Well, you know, I guess this is it. Have to say I'm sorta disappointed by the response.
Guess Cyborg is destined to be unpopular forever more. I thought perhaps slash might be better received but the other two CyxRob one-shots I mentioned beforehand – Pettins and Learn – also got a limited response. Don't know WHY no-one likes Cy but it seems to be something I cannot change. Setsuna Mudo proved a point, however, by saying that one of the reasons is the difficulty of doing Cyborg-related intimacy.
I agree with that, at least.
Second half now; hope you "all" like it.
And to the person who said I stole this from the "episode where there (wrong "they're", I might add…) in that place with the King of Games", three things: It's the "Master" of Games, not the "King" of Games; yes, I know I took it from the episode, I did say that right at the start, and the fic is called Winner Take All, isn't it?; and third… Okay, well, it's your misfortune to catch me in a very intolerant mood, but your pen-name, Teen Titians fan 101… You even spelt "Titan" wrong, honey. And it's not a hard word to spell. In fact, the ending sequence of the show even verbally spells it out…
Sorry about that. To the rest of you; enjoy!
Winner Take All: Part II
Robin rolled over and sat up abruptly, his eyes wide.
Embarrassed, Cyborg stood up quickly, putting his bad roaming hand behind his back.
"Cyborg?" Robin shook himself completely awake, frowning at his half-robotic friend. "What are you…? Did I fall asleep?"
Cyborg shifted uncomfortably.
"Yeah…"
"Did you get through to the Tower?"
Cyborg looked up, startled even though Robin's words had not been in any way accusing.
"What? Oh, I, uh… no. No, I didn't…"
Robin quirked an eyebrow at his friend's strange behavior.
"You okay, Cy?"
"Yeah, sure…" Cyborg bit his lip after those airy words. "Listen, I'm gonna go back to my room now… you know, sleep an' all that…"
He thumbed vaguely in the direction of the door, and then backed away and turned, striding awkwardly towards it.
"What, you're just gonna walk out?"
Cyborg's metal hand froze on the handle. He slowly turned back to Robin, who was sitting perched on the edge of his bed with all the haughtiness and intelligence of the fiery little bird he was named after.
Oh god; he knows…
"What do you mean?" Cyborg tried to sound casual and curious.
And failed.
"You had your hand on my ass, Cy." Robin's masked eyes squinched a little more as he said it.
Cyborg looked at the floor.
"Robin, I… I'm really sorry, man… I thought you were asleep, I just… I don't know what I…"
"You thought I was asleep?" Robin's voice was hard as diamonds. "Cy, that makes it even worse, not better."
"I know, I… Robin, what can I say?" Cyborg's voice was pleading; desperately sorry. "I'm sorry, I never should have touched you. For any reason whatsoever. I'm so, so sorry…"
Robin seemed to tense slightly; he certainly straightened up.
But he did not fly off the handle as Cyborg had expected. He didn't shout and scream about it. He seemed quite calm, on the contrary. As though it was a usual thing for him to wake up at the sensation of his best friend/team-mate grabbing at his ass. He was silent for a while, his brow furrowed; then he patted the bed beside him.
Said nothing. It was an unspoken invitation.
One which Cyborg took. He crossed the room again and sat next to his small, dark-haired friend.
For a while there was silence between them; Robin's gloved hands were folded in his green lap and he gazed intently down at them.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Cyborg's words were more a statement than a question.
More silence.
"Actually, no," Robin replied finally, looking up at him, studying him the light of the torch. "I'm not, Cy. I should be, because what you did was… you shouldn't have done it. I was asleep; you shouldn't have touched me. It's kind of…"
"Pervy," Cyborg finished heavily.
"Yeah." Robin actually smiled faintly. "But I don't hate you for it, Cy, and I'm not angry at you. I don't know why, but I'm not. I'm… I'm just not."
Cyborg blinked.
"Why?" Would he be angry, if the roles would be reversed?
Not that Robin ever would touch him in his sleep. Who would want to feel up the metal man? You'd get the same sensation feeling up a fridge…
Another awkward silence.
Finally;
"Because I like you, Cy." Robin's voice was very quiet, but Cyborg had enhanced hearing; he caught it just fine.
He blinked and stared at Robin, who was focusing intently on his lap again.
"You what?"
Robin sighed heavily.
"You heard me. I like you." He looked up again, suddenly looking so young and vulnerable Cyborg was quite alarmed. "I've always liked you. But I… I never said, because… I figured it would screw things up…"
He flushed pink suddenly.
