Author's Note: Going to do BtM first thing in the morning and Masks at night. So we'll go back to the twelve hour posting thing again.

Chapter 2 – corresponding to Chapter 8 in Masks.

Starfire hadn't stirred until nearly four in the morning, when she'd rolled over and curled up in a ball. Which was good, because I'd almost worked myself up into a state of panic by that stage. I sat on the bed beside her with a pillow behind my back and lightly dozed.

It was good that I stayed, about three in the morning the door had jangled, the lock being jimmied. I crept up to the door and growled menacingly, "I'm watching you, punk."

The rattling of the doorhandle stopped. I shook my head and returned to Starfire.

I left the bed at five thirty in the morning, she'd started moving around a lot by then and I knew she liked to be up when the sun came up. I stayed in her bathroom until around seven, just watching through the door, but she still slept.

Hardest thing I had to do was leave her, but I just couldn't be there when she woke properly. She wouldn't understand. I stuck a note to her mirror, changing my handwriting as much as I could.

I went back to X's hideout, a place Bruce had gotten for me in case I needed it while I was here, and to store the Red X suit, since we didn't want Jason to find it. I showered, inspecting the wound from Starfire in the mirror. Pretty neat actually, scabbing nicely. Kind of looked like a cat had scratched me, only deeper. I cleaned it up and reapplied a bandage, and dressed in civvies, riding back the Manor on my street bike.

Alfred was waiting for me with breakfast, I wasn't used to being waited on after so long away from home, but it's rather easy to slip back into the habit. He told me all arrangements had been made like I requested and he was picking up a room key later on. He promised it would be ready by the time I left in the afternoon.

I thanked him, and munching on my morning toast, I wandered down to the Batcave. Jason wasn't up, he hardly ever rose before noon, which was part of the reason why I always tried to call Starfire first thing, it lessoned the chance of him walking in.

Sitting down at the Batcomputer, I put on my eye mask before I activated Starfire's computer, letting her know I wanted to talk, then checked on the documentation Batman had prepared on the Quicksilver Hand. Just a little ruse, enough details for Jason if he thought to check about it, but now it could be put to better use in keeping Starfire here. Starfire was sure to check, once Red X let slip, I bet Raven knew she was here. Those two had no secrets from each other.

I wasn't sure how much longer it would take Starfire to get on the computer, and I wasn't about to miss her call. Not today. Not when I had to give her just enough information to make her want to stay in Gotham. I put my feet up on the desk, which would certainly get me into trouble if Bruce caught me and started practicing my juggling.

I was almost getting ready to charge on back to where she was staying and rescue her from whatever demons had attacked while she was helpless when I heard her voice.

"Robin?"

I dropped all my balls and swung to face her. "Hey beautiful, I was getting worr—" Oh. My. God. Cleavage. My shirt and cleavage. It took up almost the whole screen. She was lying there, almost provocatively presenting that cleavage. I knew why, she didn't want me to look beyond that at the room, but wow. Wow… just… wow… I could barely speak, but I knew I had to say something, she was waiting expectantly. "Damn, I love that shirt on you."

She giggled and rested her head on her palm. "Do you?"

Oh, she moved and now there was so much more and yet, still not enough. "Gah… are those buttons undone?"

She giggled again and blew me a kiss.

I couldn't help myself, leaning forward and typing on the computer. "'kay, I'm going to get a picture, then you need to do that up, I need to talk to you."

She actually pouted at me, her bottom lip dropping and didn't do the buttons up.

"Staaaar," I whined, struggling to remember she told me she was in Tamaran, rather than half an hour travel away and me rushing over there to see the cleavage in person was not a good thing. "Why do you have to be all the way across the Galaxy when you do this?"

"I like to tease. What did you wish to talk to me about?"

"Red X."

She gave herself away by a tiny, involuntary flinch.

I pretended not to see. "Apparently, he's got a partner here in Gotham at the moment. I've been chasing him the last few nights. Did anything happen in Jump before you left?"

She shook her head. "A partner?"

"Yeah, some girl dressed all in black. Met her last night. Almost had her at once stage too, but X's gotten better it seems."

She pressed her hand to her cheek, another involuntary moment and I had to fight not to wince for her. "Not that I recall."

I sighed. "Damn. I was hoping for some intel on her."

"You could check with Cyborg," she suggested. "But Red X? We have not seen him in years."

"I did," I told her, inwardly making a mental note to do just that in case she checked. "No record of this girl in black. I'm pretty sure I know why he's here, it's just catching him that's problematic."

