The living area of the Tower was rank with anxiety. The room went silent and Raven looked up from Starfire's shoulder as Starfire turned around to face the front door. They stared at it in anticipation wondering who could possibly be at their door now.
A second loud ring coursed through the Tower almost making them all jump. Raven wiped the tears from her face as Robin headed to the door. He seemed to have an idea of who was there but at this point he was expecting anything.
Cyborg stood behind Robin ready to back him up as the girls composed themselves near the hallway door. Robin turned around with his hand at the door seeing if everyone was ready.
The bell rang a third time. It was beginning to ring with less and less time inbetween each one.
When Robin saw everyone was indeed ready for who ever or whatever was behind the door he pressed a single button on the wall and it slid open in a hurry.
Carver stood outside the door looking back ar Robin rich with concern. Lindsey was behind him holding on to his arm with her head down. She couldn't seem to bring herself to look any of Titans in the face. The two looked like they hadn't slept the entire night.
Robin smiled and greeted them warmly, "Good to see you again. You got here much faster that I thought you would," he sounded almost impressed.
"We came as soon as we got your call," Carver respond looking around the room. When his eyes didn't find what they were searching for he grew more concerned, "where is she? You said she was ok, right?" His voice was desperate for reassurance.
"She's in the medical room," Robin said. This caused Lindsey to look up at the masked hero and both of their eyes went wide. Robin noticed the look of panic come over both their faces and he quickly began to clarify, "no, no, no. She's completely fine. I promise," he raised his hands and pointed his right thumb over his shoulder towards the hallway where the girls stood, "she's talking to Beastboy right now. He was injured pretty bad last night and just woke up," Robin was trying really hard to put their minds at ease.
The parent's faces relaxed a little as they let out a small sigh of relief. Robin motioned for them to come in and they quietly walked past him into the living area.
"You guys look like you could use a cup of coffee," Cyborg said with a grin. He couldn't help but notice the dark sacks under their eyes.
"Oh... Thank you but we don't want to intrude..." Carver said politely declining.
"Non-sense!" Starfire shouted as she flew over to them, "you are our guests. It would not be a burden at all," she gave them a very inviting smile but she kept a small distance trying to make sure they felt comfortable.
Cyborg had already began brewing a pot of coffee regardless and served each of them a cup and motioned towards the couch so they could relax.
Raven remained near the door to the hallway almost as if guarding it. She wasn't the best at entertaining guests let alone being social so she remained silent and observed from a distance.
The ring of the doorbell could be heard even in the Medical room. Beastboy and Terra looked towards the door both wondering what could be happening beyond the safety of the room they were in.
Beastboy sat for a moment before he started to get up off the bed wincing in pain with every move.
"What are you doing?" Terra said in shock, "you need to stay in bed!"
Beastboy finally got his legs off the bed as they hung over the side just out of reach of the floor, "you know," he chuckled, "normally I would totally agree. This dude needs his beauty sleep- OW!," he winced again as he tried pointing to himself. Any small movement sent a sharp pain through his muscles to the point it was almost unbearable, "but after everything that's happened there's no time to rest."
Terra looked at him and blushed. She was astonished as to what she was hearing but couldn't help but find his bravery and determination somewhat attractive.
Beastboy turned back to focus on getting out of bed. He slid of the edge touching his feet down only to feel an intense pain shoot from his feet up through his legs. He instantly collapsed to the ground, landing on his knees with a cry of pain.
Terra's blush vanished. Her face turned to concern and she rushed around the bed to see Beastboy trembling on of the ground, "look at yourself! You can't even walk!"
"Yeah... I kinda just figured that out," even when Beastboy was in devastating pain he was still trying to crack jokes, "I could uh... use a hand..." He sounded almost embarrassed to ask but he knew he couldn't get anywhere on his own.
"Let's get you back into bed," Terra said as she started to put his arm around her neck.
"No," Beastboy said softly groaning as his arm wrapped around her neck, "lets go check on the others."
Terra didn't like the sound of that. At this point he was just being reckless and was going to get himself injured even worse if not killed. Against her better judgment she nod her head and helped him to his feet. He could barely put any weight on his feet and Terra seemed to be holding him up with all her strength. Together they limped towards the door as Beastboy was trying to relax all the muscles he could to minimize the pain. He almost looked lifeless once more as his body was nearly limp hanging off Terra with his left arm around her neck.
Hot cups of coffee remained completely full in the hands of Terra's adopted parents. The living room was filled with an awkward silence and no one really knew what to say to each other after hearing Terra's story. At this point, the Titans didn't really know if they could really trust her parents or not.
Cyborg and Robin sat on the couch next to their guests with Starfire standing behind the couch where they sat. Raven still hadn't moved from her position in front of the hallway doors...
She could feel something in the room that made her uneasy. As if one of the parents had a painful emotion radiating off of them though she couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.
The room finally gained some atmosphere when Carver decided to speak up.
"We're grateful for everything you've done for her," he began, "we always knew Terra wanted to remember her past but it seemed hopeless when nothing seemed to help. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to her. It really helped her." He was thinking of the conversation in the car. Discovering her past may have been painful but accepting that the past is over and done with and the future is what really matters is a big lesson that every teen needs to learn as they grow up.
The Titans looked at each other wondering how to respond. They all felt a little guilty that they weren't there for Terra when she first came back but they never thought that talking to her would have been such a big deal. However, when they thought about it they realized that it was much more than just a small conversation. It was Terra's life. Literally everything about her. It didn't just help Terra but everyone close to her as well.