"That is…" He cleared his throat, embarrassed. "If you… sorry, that was very arrogant of me… I mean, that if you ever… if you liked me back. Which you probably don't, so…"
Cyborg couldn't believe what he was hearing. He shook his head violently; surely he was imagining this? It had been kind of a wacky day already, and he was tired, too… He was dreaming, right? He had to be. This stuff suddenly coming from Robin's mouth… he couldn't comprehend it. It wasn't right.
"No, Robin, I…" Cyborg put his head in his metal hands. "Oh, god, I just… I really like you, I really do… Come on, man; I was groping your butt. Of course I like you. I guess I just realized it, but I really like you…"
Robin smiled, reaching for his metal arm.
"But…"
Robin's smile faded and he recoiled his hand as he heard that one traitorous word. The terrible contrasting conjunction, and the emphasis Cyborg stressed on it as it left his lips, that could only mean one thing.
No way, Wonder Boy. It ain't happening…
Cyborg sighed.
"…Robin, it would never work. You and I are just too… different…"
Robin scowled resentfully.
"I hope you aren't talking about skin color, Cy," he said reproachfully. "Because you know that doesn't matter. You know that."
"Oh, Robin, no," Cyborg replied heavily. "No, I do know that. That it doesn't matter. We live in modern America; no, I know it makes no difference. We're all the same in society."
"Then what is the problem?" Robin asked sulkily.
"It's just…" Cyborg stood up again, turning away from his friend. "It's…"
"It's what?"
"It's me, Robin!" Cyborg burst out, whipping around to face the other boy. "Look at me! I'm a freak! A soddin' half-robot!"
Robin gazed at him, gobsmacked and aghast.
"Cyborg, you aren't a freak." Robin's voice wavered as he said it, as though he was on the verge of tears. "How can you say that about yourself? How?"
"Look at me, Robin!" Cyborg snapped. "You aren't stupid, man! You aren't blind. Just look at me! And then look at yourself. No matter what you say, we aren't the same. It would never work. I'm too big, too awkward… I could hurt you, man, and I don't wanna do that."
"Cy, it would be fine," Robin argued. "Seriously, it would be okay. It will be okay." He stood too. "I promise that, Cyborg."
He clutched at Cyborg's metal-encased forearm, looking up at him. Cyborg stiffened at his touch but still Robin clung to him.
"How can you like me, man?" He asked softly, not looking at the younger boy. "I'm nothing to look at. I'm not even normal. I used to be like you, Robin, but now I'm not; not anymore."
"I know that, Cy. I don't care. I don't like people for how they look. Your appearance means nothing to me. I like you for who you are. You're my best friend, but… I don't know, recently, I've just felt something more. I can't explain it. I need you, Cyborg, and it's not because of how you look. It's just… you. You steady me, you help me… I love you, Cy, and I want you, and I don't care what kind of hands you touch me with; whether they're metal or they're flesh. As long as they're yours, I don't care."
Cyborg looked at him and smiled.
And then;
"What about Star?"
Robin's own smile tempered somewhat.
"I don't know. She's not my girlfriend, if that's what you mean."
"No, I mean… she likes you. She'd be devastated to find out that you don't like her in return; and that's just without telling her you're… um…"
"Gay?" Robin wrinkled his nose. "You know, I'm not actually sure if I am. But I want you, Cy, and you're a guy, so I guess…"
"And Starfire?"
"I'll have to tell her." The Boy Wonder sighed, gripping Cyborg's arm. "I really like her and everything, and I still think she's pretty. No, she's beautiful, Cy, but… I thought I loved her. But I don't. Or maybe I did, but it's gone. I think it was just a crush. Whatever it was, it's gone. Star's my friend, and I love her, but not in that way. Not anymore."
Cyborg nodded, his expression grim.
"So what are you gonna do, man?"
"I'll work something out. Don't worry about it."
"Not about Starfire." Cyborg sighed, gripping Robin's thin upper arms. "I mean us, man. I mean about us. What do you wanna do?"
Robin swallowed.
"What do you mean, "do"?"
Cyborg sighed again.
"Not like that. I mean… I mean…" He trailed off in frustration. "I mean us, Robin; literally. You wanna make a go of it, or do you want me to keep away from you?"
Robin blinked.
"Why would I want that?"
