She felt the pain even before she had opened her eyes, it was so intense that it seemed to run like wild fire over her body, twisting and stretching her insides, it took all the strength she had not to pass out then and there. When the young woman mustered up the strength to retch her eyes open she surveyed her surroundings with an uncharacteristically critical eye, she noticed three things. First, the room was large and strangely made entirely of metal with the exception of a small slot near what looked to be the door, presumably for communication. She also noticed a small air vent directly above her. Whoever held them captive had no intention of killing them just yet it seemed. Second, she was completely and utterly alone in a large metal room fit to accommodate more people than just herself and she noticed grimly that there were four other sets of chains like the ones that held her by her arms and legs, presumably for the other titans. Feebly she tried to summon starbolts to her hands, when that didn't work she pulled hard against her chains putting the full brunt of her alien strength into the pull. Nothing. Third, she could not remember how she got captured. The last thing she remembered was returning to the Titans tower after defeating Plasmas with the promise of one of Beast Boys kung fu action movies and a big bucket of popcorn. She nearly sighed at the thought, but stopped herself suddenly. She had to be strong. Whoever held her and presumably her friends captive, was sure to have an agenda and she could not show any signs of weakness. She would not be the weak link for their group.
Starfire was not totally oblivious she did 'have a clue' as they say. She knew that she was often considered the weakest of their group, not in the physical sense by any means, but in the sense that she was naive and vulnerable emotionally. She wore her heart on her sleeve and as such she knew that made her easy to manipulate. She could not help the way she was, but if there was one thing her Tamaranian training had taught her it was how to act in a hostage situation. As part of the royal family of Tamaran she had been put through the necessary training in case something such as this did happen. She remembered the agonizing two weeks she had spent in that dungeon. She had been tortured, mutilated and emotionally and mentally scared beyond belief, but it had ultimately made her stronger. She felt that same strength returns to her now as she heard the door creak open. She would tell them nothing!
Instead of seeing her captor as she expected she instead saw her friends who were slung over the backs of four large burly men. She watched enraged as each man secured her friends into the same indestructible chains that held her. Instead of making a scene like she normally would have she took a deep breath and calmed herself. Nothing good would come from rousing a fight. She watched the men closely trying to take in every detail about them. Their uniform seemed familiar somehow, where had she seen it before? The black and orange ensemble seemed to prick at her memory and with a gasp it came to her.
It was the same uniform Robin had worn as Slade's apprentice more than six years ago.
Her fears were confirmed as the last of the men turned to close the door and she got a glimpse of the sharply defined 'S' on his chest. Unable to contain her fury she narrowed her eyes at him menacingly and just when she thought he wouldn't so much as bat an eye, as he was closing the door he sent her a long, menacing smirk that seemed to pierce her soul with its cruelty and uninhibited malice.
The door clanged shut and Starfire let her head fall back against the metal wall with a small thud. As she relaxed she began to feel the pain she had been blocking out and for the first time discovered the extent of her injuries.
Looking down on herself, there was a series of cuts along her abdomen that were red and puckish, as well as extensive bruising around her thighs and stomach. She was sure she could feel a few broken ribs as well, that explained her trouble breathing at least. The bright purple of her uniform was practically unrecognisable, it was stained a dark brown with her blood and it was then that she realised that the semi-large blood puddle at her feet must have come from her. This at least explained partly why she was so drowsy. The blood loss alone would have killed a regular human, but as a Tamaranian she was able to endure a lot more than a regular human could. So what else was causing the drowsiness?
She was distracted from her thoughts when she heard a groan opposite her. She snapped her eyes up immediately and almost cried in relief when she saw that Robin was waking up. Noting he didn't have a scratch on him made her smile with glee and following that though she looked around at the other titans, none of them were harmed in any way either. Strange.
Robin opened his eyes and focused on the first thing he saw. Unfortunately for him that happened to be the beaten form of Starfire.
He gasped, "Starfire!" he moved towards her instinctively but was jerked back suddenly by the chains around his wrists and ankles. "What happened to you?"
Starfire frowned at his furious expression. He always worried about her far too much, "I do not know friend Robin, but you should rest well in being assured that I am undamaged mostly."
Robin looked aghast, "Undamaged? Starfire can you see yourself?" His expression changed, "I don't know who did this but I know they will pay."
Starfire's eyes widened, "Robin please! You must as you say be keeping your head. We have no idea where we are or how it is we came to be in here. We need not unnecessarily aggravate our captor."
Robin was surprised at Starfire's cool reasoning and considered this, nodding at her. "You're right Star, I'm sorry."
Starfire softened, "Do not feel sorry Robin, I understand that you were only worried over my current state, but do not fret! Although my injuries would have already killed an ordinary human, I am not an ordinary human! I am Tamaranian!"