She frowned, I could see her thinking. "Is he the reason you are there?"

"Star, you know I can't tell you," I replied, then fake winced. Take the bait, beautiful. Stay in Gotham. "I probably shouldn't have mentioned he was here. I just… I miss talking cases over with you. And Red X is common territory so…" I sighed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Do you require assistance?" she asked. Her fingers stroked that gorgeous neck of hers, then trailed over the top of her chest. I don't think I've been more turned on than I was right then, just seeing her run her fingers over herself. I finally understood the merits of phone sex.

"Nah, I got this," I said and leant forward on my chair, watching her hand. "Do that again."

She beamed like a Cheshire cat. She knew what she was doing. "What? This, Robin?" She angled her head down then looked up at me. My eyes were riveted on her fingers as she trailed them down over her chest and –

"Hot damn, is that—"

I jerked and shut off the screen. "Jason," I deadpanned, standing.

"What up, bro?" he asked offhandedly, still looking at the screen. "Was that your squeeze? She's hot. She must be one awesome fuck."

"Don't go there," I snapped, angry with him, and quickly typed out a message to Starfire so she wouldn't worry. I had no idea what she'd be thinking right now.

"Dude, you didn't come home last night," he noted.

I rolled my eyes, then peeled off my mask. "So?"

"Did you score?" he asked with a grin.

I gestured the blank screen. "Jason, I have that waiting for me at home. I'm not about to go trolling for chicks."

"Pity you never go trollin' with me, two hot guys like us, we'd be rollin' in pussy. Just like dear ole dad."

I curled my lip. "Did you want something?"

"Bruce's looking for you. And I thought we could have a box a bit later on, what do you say?"

I considered. "Yeah, sure, this afternoon. I have some things to get done first."

"Cool, bro, seeya then. Gonna go take a ride."

"Bye," I said, giving him a wave. Using the computer, I quickly typed out an alert, linking it with the computer in my bedroom. If Starfire's computer moved more than ten feet, it would sound an alarm, but I was pretty sure she'd stay in Gotham another night at least. I fired off a quick email to Cyborg too, mildly asking about Red X, just in case Starfire called home. Which she wouldn't, because I was pretty sure that while Raven knew where Starfire was, Cyborg didn't since he wouldn't have let her go.

Bruce was in his den, going through some paperwork. He raised an eyebrow at me as I entered and slumped in one of the chairs and put his pen down. "All nighter?"

"Some idiot tried to break into her room in the early hours of the morning," I complained.

Bruce sighed. "She shouldn't have come."

"Don't start. I didn't give anything away. I was a good little boy and didn't tell her a thing. What'd you think was going to happen?"

Bruce pressed his lips into a fine line.

"Did you want me for something?" I asked.

"What's the plan?" he asked.

"I'll team up with her, tonight I'll hit Wayne Enterprises again, but I won't engage Robin unless he actually spots me. I'll move her to the motel Alfred has organised for her. If it all goes well, we'll hit Hendersons tomorrow night and you'll have that document you want."

"Hendersons have a shoot to kill policy."

"I know. I'll protect her. Hey, at least we know your security teams are getting a good work out."

Bruce nodded. "That's one benefit."

"Anything else?" I asked, stifling a yawn.

"No."

I stood. "Jason and I are going to box later on, if you want to watch."

Bruce nodded. "Alright. Get some rest."

I wandered off down to my room and flopped face first into bed. As I kicked off my shoes, I briefly contemplated bringing up the picture I'd taken of Starfire on the big screen and relieving some frustrations, but decided against it. I grabbed a pillow and was out in moments. Of course, my dreams consisted of Starfire in my shirt and her ass in those leathers, so I woke up feeling very frustrated and dry humping the bed.

Great. Shower time.

Jason and I have an interesting relationship. This month back at the Manor, it's been the longest I've spent with him in one go. I mean, there were frequent phone calls and visits and emails and things like that over the past two years, but we really didn't have a lot to do with each other. I left home before he came around. The only things we really have in common are our love for bikes and Bruce. And Robin.

Eight months ago, he found the Batcave and my old suit. He put it on and went and assisted Batman during a battle. After that, he practically begged Bruce and me to allow him to take over as Robin. It took two months worth of whinging before Bruce consented to training him. I'm still not sure if we're doing the right thing, although I think maybe I'm just overprotective of the Robin costume.