"Because… I thought maybe… you don't want this," Cyborg said heavily. "I thought maybe… like, you know, it's another crush. Maybe you thought it was, and I thought maybe you… wanted to see if it passed. Because you said you weren't actually sure if you were…"
"I…" Robin frowned. "I don't know. I suppose… I'm not sure, Cy. It's really hard, I can't…" He looked up at his larger friend, his expression one of adorable confusion. "…I don't know what I want."
"Maybe you're bisexual."
Robin quirked an eyebrow at Cyborg's blunt comment.
"Thanks, Cy."
"No kiddin', man. If you can't decide, maybe you really are bi. You said that you did like Star for a bit, so obviously you ain't totally gay, but…"
Robin smiled vaguely.
"Kinda greedy though, isn't it?"
Cyborg grinned.
"Kinda," he agreed.
"What about you? You "bi" too?" Robin imitated the speech-marks sarcastically with his fingers, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet to accentuate it. Cyborg almost laughed. Sometimes Robin was very funny without meaning to be. But it wasn't wise to laugh at Robin; he was notorious for sulking. And he could be kind of scary too, sometimes.
That temper was another thing that had been taught to him by Batman. That manic sudden-snapping of all sanity; he was calm up until a point and then he would just lose it. It was a rare thing, true, but not one Cyborg – or any of the other Titans – liked to see. Many a crook had ended up hospitalized for falling foul of Robin's filthy temper; he was one not best provoked when in a bad mood. It was like poking a black mamba with a stick.
Regardless of which, Cyborg's thought train was digressing, and he quickly shook himself back to his senses. Robin was blinking up at him, his masked eyes wide; his small gloved hands now clutching at one of Cyborg's large metal ones.
"Um… sorry, what?" Cyborg shook his head again apologetically.
"I said are you "bi" too?"
Again with the cute mimicking of the speech-marks. His hands came back to Cyborg's when he was done with his little acting turn.
"Um… I don't know…"
Cyborg floundered hopelessly. He had never been any good at this, even when he had been a normal guy. Chatting up girls – yes, girls, then – had never been one of his strongest personality traits. Even though he had been star player of the football team. Of the swim team. Gotham High's ace basketball player. Top of everything when it came to sports. The girls had practically been hanging off his arm, but he had never been any good at talking to them.
Had he ever truly even liked any of them?
No. No, I didn't. Not really. I went to the prom with that chick, but she ditched me halfway through for that weedy geeky Mervin guy. Why? Because Mervin had tickets to that concert by that band she was obsessed with. Not that I liked her, but I looked a bit stupid being crowned Prom King all by myself, with no Prom Queen next to me. She was out back practically eating poor Mervin alive… All for concert tickets…
Robin wouldn't have done that. Even when he had been blackmailed by that evil Kitten girl to take her to her junior prom – and even though he had hated her – he hadn't ditched her. Even though Starfire had been there mooning over him, swanning around looking fabulous in that pink dress. Even then.
Had he still liked Star then? Probably. They had danced. Cyborg had never seen Starfire look happier than when she was in Robin's slim, strong arms, leaning against his chest with some difficulty, seeing as she was actually quite a bit taller than him.
And he felt guilty. He couldn't take Robin away from Starfire. She really liked him. It was selfish of him to try to take Robin from her.
So he made that clear to the Boy Wonder.
"But I don't like Starfire anymore!" Robin fumed in reply. "I did, Cy, I really did. She used to make my heart go crazy whenever she came within ten feet of me – sometimes I used to panic and think I was having a heart attack. Sometimes it was worse than that. Sometimes I used to… She… sometimes I…"
"Say what, man?"
Embarrassed and unable to say it out loud, Robin grimaced and gestured wildly at his crotch.
"Work it out, Cy! Sometimes I used to have to lock myself up in my room just to… Well, I'm sure I don't need to explain it. But then… I don't know, it seems like one morning I just woke and it was gone. I didn't like her anymore. I mean, not sexually. I still like her as friend. I can't explain it, Cy, but I don't want to be with her. She makes me uncomfortable whenever she gets too close to me, but it's no longer in the short-shrinking way. It's just… I don't know, Cyborg, I really don't know…" He took a deep breath. "But I don't want to be with her anymore. I don't want to touch her, or kiss her, or… or stick it in, or whatever! I don't want her, Cy, and it's as simple as that. I want you, so stop trying to make me feel guilty."
"Even the way I am?"
"Of course!" Robin was getting irritable now. "Cyborg, didn't you learn anything from that battle with Atlas a few weeks back? It doesn't matter; nothing matters but your will to overcome whatever life throws at you. As long as you have the strength to believe in yourself, you'll always succeed."
