Hey Guys! I hope you like this story. I'll try to update every week. Emphasis on try so... here we are!
Chapter One: Illnesses
Being a teenager is hard as it is.
No question about it.
However, when you're a teenage superhero, life's going to get a little harder...
Now image be a leader of other teenage superheroes.
Being the leader in the team, Nightwing always felt that he was somehow inferior to the rest of the gang as he didn't posses any powers. So he always felt an unconscious feeling that he had to prove a non-existent status to his comrades, even if it was just to himself. He always worked himself to the limit of his abilities, trying to push and push himself harder until the word "limit" lost it's entire meaning.
He stared blankly at the timer in front of him, gazing upon the digital numbers.
1:30
His eyes studied the numbers, analysing; looking intently at the screen for a good 5 minutes.
"Rats" he mumbled as he slammed the timer down on his desk, causing a small crack in glass screen as a result. He needed to get better; he needed to get faster.
He just needed to...
He glanced at the personal obstacle course he set up himself. It was basic really, complete with a gymnastic board, a set of punch bags and self-activated rocket launchers. He ran his fingers through his messy obsidian hair, breathing heavily; he tried contemplating on what he done wrong.
He made the flips perfectly hitting the boards with accurate precision; he avoided all the weapons advancing to him effortlessly. Hell, he didn't even break a sweat when doing so. And yet he felt this empty satisfaction from doing so, he felt that the sense of pride he was supposed to feel, dripping of his skin and evaporating into nothingness. He tried to feed his ever-growing hunger that ate him from the inside out but his gluttonous ambition could never be filled.
He didn't allow it to be filled.
"Damn it!" he spat as he harshly kicked the course. He was relentless in actions, destroying the whole thing in one fit. He collapsed in one heap, colliding with the cold floor beneath him. He completely trashed the "course", releasing his suppressed frustration and underlining anger.
He cursed beneath his absent breath as he clamped his bruised hands onto his forehead. The salty sweat from his head made his bruises sting the more. He stayed there, pondering whether his at the climax of his ability. Did he reach his peak a long time ago? That thought alone scared him.
"Robin?" the voice was soft, almost a like bell chime.
At that sound alone, he shot up, hopelessly attempting to seem as casual possible despite the fact that he was laying in a pile a rumbles a second ago.
"Starfire! It's Nightwing and I was just..." he replied as he panted, running his hand through his hair. (That was a bad habit of his.)
Her eyes narrowed as she edged in closer to the scene apprehensively. Her eyes surveyed the landscape as she saw the remains of some training equipment.
"Apologises. Nightwing, what has happened here." She said sternly as she eyed the statics flare in the once perfectly working robots.
Nightwing shuddered a little bit as he felt the edge of her voice and how that swiftly cut through his lies and indifference. Her gaze was just as piercing as she saw straight through him like a window. He sighed and hung his head in defeat, shrouding in pure discomfort. Finally, he managed to meet her gaze and was swiftly met with intensity.
He didn't know how she could do that, be that...
caring.
"I got a lil' mad"
Starfire slowly walked towards him, pursing her lips. She tucked her fiery hair behind her ears and roamed her hands up Nightwing's broad shoulders, lacing her arms securely around his neck. She lifted her head, revealing with concern through her eyes. Immediately, Nightwing warped his arms around her waist and looked into her pools of glimmering emerald which bore into his soul.
"Ro-Nightwing" She corrected.
"As long as I am here, I will always care for you. Please discontinue this training and, relax . Promise me this." She pleaded him.
Nightwing looked away, fixedly staring at the ground below.
He couldn't lie to her and she knew that.
His voice became a scary low and his graze with her slowly intensified. His arms locked her in a tight grip as he nestled his forehead onto hers. The desperation in his voice was high.
"Look, Star. If I have any chance of improving and taking town the Brotherhood, I need to train. You don't understand how hard it is for me. You and I are not on the same level. I have to work harder; your powers were given to you. I -"
Almost as fast as he finished his sentence, Starfire forcefully released the tight grip he had on her. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and annoyance.
"R-Nightwing, please do not falsely believe that just because my powers are a part of my lineage doesn't mean I do not have to train as much as you do. Remember that we are fighting the Brotherhood together. We are united in this common cause! But if you don't even believe in yourself, then how can you believe in us, your team-mates?
Your family"
Her voice stayed firm throughout but her frustration was clearly apparent and really quite obvious. She gave one last painful glare at him and swiftly left, kicking the remains of the broken obstacle course that were in her way.
