Context: Terra has aligned herself with Slade and is hunting the Titans down one by one. Seconds before my story starts, she hurtled a boulder at our favorite Boy Wonder, but Starfire spotted the rocky missile just in time to pull Robin out of the way-and accidentally put herself right in the boulder's path.

Main focus: RobXStar; slight BBXRae

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Rock Your World

Robin watched in shock as Starfire's inert body tumbled over the cliff.

"Starfire!" He screamed helplessly, all but forgetting the geomancer floating on a boulder behind him.

Starfire's limp form struck the layers of the cliff face once—twice—before smacking the water's surface some hundred or so feet below and sinking beneath the river current.

Terra laughed behind him, her voice low, smug, and absent of remorse.

"We'll finish this later," Robin said, his keen eyes already searching for the best path down.

"You can bet we will. But don't worry, I'll give you some time to mourn your little girlfriend before I find you again."

Robin hopped down to the next level then called up to his former teammate, hovering on a rock and well out of reach. "For your sake you'd better hope there's no reason to mourn," he shot back.

"We'll see," she said and glided away.

Forgetting Slade's apprentice, Robin leapt from one ledge to another, desperate to reach the ground as quickly as possible.

His boots hit the soft clay of the muddy river bank with a squelching noise and he took off in a sprint. He searched for any sign of his friend and peeled away several layers of clothing that would otherwise weigh him down in the water should he need to swim. A hundred yards later, his cape, tunic, utility belt and gloves lay dispersed along the bank, marking a colorful trail behind him.

Those first few frantic minutes yielded nothing but stomach-churning panic, a feeling that failed to abate when he spotted a streak of red bobbing up and down in the current.

"Starfire!" Robin called. No response.

He dove into the racing current and gasped as the freezing water seeped through his remaining clothes. He swam over to Starfire floating face down in the water and hooked an arm around her waist, then started fighting his way back to the bank.

Exhausted, he grasped onto a branch sticking out from a dying tree log half washed up on shore. The branch snapped and he almost lost his grip on Starfire, but he yanked her back against him at the last second. He grabbed hold of a passing rock and pulled the two of them to the other side. With a final burst of strength, he hauled himself onto the shore and dragged Starfire with him.

"Super strength would be great right now," he thought. He didn't allow himself the second he wanted to catch his breath, but began checking on his unconscious companion, heedless of the gravel digging into his knees as he knelt beside her.

"She isn't breathing," he realized. He set his lips on her purpled cold ones and fervently tried to breathe air back into her lungs. "I don't get it. She can fly through space without so much as a gas tank but she gets knocked into a body of water and suddenly she can't function without oxygen?" He pulled away from her and started pressing on her chest in staccato pushes in an attempt to make her heart start beating again.

"Come on, Star!" Robin shouted again, then started breathing air into her mouth once more. Robin worriedly noted the deathly pale-gray tone of her skin beneath the dappled shade provided by the trees overhead. Her skin felt clammy beneath his bare fingers, and her lips felt ice-cold and ice-hard—not at all warm and soft like he'd thought they would be.

She remained stubbornly unresponsive under his frustrated ministrations, and Robin began to give into the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. Tears leaked down his cheeks and his voice cracked as he pleaded with her. "Starfire, wake up," he said, pushing down on her chest once more in jerky movements, "You can't be—not after you took that boulder for me. I should be the one lying here." He beat a fist on her chest weakly, "Not you, Starfire."

He pulled her into his arms, her back bowed across his thighs, her neck carefully cradled in the crook of his elbow. He rocked back and forth, crying silently and cursing his slow reflexes.

A quiet cough disturbed his grieving, and he felt Starfire stir.

"Star?"

Her eyes fluttered open and she coughed violently, sitting up to spit river water onto the sand. Robin pulled her close to his chest and sank to the ground so Starfire fell into his lap.

"Starfire I'm so glad you're—I was afraid you were—but now you're—" he choked. Starfire laughed despite her shivering.

"I am 'the okay,' Robin," she reassured him. "Are you?"

Robin looked at her, confused. "She's the one who just fell off a cliff and almost drowned. Why is she worried about me?" "Yeah, Star, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" He started rubbing his hands on her frigid limbs to help the circulation.

"Your lips are blue, and you seem to have lost some of your clothing," she blushed, bringing some color back to her pale pallor.

He instinctively reached up to check that his mask had stayed on and sighed in relief when he touched the familiar strip of black material covering his eyes. Then he remembered his naked chest and became hyperaware of the area around his sternum where one of Starfire's shoulders rested. They made eye contact and she moved to stand.

He stood as well, moving a few feet away from her and crossed his arms over his chest, feeling awkward. "Right. Ah-my lips are blue because I saved you from drowning and the water is freezing and my clothes are missing because I decided to take them off to avoid making swimming harder."

