A Lost Love
Chapter 2: The After Life
The Teen Titans said goodbye to the last of their guests. They had thrown a wake for Robin, to honor him for all he had done for the city as well as his life.
"We should have had a funeral." Starfire said.
"We couldn't Star. His body wasn't found." Cyborg answered gently. He tried to put a comforting hand around her, but she pushed it away, leaving the main hall. She walked to her room, holding back tears. As soon as the door shut, she couldn't hold them in any longer, and allowed them to stream down her face.
"Oh, Robin. What was so terrible, that you had to kill yourself?" She sobbed. The picture of him was a small table she had bought, to make an alter for him. There were a few newspaper pictures as well, and some wildflowers scattered around. She lit a candle on the table and turned off her light.
"X'Hal, please accept Robin into your heart and home. Though he never knew of you gifts to us, allow him to be in your presence, so he may know where to go in the next life." She paused for few tears. "He was a good hero, a good person. But the best friend one could have, and I shall miss him dearly. Thank you." She finished her prayer, letting the candle go out on its own. Starfire went into her bed, dreaming of him.
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"Good Job Team!" Cyborg hollered after a battle with Killer Moth as they loaded into the T-Car. "I vote we go out for pizza!"
"I couldn't agree more with you man! How about….
"None of that Tofu crap. It's not natural." Cyborg cut off Beast Boy.
"How about a cheese pizza with pineapple?" Starfire put in happily. It had been three months since Robin's death, and she was much happier now. She figured X'Hal would answer her prayer, but the alter remained in her room. She refused to take it down.
"Whatever is fine with me. Just as long as we stop for my tea first." Raven joined in.
"Well, I've never had pineapple on a pizza before. But as long as it's not tofu, I guess I could handle it." Cyborg turned into the parking lot in front of a triangular building that was famous for Teen Titans sightings.
"May I park the car, Cyborg?" Starfire had recently been learning how to drive, and was even better than Cyborg at parking in strange spots, such as the spaces at the pizza place.
"Why not?" Cyborg smiled, and tossed the keys to Starfire. "Let's go get a table BB. Raven, you can meet us there after you get… whatever it is you need."
Starfire parked the car with ease and got out, making sure to lock the doors behind her. As she walked toward the doors to the pizza restaurant, she thought she saw a familiar black, spiky head.
"Robin?" She almost whispered. There wasn't a response. She flew towards him and turned him around, hoping it was him and that his death wasn't real. "Robi ... Oh, excuse me. I thought you were someone else." Seeing his surprised expression.
"I'm sorry, were you looking for someone, Starfire?" He asked. "
"I just thought… that you were someone else. I'm sorry to have disturbed you sir."
He laughed. "I haven't been called sir in…. well, I've never been called sir actually."
'He looks so much like Robin. And sounds like him as well.' Starfire thought to herself." Robin?"
"I'm sorry?" He stopped laughing suddenly.
"You… Robin!!" She flung herself around him. "Oh I have missed you so friend!"
"I'm sorry, but you have the wrong person." He carefully peeled himself away from her.
"But you are Robin! I can tell!" She exclaimed. "You look just like him! And your hair, and voice…." She read his blank expression. "You are!! Do not lie to me!!" She cried, the tears coming back.
"Dude, Starfire? Are you okay?" Beast Boy, accompanied by Cyborg and Raven, came out the door of 'Pizza'.
"We thought we heard you screaming. Is everything alright?" Raven asked.
"Why will you not tell me it is you, when I have found you?!" Starfire screamed.
"She's going hysterical." Raven murmured to her fellow team mates. "We have to get her away from here. Back home." Cyborg nodded and walked over to Starfire.
"Star? Let's go home." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"NO!!" She whirled around to face him. "This is Robin! Can you tell? Can you see it as clearly as I can??!!" Her eyes began glowing.
"Starfire, this isn't Robin." Raven said.
"We can just relax. Maybe you took too much of a beating today during that fight." Beast Boy suggested.
"What does that have to do with it?" Starfire yelled. She turned back to the stunned man she thought was Robin. "Why won't you come back?"
"Yeah Beast Boy, what does that have to do with it?" Raven smirked.
"Focus Raven. We need to get her home."
"Starfire!" Raven said, not as gently this time. "This isn't Robin."
"Yes it is!!" Her sobs grew louder. Cyborg took one of her hands, but she struggled to get away. Beast Boy took the form of a gorilla to take another hand, because of her alien strength. They began taking her away to the T-Car as she tried to escape.
"Robin!!" She cried. She kept screaming his name to the stranger, who only stood there, unable to move.