Family
Even the countless enemies, monsters and warlocks he faced held up to nothing when Starfire was mad. Absolutely nothing.
"Damn it!"
He violently pounded his fist against the titanium reinforced wall, leaving in a small dent in it. There was one thing that was clear in his mind
She was getting sick of him and he knew that.
The October night air was crisp yet it was filled with the slowly dying trees that would soon be claimed by the reaper called Autumn. Nightwing's icy breath stained the air as he surveyed the bustling town landscape. The lights were vivid with life and the city was buzzing with different noises and satisfying sounds. The roads were covered in honking cars and headlights.
He missed the solo style that he used to have many eons ago. He usually did these kinds of side missions to take his mind of things. The adrenaline was what he needed, what he craved. He yearned for that distraction to just force him to forget about everything and anything. He took on Gotham to petrol tonight, you know, for memories sake.
He wanted a poor bastard to piss him off so that he could unleash his hidden fury with everything. Even if it was that one poor robber was trying to survive on the streets or that drug-dealer paying for his daughter's tuition fees or fucking even that one guy drunk off his arse and gets a little too cosy with that girl he's been trying to sleep with since forever, he needed that excuse. Just one excuse.
He knew that it was wrong of him to will evil-doing just to feed his own sick demented selfish boredom and he knew that it was a good that he was bored like this since it meant there was no trouble but...
He didn't care.
As he was contemplating on his boredom, a young woman with auburn red hair was walking down the streets just below him. He was conveniently perched on the top of an apartment building, his apartment building so to speak.
Funny that.
Almost as if out of the darkness, a rugged guy appeared. A man dressed in a black hoodie coupled with some overly baggy Nike tracks came into the scene. His baggy trousers held a mysteriously jagged object in pocket with a sharp outline. His sturdy fingers felt all over it and a slimy smirk followed.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what that "mysterious" object was.
The rugged man edged closer to the women, whipping out the knife that he had.
Perfect.
This was perfect. While all this commotion was going on, Nightwing was perched on top of the building, ready to pounce on the bastard like a tiger ready to kill its prey. All Nightwing needed to do was take out the sucker and soak up the affection from the beautiful damsel and alls well that ends well.
The redhead turned around to see the man that would supposedly claim her life for a mere 10 bucks in her purse.
"Wow, and I thought Twilight had more tired clichés" she said with such nonchalance that it even took the robber aback. Undeterred, he got his guard up back again, pretending that he had control of the situation.
"Such a sassy lady for someone who is 'bout to be a corpse; give me pretty yar lil' purse there and I'll forget all 'bout that sly comment that yer made, lady" he replied trying hard to mask the hesitation in his voice.
She smiled, noting his nervousness.
"Oh yeah? Just take it, I dare you. Stab me and take it," She said simply. She stepped towards him with such confidence and she eyed him fiercely.
"Do it" she whispered.
The robber stood still, not knowing whether it was pure cockiness or if she had something up her sleeve that he didn't know about. Catching on to his sudden cowardice, she walked up to him again, even closer that before; she leaned in to his ear, violently grabbing the robber by the arm as he filched from her. In a low, husky whisper she said:
"Look bub. Times are tough, I get it but you're going about this the wrong way. Now, I'll give you ten seconds for you to run away and stop this nonsense before I call the authorities. Count this as a blessing.
Now run."
Before she could even count, the robber ran back into the oblivion from whence he came.
Nightwing was shocked out of his system. So what, did she already know about the guy? Well, the way that he approached her, he wouldn't say so. And what the hell did she say to him? It must have been bad since the guy ran away.
As he was contemplating on his confusion the young lady stood there with her arms crossed and a smirk present on her face.
Who exactly was this chick?
Curiosity surging over him, he mindlessly leaped down into the scene, hiding in the shadows of the city night trying to piece together in his mind just what the fuck he just watched.
"You were always the silent one weren't you, Dick"
Immediately, Nightwing's guard was fully up. Swiftly, he graced himself down the alleyway, near the proximity of this strange, strange woman. He grabbed the woman and pinned her against the wall, his eyes stabbing into hers. His mind was racing and anxiety was spreading in his veins.
His grip was firm, she wasn't going anywhere.
How the fuck did she know his name?
"D-Dick. Don't you remember me Boy-Wonder? Heh, you even got a new get-up." She said while she somehow retaining her calm persona.
