Jealousy

Ok. So, I've been reading a lot of one shots and was wondering if I can get over dragging stories out. So, here's probably my one and only shot at a one shot. Please let me know what you think.

Eye to eye, Robin stared at what was once a reflection of himself. He felt a surge of rage towards the man that had stolen his suit. It was a mistake to ever make that suit. He almost lost everything because of it, and, now, there was a greedy young man running around reaping the benefits of the anonymity that comes with wearing it.

"What are you doing here?" Robin growled at Red X.

"Why should I tell you? Maybe I'm just here for the shits and giggles. Maybe I'm not," the young man replied cockily with a shrug.

Robin clenched his fist and a growl escaped through his gritted teeth. He was not in the mood to deal with this guy. Even on a good day, he got on Robin's nerves, and today was definitely not a good day.

"What's got your panties in a twist? I wasn't kidding when I said that you take things way too seriously."

"Did you take her?! Are you behind all of this?" Robin yelled.

"Whoa," he said taking a step back and throwing his hands in the air. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Honestly, I saw you running like a madman and decided to see what you were in a hurry to do."

Robin wanted to punch him so bad. X was holding him up. He was in a hurry. He had to save her. He didn't know when they took her, and he'd already wasted a couple of hours trying to get to the place. If he had nothing to do with this, then Robin had no reason to stay. He pushed X unnecessarily hard out of his way, finding short lived joy in seeing him hit the ground from being caught off guard.

Running as fast as he could, Robin headed in the direction the note told him to go. The note he found this morning on his nightstand stating that Starfire had been taken, and, if he didn't show up, they would take her life. Whoever it was must be strong and knowledgeable of Starfire or her race. Not many people would be able to take her down. She was exceedingly strong and durable. In their years of fighting together, he has seen very few things that could harm his best friend. The fact that they believed that they could worried him.

Every time he thought of someone hurting her, Robin's chest constricted. Who took her? Why did they take her? What do they want? Are they trying to use her against me? It wouldn't exactly be the first time. Please be okay, Star. Fight. Fight with all your Tamaranean might.

Robin took his time inspecting the area that the note specified to be at. From what he could see, it seemed to be a typical abandoned warehouse. He's broken into many after receiving calls of suspicious activity. He didn't understand what could be here that would be able to hold the Tamaranean girl.

The communicator on Robin's belt went off for probably the fifth time, he wasn't really keeping count, and he quickly silenced it. He was sure the rest of the team was getting worried by the fact that he wasn't answering, but he couldn't involve them. It was his place to rescue Starfire. Yes, the note specified that he come alone, but he was sure that he would have left on his own anyways. Having the extra strength of his teammates would be a huge advantage, but he truly believed he would be quicker on his own.

Walking into the main entrance of the building, Robin looked around, once again, not seeing anything special about the place. It looked nearly as abandoned on the inside as it did out. Another thing he noticed was no Starfire. Rage began building inside him again. This is where he was directed to be! Why was no one here? He continued to scan the building looking for a door or something for there to be another room for her to be in. When he saw one, hope began to creep into his mind. Robin darted for the door only to be beat by Red X.

"Get out of my way!" the teen yelled.

"And let you get to the babe first? No chance."

Robin wasn't sure he could handle much else. Starfire was his. What the hell made this guy think that he could take her from him? "If you lay finger on her, I'll kill you."

"Oooh, scary. The bird kid thinks that he can kill me. Not very hero-like of you," X said tauntingly. "I think if she got to know me and was given a choice, she would easily pick me over you. Girls always go for the bad guys. Plus, she's way too cute for you. Have you even made a move on her yet?" X could see that Robin was close to his breaking point. At the same time, even with his mask on, the older male could see a hint of uncertainty. "Seriously, man! How long have you been in that stupid team together now? I mean I stole the suit from you like two years ago. Go back to your stupid tower. The girl is mine now. I'll treat her right."

Robin swung at the black figure, but X knew it was coming and easily evaded it. It didn't stop him, though. The younger man was fighting with everything he had. There was no way that he was letting this asshole anywhere near his girl. Hearing X talk like that hurt his already constricted heart. All because he knew there was some truth to what guy was saying. It was almost three years since Robin released Starfire from her cuffs in the streets of Jump City. Three years since she pulled him in for a kiss that planted a seed in his heart that slowly bloomed into a rose a same fiery red as the girl's hair.

The two jumped around the massive room they occupied in the warehouse throwing punches and kicks that knocked the wind out of each other and would surely leave bruises to last for days to come. Robin would not lose, though. He refused. He was fighting for his pride and for his place beside the one person who mattered the most to him.

