Starfire sat at the top of Wayne Enterprises, the large sky scraper building towering over Gotham with an awesome might that provided a silent calling, to show the citizens of Gotham who it belonged to. It's mirrored walls shone against the slew of bright taxis and city lights, allowing the alien princess's green eyes to skim the narrow streets below, watching the hustling and bustling scene with a solemn and confused expression. For, this was the first time the young red haired girl was not wearing a bubbly smile, the first time where there were no people flocking about her; for a creature as social as she, sitting desolate atop of a high rise building was an oddity yet to be seen in the world.

Hugging her knees closer, the princess closed her eyes and titled her head down so her forehead rested atop the tanned skin of her knees. She couldn't return to the Tower, not after that incident that occurred and really, she thought to herself, it wasn't as if she blamed Raven for what happened - after all, she and Robin had been drifting apart for some time now.

Even though she'd tried to deny it, she knew - absolutely knew - the caped crusader was taking more and more of an interest in the violet eyed witch than he was her these days; what was she supposed to do, anyhow? Inform Raven that Robin was hers and spew out the whole angry girlfriend speech? Starfire gave an inwards snort; not likely, she thought. Despite it all, Raven was her adopted sister and very good friend and even though she knew she should be feeling hurt, angry, and betrayed she felt oddly…light. As if a weight had been lifted off of her, as if seeing that scene unfold before her in the dark corridor of the Tower had somehow…set her free.


"C'mon Rae, just tell me! What's the big deal, anyway?" The frustrated leader of the Titans (the group having long since dropped the 'teen' aspect both figuratively and literally) called out to the demon witch as she smiled coyly behind her book. The two were seated on the black leather wrap around couch in the main room of the Tower, the evening sky a perfect hazy orange and red and the large glass windows opened every so slightly to allow the warm summer breeze to come wafering in. The violet haired girl couldn't help but suppress a bubble of laughter as the masked Titan glowered in frustration at Raven's refusal to inform him what the book she was reading was about.

Calmly turning to another page, she continued her reading while he huffed beside her. "If you keep that up, I swear to all of hell I will throw you out the window." She deadpanned when he had begun to squirm beside her, his constant movements causing the couch to begin to squeak in protest.

The dark haired hero merely smirked back, "what, are you reading some kind of demon porn or something?" He asked teasingly, admiring the way a faint pink blush worked its way up her pale skin. It looked like snow dusted with the delicate shade of cherry blossom petals and all he wanted to do at that point was stroke her cheek, to see if it was as soft as the flowers it reminded him of.

Just before his hand lifted, her violet eyes flashed at him with annoyance as she forcefully turned to another page, irritation in her brow. "No, you pervert. For your information this is an ancient book on the arts of herbal healing in-shit," the witch swore under her breath when she realized the underhanded tactic Robin had used.

A triumphant grin lit upon his handsome face and the witch had never been more thankful for her meditational control than now, otherwise she would have been blushing like a tomato. Clutching the book closer to her chest, she forced her eyes to leave the eighteen year old's face and focus unto the ancient script, which somehow looked much less appealing than it did fifteen minutes ago.

"Rae?"

"Mm-hm?"

"I just…" without another word leaving his lips, he moved closer towards the pale skinned girl until she could literally feel his breath on her cheek.

Her eyes widened as her hands shook; though her eyes were still fixed on the book in her lap, she was most certainly not reading a word of it now. "What are you doing?" She murmured, wanting to mentally slap herself for allowing her voice to sound so husky and…seductive?

Apparently Robin thought so as well for, in that moment, his hand gently tilted her chin upward, allowing her silky violet strands to fall behind her, exposing her face. She tried to jerk back but the young hero's grip was stronger than she gave him credit for him and he held her firmly in place. Without another word, he gently leaned in and pressed the softest of kisses unto her lips.

'Oh…' was the only coherent thought going through the dark girl's mind before his own tongue slipped into her mouth; for a second, she thought that she'd been rewarded a pardon by god and had been allowed to briefly enter heaven but just as quickly as that thought came, the moment disappeared when a soft, candy sweet voice interrupted.

"What is the going on here?"


Starfire vividly remembered the shame in Raven's eye and the mournful words that had left Robin's mouth but she just couldn't process anything. It was as if her body and mind were on autopilot and before she knew it, she'd flown away from Jump City and right to Gotham. Gotham! Out of all the places in the world she could have gone, she chooses to go to the one place that reminded so much of…him! Him - the criminal thief who'd thought teasing her during battle was just as much fun as stealing itself, who thought she had the prettiest eyes and never failed to tell her when he got close enough.

