glistened. "I do not wish for our pointy-eared friend to be in danger as well!" She sniffed.

"Boys will be boys, Star....," Raven said. She glanced over at Beast Boy purposefully as she added: "But men are men."

Beast Boy blinked. ".........," he smiled.

"I shall see what I can set up...," Simon uttered. "It may very well be possible to perform the energy experiment on Beast Boy within a span of five minutes."

"You mean turnin' him into stone and back again?" Cyborg asked.

The hologram nodded. "But it will take some setting up. But if y'all plan on going through with this......then there's a second half of the plan that can be enacted while the Main Lab is set up for the procedure."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "And that is?"

Simon smiled. "Bringing in a certain statue......"

A beat.

Cyborg smiled. "Well allright. Lemme get the towing rig of the T-Car!!"

Raven rolled her eyes.

"You'd be coming along to help....right, Rae?"

"Yeah....why not?"

"Why not indeed. Let's skedaddle."

Raven and Cyborg marched off.

"I shall see you out the doors!" Starfire flew over—paused in mid flight—and skirted back towards Beast Boy. She gave him a gentle hug, smiled, and flew out with the other two.

".....," Beast Boy blushed. "Wh-What was that for?"

"Anything and everything...," Robin uttered. He sighed and patted his gloved hand on the changeling's shoulder. "What can I say, man? You've gotten very brave and stubborn since you joined us."

Beast Boy gulped. "Or maybe I'm just suicidal, dude."

"Same difference....believe me."

Two crooked smiles.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I stood with Tempest halfway down a Phaser Labs stairwell under the cold stare of an electric light.

"So.....like....Terra pretty much became a martyr for the City's sake?"

I leaned against the corner of two adjoining walls of white-washed cinderblocks. I scribbled in a notepad. I held it up a sheet for the Atlantean to read.

His dark eyes narrowed.

A beat.

"Oh...," he replied. "Of course she's not 'dead'. Ahem....I'll be sure to not say 'martyr' in front of the other Titans," he simpered.

I smiled slightly. I scribbled. I showed him: 'Terra means a lot to the Titans. Bad history or no."

"I can see that....," Tempest braced himself against the metal hand railings of the stairs. "Wish I knew about her a bit beforehand. But who am I to complain? Heh." A beat. "They told you, right?"

I bit my lip.

He made a face. "They kept it secret from you too?"

I shrugged and waved my hand from side to side.

"Somewhat??"

I thought about it. A beat. I produced a pen and notepad paper.

'The Titans are practically as private as I am.'

"Heh. That's pretty damn true!" Tempest smirked. "Silly thing is, they can talk!"

I pouted.

"Pffft...what excuses do you need even if you COULD talk, Noir? I swear...you're practically a nymph."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Erm....ahem.....I mean 'angel'. Sorry."

I smirked and shrugged.

"So.....," Tempest glanced down at his feet. "How long ago was it?"

I scratched my head. I held up my fingers.

"Nine weeks?"

I frowned.

"Months, my bad."

I nodded.

"Wow....that's really recent. I guess these guys have every reason to be angsty." A beat. "Though....they really just want her back. I wonder why? I mean...in spite of all that she did to hurt them, why would they want her back so much?"

I dangled my metal and flesh limbs by my side and stared off through the nearby walls. My black eyes relaxed. I thought about a month ago when the Titans slipped out of the Tower to pay homage to Terra's 'statue'. I had been left behind and that was when I first discovered the DVD of Terra's birthday party. I never tried looking for more DVDs or photo albums of the Titans and the earth elemental girl. I supposed that it was not my place to do so. Terra was in the Titans' past. Not mine. Even though I was a Teen Titan.

And that's where my head would meet itself after running in circles constantly. It was always the subject of Terra that truly separated myself from my teammates. Forget the fact that I joined the crew so long after their true establishment. But history dictates that there is only one 'Sixth Titan', and it's not me. It never was me. And it was that Sixth Titan that created a never-ending dividing line between my friends and myself. I did not know their pain. I did not feel their betrayal. And for that, I shall forever be—in many senses—a noobie. An outsider. A third person perspective.

But had I amended all that? I may not have felt Terra, but I sure as Hell felt Slade. I may have been inducted into the Titans a month or two before I lost my left arm, but I was not truly a part of the team. The real heroic coronation required understanding, commitment....sacrifice. I could very well have trotted away when everything went to shit and let Slade consume the Titans with the Balance of Morals. But that's not what I wanted. Running west would have been the way of Wyldecarde...and perhaps Jordan. But down deep underneath, I didn't feel like either of those two. I was Noir. I was the new 'Sixth Teen Titan'. My pain became their pain. And the night they hugged me gratefully in the infirmary was the junction, the union, the marriage. I had become a part of something. I had spilled blood alongside them all. A covenant of the body and soul.

And still....Terra.........poor, misunderstood Terra.

I was just as clueless about her as Tempest felt. Perhaps even more so. I felt like I deserved to be out there in that stairwell with him instead of listening to the rest of Simon Stone's conference. And I knew that—when it came down to it—the Titans wouldn't argue that I had to be anywhere or do anything in this regard. They wanted Terra's pain to be their pain alone. And—ironically—that hurt me more than it would have if I shared the memories and anguish with them.

I took a deep breath and leaned back with my arms folded.

I'll be an outsider. I'll be a ghost.

I shut my black eyes under my shades.

Just for today. Just for today.

"I guess we're at the event horizon of something spectacular for our teammates, huh?" Tempest remarked.

I looked at him.

He simpered. "I-I mean.....this could be the happiest moment of their lives for all we know. Heh....kinda makes us feel insignificant, huh?"

I rolled my black eyes and snickered breathily.

"I'm serious!! Watch Terra come back to life and they'll say: 'Oooh! We've got Earth back! Who needs water?'"

I shook my head, smiling.

"And you should be scared too!" he smiled and pointed. "Terra could start enough volcanoes to smoke you off the continent!!"

I stuck my tongue out.

"Better be glad there're no surface dweller septic tanks nearby," he flexed his fingers and glowed a slight purple.

I punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!! Seacrab!!"

He kicked me in the shins.

I hissed in pain and hobbled.

"Hahahahaha!!" he pointed.

I chuckled helplessly.

"Flirt with each other when you're back at the Tower," uttered a familiar robot.

Tempest and I glanced up.

Cyborg marched down the steps. Raven floated behind him.

"We've got a plan in action....," Raven droned.

"Where're you off to?" Tempest asked.

"Off to give a good old friend of ours a ride," Cyborg said. He smirked. "A very.....special ride."

I rubbed my ankle and stood up straight.

"I see....then it is time for extraction?" Tempest said.

"Uh.....yeah. Sure, Flipper."

Tempest glanced at me.

I glanced at him.

He faced the two Titans as they descended, "Can I join you guys??"

"What for?"

"Because.....," Tempest shrugged. "I'd really like to help in any fashion that I can. Besides...it would behoove me to get to know this 'Terra' more, right?"

Cyborg smirked. "Right on. Follow us, man. And quit dragging scales!"

"I'm not---"

"Let's just go...," Raven grunted.

"..........," Tempest glanced at me. "Any bets that Terra is actually a sane superheroine?"

I shook my head 'no'.

"Yeah.......this is the real world," Tempest turned and hopped down the steps after the other two. "....the REALLY dry and annoying world."

I shrugged.

The three descended down the stairwell.

I was alone.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Beast Boy sat shirtless on a medical bed with his feet dangling. Three laboratory scientists administered to him from all sides with examination instruments and electrical sensors. They checked his vital signs and health and prepped him with a few shots and minor drugs for whatever emergency may possibly arrive with the compounded adventure that was soon to transpire: 1) His reversion to human form and 2) His turning to 'stone'.

The changeling was calmly braving the whole matter until a nurse planted a stethoscope against his chest.

"Nnnnnghh!!" the green elf shivered. He clenched his teeth and hissed. "Man....don't you techno geeks ever store those things in places where ice doesn't.....grow?!?"

The lab technician smiled. "I often wonder about that myself. But I haven't seen any ice in the cabinets. And if you're wondering, they're working on cloaked ice at STAR Labs, not here."

"Cloaked ice??" Beast Boy blinked as scientists checked his blood pressure. "Sheesh! What'll they think of next?? Satellite radio??" A beat. ".........oh wait."

Robin walked into the room.

"Well, look who it is! Tall, dark, and badass!......er....minus the 'tall' part."

Robin couldn't help but smirk. "You seem in better spirits."

"Robin...when have I not been in good spirits?" Beast Boy smiled brightly and darted his eyes suggestively at the uniquely female lab techinicians circling him on the medical bed. "Come to think about it, when did I die? Cuz I think I'm in labcoat heaven now!"

