Close Calls

When the team had found her, she was just lying in the floor yelling in agony. Robin ran towards her first and picked her up in his arms. He tried to yell over her screams to get her to calm down, but it wasn't working. He could feel how her skin was on fire and her muscles were contracting. He tried to shake her or anything to get her to wake up, but she didn't respond. She was in pain. His best friend, someone he deeply cared about was in pain and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Robin felt useless, which only made his emotions more intense. Robin was panicking and the rest of the titans knew it.

Raven tried to take control of the situation and said, "We have to get her back to the Tower." Robin's panic quickly transformed into controlled anger.

With grimace in his voice, he picked Starfire up in his arms and said, "Let's go."

…..

Luckily, her screams and the pain stopped when they got her to the Tower, but she remained unconscious.

Robin walked into the treatment room and asked Cyborg, "How is she?"

"She'll be fine. She just needs some rest."

"Do you know what happened?"

"Well, when we got her down here I hooked her up to my scanners and it seemed that most of the transmitters in her brain were sending off signals that there was danger nearby, but she didn't even have any bruises from when she fell on the floor."

"Her brain was telling her she was in pain when she really wasn't at all."

"Exactly, so to stop the transmitters I gave her a dose of Bismuth Acid. It balanced out the alerting transmitters and endorphins, so she should be feeling back to normal."

Walking over to Starfire's bedside, he asked, "Do you know what caused it?"

"I'm guessing it has to do with the green things on her uniform. That's the only thing I could find wrong with her."

Robin took her hand in his and said, "Thank you, Cyborg. I really appreciate it."

"Of course, Robin. She's my friend, too. I just want her to be okay, and I'm really glad she has someone like you to look after her." The Boy Wonder was grateful he didn't tease him about holding Starfire's hand. He would probably say she was his girlfriend or something childish like that. Even though that was something he has wanted for a long time. Robin stroked her hand with his thumb, trying to soothe her in a way Cyborg wouldn't see.

He knew better though. The young hero wouldn't be able to be with Starfire, let alone anyone, if he were to keep living this life. He had been taught that the mission comes first and nothing else. Robin quickly turned and left his teammates.

….

Beastboy and Cyborg were playing an intense game of Racers 2000, a new videogame they bought, while Raven was sitting next to them trying to meditate. She thought if the two were very concentrated on the game, then they would be silent, but she soon found out that they were the exact opposite.

"BOO-YAH! Beat you, again, BB!" yelled Cyborg.

"Awe c'mon, Cy. Not cool! You totally cheated!" Beastboy yelled back.

"I did not cheat! You're just mad that you lost," Cyborg mockingly laughed. Raven's patience was wearing thin.

"I am not!"

"Uh, yeah you are" Raven sighed heavily, hoping they would shut up.

"No way! You cheated and you know it!"

"Be quiet!" Raven yelled over them, interrupting their petty argument. "I am trying to meditate, which requires silence, so please. Shut. Up." The two men remained silent as Raven closed her eyes, trying to find some peace.

Which didn't last long.

"Have you guys seen Robin lately?" Beastboy asked.

Cyborg said as he was pushing buttons on his game controller, "No, actually. Not since I got Starfire to the medical wing."

Giving up on her meditation, she floated down onto the couch and replied, "He's been in his room all day."

Beastboy asked as he was playing the videogame, "Do you think he's sad?"

Cyborg replied, "Nah, doesn't sound like him. He's probably trying to find Red X since he escaped last time."

"Robin never does anything other than 'the mission'. I don't get why that guy is always so uptight." Beastboy said, losing another game to Cyborg.

Raven explained, "Robin thinks the best way to help Starfire is to catch Red X. That's all he knows how to do, so don't judge him for trying to help in his own way."

Beastboy added, "Okay, but why is he always so brooding and mysterious." He then put his arm over his nose as if he had a cape covering his body up to his eyes.

"We all have a past, Beastboy, and some were harder than others." Raven said leaving the other two quiet as they played their videogame. Raven was secretly happy that she got both of them to shut up.

