No Regrets

Author's Note: Okay, the final chapter of 'No Regrets'! As you might have noticed in my note in the previous chapter, I am considering making a sequel, in which Terra would awaken from her stone imprisonment and resume life with the Titans. I have some great ideas for the story development, but since I've gotten so few reviews on this story, I might choose not to bother writing it. If nobody's going to read it, it's not worth going through all the trouble. Once again, I implore you: if you like this story, let me know! I want your opinion! The making of the sequel will depend solely on your responses!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans... but then again, neither do you.

Chapter Four - The Redemption

A hard steel-toed boot connected with her stomach, sending her flying a few feet backwards as she felt a rib crack. She stifled a groan as she hit the stone wall and slid down until she was laying on her side, breathing heavily and trying not to jar any of the new wounds she carried.

What a fool she was, daring to trust someone with a reputation like Slade's. Not for the first time, she wondered just what the hell she had been thinking when she'd chosen Slade over the Titans. God, how she wished that she could take it back now.

"You disobeyed me, Terra. I told you to destroy the Titans, and you did not. I told you to stay and fight, and you ran. You will pay for your insolence!" his voice echoed through the dark cavern, but she could not tell exactly where it was coming from, her mind in a dizzying haze of pain.

Heavy footsteps of steel against rock signaled his approach towards her prone form, and she hastily forced herself to her feet, finding enough dignity and courage to stand up against him. Wavering slightly on unsteady legs, she used the cavern's wall to support her, leaning most of her weight on it as she recovered from the abrupt and unexpected assault.

"You can't treat me this way!" she cried out indignantly, hands clenching into fists as she regained her balance. She knew the effort was futile now, that she would probably die at his hands... but if she had nothing else, she would at least hold on to her pride.

"On the contrary, my dear, you are mine to do with as I please. No one else would have you, after all." Without warning, another blow was dealt to the side of her head, knocking her lighter form over and skidding across the dirt. He flexed the hand he had hit her with experimentally, almost seeming to be enjoying the sight of her suffering.

She panted as she pushed herself up, fighting back angry tears as she stood again and faced him. "Screw this! I'm done working for you, Slade!" To emphasize her point, she intended to rip off the armor that bore his symbol, the mark that showed that she worked for him; but was shocked to discover that she could barely even move it. She yanked at it again, almost crying out in pain and surprise as she unknowingly pulled at a portion of her flesh.

"You'll find that quite impossible," Slade gloated calmly, and Terra was disgusted to hear that hint of a sadistic smile in his voice again. "The neural interface of that suit has integrated into your nervous system; into your skin."

Disbelievingly, she continued to pull at the armor, yanking at it harshly until she was hard-pressed not to cry out in agony, her skin red and raw from the violent treatment. "You can't control me!" she shouted, a bit desperate in her attempt to declare her independence from him. Much to her horror, he only smiled, this time the expression fully visible within his eye, despite the mask. He pulled out something that resembled a television remote, although she highly doubted it was used for anything similar.

"I'm afraid you're wrong, my dear. You see, you no longer have any choice in the matter."

Before she could even start to wonder just what the hell he meant by that, his thumb moved to press a button on the device in his hand, and suddenly she felt like her body was being jolted by a thousand tiny batteries. She moved forward against her will, letting out a terrified shriek as she realized that she was no longer in control of her own actions. The more she fought it, the more intense the electric shock would become. It hurt like hell.

'Oh, God...' She had been prepared to die- after all, she had nothing left... but this was a thousand times worse than any death that she could imagine. She would be forced to be his servant, forced to kill, forced to do anything that he thought of on a whim, perhaps for the rest of her life. She'd much rather have just died then and there.

She fought it with all her strength, trying to disregard the pain that came from doing so. She grunted with the effort, her limbs trembling under the strain applied from both sides.

For all her efforts, it did little more than slow her down in following Slade's commands.

He made her approach him, and when she was close enough again, he swung out with his fist and slugged her across the face with such force that she was sent sailing backwards once more, somersaulting backwards and skidding across the dirt until she hit the wall.