"Don't quit your day life," uttered one nurse.

"Hey! Nerds aren't supposed to be able to say that!"

A chuckle or two.

Robin folded his arm. "I came to check on you."

Beast Boy nodded with a soft smile. "Thanks, dude."

A beat.

The Boy Wonder took a deep breath. "You know....it's never too late."

"For what, man?"

"To reconsider—"

"I reconsider nothing...," Beast Boy matter-of-factly said. He bore his arm for another shot. "I need to do this, Robin. After Terra practically gave up her entire life for the sake of protecting us-SSSS!!" He winced as the needle sunk in. He bit his lip, sweatdropped, and continued: "....wouldn't it not be....j-just plain right to pay her the same respect? Besides....I'm perfectly safe. Look at me! I practically have Charlie's Angels prepping me up like a supermodel!"

Another lab technician uttered: "Never knew he was so blatant in person—"

"Hey! Pretty damn proud of it too, Mrs!"

"Miss."

"Oooh? You don't say—"

-Prick!-

"Snkkk!!" Beast Boy winced again. "Right....I think I'll keep my jokes to non grownups from now on. Got it."

A smirking nurse...

Robin stepped forward. "Beast Boy....I....I-I think we all know why you're doing this...."

Beast Boy lowered his gaze to the floor. He took a deep, gentle breath.

Robin continued: "And....well....I'd do the same thing."

"Dude. I know. You'd do more probably too. You think I'm even half as brave as you?? Pfft!"

Robin raised a gloved hand. "Listen, Beast Boy. You might have had your....erm....less than flattering moments with the Titans—"

"Heh."

"—but you gradually showed just how strong and composed you really are," the Boy Wonder said. His eyemask narrowed. "When we faced Slade for the second major time...I...I was really proud of you. Did I ever tell you that?"

Beast Boy bit his lip and looked off. "You....you hardly tell us anything, Robin." A beat. "I-I mean, besides the usual 'good job' and 'well done' stuff."

Robin scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah....well.....I was proud of you, Beast Boy."

"Why?" the changeling smirked. "Cuz I made it alive even after being dropped down by Slade and nearly crushed by a boulder?"

"Not that, Beast Boy," Robin said. He leaned forward. "It was you who made the rest of us realize the true goodness in Terra."

"What are you getting at?" Beast Boy asked. The nurses finished their duties and he was slipping his jumpsuit's shirt back on.

"What I'm getting at is that—while the rest of us hated Terra's guts—you still believed in her. And that was very endearing and courageous of you, Beast Boy. You weren't closed-minded."

"Heh....I dunno," Beast Boy hopped down off the medical bed. "It felt kinda sappy and helpless at the time."

"Whatever it was...it was better than the example set by the rest of us," Robin said. "I for one was ready to haul Terra off to jail with no second or third chances. I was....s-so overcome by what she had done for Slade's cause that I couldn't bring myself to try and understand her. I was in complete battle mode. And I'm sure everyone else was too. You saw more in Terra. You were tolerant and understanding. And because of your caution, we didn't go over the edge."

"Why??" Beast Boy planted his hands on his hips. "Because I had a crush on her?"

"Beast Boy...," Robin spoke firmly. "We nearly killed Terra down there in Slade's lair."

"............."

"Raven would have sliced her to bits. I would have set her on fire. Cyborg would have shattered her apart. And Starfire would have melted her. But we didn't. We hesitated. Because we knew....we knew that Terra was a human being. But not only that....Terra meant something to us. She was a part of us. All four of us were too busy being angry. But you...Beast Boy.........wh-when Terra was torn away from the Titans, it was like a limb being ripped out. And it bled through you. I....I-I can't imagine how painful it was for you to try and understand what had consumed and enveloped someone so close. But you took all of that pain upon yourself Beast Boy because you believed in Terra. And it wasn't some pathetic 'crush' or infatuation. It was the respect of a hero, a human being, and a friend. Terra thought she had no friends....and Slade worked her with that. But she had one true friend. She had you, Beast Boy. And she still does. I was proud of you then...and I still am now. So proud that—I'm gonna let you go through this stupid stunt so that we can go on and bring Terra back. But as soon as you get into that test chamber...you're out of your hands. You'll be in your own hands. And—in many ways—Terra will be in yours as well. It'll be a major test for you and your character and stamina, Beast Boy. But as far as I'm concerned....you've already passed it."

Beast Boy hugged himself and stared off with a sigh.

Robin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just....at the same time....I like to think of myself as your friend too, Beast Boy. Not just your leader. And as a friend—moreso than anything—I don't want to see you get hurt." He lowered his glove and exhaled once the speech was done.

"..............ugh....," Beast Boy shuddered and smiled helplessly. "You're getting me all melty, man."

Robin smirked. "Sorry."

"Don't be...."

Silence.

Beast Boy ran a nervous hand through his hair. "I......I believed in Terra.....yeah. Never did I want to hurt her.....e-except one time....."

Robin leaned his head to the side.

The changeling uttered: "At the fairgrounds....when I found out that Terra was truly a traitor and Slade wasn't just lying about it. I.......I felt so angry. I..." A beat. "Y-Yeah, I know we were close. I know w-we had spent almost all the time she was with us hanging out together and just........being close. But I wasn't so much hurt because she had betrayed me. I just looked at her face and for once I didn't see the friend I knew. I saw someone who....who had betrayed herself. And not just with Slade, but over and over again in her lonely life." Beast Boy gestured emphatically as he spoke: "Terra never needed to be alone. She'd been through tough stuff and all, yeah. But.....wh-why'd she have to be such a loner, huh?? Her powers never hurt anyone. Slade made her think that. She made HERSELF think that. Why was she so afraid to....g-get close? To become friends? She got close with me...and yet she didn't really get close to me. It wasn't until after Slade hired her that she started really hanging out with me...as if her apprenticeship with the madman was her failsafe for if I did anything to hurt her. As if it was all some crazy experiment. She was dipping her toes into me or something.....ya know?"

"......," Robin slowly nodded.

Beast Boy's shoulders sagged. He sighed and stared off into space. "I....I couldn't understand how a person would do that to herself. Not get close...and yet get close....and somehow end up hating everyone in the end so that they hated her back. And for a split moment, I saw Terra as someone who only victimized herself and couldn't accept the goodness that was just handed to her and the entire life she lived in all of its mysteries and loneliness seemed like one giant waste to me. And....and I thought it was so ugly. I....I-I wanted to show her that. And yet I was so angry. I told her that she didn't have any friends....and I abandoned her......."

A beat.

He rubbed the back of his neck slowly. ".....you see....Robin.....I-I wasn't so mad at Terra when she attacked us under Slade's command. Because I know that she wasn't the first to betray us. I betrayed her, Robin. I betrayed her myself. I hurt her in the worst way possible. And who cares if maybe Slade orchestrated it for things to happen that way. And screw whatever psychological excuses there may be for what I did. I know my heart. I know my words. I hurt Terra on purpose. And I shall never.....ever forget that."

The changeling paused.

A shuddering breath.

Then: "I love her so much. I just want a second chance to.....make things they way they were. But not exactly the way they were. Instead....something truer, ya know? Something that isn't clouded by dark loyalties or fears or the threat of loneliness and rejection. I want to be there for Terra like I've always wanted to be. But only....only if she would have the capacity to forgive me. I'd do anything to be with her either way....but.....I want to honor her, Robin. I truly do. I want her to know that somewhere inside, I adore her a million times more than I would ever want to purposefully hurt her. And everytime I see her stone form....her rock-like eyes staring off in endless pain....just, like, a touch away from being awake....it tears me a-apart on the inside. It tears me apart because it's like I-I sent her to the greatest abandonment ever. Some sort of crazy purgatory or sub-Hell or something. If we can get her out of that....if I can get her out....then I won't let anything stop that from happening."

Robin nodded. "Just know this, Beast Boy. What Terra did...it was of her own choice. It was never your fault. She did what she did because she had to. And it wasn't done as a victim or a wounded soul...but rather as a hero."

A beat.

"And in the end...," the Boy Wonder added, "...we have every reason to be proud of her too."

".......," Beast Boy smiled. "Yeah....you're right. We do." A pause. "Uhm....how's the experiment going in the setup?"

Robin shrugged. "Still halfway through constructing the equipment."

"Yeah.....," Beast Boy suddenly shuddered. "Um....look dude....I'm gonna need some time, okay?" A beat. "Some alone time?"

"By all means...," Robin gestured. He turned and exited the medical room.