Giving a sigh, Starfire waited for the hurt to kick in - for the betrayal, but found with growing aggravation that they never came.

What is the matter with me? The red head thought throughly annoyed, why do I not feel the heartbreak? Why do I not feel the sadness? Lifting her head up, she stared down at the glittering Gotham skyline and silently admired the glowing beauty of its swarming nightlife; that a city as dark as Gotham could be so beautiful when given the chance. How extraordinary Gotham is, she smiled, I should like to live here one day…even with all the crime and corruption...after all, Mrs. Diana Wayne enjoys it and she is the hero of the universe! The thought of the Amazon always brought a smile to the young heroine's face; how someone could be a superhero and yet have a married, happy life always astounded the princess to no end; she was determined to try and lead a life the famed Wonder Woman had somehow managed to catch, being able to enjoy the duty of a hero and the familial life of a wife.

"I suppose the heartbreak will never come, if it has not now," she murmured silently to herself as she laid a cheek on her knees, eyes gazing up at the sky. "How awful friend Raven must have felt when I flew off…perhaps...perhaps I should go back to apologize."

"Apologize for what, cutie?" Came an amused voice as Starfire immediately jumped to her feet, hands already glowing green with her star bolts, ready to fire at the enemy.

"Hey, hey, calm down, sweetheart! It's just me," and from the shadows Red X walked out, his hands held up in a traditional surrender pose as he eyed the alien princess expectantly. "All alone out here, beautiful? What, did bird brain find himself too busy with catching criminals like me to come with you?" His voice, although still light and teasing, held a touch more bitterness than he intended.

This went unnoticed by Starfire as the glow quickly faded and the determined look in her eye was replaced by one of confusion and suppressed amusement. "Red X? What are you doing here?"

The skilled thief merely gave a shrug, a chuckle leaving his masked mouth. "Caught sight of a beautiful woman and decided to try and chat her up, you?"

His response was so blunt that Starfire couldn't help but smile, the perils of laughter soon followed and for the first time in a long time, she felt genuinely happy. Taking a step closer to Red X, she gestured down below, "even so, Jump City is a distance from Gotham and as I am aware that you do not have the telepathy of friend Raven so…" she trailed off as she crossed her arms over her chest.

That was when Red X raised a brow (though she couldn't see it), Starfire wasn't wearing her uniform which meant she hadn't come to Gotham because of bird brain ordering her to. An inward smile quickly flashed through Red X's mind before he gave her a quick once over; as much as he enjoyed the skin bearing purple miniskirt and silver armor, he found himself intrigued (and turned on) by the sight of the red haired princess in casual clothing. She wore a pair of denim shorts and a skin tight, strapless mint top that was held by a sheer panelling of white lace on the sides; dark navy blue Keds adorned her feet and her thick red hair was slightly wavy from the humidity. Despite that though, Red X was positive he could spot her from a mile away just by her poise - it was refined, bred royalty from birth. He allowed a chuckle to escape his clothed mouth before walking over to her, they were merely a foot away from each other now and he found that without her platform boots on (and his growth spurt), she was actually a good few inches shorter than he was.

"I'll tell you what," he offered, a playful tone in his voice though his mind was already reeling at the possibilities of her possible agreement to his question, "I'll tell you why I came to Gotham if you tell me what happened that caused you to peel away from bird brain's side, hm?"

She narrowed her eyes, "I-"

"C'mon sweetheart, fairs fair and I am a very, very fair man."

"You are a criminal who steals things from innocents!"

He gave a shrug, "debatable. That diamond I took from the mob boss could be accounted for as a..ah, public service of sorts."

"Public service to yourself, am I correct?"

He gave a cheeky grin at her, "sure. In fact, I like the way you think beautiful. You've just given me justification for about ninety percent of what I do." He took another step forward at an appalled Starfire, "so I guess that means I'm off the hook for my past skirmishes, right?"

"Um…no," was all the alien princess managed to utter out as she tried to suppress amused laughter. While Red X had never been shy to flirt with her, he'd never been so open and his tone had never carried that amused, mocking innuendo used specifically to cajole a crowd to laughter. Starfire blinked before realization dawned on her: Red X was trying to make her laugh. A warm smile appeared on her face at the revelation and she gave him a small nod, "that is the debatable," she offered but the teasing grin upon her lips said otherwise. "Thank you for making me laugh tonight, Red X."

The masked thief smirked, "if you really want to thank me-"

"Oh, no," the tan skinned girl quickly cut in, knowing full well what he was about to say next (Bumblebee had given her a crash course in cheesy pick up lines), "I will not be performing any acts of intimacy with you!"