Robin stared at her for a moment. He didn't know whether to be worried about what she just said or laugh at the way she said it. At last he settled for a soft chuckle.
There was a sound to his right. Robin and Starfire both perked at the sound,
"Dude! " Beast Boy exclaimed in his semi-conscious state before rolling over on his back and sitting up. He rubbed his eyes to clear them and groaned in pain as he clutched his head.
"Beast Boy?" Starfire asked worriedly apparently the other Titans were not completely undamaged.
"Star?" He asked feebly
"Yes, yes! It is me friend Beast Boy! Are you undamaged?"
"I think so, but my head feels like I've been hit over the head with one of Cyborgs chunky sumo legs."
"I heard that grass stain." Cyborg managed sitting up to join his friends.
Starfire gasped happily seeing that they were both conscious.
"Good to see you're up man." Robin smiled at Cyborg.
Beast boy looked wounded, "And what about me, isn't anyone glad to see I'm okay and well?"
"Not particularly" A voice muttered from the other side of the room and Raven sat up painfully slow and looked around the room. Her eyes fell on Starfire immediately and caught what Cyborg and beast Boy had missed.
Her eyes widened and she let out a horrified gasp, "Star" She strangled out.
Cyborg and Beast Boy looked over at the Tamaranian Princess and mirrored Raven's look of horror.
"Oh no." Beast Boy breathed out gravely.
Cyborg felt a rush of ferocious anger at the sight of their battered teammate and yelled, "Yo!" his voice reverberated around the metal box and the other Titans winced at the volume of his voice, "Whoever the hell did this to my friend better get their ass in here right now, coz' I'm about to go Jackie Chan on yo' ass!"
There was a dark chuckle from the furthermost corner of the room, closest to Starfire and the door. Starfire didn't even need to turn her head to know who would emerge.
Slade appeared out of the darkness.
"Oh" he said smirking malevolently, "will you now?"
"Slade!" Robin muttered gravely.
Slade turned his attention easily from Cyborg to Robin, "Hello Robin." He smirked
"Cut the crap Slade" Beast Boy growled, "What do you want with us?"
Slade faked surprise, "With you? Well I want nothing with you my boy. I want nothing from all of you" He said indicating to the four chained to the wall he was facing.
It was at that moment that Robin realised that he, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven were all tied to one wall, while Starfire was completely isolated on the opposite.
Slade turned to face Starfire, leering at her dangerously, "But there are a lot of things I want from you my dear." He almost purred.
Robin did not miss the innuendo in those words, but surprisingly it was Raven who beat him to the punch, "Get your hands off her Slade!"
Slade looked over at the half demon with a half smile and in that moment let Raven see his intentions for Starfire, all his intentions for Starfire, "No!" She yelled out viciously, "You sick bastard!"
Slade laughed manically, turning once again to face Starfire, "I do not understand how it is you think I am sick for...desiring the beautiful creature before me. She is, after all, extremely alluring"
With that he bent down and pressed him lips forcefully to Starfire's.
"GET OFF HER!" Robin screamed struggling against his chains and the other titans gave similar yells of protest.
It was Starfire however who gave the greatest protest with all the strength she could muster she reared her head back and brought it back into Slade's own. There was a loud crack and everything fell silent. Slade held his fractured mask with both hand and Starfire glared at him menacingly, a trickle of blood running down the middle of her face from the impact.
Starfire steeled herself preparing for an assault and was surprised when Slade once again approached her calmly and smiling cruelly. He pushed her back against the wall gruffly and pressed his body into hers, painfully pressing on her broken ribs.
"Don't forget my dear," he hissed, "I have your friends and if you don't obey me and do everything I desire I will not hesitate to kill them."
His hand came up to cup her face and instead of kissing her again like she thought he would, he leaned his face down so close until she could feel his warm breath on her ear, "And don't think that your little display back then angered me, in fact," He breathed, his voice changing from matter of fact to seductive, "I like them feisty"
Starfire shivered at the double meaning in his words and breathed a sigh of relief when he retreated from her. Slade made for the door before hesitating and turning to give Starfire one final look that spoke volumes of his intentions towards her, "Goodbye"
The door closed and there was silence.
Starfire closed her eyes and centered herself, begged herself to remain calm, to remember her training. When she had cleared her mind from Slade's touch she opened her eyes.
Her friends were looking, no, staring at her.
"What?' She murmured weakly.
"Say something." Robin said a bit more harshly than he intended. His mind was still reeling about Slade.
"What do you expect me to say?" She said simply.
Robin faltered and looked down at the ground.
"Starfire" Raven said weakly and Starfire looked towards her friend, "I know what he plans to do to you."
"How?" Beast Boy asked frowning.
Raven paused, before averting her eyes, "He...Showed me."