"I see. The last thing I remember was being hit by a boulder. Unless the physics on Earth affect meteor showers differently than on Tameran, I would posit Terra is to blame. Please, tell me what happened."

"Terra was here," he confirmed. His face darkened. "And that boulder was meant for me. You shouldn't have pushed me out of the way—it almost killed you."

Starfire frowned. "And it most certainly would have killed you," she countered. "Tameranians can endure harsh conditions, remember? Do not be angry with me for doing what I could to protect you."

Robin pursed his lips and started walking back toward the fallen pieces of his uniform on the river bank. Starfire caught up to him by the time he picked up the first of his green gloves.

"Please, Robin, I did not mean to antagonize you." Starfire plucked his other glove off of the ground and offered it to him.

"I know. I guess I'm still shaken up." He bent down to grab his utility belt and slung it over his shoulder, "So," he offered her a feeble smile as he pulled his gloves on. "Am I to understand that if you hadn't been able to take that shot without it killing you then you would've let it hit me?"

"No, but—" Starfire protested.

"Then you know how I feel." His smile grew wider. She opened her mouth to continue arguing, then quieted when Robin slipped an empty hand into hers. "I'm really glad you're okay, Star," he said.

She picked up his tunic and handed it to him. "Thank you for coming after me," she replied. Robin squeezed her hand tightly before releasing it to tug the tunic back over his wet, tan, lean torso. "Now will we meet up with our friends and go after Terra?"

Robin blanched. "The others!" he panicked.

Starfire gasped, her eyes widening. "Do you think they have been attacked as well?"

"I think there's a chance of it," Robin said. "Where's your communicator?" He asked. She reached for it but only touched on empty space. "Lost in the fall." Thankfully his lay only a few dozen feet away, next to his cape. He grabbed it and flipped it open. "Cyborg! Beast Boy! Raven!" he shouted.

At first his communicator only picked up static, then the sound crackled as a voice struggled to break through: "Help!"

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Cyborg's voice sounded almost immediately, but the screen on the communicator remained black. "Where ya been, man? I've been trying to contact you for a while, now."

"Dealing with Terra," Robin said through gritted teeth.

"Hey, us too!" A high-pitched voice chirped in the background.

"Beast Boy? Why can't I see you?"

"Cause underground caves don't exactly come with flashlights," Cyborg quipped. "And my power level's too low to handle all but the essentials."

"Wait a sec, I got this," Beast Boy shouted happily.

A faint green glow lit up the side of Cyborg's grinning face. "Alright man, nice!"

"What just happened?" Robin asked.

"BB changed into some kind of glowy thing. I don't wanna touch it, but it lights up the place just fine."

"Does the cave have an exit?"

"It's not that kind of cave, man. Terra opened up a fault line inside the factory and knocked me and Grass Stain in it, then sealed the ground back up like a zip-loc baggy. The crevice she created bottomed out in some kind natural air pocket, which saved us from being squished, but it's barely big enough for the two of us. Before you ask, that's exactly why B hasn't gone all T-Rex to break us out."

"I would assume you have tried to dislodge the structure as well, Cyborg. Have your cannons been disabled?" Starfire inquired.

"Nah. My sensors tell me that the stone around us is very unstable. One imprecise blast and we'd be flattened," Cyborg told her.

"Sounds like you could use a hand," Robin said. "I'm sending Starfire to you. What's your location?"

"Gimme a minute," Cyborg responded. The screen tilted upward, focusing on Cyborg's metallic fingers and the occasional thumb as he maneuvered one of the features on the communicator's main menu. "Uploading coordinates now."

The glow disappeared and Beast Boy's voice sounded again. "Heard anything from Rae?"

"I'm going after her," Robin responded. "Chances are she received a visit from Terra same as us, but she hasn't called for back-up or answered my call. Something's up and I'm going to find out what."

"And when you find her?" Beast Boy prodded.

"We'll regroup in the tunnel beneath the Tower."

"Ugh," the changeling groaned. "I'm sick of being surrounded by rock. Why can't we just sleep in the Tower and attack Slade tomorrow? It's not like he's leaving anytime soon."

"Slade and Terra think most of the Titans have been taken care of, and I'm not ready to correct that presumption yet. We should assume Slade's watching to see if we survived, so the Tower's out." Robin paused. "I don't think I have to tell you that discretion is of the utmost importance on the return trip, do I?"

Cyborg answered for the group's youngest member. "Don't worry, Rob, I'll keep the little snot quiet."

"Thanks, Cyborg. Starfire's on her way. For my part, what's Raven's last known location?"

"Same place she chased Overload to. After that we lose signal."

"Nasty coincidence," Robin remarked darkly.

"My thoughts exactly."

