Disclaimer: The Teen Titans animation is the property of Glen Murakami and Warner Bros. Animation.

The events depicted in this story do not represent actual events taking place after April 15th, 2013.

You know...because they're fictitious.

Starfire slunk further into the couch.

The faces and pictures from the events over the past few days scrolled across the screen like some horrible movie. Chaos. Suspicion. Turmoil. It seemed like a never-ending cycle sometimes.

"Sometimes" being far too often for a certain Tamaranian.

She wanted to turn the television off. To make all of the bad pictures go away.

But there was a saying on Earth that Cyborg had told her that was true even here: As horrific as some things were, there was no other option but to keep looking.

He had also mentioned something about a car accident, but that just flew over her head.

There was one clip that she had watched over and over again. The camera shaking as the explosion came into view, the second one going off a few seconds later...

It had horrified the entire Team when the news broke during their dinner a few days ago. Robin had immediately sent a call to the city to see if anything had been needed. Cyborg had the T-Ship half online before the police force called back to say they had everything under control.

Something about it was just...off, though.

Starfire had been witness to more of her fair share of criminal acts in her time on Earth. That itself was no stranger to her.

But this...

Why would someone do this? Of all things?

There had been no Titan there. Surely they could have stopped it if they had.

She sniffed loudly. The things that occurred on the planet Earth were very troubling, and she wasn't sure she could take much more of it.

"Hey, Starfire."

She cranked her head around to see Robin make his way into the living room. He had an empty plate with him, presumably some dinner he had taken to the training course.

"Robin!" She dove for the remote, frantically pressing buttons until the channel had been changed six times over. "You have returned from your training session!"

"Yeah, it was great. Cyborg really notched up the difficulty on it. Should give us a good workout tomorrow." He set the plate in the sink and walked over to the couch, hopping over the back to land next to Star.

"So, what's on TV?"

"The usual," she stated. "The news, the weather, the strange man who always sings about long fences..."

"Well, I'm sure we can find something." Robin started flipping through the channels absentmindedly, looking for something interesting. Starfire crossed her arms over her body, silent for a moment. She did not want to bother him with her problems, not at a time of leisure.

But then again, it was Robin. Her best friend who was also a boy. He would be able to help...right?

"Robin, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Star. You can ask me anything."

She paused for a second, thinking about how delicately she could put this. Earth language and practices were still a foreign thing to her sometimes, even with the extended amount of time she had spent on this planet.

"Star?"

"Yes?"

Robin glanced out of the corner of his eye at her. "You had a question?"

"...Does it ever feel as if we are fighting a losing battle?"

He stopped fiddling with the remote, his full attention now on her. His look was a mixture of confusion and concern. "Is everything OK?

Starfire slouched even farther down. "Everything is not OK."

Robin paused, then held the remote up to the screen. In an instant, it was back at the channel she had been watching, the news reporters still speaking about the incident.

"It's about what happened a couple of days ago, isn't it?"

She silently nodded.

"Star...it's normal to feel bad about it."

"No, it is not!" Starfire stood up from the sofa, shaking. "It is insufficient for us to think that this is perfectly normal. We could have prevented this! If we were there-"

"We weren't."

"But we should have!"

"Star."

She had closed her eyes in anger, and feeling the weight of Robin's hands on her shoulders caused them to snap open. He had a firm grip on her body, in total contrast with the understanding look in his eyes.

"Star...what's gotten into you? You've never been this broken up about what's happened on the news before."

"Does it not concern you that while we are here doing the good that there are numerous other places that could use help as well?"

"Not...as much as you think."

"Hmm?"

Robin loosened his grip on her. "Star, I'm sure this is going to sound very strange coming from me, but I want you to listen, OK?"

She nodded.

"Is what happened over there a tragedy? Yes. I'm not denying that. And I do wish that there had been someway that we could have prevented it. But there wasn't. Sometimes...bad things just happen. It's aggravating, I know."

"I wish that Cyborg could make us a duplication machine."

"You really want multiple Cyborg around here? We can barely deal with one."