We try to be brothers though. We talk, we laugh, we pick on Bruce, we play pranks on Alfred. We've hit the town a couple of times together but he's far too interesting in getting laid and I have Starfire waiting at home for me. Not that he hasn't tried to set me up but I was never tempted. He even dragged me to a strip club, it's surprising how throwing money around can get you into those places. That had to be one of the most awkward experiences of my life, hiding in the corner while he's leering at the girls. I mean, it's not like I'm going to tell Starfire about that, but all the scantily clad girls tossing around their clothes just made me miss her even more. Like I said, why would I want any of them when I have her waiting for me at home?

The Virgin Dick, Jason calls me. Hard to image he's younger than me sometimes.

We've done a lot of training together too, he's been getting a lot better now that he sees me as some sort of competition.

Jason likes to box. It's the one thing he's better at than I am and he constantly rubs it in my face. Which is fine, I suppose, but why is it I have to take everything with grace and be the bigger man when I kick his ass at everything else and never taunt him and have to let him crow with victory when he wins at boxing? Not sulking. Just saying.

"Dude," he panted, sweat dripping down his face. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," I responded, dancing around him. "Why?"

"Don't drop your shoulder, Jason," Bruce called from the sidelines.

"You're fucking… perky today."

I laughed. "C'mon, Jase, are you sore I'm kicking your ass for once?"

"Nope. Still can't take me."

"Really?" I drawled and danced in. Two jabs to the ribs, one to the kidney and an uppercut and Jason was flat on his back. Damn that felt good.

Of course, that just pissed him off. He bounced back to his feet and spat on the floor as he lifted his hands up to protect his face. "Come at me, bro."

I chuckled, and dropped my defence to gesture crudely at him.

"Dick, don't get cocky," Bruce said.

Jason snorted and smirked at me.

"Oh, grow up," I complained.

Jason packs a punch, when he actually lands one. I'm glad I'm much faster than him, but damn it hurts when he catches my ribs. I was doing everything I could to protect the cut Starfire gave me, if he whacked me there I was in trouble. The more I evaded, the more I pissed him off, the harder his hits landed. Strikes to the kidney are not fun, especially when he uses his grapple technique to catch me.

I'm not allowed to do acrobatics when I'm boxing, Bruce gets cranky. So no leaping and bounding and flipping away from Jason. Plus, we're inside the ring and I have to follow the rules. I hate following the rules. He got me up against the ropes, landing several blows in my stomach and ribs, a blow slamming against my carefully protected cuts before I had enough and dropped to kick his feet out from under him. A quick leap and I'm darting along the top of the rope to the pole at the corner.

"Dude, you're fucking cheating."

"Pull your punches," I complained from where I balanced. "C'mon, that hurt."

"'fraid I'll bruise your pretty skin?" He came at me while I was on the pole.

"I'm a little concerned you think my skin is pretty," I said, somersaulting over his head and kicking him in the back.

Jason threw up his hands. "Bruce, make him do this properly."

"I think you've both done enough," he said. "Hit the showers."

"It's nearly time to get ready for patrol anyway," Babs said, from where she's been practicing yoga. "I need to get some homework done."

"Looking good there, baby," Jason said.

Babs rolled her eyes at him, dropping down from the shoulder stand she'd been in.

"Ugg," I grunted, using my teeth to undo the ties on my boxing gloves.

"Here," she said, bouncing to her feet. "Let me."

Obediently, I held out my hand to her, her fingers making quick work of the laces. Once one hand was free, it was easy to get the other one out. "Thanks," I said, kissing her cheek.

Babs and I are good friends, even before the whole crush on an older woman thing and one attempted date that never got anywhere because she was too concerned about my age. Not that I would tell Starfire about that. It's hard not to be good friends with someone you worked so long with, we grew up together. I think it hurt her most when I left Gotham, because I left her behind too and she had to deal with Bruce's sulking. It took a while before she forgave me for that. Now, there's just sort of a kinship between us. Harmless flirting but nothing serious. She'd be my third best female friend, after Starfire and Raven.

"Me next," Jason said and puckered up his lips. "Big wet one, right here, baby."

I wasn't sure why Jason flirted with Babs, but then he flirted with just about anything that walked. She really should stop him before it got worse.

Babs lifted an eyebrow as she undid Jason's glove too. "Riiight. Keep dreaming."

"You know you want me."

"Yeah, like I want a fist in the face. Get over yourself, Jason."

"Why do you flirt with her so much?" I asked as he and I headed to the locker room.

"It's fun, bro. Check out her reactions, she gets all flustered."

"That's because she doesn't like you that way."

"She wants me. I'm growing on her."

"Yeah, like a big, ugly wart."