Boy...Wonder?...
No.
"Barbs i-is that you?" Spontaenasely, Nightwing embraced her with every fibre in his body, wrapping his arms perfectly around her athletic figure. She returned the gesture but somehow found that his love was a bit too much.
"Umm Dick, that's a lil' too much love you know, heh" She said hesitantly as she was being suffocated by her man-aconda.
"Sorry!" He replied and he released his tight grip on her. Chaffed, he fixed his messy hair and finally tried to comprehend what was going on. He gazed at her. She was dressed in a tight pencil skirt (which would have been terrible in combat) a white long sleeved blouse with bright golden necklace that highlighted her elegant swan-neck. Her auburn hair was in ringlets and she had it in loosely-fitted pony-tail behind her. She had fair freckled skin and her eyes shone an emerald green hue with jade tints. Her cheek bones were perfectly angled and her face had matured into beauty.
She was beautiful.
"Err-hey I can't believe I didn't recognize you, you're the one and only Barbs! Where the Hell have you been?" Nightwing said with stir of different emotions.
"That's what I should be asking you. You left so...suddenly. Word through the grapevine is that you have a team now! The Team Titans is it?-"
"The Teen Titans." Robin corrected. "So how's Mr-Tall-Dark-And-Brooding doing in Gotham?" he asked is a crass manner.
"Oh he's still as happy as always... He-er really took it hard when you left you know. He didn't speak to anyone for weeks Dick. We all really missed you" She said seriously with a pang of sadness.
She felt his glove and slightly tugged at it.
"Especially me", she finally admitted. She looked at him, her eyes pleading at him.
"Come back."
Soaking up the information, Nightwing didn't respond but simply held her hand tighter circling his thumb in the inside of her palm. He remembered the years of de-grading comments he constantly got from Bruce; he remembered the anger he felt when he was just labelled as a "side-kick". He remembered all those jerk-offs making fun of the "good ol' Boy Wonder."
But worst of all, he remembered his starving ambition to be more than he was allowed to be. He needed to be more than be was allowed to be. Batman will always be there but right now, he knew that this was right. He was a leader, not a sidekick. Nothing could convince him to go back.
Not even Barbara.
"Come on." Nightwing said.
"Where are we going" Barbara asked.
"I'll show you 'round the Tower" Nightwing ginned.
...
The night was a serene and tranquil feeling; the air was cold and hostile but still held a flare of life. The Tower was mundane, saturated with routine and ordinance: Raven was mediating in her usual isolation, Beast Boy was concocting a tofu and a what-ever-he-could-get-his-hands-on compilation, Cyborg was fixing his machinery in his car and Starfire, well Starfire was halting Cyborg's attempts of doing anything meaningful with her usual onslaught of questions.
Oh yes, the team had retained their own titbits of the years but there was no doubt that they had grown together. The adventures that they had experienced, the good and the disturbing, only served to bring them closer together than ever.
Sure many had joined and many have left, but the communal relationship they had shared weathered the bitterest of storms. They were a family to it's a core.
A rather dysfunctional one at that.
Starfire's deep magenta red hair shimmered under the pale moon light. She was clearly distressed and she sought deep consolation from any source. It was clear that her relationship (if she could call it one) was crumbling.
Oh God was it crumbling...
She couldn't let go. Not just yet. It was just that, Robin changed so much over the years and she couldn't keep up. The horrors that they witnessed really took a toll on him. He got harder, tougher, more self-critical while becoming less caring and loving. Then he changed to this dark and serious entity of "Nightwing"...
His demons plagued him and only he could shake them off. They ate away ate him like a virus and he was starting to spread his illness.
And she was getting sick. Sick of him. Sick of the situation. Just sick of everything. She needed change, or else she wouldn't be able to stay in this "relationship". It wouldn't be fair on her.
It wouldn't be fair on him.
Lounging in Cyborg's Mechanic Room, she was venting to him all the problems that she had held up in her heart to the unsuspecting Cyborg. He listend. He always did. Here, though she loved everyone in the team, she especially felt that connection to Cyborg. Both being outcast in their own respected ways, they seemed to have this mutual understanding that no-one in the group seem to have. Starfire gave the name "Tamol" to Cyborg – meaning "brother" to signify their unique relationship.
"Tamol, I cannot explain the... torment I feel when I just look at him. It's like, who even are you anymore, you know?" she exhaled out will laying on top of his car.