A soft blip sounded to signal receipt of Cyborg and Beast Boy's location.

"That's our cue. See you guys in a few hours." Robin said.

"Don't get lost, Star," Cyborg joked, then signed out.

"You okay to go and get them?" Robin asked.

She placed her fingers over his as he handed her the comm, clasping the gadget tightly. "Yes," she answered, and worried at her bottom lip. "What happens if Terra finds you before you and Raven find us?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed. "You will not be able to call for help."

"I'll be fine, Star. Besides, you need this more than I do. For whatever reason, Raven's communicator isn't working, but you need this to find the guys—we don't know how much air they have left, so we can't afford to waste time."

Starfire took the comm and squared her shoulders. "By which route will you be traveling in your search for friend Raven?"

"I'll stay off of the roads as much as possible—which shouldn't be too difficult since both Cinderblock and Overload were out in the middle of nowhere—so just go as the crow flies."

She looked at him incredulously.

"It's an expression. Um-fly in a straight line from here directly to the plant Raven tracked Overload to."

"If you do not return by dusk I will look for you there."

Robin rested his forehead against hers and wrapped his hands around her triceps. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." He paused. "I don't want to give Terra another shot at you."

Before she could respond, he smiled and backed away from her. "Wanna give me a lift back up to my bike?"

Starfire returned his grin, then stood up and fastened Robin's communicator to the back of her belt. She offered him her hands and he placed them in her grasp.

Starfire flew them up to the cliff and to the R-Cycle, then set Robin down and pulled him in for a crushing hug. "Oh, Robin, you must be careful! Please say you will be."

Silence. Starfire released Robin and he gasped for breath. "I-will, Star-just-don't-kill me first," he wheezed.

"Oh I am sorry, friend," she apologized and let go, embarrassed.

"S'alright," he recovered. "Save your strength for Beast Boy and Cyborg." He sent one last smile her way, put on his helmet, straddled the bike and turned on the engine."

"Watch yourself," he warned, and sped away.

Starfire didn't waste another moment. "Discretion," she reminded herself and shot straight up into the air. She didn't stop until she passed through the clouds; here she had the best chance of avoiding being seen. She cast an absent-minded look in the direction Robin had departed, then soared off to free her friends, eyes darting between the clear sky in front of her and the screen in her hands where a set of GPS coordinates blinked up at her. "I am coming for you, Cyborg and Beast Boy. Hold on."

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The memory played on a loop in Beast Boy's mind.

"Hope you're not expecting a goodbye kiss," she'd mocked. He'd never known her to have such a malicious smile as the one she wore while trying to kill him.

"Terra, you can't,"he'd pleaded. No use. He'd saw her cold eyes and knew her stone heart. She'd already sent Cyborg into the crack split into the Earth, and knew he would soon follow.

"Watch me," she'd taunted.

He'd fallen into the abyss without trying to escape. Death had seemed inevitable by that point, so why try?

"Hope you're not expecting a goodbye kiss."

They'd landed in an air pocket beneath the surface, just large enough to keep them from being crushed or suffocated. Beast Boy looked to the opposite side of the narrow pit to where Cyborg stood, trying to repair the damage he'd suffered during the fall. He didn't have much in the way of tools-a mini-torch he kept in his index finger and sheer determination—but he could move his left leg again. Lost in concentration, Cyborg had fallen completely silent after Robin's call, focused on fixing his sparking circuits as best he could without the benefit of the fully equipped lab he kept at the Tower.

Leaving Beast Boy to his thoughts.

"Hope you weren't expecting a good bye kiss,"Terra said in his mind.

"Robin always says I have weak reflexes,"Beast Boy berated himself. "A bird, a fly, a pterodactyl—anything would have been better than just falling and letting myself get trapped in here."Except he hadn't had time to think of what animal he could turn into that would help him save the day. He lightly thunked his head against the stone in irritation. "I've had plenty of time to think now, and I still have no idea what I could've done."If he had managed to escape, he still would've been in trouble, what with one teammate down and Terra and Plasmus there to take him on. "I probably couldn't have done anything, anyway. I guess me n' Cy'll just have to wait for Star to come get us."

"Watch me."

Clang!

Beast Boy's pointed ears twitched. "You hear that?" He asked Cyborg. Just as he had during the conversation with Robin and Star earlier, he kept his question hopeful and free of the despair plaguing him.

"Now that you point it out, yeah," Cyborg replied. The electrical flickers abated, indicating that Cyborg had ceased his tinkering, and Beast Boy saw his glowing red robotic eye shift to focus on the faint noise above them.

The changeling morphed into a wolf and strained his ears. Layers of rock muffled the sound so he could barely make out the soft patter of footsteps moving unsteadily in their direction.

Beast Boy transformed back into his human form. "Think it's Star?"