The first tear fell as she hiccuped almost uncontrollably, quivering with the effort it took not to break down into sobs. Her gloved hands dug into the soft soil of the cave floor as she struggled to get up. She had no friends. She had no home. And now, she didn't even have a path to follow. Everything she had dared to believe in was a lie.

'Oh, God... if there's anyone who can hear me, anyone at all... please, end my life now...'

Whether it was an answer to her silent prayer or sheer coincidence, she would never know for sure, but it was at that moment when she felt a familiar presence, and lifted her head to see Beast Boy standing next to her, fixing his emerald glare on her form. She had never been more happy to see him, despite the obvious look of hatred and bitter resentment in his eyes.

Accompanied with the anger and loathing in his hues, though, was confusion, and perhaps even a bit of concern as he knelt beside her injured body. "Terra?"

"Destroy me, quick!" she begged him as another tear fell. She didn't even stop to regard the desperation in her voice. He had to kill her, he had to, before Slade made her do something that she would regret forever. Not that she didn't already have regrets... but the thought of losing Beast Boy again tore her insides apart in fear.

"What?" he asked in pure confusion and skeptisism, a spark of hope alighting in his heart. He refused to let it show on his face, however- he didn't want to let her knnow that he could be fooled again. Was there a possibility that she didn't want to do this after all? That she hadn't wanted to betray him or the Titans?

Terra could see the hesitation and distrust on his face, and abruptly became angry in his lack of action.

"That's what you came for, isn't it? Do it!" she shouted, more hot tears streaking down her face. He was just doing this, prolonging this to torture her some more... not that she blamed him, she did deserve it, but right now, all she wanted was just for the pain to end.

No matter how hard he had tried to convince himself to hate her, Beast Boy couldn't help the wrenching of his heart at the sight of her tears. He wasn't sure he could have destroyed her to begin with, much less now, in the face of her apparent sorrow and regret. Whirling to face Slade, he snarled violently, "What have you done to her!"

"Nothing she didn't want me to," he answered stoically. Terra growled low in her throat at that, obviously denying his answer. He turned his head to look at her as he continued, "She came to me seeking control, and that's exactly what I gave her. My control, her powers." He held out his hand, closing it into a fist as Terra stumbled to her feet again. Both her hands and his first began to glow that yellow-gold light simultaneously as he directed her powers towards the changeling, and she was barely aware of her own voice yelling, "NO!" as Beast Boy was slammed into the ground by a large boulder.

Why? Why hadn't he destroyed her when he'd had the chance? Why was he still fighting with the belief that somehow Slade was at fault? Why? Now he was going to die for it, for believing in her, and it was all her fault.

He kept attacking, and Slade kept relentlessly stopping his attacks before they reached their target. Within a matter of minutes, Beast Boy was pinned under a rock, and Terra was crying out in her head, desperate to stop her body's actions.

"Terra... no..." he said quietly as she approached, one hand outstretched to finish the job.

"It's too late. I don't have a choice, he's too powerful..." she confessed in shame, directing her eyes to look anywhere but at him.

"That's a lie! You've always had a choice!" he shouted suddenly. "You chose to betray us, you chose to go to Slade, and now you're choosing to let him control you! Slade isn't doing this, Terra, you are!"

She wanted to scream at him that he was wrong, that she'd never had a choice, that it was never her fault... but it was. It was time to let go of the lies that she had built the foundation of her life on, let it be washed away and face the truth. She let the dam that had been holding back the river of guilt break free, and acknowledged his words. She had chosen to leave him. She had chosen to go to Slade. She had chosen this miserable excuse for a life, and now she was going to choose how it ended.

"It's never too late to change, Terra," he said quietly, green eyes pleading for her to understand.

"Terra, destroy him," Slade commanded. Again, against her will, a rock was lifted from the cave floor and shaped into a spear, pointed directly at the green changeling.

It was at that moment when the other Titans burst in, and in an instant, all of their weapons were trained on her.

"Don't do it!" Cyborg warned, shaking his head in obvious disapproval.

"It'll be the last thing you ever do," Raven snarled, both hands extended to unleash her power the second it was needed.

"Terra, I gave you an order," Slade roared.