He swatted at me and I dodged. "Dick," he said, invoking the other meaning of my name.

"You rang?" I retorted.

He laughed at me as we headed into separate showers.

"So, how's patrol going?" I asked, knowing full well, but I couldn't resist a chance to tease him.

"It's fucked up, dude. That Red X guy escaped again, fucking teleporter. I swear, that's cheating."

"Criminals always cheat, that's why you have to cheat back."

"He's got himself a floozy too."

"Oh, really?" I asked, feigning interest.

"Some chick in black. Hot ass, nice rack but I didn't see much of her. I nearly had her too. See Grayson, even X can get laid, you should try it sometime."

"Oh, fuck off," I snapped, then smirked. "Would you like me to don the suit and see if I can get him for you?"

"Dude, I got this. You just keep plodding away at the monitoring station for us."

"Oh, that's so much fun," I said sarcastically.

He laughed at me. "If you weren't so pussy whipped, you could totally join us as Nightwing."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen."

"So, how'd you beat Red X last time?" he asked, shutting of his shower.

Yeah, sure, Jase, I'll tell you how to beat me. "Appealed to his human side."

"I swear, if he calls me 'chuckles' again, I'll tear him a new one."

I laughed. "You know, you've given me good reason to call you chuckles now."

"Bite me."

I turned my shower off and dried, getting dressed, after carefully inspecting my wound again.

"I'm loving this Robin gig," Jason said from outside my door. "I see why you kept it this long. The power's awesome."

I frowned. "Jase, it's not a game."

"Yeah, yeah, it's a sacred charge. Whatever."

I sighed. Sometimes there's just no getting through to him.

"Wanna go for a drag?" Jason asked as we strolled out from the locker room.

I lifted an eyebrow. "Which sort?"

Jason grinned at me. "Both. I got just enough time for a lap through the forest before patrol."

I shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Drag racing with Jason's fun. He used to do this for a living, when he was on the streets. Used to make a small fortune drag racing, lost a small fortune being overly confidant in it too, probably why he decided to steal the Batmobile's wheels. Bikes are one of the things we have in common and let's face it, dear old dad just looks silly on a bike. Sure, Bruce'll come racing with us occasionally, but he just looks like one of the old dudes on a hog. Jason and I even stuck a fake white beard to his helmet once, just for kicks.

We leap frogged along the curves of the track through Wayne forest, going around and around each other, teasing and laughing and daring each other to do tricks on the bike. He hates it when I do handstands on the handlebars; he always tries to ram me. Of course, I haven't shown him all the tricks I can do yet, the flips and the jumps while the bike's still going. I'm not a show off… well, not that much of one. He's good at the bike dependant tricks, like the wheelie and the short stops. We've taught each other a few things, he's much better at balancing now. Not quite in my league, but there's not many who are.

He's right though, I'm fucking perky knowing Starfire's in town. I really wish she wasn't wearing that mask, I would have liked to have seen her smile. Good thing her body language also follows her smile, if I can make her smile at me tonight, it'll be worth it.

I'm also nervous about it too, which is probably why I accepted a smoke from Jason when he offered. I don't often partake in this and only when I'm in Gotham. Jason's a bad influence. I'm more of a social smoker I guess, but Jason's like a chimney at times. I asked him about it once, he said he started when he was twelve. I guess that the street kid in him.

We sat on the bikes beside the small lake in the forest, just talking. We've been coming often, you can tell by the pile of butts on the ground where Jason parks his bike. I must remember to bring a bag next time and make him clean them up. There's a nice pile of skipping stones down by the lake, we have competitions to see who can skip them the furthest.

He seemed to want to ask me questions about Starfire today, from that small look he got of her before. I try to keep that life separate from this one. The Titans don't know my private life, not that that's my fault, and they certainly don't know I have a brother. Guess they will soon.

"So, why haven't you tapped that?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes as I perched on my bike. "Not everything is about sex."

"Sure it is," he replied, taking a drag of his cigarette. "C'mon dude, if I'd left you alone a minute longer, you'd be having phone sex with her."

"Fuckhead," I snapped, embarrassed. "I would not."

"Dude, she was practically presenting herself to you."

"She was not!" I answered. "Why are you looking at my girl anyway?"

He leered at me. "Because she's there. Methinks you does protest too much."

I blew smoke at him deliberately. "Jase, really. Do you mind?"

"Not at all. You need to fucking hit that. Really. Like soon. Lose that prudeness of yours, then we can have some fucking fun for once."

