The Return of Terra

[Silv]

Robin studied the trinket that Terra was presenting to him. He didn't know where it came from, or honestly why she wanted to bother, but it was something to do while they waited for the computer to finish it's job. "Sure," Robin replied. "Take it over to the lab tables," he gestured behind him at a few marble covered tables that rivaled any that could be seen in a high school science class. The boy rummaged around in some of the cabinets before he came across some rust remover. He also grabbed a roll of paper towels and a plastic dish as he made his way over towards the table he'd directed Terra to previously.

He left her with the rust remover, figuring that she could manage the job herself, and made his way back to double check the computer. It was still scanning. They really needed to upgrade their computers. The BatComputer could do this kind of scan in seconds. Robin scowled at the underworking computer before meandering back over towards Terra and her little pet project.

"Find anything interesting?" he asked curiously.

[Audrey]

Terra gladly accepted the rust remover and rags and stepped over to the table nearby with the little locket. She dabbled a bit onto the rag and began rubbing the gold locket. Quickly, the white cloth was colored brown from the contamination of rust into it and she could see the flakes chipping away from the little container.  She scrubbed for a bit, a little shocked to find just how rusted this thing was. You'd think the thing had been trapped in stone for several years. Finally, she managed to force the thing open and was a little disappointed to find the inner portion engulfed in rust obscuring anything that might've been there.

"Oh well," she thought and went to work, scrubbing away furiously at the the rust glob. It was hard work, but eventually the huge slab was melting away, revealing a photo kept under glass. She managed to get glimpses of colors underneath, but really couldn't make out the whole picture. It was familiar though. She kept going and after a little more became apparent, she realized why it was familiar. It was the very same picture in the frame she had picked up not 10 minutes ago. With her and Beast Boy smiling and having fun. Her hands shook a little as the implications of this discovery formed in her head.

She looked up to Robin after that and he curiously asked her what she found. She silently handed him the locket, knowing just seeing what was inside would say everything. She then proceeded to lean on the counter, unable to hold herself up any longer. As she sighed, almost feeling a little sick realizing that Geo-Force was in fact her true brother and she'd turned him away, that she nearly got into a second apprenticeship with Slade, and she completely blew off her former friends. Her stomach churned and she very well could've puked if the computer nearby hadn't interrupted her with a bleep alerting the scan had finished.

[Silv]

Her hands were shaking as she held the locket out to him. Robin didn't quite know what to think of that, attributing most of that to all the scrubbing, and then he saw the picture glinting back at him from inside the little locket. The boy's masked eyes widened and his grip slackened causing the locket to fall from his hands when the computer behind him beeped letting him know it was finished with the scan. The locket hit the ground with a soft clinking noise and Robin rushed to grab it. "I- I'm sorry," he stuttered out the apology as he held the locket back out the the blond.

Then he made his way over toward the computer. He clicked a few things, then gestured Terra over. A pair of DNA strains floated side by side on the computer monitor. They were identical. The computer even identified it as a perfect match. Robin swallowed, feeling his adams apple bob awkwardly, before he managed to speak. "Well, it uh…it looks like you're her," the boy's gaze didn't leave the computer. "I know you don't remember…anything…but, you'll always be welcome here."

[Elenaphant]

"Bum bum, bum ba da-da da da da, bum ba da-da da..."

Starfire had headphones on her ears; seafoam green ones that were cushy on her ears and had had a cute design of something you'd see in a Japanese cartoon. They were attached to her phone, because the modern teenager had those, and she had a list of many songs on shuffle. Cyborg had helped her with this in the middle of their Tamaranean lessons, as it was quite commonplace for friends studying to deviate from their topic onto random territory, thus becoming most distracted. Since she wasn't allowed to listen to it on patrol, and Starfire most preferred the company of others rather than her phone, it was mostly around the tower that she took to sampling her vast music list.

It was her turn to take inventory of the infirmary, Cyborg had reminded her, and she intended to do so with the magic of tunes. It really did uplift her and make the most mundane of tasks a joy, though Starfire was the type of person to find a way of doing that without prompting. At least, this way, she wouldn't pester Raven or another friend into joining her and alleviating her boredom. When a fitting part came up just as she drew closer to the hall where the infirmary was she couldn't resist giggling and singing it.

"So let's set out to sea love~
'Cause you are my medicine when you're close to me...
When you're close to--"

Her phone dropped on the floor. The plug was yanked out by gravity and the screen hit the cold tile floor with a crack.

...in the sumbarine. Round the world we'll go.
Does anybody know her? If we're looking out on the day of another dream...'

The music blared softly in the wake of the sudden, still silence that was a wide eyed, slack mouthed Starfire. The kind of shock at seeing a dead friend made the often animated girl go still. Her only action was to slowly pull down the headphones and hold them loosely by her side.

Then, as if with the intake of a breath she was regaining her feeling, her chest rose, shoulders lifted, and a teary eyed smile glistened her expression. Not needing to be told anything, and disregardig any peculiar looks, Starfire made a dash toward her friend--teardrops having nowhere to fall but behind her in the air. Her lean arms wrapped around the thin girl, and her cheek mushed up against familiar blonde hair. "How is this...? Are you really here? My friend... My dear friend..."