"Hey Robin....wait, man."

The Boy Wonder stopped and turned to look over his caped shoulder.

Beast Boy wasn't facing him, and yet he gestured and said. "Thanks.....I-I promise I won't die on you or something."

Robin smirked. "Sounds like a plan."

"Ya know.....," the changeling added with a mutter. "....I-I can accept what you're telling me."

"What's that?"

"That I'm the reason that the Titans didn't kill Terra in the end."

"I see...."

"But Robin?"

"Yeah, B.B.?"

Beast Boy turned and looked gently. "Back when Slade first used his nanoprobes on us.....w-we could have hurt you really bad, ya know. And some of us wanted to."

"........"

"But Starfire was there."

"........."

"You understand what I mean, dude?"

".........perfectly....," Robin turned and walked out.

A beat.

"Nnngh...," Beast Boy groaned and plopped down on the bed. He stared up at the cold, carboard ceiling tiles. "....he doesn't understand a thing........."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Okay y'all...keep calm. We're gonna do this real slow. Raven, are you ready?"

"Yes, Cyborg."

"Flipper?? Keeping a trained eye?"

"Absolutely. Do your best."

"The rest of you!! Keep the area outside the cavern clear! As soon as I carve the rock facing loose beneath her, Raven's gonna carry her out onto the trailer! Then the caravan will head on out west beneath the Interstate!"

A ring of city workers nodded. A handful of scientists were also present. Floodlights and sensor equipment had been set up around the perimeter of the hollow cavern. Above the groups of people, Raven hovered. Her cloak billowed and she meditated gently with hands aimed at the statue. Tempest perched atop a nearby cleft in the rock. He crouched low and eyed the feminine figure with his dark optics.

In the meantime, Cyborg practically was lying down titanium-chest first against the stony floor. He extended an arm which he grafted into a red-hot laser cutter. With slow precision, he stretched the sparking limb towards the 'blob' of rock beneath Terra.

"Allright.....here goes nothing....," Cyborg muttered softly. He gritted his teeth and proceeded to cut.....

ZkkkkkKkkk!! ZkkkkKKKkkkkkKKkk!!!

Dust and stone pebbles and marble slivers fell and flew. The sparking tool ate its way through the earthen block loudly. The cavern echoed with Cyborg's ministrations. The scientists and workers eyed tensely, ready to spring into action if anything adversely collapsed and produced chaos.

Raven muttered gently to herself: "Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." She gently batted away a flying pebble or two with wisps of black telekinesis so as to preserve Cyborg's unhindered effort.

ZkkkKkkkkKKKKkkk!!

Cyborg sweat as he carved halfway through. His human nostril flared with concentrated breathing.

Tempest shuffled sideways like a crab, crouched low. "A little lower...," he hissed. "A little lower!!"

"'Kay.....," Cyborg whispered and lowered the tool. He cut straight through the erected plaque, severing jaggedly across somewhere between 'A Teen Titan' and 'A True Friend'.

"Almost there....," Tempest whispered. He glanced up at Raven.

Raven nodded. Her eyes glowed.

The workers shifted in place.

The cutting tool got to the edge.

"And......."

ZkkkkkkKkkKkkkk-KKTTTTT!!

"There!"

"Grab it!!"

"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" Raven extended a bubble of black that caught the stone girl like a catcher's mitt and floated her safely into the claustrophobic air.

"Boo-ya!!"

A collective sighed filled the cavern. Even a few clapping hands.

"Don't applaud just yet!" Cyborg grunted. He stood up and retracted his arm back into normal form. "Raven....care do to the honors??"

"I'm 'honoring' as we speak," she droned. Terra 'magically' floated past the line of sighting workers up the thin tunnel and towards the bright lights of the afternoon air. Outside, the T-Car rested with a metal trailer attached to it. A throng of chains and special, tensile cords were also ready for the exquisite transport.

"Well...this is looking promising," Tempest smirked. "Wouldn't you say?"

Cyborg wasn't smiling.

Tempest blinked. "You don't seem so enthused."

"This is nowhere near finished," Cyborg said. He glanced at the Atlantean. "All eyes are on B.B. at the moment."

Tempest nodded. "But of course."

The two shuffled along at the end of the line.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The laboratory was filled with the clamor of scientists and constructors erecting a large scale version of the translucent cylinder used to contain the organic material so successfully converted to stone and back in Simon's previous experiments. At the same time, a huge handful of mechanical equipment was being carted in and set up on the far corners of the interior. Jean-Luc and Rachel Mendez were lending a helpful, half-metal hand. They used their titanium strength to good use, as if it were community service in retribution of their dormant darksides. Rachel smiled and said something in Spanish to a woman that seemed to understand her. The two of them laughed and finished pushing a computer console into place atop a huge tray. Jean-Luc conversed with the hologram of Simon Stone while helping to fasten the cylinder in place. It felt like the beginnings of some Fall celebration of mysterious, happy sorts.

Which would probably explain why Starfire chose to watch it—silently—from the far side near the entrance to the room. She hugged herself and smiled gently with a fair breath.

Eventually, Robin strolled in and stood beside her.

"Hey."

"Hey to you as well, Robin," Starfire grinned. "Is this not a blessed event?"

"Ummm....," the Boy Wonder scratched his spikey head of hair. "Minus the questionable former criminals undergoing cybernetic rehab....sure."

"Hehehe...," Starfire giggled. "Robin, you are quite the pest of mist."

"Pessimist," Robin corrected. "And might I add....you're rather cheerful."

"When do I fail to be so?"

"Good point."

She smiled. She continued watching the scene. "I am....overjoyed. It pleases me so to realize that our long lost friend may once again be in our midst. Though I have long forgiven her for her vicariously enacted misdeeds by the hands of Slade, I would greatly desire to convey to her my benevolence in the first and second person. I am inclined to believe that Terra indeed is not quite as sentient in this state of 'rockness' as can be presumed. I would hope that she's enjoyed a peaceful rest the entirety of this time. I do not imagine her deserving any less."

Robin looked off. His gloved arms were folded. He seemed....preoccupied.

Starfire noticed it like a deflated bird inside an empty cage.

"Robin??" she leaned her fair head to the side. "Something troubles you....."

"Eh.....n-not really, Star...."

A beat. "You are....unhappy with Terra's return?"

"It's not that," he shrugged. "I just....."

A beat.

She blinked her green eyes.

He sighed. He gave in with a limp scratch of the neck. "I just got done talking to Beast Boy and......and it's not that I envy him for his bravery or whatnot. I'm sure I've made it clear that I would be more than glad to undergo the experiment on Terra's behalf before she goes."

"Truly...," Starfire nodded.

"But I can't bring myself to say no to Beast Boy. As much as I worry about his safety and take responsibility for him. I j-just have to tell myself that this is a time where.....wh-where I have to lift my responsibility."

"How so?" the alien girl asked.

"Because....because I don't think I was ever truly responsible for Terra, Star," he muttered. He sighed and his arms hung at his side as he gazed off into the nearest wall. "...I should have. I should have been more careful around her. I should have paid her more attention. I should have been watchful of her feelings and the things Slade would take advantage of in her. But....I-I failed. I failed, Star. I never wanted to give her a chance. I wanted to deal with her coldly. And when she betrayed us, all I could think about was ending her career and putting her in prison."

"Robin...we all failed Terra. The Titans...we collectively overlooked her true weaknesses and vulnerabilities," Starfire said. "What happened to her.....the way she fell into Slade's arms.....it was on behalf of our mutual neglect."

"But even if that's true....Still, it doesn't excuse what I've done....or rather what I've failed to do! As a leader....," Robin gestured. "And what makes it worse is that....th-that I repeated it, Star. When Noir was framed and had to pull off the Wyldecarde act. All I could think about was the rest of the Titans' interest. I could only think about myself. I was so selfish."

Starfire took a deep breath. "Robin...you are a very direct person. You have no superpowers, and thus you cannot afford to choose the issues and situations at hand by happenstance. I notice constantly that when there is danger at hand, you strive to reach the heart of the matter. But you do not do so selfishly. You are an element of speed and agility. Very brave and full of expedient, righteous fury. When Slade threatened us both during Terra's legacy and Wyldecarde's existence...you took it upon yourself to protect that which was most real and physical to you...and that was a direct threat to the Titans. That is your responsibility as a leader, is it not?"

"I should have a broader scope, Star...," Robin grumbled. "I should be able to....t-to see more. To have tolerance. To try and psychoanalyze things a bit more before going all berserk."

"Hehehehe...you look quite handsome when you go berserk."

Robin glared.

Starfire cleared her throat. She blushed. "But it is true...."