"You're such a man whore," I said, rolling my eyes.

"If you've got it, flaunt it."

"I've got more than you," I bragged.

"Yeah, sure, totally. That's why the girls were totally all hanging off me at the waterpark the other day."

"No, that's because you're all strutting around barely wearing anything and throwing money around. They're after your money. If they weren't money grabbing hussies after the Wayne fortune they wouldn't look twice at either of us. Fucking second adopted spoilt brat."

"Fucking tight ass first adopted. You could so be living the high life, and you don't."

"Starfire likes me for me. Not because I have money or fame."

Jason rolled his eyes at me and blew smoke in my direction. "Dick, she doesn't even know your name. She called you 'Robin'. You could fuck around on her and she wouldn't even know."

"I'd know. Haven't you ever had a girlfriend before?"

"Nope. Don't wanna be tied down like that. Dude, she got like these ample tits there," he gestured crudely. "You so totally could've gotten a jackoff picture from her."

Really, that's enough. I tossed the butt to the ground and stamped on it. "Okay, change of topic please. I don't like the fucking leer in your face. Eyes off."

"Ya can't stop me thinking it," he smirked. "You should've been more careful with your phone sex this morning."

I kicked his bike, making it topple. "You're a fuckhead," I said as I jumped back on mine and jammed my helmet back on.

"Oh, good comeback," he sneered at me as he picked himself up. "And the term is 'dickhead', bitch."

I gave him the finger. "Catcha later, Jase. Good luck on patrol tonight."

He gave me a grin and a wave. "Yeah, catcha, bro. Have fun with your monitoring."

You know, there are times I think we swear at each other and call each other names because there really aren't a lot of common interests. We clash too much.

That night, I hid as small distance from Starfire's room, waiting for her to exit. I had my small pair of binoculars up to my face, watching her window. I didn't think she'd come out until dark and it would be interesting to see how she'd find Jason and Babs as they went on patrol.

She wriggled out of her bathroom window about an hour after dark, then fiddled with it so it appeared more closed before she took off into the night.

Not surprisingly, she went back to the same area I'd first spotted her in last night. I ran along the rooftops after her. She was being very careful about where she flew, even watching behind her, but I was sneakier than she was. She hung around that region for a while, probably under the impression it was a normal patrol route, before she flew up to the top of the highest building she could find to survey. I teleported up there, hiding in the shadows so I'd be close enough to follow whatever direction she took.

Starfire doesn't know Gotham, but she sure knows crime. She picked almost the exact patrol routes Batman had Jason run. It took her longer to spot Jason and Babs than I would have liked, but I put that down to the fact that she just doesn't know Gotham. Poor thing, it's hard being in a new city.

She followed them discreetly, making me rather proud of her sneakiness. No wonder she'd been hard to spot, picking the shadows to hide in like she was. People don't normally think to look under the awnings of buildings for someone.

Jason and Babs took the normal patrol route, not even deviating from it even a little. Stupid. You never follow the set routes exactly, you always switched it. That way criminals could never track where you were going to be.

They eventually stopped, well before they should have, although I suspect that was Jason's doing. Batman did tell Babs to babysit and bail him out if he got into trouble, but I doubt she realised he would be testing her too. Besides, Jason was just plain stubborn at times. I could see from my position she was trying to rally him into continuing, but he wouldn't and Batman said she wasn't allowed to leave his side.

Personally, I didn't think it was very fair on Babs at all. She's quite capable of doing it on her own. Why hinder her like this?

I chuckled. I bet it was because Batman didn't want to babysit himself. He's rather be off flapping his cape at Catwoman.

Starfire seemed confused they had stopped as well. She floated down from her hiding place, alighting on a fire escape. She was still being careful, quite a distance away from him and I almost see her contemplating moving closer.

Time to go say hello.

There was a stone gargoyle awning just above her, so I picked that to land on. So many things I could have said to her, but I had to remember to be Red X. There was a thousand dollars at stake here, not to mention her presence in Gotham. Hold the ruse, or she'd have to leave. Although, that didn't prevent me from dropping hints. "You're here again."

She turned her head, not even jumping at my presence. Damn, I'd been hoping for a squeak or a squeal or something. She acknowledged me with a nod. Still not talking. "Glad to see you're feeling better."

She nodded, held out her hand to me, palm up, then patted her chest.

Was that a thank you? "You're welcome," I replied. "Was very tempting to see who you were, but I resisted." Wow, when did I become such a skilled liar?

She inclined her head and looked back at Jason.