"Could be. Or it could be Terra coming back to finish us off."

Beast Boy didn't reply, his throat suddenly dry.

"Friends?" Starfire's voice called. The intonation of her voice suggested she was shouting, though she sounded soft through the bed rock.

"Down here, Star!" Cyborg answered, relieved.

"Cyborg!" Starfire sounded louder and her footsteps came closer to the trapped Titans.

Beast Boy climbed up to the highest point in the crevice before the rock closed up again and began beating on the rock, which thumped dully. "Starfire!"

"I hear you, friend Beast Boy," Starfire replied, her voice bubbly and high. The rock vibrated above Beast Boy's hands and he heard a grunt from the other side.

"Hold on, Star, hold on!" Cyborg yelled, panicked. The movement stopped. "The rock is very unstable. I need you to hit very specific pressure points or else you're gonna cause a cave-in."

"Please direct my movements," Starfire answered.

"Is there anything we can do from down here, Cy?" Beast Boy asked.

"Once she gets a little closer, yeah. I've already made predictions about what needs to be moved where to avoid a collapse, but the pressure needs to come from above, not below. Right now if we move anything the rock's gonna come down on us 'cause that's the only place it can go. I can tell Starfire what to do from up there, but for now, I need you to sit tight."

"Sure," Beast Boy agreed. His ears drooped as the sense of uselessness overwhelmed him once more. "Couldn't do anything to help Terra, couldn't do anything to stop her, can't do anything to get us out, now."

Cyborg stepped back several feet, his robotic limbs echoing against the rocky ground as they made contact. He called up to Starfire. "When I say 'now,' blast a starbolt from here," a metallic clanking sound signaled Cyborg moving forward, past Beast Boy and to the opposite end of the crevice. "To here. But only down a couple of feet. Got it?"

"Yes, I have it," Starfire answered.

"Now!" Cyborg yelled.

A second of silence, then Beast Boy heard a harsh "hah" of exertion and felt heavy vibrations in the rock above him that ranged from the two points Cyborg had called out. Stone split and a few pebbles fell from the ceiling.

"What's it look like, Star?"

"I have decimated most of the rock that fell within my line of sight, down to the level you indicated."

"Perfect. Now pick up any loose rock do it again." Another grunt, another pound, more cracks and more falling pebbles. "Again." Grunt, pound, cracks, pebbles.

The process continued painstakingly slow so as to avoid disturbing the bedrock as much as possible. Eventually, Beast Boy heard some shifting directly above the ceiling.

"You're close, real close. Now back up, I'ma blast us the rest of the way through."

The shifting ceased. "The way is clear."

"Move back, BB," Cyborg warned.

The changeling did as instructed and winced as blue light flooded the pitch-black crevice. When Beast Boy's vision refocused, he recognized his teammate's sonic cannon, as well as the azure glow that signaled its charge.

"Booyah!" Cyborg yelled out as waves of aural energy hit the last layer of rock. The stone broke apart as the vibrations struck them and crumbled to the ground, revealing bright light.

"Sweet, fresh air!" BB cried out in relief. He transformed into a bird and passed through the newly unearthed opening.

"Alright Starfire!" Cyborg exclaimed proudly as he clambered out.

Starfire grinned shyly, the fingers of her right hand wrapped around the opposite elbow. "It was of little difficulty."

"So what's next?" Beast Boy asked.

"We are to meet Robin and Raven in the underground tunnel. Please, are the both of you undamaged?"

"I'm fine, but Cy's gonna have to use Tameran Airlines today considering what Slade's new apprentice did to the T-Car earlier," Beast Boy said.

"Tameran Airlines?" Starfire asked quizzically.

"It's another one of BB's not-funny jokes," Cyborg explained. "He means you're gonna have to fly me, if that's ok. Otherwise I'm stuck walking."

"I would be glad to transport you, friend Cyborg," the alien woman smiled. "We will see you back at the tunnel?" She asked Beast Boy.

"Sure thing," he grinned, and without another word, jumped into the air and transformed into a falcon, left alone once more with Terra's last words running through his head.

"Hope you weren't expecting a goodbye kiss."

"It's better this way,"he tried to convince himself. At least a bird didn't have to fake a smile.

"Terra, you can't."

He knew he didn't have to put up a front, that his teammates would have understood his unspoken grief no problem.

"Watch me."

But the idea of dropping the spastic Beast Boy presentation and acting so serious—exposing his shame and guilt to those closest to him—seemed way more difficult than pasting on another smile.

"Watch me,"Terra said, smirking at him from his memory.

"Watch me."

Tune in next chapter for Raven's entrance, and if you liked this fill-in-the-blanks story, check out my other Flashbacks story on Nevermore, featuring Raven and RobxStar. Thanks again for reading, and please review!