Robin looked over at the preparation inside the lab. "Beast Boy is more mature than I've given him credit. He deserves to be up there. He never gave up on Terra. And tonight...t-tonight we may very well have the culmination of everything he's worked for and dreamed of. We may have a glorious reunion on our hands."

"Hehehe! You said 'glorious'!" Starfire beamed.

Robin couldn't help it. He smiled. "You're.....you're really cute, Star."

"Heeee!" she hugged him from the behind. "I am so ecstatic at Terra's inevitable release!"

Robin did something which he hadn't done in a while. If ever.

He leaned back into Starfire's embrace. Practically resting against her.

The sudden awkwardness of such intimacy stunned the alien girl. She froze against him...her amber face a crimson that he couldn't see from where he stood.

Gently, his gloved fingers met hers. He took a shuddering breath and gazed off as he said: "It's good to know....th-that some people in this universe don't ever give up on others."

"..........," Starfire smiled gently. She gazed off too. "Truly......Robin.....I-I am afraid I do n-not understand the purpose of your statement just now."

Robin sighed with a painful smile. "It's okay, Star." He patted her hand. "It's all okay....."

".........."

SCHWISH!!

The two shuffled apart and turned as one to look at the door.

I stood in the doorway. I smiled. I walked to the side and made way for Beast Boy. The changeling was dressed in white cloth resembling the material that nurses usually wear. It was his garb for the experiment. For some reason—the long full sleeves and wide pant legs made him look smaller. Truly more like the 'boy' than the 'beast'.

The animorph took a deep breath and said: "Okay dudes.....let's rock and roll."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Throughout the central streets of the City, pedestrians came to a stop and gazed inward. Families on sidewalks with their children. Old couples at bus stops. After-school cliques at storefronts. Apartment dwellers through loft windows and balconies.

Cars stopped as multiple red lights in a row went into effect. A few drivers put their gear into park and stepped out to get a better look with craning necks. A group of workers at a construction site stopped what they were doing and eyed the scene.

Cruising at fifteen miles per hour, three police squad cars led a caravan of blinking and strobing lights. In the center of the vehicular line was the T-Car, dragging a metal cart that encased the ominous statue of Terra in mid throe. A utility vehicle with emergency lights cruised and blinked behind. Above it all, Raven floated with meditative hands prepared to 'catch' the statue if any bump in the road should happen to upset the impromptu transport.

Inside the T-Car, Cyborg drove and Tempest rode in the passenger's seat. At the sight of so many gazing faces, the two exchanged glances. Tempest simpered. Cyborg bit his lip. They both shrugged....and moved along.

They had every reason to press on...

The sun began to set as the caravan went under the overpass.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Allright, Beast Boy. All systems are calibrated and set to go. The equipment is rated at one hundred and ten percent efficiency at the moment. Everything says green light."

"Heh.....heh....heh....," the changeling panted/chuckled. "Glad for that extra ten percent, dude...." He gulped. He shivered a bit, doing his best to stand up straight. He was positioned atop a circle of metal grafted into the floor in the center of the laboratory. The huge, translucent cylinder hung above him. "So....a-are we gonna do this thing?"

Starfire glanced over. "Should we not wait for Terra to 'get here'?"

"........," I looked at Robin.

"I think the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we'll be.....l-less anxious. It's Beast Boy I'm concerned about right now."

"Yeah....," Beast Boy simpered. "Me too."

I smirked.

Some lab technicians typed away at a console on the right and left. There were about four members of personnel in the place. Along with Simon Stone's hologram and—yes—Rachel and Jean-Luc watching from the distance. I supposed they were volunteers. They looked more like cybernetic bouncers.

"The energy core is ready to distribute the catalyst....," an assistant said. "Distribution rods at maximum rotary potential."

"Affirmative!" another chirped. "Reserve banks on the ready!"

"Auxiliary support system onl—"

"Cut the crap! Let's just start the blasted thing! Damn!" Simon rolled his human eyes. "Of course......if the subject is ready to start."

I smiled confidently and folded my arms.

Beast Boy gulped. He looked Robin's way.

The Boy Wonder saluted. "She's all yours...."

A beat.

Beast Boy sighed with a crooked smile. "Y-Yeah....she is....isn't she?"

Starfire clasped her hands together.

Beast Boy closed his green eyes. He exhaled, flexed his upper limbs, and nodded. "Okay.....l-lower the tube."

The hologram of Simon nodded. He gestured a flickering hand to the lab technicians.

Devices were appropriately pulled, pressed, typed, and yanked.

With a whirring sound, the mechanical apparatus lowered and encased Beast Boy. There was a hissing sound as a vacuum was produced. Beast Boy winced....then flexed his jaws. He glanced at us with a silly smirk.

Starfire giggled breathily.

Robin was silent.

"Any time you are ready, Beast Boy......," Simon Stone said. "We should be able to do this much quicker than five minutes. Remind us......how long do you need to become human?"

"That's long enough," his muffled voice said from behind the Plexiglas. "I suppose it's time for my opening monologue."

"Give us a signal when you're ready for our part of the process to begin......" The hologram again flagged a nearby assistant. The machine parts above Beast Boy and the cylinder started to hum to life. Power flickered through the brightly lit laboratory. The air conditioning kicked up a notch or two.

Beast Boy took deep breaths. He clenched his fists. He stared down past his white fatigues.

My smile slowly faded as I watched.....and watched......and watched....

Starfire held her hands together pensively.

Robn was silent.

"..................," Beast Boy clenched his teeth and arched his neck, head, torso back....almost hitting the Plexiglas wall behind him. His fingers uncurled and stretched out. His knees went taut. And.....his skin peeled away.

My black eyes blinked.

His skin wasn't peeling away. Merely...the color was. The green hue faded away like murk licking off my blade. The emerald jumped off him in a trail up his feet, beneath his pants and shirt, across his arms, and over his face and nose. A pale peach highlighted his body. His ears shrunk to stubby round lobes. His eyes flashed underneath tightly shut lids. There was a bright pulse as the green spikes of his head was replaced by golden waves. After the transformation slithered its way up and leapt off his forehead, he seemed to lurch over with a heavy breath. His face twisted in a sickening fashion and his temples pulsed as he uttered in a hoarse and violently human voice: "N-Now, Doc. Now!"

"Hit it!!" Simon barked.

CH-TUNG!!!

WHURRRRR-RRRRRR!!

FL-FLASH!!!

VROMMMMMM!!!!

Four huge, rotating robot arms spun down from the ceiling. They glowed a bright yellow and revolved around the cylinder at a breakneck speed. The air kicked up. A golden glow throbbed as the robotic 'fingers' focused their energies on the occupant inside the Plexiglas.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

We bore witness to a kaleidoscopic flicker of Beast Boy's heaving, panting body from beyond the spinning arms.

I swallowed nervously.

Starfire had her hands cupped over her mouth.

Robin was silent.

"Catalyst initiation!!" Simon shouted.

A nearby assistant nodded. She uttered: "T-Minus Five! Four!!"

Rachel bit her fleshly lip.

Jean-Luc took a firm breath.

"Three! Two!"

Beast Boy shuddered once or twice.

I took a step forward.

He regained his dizzy balance and stood up for—

"One! Zero!"

"Activate!!"

FLASH!!!!!!

A yellow explosion of light.

Starfire and I shaded our eyes.

Rachel and Jean-Luc flinched.

The assistants strained to see.

Simon Stone stood absolutely still.

WHUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr.r.r.r.r.r.r.........

The arms stopped spinning.

The glow inside the cylinder pulsed on for a few seconds....then died like a deteriorating shell.

And a statue rested inside. A light brown slab of stone. With thin arms dangling like granite branches. A torso that was hunched over. A feverish face with mouth agape sickly. Thin eyes.

It wasn't a very pleasing freeze-frame.

"Beast Boy.....," Starfire murmured.

I bit my lip.

Simon Stone's hologram blinked. He and the scientists stared in wonder. "It.........it worked. A charm......one hundred percent!!"

"Good....now bring him back," Robin muttered.

A beat.

.....

The Boy Wonder looked over. "BRING HIM BACK!!"

The echoes ringed painfully in our ears.

"Uh......r-right!!" the holographic Construct winced. He pointed a flickering hand. "Reversal! On the dot!!"

"Already activating, sir!!"

"Inverted energy withdrawal!!"

"Affirmative!!"

WhurrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRR!!!!

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

The robot arms spun again.

The fingers started glowing again.

I bit my lip. I crossed two metal fingers behind my back.

VROMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

The wind.

The pulsing.

The gold—

FLASH!!!!!

