Chapter has been betaed, this is the updated version. Enjoy.
He was sitting in the darkened main room, the screens upon the walls displaying the latest statistics of the Titans. Though appearing to concentrate exclusively on the huge screens, Terra knew that Slade was aware of everything that went on around him. That was the only reason he was still unmasked. Still, if he was willing to play it as if he hadn't seen her, who was she to ruin his fun?
She snuck up behind him and slid her hands through his hair. Tara was fascinated by his white curls. He wasn't all that old really and, anyway, age didn't matter when you looked this good. She felt him lean back into the touch andhis gaze settled ontheir reflections in the screen. He was quite pleased; odd, considering that he was interested only in the Titan most hurt in the latest scuffle.
"Did you enjoy tonight's event?" she whispered.
Reaching around behind him, Slade tugged on her arm, drawing the girl into his lap. "Thoroughly," he purred. "Though I'm curious to know what went on with you and the young detective in my cave. When he came out, young Robin appeared quite bewildered."
Terra smirked. "We had some fun." She grabbed his ear and tugged his head forward, licking her way into his mouth. "A lot of fun," she breathed against his lips.
Slade's eye bore into hers as she kissed him. He was still only for a moment then his tongue slid against hers and his hands grasped at her back desperately. With a muffled shriek Tara found herself on the floor, her master above her, pinning her to the ground and grinding, attacking her mouth with more fervour then she had ever encountered from him. It was all the earth manipulator could do to stay afloat in the stormy sea of feelings that Slade was eliciting inside her.
He tore her hand from his hair, pinning it above her head, the hand clutching at his chest receiving similar treatment. Ripping his mouth away from hers, he allowed her to gasp for breath as heraked his teeth down her neck. She whimpered, wincing at his viciousness – she could taste blood whenever she moved her tongue and her lips were almost too swollen to allow sound to pass. In spite of that her body was alight and she rode every wave of sensation, wanting nothing more than for their bodies to fuse and slake her desire.
Yet just as she was about to erupt, he stopped and rose above her, still on four limbs. His left eye stabbed at her, the emptiness of his right making everything seem even colder. Tara shuddered, unable to hold backher fear.
The villain leaned closer to her, breath brushing her cheek and caressing her ear as he ordered, "Do not touch Robin again." He kissed her cheek, the gentleness of the action causing her eyes to widen further in dread. "Pleasure is mine alone to give and take."
Before she could blink he was gone from above her, striding towards the door,cold fury icing the room. He was still such an enigma. His rage, while not easily discerned, was still far clearer than his words. Terra could not tell if the subject of his last comment was her, or Robin.
The Boy Wonder was never one to give much away, but if you knew how to look and what to look for, then he was an open book. It was a multitude of little things which, when you added them all together, told you exactly what was going through his mind.
He winced – just a twitch of the mask – whenever Starfire addressed him with a smitten smile and tried to ignore her more obvious attempts at bonding. When she touched him, his shoulders would tighten, and he would refuse to loosen up for the duration of the tactile communication.
He was worse around Beast Boy. His lips would press together, the colour fading from them whenever he caught sight of the green changeling. His fingers would curl and his brow narrowed slightly whenever Beast Boy spoke to him, and he usually refused any sort of major interaction with the other teen. If conversation threatened to become too long or involved, he would deflect attention to one of the other members.
Cyborg was perhaps the only one in the tower Robin could look in the eye and talk to normally – even those talks were strained.
Raven's empathy wasn't something he dared risk. Not that Raven was all that into socialising in the first place, but when she was around he spent as little time in her presence as possible. He avoided touch at all costs.
And whenever she was in the room … well, he found it hard to drag his eyes away. He was never obvious about it and she never really caught him staring whenever she glanced his way, but she was rather adept at using her peripheral vision. He'd never talk to her, though. At most he'd get as close to tongue-tied as was possible for him and mumble excuses to leave the room when they were alone. He tried to act as normal as possible with the others, but she unnerved him far too much simply by standing in his vision.
It was perfect.
Terra moved into the main area of the Titans Tower cautiously. It was late, and Cyborg had shut down all the systems hours ago, leaving this room in darkness. Still, with Beast Boy around it was better to be safe – who knows what hemight have leftlying around on the floor. Making her way into the relative safety of the kitchenette, she poked around in the fridge, attempting toseem unaware of the eyes following her every movement.
