Red-Shifting
(So, they aren't mine, yadayadayada. Well, Prism is. Don't touch without asking. Oh, and review! What can I say, I like to know what people think. Oh, and if you can figure out what Red-Shifting means, you'll have a clue where the story is going. ;) ))
Chapter 1 – On Brightest Night
"I am ready!"
"You got it, Starfire. Brace yourself."
Starfire nodded, shifting her feet slightly and tensing. She was standing at the base of the cliffs behind Titans Tower, staring up the hundred or so yards of rock to where Terra was seated cross-legged on a floating boulder. The blonde stone-manipulator held out her hands, fingers spread, and began counting down from five. Starfire smiled, listening over the communicator and humming as she counted along.
"Zero," Terra murmured, and the cliff face exploded.
Starfire stared at the avalanche for a split second before launching herself into the air, hands and eyes flaring with green fire. She twisted and weaved, dodging the first few large boulders, then clapped her hands together, sending a stream of starbolts into the air above her to clear a path.
Terra was visible for a second to the Tameranian girl, and Starfire caught a glimpse of a grin before the blonde thrust her hands downward. The upper half of the cliff, having been held back by Terra's powers, suddenly dropped to fill in that new gap.
Starfire gasped and dropped down towards the base of the cliff again, but stopped herself with a frown. She could do this. She had devised the hardest practice drill she could imagine just to prove she could do it. She opened up, lasers blasting from her eyes, starbolts from her hands, drilling a hole in the wall of falling rock. And then she flew straight at it.
It took almost a minute for all the rock to hit the ground, and Starfire was flying through it the whole way, starbolts and lasers tearing through until she bursts forth from the top, letting her powers fade as she shot upwards. Past the clapping Terra, still hovering on her stone, and up into the clear sky, taking a deep breath and trying to clear the stone dust from her throat.
She let herself float there, staring up at the sun for a minute before twisting around gracefully and starting back towards the top of the cliff. Terra was already standing there, and Starfire was surprised to see Robin and Raven standing there as well. The leader of the Teen Titans was just staring up at the sky, an expression Starfire could not identify on his face.
"What is it that is wrong, Robin?" She asked as soon as she touched the ground, but the masked young man didn't answer, instead just turned to stare at her.
"Are you alright? Terra said that you asked her to drop the cliff on…to train with you." On closer inspection, Starfire thought Robin was shaking.
"Yes, I did!" Starfire grinned, despite her wariness, and glanced down at the cliff. "I wanted to see if I could do a course as challenging as yours, Robin, and I did! I…" She turned back, expecting a grin and a congratulations, but was met with an angry stare.
"What were you thinking Star? You could've been hurt! Or worse…I…" Robin had raised his hand as he shouted, and it dropped back to his side with a thud as he trailed off.
"But I was not injured, and I am quite well. See?" Starfire twirled around in the air before dropping back closer to her leader. "It was no worry…Terra would not have let me be crushed even if I had not been successful."
"Yeah! She'd have been-" Terra started to chime in but wilted under a glare from Raven.
"Star…" Robin opened his mouth several times, starting to speak and stopping, then let out a breath. "I will…see you all later." He turned and stalked off back towards the tower.
"Robin, please wait…" Starfire started after him but Raven caught her arm gently and held her back.
"Let him go, Starfire. He's just upset." The blue-cloaked girl shook her head, then released the red-head and moved towards the cliff face, Terra following after.
"But why is he upset?"
"Cause he's a tight-wad, that's why." Terra muttered, crossing her arms under her chest as she stared after the Titans leader, then turned to follow Raven. The two of them stood on the edge of the cliff and began reassembling the stones into the wall.
"A…tight-wad? What is this?" Starfire floated after them, head tilted to the side. "I do not understand."
"He was worried about you." Raven said without looking back. "He'll be fine in a little while."
"If you are saying so."
* * * * *
The floor of the training room was actually shaking beneath Robin's feet, and he listened for a moment before turning the stereo up one more notch. There, now he couldn't hear himself think. He then turned to the row of reconditioned Slade-robots they had acquired over the last few months. Cyborg had rebuilt them to be used as sparing partners, and Robin had found them to be quite useful. Of course, he had never tried to fight eight of them at once, but he didn't care at the moment.
