The smell of blood, death, and fear filled the room. The air was bitter cold, chilling them as the heat of battle dissipated.

Quiet sobbing issued from one corner. Raven, the stoic one, was crying. Beast Boy clung to her, shaking, and Cyborg held them both, none of them caring about the grime and battle-dust coating his metal chest.

The only other sound was the gentle scrape of steel against bone.

Across the room Starfire hung from the rusty metal pipe that impaled her, head dangling, green eyes staring glassily at nothing. Blood dripped to the floor from her open mouth, joining that which had so recently flowed from her chest.

Slade hadn't even meant to do it.

It had been a normal fight, as normal as a fight with Slade ever was, until the implacable villain had abruptly turned tail and run. Caution abandoned in the rush of victory, they followed, chasing him to this decaying building on the outskirts of Jump.

He turned and fought then, and they understood his plan with dismay as booby traps situated throughout the building went off while they battled. Starfire, growing frustrated as Slade dodged her starbolts, flew at him with fists outstretched. Before she could connect, he grabbed her arm and swung, sending her flying backwards across the room at full speed. She hit the wall with the force of a freight train.

The broken pipe jutting from it went straight through her.

They watched in horror as it blossomed from her chest like a bloody metal flower. Even Slade was frozen, eye wide in surprise as the crimson stain dripped down Starfire's body.

Robin went crazy.

Slade struggled to defend himself as Robin attacked, for the first time fighting solely with intent to kill. He went down fighting, but he was no match for a Robin deranged with grief and anguish. Cyborg turned away as Slade died. Robin's brutality didn't frighten him- Starfire's death had frozen him to the core- but he was sure one day, when he regained emotions, it would.

Now he glanced over at Robin, some distant part of him wondering if he should gather him into this heartbreaking version of a group hug. Robin was sitting on the floor, gently sawing back and forth as he finished severing Slade's head from his body.

"Robin, man, you can stop now. He's dead."

Raven and Beast Boy looked up as Cyborg addressed their leader, Beast Boy gasping in shock as he saw what Robin was doing.

"No."

His voice was cold and dead, but it still held the force of command.

"I have to be sure this time. How many times has he come back? But not again. Not ever again."

Raven nodded, then broke into fresh sobs as she looked once more at Starfire. Beast Boy looked sick but said nothing.

"Take them back to the Tower. I'll follow you soon. And I'll bring the-"

Robin's voice broke for a moment as unshed tears choked him. He couldn't bring himself to refer to Star as 'the body'.

"I'll bring her back with me."

Cyborg nodded and pulled his friends gently to their feet. The three of them left, walking slowly, holding each other for support. Even then, he knew then in some deep corner of his mind what he would find when he returned.

He didn't hesitate as he gently shepherded his friends out the door.

Robin watched them go, staring blankly even after the door swung shut behind them. He might have sat that way forever had a gentle snapping noise not broken him out of his reverie. He glanced down to find his hands still working, pointlessly now. The vertebrae in Slade's neck had at last given way, and the flesh beneath tore easily with one last stroke of the knife.

He stood shakily, tossing the head carelessly away. Slowly, he walked towards Starfire, tears clouding his eyes and running down his face in a steady salt rain.

"I'm so sorry," he told her, knowing it was too late and hating the world for taking her away before he could show her how much he cared.

Gently, he tugged her down, heart lurching at the sickening squelch as her body slid off the pipe. He kissed her bloody lips, then laid her down carefully on the floor, gently closing her eyes with a brush of his fingers.

He retrieved the knife he'd used on Slade and lay down beside her. He intertwined one hand with hers and brought the blade down, driving it into his chest. As the world turned red and pain embraced him, he whispered the words he should have told her a thousand times before.

"I love you, Starfire."

And then his red world turned black.