Time to rile her up a bit. I wanted her to figure out what was going on here. "Sickening, isn't it? All that flirting in public. You'd think they'd have noticed the criminals down there by now."

She went through a myriad of emotions, the metal of the fire escape crunching beneath her hands, before she shook her head and took a deep breath, relaxing. Not quite the reaction I had been expecting, especially since she'd been so upset about Babs when we'd talked on the video phone.

I nimbly jumped the distance between me and the landing she was on, then walked to her side. "You don't talk much, do you?"

Starfire shook her head. She was really taking this seriously.

C'mon, beautiful. React. Go find out who that is, so I can tell you what's going on and score some kisses. Maybe run my hands over that leather clad ass of yours. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a thing for him."

She jerked, twisted her head to me.

I couldn't help but smirk. You just gave yourself away again, Star, you really need to be more careful. What if I was someone really bad? "Hit a nerve, huh?"

She growled at me and looked away.

I leant on the railing. It was entirely possible that Jason was flirting with Babs, especially by her body language. Geez, I needed to get Starfire out of here before he started trying to feel Babs up and Babs or Starfire beat the crap out of him for it. Plus, Batman did say he'd run her out of town. I sighed. "Pathetic, really. They need to get their heads in the game. Wanna go steal something, cutie?"

She growled and swatted her hand at me. I evaded her easily, but then she wasn't trying to hit me, she was just trying to say she wasn't a thief. "You know, if you come, you can try and steal whatever it is back from me and give it to your 'boyfriend'."

Her shoulders stiffened.

Hopefully that was enough incentive to get her to come. I turned, heading up the fire escape and back onto the roof. "Coming?"

She took a deep breath and followed me up the stairs. My brave girl. I felt bad for manipulating her like that, but also kind of excited too. It was naughty and sneaky and thrilling to steal things, even if it was just from Wayne Enterprises. I wanted to share that with her.

She followed me quite meekly, my sweet little mouse, as we leapt from rooftop to rooftop on our way to Wayne Enterprises. I talked for the sake of it, hoping she'd at least open up enough to answer back. "You stole my chip. I needed that. Have to steal it again. And they amped up the security too, had to find another way to breech it. We'll have to be extra careful we don't run into Batman. Still, it's going to be fun."

Starfire snorted and shook her head.

We went in through the underground car park, I had already disabled most of the hidden cameras, just leaving the not so hidden ones for us to avoid as I led her to the service elevators and jimmied it open. I looked up at the metal support ropes. "We have to scale those. Service elevator, and no one's working at the moment, there should be no reason for them to use it. If you feel the rope vibrating, press yourself against the wall."

Starfire peered inside, looking up and sighed.

"Unless you can fly, there's no other way," I teased her, leaning in to take one of the ropes.

She didn't bite.

"Get in here then, so I can close the door."

Starfire's quite obvious when she flies, although she was trying hard not to show she could. I teased her by shimming up the ropes as fast as I could, forcing her to use her flight just to keep up with me.

There was an air duct up near the top we were going to go through. "We have to take these now, up a couple more stories. The elevators don't reach the storage room." I'm such a liar. Wow. What's wrong with me? I just wanted to spend some time with her, this would be over too soon if we just went in the easy way. Hopefully, the more time she spent with me, the easier it would be for her to see who was behind the mask.

I had her go first. Don't ask me why. I couldn't help it. I tried to tell myself it was chivalry. But really, it was the leather. Yep. Leathers. And her ass practically in my face as we crawled through the ducts. Those toned legs of hers. I was going to be so dead when she figured out why she went first.

We were inching her way up through some vertical ones when I heard her sigh.

"Right there?" I asked. "This is the last floor."

"Good."

My foot slipped, clanging against the side of the duct. Success! Now to tease. "You can talk."

She glanced down, then looked away. "I simply do not wish to converse with you."

I chuckled. It was a start! And now you've given that to me, you won't be able to help yourself. "Fine. Can I get a name at least? Rather than thinking of you as the shadow girl."

She didn't answer me, continuing to shuffle up the shaft. She paused at the top. "Which way?"

I glanced up to see where we were. "Um… the one behind you."

She sighed.

"Need a boost?" I asked. So easy, I could place my hand against her leg and lift her. Oh, who was I kidding? Any excuse to touch her.

"I will manage." She moved the foot she was sitting on to the opposite wall and braced her hands on the rim. She arched her back and lifted, bending like cat, lifting her rear over the edge. She looked so hot doing that. Wow, were the boy thoughts running rampant tonight! I needed to settle down a bit.

