Red X Returns

Past, Present, Future

Terra could feel the many pairs of eyes boring into her side as her own two eyes glanced back and forth nervously from Dustin's astounded beam  to Beast Boy's confused gaze. This was not good; not good at all.

"You know him?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

Terra began to nod slowly, cautiously, when Dustin's outburst gained the Titans' attention. "Yeah! We were-"

"Friends," Terra quickly chimed in before he could say anything else. "We were friends. While you guys were in Japan the last couple of weeks, Dustin was in town, fighting Red X. I bumped into him at the abandoned carnival 'cross town. He didn't have anywhere to go, so I let him crash in my cave for a while." Then she added, seeing Beast Boy's sad face, "We were just friends."

Dustin began to look confused. But he knew that Terra was up to something and she would tell him later. He shrugged and added quietly, "Yeah, what she said..."

Robin raised an eyebrow curiously, looked at the Titans who seemed unperturbed by this news, then turned back to her. "That's great. Uh, we could use your help a lot with fighting Slade and Red X. Do you mind staying here and missing a few classes for this?"

She shrugged and smiled, "Eh, what's a few Calc AP classes? I hate school anyway." Then she realized she was mumbling mostly to herself. "I mean, it'll be great. I missed fighting with you guys. Is my room still open?"

Dustin's face looked pale now. He slowly walked out of the room. He had to move his stuff.

"Uh, when you left again after Star's attack, we kind of used it as a guest bedroom..." Cyborg said quietly while the Titans dispersed back into their original positions. Raven was back reading her book, Starfire was finishing her hot dog commentary, Robin was checking the computer monitor for any action on Slade, and Beast Boy wasn't in the room anymore. Terra looked around for him, but he wasn't anyway near. Her guess was that he was near the water. "Dustin was using it but..."

She laughed and smiled, "It's ok. I'll just sleep on the couch tonight. I kind of missed it's lumpiness... I'm gonna go find Beast Boy."

Cyborg nodded and headed to the fridge. 

Terra walked down near the water. Beast Boy was there as usual, skipping rocks one by one, each plunking down into the water on the first skip. She could tell something was wrong. She walked over casually and sat down. She began skipping rocks herself, each one going farther than the one before it. Beast Boy wasn't skipping them anymore. She quietly picked up a rock and handed it to him, hopeful he'd cheer up. He didn't.

"So, you guys shared a cave..."

Terra looked down at the water for a minute. Oh, this was going to be awkward. "Beast Boy, we were just friends... we're still just friends, I promise."

He looked up at her, his bright silvery green eyes shining from the distant sunset set before them. His face was filled with question and desire and longing for something that he wanted desperately. "What happened to us, Terra?"

She shifted on the rock uncomfortably. "What do you mean?" she asked. She knew exactly what he meant. 

"We were so close. We've been through almost everything together. I really thought that when you came back for Starfire, we were going to be together... but we're not."

She looked away. "I don't know, BB... Things are really complicated. I-"

He butted in, asking the question he wanted an honest answer to most, "Tell me the truth: you were never just 'friends' were you?"

Terra could feel the guilt burn inside of her. They weren't. How could she tell Beast Boy? She would be breaking his heart. "No," she said quietly. "Something did happen, but it didn't mean anything. Beast Boy, we were both confused when you left. I mean, we kissed, but then you left for Japan. I didn't see you again until almost a month after. I didn't know if you left because you moved on, or if you wanted to get away. Beast Boy, I swear to you... It didn't mean anything..."

He looked into the setting sun, watching it slowly go down, the promise of a new night waning in the distance. "Ok."

***

Dustin slowly began to pack his t-shirts into his bag again, readying to move into the guest room down the hall. He'd missed Terra. He was also happy to give up the room for her. He was almost done when someone knocked on the door. He turned around, his casted arm instinctively against the bandaged wound in his side. It was just Robin. He smiled slightly. "Hey Robin," he said. He still wasn't used to calling him 'Robin' instead of 'Dick' even after the few weeks he was staying with them.

Robin waved and walked up to him. He quietly sat on the bed, watching him pack his things silently. Finally he spoke up. He sounded worried. "So, you and Terra have a past...?"

Dustin slightly smiled in remembrance of the blazing look in her eye that he remembered so well, her golden blonde hair that sat just below her shoulders beautifully, her bright blue eyes that shone deeply whenever she was happy. "Yeah," he said cheerfully. "She was my girlfriend for a while."

Robin's eyes hardened. "Dustin," he said calmly, "I don't know if it's good for you, Terra, and Beast Boy to be working together."

"Why not?"

"They had a thing, too, once. I trust you guys, but it could be complicated. I don't want your feeling to get in the way of everything else we've got going on."

Dustin was angry now. Who was Robin to tell him that he couldn't handle himself in front of Terra? He could; he would have to. "Robin," he said sourly, "you work with Starfire everyday and you're fine. Her room is two down from yours."

"It's not the same-"

"It is the same. I'm going to be fine in front of Terra! We're going to get back together and we're going to win against Slade!"

"Dustin-"

"I have to start moving my stuff." Dustin picked up his backpack and walked out of the room, down the hall, leaving Robin by himself in the room. Robin looked at the stars on the ceiling, the painted canyon walls, the bright purple and pink sunset airbrushed next to the door. Terra was back. He was happy, but concerned at the same time. Would she make the same mistakes as last time? Can she still be trusted? What's going on with Dustin? He slowly walked the window and looked down. As he expected, Terra and Beast Boy were down near the water. They were laughing and fooling around. It reminded Robin of the old times.

"Terra, what are you doing here?" he murmured to himself.