Cyborg, who was invested more in his work than Starfire's current dilemma sighed. Starfire had been at it for about an hour now and he knew this one was more serious then all their other fights. Halting his process, he looked at her.
Man, did she have it bad. Such a beautiful girl and yet all the shit that goes on amongst them and she still cares for him. Cyborg didn't know if he admired her resilience or just was really scared about her naivety.
He didn't like that he felt a mixture of both.
"Okay Star, come to Tamol Cyborg" he cooed, inviting her to sit on his lap. Starfire meekly obeyed, resting onto his lap while nestling into his neck like a frightened child, his cold steel neck was a sharp sensation to her senses. She could hear all the bits of machinery churning inside him. She found it oddly soothing.
"Okay, so me thinks that you're all hung up on this jerk-ward and God knows why you're wasting your time with that boy..."
Starfire playfully hit him.
"Nah, but really look. This guy clearly don't deserve you babygirl, but it looks like he's doing his own thing right now. Now, if I know Dick, he isn't the type of guy to express himself much. So when guys are stressed out and confused, we tend to act like jerks to the ones that we love"
"Is this a typical occurrence with Earth Males?"
"Yep"
Sinking deeper into the arms of Cyborg, Starfire despondency grew in abundance; not only was Robin's behaviour deeply distressing, it wasn't unfamiliar with his kind...
Sensing her dip in mood, Cyborg chuckled.
"Look, Star, all need to do is just give the boy space. Trust me; guys love that sort of thing. You know Dick, man. He can be, well, kind of a "Dick" sometimes. Just weather it out, give him time to breathe and work on his shiz and then y'all can kiss and make up, 'ight"
Starfire, suddenly feeling a heightened sense of empowerment, sat up suddenly. Yeah, Tamol was right; she didn't truly need Robin at the time being. She'll just give him The Space and then reconciliation will ensue! Granted with this new epiphany, Starfire flew up and kissed Cyborg square on the check.
"Tamol, once again you have opened my eyes with stark revelations. I now harbour the confidence and exhilaration that I so desperately required; oh bless your heart and your wonderful insight! Without it, I wonder if I'll ever truly forgive Robin for his less then desired mann-"
"Just go to your man!" Cyborg replied, cutting her off mid-drift.
Barbs was not one for planning.
She was more of a living-in-the-moment type of gal. Yeah, many things would happen and she would always kind of roll with it to see how it would flesh out. But, they were always contained. A contained type of crazy. Not an actual crazy type of crazy.
No, she would like to think that she wouldn't really go for that.
She would like to think...
Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson. Richard. Grayson. Whom she had only recently met just a couple of hours ago from not seeing each other for four years , is literally by her literal side swinging from building to building, literally.
Boy, was it going to be one of those days.
...
Nightwing was tailing the skyline and the metal beams of the skyscrapers that shot up through the concrete earth, Barbara could feel the air rushing through her auburn locks, the wind was harshly brushing against her face bustlingly. Nightwing wrapped a firm and protective grip around Barbs waist. Barb nestled weakly on Nightwing's shoulder. She rested her arms around his neck while slowly raising her left knee across his chest. Nightwing's breath hitched. Slowly, she subconsciously leaned in and whispered in a breathy voice:
"Ah man..."
Dick lowered his tightened grip on Barbara...ensuring her safety.
The sky was a mixture of celestial hues of red and blue. The dawn gleamed with a clandestine hopefulness agonist the dark and callousness of the surroundings. Buildings that were tattooed with gang signs and broke panes of glass echoed the sentiments of Gotham. A breeding ground for criminals that manifested the horrors of humanity and absolute fear could be... enjoyed.
Barbara's left hand started to fiddle with his raven locks. She absent-mindlessly curled his baby hairs with her slender fingers. She looked at him. Really looked and him and thought of how this person grew up in four years. There was a sense of gravitas to him. His eyes were furrowed and he looked a lot paler than usual. There was something wrong.
...
"We're here, Red" Nightwing gently said as he gently nudged the sleeping beauty. She began stirring under the sunlight of the new mourning, Barbara awoken on Nightwing's shoulder, blinking away her fatigue.
Barbara woke up to see the grand "T" tower rocketing above the skyline, flashing with beauty and magnitude. She felt 100 times less insignificant just by looking at it. Jump City, huh? Not too shabby.
She might even like it here.
A/N: First chapter down,guys! Rate, follow, comment whatever. I'll see you guys at Chapter Two :0