"Very nice," I said. "Straight ahead about fifty feet."

She crawled quickly while I watched her butt wiggle. "Kory," she said.

I jerked my head up, distracted. "Sorry?"

"My name is Kory."

"Kory? Not very villainesque." Kory? Oh, I could see that. Koriand'r. Red X wouldn't know that name, but she also didn't want me calling it out for Robin to hear too, so she shortened it. Cute, actually.

"I am not a criminal."

"Sneaking around inside Wayne Enterprise air ducts classifies as a criminal activity."

"I am simply here to prevent you from stealing anything."

"And it couldn't possibly be for my dashing good looks," I teased.

"I do not know what you look like." No, but I could tell she was thinking about it now, her tone all curious.

"Well, I don't know what you look like either, but I tell you what, the view from where I am is amazing." Opps. I hadn't meant to say that.

She froze, mid crawl. Then lashed out with a foot. I caught it easily and spun her, yanking her other ankle at the same time so she ended up flat on her back. She kicked at me again, but I just blocked her foot with my wrist, looking ahead. "We're here."

That distracted her as she tilted her head back. "It is a blank wall."

It was, but there was a control panel to her right, I just had to reach it. Without really thinking, I started crawling over her to get it. "You're not looking at it right."

She flicked her head down and gasped. Metal crunched, then I was shoved up against the roof of the duct by her knees and held in place. Oh. Dangerous. I just had to hope she wouldn't have cause to move her boot. "Easy, cutie," I wheezed. She was so strong, and she had cause to use her strength against me. I had to be careful. "I just need to reach the control panel."

Starfire didn't move. She was probably contemplating the many ways she could squish me.

"Honest. Just the control panel."

"I do not trust you."

Ouch. "I'm not asking you to trust me, but we can remain stuck here if you like. I have a nice view."

"And I have my boot in the perfect place to incapacitate you."

Damn, she did realise that. "Body armour."

"Really strong."

Just what I needed, a Tamaranian strength boot to the junk. "Point taken." I pointed. "Look, once I activate the control panel, we have only a few seconds to get through the door before it closes. I don't think we'll both make it through unless we're right there and there's not enough room to crouch."

"Where is the door?"

I slapped the wall to the right. "We'll just roll."

She turned her head. "Could I not just break it?"

"Only if you want the alarm to go off."

Starfire covered her face in her hands, groaning.

"I'll be good," I promised her.

She sighed again, resting her hands on her stomach as she slowly lowered her legs so I was free. She lay still as I inched over her. I had every intention of being good, I really didn't want to be rolling around the duct clutching at myself. She'd probably be able to kick any chance of children out of me. I positioned myself so that my knees were on either side of her waist, one hand braced above her head, before I went for my screwdriver.

The control panel was easy to open, they always were, but I had to override the alarms in the console too and that's hard to do. Unless you have the Wayne access codes. It was a tricky screen to get too, buried deep within the mainframe and you had to do it quickly. I couldn't voice command it, as I would have if I was alone, since that would be a complete give away, so I had to enter the system through a back door. Bruce really didn't want just anyone stealing his treasures.

I hated typing one handed. I straightened my back, seeing if I could brace my shoulders on the roof so I could use both hands, but it wasn't as stable or as comfortable as I would have liked, so I forgot about that idea.

Starfire was making all these little sighs, I don't even think she realised she was doing it, and I was curious as to what she was thinking.

I had just finished getting ready to activate the door and erasing traces of my visit when her hand connected with my chest. I froze, startled and flicked my head down to her. Her fingers splayed, just over my heart, I was almost positive she could feel the beat increasing.

What was she thinking? Had she figured out it was me behind the suit? Her fingers were twitching against my chest and I felt so warm.

She seemed mesmerised. I cleared my throat.

Her head shot up, her hand snapping away from my chest and balled it into a fist against her chest. "Sorry!" she squeaked. "Sorry, sorry!" She hunched her shoulders to make herself smaller.

I frowned. Interesting reaction. I had to clear my throat again so I wouldn't react. "No harm." Obviously she hadn't meant for that to happen. Which meant she hadn't figured it out. All the same, I couldn't resist teasing her. "Does this mean I get to feel your chest?"

She shifted her leg. "Knee."

"So, what? You get a freebie?"

"There is only one man allowed near my chest and you are not him," she told me rather tartly.

Caught you, Starfire! "Ah-ha! You do have a boyfriend."

"Yes," she snapped, annoyed. "And he would not be happy with this predicament."