With an angry yell, he lunged towards X with his right arm reared back. Throwing it forward, he struck the guy across the face. It honestly felt like it was the hardest punch he's ever delivered. X fell to the floor, and Robin turned back towards the door. He wanted to turn around and give the guy a piece of his mind, maybe punch him around a bit more, but Star was waiting for him.

He opened the door just to have his heart feel like it was ripped from his chest. On the other side of the room was a very large glass jar with a hole in the back that Robin assumed had a pipe attached that was fed through the wall. Most importantly, Starfire sat in the floor leaning against the wall of the glass. She looked like all of the life was drained from her.

Robin ran to the glass and began yelling and beating on it in attempt to obtain the girl's attention, only to fail. He, then, ran to the area which he believed Star was looking in. Once there, he began yelling and beating on the glass again, occasionally throwing in a wave of the arms. Slowly, Starfire moved her head to see Robin. Hope filled her eyes and she crawled over to him. Robin could see his name form on her lips when she finally reached him, but her voice died at the glass.

This was wrong. This was all wrong. Starfire, usually so full of life, looked like she was about to collapse. He had never seen her look so weak. She should never look like this.

"I see that you have finally come," a female voice rang from somewhere in the room. Robin knew the voice, that heavy French accent. Madame Rouge. "You just barely made it. The girl probably doesn't have too much longer."

"What are you doing to her?" Robin yelled looking around for her.

The woman appeared seemingly from nowhere and said, "Simply depriving her of oxygen. That seems to be one of the only ways to kill her kind."

"No, that wouldn't do much to her. I've seen her survive in the vacuum of space."

"They can survive, yes, but not for too long. They need to breathe eventually. Surviving in that harsh environment doesn't go unpunished," she replied, matter-of-factly.

"What do you want?" Robin growled.

"I want all of the Titans to suffer. Children should not act like they have any sort of power. They're stupid and weak. So, I'm starting with you two. The ridiculous connection you two share is the easiest to exploit. It's disgusting watching you two save each other over and over, fawning over each other. I'll-"

There was a loud thump and then Madame Rouge hit the floor. Robin looked up, confused at what just happened, to see Red X standing over her. "She was really getting on my nerves. Seems like a bitch."

Robin had forgotten all about leaving him unconscious in the other room. He was suddenly relieved to have him here. He wasn't sure how a fight alone with the shapeshifting woman would have gone. Though, he would admit, that him knocking her out like that was a bit anti-climactic.

A movement out of the corner his eye caught his attention. Starfire had suddenly collapsed to the floor. Cold washed through Robin's entire body. He had to get her out now! She can't die. She can't die! SHE CAN'T DIE!

Robin took out one of his birdarangs and began slamming it against the glass in hope of piercing it. It barely scratched it, though. Next, he took out one of his explosive discs and attached it to the glass. Like the birdarang, it barely made a dent. But barely is better than nothing. He attached all the discs he had to the glass and detonated them all. The explosion didn't shatter the glass like he hoped, but it created thousands of tiny fissures, thoroughly weakening the glass. Robin put all of his strength into his leg and kicked the weak point, finally breaking through.

Relief swelled in his chest as he reached through the hole he made and pulled the unconscious girl to his chest. He put his hand to her face making sure she was still breathing. Even more relief flowed in when he felt the warm air. It was faint and it was slow to come, but it was there. He ran his hand through her hair knocking the glass out and moving it out of her face.

She was safe. She was alive. Everything was going to be okay. Robin wrapped his arms around the girl's body and hugged her tightly. He felt his eyes begin to sting as he fought back tears. He wouldn't cry. Especially, not with that asshole in the same room.

"Maybe you do deserve her," X admitted. Robin looked up at the guy in the suit he stole, shocked. "A man doesn't get strength like you've shown just now from a crush." X turned and walked to the door. Before he walked out, he turned back to Robin and said, "The doesn't mean I'm going to quit, though. I'll stop by and check on her tomorrow." Then he was gone.

Robin let out an exasperated sigh. It was too much to hope that the guy would leave him alone. Looking down at Starfire, pain took root in his chest again. She was safe, yeah, but she still looked frail. Her orange skin was paled almost to that of a human. And not being able to see her chest rise and fall was terrifying. Reluctantly, Robin pulled his hand away from the girl's hair and grabbed the communicator. Short, sweet and to the point, he told Cyborg to bring the car to his location and fast.

Robin stayed in Starfire's room for the rest of the day and all through the night. He watched as her breathing regulated and her body finally relaxed into a healing sleep. She didn't wake up until the middle of the day the next day. Robin noticed her start to stir about thirty minutes before her eyes opened. She sat up and looked around the room confused at first, most likely shocked by the change in environment. Then, her eyes fell on Robin sitting against the wall.