Starfire giggled despite herself.

"Anyways, we don't need to copy ourselves. You have to remember, Star; we aren't the only ones out there doing good. There's the rest of the Titans. And then there's the countless other people who don't get the recognition they deserve."

"What do you mean?"

Robin gestured to the television, and Starfire saw the video again. "You have to look at the whole picture, Star. Yes, there is violence and anger and all that..."

He pointed to the officers huddled over the woman on the ground, shielding her from any other possible harm.

"But there are people who face that with no regards for their own safety. And they can't shoot starbolts or turn into animals or anything like that. They don't need powers to do the right thing."

"But they could get injured as well!"

"But they do it anyway." Robin pointed out the police on the screen. "For every crime that takes place, there are ten people who know that it's bad. They know the right thing to do. It comes second nature to them. We have to make sure they get their moment in the light so that people can recognize their sacrifice."

Star looked down at her feet, lost in thought.

"Here, I want to show you something."

Robin walked over to the console, minimizing the television screen. He hit a few keys and brought up another window. He typed for a little bit, and a long passage came up.

"I want you to read this. I ran across it the day after the incident, and it helped me out a lot."

Starfire squinted a little bit, mouthing out the long passage. The further she read down, the more her frown turned into a smile. After she had finished, she grinned ear-to-ear.

"It is a most uplifting passage."

"Sometimes we just need a reminder, Star," Robin said, closing down the window. "The entire world isn't evil. There's a lot of good out there. It just gets lost in all of the bad."

Before he could continue his thought, he realized that Starfire had him in a hug. Blushing, he returned it.

"Thank you, Robin. You always know when to up my cheer."

It was a good think the alarm decided to go off, because Robin's face was about to delve into the crimson spectrum of color. Clearing his throat, he let go of Starfire and turned his attention to the monitor. A man in a red suit with a division sign insignia on the chest was downtown, trying to carry off as much money as possible out of the gaping hole in the bank.

"Looks like Billy Numerous can't leave well enough alone," Robin said.

The side door swooshed open as Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg ran through it. The changeling had a sock plastered against his face. Why?

Well, Robin was probably better off not knowing.

"Titans," he yelled, "Trouble! Move out!"

The trio nodded as they went through the door to the garage. Robin started to run after them, but stopped halfway there.

"Star?"

The Tamaranian had been so lost in her thoughts that she did not even hear the commotion that had happened. Shaking the cobwebs out, she glided over to him. "Yes, Robin?"

"You know, you don't have to come with us, if you don't feel up for it. I'm sure we can handle it without you."

"No."

Robin raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Starfire looked out the window, to the city that she protected. She thought of all of its citizens and what they meant to her. She had saved them countless times. And now she was second guessing herself?

"There are people out there who are willing to risk everything for the sake of others, Robin," she said. She gazed back at him, her eyes now glowing green. "It would be silly for me to not do the same."

Robin chuckled, starting his run to the garage. "That's my girl."

"Whooo-eeee!" the man shouted as his double was counting dollar bills. "This is a major haul, Billy. We'll have enough to set us up for life!"

"You said it, Billy!" the clone replied.

"Hey, Billy!" A third clone ran into the street, his arms waving madly. "We got trouble coming in!"

"Who is it?"

"Who do you think it is, you grass-grazing vermin? It's-"

A green beam shot down the street, hitting the clone square in the chest. He careened backward, hit a lamppost, and promptly dissipated.

The clone counting the money looked back at the now bent post, sweatdropping. "Well, that ain't good!"

A second beam interrupted his tally, sending him to the same fate. Billy turned to the intersection to see five teens on the bus, the alien girl with a fistful of energy. "The Titans!"

"Well, it ain't the Beatles, that's for sure," Cyborg quipped, his sonic cannon at the ready.

Robin pointed at Billy, a Birdarang in his hand. "Billy Numerous, your number's up!"

The Texan scoffed. "Boy, do you ever get tired of those lame-o quips? If I had a nickel-"

"You have more than your sufficient share of nickels in your possession," Starfire interrupted, floating down to the street. "However, they are yours illegally, so it would be in your best interest to return them to the building of money immediately."

