Chapter 1: A Lazy Morning
Chapter Text
It was a sunny afternoon in Jump City. I couldn't explain what was different. It was just a gut feeling I had. It was almost as if I had Superman's super danger sensing gene. However, that was impossible, and if my mentor ever caught wind of me thinking I was anything like Superman, I would be in big trouble. Still left with my sense that something was going to go wrong, I continued up to the roof of Titans Tower. I looked over the city, scanning for a villain to attribute the sense too. However, it was silent. The innocent civilians were peacefully asleep in their beds with just the earliest risers just yawning as they naturally woke up to the rising of the sun. One of the early risers was Starfire.
Like me, she went to bed late but woke up early. Any moment she would come through the rooftop door carrying a plate of bacon and a cup of coffee. Her red hair shone so brilliantly in the early morning light. Like a ruby in a brilliant light. Of course, it wasn't her beauty that I admired about her. She was one of the smartest people I have ever met. She appeared to others as less intelligent because she was new to this planet and was still learning about earthly customs. It was hard for her because on Tamaran there was only one culture on the entire planet. But, on earth there were hundreds, and with every new place, we visited it got harder for her to keep the separate cultures straight. One couldn't fault her though; there were some places even I didn't know the cultural norms for.
As soon as I started to contemplate the fact that I had to do better to understand other cultures she walked up behind me
"It is a morning of good, is it not Good Friend Robin?" she asked. I always marveled at the fact that she could make me laugh even though she hadn't meant to. Her command of the English language still needed work, but who could blame her. English was one of the hardest languages to learn on Earth, especially when you weren't from Earth.
"Everything is great Starfire. Ooh is that bacon!" I exclaimed. I pretended to act surprised. Beast Boy hated when we ate meat since he was a vegetarian and had been most of the animals that we eat. To avoid his lectures and a disgusting tofu dinner, we normally didn't eat meat around him. "Thanks, Starfire." I took a bite of the bacon, to my surprise it wasn't overcooked like it normally was. "Wow, Starfire this is really good. Wait did Cyborg cook this last night, and you just reheated it this morning?"
"Robin! How could you say such a thing?" She gave an undignified little humph.
"Star, you just expect me to believe that you were able to miraculously cook perfect bacon all of a sudden?" I raised one eyebrow above my mask.
"Good Friend Robin, you have me caught. I asked Cyborg to cook some last night and put it in the cold metal box. I am sorry."
"You really don't have to be sad Star, it was a nice gesture, and an appreciated one. Sit with me for a sec. why don't you?"
Starfire walked around to the right side of me and sat on the ledge of the roof. She never worried about falling off due to her ability to fly. I on the hand had to be extra careful since it was about a hundred foot drop off the side. With the sun beginning to rise over Jump City I thought about how wonderful it would be to normal and not a teen superhero. However, that was not in the cards. It was my duty to be a leader of the Teen Titans, and with all the villains out there every city needed its protector. The Teen Titans and I were that protection.
"Robin, is there something you would like to share?" Star asked inquisitively. She could see my change in attitude. When I had these thoughts, I had a solemn look on my face and often got silent for weeks.
"No, Star not today." I grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. She was easily my favorite Titan. Her determination to keep everyone safe had often landed her in danger, but every time she put the team before herself we made sure that she was backed up. One of these times had been when she sacrificed herself to save her planet. She had such a great heart that it was impossible not to love her, and that's exactly how I felt. But, I was too much of a coward to admit it to anyone but myself.
"Okay, Star I think everyone else is up by now. Let's go downstairs." We both got up off the roof and made our way to the main room. Beast Boy and Cyborg were both arguing over the remote and which Saturday morning cartoons to watch. Raven was at the breakfast table reading one of her books which helped to keep her emotions in check and not go psycho demon on all of us. No one noticed us come in from the rooftop door. We used this to our advantage and snuck off to our rooms. It was in my room, where there were charts and maps and suspect boards that I heard the most horrifying scream. But it wasn't any scream it was Starfire's scream.