Actually, her boyfriend was quite fine with this situation, but I couldn't tell her that. "Cutie, anyone too busy flirting with Batgirl and not noticing their girl running off with another guy, doesn't deserve to have an opinion about this."

"I did not say it was Robin." Now she was trying to cover it.

Let's see if this gets a reaction. "Good, 'cause that'd make you Starfire, and then I'd really have to put my hands all over you. But that does raise the question as to why you were watching him so closely."

"I do not answer to you," she snapped at me.

"Just making conversation. I'd have to be blind not to notice you lurking in the shadows. I thought chuckles was supposed to be observant."

She sighed. "He has not noticed many things of late."

Hmm… could I make her see? "He's off his game. He's probably all pining for his girl, or flirting with the other one. And that's no fun. Good thing I found you."

"It is more than that."

I shifted back. "What do you mean?"

"It does not matter."

"Obviously it does, or you wouldn't have mentioned it." Please, Star, tell me you see the difference. Tell me you know that dofus out there isn't me.

"I wish I could get close enough to him," she said, sounding wistful. "Then I could tell."

I cocked my head. I knew that was the reason she couldn't tell, but maybe if I made her focus on the actions she'd realise. "What else is 'wrong' with him?"

She didn't bite. "I… no. We should concentrate on the matter at hand."

I sighed. Fine, let's spell it out for her. "Starfire, take off the mask."

She went still, her hands curling in against her chest. "What?"

"I know it's you. I've known since yesterday when you did that silly dance." Who else would know you from a little dance, Star?

"You are mistaken."

I couldn't spell it out for her any more than that, not without risking Batman's wrath. I just had to keep dropping clues. She'd see eventually, once she got passed the preconceptions of the mask. "Suit yourself. So chuckles is having a bad week. We're all entitled to one. I can't imagine being around Batman all the time would be a walk in the park. Now, are you ready?"

"For?"

"This." I grabbed her with my hands and knees, simultaneously hitting the console. The door beside us hissed open and I rolled us through.

It was a storage room on the other side, I'd known the drop was pretty easy to make. Starfire hadn't. And since we dropped into darkness, she reacted like I knew she would. She shrieked and flew, grabbing at me and pressed us together hard.

I had to laugh. "You know, 'Not-Starfire', this would have been a whole lot easier if you'd told me you could fly right back at the beginning."

"G'tuk de X'hal," she muttered. She lifted a hand from my back, and I heard her fumbling, before a starbolt illuminated the room. Her glove was in her teeth, she'd pulled her mask up to take it off.

And then she dropped me. She huffed and spat her glove and yanked her mask down.

I never realised just how fun she was to tease. "The great Starfire, reduced to helping petty thieves."

Her starbolt went out. "I would like to see you get out of here without me."

It took little effort to activate the infrared vision in my mask, lighting up her form. "Infrared vision. May I just say you're very hot—"

Her temperature went up. "No, you may not."

Still chuckling, I headed in the direction of the lights, stealing the chip on the way. "Let me get the lights."

I glanced back at her, she'd folded her arms on her chest in a huff. "You know," I said. "Since you can fly, that'll make getting out of here pretty easy. We can blast through the window."

"If you think I will assist you in escaping, you should reassess your thinking."

"So, you want to get caught here when they answer the alarm?"

She paused. "When?"

I hit the lights. "I tripped it from the console back in the ducts," I said, holding up the satchel. "No fun if you don't get chased."

Her arms dropped to her sides. "I cannot be caught here," she blurted.

"Exactly," I said, and held out my hand. "So let's fly. You can steal it back off me later."

She looked uncertain.

"Time's a wastin'."

She took my hand, lifting us off the ground and then paused again. "But—"

"Batman will be here any moment," I lied.

"Oooh." We shot through the window, Starfire powering through it, before we tore into the sky beyond. She kept lifting us up and I wondered what her game was. She paused, floating, then lifted me up by the wrist until I was level with her face. "Give me the satchel, or I will drop you."

I laughed at her cheek. "Go ahead," I said, focussing on a building quite some distance from us and in the direction of her motel and tapped my belt. When we shimmered onto the top of the building, I broke her grip. "Catch me if you can," I said, and darted away.

I could hear her footsteps behind me, she'd resorted to running again and I supposed that was to hide her cover from Batman. She was concerned he'd be after her. I ran for a while, teasing her with my speed although I was fairly certain she was using her flight to keep up with me.

I shimmered across a wide gap between two rooves, then quickly scaled the wall, slipping in to the building through her bathroom window.

Time for phase two.