Her teardrops wet the fair strands, and the warmth in her arms told her it was real. This was not a girl of stone.

[Audrey]

The touch of another person. You forget what it's like after awhile. After having been alone for so long, always on the move, always on the run. You forget what it's like to be wanted. To be loved. The last time Terra could remember being hugged by anyone was so forceful and nonreciprocal. She had just hurt Maryanne and Father Parker was desperate to let her know it wasn't her fault things had gone so horribly wrong. She was absolutely resistant to it, and pushed him away. It had left a bitterness over human interaction in her. A hatred for being close to others, and a fear of those who would try to force her into caring.

Upon finding out that this identity she'd been running from since the time she could measure was inescapable, trapped forever to be a part of her, all she wanted to do was run. Just run for as long as she could and never stop. Maybe she'd arrive at the North Pole, maybe the dead of the Pacific Ocean on the peak of Krakatoa, maybe in the abandoned apartments of Pripyat where humanity wouldn't dare tread, just somewhere where she could be absolutely alone and no one would ever find her. Pure and utter hermitude. All she could think of was how fast it would take to get there. It engulfed her mind. As the computer only confirmed it, she was nearly prepared to just jump right out the huge window across the hall and ride the first rock to the Hotel Salto del Tequendama.

Then came something she didn't expect. That tune. The tune that had been in her head earlier today. 'Doot doop. Doo doop doot doop doot,' and with it came the lyrics she was so familiar with for some reason. "If you can't get what you want, then you come with me," it came out, bright in bleak bliss. A song that was at one point of the day so melancholic, now seemed almost happy in a way. Terra turned towards the source of the music, and was met with an orange-skinned girl, she knew from pictures as Starfire.
"How is this...? Are you really here? My friend... My dear friend..." she spoke in amazement at the sight of Terra. Before she could even let out a word or express a single emotion, Terra was caressed with the strength of several viking warriors. The happiness of a hug was all it took to help her remember all the happy times she had had with Maryanne and Father Parker in Smallville. All the good hugs, and slowly the pain of her final hug slipped from her memory.

Not even consciously aware of it, Terra threw her own arms around the Tamaranean and held tightly. She had never met this girl in the lifetime she could recall, but she felt honestly like they'd known each other forever. She remained floating in her cradle of happiness as long as she could, just enjoying feeling comfortable for the first time in a year. Eventually, it had to come to an end, and she released her arms from the alien girl. "I'm sorry Starfire, I really enjoyed the hug, but I... I can't remember anything from when you knew me. I know your name only from the papers," she spoke, trodden to dash the girl's wonderful reunion. Worth noting though was this was her first time ever acknowledging herself and the former Terra as the same people. Baby steps. Right?

"But... on the bright side, that means all the more memories we have to create to make up for them, right?" Terra added, a smile encroaching onto her face. She had been afraid. Afraid to hurt others, afraid to get close to others, to kill them with kindness. But now was not the time for fear. Fear had been destroyed when she had done the impossible and defeated Slade. Now was the time for hope and for willpower. The time to overcome the Great Fear inside ourselves... of ourselves. With a breath of confidence she turned to Robin once more and placed a hand on his chest.

"I ran from myself for a good three years now. Perhaps that was wrong, or perhaps I learned a lot that way and the ends justifies the means. I'm not really in the mood to discuss it really. But... I think now was the exact right moment to learn the truth. I don't remember anything still, and I'm just as inept with my powers as I was then apparently, but back then, I thought the solution to that was running. I did a lot of that then, and even after waking up I did it some more. I know now, at this very moment though, that running is not the answer. That while I can't account for my thoughts back then, I know what the right answer is now. And that's that progress comes from the solitude of friendship. It will take some time for me to really feel comfortable with you all, especially since in a way, you all know more about me than I know about myself, but it will come in time. I guess what I'm saying Robin is..." she swallowed a bit, all of a sudden engulfed in nervousness. Rather than worry of what she wanted, she half panicked what the answer to her question would be. Robin wouldn't say no would he?

"I would like to join the Teen Titans."

[Silv]

She was going to run. Robin had seen that look plenty of times, and while his muscles tensed, he knew he shouldn't chase her. A sound filtered into the lab, it was Starfire and she was singing something, and suddenly she was there. Robin blinked, swallowing awkwardly as the Tameranean teenager stood in the doorway. But there was no cause for worry, a blur later, and he was stuck with a pair of emotional girls.

Looking his usually fabulous awkward self Robin stayed in the background, smiling slightly as he leaned against the countertop behind him. He watched their interaction, perfectly content to stay out of any hugging shenanigans. That was, of course, until Terra turned towards him. Robin stiffened when she placed a hand on his chest, his masked gaze narrowing in slight confusion. Most people didn't dare enter his personal space bubble. At her long, drawn out explanation, though, Robin couldn't help but smile.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask," the young leader replied as he disengaged from Terra and made his way over towards a set of drawers in the lab. "I pulled this out of storage earlier," he helot out a dusty communicator towards her. "We never had the heart to clean it…" he explained sheepishly, ducking his head ever so slightly. "You should probably to talk to Cyborg to make sure the systems are up to date, but….uh."

"Welcome back, Terra."