She sighed dramatically and held the fridge door open for light as she turned to a nearby cupboard. She gasped and stumbled back as he vision fell upon a figure nearby.
"Robin!" She held a hand to her chest. "You startled me."
"S-Sorry." He lowered his head and started to fade back into the shadows.
"Wait!" Terra moved over to him, the door closing and casting the room into darkness again, though moonlight still filtered through the large windows overlooking the bay. It was enough light to distinguish Robin's shape from the rest of the shadows. Grabbing his shoulder, Terra pulled back as he flinched violently. "I … Did you want something?" she whispered.
"I, uh, no." Robin continued to move away.
"Have I done something to offend you?" Her voice was quiet, quivering. She looked pitiful in the dim light, eyes wide and misty. Robin stopped and looked to the ground.
"N-No," he replied softly, almost hesitantly.
"I have. You're avoiding me – you can barely talk to me." Her shoulders hunched; she turned away. "I've done something horrible, haven't I?"
"Of course not."
"Then why won't you talk to me? You can't even look at me. Ever since …" she gasped and took a step back. "Ever since the cave-in. You still hate me for that, don't you?"
"Terra, no!" Robin rushed towards her, but she moved out of his grasp.
"You do. You hate me! You don't think I'm worthy of being on the team – just like before." Sobbing, she ran towards the main door, unlocking it.
"No, Terra, wait!" Robin raced after her, following her out of the Tower, barely remembering to lock it behind him in his haste to follow his distraught team-mate. Terra was already quite far ahead of him, flying away on a large rock towards the mainland. Robin was never one to let his team mates down. Terra was counting on that.
He eventually managed to catch up with thegirl on his cycle. Terra was sitting on the end of a dock in the seaside warehouse district, legs curled up to her chest as she sobbed. Robin approached cautiously, making enough noise to be noticed, soas not tostartle her. He was so easy to predict.
"Terra?" Terra didn't look up, just flinched slightly. "I'm sorry."
"So you admit you hate me, then?"
"No." Robin sat down beside her. "Of course not. I don't hate you. I'm sorry I ever gave you that impression."
"You avoid me, and you won't talk to me. You haven't since the cave-in."
"I know. And I'm sorry." Terra looked up at him. Robin was upset about something, having trouble saying anything more. "I do like you, believe me." He sounded so earnest. "I, uh,don't really have any explanation for my actions towards you."
"It hurt," she whispered. "I've been trying so hard, but you never notice. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even there. I feel that no matter what I do – even if I achieve the best I can – you won't see because there's always someone better than me out there for you to pay attention to." She looked directly at him. "I'll never be good enough for you, will I?"
"I notice you," Robin protested. "I know you're good, and I know how hard you try."
"It's still never enough, though. You're so perfect; compared to you I'm nothing. Everything you do is amazing. You never mess up, you're always right and good. Sometimes I wish I was more like you." Terra leaned over and placed her head on Robin's shoulder, knowing just how her words would affect the Boy Wonder.
He shifted and tried to pull back, but she had a tight grip on his arm. "I'm far from perfect," he whispered, voice taut with disgust. "I make terrible mistakes and I'm not as good as you like to think." He managed to escape her grasp only to find his companion looking up at him curiously, with wide, innocent eyes. He swallowed. "You don't want to be like me, Terra."
She frowned. "Maybe we're both a little misunderstood. I still wish I was more like you, though."
"I wish I could be who you want me to be," he whispered. Clearing his throat he looked back down at her. "Um, I ... I'm truly sorry if I've made you feel inadequate in any way. It was never my intent to hurt you, Terra." His fingers brushed through her hair. She settled in closer to him.
They sat watching the still waters for a while before Terra spoke again. "I think I know a way you can make it up to me." She glanced up eagerly before looking back down in embarrassment. If you don't mind that is, you'll probably think it's silly. See, there's this place I really want to go to, but I need a date."
Robin's hand stilled at the last word, but he returned her smile. "Anything you want, Terra."
She smiled. "You're the best, Robin." She tugged him up off the damp wood and pulled him towards the mist-shrouded warehouses. "I know we'll have a great time."
"So, where are we headed anyway?"
Her grin was concealed by the darkness. "It's a secret."