"Nnnngh!!" Beast Boy's voice echoed as he hobbled forward and planted two smoking, human hands against the Plexiglas. He panted for breath, shivering all over.

"You're back, Beast Boy! You're back!!"

"Hurry!! Hurry!!" Starfire hopped desperately. "Change into an animal!!"

"I......," the human coughed. He sputtered. He wheezed inside the tube. "I.....I feel....."

"The disease, Beast Boy! It'll consume you!! Change back!!"

He was sweating all over. Bulbs of liquid trickled down his pale, smooth temples. Subtly green eyes teared as they gazed widely at the floor. His limbs shook and his golden hair was tosseled.

"Beast Boy!!!" Starfire shouted.

"I.........this.......T-Terra......," he muttered. He clenched his teeth. He tilted his head back. " NnnnngggghhhhRAAAUGH!!"

A flash of green.

SWOOOSH!!!

The body shrunk into a furred creature at the bottom of tube. Complete with elongated body, a tale, a snout, and.....green fur.

".......," a trembling mongoose shook its head. It looked up at us, chirped once or twice....and then ballooned outward into an exhausted and panting elf sitting on his behind.

"Raise the cylinder!!"

CL-CLUNK!!!

WHURRRRRR.

The tube raised.

Beast Boy practically sprawled himself out on the floor, panting.

Two technicians ran over.

Robin stood above the scene.

I craned my neck to see.

A beat.

The two technicians checked his most basic vital signs...and then his temperature. They glanced at each other....smiled...and gave the thumb's up.

"Whew.....stop the adrenaline, I want to get off...," Beast Boy muttered.

"You are alive and elfin again!!!" SWOOOOSH!! Starfire soared over and scooped the changeling up in happy arms. "Heeeeee!!" She snuggled him to her chest. "You are undamaged!!"

"Uhhhh......," Beast Boy blushed. "Yeah....."

Starfire parted the hug and jumped in place. "That was so incredibly brave of you!"

"And it worked," Robin smirked. He held a gloved hand out. "Way to go, Beast Boy. You just paved the way to Terra—"

Beast Boy hugged him. "Love you too, man!!!"

Starfire giggled.

I shook my head and smirked.

"Okay, B.B. Get off me---GET OFF ME!! Sheesh...."

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out, did a little jig in place, and inhaled. "Whew yeah! Back to being beastly again!"

"May I be so bold as to inquire....," Starfire smiled with her hands held together and her head leaning to the side. "Why did you choose a Terran weasel to be your animal?"

"It's a mongoose," Beast Boy corrected. "And it's simple, really. That's the first animal I ever became."

"Really??" Robin smirked with a curious eyebrow raised.

Beast Boy nodded. "It's a long story. Now let's frickin' get Terra here."

There was a chiming sound at a computer console.

Simon Stone's hologram turned and glanced at it. A beat. He turned back and smiled at us. "I don't think we have to wait for long."

Silence.

Beast Boy took a deep breath, gulped, and said: "Allrighty then......what are we waiting for?" There was a trembling to his voice.

And—ensuing—there was a trembling sensation throughout the entire room.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"About this Terra....," Tempest murmured to me.

We sat on a bench at the far side of the laboratory a half hour later. Terra's free-floating statue was being lowered into the metal ring beneath the cylinder by a combination of Raven's telekinesis, Cyborg's brawn, and Starfire's grace. Robin stood in the center of the room and acted as conductor...guiding the movement with the gentle sway of a leader's hands. Beast Boy stood at the side of the room—hugging himself—while the hologram of Simon Stone and his physical associates looked on.

"About this Terra...," he started over, "...I think she's unknown to practically everyone."

I glanced at him curiously.

"When we rode through Town to bring her safely here...," the Atlantean spoke. "...many surface dwellers stared at her as if it was the first time they had.....had ever seen her in this fashion. Or maybe the first time they'd seen her at all. I wonder if anyone in the City knows her any more than you and I do?"

I shrugged silently, eyeing the five Titans and their intense attention being paid to the statue's placement.

"It almost seems as if....as if they don't identify with the girl ever being a part of Slade's historic takeover of this region. I wonder how much they've attributed her to infamy. Maybe they've forgotten? Either way....I-I'm tempted to believe that it was never this City that Terra hurt the most. It was the Titans and the Titans alone."

I leaned forward with a hand to my knee to my chin. I exhaled. I gazed at the frozen pose of Terra. Her 'brown' hair waving in permanent rigidity. The solid, smooth eyes of frozen power. The hidden aura of the entire body.

"It....it begs the question....and it makes you wonder....," Tempest murmured. "....what great compassion.....what true admiration and friendship....c-could ever empower these original five heroes to risk so much and expend so much energy in attempting to revive her?"

A beat.

I remembered the DVD. The preciousness of it all. Almost angelic.

I smiled painfully. I took my shades off, rubbed my naked black eyes, and put them back on. I leaned forward some more and sighed.

I didn't know Terra. But I knew innocence. At least, I once did.

And somewhere hidden inside of that rock—like a Michelangelo sculptor—there was innocence waiting to be carved out. And the Titans saw it. They were the starving artists preserving a beautiful poem by the name of a girl written in some mystic 'yesterday' I could only have glimpses of. And it tasted of adorableness. Something rich in taste and warmth. Like a hand on the other side of the earthen veil.

"Once she's back and stuff....you think they'll forget about us noobies?" Tempest asked.

A beat.

We glanced at each other.

I looked at the purple glow in his dark eyes.

He looked at my metal arm.

We both smirked. We shook our heads.

"We barely ever heard about her....," said an eccentric voice.

"????" Tempest spun about.

I glanced over him.

On another bench, Rachel and Jean-Luc looked over.

Jean-Luc reiterated: "Granted....we were under Anderson's programming at the time and forced to do bank robberies in Metropolis and Bloodhaven. But none of the news truly revealed Terra's identity. Not until after Slade's fall. And even then...Terra's 'infamy' was not highlighted until—well—the last bombing runs."

Rachel nodded. "'Terra' ha sido siempre un misterio."

Tempest narrowed his eyes. "Wait a sec. You two.....were criminals?"

Rachel smirked. "We were reprogrammed," she said in English. "Por Dios......we were nothing but simple citizens of the land before an adventure in life-saving prosthetics saved our lives."

Jean-Luc interjected: "Quite an unpleasant thing it was too. Crime lords took advantage of the power cores fused to our synapses to control us and make us perform ill-will. As you can see...the rebuilding process of our lives is taking exceedingly long."

"Heh....fancy that....," Tempest blinked. He pointed at me. "And you were once Wyldecarde, right?"

I nodded boredly.

"Sheesh...am I surrounded by rogues or what?? Ha ha ha—Ow!!"

I rubbed my elbow after hitting him.

"Sheesh. Don't ruin the moment."

The moment......

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

......it arrived.

".......," Cyborg stared at the statue inside the plastic cylinder. He rubbed the human part of his head. An exhale...and he uttered: "Well allright...." He slowly turned and his eyes scanned those in the room. The lab assistance. Simon Stone's flickering visage. Rachel and Jean-Luc in the corner. Starfire. Robin. Myself. Tempest. Raven. And finally a hand-wringing Beast Boy. ".......so....a-are we done taking our sweet time?"

"We're done," Raven droned.

Tempest chuckled a bit.

Robin smirked.

Raven folded her arms....and even I noticed a slight curve to the edge of her lips. She glanced over at Beast Boy.

The elf was shaking all over. His lips were firm. His eyes thin. His gait hunched over as he still wore the white fatigues donated to him from Phaser Labs. They shook on his scrawny arms like miniature capes.

Raven did a strange thing. She shuffled over and placed a gentle hand on the changeling's shoulder.

Beast Boy seemed to relax from that. He swallowed and simpered crookedly.

"Be calm....center yourself if you need to....," Raven said.

"Enough mumbo jumbo."

The dark girl rolled her eyes. "I was only trying to help." She glanced Cyborg's way.

Cyborg smiled back at her. He took a breath and gestured towards the hologram. "All yours, old man."

As the android walked in reverse and away from the Plexiglassed girl, the hologram nodded towards the assistants and—silently this time—the experiment went into play. Buttons were pressed. Dials were turned. Keystrokes were peformed...then...

WHURRRRRRRRRR!!!

The robotic arms lowered around the tube.

CL-CL-CLINK-CHTUNG!!!

The fingers extended.

VROMMMMMMM!!!

They glowed.

WHURRRR-CTHING!!-CHURK!!!-WHURRRRRR.

The arms started to revolve.

Swish......Swish.......Swish....

Faster.

Swish Swish Swish Swish.

Faster.

Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish.