Red X blinked.

Once.

Twice.

And then…

His laughter exploded into the air; the combination of a blushing alien princess with the speech pattern of a nineteenth century baroness was just too jocular to be denied. He nearly doubled over in his chuckles as he shook his head, unaware of the strange look upon the lithe girl's countenance. The sight of Red X laughing made her smile, made her feel happy; she supposed it was because she felt grateful he'd been here before her thoughts took a deep plunge south but at the same time, her eyes lit in amusement, she supposed she just wanted to make him happy too.

Glancing back up, the masked criminal couldn't help but cross his arms, body still shaking with amusement at her words. "Trust me babe," he said, chuckling under his breath, "what I have planned will leave you begging for that."

She gave a curious frown, "what makes you so sure I will leave anywhere with you?"

"Take a look around you darling," he gestured at the empty rooftop, "what makes you so sure that I'm not just going to kidnap you away forever?"

Starfire's lips curved up in a small, sad smile, "I suppose you can…" she said, the bright spark from her eyes fading slightly as she looked out at the sea of lights and life, an odd expression of sadness and acceptance upon her face.

Red X felt himself frown as he looked at the exotic beauty before him; what in god's name had happened to such a creature of loveliness that would cause her to look so sad? She should never, ever look anything less than delighted, he decided then and there; he found himself wanting to wring the neck of whoever caused such an unhappiness to drift over the green eyed Venus and if that person was bird boy, an odd mixture of euphoria and dark delight welled up within the thief. He would now have a legitimate reason for wanting to beat the shit out of that little fucker; taking another step forward, he gently slipped his finger under her chin (grimacing at the fact that the leather prevented him from feeling the warmth of her skin) and forced her to look at him, straight in the eye.

"What's wrong, beautiful?"

"I…it is…nothing," she managed, though her voice was so soft and weak that he knew it was a blatant lie. "I just-Robin and I, no! We-" Starfire quickly tried to cover up her blunder but she'd already seen the tenseness take over Red X's form; saw the skull masked bandit reaching for his belt and quickly grasped his hand. "Red X, please do not-"

"What the hell did that no good little fucker do to you?" He hissed, his voice was deadly and the iciness in his tone caused the red haired girl to flinch.

"Please," she began, still cradling his hand, "it was nothing! I am not even very sad over what has happened because…well," Starfire paused, she still didn't know why she wasn't experiencing the typical break up emotions but she supposed it was because she was preoccupied with Red X. "I am very glad at what Robin and friend Raven did because I was about to do the breaking up with-"

Red X suddenly perked up, "you were about to split with bird boy?"

The alien princess gave a nod, completely negating the 'don't talk about your personal lives' rule. "Yes, I was going to do the breaking up but then today, just a few hours ago, I saw him and friend Raven kissing on the couch. I am not very angry because I could feel how happy friend Raven becomes when she is around Robin and I know that Robin and I have not been having the most wonderful of times but…" she trailed off as she looked at the sky for a moment before peering into Red X's masked face, "I know he does not love me and I have learned that I do not love him. He will always be my friend and I will always care for him but I think I have learned the difference between caring and loving," the green eyed girl explained, feeling rejuvenated at her revelation. "Thank you very much, Red X."

He frowned, "what for?"

"For allowing me to talk," was her only response before she pressed a kiss to his clothed cheek and turned around, ready to fly down to Gotham when an idea struck her. Turning back, she gave a shy smile as she gestured down below, "Red X, would you like to join me in seeing Gotham? I have always wanted to do the visiting but Robin forbade us not to intrude upon Batman's city…"

Red X's face split into a wide grin (he had never been so grateful for his mask as he was at that moment), "first you're leaving bird boy and now you're breaking his rules? You may just take a liking to being around me," he teased lightly as he grasped her waist, pulling in close towards his body. "Let's hit this city, babe." And without another word, the two disappeared right down to the heart of Gotham City.


A/N: Here's another Starfire/Red X fanfiction piece! I'm just churning these out like crazy (don't worry, I'll be updating 'Happiness by Error' and 'Child of Bass' tomorrow and Sunday respectively).

I threw a little Raven/Robin in there even though I don't really like the couple together (please say they had some chemistry, LOL. Tried to make it as convincing as I possibly could!)

For my next TT fanfiction, would you guys like another Starfire/Red X or something different? I wrote an angst ridden Starfire/Slade piece just a few days ago and got around to posting it today, so please check that out! If you have a request, just leave a review and tell me what you want me to do (LOL, rhymed!)

x,

Gina