As her gaze met Beast Boy's, for the first time, she understood. The life that he had chosen wasn't selfless because he chose to be a hero, it was selfless because he chose not to be. The Titans didn't rescue the town for self-gratification or thankfulness from its citizens, to get medals or awards of honor from the mayor, they did it because it was what they were born to do, and they knew it- through and through. They didn't consider themselves heroes, they just considered themselves as people. That was the life she had truly belonged in. That was where she should have stayed.

She understood, finally.

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy, for everything that I've done," she said in a low voice. Words could simply not express her regret, her sorrow and remorse for the mistakes she'd made, she could only do this one final act for the people that she loved, for the people that deserved to be saved.

With a loud battle cry, she swung her arm towards Slade, directing the spear-shaped rock to sail towards him. He deflected it, but not without obvious difficulty, and he lacked the same calmness and ease that he normally portrayed.

"You little brat! What do you think you're doing?" he yelled, shielding himself from the various rocks and stones that Terra hurled at him.

"You can't control me anymore!" she yelled, willing Beast Boy and the Titans to hurry and get out of there. She knew what she was doing was dangerous, but she, as well as Slade, were too dangerous to be left alive. She understood that now, like so many other things that were becoming clear to her.

She wondered if all people felt this way before death, as if they suddenly understood the world and its purpose, and were fully willing to let it lead its course, or if it was just her.

A distant rumbling started to echo through the cave, and the ground began to quake beneath their feet. She heard Robin yell something about her powers triggering the volcano, and willed them to escape safely. With one more loud cry, she slammed a burst of energy into Slade, hard enough to knock him off his feet and into the dangerous lava pit beginning to form below.

A strange sense of peace filled her, a certain contentment that she now knew must come from being what they were, and doing what they did. She had ruined her chance at becoming one... but they would live, and for that, she was glad.

"C'mon, Terra, we've gotta go!" Beast Boy tugged at her arm urgently, and her heart ached to see that he still cared for her so. For what seemed like the hundreth time, she berated herself inwardly, reminding her that she didn't deserve his kindness.

"I have to stay," she said quietly.

"...Wha?" she heard him stutter confusedly.

"I'm the only one who can stop it," she explained, wishing he would understand and giving him a pleading look. 'Don't try to stop me, please... I need to do this. For you... and for me.'

"No, Terra, you can't! It's too late!"

She smiled sadly, repeating his own words back to him. "It's never too late." And she finally allowed the tears of regret, guilt and sorrow flow down her face, stepping forward to hug him about the waist. "You're the best friend I've ever had," she whispered tremulously. 'Take care of yourself...' She felt him return the gentle embrace, and pulled back to see him looking at her worriedly, care and concern that she once again realized she didn't deserve shining in his emerald depths. She smiled in reassurance as she directed the rock he was standing on towards the cave's exit, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Cyborg grab him, and the two of them run out of the cave.

He would never truly know how she felt about him, but she couldn't bear the thought of saddling him with the guilt that would come by telling him the truth. He would go on not knowing, and not shouldering the burden that she knew was her responsibility to carry alone. 'I love you...'

Standing straight, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the feeling of peace wash over her soul. 'This is where I belong.' She spread her arms, calling upon the first of her powers as the rumbling sound increased, the quaking growing in intensity.

A shrill battle cry echoed throughout the cavern before everything became silent again, leaving the immobile statue of what had once been a young girl, standing with arms outstretched as she sacrificed what remained of her life to save her friends. Though her life had been short and unhappy, she was at peace when her life was halted, and knew her true place among what had been a hateful world to her.

The sad story of the young girl would never be forgotten. She was gifted and cursed with an awesome power, one that both ruined and brightened her life. She'd made mistakes, and she'd regretted them, like any other human being. To this day, the boy she loved continues to visit her, to put flowers in front of her stone prison, blissfully unaware of her final thoughts and sorrows.

A small plaque now rests in front of her feet, something inscribed into the silver plate- something that would have completed her life, had she been alive to see it.

Terra

A Teen Titan

A True Friend

Her name was Terra. She was gifted with tremendous power, and cursed with it as well. She did terrible things, but redeemed her name in a final act of selflessness. Now, she is a memory, and one that will be honored and missed. She left behind the legacy that was all she had ever wanted, and her friends would ensure that she would be remembered forever.

She was home.