He stood up and walked over to her, sitting next to her on her bed. She looked so much better.

She looked alive.

"Robin?"

The young man cupped her face in both his hands. "Don't ever scare me like that again," he whispered.

The girl's eyes widened. He knew it was because she didn't see this side of Robin much. They shared little moments together every once in a while, but, so far, none of them have involved him being this vulnerable. He saw her expression become sad as she took in her best friend's nearly defeated posture. He hadn't recovered from his fear, yet. His mind was still flashing images of her body unconscious on the floor. Her emerald eyes met his covered eyes as Robin moved one of his hand from her cheek to her hair.

He pulled her head to his and let out a sigh. "I don't know what I would have done if you died," Robin admitted, still in a whisper.

"Everything is okay. You saved my life," she said, quietly.

Robin looked away and dropped his hands, feeling slightly ashamed. "I was almost too late. I almost lost you."

"Are you ok?" the Tamaranean asked, worried.

Robin shook his head and gave a dry chuckle. "I should be asking you that."

"I am fine, Robin. I am not human. But you… You are not acting like yourself."

He shook his head again. "I'll be fine."

"Robin, please talk to me."

He looked back up at her, cupping both of his hands around her cheeks again. Slowly leaning in, he placed a soft, gentle kiss onto her forehead.

The girl's eyes opened wide at the action of the normally guarded young man across from her. "Robin," she whispered.

A weak but genuine smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "Sorry."

Star shook her head. "No! Don't be. Please. It is ok." A huge smile quickly grew, brightening her face up. "Robin, you know you are very important to me, right?"

The young man smiled back at her, a stronger smile this time. "You're very important to me, too."

They both emerged from her room and headed to the main part of the tower where the rest of the team sat around doing their own thing. The first to notice them was Beast Boy, who jumped over the counter in the kitchen and enveloped Star in a huge hug.

"You're okay! I knew you would be! How are you feeling? You are okay, right?" the shapeshifter asked, enthusiastically.

The excitement drew the attention of the other two who hurried over to the girl in question.

"Yes, I feel fine. I am glad to be back here with my friends," Star answered with a huge smile on her face. Robin's face held his own smile at how happy his best friend looked.

Cyborg walked over to Robin and threw a heavy arm over his shoulder. "This guy refused to leave your side the whole time you were unconscious. I hope he treated you well."

The Tamaranean beamed at Robin, while the young man felt his face heat up. Why was he blushing? He didn't do anything bad. It was just a kiss on the forehead. He sighed. "Of course, I treated her well. She's my best friend."

"Ah, c'mon Robin. We all know she's more than that to you," Beast Boy added. Robin looked off to the side but didn't deny the statement. The shapeshifter laughed, and said, "See! It's true. Are you two going out and didn't tell us?"

When Robin looked at Starfire, he saw that she was looking at him expectantly. How should he answer? Of course, she meant more to him. He had just told her as much. "No, we are not going out," he replied, weakly. "But I was thinking about taking her out when she felt a bit better."

He saw the girl's face light up at his statement. It made his heart skip. However, that was quickly destroyed at the obnoxious "Awws" from Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Such a touching moment. I seem to have come a bit too late," came a voice that was not a member of the team.

Robin grabbed a birdarang from his belt and threw it at the figure in black. His anger from the other night returned. He jumped in from of Star and watched as Red X walked towards the gang. The other were all in position to fight the intruder but waited for Robin's say so. "What do you want?"

"I told you that I'd come check on her. We both know you wouldn't have got her without my help," he replied confidently.

Robin growled, annoyed that he couldn't quite deny it. "Well, you've seen that she's okay. Now leave."

"Aww, come on, Bird Boy. Be nice. I just want to make sure she's okay with my own eyes." In a flash, Red X was behind Starfire with his arms around her waist. "Mmm. Yes, she appears okay. You know, Doll, if you come with me, we could have a lot of fun."

"Let go of her!" Robin yelled.

The Tamaranean girl's face scrunched up in disgust, and she reared back to punch him. Before she could deliver the blow, X was back across the room. "Maybe next time," he said, amusement laced in his words. "We'll meet again." Then he was gone.

With a sigh, Robin said, "I'm going to kill that guy."

"You let him get away with," Raven commented. "He does it because he knows it gets to you."

"Yeah, I know."

Starfire wrapped her arms around Robin's neck. He looked back at her to see a smile on her lips. "Robin, let's go on that date."

"Now?" he asked, shocked.

She nodded.

"You two go. We'll hold down the fort," Cyborg encouraged.

Robin smiled and grabbed Star's hand. "Alright. Let's go."