"Go." Robin took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and leapt forward as the robots charged.
Everything was a blur, he felt himself doing things he didn't even realize, punching and kicking out instinctively. It reminded him of the sessions he'd watched Batman do when he was younger. No extra movement, no grace, just pure, raw instinct.
He was tearing the head off the last robot when the music shut off, bringing him up short. He spun around to see raven hovering next to the stereo, a gloved hand resting on the switch, her dark eyes fixed on him.
"What?" The head dropped to the floor and rolled away as Robin straightened himself, dusting off his cape. Raven glanced around at the wreckage of the robots, then back to the leader of the Titans.
"Cyborg will not be happy when he returns." She commented quietly, her arm disappearing beneath her cloak again.
"Eh, he won't mind, he likes building stuff. It's almost the same thing." Robin shrugged. "And no, I don't feel like talking about it."
"As if I would ask?" Raven smirked and shook her head. "Starfire thinks she has done something wrong, and she is upset by it." Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "You have a remarkable talent for making that girl cry, you know."
"She could've been hurt!" Robin's angry flooded back into his mind and he aimed a kick at one of the robots, putting a deep dent in it and wincing. Right…no toe kicking steel. "I don't know why she did that."
"She was trying to impress you." Raven sighed and rolled her eyes, letting her feet drop to the floor. "She has it easier then the rest of us, she rarely has to train or practice to control what she does, but she watches us all train and meditate…you more then anyone." The Goth girl jabbed Robin in the chest. "She believes you think she is lazy, so she wanted to prove she could train as hard as we do."
"Yeah, but…" Robin frowned and reached up to rub at his forehead. Great, the one thing he didn't want right now was rational thought. "She wasn't being careful. Terra makes mistakes and…Starfire could have been hurt."
"Whatever," Raven stepped back. "Frankly, I wouldn't care, except that when Starfire is upset she follows me around, asking me what is wrong, asking me why you don't like her anymore, and when I can't answer her, she just keeps asking. Over and over and over again. So you are going to go and make her feel better, or I am going to tell her exactly why you always seem extra worried about her."
"No, you wouldn't dare." Robin tensed…almost tempted to tackle the shadow-manipulator, then paused as some of her words caught up to him. "Wait…she thinks I don't like her?"
"You get angry at her all the time, Robin. And yes, I know you are worried about her, for obvious reasons. And everyone else knows it too…except Starfire. Remember, she's…well, naive. She doesn't understand any of this."
"But…" Robin trailed off and shook his head.
"After that performance outside, I almost think you don't like her. It doesn't matter, if you don't go talk to her, I will tell her. The only reason she isn't asking me questions this second is because I told her that you were going to go up to the roof and talk to her. She is waiting up there and she wants you to tell her what she did wrong. So go. Or I will."
The two stared at each other for a long, tense moment, the air almost crackling around them, before Robin let out a little sigh and relaxed his fists. "Fine."
* * * * *
Starfire was seated on the edge of the roof, green eyes flicking between the setting sun and the obstacle course, where Terra and the shape-shifting Beast Boy were practicing. Raven had told her to wait here, and Terra had told her that nothing was wrong, so she tried really, really hard to relax. But it just wasn't working. Robin always seemed to get upset with her, and lately had actually been yelling at her after almost every mission they went on.
"He must believe I am being very lazy." She muttered to herself, staring down at her hands. She had watched the others train, and she knew things were easier for her, but only Robin seemed to hold it against her. At least, she couldn't find any other reason for him to be getting angry at her.
"Star?" Robin's voice, from behind, actually surprised her so much she squeaked and fell off the edge of the roof, hovering back into sight a moment later, eyes narrowed.