The kaleidoscope.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

Beast Boy shivered. He wrung his hands more. His teeth would have clattered if he had his mouth open.

Cyborg stood next to Raven. The two looked upon the increasingly glowing spectacle as one.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

"......," I glanced over from Cyborg and Raven back to the cylinder. "....."

The tube shimmered in a golden glow as the tips of the robotic fingers illuminated the entity inside.

".......," I sighed and glanced to my left.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

Robin watched, his fists firm at his sides.

Starfire—her eyes glued to the cylinder—drifted over meekly and stood behind the Boy Wonder. She entreated his grasp with her trembling fingers as her lip hung open. Robin didn't resist to hold her hand.

Both watched the experiment without moving an inch....

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

Tempest's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward with curious interest. The emotion was replaced with an equation of wonder.

I envied him.....and yet I envied the Titans too. I felt strung out in the center.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!

Simon's hologram looked desperately from the spinning arms and golden glow to the lab technicians.

A scientist gritted her teeth, examined the controls before her, and shouted above the increasing fray: "Forty seconds until catalyst initialization!! So far, maximum efficiency!!"

"Purring like a kitten!!" Cyborg bellowed. "Ha ha!! YES!!!"

Starfire smiled desperately.

Beast Boy wrung his hands.

We all gazed at the metallic cyclone as the stone glowed and glowed and glowed and glowed and....

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!

A chill.

I blinked.

A chill.

I winced.

I gripped my metal hand. I gritted my teeth and weathered a cold shiver running up from my left prosthetic to the base of my central nervous system.

Not now............not right now!!

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

The chill shattered through my insides.

I exhaled. I felt ice on my tongue.

I shuddered all over.

I winced.

Please......not now......

My left fingers flinched. The titanium digits pulsed. It felt invisible knives pricking my metal 'skin'.

My face twisted in confusion and shock...magnified by the golden vortex before me.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

"Thirty seconds!!"

"Come on....," Beast Boy murmured.

Robin took a deep breath.

Starfire trembled.

Raven adjusted her hood over her head.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

By then, I was sweating.

I felt numb all over.

The chills.

The chills....

....................

..........................'red aviary'.........

My lips parted.

..............................'red aviary'............

My black eyes convulsed.

Something in the bright gold turned a rusted, bleeding red and back to gold again. And then a sloshing sensation in the corners of my ears like a bright beacon over dark firmaments or an endless sea of churning, abysmal mud.

................................................'red aviarrrrrrry'.........

My lips quivered.

This.........

The chill racked through my body.

This is not going to work.........

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!

In the corner of my shaded vision, a few lab technicians jolted at what they saw on their computer stations.

Jean-Luc stood up...as if his cybernetic core was sensitive to something startling.

Even Raven looked suddenly and awkwardly tense.

I panted.

This is not going to work!

I ran a shaky hand through my hair.

It's......it's not working.........It's not working!!

I looked panickedly, mutely over at the computer stations.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!

"Something.....S-Something's wrong!!"

Beast Boy's eyes exploded.

Simon Stone's hologram spun around. "What??!" he shouted above the tumult.

An objectionable buzzing sound emanated from the computer stations. A red light flashed.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!

FLASH!!!

An explosion of gold light.

Blinding.

My black eyes clenched shut and I clutched my aching head.

Nnnnnghhhh!!

"What's going on?!?!"

"A-Analyzing!!"

"What do you mean you're 'analyzing'?!" Beast Boy's voice cackled. "What the heck's going on?!?! What's happening to Terra?!?!"

SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

FLAAAA-AAAAASH!!!

................................................'rrrrrrred aviary'............

Chills and chills.

I shuddered.

My black eyes flew open.

I saw a reflection of white on the inside of my shades.

Momentarily--

"There's an energy overload!! Two hundred and thirty-five percent stronger than predicted!!"

"Two hundred and thirty-five percent?!?!" Cyborg's voice cackled.

"Is that bad?!?! Cy!!" Beast Boy barked. "Tell me if that's bad?!?! What's going on here?!?!"

"The catalyst is igniting an energy flux that's growing at an alarming rate!!"

"It'll blow!!!"

"Then....Th-Then....."

"Shut it off!!!!" Beast Boy's voice shouted.

"But B.B.—"

"Shut if off, dammit!! This is Terra we're talking about!!!!"

SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!

ZZZZZZZTTT!!!!

"Overload imminent!!"

FLAAAAA-AAAAAAASH!!!!!

"!!!!"

.........................................'red AVIARY'..............

"Shutting down!"

"Now!"

"NOW!!!"

ZZZTTT!!!!

SW-SW-SW-SWOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!

WHURRRR-CHTUNG!!!!!

VROMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm........

The arms spun to a stop.

The golden glow dissipated.

The cylinder smoked from the inside out.

And there stood Terra's stone body. Untouched. Unaffected.

Still.

Still as rock.

Half of the room was panting. As if we had all just run the mile in circles and the world spun inside of us with the catalyst's sunlight glow.

No one hyperventilated more than Beast Boy. The green elf ran two shaking hands through his hair, swallowed, and uttered: "What.....wh-wh-what happened.....?!?!"

Simon Stone gazed flickeringly at the tube containing the girl in the center of the room. He shook his head with holographic mouth agape. "I......I don't know........."

"Her mitochondrial signature was off the charts....," a scientist said. "She was practically on fire."

A beat.

"Then how do you FIX it?!?!?!" Beast Boy cackled.

"Beast Boy...easy—"

"Don't tell me to take it easy!!!" Beast Boy shook all over. "You said you had a cure for her!! And it worked on me!! Why in God's name can't it work on her?!?! Huh?!?! What's wrong with your machines?!?!"

"It's not the equipment," another scientist said, glancing over the monitors. "It's....it's...."

"What?!?!"

Simon Stone bowed his head. "We......we'll have to run some tests—"

"Like Hell you will!! You guys are smart!! You were intelligent enough to put ME in that damn pressure cooker!! Now tell me what's wrong....now!!!"

"Beast Boy....," Robin walked over.

"Don't tell me to shut up!! Terra deserves more than this!! She deserves—"

"Beast Boy...," Robin placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. "Let them run their tests. Let them figure out the problem. Then we'll try again. Okay?"

Beast Boy fumed....heavily.

"Please, Garfield....," Starfire leaned over him with a gentle-soft gaze. "Allow them to truly help Terra....like you have...."

"...........," Beast Boy clenched his fists and stared at the floor.

Robin and Starfire slowly led him limply out the door and into the hallway beyond.

Cyborg rushed over to the computer stations to assist in the analysis.

Raven was left standing...gazing intently at the cylinder. In thought.

Tempest looked at me. He exhaled with raised eyebrows of confusion and stress.

I shivered and swallowed a lump down my throat.

And just like that....the chills left me.

"......."

I released my python grip on my left hand.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Beast Boy paced back and forth down the hallway.

Robin leaned against a nearby wall, his arms folded. Starfire sat cross-legged on a nearby bench. Tempest, Raven, and I huddled besides a potted plant. Half of us shifted uncontrollably.

Cyborg was gone with Simon....wherever. It was well into a half-hour of 'analysis'. We were all feeling anxious.

Most of all Beast Boy.

"I don't get it.....I just don't get it!!"

"Please, Beast Boy...," Starfire cooed. Her eyes were sad for him. "Do not despair. There is yet to be a verdict—"

"Oh yeah?! On what?!?!" Beast Boy cackled with swinging arms. "It worked for me!! I nearly died making sure that technology worked on a human! Why isn't it working on Terra??"

"She may be more than human," Tempest shrugged. "Heck...imagine if she was Atlantean. That'd still yield a different result than you—"

"This isn't a joke, man," Beast Boy frowned. "Believe it or not...I'm not in the mood for laughing. So shut up, dude!!"

".....," Tempest frowned. "Look! I was only saying---"

Raven placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're saying nothing...." She looked calmly in Beast Boy's direction. "Have patience. Leave theories to the wind right now. It's not our place to guestimate as it is. That's Cyborg's and his uncle's job."

"Some good they're doing!! I thought they were geniuses and stuff!! Computer talent runs in their blood!! What could they have overlooked?!?! This is Terra for crying out loud!!"

"Beast Boy, we are well aware of the crucial nature of whom we are dealing with," Starfire floated over and gestured emphatically. "Please.....follow Raven's advice. Be patient. All is not yet so dire."

"Speak for yourself....," Beast Boy sighed, bringing a hand over his face. "We....we can't let Terra down. I-I-I can't let Terra down. Not again. Oh God please....n-not again...."