…

Robin sat at his desk, staring at his screen, which was the only source of light in the room. He had been searching databases, watching surveillance feeds, looking up police reports and listening to the Jump City PD radio. After days of dead ends and no answers, he was getting frustrated. To make things better Starfire hadn't woke up yet. It wasn't that there was no good news. It was that there's no news at all. No leads, nothing to go on, no hope. The Boy Wonder had the urge to throw his computer across the room. He needed to hit something. He got out of his chair and was about to go to the training room inside the Tower when a kind face appeared outside his door.

"Hello, Robin!" Starfire said cheerfully.

How are you doing?" Robin asked.

"I am feeling much better! Cyborg has returned me to the health and I am ready for combat!" she pumped a fist into the air.

"Oh, well I was going to the training room, so see you later." Before he left he turned to her and said, "I'm glad you're feeling better, Star"

She felt her stomach drop at her friend's reaction. Could she even call him her friend? Time after time she had to question his actions and her own feelings. Even at the storage building he yelled for Red X to not touch her and then attacked him. Maybe he was just trying to defeat Red X, or was it because he was worried for her safety, but as a friend or something more? She outwardly groaned. Human interaction had been always hard for her to understand, especially with Robin. It had her question their relationship many times.

She had hoped that Robin would be overjoyed to see her well after three days in bed, but she knew deep inside she was hoping for too much. Robin was never one to show much emotion, but luckily he was better at that than Raven. Thinking of her good friend, she headed off to Raven's room.

She knocked on her door and called, "Raven? Raven, are you there? I was wondering if you would like to do the hanging out."

After a few seconds of no response she knocked again, "Raven? Rav-"

"What?" the door had slid open to reveal an irritated titan.

"Oh, well, I was thinking we could have the hanging out or watch some television or maybe even we could trade embarrassing stories about boys-"

"No." With that Raven closed the door and walked back into her room.

Starfire asked, "Are you sure? I could make you Garblon. It is a special meal on my home world and it has always brought my people together. We could-"

"Alright. Since you won't leave me alone, I guess we can hang out." When the door opened, Starfire cheered and clapped her hands.

"Oh, how wonderful!" she walked into her friend's room only to find dark, eerie objects. There was a dark purple rug that led to her bed. Scary masks hung on her wall next to the slanted mirror. The windows were covered, leaving the room dark. She was taken aback, but didn't let it show. She didn't want to offend Raven.

Unsure of what to do Starfire's friend asked, "So, um what would you like to do?"

"We could trade stories."

Raven wasn't used to a lot of hanging out with her friends one on one, especially with her overly happy friend, Starfire. She didn't want to share any of her past including her father, so she suggested for Starfire to share first. Besides, Raven pretty much knew what this was actually about.

Starfire began, "Robin is confusing."

Raven asked, "What do you mean?"

"When we were fighting Red X at the storage facility, Robin had attacked him and yelled for him not to touch me. I was thinking maybe he acted in such a way because he was very worried for me, but maybe it was like how any friend would." Frustrated she walked over to Raven's bed and plopped herself down onto it. "Oh, I don't know! The only thing I do know is that I have strong feelings for him. They're not like what I feel for you or Cyborg or Beastboy. They are something more."

"Starfire, I'm pretty sure you're in love with Robin." Raven stated, trying to get this conversation over with.

Her teammate looked down at her hands and said, "It doesn't matter if I am or not. He does not share my feelings."

"I can't be very in touch with my feelings since my powers depend on it, but I can tell Robin feels the same way you do."

Starfire looked up and asked, "How can you tell?"

"Like me, Robin tries to keep his emotions in check. I do it to control my powers. He does it to remain focused, but when he is around you he lets his walls down. He looks happier, less serious. More like the teenager we all forget we are. He lets his emotions show when he is around you." She meant every word, but also hoped this would get her out of her room, so she could get back to studying her books.

With the stars back in her eyes, Starfire exclaimed, "Thank you, Raven! I feel overjoyed now that I have heard your advice!" she ran over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, almost choking her, "Is there anything you would like to talk about?" Starfire set her down.

