Chapter 3 – A Second Chance
January 26th, 2004, Beast Boy's bedroom, 05:15 am
Beast Boy got up quickly. He was very euphoric. Today would be Terra's first day as a truly Teen Titan. He picked the butterfly-shaped hair clip from his desk, which he had kept after she stormed out. He was also really relieved. She didn't lose his trust on him.
After Robin said in front of everyone that he had realized she couldn't control her powers, Terra got really sad and embarrassed. But she came back the next night, looking a little confuse and very lost. Beast Boy found her on the beach, and she was tearful. The changeling hugged and told her nobody cared if she had controlling issues, they only wanted to help. Terra cried on his shoulder just like she did inside Slade's hiding place. Beast Boy's heart raced. He was willing to support her at anything.
Beast Boy came out of his room, washed his face at the nearest bathroom and ran off to the common room as a cheetah. After crossing the door with a leap, he slid and got back to his human form. To his surprise, he only found Robin and Raven. The boy wonder was at the computer and the empath was pouring hot water in a blue mug. Both of them stopped their tasks to stare at the green boy in the middle of the room.
"Hm… Good morning" said Beast boy, finding the scene strange.
"Good morning" said Robin, frowning. "What are you doing up?"
"What do you mean? Where are the others?"
"Beast Boy, it's five thirty in the morning" answered Raven, turning her attention back to the mug "I never thought something other than Christmas morning would make you get up so early"
"Five thirty?" said Beast Boy, looking at the microwave's digital clock "Oh no, it's gonna take so long until she… I mean, everyone wakes up"
Raven didn't say anything, going to the table, putting her mug down and opening her book. Robin also turned back to his computer, with a lightly mocking smile on his lips.
Beast Boy leant against the counter, thinking. He couldn't go back to sleep, since he was so anxious. But Terra would probably sleep for too long, especially after such a troubled night… Then, a click was heard coming from his head.
"I got it!" he yelled, causing Robin to miss a key and Raven to burn her upper lip "I'm gonna cook a special breakfast! And we can celebrate that Terra joined the team!"
Robin and Raven looked at each other. The calm and quiet morning they always had to take care of his business was ruined. The empath was particularly annoyed, as she touched her burned lip with a shining finger, healing it. She sighed and got up, the book on one hand and the mug on the other.
"Hey Raven, where are you going?" asked the green boy, taking soy products off the fridge.
"I'm going to my room, where is quiet" she answered.
"Oh, ok. But you're coming for breakfast, right? I mean, at least to welcome Terra?"
"Whatever…" she replied as the door closed behind her, stopping Beast Boy of keep trying to convince her.
Beast Boy stopped for a second, thinking about going after her, but then shrugged, giving up. He wanted to focus on his treat for Terra.
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"You did a really good job, Beast Boy!" said Robin, sitting at the table "I'm sure Terra is gonna feel welcome"
"Yes, friend Beast Boy, everything is gorgeous, and it looks delicious!" Starfire clapped.
"What a waste…" said Cyborg with a sad expression "So many good stuff, made of… Tofu"
"You are not suppose to like it" said Beast Boy, until that moment feeling very proud of himself "Terra is suppose to like it"
"Still a failure to me" grumbled Cyborg, going to the fridge and picking milk, eggs and bacon. Beast Boy stared at him, annoyed.
"What about the special guest?" asked Raven with her arms crossed, since she was dragged there by Beast Boy.
"She's coming" answered Starfire, who shared her room with the blonde "The poor thing got really exhausted after last night's events"
"So Robin, is she really joining the team?" asked Raven, picking up an apple.
"Of course she is!" yelled Beast Boy before Robin could say anything "And don't eat before she arrives! I mean, please, wait just a second" he quickly added when the empath stared at him.
"I don't think there's going to be a problem, Raven" said Robin, ignoring the changeling "I mean, she has great potential, and she really gets along with all of us. Besides, she needs help. Not only with her powers, but, you know… A place to stay, so she doesn't have to wander around"
"But are you sure we can trust her?" asked Raven again, lowering her voice, so Beast Boy, currently yelling at Cyborg over the meat's scent, couldn't hear them.
"I can't be sure Raven, but…" Robin shrugged "Honestly, I don't think she's a likely betrayer. She lived alone all this time. She didn't have connections with heroes and, hopefully, either with villains. She's just a lost girl. Luckily we found her before somebody else did. You saw how Slade tried to recruit her"
Raven was about to argue, but in that moment the doors slid, and a thin, pale and blonde girl came in. She was wearing worn out civil clothes and had an insecure look.
"Terra!" yelled Beast Boy and Starfire together. The alien girl flew to her friend and pulled her to the table.
"Friend Terra, look at what friend Beast Boy did to celebrate your addition to our family!"
The table was covered with plates of pancakes and waffles, soy milk and orange juice's jugs, pans full of scramble and fried soy eggs and a variety of other soy dishes. At one corner, which Beast Boy tried to hide, there were actual fried eggs, bacon and ham, that Cyborg had just prepared, and a cart of milk.