"I'm sorry." He said. "But I'm not the man you're looking for."
The Titans dragged her away to the car, trying to calm her down, and quickly left, fighting to keep her in the car the entire ride home.
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"Starfire of the Teen Titans had a traumatizing experience today at the local pizza parlor just this afternoon. The event was with a young man, who she was determined was the late Robin, the ex-leader. The Teen Titans refused a comment. The young man, who the attack was directed to, left before we could question him."
Cyborg turned off the TV. The report came from Jump City News at Six. "She made the news." He stated simply.
"Why did she suddenly explode like that? I thought she was fine." Beast Boy said.
"We all thought she was fine. But she wasn't. Apparently Robin's death was too much for her to handle. She did see him commit suicide after all. She saw him jump out the window. Starfire tried to keep it to herself, most likely from trying not to bother us, but she should have said something. Or taken a break." Raven answered.
"Maybe she should go back to Tamaran for a while. The Titans East could help out over here." Cyborg said.
Starfire stood outside the main room. 'But I am fine.' She thought. 'Why do they wish to send me away?' She didn't listen anymore. She turned back to her room and began packing for Tamaran. "Oh Robin. I shall miss you so." She sniffed. She didn't want to leave the memories. "Wait! Robin IS alive. I will not go back to Tamaran just to lose him again." She opened her window and flew out over the city, searching for him. "The Police will be of better assistance I believe." And promptly landed in front of the station. She opened the door. "Excuse me?" An officer looked up from a newspaper. "Can I help you miss?"
"Yes please. I am looking for a man I met today. I don't know his name or address, but I know exactly what he looks like."
"Okay…." The officer began clicking away on the computer in front of him. "Alright. What can you tell me about him?"
"Well, he's 5 feet, ten inches. He weighs 175 pounds and has black hair. And he has blue eyes." She knew most of his information from reading his file back at the Tower. His eyes though, she had just seen for the first time.
"Okay. We have 527 hits."
"527!!" She shrieked. "I didn't know there were so many who looked like him!"
'Yes well, without a name, I'm afraid the search is very large. Oh, I forgot, distinctive marks. Tattoos, scars?..."
"Ummm….. perhaps. Oh! There is a crescent scar on his right cheek." (AN: I know there isn't really one there, but I needed something.)
"Okay, well, is he new here?"
"He must have moved here in the past three months."
"Well, that narrowed it down quite a bit. Is he an ex-con?"
"NO!!"
"Oookaay." The officer said easily, startled by the anger in her voice when he asked about the mans record. "Ahh, 20 hits."
"Are there pictures of any of them?"
"Yep. There is always a picture."
"May I look?"
"Of course. Just come over on this side of the desk."
"Thank you!" Starfire exclaimed. "Hmmmm…." She scanned the photos, scrolling down the page of hits. "OH! This is him!!" She said happily. "Would you please print this out for me?"
"Anything for a Titan." He said, going over to the printer on the other side of the room. "Here you go Starfire."
"Thank you very much. Oh, and if the others come looking for me, would you tell them, that you have not seen me today?" She took the paper. "It is very important that they do not find me."
"Is everything okay?"
"Oh yes. I just wish to be alone for a while."
"Okay." He sighed. "Good job with Killer Moth by the way."
"Thank you sir." Starfire opened the door and flew off to the other end of the city. "My T-Com. I should turn it off, so they don't find me. Even if it is against the rules." She reached into her pocket, clicking off the T-Com. "And Raven. But what will I do about that?" Just as she said that, she felt a force come into her mind.
Starfire?
"I must not let her take over my mind." She focused on the sidewalk when she landed. "I must only look at this. Only this."
Starfire? I know you're there…… This is YOUR mind for a reason.
"Sidewalk. Sidewalk. Sidewalk." Starfire kept repeating.
Starfire! Let me in. You have to let me in your mind.
"If I focus on this, she cannot talk control." Starfire said to herself. "Sidewalk. Sidewalk. Sidewalk."
People must think you're going crazy right now, saying sidewalk over and over. Not to mention talking to yourself. Starfire…Raven kept persevering.
Meanwhile, back at the Tower….
"Is it working?" Cyborg asked. Raven was floating in her meditation stance.
"No, she isn't letting me in. She keeps focusing on the sidewalk. She isn't thinking anything else."
"Damn. Why did she have to turn off her communicator?" Cyborg grumbled.
"If you would keep it down please, I'm trying too concentrate…" Raven said in a less than nice voice.
"Well, sorry miss 'I can't keep track of one mea…"
"Wait… I'm getting through. Only a little, but it's something."