"......," Robin leaned forward. "Beast Boy....what did I tell you—"

"It's my fault, dude....," Beast Boy hugged himself and rocked back and forth. "If I treated her with more respect, this never would have happened! She never would have met Slade! The City would never have been in trouble! Terra would never have to resort to—"

"Beast Boy....you paid her the best respects out of all of us combined."

"................."

"Live with it. You were her friend. Her best friend ever." His eyemask narrowed. "And as if today's actions on behalf of you weren't enough to prove it.....then you'll just have to believe me when I say you've more than lived up to the commitment you've always paid her."

"................I.........I just want her back....," Beast Boy murmured. "I want her back so much."

"We all do, Beast Boy," Starfire cupped her hands together. "We all do."

"..............," I gazed down at my feet.

A beat.

Titanium shoes marched into view.

We all looked up.

Cyborg stood tall. His arms hung by his side and his expression seemed very...........solemn.

"Come.....," the android Titan merely uttered. "Uncle Simon and I've got some stuff to share with you."

"............," Beast Boy swallowed. He led the pack. Cyborg followed behind. Then Raven. And the rest of us.

I filed in last behind. I rubbed the metal contours of my metal limb restlessly....

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The conference room was still vacant. The projector screen wasn't even erected this time, and the lights seemed twice as dim inside the lonely room.

The Titans sat—spread out across the field of skeletal chairs. At the far end of the chair setup, a pedestal stood with Simon Stone's holographic visage. Beside him stood Cyborg, leaning casually against a podium with a few shambled, fresh printouts collected in his grasp.

The eight of us were alone.

"So what is it?" Beast Boy murmured. To the point. He clung hard to the seat of his chair with white-green knuckles and tried to contain his shivering. "H-Have you found out what went wrong?"

".........," Cyborg took a deep breath. A beat. His human eye darted over towards his Uncle.

Simon Stone flickered once....twice. He turned and 'faced us'. "With present technology......it.........it iI-isn't possible to raise Terra from the rock."

Starfire gasped, a hand over her mouth.

Robin rested a hand on her shoulder.

"........," Raven lowered her hood. She took a breath and gazed Beast Boy's way.

"........," the changeling stopped shivering. He blinked. "Why......wh-wh-why not?"

"It's her mitochondrial level...," Simon Stone sighed. He rubbed his holographic temples—as if he needed to—and uttered lethargically: "It's quadruple the normal level. Trying to apply the energy catalyst to it would only result in an overload. And that means that Terra's body would shatter. Literally. Long before any attempts at bringing her to our organic level is even possible."

"What's with such a high mitochondrial level??" Robin asked. "Is it because of her superpowers? A mutation of some sort?"

"That's what we thought at first...," Cyborg said, lifting a finger. "But....Terra is very much human. We know that her mitochondria is the source of her earth elemental fields and telekinesis, but that's not the issue."

"Then what is??"

"There is a far greater mitochondrial volume in her," Cyborg said. "More than any human being. Normal or superpowerful."

"But....why??" Robins hrugged.

"We examined her rocky frame with every sensory apparatus Phaser Labs has to offer," Simon Stone said. "X-Rays, sonar scans, anomaly detectors......"

"Basically everything we couldn't use to examine 'Terra' before....cuz she was sealed up in that cave...," Cyborg said. He paced over into the center of the rows of chairs and gestured. "We found out a heck of a lot more about her structural integrity. Stuff that would have been important to know....b-before the experiment started. Indeed....ahem....w-we almost spelled the end for her."

"Just tell us what you found!!" Beast Boy cackled.

"We are most concerned...," Starfire insisted.

".........," I watched and listened.

Simon Stone took a deep 'breath'. "Terra isn't the only organism inside the stone," he said.

Starfire's lips parted.

Tempest leaned forward.

"What do you mean??" Raven remarked with a suspicious gaze.

Simon leaned back. "Terra was a month and a half pregnant when she turned to stone."

"............"

"............"

Starfire and I exchanged wide-eyed gazes.

A beat.

"She....but....what......"

We all glanced over at Beast Boy.

He was half-collapsed out of his chair. His jaw was agape. "She....she was pregnant??"

Simon Stone and Cyborg nodded. They were both looking at Beast Boy. Everybody was looking at Beast Boy.

And he immediately sensed it: "I.....Th-That's impossible!!" Beast Boy stammered. He shook his hands. "T-Terra and I....w-we were in love but...b-but we never got intimate!! I-I-I mean...we never....That's impossible!! She and I are v-virgins! We hardly ever got a chance to kiss for crying out loud!! So stop looking at me, dammit!!"

"Beast Boy....," Cyborg said silently. "The tests aren't lying. Terra has a healthy, growing embryo inside of her. It's just as much frozen as her. But it's there. And it's overloading the process."

"And I'm telling you, that just isn't possible!!!" the changeling barked. "Terra and I never touched each other, dude!! How else could she have gotten pregnant at......th-that..............time......."

Silence.

Starfire bit her lip.

"........," Raven stared at the floor.

I took a few deep breaths and hunched over on my knees. I ran a finger across the frames of my shades.

A beat.

"......," Beast Boy was staring off into space. His eyes darted back and forth across the nether.

A jerk....a start...

He stood up suddenly.

"........"

He didn't seem to be looking at anyone or anything. His fingers flexed as he turned about and—without a breath—slowly paced over towards the end of the conference room. His feet slowed. He came to a stop in front of the podium. Alone. Slowly....like the first tremors of an earthquake....his shoulders started heaving. His whole body shook, quaked...and finally exploded with a furious kick into the podium.

WHAP!!

"I hate you Slade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A deathly silence.

A breath.

A second heave.

"I hate you!!!!!!!!!!!"

Silence again.

All of us were gazing at the floor. We couldn't summon the strength to look at him. Not directly. Even the hologram was 'gazing' elsewhere.

Beast Boy tilted back and pulled at his hair. "Nnnnghhhhhhraaaaaahh!!!!" He deflated. He fell onto his knees, hyperventilating. Hugging himself. The anger melted away and sloshed out his eyes as he bit his lip, sniffed, and hiccupped.

Starfire was well misty-eyed at this point. She sniffed, floated over, and knelt behind Beast Boy. She hugged him gently, leaning her head closely into the back of his neck as she absorbed his shaking figure. A few seconds later, Raven walked over, sat down, and rubbed a gentle hand across his back.

The rest of us...the guys...gradually stood around with hands in our pockets.....staring blankly into the corners.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Uncle Simon says that....th-that he's going to keep running tests and trying to come up with a way to overcome the problem of the condensed mitochondrial intensity. It has something to do with the 'life aura' of stem cells or something. It's much more complicated than that, but basically it's a headache-full of stuff to try and explain. The fact that Terra's pregnant....well....that really REALLY complicates things now. We won't be trying just to raise her from the stone. We'll be shooting for both her and the embryo. To try and save just one would have drastic effects on them both. Basically—the stone has fused Terra and her developing child into one 'entity', in the mitochondrial intensity sense. If that can be understood."

"So....," Robin took a deep breath. He, Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, and I huddled about the T-Car in front of Phaser Labs. The moon was out. The wind was cold. The night was merciless. "I'm guessing....at least....another 'month and a half of non-distracted concentration and experimentation', huh?"

Cyborg rubbed the human side of his head quietly.

Raven droned: "Cyborg.....does it even look possible at this point?"

A beat.

Cyborg took a deep breath. "Let's just tell Beast Boy the truth...."

"And wh-what is that?" Starfire asked. She still seemed on the verge of sniffing and tearing.

Cyborg glanced at me.

"......."

He glanced back at the Titans. "Anything is possible. Anything and absolutely e-everything is.....p-possible....." The android's face went blank as his voice lingered.

A beat.

Robin swallowed. He walked over and patted Cyborg's shoulder. "Thanks, Cyborg.....f-for all you've done."

"Heh....'done'.....fancy word that," Cyborg muttered.

Robin sighed. "Well....we're going back to the Tower."

"Yeah...that's right...," Cyborg smiled weakly. "We've got a Halloween show to put on for the kids in two days."

"More like 'one', actually," Raven said.

Cyborg looked over. "Well...look at Miss Cutie! Suddenly eager for this Fall Festival?"

Raven blinked at him. "After today.....what would I not be eager for."

The whole of us gazed off into space.

Eventually Starfire took a breath and uttered: "Beast Boy is.....still inside, no?"

"Yeah...he's inside. Last time I checked, Tempest went in to check on him."

"Might as well pass the word that we're homeward bound...," Robin gestured. "I hate to say it....but....it's getting late."

I raised my hand. I gestured.

"Noir'll go check on them," Cyborg said.

"Good 'ol Noir....," Raven droned.

