Starfire

I knew something was wrong the moment I woke up in a cold sweat. It was storming rather badly outside, something that put me on edge on normal nights because it didn't rain on Tamaran, but the thunder wasn't what woke me up. Uneasy and wanting the reassurance of the countless security systems in the tower that everything was fine, I headed into the main control room.

All systems normal. No break ins, no one besides me had even used a door in the past hour… I then brought up the display for the tower's heat sensors, checking everyone's dots as I often did, my unobtrusive way of ensuring that everyone was safe and sound. I used to go door to door to check on them when I was worried or sleepless, but this was much less intrusive.

I glanced at the map, reassuring myself that all my friends were in their rooms, four dots winking silently at me. Noticing that Robin's room was empty, I quickly searched the rest of the tower for evidence that Robin was well. I found none. Searching the logs, his room's door had opened and closed, followed by his window. Very worried now, I set off for his room.

Outside his room, I paused debating whether or not to go in uninvited. Hesitantly, I knocked and the door slid open as I did so.

"Robin?" I called into his empty room, turning on the light. The room was empty, oppressively so. As I glanced around, I noticed how clean it was—Robin wasn't a messy person, but the room was devoid of everything that could be personally related to the Boy Wonder. The only thing out of place was a small piece of paper on his desk. Overwhelmed with curiosity and a growing sense of dread, I picked it up.

Starfire –
I know you will be the one to find this, it's storming and you always were the one to worry the most. Don't.

I have decided to leave the Titans, permanently. As a group you are mediocre, even with my guidance and training. Individually? You are pathetic. Cyborg is stubborn, Beastboy is weak, Raven is out of control, and you, Star? You expunge neediness. You're just too damn needy.

I'd rather return to the Batman than stay here with you.

I won't be keeping in touch,
—Robin.

My first reaction was one of disbelief. Robin would never! Yes, he had sometimes despaired of our abilities, and yes, sometimes he clashed with us, but we worked through it. We were a team, a family. And yet, somehow, he'd gone anyways.

My second reaction was anger. How dare he leave us? On the night I'd nearly left because I'd feared my sister had replaced me, he'd sworn to me that no one could ever. Beyond any personal problems we might have, we had sworn to protect Jump City, with our lives if need be. How could he go back on his promise like that?

Fuming, I slammed the red alarm button in the common room, my eyebeams accidentally incinerating the paper beside it that read "EMERGENCIES ONLY, not for pranks. Beastboy, that means you!" The lights and sirens filled the Tower, and one by one, the Titans assembled in the control room.

Raven

The siren jolted me from my sleep with a groan. What decent villain was up at this hour? Couldn't the police take care of the situation for one?

A scary thought—Beastboy's idea of a joke. If that green attempt at comic relief had anything to do with this, I swore silently, I would wring his scrawny little neck. With my budding plans of retribution, I materialized into the control room.

One look at Starfire's face demolished any doubts I had as to the veracity of the situation. Her eyes gleamed with rage, but the rest of her looked completely heartbroken.

"Hey, Star," Beastboy started, shifting into a horse, "why the long face?" He burst out laughing, trying and failing to lighten the dark mood that filled the room. Cyborg shook his head, and Starfire, who normally laughed at all of Beastboy's jokes, didn't even crack a smile.

"Not now, dude. Can't you see this is serious?" Cyborg was in full big brother mode already, and his voice of reason was creeping out. He seemed to do a headcount, knowing that Robin was the best at comforting Starfire when she was upset. He always seemed to know just what to say, especially when everything we tried to say just came out wrong. "Where's Robin, Star?" He asked softly, realizing that the Robin was not, in fact going to walk through the door any time soon.

"Robin is… gone." Her voice broke with the announcement, and I swear I saw a tear run down her face. "It seems that we were not good enough for him. It seems that we were not… worthy of his leadership." Her tone is harsh, harsher than I've ever heard it, and it scares me. "He has left this note. It was not… nice." She was trebling with barely contained anger now, and I worry that her demonic Rage will consume her for about half a second, before realizing that I am literally the only one of my friends with that problem. She slams a slightly crumpled piece of paper on the table, and storms out of the room.

Cyborg is closest, and he reads the note aloud. As he reads, my worries vanish. This note was written by Robin, but he didn't mean a word of it. Before I reveal this information to the group, however, I need to check out his room.

Silently, I teleport into the room in question. It's clean, but the shadow of a malicious presence lingers here, as well as traces of a monitoring device that has long since vanished, presumably onto Starfire's clothing. Robin may have left, but he didn't willingly. I almost teleport immediately to Starfire's side, but then I realize what is possibly the worst part of all of this.

She can't know. She can't be involved in the rescue effort; she needs to play the role of grieving Titan. She has to believe in the lying letter, the too-clean room, the sting of his betrayal.

The only way I can make it better is by rescuing Robin, and no one would know how to plan for that better than Cyborg.

[A/N: Hey guys! AP here with a fic I really really intend on finishing this time. I literally typed this at three AM last night, so apologies for any typos or things that just don't make sense, I'll try to go through and catch everything at some point, remember that leaving a comment can help me catch things like 80000% faster, so that's a thing you should do!

To those of you who have read literally any of my other fics… I'm so sorry I didn't finish those ones, but when I get a chance I am totally going to go back and finish them… just… not yet.]