Chapter 2 - Hiding
"So you jumped out of the window, into the water to save Star, caught up with X, and managed to not die when the whole thing exploded?" Upon their return to the Tower, Robin had explained the later half of their pursuit of Red X to Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. The shape-shifter seemed quite impressed, "Dude, is there anything you can't do?"
"Stop Red X, apparently," Robin answered coldly as he stomped over by the sofa just before sitting down, hunched over.
But Beast Boy knew the hostility of his tone wasn't directed towards him; Robin was angry with himself. "Still, that was pretty cool!"
"You did your best, Robin," Cyborg comforted.
Raven assured him, "There was nothing more you could do."
He slammed his fist down on his knee, "That's the problem; I should be able to do more."
"Well, nobody's perfect," stated Beast Boy.
"I'm not saying I should be perfect," Robin growled, "I'm just saying I should be able to do my job!"
This comment belittled his friends who had all failed before he did, but they all knew he hadn't thought of that. They hoped he hadn't, anyway.
Raven finally questioned, "How did you know he would be there?"
The leader's eyes narrowed as he explained, "The last time we faced X we took back the belt I had made. I figured if he was having the same trouble I had in utilizing the power of the xenothium he'd need as much as he could if he wanted to make a new one. I've been checking up on the city's imports and knew a shipment of the ore was coming tonight. If he's having as hard a time I had, I don't think what he got away with will last him too long."
Robin's acknowledgement of his history using Red X as an alter-ego invoked a moment of awkward silence.
Cyborg broke it as he advised, "Don't get too hung up on it." He turned to the wall and, placing his open hand on the scanner, initiated lock down, "Goodnight." The automatic door opened up for him, and Beast Boy followed out of the room.
Starfire scanned the area for Raven but it seemed she wasn't there. While the Tamaranean found it odd, it didn't seem uncharacteristic of Raven to simply disappear without a word. She welcomed the peculiarity of her vanishing act, however, as she was aiming to be alone with Robin.
She walked over to the couch and sat very close to the boy, though he hadn't raised his head. "I…thank you for rescuing me," she said, smiling in an attempt to raise his spirits.
"You don't need to thank me, Starfire."
"I most certainly do; had I not gotten in the way, you would have stopped the Red X. It was my fault," she couldn't help but frown and look away.
Robin's expression softened as he faced her, "Don't say that, Star! I was just too slow; you were great! Your speed alone is admirable; you got in front of him, managed to catch up with him even after attempting to help Raven—and you have your strength and intelligence! You're amazing, Starfire!"
She turned her face towards him, again, now meeting with his eyes. Her smile was warm and her eyes soft. As he reviewed her in the dim light, Robin found himself repeating, "You're…amazing…"
She wrapped her arms around him and held him affectionately. Slowly, his arms lifted; Robin found himself sharing in the embrace. Starfire let herself fall on top of him, and the two were now laying down together.
There were such extreme feelings in this one moment, and it was all sparked so easily. Neither was really sure how or why they were suddenly in each other's arms, but both were too caught up in the euphoria of the instant to think about it too much.
Overwhelmed with emotion, they hardly realized they were tenderly stroking one another. They were unaware of time while Starfire's chin nestled comfortably in a niche of Robin's shoulder.
To hear him breathing soothed her; to hold her close relaxed him.
She slowly turned her head to look at the boy she was on top of. Her hand crept slowly over his face. She wanted to remove the mask covering his eyes.
As soon as her fingers touched it, however, Robin's hand moved from Starfire's back and gripped around her wrist.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a stiff tone.
"I—I wish to see your face."
"You can see my face."
"But not your eyes," she felt awkwardly pulled out of the euphoric state.
He carefully rolled Starfire off of him and sat up, "I—I'm gonna go to bed; goodnight, Starfire." With that he picked himself up and headed for the door.
"Robin, wait," she sighed, "I am very sorry!"
He stopped as the door opened for him. Not looking back he muttered, "It's not a matter of trust, Starfire." Then he was gone.
She felt as if she had done something terribly offensive; why the idea of showing her his face flustered him so much, she did not know.
She first thought that his final sentence was a bit awkward and inapt, but as she thought about it she wondered if he meant to assure her such a cold response wasn't exclusively for her. Regardless, she found some sort of comfort in it.
Similar questions were running through Raven's head. The mysterious Titan had been hiding in the room the entire time.
Her soul-self had once entered Robin's mind; they shared a bond. She should know Robin very well, but something about him seemed out of place. She felt like she knew him at the same time she didn't know the first thing about him. His actions, his drive; there was still an air of mystery floating around his character. Though she prefers to keep secrets herself, she hated when secrets were kept from her. She wanted to know more about Robin, the team's unstable leader.
Raven disappeared and left Starfire alone.
