Hello Teen Titans fandom! Been meaning to join for quite a while, but took me a long time to actually finish a story.
Anywho, sorry about the death...this was probably the most heartbreaking fic I've ever written.
Enjoy!
Anguish, fear, guilt, and a hot rage fueled by the sight before him all clouded his typically top-notch senses. He clutched her hand harder, squeezing it tighter than he had ever gripped anything in his entire life. Angry tears rained from underneath his mask. He'd never cried in front of anyone, ever, but his emotions were currently too raw, ramped, and potent for him to dismiss them.
"Rob," Cyborg said, his voice cracking, "she's gone."
A white hot ball of fury infused with arduous grief lodged in his throat, preventing any words from escaping. Raking his eyes continuously over her unmoving body, he found the immense pain within him growing with each second that passed. The more he stared at her beautiful corpse, the more his bereavement sunk in.
The word corpse echoed in his mind as if it were a sin to even think of. But, it was painfully true. The love of his life was now a corpse.
"Star..." Beast Boy muttered quietly. He sank to his knees, a heavy sob gushing out from his chest. His shoulders shook vigorously as his hands obscured his woebegone pupils from looking at his fallen friend.
"I...can't believe she's gone," Raven mumbled, her arms embracing her own torso as a display of her sadness.
Robin's body burned with a ferocity so powerful his limbs began to go numb. "I am going to kill Slade. If it's the last thing I do," he growled through his gritted teeth.
"Robin," Raven warned, "don't be fueled by vengeance." Her voice was hoarse. She was in mourning. They all were.
His eyes focused in on her wound, the dry blood besmirching both her perfectly orange skin and the vibrant grass below. His worst nightmares, the sinister visions that taunted him at night, he had just experienced first hand. The woes that lingered within the darkest sections of his mind were presented directly in front of him. The one fear that possessed a deadly grip on his heart, seizing control almost every one of his actions, had relinquished its hold on the fearsome hero, just to provoke him and inflict more misery than he ever imagined the world would grant him. The death of the one person he loved most.
Bitter tears continued to cascade down his cheeks. Although, a sudden vicious anger pumped out of his somber heart, a new funereal ire pulsing heavily through his veins. His aching did not subside, but it was pushed further away from his sense of judgement, his rage snatching control over his body. Robin dropped her chillingly cold hand and stood up, somehow still unable to tear his eyes away from her corpse.
"Dude…" Beast Boy murmured, his voice so quiet it was almost a whisper, "I'm sorry."
Cyborg rested a metal hand on his shoulder, his touch soft. "Robin…"
Robin ripped his body out from his teammate's grip. "Slade is going to pay."
"Take it easy," Cyborg coaxed. It was obvious he desired to make his friend's anger dissipate. But it was not that simple of a task.
The masked teenager finally broke his focus on his...deceased girlfriend, whipping his body towards his friends. "I am going after Slade," he responded, his voice one decibel away from a harsh scream, "Are you going to stand in my way?" His jaw was clenched, his teeth gritted, and his eyes fixated dangerously on his fellow hero. His rage was lacing itself into his voice, a display of the purity of his furious emotions racing through every nerve and every bone within.
"Star wouldn't want you to do this," Beast Boy informed him hesitantly. He sounded nervous to confront Robin, his voice wavering unsteadily.
The other hero narrowed his eyes. He took a step towards the changeling, his body dazed with the thousand violent emotions dripping into every ounce of scarlet blood that pumped into his shattering heart. "Don't you get it, Beast Boy? Starfire is dead! Do you understand me? She's dead! So I am going after Slade, whether you like it or not," he roared, the intensity of what was currently going through him presenting itself in his ragged voice. Every word imposed agony upon him when he uttered it, he was clearly suffering as they barely managed to leave his mouth. He enunciated every syllable to ensure that it would actually be audible to the other Titans.
Raven peered at him sadly, her head slightly cocked. "You're hurting, Robin."
"Of course I'm hurting. Star is gone," he hissed, his pulse thumping rapidly in his chest.
As Robin attempted to stalk in the opposite direction of his deceased teammate, Cyborg stepped in his path.
"Don't leave her, man," he advised.
"I'm not leaving her," Robin growled, "Slade took her from me."
He glimpsed at Starfire before making his imminent departure, the jagged shards of his heart spiraling inside him. "Take her body to the Tower," he instructed, his tone grim, "Don't harm her."
"Ah, Robin. I've been expecting you," Slade said, his placid and collected voice echoing throughout the abandoned warehouse.
Robin's fingers twitched dangerously at his sides. He yearned to gain his revenge in Starfire's honor, but even with the unwavering flame of hatred for the man standing before him, he restrained his urge to attack. "You killed her."
