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━ END OF THE EARTH xiii. no one left to trust ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
TARA HAS BEEN SITTING IN HER ROOM, STARING OUT THE WINDOW AND INTO NOTHINGNESS, FOR AN HOUR NOW. Soon, she's going to have to contact Slade, go to him and that horrible little compound of his ━ she's going to have to give him Robin and Kid Flash's true identities and then they'll be in the endgame. In a matter of days, Tara Markov will be responsible for the destruction of the Titans.
A year ago, this would've been her dream. She'd take down the Teen Titans and make a huge splash on the world, establishing herself as a threat, as somebody who couldn't be hurt. She wanted to be invincible and it seemed like this was the way to get there.
She knows better now. Killing the Titans isn't going to help her, not really, not when she's still that same scared little girl being given dangerous powers, being hunted because she was a child with no control.
Dick's words are kind of hammering that home. Even if she goes through with this, even if she kills the Teen Titans and accepts responsibility for it ━ she's still gonna be trapped in Slade's shadow. She's the one who did all the work here, who pushed her heart away and joined this group, this family, knowing that one day she'll betray them all, but he'll get the credit for it. She'll be an afterthought.
Or, even worse, they'll portray her as just a tool for Slade to use.
There's no version of this where Tara comes out on top. She'll lose, no matter what she chooses to do, and it's hitting her now, clawing into her skin and making her want to rip the entire tower apart, to destroy Slade Wilson until he's nothing.
A knock at her door snaps her head away from the window and she turns, already glowering, to see Dick Grayson standing in her doorway.
"What d'you want?" She snarls.
He gives her a pointed look and she grits her teeth. "I wanted to check in on you", he says. "You... you seemed to get what I was saying back there. More than the others did."
"So what if I did?"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Sorry", he winces. "I get it, you don't like opening up... but it is okay to talk, Tara. We're all here for you, no matter what happens."
She pauses. "What if... I was just curious, y'know? 'Cause he's the Batman ━ didn't you think there was more you could learn from him?"
Dick sits on her bed, mulling over the question. "I mean, sure... but Batman can only teach you to be Batman, does that make sense? He meant well, I think, but I need to find out who I am and I think even the best-intentioned mentorship can limit your own ability..."