"You surprised me! That was not nice." She glowered…then immediately dropped to the roof as she saw his expression. "Wait! No, I am sorry. You are already angry at me and I am only going to make things more worse and I really do not mean to make you angry and I have been preparing the dance of forgiveness and shame and the song of sorrow but I just do not understand and-"
"Star? Starfire, take a breath!" Robin's hand was on her shoulder and she clamped her mouth shut, taking a breath through her nose.
"I am sorry, Robin. I just do not understand why you no longer like me."
Robin just stared at her for a few moments, mind racing as he tried to figure out what was the right thing to say. He couldn't be honest, but he could be…true. If that made any sense. "Star…I do like you. I'm your friend, and nothing will change that." His hand moved away from her shoulder and he walked past her to stare down at the other two Titans. "I just get worried. Like today…I looked out the window and saw all those rocks falling towards you and I had this horrible image of you being dead and I snapped."
"But I am fine, Robin. There was no need to worry. I wanted to prove I could train as well as all of you do and this was the hardest thing I could think of. Training is never terribly difficult for me, I know you hold that against me but I can not help it…" She stopped and peered down at the training field again as well. "I am sorry."
"What? Star, I don't…oh hell." He hopped onto the ledge and then dropped to his rear, letting his legs hang down. "Look, I do like you, I don't think you are lazy, and I am sorry for yelling at you. I can't really explain why I do it, I just…I worry and I react. I'm sorry."
Down on the training field Terra had tackled Beastboy as he ran around in the guise of a puppy, and the two of them had gone sprawling across the ground to end up with Terra seated on top of the green skinned Titan. "You do not seem to worry as much when the others are injur-" Star trailed off as one of the windows below them exploded outward in a wave of black telekinetic energy.
"Looks like Raven noticed those two training." Robin remarked with a little grin.
"She always gets very upset when Terra and Beast Boy wrestle. I do not understand that, either." Starfire commented, moving to sit down on the ledge as well.
"It's complicated."
"As complicated as why you always seem to be worrying about me and yelling at me but are still my friend?"
"Worse."
"Oh." Starfire watched as the shards of glass tumbled down to the obstacle course, Beast Boy and Terra both diving out of the way. "I do not understand."
"I'm sorry, Star. I don't even know how to explain it. Just trust me; I'm still your friend."
"Very well, Robin. But only if you will promise to not always yell at me so much."
Robin glanced over at her for a moment, watching the last rays of sunlight drift through her hair, and let out a little sigh. "I'll try."
* * * * *
Half an hour later Starfire was twirling lazily through the air, catching batarangs that Robin tossed to her from the edge of the roof when both their team alarms went off. As Robin waited for Starfire to land his communicator went off and a picture of Raven appeared, standing before the giant computer console.
"Report," He shouted to the cloaked girl even as he reached out a hand absently to catch Starfire's arm when she landed. The alien girl looked confused, but then smiled faintly.
"It's Slade. He's attacking a chemical plant in town," Raven's small picture stated on the communicator.
"Damn. If only Cyborg were…well, it doesn't matter. Titans, move out." Robin clicked the com off and tucked it into his belt as he and Starfire both headed for the door.
Ten minutes later the Titans came to a stop outside of the Chemical plant. The front of the building had been decimated, several holes large enough for a person to walk through where doors and windows had once been.
"Wow," Robin muttered, moving forward slowly, his staff held out before him. He crouched down next to one of the holes and tentatively reached forward to touch the side…tugging back a moment later. "Ow. Hot…it feels like the wall was melted."
"Stone can melt?" Beast boy peered over Robin's shoulder, then into the darkness of the building. "Looks like Slade is gone, though."
"I doubt it." Robin stood and brushed off his clothing absently, peering into the darkness as well. "Beastboy, you and Terra check the second floor. Raven, Starfire and I will check down here. Titans, go." Raven started to say something, then clamped her mouth shut and nodded as everyone started moving.
Robin pulled a flashlight from his belt and turned it on, scanning around the large, empty room that seemed to be the first floor of the building. "You're sure this was a chemical plant?"
"That's what the alarm report said. Uhm…Bioron Chemical, I believe was the name." Raven nodded, dark eyes scanning the room.