The villain chuckled sadistically. "Yes. I thought you'd enjoy finding her body when you returned from your part of the mission."
"You're a monster," he bit out, curling his hands into tightly clenched fists.
"I've been called worse, my boy."
Slowly inhaling a breath, he dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands. "Why?" Robin inquired harshly, advancing towards his lethal opponent, "Why did you kill her? Why not me?"
Turning around to look fixedly at the hero, he merely grinned. "Now, Robin, why would I kill you? You're my greatest adversary."
His rage felt less intense than it had after first seeing Star, more quiet and controlled. Although it was all the more dangerous to be ablaze inside him, more threatening. "Why her?" He felt his composure on the verge of dissipating, which would expose the poignant tears waiting for their release in his eyes.
A chortle departed from Slade's mouth underneath his multicolored mask. "Because you love her, foolish boy."
"What?" he replied, gritted teeth muffling his statement.
Slade shrugged. "You love her. I caused you more suffering by taking her life than you would have endured in death."
Robin's breath hitched subtlety in his throat. "You knew I cared about her? So you...you killed her?" he asked, his second question coming out as a harsh whisper.
"It's more...satisfying than killing you."
Exhaling, the teen hero clenched his jaw. "You…"
The villain stalked towards his foe. "I'm what, dear boy?"
His contained fury slowly began blurring his senses, the enmity for the cynical man before him pulsing in his blood. "You're dead," Robin sputtered, stepping closer to him.
"Oh, Robin. How many times have you waved that fictitious threat at me?" Slade took a stride further, his shoes echoing throughout the building.
Robin struggled to repress the sorrowful tears bubbling in his eyes. "Clearly not enough. I'm going to make you pay."
Slade chuckled before launching himself into a skirmish with the young hero.
The doors slid open for him, his heart heavy in his crestfallen chest. The grief stricken Titans raised their gazes to peer at him as he entered.
Cheeks tear-stained, Beast Boy caught Robin off guard by embracing him tightly. The changeling weeped into his fellow hero's chest as they hugged, both understanding the heartbreaking mourning they shared.
"Slade…?" Cyborg's asked, his voice so quiet it almost wasn't audible.
Robin's eye sight flicked downwards as his green-skinned friend pulled away. "Alive," he muttered.
"You did the right thing," Raven assured him. She looked more full of sorrow and immense pain than any of them had ever seen her.
The masked hero clenched his jaw. "Did I? Star is...she's dead. And her killer is rotting away in some cell he's just going to eventually escape. Is that really justice?"
Cyborg pressed a comforting hand onto his shoulder. "She would've wanted it that way."
Robin sighed, then attempted a grateful smile, but the anguish seemed permanently ingrained in his features. "Where is she?"
Raven's voice cracked, obviously barely managing to keep herself from falling apart. "In her room."
"We wanted you to see her before we…" Cyborg began, but averted eye contact as his voice faltered out towards the end of his statement.
A slow nod. "...Thank you," he mumbled sincerely, glancing at them all as he departed.
The door slid open smoothly, revealing her...previous living space.
Her body was a paler shade of orange than ever. No movement occurred in her entire body, her chest did not shift up and down as it should've. Her eyelids were closed. He would never see her vibrant, dazzling, gorgeous green eyes ever again. Ever.
Robin dropped to his knees at her bedside. Sobs immediately erupted from his chest. "Star…" he whispered in between breaths.
He cried harder than he had ever in his whole life.
No full thoughts could process in his brain, no actual words could escape his mouth, nothing but tears and grief could go through his body. The bitter violence and imminent thirst for revenge had been mostly satisfied, relinquishing the oppression they possessed on his colossal sorrow.
Salty tears poured off his cheeks, seeping into his mouth from his opened lips. Both her bedsheet and his uniform were stained with wetness.
"Star...I love you," Robin sputtered, "I love you so much."
The pain he was feeling was excruciating. His chest ached. It physically hurt him to have her leave his life so abruptly, not to have her constant optimism as a reminder of how much he loved her. A gaping hole was emerging within him, one that would never ever close. Only she could fill the void, could rid him of the emptiness pumping in his heart. Each breath he took felt as though he was inhaling daggers, more agony filling his veins as every second raced by. Robin felt suffocated by the overwhelming amount of despair spreading throughout his lungs. He couldn't breath. She was his everything, every bit of air he inhaled was for her, every action he made was for her. And now she was gone.
"Star…" he mumbled against her cold forehead, pressing a kiss against her skin, "...I love you, Starfire."
That night he cried until there were no more tears left in his body. His immense sorrow though, never dissipated.