For what seemed to be the longest time, Slade and Robin were speechless. Both of them couldn't take their eyes off the two girls, yet at the same time, both of them wished they hadn't seen anything. Robin's eyes were wide and his mouth opened a little, as if he had meant to say something that never made it out of his head. Together, after a few seconds of decision, they demanded, "What's going on here?" Realizing they'd spoke in unison, Slade and Robin looked at each other with a bit of awkward annoyance before turning back to Rose and Terra.
Rose took a shaky, quick breath as she held Terra's wrists in her hand. She dropped the sword and let it fall off the side of the bed and her lips curled into a thin smirk. This was her chance to explain in a way that wouldn't reveal her true actions-but it had to be good, because Robin and Slade, she knew, were clever enough to notice a thrown-together lie. She looked down at Terra's fearful expression and her grin widened a little. Kind of cute when she's scared, she noted. Now, she had an idea. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking at Slade with guilty eyes. "But when I heard you were going to take her as an apprentice again, I just couldn't let you have her . . . because I want her." She leaned down and wrapped her arms around Terra's neck, laying her head on her chest. "And you can't be mean to her, you just can't, she's too cute for that." Her voice came out muffled since she was pressed into the geomancer.
Robin's face went from surprised to stunned and he stepped back. He accidentally bumped into Slade as he did and quickly moved forwards again. Not saying anything, he looked at Slade for an answer.
Terra, to Rose's liking, whined a little from Rose's hugging. She closed her eyes tight and frowned. She had no idea what was going on. Her kidnapper had told her such a mixture of strange things, she didn't know what was real anymore. Since Rose made no effort to get off her, Terra asked, only loud enough for her to hear, "What are you doing?"
"If you don't want him to put you back in that body control suit, you better shut up and go along with it," was Rose's response.
Beneath his mask, Slade's face had finally relaxed. Still, he didn't know what to do about it. Something like this had never happened before. "Rose," he said, "how did you find her?" His voice was strained, but serious enough to make her answer.
"I found her trying to run away yesterday," Rose said. "So I caught her, told her she couldn't, and took her here . . . because I knew you'd be mad if she got away." She hoped her technique was working. She aimed to confuse Slade so much he'd give up on forcing an explanation out of her. "It was for you," she said, "a gift. But then I realized I didn't want you to have her again, so . . ." She purposely trailed off.
Robin couldn't figure it out. Who was this white-haired girl, what had she done to Terra, why wasn't Terra objecting in any way, why was Slade talking like he knew her . . . ? He folded his arms. "Who is she?" he asked, gesturing at Rose while turning to look at Slade.
Slade thought a moment then began, "She's my dau-"
"Apprentice!" interrupted Rose. She sat up and stared at Slade. Why would he just tell Robin the truth? It was ridiculous. He must've gotten stupid.
Now Slade grew puzzled too. He and Rose watched each other in silence, trying to figure out why the other had responded in such a way.
"If she's your apprentice," argued Robin, "then why do you need me?" The edges of his lips dipped down towards his chin and his eyebrows bent towards his nose. When Slade didn't answer, he caught eye contact with Terra.
As soon as Terra saw that only Robin was looking at her, she mouthed "help" and frowned.
Robin nodded and stepped forwards until he was near enough to grab Terra's wrists from Rose. He did so with little effort, because Rose was too busy eyeing Slade to care about what he was doing. Without telling anyone anything, he picked Terra up off the bed and carried her out of the room. To his surprise, he was not followed.
He brought Terra to where he'd been sleeping and eased her onto the pillow. "What's going on?" he asked. This time his voice was concerned and much friendlier. Terra bit her lip and looked away. If she told him the truth, that she didn't know, he'd get mad at her for lying. She tried to fold her arms instinctively, but the rope held her wrists together. Maybe it was better to stay silent.
"Come on, Terra," he pushed, "you have to tell me. I can't solve anything if I don't know." Why did she always have to be so difficult? In a way, it was sort of like a challenge. Everyone else would answer him so easily, but he had to almost force information out of her most of the time.