Raven cleared her throat and fixed her cape then said, "No, not really." Raven was glad she could help, but was ready for her to leave.

"Oh, um okay. Maybe instead we can-"

"Actually I would like to get back to my reading," Raven said, trying not to hurt her feelings, but trying to get her to leave.

"I understand," she said as she floated to the door. When she was outside she turned and said, "Thank you very" The door then slid shut. "much."

…

Robin had been punching the same punching bag for the past 3 hours. He kept thinking back to when Red X had touched Starfire and how flirtatious he was. What made it all worse was that he had no leads on the criminal at all. Feeling useless, he buried his hands deep into the sack, sending sweat off his forehead and grunts bouncing off the walls. With his red boxing gloves on, punch after punch after punch flew out his hands. He couldn't stop and had no desire to. He pummeled the bag trying to break it in half. Red X hurt Starfire. Red X got away, and there was nothing Robin could do about it. His yells filled the training room until he fell on his knees, breathing heavily.

When his knees hit the concrete, Robin felt his anger dissipate and his body relax. As he controlled his breathing, he took off his boxing gloves and walked over to the small table near him. The young hero picked up a towel to clean off his sweat. He swung the towel over his shoulders and held his gloves in one hand. He was going to get a drink of water, but then he heard screams and explosions in the tower.

"Titans!" Robin yelled as he abandoned his gloves and towel. He ran down the hall and into the foyer of the Tower. He met up with Raven, Cyborg, and Beastboy near the doorway.

"What was that?" Beastboy asked.

Cyborg answered, "I don't know, but my systems say that there wasn't any break-in"

"Whatever it was, it's not gonna like us," Robin said as he walked into the room. The couch was destroyed, a few of the monitors broken, and the windows were cracked.

Suddenly, "Whoa, whoa, AHHHHH!" Starfire flew across the room, sending herself into the wall, while star bolts burst against the floor. Puffs of smoke and green light began to fill the room.

Robin called out, "Starfire!"

"Robin! I don't know what's- AHHH"

"Titans, go!" More and more bolts were fired away as Starfire was flying all around the room. Beastboy flew up as a bird, but then transformed into a gorilla mid-fall to catch her, but a star bolt rammed right into his chest. Raven tried to surround her with a force field, but Starfire accidently flew right into her, knocking her down to the ground. Luckily, Cyborg launched a net, pulling her down to the floor. She kept flying up and to the side, but after a few moments her body calmed down and stayed to the floor. Robin ran to her, not sure what to think.

"Starfire! Are you okay?" he threw the net off of her and helped her to her feet. He let his hand stay on her arm. He told himself it was to make her feel better.

"Yes, I am fine"

Beastboy asked, "Why were you going so crazy?"

Raven slapped the back of his head and asked, "He means to ask what happened."

"Well, I was just about to watch some television when the color of my green receptors started flickering. I soon felt sick to my stomach and I did not know what was happening. All of a sudden, I was flying around the room and my star bolts were firing. I had no control over myself." She looked down at the ground.

Cyborg asked, "So, those green things on your uniform do what?"

"They help keep my powers stable when I am in combat. I have never seen them flicker in this way before. The one of my chest, though, never lit up."

Beastboy asked, "Are your powers broken because the green thing on your chest is?"

Starfire touched the green receptor on her chest her fingers lightly and replied, "I'm not sure."

…

The girl from Tamaran was sitting on her bed thinking about what happened that day. She kept touching the orb, feeling along the lines where it had cracked. There was a knock at the door and she heard a muffled voice.

"Uh, hey, Star. It's Robin. I wanted to make sure you were okay,"

She opened the door and all Robin could focus on was how beautiful she was. He noticed the unusual intensity of her green eyes and the way her long, red, hair reached down her back. Her skin was one of his favorite things about her, though. It had this orange glow that wasn't too alien, but not human enough. It made her different. It made her special. Though, not in the way where she was odd, but how she was her completely own thing. She was something new, something amazing.