Starfire managed a tiny giggle. Tiny.

I smirked somewhat. I turned around, sighed, and marched towards the front entrance of Phaser Labs.

Behind me I heard:

"After all we did today......I-I hate to go to sleep and realize that Terra isn't alive and around. I practically promised Beast Boy.........."

"Robin....after what we've learned....would he—or any of us for that matter—be truly ready to welcome Terra back?"

".........."

"Let's not take this setback too lightly....or too seriously. We've learned more about Terra. And when or if we ever do successfully raise her out of the stone...we know she won't be alone. But we'll have to be prepared to make sure that she doesn't feel alone."

"Yeah, Rae."

"Very true, Raven."

"Spoken well."

".........let's go home."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SCHWISSSH!!

The doors to the lab opened.

I walked in....and blinked.

It was nearly pitch black inside....save for emergency lights in the far corner.

In the dim glow, I saw Beast Boy standing right in front of the translucent tube housing Terra's stone figure.

Tempest stood a few feet behind the two of them. Both of their backs were to me.

"You loved her, didn't you?"

Silence.

Tempest reiterated with a wave of the hand. "I mean....really....truly....loved her?"

A beat.

Beast Boy raised a hand and stroked the Plexiglas in front of her frozen face.

"One morning, Garth. I-I went to awake her. I knocked on her door....the desert themed room we had built for her. And...she didn't answer. And this was shortly after she rejoined us. Nobody knew about the betrayal. But all I could think about that morning when I knocked on her door was that....th-that maybe she had gone. That perhaps Terra had run away. I was about to leave and check out the rest of the Tower...when....wh-when I heard her crying, Garth. I....I heard her soft, whimpering voice inside. And....she was murmuring things. Silent, desperate things. About her life. About her loneliness. And about her servitude to Slade....th-though I never truly grasped that. But I remember now....I-I remember so clearly now....Raven talked about herself plurally. She never said 'me' or 'I'. She said 'we' and 'us'. She......"

A beat.

Beast Boy's hand lowered. He shuddered.

"She knew it, Garth. She knew what was inside of her. She knew it and she never told us. Just like she never told us what she was doing with Slade. Like she never told us how lonely and helpless she felt in the world with her dangerous powers. She...she never trusted us. For she felt we could n-never trust her. And because of that, she let herself be alone. She let what was growing inside of her be ignored. And she....sh-she let S-Slade....."

Silence.

".......she turned to me, Garth. T-Terra turned to me. And I now know......I now know that n-no matter how much I hurt her....I...I-I must have been so much more helpful and blessing to her. I was her escape. I w-was her outlet. I.....I-I was her innocence, G-Garth. I was the friendly face she c-clung to before she ever entered Slade's c-clutches...."

A beat.

"I truly loved her. And she l-loved me. I....I know it now. I know it better than I ever had before. And when she's out of this prison...when she's free at last..........I-I will continue to love her. And I will love everything that is a part of her. Even the life that w-will someday come from her....."

Silence.

Tempest stirred. He scratched the back of his neck and uttered: "This one day in Poseidonis....the King and Queen were away on a diplomatic mission to the Renzukkan Trading Capital. I came to visit Tula for the first time in ages. We arranged to have a simple dinner and she snuck me into her palace afterwards, giggling the entire time. I was as n-nervous as a lopsided clamshell. I was a lonesome vigilante of the seas...and she was the brazen princess of a royal sect of Atlantis. But when I felt her hands holding mine....and saw her beautiful eyes gazing into mine..........I-I surrendered. I let her take me into her loveliest of sacred spots."

A pause.

"We made love for the first time that night. And the night after that. And all that weekend. And every morning in the soft thermal undercurrents of the upper Pacific Valley.....I awoke to her gently waving hair and her sleeping figure.....like a nymph in riverlight. And I realized then and there—for even the briefest of moments—that I could die finally. For I had found someone to make my soul....warm and complete and just plain........happy. I've....I-I've not felt true 'happiness' since I last saw her."

Tempest took a deep breath.

"Why she sacrificed herself for me.....I-I'm still trying to figure out. She believed in something in me so strong that she laid down her life for me to go on. But if only I had told her.....if only I had told her that I had nothing else to live on for. Because I had her. I had found my purpose in her arms. In her breath. In the gentle way she let go of her strong defenses and just....clung to me in the drifts of the warm currents. She's dead now...and....I-I've been trying to figure out since then why that is. She had some purpose in mind when she gave herself for me. And....I-I guess I'm only here with the Titans to try and figure out what that purpose is. And I may not know it yet....but I did know Tula. And I know she was all there was for me to feel complete in."

A beat.

"But like I said....she is dead now, Beast Boy. My journey is a lonely one—yes. But at least I know where it may possibly end. But you......I-I can't imagine what it is like for you, Beast Boy. Terra....this wonderful....mysterious nymph......she is neither dead or alive. She is a facsimile of dry earth and stone. It must be....so painful. So impossible to understand." He stepped up and stood close behind the changeling's back. "As impossible as it is for me to understand what Tula's dead for.....it's impossible for you to understand what Terra's tortured for. But....perhaps with each other's help....two half-understandings might make a whole?"

".........," Beast Boy stared into the Plexiglas.

"Beast Boy....," Tempest smiled gently. "Someday.....I'm sure of it....Terra will be freed. And if she can hear us right now...then surely even she can testify.....you are the best thing that ever happened to her or could ever happen to her. And not just her....but the life she carries. Mitochondrial and superpowers aside...it's your glow that she lives off of. I'm sure of it."

A beat.

Beast Boy turned and gazed up at the Atlantean. "We....w-we're a lot more alike than we'd like to think, aren't we?"

"Hehehehe....'like to'?" Tempest smiled. A beat. His face seemed a tad bit more solemn as he said: "Or maybe we've both been equally blessed....in our curses?"

A beat.

"Tell me, Garth. Did you ever......feel Tula's hair?"

Tempest nodded. "It was like the finest seaweed of the Atlantean troughs...."

Beast Boy blinked.

Tempest smirked with his hands on his hips. "That's a good thing."

"Oh.....got it, dude."

"Heheh."

A beat.

Beast Boy's hand against trailed the Plexiglas. "Terra's.....it was like gold. Liquid gold in my fingers. I.....heheh....I tucked her in bed one time."

"Truly?"

Beast Boy nodded. "I.....I-It was the night I heard her crying. I w-walked into her room afterall. She was practically collapsed on the floor....exhausted. I...um....picked her up, tucked her in bed, and walked away. But I felt her hair as I carried her and laid her down. And.....I-I swear....I never slept happier than I did when I went back into my room."

"Yeah....it's the hair that'll do that."

"More or less."

A beat.

Tempest smirked and startled me as he turned and pointed: "Poor Noir. Must be left out."

I smiled crookedly.

Beast Boy waved. "Heh....yeah....get a load of us, dude. A bunch of lovesick saps."

"You don't understand what it's like....d-do you, Noir?"

"............," I blinked. A beat. I smiled. I shook my head and lied 'no'.

"Heh....you're lucky, dude."

I gazed to the floor.

Tempest placed a hand on the changeling's shoulders. "Come on....let's go home."

A beat.

"Yeah....," Beast boy forced himself to turn and look away from the statue. "Let's...."

Tempest guided him gently out the door and past me. "You know what's funny?"

"What, man?"

"I'm Garth....and you're 'Garfield' apparently."

"You didn't know that??"

"No! What if we're twins!"

"Heh......but I don't have gills!"

Tempest snickered. "We'll search for birth marks....tomorrow."

"Ick. You do that on your own, dude."

As they walked past me, I stood alone in the shadowed doorway.

Shivering.

I felt my metal wrist and shuddered.

What............h-happened earlier??

I gazed at the statue. At the robot arms suspended limply overhead.

R-Red.........Aviary??

A beat.

I bit my lip.

What's wrong with me??

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

At around that time in the Tower....

Raven retreated to her room.

She hummed monotonously to herself and rummaged through her closet.

"Stupid festival....," she grunted. ".....well....at least the costume isn't that bad......"

She gradually found the outfit in question....something very 'black'.

But as she pulled it out, a familiar something wide and soft plopped over.

Thwap!!

"........"

Raven draped her costume over a nearby chair.

She knelt in her closet and tilted the thing back up.

".......," she gazed over it once again.

A canvass painting of a short-blonde haired girl with a wooden katana and a green vest. Smiling. Surrounded in red shadows. An angel. A nymph.

A beat.

"I wonder when we'll try raising you for a change......"

Succinctly droned, the dark girl put the painting back up, closed the closet, and proceeded to try on her costume for the coming day.