"It does not seem as though anyone would be doing any chemical work in a place like this." Starfire whispered from behind them both, holding up her hands to further illuminate the room. "It does not seem as though any work would have been completed here."
"It used to be a chemical plant, but I had it shut down some time ago."
All three Titans whirled around to see a figure standing before the entrance. "I hoped you would not come, Robin. You always fall into my traps so easily."
"Slade," the word came like a growl from deep in Robin's throat and he charged, swinging his staff like a bat. Slade caught the weapon easily and spun around, tossing Robin and the weapon back towards the two girls. The boy wonder landed lightly on his feet and growled again. "Titans, G-"
"Not so fast. This fight is between you and me, Robin. It is always between you and me. Your…friends…get their own entertainment." Slade snapped and a figure stepped out from behind him, dressed in a cloak similar to Raven's, but white enough to almost be painful. "Prism, deal with them."
"Yes boss," The voice was female, and she held up her hands, which seemed to be glowing faintly, and a beam of light shot out, past Slade and Robin to slam into Raven's face, sending her flying backwards to smack into the rear wall.
"Demon!" Starfire shot past Robin the other way, aiming for the glowing woman, while Robin charged at Slade.
"See Robin?" Slade ducked backwards underneath a swing from Robin's staff and aimed several kicks at the Boy Wonder's side. "It is always better if only we fight."
"Shut up," Robin growled, leaping into the air and kicking at Slade's head, then dropping underneath a punch from the older man. "No more games, Slade. We finish this."
"The games never end, Robin. Surely you know that."
Behind the two rivals Starfire was hurling Starbolts at the glowing woman, who ducked and weaved as she ran across the room, firing off the occasional laser from her fingers. Her hood fell, revealing a mane of flowing white-blonde hair and a face that glowed as brightly as her hands. She leapt forward and moved behind a pillar, disappearing from Starfire's sight.
"Why do you side with the villain Slade? Who are you?" Starfire shouted out, holding her right hand up, a starbolt ready. But she received no answer, so instead she threw her projectile at the pillar, hoping to shake her opponent into moving.
The blonde stepped out and grinned, bringing her hands up and clapping them together, firing off a much larger energy beam then before. Starfire countered with her laser eyes and the two beams met.
The sudden flare was bright enough that Slade and Robin stopped fighting, both men turning to stare at the two girls and the energy storm between them.
"Remarkable," Slade murmured…then reached out and slammed his fist into the back of Robin's head. The boy wonder let out a grunt and crumpled to his knees, seeing stars. "Prism, finish it!"
The beams of light shifted, the white overpowering the green slowly. Robin managed to sit up in time to see Starfire back into a wall, her hands tensed, her head pressed forward as she tried to fight back. Green and white light flared back and forth, becoming brighter and brighter, and Robin shielded his eyes, trying to see. The white light suddenly encompassed everything, the entire room bathed in a soft glow, and Starfire let out a scream and collapsed to the floor.
"…Starfire." Robin groaned and pushed to his feet, Slade forgotten as he stumbled towards his fallen team-mate. Raven appeared beside the fallen girl a moment later, gently lifting her from the floor.
"She's alive," the Goth girl said after a moment, looking at Robin. "I am sorry I did not help, but I couldn't see anything after that blast."
"It…is she alright?" Robin reached out and took Starfire from Raven, cradling her in his lap.
"I think so. She's breathing and her heart is beating…We should get her back to the tower."
"Yes. Go and get the others." Robin didn't really seem to be paying attention, he just stared at Starfire. Raven nodded and disappeared into a shadow, leaving Robin sitting there holding Starfire against his chest. He wasn't sure, but he thought she felt warmer then the last few times he had touched her.
"See Star?" He murmured softly, closing his eyes. "This is why I worry." The alien girl shifted in his arms suddenly and pressed in against him.
"My eyes hurt…"
"Shhh. Relax Star, we're going to take you home."
"Okay…and make my eyes stop hurting, please."
(So? Whatcha all think? Oh, and I am notorious for not finishing things, so if you guys want more chapters, Review! Cause I get those neat email alerts which will remind me to write.)