"Robin!" she yelled, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Star."

"I asked you what you wanted to talk about, but you seemed to not have heard me," Starfire said.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something."

"What were you thinking about?"

"You" Robin cursed himself, "I was thinking about you and wondering if you were okay" Nice save, Robin, if you could call it that.

"Let me put your mind at ease. Will you please come in." she said and stepped aside to let him into her room. Her bedroom was filled with warm and inviting colors, making him feeling a little out of place. It was tidy and clean, with everything having its own place. Her circular bed was against the far end of the wall, while her dresser was on the side. Dark purples and light pinks drenched the room.

Starfire walked over to her bed, sat down and said, "I am feeling much better after what happened in the foyer. I think I just needed some rest." Robin sat next to her on the bed and felt his heart rate rise.

He asked, "Are you sure because that didn't seem like something you could just sleep off?"

Starfire gave in and added, "I must admit I haven't been feeling myself." She held the inside of her elbow. "The green receptors on my uniform help channel my powers during combat. My abilities are most powerful during our missions, so that is why I need the receptors most when there is an attack. When Red X broke the one on my chest, it must have thrown my powers off." She looked down at her hands in her lap.

"I am not in control at the moment, Robin." She felt powerless and small.

He took her hand in his own and intertwined their fingers. Her hand was so soft and warm in his own. He looked up at her, but she was still looking down. He gently grabbed her chin and had her look at him.

He said in a hushed voice, "It's okay, Star. We all had to learn how to use our abilities and sometimes we had to learn all over again. I know I did."

She scooted a little closer to him and asked, "What do you mean?"

"When I was younger, I was in the circus and I was an acrobat. My father had shown me how to fly from pole to pole and how to do flips twenty feet in the air. I was scared at first, but I slowly learned how to overcome it. When I became Robin, I had to learn how to fight, how to use what I knew and apply it in a whole new way. I had to start all over and I was scared the second time, too, but I knew I could overcome it. The same way I now know you can overcome this."

Starfire broke into a smile and giggled, which brought his attention to her lips. He saw how soft and new and amazing they looked. He scooted a little closer and wanted nothing more than to kiss her softly and gently. The way she deserved to be held.

She noticed how close they had gotten and the fact that they were on her bed, but she didn't stand up or lean back. She didn't want to. Starfire saw the way his hair was perfectly gelled and how strong and determined he was on every mission. Another thing she admired about him was during combat, he trusted her to not only be able to fend for herself, but to actually take part on the team. Even though, she didn't mind waking up in his arms after she had fallen, headache aside.

Raven was right. He did let his emotions show when he was around her. That fact made her heart swell. She felt herself lean in even closer to him.

"Robin, thank you for understanding" They were getting closer by the second and she felt her eyelids get heavy. She tilted her head just slightly.

"No problem, Star." He felt her hand in his and how warm it was. She was so close, he could feel her body heat wrap around him, making him feel so safe and warm. When he tilted his head, his knee bumped into her thigh, sending fireworks on his skin.

As his eyes closed and he drew nearer, he remembered what happened to her, what Red X did, and how Red X escaped. He failed the mission and let his emotions cloud his focus. Robin pulled back, stopping what might've turned into a kiss.

"But I have to find Red X. He's the one who did this to you and I let him escape. He's on the streets and I have to bring him to justice." he said, getting up and letting her hand go.

"Robin, wait. It was not-"

"Don't worry, Starfire. I'll find him." He was already out the door before she could say anything else. Starfire didn't know what to do. For a second she felt so warm and herself, again, but then Robin changed the atmosphere just by leaving. She was so sure Robin loved her, but he walked away as they were about to…possibly kiss. She thought of kissing him, of how he would hold her cheek with his strong, calloused, hands and pull her in slowly until her soft lips met his. At the thought, butterflies were let loose in her stomach, but there was excitement in her heart. Returning back to reality, she remembered he walked out so abruptly, almost like they didn't almost kiss. Starfire felt lost and scared all over again.