"Wow, that's so amazing!" said the blonde girl with an incredible look "Nobody has ever done something like this for me. Thank you, Beast Boy!"
Beast Boy blushed as much as his green skin allowed him to, scratching the back of his neck.
"No biggie" he mumbled "You deserve all that"
"You know, you don't have to eat all this junk just 'cause BB cooked it for you, girl" said Cyborg, breaking the weird mood "He's used to it, Raven threw all the tofu on his head once. Here's the real food."
"Shut up Cyborg, and take all that slaughter off her face!" yelled Beast Boy, taking the bacon plate off his friend's hands and passing a pancake's one to Terra.
"You take this savorless stuff off the table!"
Terra and Starfire laughed, as Raven rolled her eyes finishing her apple, and Robin opened his newspaper, ignoring his friends.
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After breakfast, Starfire took Terra shopping to buy new clothes and fabric to sew a super hero uniform. Meanwhile, the other titans prepared the new friend's room.
Beast Boy couldn't stop talking about how fun it was going to be and how amazing Terra was and how they all could do things together. Whenever he was told to shut up, he started to give new ideas about the room, and then he wanted to undo things the others had already made to redo with more details, or in another color. So he ended up being expelled from the decoration team and sent to help Robin to track criminals, where he also couldn't stop talking, and was sent back to Raven and Cyborg, where it started all over again.
Finally, the room got ready. Even talking nonstop, Besat Boy really did give good ideas, like drawing mountains and rocks on the walls and a starry sky on the ceiling. The furniture were just like the others in the Tower, and there was also a television and a computer.
When Terra arrived, exhausted and full of bags with Starfire, carrying even more bags (since she decided to buy something for herself too), they took her to her new room, making her gasp and get a little emotional. Anyone could see in her face that she never felt as welcome as now.
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Terra touched her eyes, wiping some tears and stopping more to come. After the surprise, she and the titans had dinner, and she thanked them over a thousand times. More than a team, she was starting to feel part of a family. Now she was organizing her new clothes in her new wardrobe in her new room.
The fabrics, mainly black, brown and yellow, her favorite colors, were on the center table, along with some sketches she draw with Starfire and Beast Boy of her future super hero uniform. She spotted her worn out backpack, that accompanied her for so many travelling years on a corner.
She went to the backpack and opened it, seeing the few things that helped her for so long. She picked up her yellow flashlight, which lightened her scariest nights. Her other two T-shirts and other short, also old and stained. Her toothbrush, her hairbrush and a switchblade she won when she worked at the carnival.
In that moment, the wind moved the clouds, uncovering the moon, and Terra saw something shine on her bed. She left the backpack and ran to see, on top of her pillow, her butterfly hair clip. She smiled, pinning it to her hair. She thought it was lost. When she turned to see herself on the mirror, nest to the wardrobe, something slid off her backpack, hitting her leg.
"What the…" she muttered, looking down. At her feet there was something she had never seen before.
Terra bent down, picking it up. It was some kind of ancient clock. It was made of thick, hard glass. Outside, there were carven lines making the drawing of what look like a mountain, and the edges had golden metal coated. Inside, there was an hourglass, with thick sand sliding from the upper ampoule to the bottom. Terra was delighted. It was a very beautiful object. But where did it come from?
There was a knock on the door, startling Terra and almost making her drop the clock. Since it was heavy, she put it on a shelf in the wardrobe before answering the door.
"Hi, Terra!"
"Oh, hi, Beast Boy, you startled me"
"Sorry about that"
"It's okay. Still up?"
"Well, yeah, but so is you!"
"I'm organizing my things in the new bedroom" she explained smiling "By the way BB, do you know what…"
The changeling saw the hair clip on her blond hair and answered before she could finish the sentence:
"You found it! I left it there to surprise you!"
"Oh, so you did it!" she said relieved, misunderstanding as the clock "Thank you so much, Beast Boy, you didn't have to"
"Well, you know, I found it and I thought you may like it"
'Of a clock…? Weird, but better go along with it' she thought 'It was probably expensive'
"Yeah, sure, it is pretty. And practical as well"
"I thought so too" Beast Boy smiled "Well Terra, I just came to check on you. I'm going to bed now"
"Sure, you guys must have gone through a lot of troubled"
"No way, it was fun! Good night"
"Good night, BB. See you tomorrow"
"See ya. And be prepared, cause tomorrow there's practice" he warned her "Robin can be a pain in the ass… He'll probably go worst on you because you…"
Terra stared at him as Beast Boy realized his mistake.
"Well, cause you're new in the team and… You know, stuff…"
"Good night, Beast Boy" said Terra with a crooked smile, closing the door.
"…Night" said Beast Boy, hitting his head on the wall.
Inside her bedroom, Terra put the clock on top of the nightstand next to her bed. It gave her a safety feeling. Probably because it was a gift from Beast Boy. He was her best friend. With a last view of the running sand, Terra fell asleep.
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