"I just want to go back to bed," Terra complained. "And you have to let me. I didn't get any sleep last night, and if I don't tonight I'll . . ." She blushed and stopped.
"You'll what?" Robin asked. He didn't know how to finish the sentence for her, though if he did, he would've tried.
"I c-can't concentrate anymore," Terra mumbled. "If I can't concentrate, I can't . . . can't . . con . . ." Seeming to be unable to provide anymore information without distressing herself, Terra ended her sentence.
"You can't control your powers if you can't concentrate," Robin stated for her. "It's not a horrible thing. I can't think straight without sleep, it's not like-"
"You don't understand," Terra cut him off, shaking her head. "If you can't control yourself, you'll say a few stupid things and maybe you'll trip over something. If I lose control . . ." Her face sank and turned so gloomy Robin worried she'd cry.
Robin fell quiet and put his hand on her shoulder. "Why don't I go look for some hot chocolate or something for you? Something to help you calm down enough to sleep for awhile?"
Terra nodded, so he stood. "I'll be right back." He had no idea where Slade kept food, but he assumed there would have to be some somewhere. Slade didn't seem human all the time, but he really was, and therefore had to eat. Robin wandered back into Rose's bedroom and caught her and Slade in the middle of talking, but they stopped upon his arrival. "Where's the kitchen?" Robin asked. "Terra needs something."
Slade seemed annoyed at his request and said, without emotion, "Rose, show Robin to the kitchen."
Rose frowned and said, "What am I, your personal tour guide?" She stood up with a huffy breath and walked out of her room in hast. Robin followed her until she led him into a recognizable room set up: a refrigerator, cupboards, a sink, and a stove. "So what do you want anyway?" Rose asked him. "We don't have anything good to eat, trust me, I end up with cereal for dinner a lot."
"Hot chocolate mix, tea, warm milk?" Robin asked in a pleasant tone, hoping to ease Rose's bad mood away.
"For that girl?" Rose smiled. "How cute." She jumped up on the countertops and opened a cupboard. She jumped down, slammed it shut and threw a packet of hot chocolate mix at Robin. "There you go, boy wonder, one mix of hot cocoa." She turned, grabbed a cup from another cupboard, handed it to him and then turned to leave the room. As she walked out, she said, "I assume you're smart enough to find the milk."
Robin frowned. He hated being talked down to, and Rose seemed good at it. He set the packet and cup down and took the milk out from the refrigerator. He filled the cup, put it in the microwave it for two minutes, then added the chocolate powder. After stirring, he brought the cup back to Terra.
She was waiting for him just as he'd left her. He sat down next to her and went to hand her the cup, before he realized she couldn't take it. He was going to remove a weapon from his belt to cut her free, but she stopped him with a head shake. "Don't bother," she said. "Just leave me for now. If my hands are tied it's harder for me to do something stupid." Robin understood that by this, she meant she needed her hands to use her powers most of the time, and if she couldn't use them, there was less risk of losing control. He sighed. Although he understood her point, he didn't agree with it. Robin held the cup to her lips and let her sip.
Terra got through about three fourths of the cup before she told Robin it was enough. She fell back onto the pillow and closed her eyes. He set the cup aside and pulled the blanket over her. For the next few minutes, he sat beside her and occasionally glanced over to see the blanket move up and down with her breathing. How was it that she was able to sleep almost anywhere? From what he'd overheard, she'd slept everywhere from in caves to under trees in the park. Slade's lair had to be no different on the comfort level. Without thinking, he raised his hand to her head and slid his fingers through her hair.
He still didn't understand why he felt so awake at such an early hour. I should be sleeping like her, he thought. Something was stopping him-but it couldn't be insomnia, could it? That was Slade's problem, not his.
"I don't suppose you too have taken a sudden liking to her?"
The voice caught Robin off guard and he jolted his head up, to meet Slade's eye. He removed his hand from Terra and held his wrist in his other palm, as if scolding himself.
"And it's funny, Robin, how you left her tied up. I'd have to say I'm almost proud."