Billy paused, chuckling to himself. "Now see here, missy. Spikehead and I were having a little conversation, so why don't you butt your way outta this?"

"Does it not bother you, the Billy of Many, that you are a criminal?"

He stopped his train of thought again, tilting his head to the side. "Come again?"

"I said, does it not bother you that you are a person who does horrible things and not have a single thought of who you may be affecting?" Star asked, green energy shooting out of her eyes. "Does it not bother you that you could be a person who does good with your powers, and yet you trifle yourself with crime?"

"I do like a good trifle or two," Billy said. "Although...wait a minute. What's a trifle? Is that one of dem chocolate ball things?"

She grabbed him by the neck, her face towering over his impressively. "Do you not feel ashamed of yourself?"

"Girlie," he replied, trying to wrench his costume out of her grasp (to no avail), "I wreck havoc. It's what I do. Surely you must know that by now."

"You are wrecking your supposed 'havoc' when there are people out there doing far more tragic and worse things than anything you can do? And yet you still do these things?"

"I...uhh..."

"People who are that thoughtless and inconsiderate are known by one thing on my planet," Starfire spat, fire dancing behind her. "And that is a...a...clorbag varblernelk!"

Billy scratched his head. "Say what now?"

"Dude," Beast boy interjected, appearing at his side, "Trust me, I got called that a long time ago. That's something you do not want to be called. It's like mmmph!"

Whatever being called a clorbag varblernelk was compared to was lost in translation, as a giant black claw came from under Beast Boy, covering his mouth and warping him back over to the group.

"Dude," he yelled as he turned to the telepath, "What was that for?"

"I...don't think you want to be in front of Starfire right now," Raven retorted.

Beast Boy turned back to the alien girl and the Texan, who were now threatening to be engulfed entirely in flames. "Hehe...yeah. Good point. I'm not flame-retardant."

"Yeah, you're joke-retardant!" Cyborg chuckled.

"Hey!"

"As lovely as y'all have been," Billy shouted, still in the grasp of Starfire, "I think it's time for me to giddy on out of here!" He pushed the insignia on his chest in and promptly disappeared.

"Huh? Where did the Billy of Many go?"

"Right here, missy!" Billy yelled from a nearby car, the trunk overflowing with bills. "Betcha can't catch me!" With that, he sped off, tires squealing.

"Titans, get him!" Robin yelled, and with a whoosh of a cloak and the flap of his wings, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy (as a pterodactyl) flew off after him. Robin jumped down to run up to Starfire, who was still teeming with energy.

"C'mon, Starfire, let's go do what we do best."

She nodded, her smile returning to her face. "The harmful will be defeated by the righteous, correct?"

Robin held out his hand. "Just like always."

She giggled, taking his hand. "Then let us kick the butt!"

Starfire lifted him easily, flying off in the direction of the rest of the team. Later, they would catch "the Billy of Many", and in the ultimate form of irony, "add" him to the growing list of criminals in jail.

But the teen would not be flummoxed by the criminals that day. Or at least, not that afternoon.

For what she had read had given her new resolve and belief in herself...

And also in everyone else:

...This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you..."

"And we always will."

This story is dedicated to the City of Boston as well as the lives lost and changed forever by the events on April 15th, 2013.

Boston Strong. You will march on.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I myself was starting to lose a little grip after what happened in Boston earlier this week. I started to lose faith in humanity.

Well...I still am. Just not as much now.

I saw the videos and the pictures and they made me think about humanity, and what it was capable of. And while there was a lot of evil that happened that day, there was also a whole lot of good as well. Marathoners, officers, spectators...they all helped in their own way.

And I think that should be given more attention than the people who committed this terrible act.

Although I'm sure they'll be getting their comeuppance soon enough.

I guess Mr. Oswalt just needed to remind me of that.

Also...hey, Teen Titans fic. Kind of didn't want this to be my first one, but oh well.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.