"What?" Robin growled out, "What did he show you?"
Raven hesitated, "He..."
"He what?" Robin asked heatedly
"His plan revolves around Starfire, he plans to...well," She coughed uncomfortably, "Let's just say his intentions go beyond just kissing her."
"Bastard!" Robin growled, "He won't get away with this!"
Cyborg frowned, he understood why he wanted Starfire, she was of course beautiful, but what purpose did doing that with her serve. Apart from mentally scarring her for life that is.
As if reading his mind Raven continued, "I don't know what his real agenda is, but I know that there is one and Starfire..." Starfire looked at her painfully, "You should mentally prepare yourself. There is no denying Slade's intention is to have you and if we don't escape in time, well..."
Starfire nodded and with surprising grace said, "I understand."
Robin looked between Raven and Starfire like they'd both gone insane, "What do you mean mentally prepare yourself? There will be nothing to mentally prepare for!" Robin continued in a lower voice, "Not if I have anything to say about it..."
"Robin" Raven muttered angrily, glaring at the boy wonder.
"What Raven, what? Don't you dare get angry at me because I actually care about Starfire!"
Ravens eyes widened and narrowed, "Don't you dare say I don't care! I care more than you will ever know!" She hissed
"Yeah well at least I care enough to try and take back control of the situation instead of just handing Starfire over like some sort of consolation prize!"
"Robin! You have no control over what happens from this point on! You have to accept that or Slade wins!"
"So what? Your plan is to just sit around and do nothing? To just wait for that...thing! To just come and have his way with her!"
"I don't like this anymore than you, but you need to get it into her head that there is nothing we can do right now!"
"There is ALWAYS something we can do! We're heroes Raven and we never ever give up on those who need help, even more so when that person is our friend and teammate!"
"Robin this is pointless," Raven rubbed her head tiredly, "You misunderstand me. I'm not saying that there is nothing we can de, I'm saying that right now Starfire needs to consider the very real possibility that Slade will force her to have sex with him and she needs to be prepared for that. If you don't realise why I'm saying what I'm saying then your judgement is more clouded that I thought." Raven narrowed her eyes.
"My judgement is fine raven," Robin bit out harshly and added, "and you're in no place to question my judgement."
"Maybe not" She conceded before hardening her resolve, "But as second in command, Cyborg is."
All eyes turned to Cyborg.
"Do you think I'm unfit to lead Cyborg?" Robin asked almost passively, but Cyborg could detect the subtle threat in his tone.
It was all Cyborg needed to hear.
"Yes." He said determinedly, hard eyes staring straight into Robins own, "I am revoking your leadership temporarily on the grounds that you are too personally compromised by our current situation. Your near obsession with Slade as well as your personal feelings towards Starfire's well being make you a liability." Cyborg averted his gaze from Robins, "you are unfit to lead."
Robin felt a wave of anger at his words, too personally compromised? Obsession with Slade? Personal feelings towards Starfire? What a load of crap! But once Robin calmed down he realised that there was some truth to his words, hell, a lot of truth! He had been obsessed with Slade, but that was years ago. He though he was over it. Apparently not if the way he had acted was anything to go by, and Starfire. Starfire was very special to him and he remembered the beast that growled in the pit of his stomach at the sight of Slade kissing Starfire. He wasn't just concerned about her well being. He was jealous.
He looked over at Starfire's surprisingly neutral form. He loved her. He had realised that many years ago, hell, he probably knew it when they first met. He had been selfish though, keeping it from her. It wasn't that he thought she didn't love him. He knew she did. He felt it every day, in the smiles she'd give him when she thought he wasn't looking, when she'd blush at the tiniest of compliments, when they'd have those little moments when time would stand still and it was just her and him. The real reason they couldn't be together was right now, because of this. He knew that in their business it was better to be a lone wolf, an outsider and on those rare instances where teams did from, relationships with anyone was a liability. Enemies could use you loved ones against you and innocent people could pay with their lives because of it. That was why he didn't tell her. That was why he couldn't let them be together, no matter how much he wanted them to.
Robin closed his eyes and slumped back against the wall, letting his eyes close and himself drift off into a restless sleep.
Beast boy, although not the brightest of the Titans, pondered something gravely, a little detail that everybody else seemed to have missed. He looked over Starfire's form, surveying her from head to toe. She was hurt badly. Too badly for it to have been an accident, a necessary part of the capturing process he meant. So why was she all bloodied and hurt and the rest of the Titans left mostly unharmed? If Slade truly wanted Starfire in that way why would he want her to be all bloodied and gross? Wouldn't he want her to look nice or something? It just didn't make sense to him.
Beast Boy shook his head; it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him again. He was sure an answer would present itself in time.
And with that all the Titans drifted off unaware of the magnitude of the disastrous events to come.