Robin looked back at the two adults sitting next to him. He noticed the athletic woman was more tense than before and gripped her cup tightly as if working up the courage to speak. After a moment she finally did...
"Please..." Lindsey spoke softly, barely louder than a whisper, "please forgive me. I'm can't tell you how sorry I am. I was just so worried about losing my only daughter that I let my judgment become clouded by my fear." She sounded sincere and intelligent like she accepted all the responsibility for her actions.
Carver looked towards his wife with pride. This was the woman he remembered. The woman he married. She continued to look down at her cup but she was trembling with resentment towards herself.
"Because of my own stupidity, I almost lost her forever," her eyes closed as one tear after another started rolling down her cheeks.
The Titans curiosity peaked. They had no idea why she was acting like this. Any parent would do what she did when it came to their child. After all, the Teen Titans "job" wasn't exactly the safest, and trouble found them everywhere they went. Not something any parent would want to subject their child to.
Carver put an arm around her trying his best to comfort her before looking up at the Titans to explain why his wife was acting the way she was.
"You a might be too young to understand but..." He trailed off looking at his wife with a surreal amount of sympathy, "shortly after we got married about four years ago, we tried starting our own family. But after trying for a year we eventually found out that Lindsey couldn't bear a child."
Starfire and Raven's eyes went wide. Immediately their hearts ached for this poor woman. One of the most precious and cherished gifts a woman could ever possess and give to the world was stripped from her in a cruel twist of fate. It surely didn't just affect Lindsey. Carver made the decision of giving up the chance to have children of his own just to be with the woman he loved. For both of them it must have been hard.
"You didn't try to adopt?" Raven asked from across the room. Her voice was soft as if she was hurting for them.
"We talked about it, yeah," Carver answered, "but we still didn't really make a decision whether or not if we should. But then..."
"You found Terra," Robin finished for him. Starfire put her hands over her heart hearing this story. It was almost like a fairytale. But this particular fairytale wasn't exactly a happy one. She couldn't help but feel sorry for them.
"She was everything we could have ever asked for and more," Lindsey said through her tears. She gripped her cup so tight her hands were shaking. Any tighter and the cup could shatter in her hands.
"So you can imagine..." Carver continued, "finding a girl like Terra seemed like the answer to our prayers," he looked back at his wife, "she's everything we could have dreamed of. Losing her..." He stopped short, closing his eyes. It seemed as if the mere thought was killing him inside. When he opened his eyes he looked back at the Titans, "we wouldn't be able to live without her."
Robin and Cyborg looked at each other. It all made sense to them now. They finally understood just how hard this must have been for them. But then to trust the team with something as sensitive as this must have been even harder for them. The Titans felt humbled after hearing it.
The door to the hallway slid open behind Raven to reveal Terra with Beastboy hanging off of her. Both their faces showed an immense amount of sympathy as if they heard everything from the other side of the door.
"Terra!" Lindsey and Carver said together as they stood up. They didn't realize she could have been listening the whole time.
The whole room was facing the doorway where the injured teens stood. They all went into shock as Beastboy was barely standing on his own next to Terra. Raven finally snapped out of it and quickly moved to take Beastboy's other arm helping support his weight.
"Yo!" Cyborg said freaking out, "what do you think you're doing?! You should be in bed! You're in no condition to be-"
"Dude..." Beastboy interrupted trying to calm him down. He looked from Cyborg to Terra trying to point out that Terra heard everything and was completely heartbroken. Not heartbroken for herself... but for her adopted mother.
Cyborg's shock vanished and he looked back at Terra's parents who were both staring back at their daughter. They seemed so relieved to see she was ok but they sat completely frozen in place wondering just how much Terra might have heard. Cyborg realized that the family had never once talked about this and now everything had come spilling out. There were no secrets left between them.
"I... uh... Better go check on BB," Cyborg said shyly. He crossed the room to take Beastboy from Terra and she didn't even seem to notice even when Beastboy moaned in pain while Cyborg took his arm from her. She just stood there in a bewilderment.
"Mama?" Terra softly said with her eyes still wide.
Raven looked past Beastboy towards Terra and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was emitting a strong emotion. Such a powerful emotion that she didn't even know what emotion she was feeling. It almost frightened Raven that people were capable of feeling like that.
Cyborg looked at Raven and nudged his head towards the hallway signaling her to help get Beastboy back to medical. Raven nod her head and started helping Beastboy walk back to the bed where he should be resting. Beastboy didn't resist. At this point he knew he was in no condition to help anyone anyways and accepted that he'd just have to wait until he recovered his strength. Not to mention Terra and her parent's needed a moment alone after hearing all that.
The door slid shut behind Terra and she ran across the room to where her parents were. Her parents also ran around the couch to greet their little girl. They met half way in the center of the room and Terra wrapped her arms around her mother and began balling into her her bosom.
"I'm so sorry mama! I'm so sorry! I had no idea!" She sobbed.
Lindsey had wrapped her arms around Terra squeezing her tightly. Nothing could seperate them at that moment. Not even Trigon himself.
"No baby," Lindsey voice was trembling, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."
"We should have told you from the beginning," Carver said wrapping his arms around both of them. He stood behind Terra squeezing her in between himself and his wife as if they've finally been reunited for the first time in years.
Terra continued sobbing relentlessly. This was more personal than she ever imagined. It was almost too much for her to take in. She is and always will be their only daughter.