Back with Starfire…
Starfire, we're just worried about you. We don't know where you are, what you're doing. If you're hurt, we can't find you. You have to let me in.
Starfire let a tear roll down her face. She hated leaving her friends in the dark. "And why am I crying so much?" She murmured. "I have never cried so much before. No, stay focused." She felt Raven get closer inside, and it was getting harder to keep her out. "Sidewalk. Sidewalk."
Starfire, Robin wouldn't want you to feel as if you needed to run away. You don't. Just let me in.
"I will not fall for her tricks. Sidewalk. Sidewalk. Sidewalk." Someone bumped into her, knocking her off balance. "Eep!" She fell to the ground, but caught herself. It was enough for Raven to penetrate her mind.
"NO!!"
Finally. Now, we can do this your way, or my way.
I will not let you take control of me. Starfire thought.
I'm already in here Starfire. Now, listen to me. Turn on your T-Com, or I'll do it for you.
Starfire kept her eyes closed, refusing for them to see where she was.
Okay, my way it is. Raven lifted her hand, and Starfire did the same. "No. I will not." Starfire struggled to keep her hand down, grabbing a handful of concrete. Yes, concrete, she was that determined. A starbolt lit up in her other hand. "I shall have to hurt you to make you leave."
Raven. I don't want to do this. But if you will not leave, I will burn you. Starfire thought.
What do you mean?
When you were in Robin, when he was punched, he never felt the effect. You did.
Starfire…
I will do it Raven. But I do not want to.
I won't leave. Starfire held her hand with the starbolt close to the one Raven was trying to control, its heat feeling hot already to Raven.
I already told you. I won't leave.
Very well. I am sorry Raven. Starfire punched her hand with a starbolt.
Tower
"God Dammit Starfire!!" Raven yelped in pain. She refused to leave though. "What is it?" Cyborg asked.
"She hit me with a starbolt!" Raven said defensively. "But I'm going for her head now. I'll find out where she is, then you can tell Beast Boy."
"Right." Cyborg flipped open his T-Com. "Beast Boy, get ready."
"Got it." Beast Boy's voice came from the other end. He was out flying around the city, trying to find Star.
"I'm in!!" Raven quickly looked around. "On the corner of 18th and 36th at Herv Street." Cyborg relayed the message into the T-Com and Beast Boy found Starfire lying on the sidewalk. "Hurry Beast Boy." She said. "I can't control her much longer." It was Raven's words coming from Stafire's mouth.
"Dude, that is way freaky." He thought, picking her up and flying her back to the Tower. He felt her begin to move in his grasp.
"Beast Boy… I'm… Losing her…" Raven said.
"Let me go!"
"Beast Boy, keep her tight. We can't lose her now, there's only a little way more to the Tower." Cyborg said through the T-Com.
Starfire began to move around more, trying to free herself now. "Hurry Beast Boy…" Raven tried as hard as she could to keep Starfire in control.
"Beast Boy!!" Starfire screamed. He gripped her harder, determined not to let go.
"Just a little farther BB." Cyborg's voice came through.
Beast Boy dove through the medical wings window, avoiding the glass through the black transport Raven was using. Starfire landed with a thud on the floor and Raven put a hand on her head and put her to sleep before she could do anything. Cyborg put her on the medical bed and strapped her in, hooking her up to some wires as well.
"I guess that's over." He sighed.
"For now." Raven reminded him. "We should contact her planet. Let them know we're coming soon, even though we don't know when.
"Yeah. Let's get to work." Cyborg looked over at Starfire. "You sure she'll stay asleep?"
"Positive. Beast Boy, are you okay?"
"Yep. Ready to work."
"Alright. Let's get started then." Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy left the medical room. Starfire slept without any dreams through the next day, all the while knowing Robin was there in the city.
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AN: Whew!! That was a long chapter! Wow. Okay you slackers, I think more than one person has read this fic, but the funny thing is, I only have ONE review. So to all you moochers out there, review!! And to everyone else, REVIEW!! I need feedback! If I don't get many reviews, I don't know how I'm doing, if I don't get any reviews how will I know people even want to read this? I'm a little mad right now, not at you all, but just a little stressed out (well, compared to the Black Tsubasa, I'm just peachy. Seriously, BT needs to have a few days off of school). So don't take this too personally, just review dammit!! Okay, calm, deep breaths….. in…out…in…out. Okay. I'll even accept flames I'm so desperate, so just click the little "Go" button right there, I have anonymous reviews enabled, so anyone can give me a tip. Okay, thanks for reading this!! (I know, it's practically longer than the chapter itself.) I love you all, I really do, even if I do yell at you sometimes!!
White Tsubasa