The portal was getting closer. How many days had it been? Robin couldn't tell. He stared out the window unseeingly, faced with a sky that had long since fallen to night but had never again regained its light. The portal had taken in the sun and had it not been for their technological advances and the combined powers of all the fire and heat producing based heroes, the world would have truly frozen over. But they were getting tired.

With no sunlight, there were no plants. Not even Poison Ivy's super serum could keep them alive. Their food stores were dwindling, already, nearly a third of the world's population had succumbed to the cold and starvation. The heroes couldn't keep it up. Something had to give sooner or later. The Boy Wonder sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The fate of the world rested on their shoulders. His shoulders.

The Teen Titans had been successful in their expansion and after the League's retirement, had taken over the crime fighting of the world. But to what end? To watch it go down? They were the Earth's defenders now. It was their sworn duty to save it. And as Leader of the Teen Titans, he bore the brunt of it. Every death was a blow to his conscience. Every second ticking by made his proud heart beat hard and painful in his chest, mindful of every bit of his people's suffering. He shuddered. He had to do something. He had to-

"Rest."

Robin flipped around, Bo staff extending at his touch as he swung it in the intruder's direction, pushing his fatigued body into overdrive, only to have his attack blocked and his staff yanked out of his hands. His vision swam dangerously as he teetered unbalanced. A small but firm hand grabbed his arm, forcing his sight to abruptly clear to be met with a worriedly frowning Starfire.

"Friend Robin, you are exhausted." He could hear the stress in her gentle voice.

"Please, you must rest." She begged.

The Teen Titans had been together for years now and she knew that she could not stop him once he set his mind to something, but she had to at least try.

They may not have been romantically involved, (their feelings of inadequacy and inability to realize and explain had stopped any chances of that) but he was still one of her closest friends, her knorfkaa'ran, and anything she could do to ease his burden would be worth her while, whether or not he appreciated it or yelled at her for it. Fortunately, the decision was taken out of Robin's hands as the pure adrenaline he had been running off the past few days sputtered out and he collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. Yet he never hit the ground as loving arms scooped him up before impact and brought him to rest on his own bed.

"Be well Taa'riannel." Starfire whispered as the automatic door slid shut behind her.

-Several hours later-

Upon awakening, Robin was met with silence. Complete and utter silence. He felt groggy but nonetheless, his eyes narrowed and cleared as he took in the unnatural stillness. Being the original Titans Tower and therefore the main base and centre hub of all things hero, there was always some kind of bustle around and ergo at least a sort of hum of noise even with the soundproofed rooms. But there was no such thing now.

Stepping lightly out of bed, he tested his balance, no need for another blackout, and was pleased to find that his body did in fact feel better after the who knows how long rest, though that irritated him somewhat as he truly thought that time could be spent on something more important, he made his way to the door nearly absentmindedly pulling on his costume as he went. Somewhat ominously, the door clanged shut behind him.

A/N: Yay! I have a new story! Btw, if you're wondering about the strange words that Starfire says, I am using the words she used in the show as a basis 'cause there technically isn't a Tamaranian dictionary. So I'm making up my own words.

Knorfkaa'ran based on Knorfka - someone who has looked after another as if they were their own flesh and blood. Family.

Taa'riannel not based on anything except a vague memory - Precious one