Cyborg smiled. Robin came out with as many good quips and analogies as he came out with bad corny ones.
Which was quite a lot.
Holy cupid, Batman! Something weird is happening to me! Gee whiz, I think I'm in love!
Not to worry, old chum; I have just the remedy for that…
Cyborg took a deep breath and suddenly leaned down and gathered Robin's light form into his strong metal arms, clumsily finding his mouth and dominating it. Robin gasped in surprise and then almost choked himself, writhing in Cyborg's grip. Cyborg released him, frowning.
"You okay, man?" He suddenly felt awkward and stupid, and immediately put Robin down. He shifted uncomfortably, wiping off his mouth on his metal wrist as he watched Robin get his breath back. "I'm sorry, man," he mumbled, looking at the dark floor. "Sorry, that was stupid… I never should have… of course you wouldn't want to…"
"No…" Robin looked up at him, his face impassive in the torch-light. "No, Cyborg… of course I want…"
He trailed off, reaching up towards the half-robot like a toddler wanting to be picked up for a hug. Cyborg obliged in the way that the responding parent would, lifting the Boy Wonder up – gentler this time – and holding him squirming against his broad steel-encased chest. He could feel how thin his ribs were, how small and skinny he was in comparison to his own robotically-enhanced athlete's physique. He held him slackly, one hand at his back, the other at his lower thighs, bunching his cape beneath his metal fingers.
Robin's small gloved hands touched either side of Cyborg's dark face as he came closer again.
"You sure you want this, man?" Cyborg rudely broke into his intimate intention and Robin rolled his eyes, irritated.
"Would you shut up?"
"But I-"
Robin deliberately – spitefully – dug his fingers in to Cyborg' exposed dark skin as he brought their lips together with force that was so sudden that this time Cyborg was the one to be alarmed by it. He almost dropped Robin, to start with; the smaller boy grasped desperately around the half-robot's neck, clinging to him, his mouth still locked with the other's, until Cyborg got his act together and lifted him against him again. Robin made himself comfortable again, pushing with legs against Cyborg's chest to lift himself to a higher level than the half-robot to kiss downwards. Leading. Dominating.
Cyborg held him covetously and let the ravenous little bird have his fill. Feeling Robin's warm body squirm against him – against his metal hands and arms and torso – was indescribable. For the first time, it seemed, he could truly feel. As though his nerves were no longer artificial. As though his hands were truly flesh and blood again. Robin's gloved hands touched his skin – on his face and neck – and made it tingle with sensation.
And his mouth—
So hot and sweet against his own… The younger teen licked at his mouth and then kissed deeper and let his small tongue become quite hurriedly acquainted with Cyborg's own. Cyborg tightened his grip on him, as though suddenly jealous; nobody else would ever be having Robin after this. Not Starfire. Not that newfound clingy Speedy-guy. Nobody.
How could he never have noticed this in Robin before? Never noticed the attraction within him, and the attractiveness about him? It didn't make sense to him now; not when he held the Boy Wonder in his arms.
He had Robin in his arms. Kissing him. Touching him. Robin, the team leader. Robin, as in Batman and Robin Robin. Robin the Boy Wonder Robin. Famous – infamous, even – in Gotham; heck, Cyborg had heard of Robin before he had ever met him to form the Teen Titans. He was the Teen King of Butt-Kick.
And now Cyborg held him in his arms.
Kissing him.
He ran his large metal hand through Robin's dark hair; his other sneakily – or not-so-sneakily – groped at the smaller boy's butt as he held him to him. And then Robin broke the kiss, turning his head to the side, purring low in his throat.
"Mmm… Cy…"
Cyborg caressed the back of his head, rubbing at his spikes, and Robin moved his head against it like a cat, his eyes closed.
"Mmm…"
He purred again, leaning his head back. Then he brought it forward again and put his mouth to Cyborg's cheek; he kissed him there first, lips against smooth chocolate skin. Then he kissed right down the older teen's jaw, licking every now and then, savoring the taste of that cocoa flesh, and leaving a smoldering, tingling trail in his mouth's wake.
This time Cyborg moaned deeply.
"Ohh… Robin… Robbie…"
"Ssh…"
"Robin… stop doing this to me…"
"You started this, Cyborg." Robin sank his teeth into Cyborg's neck; the right side that was just pure, flawless dark skin. No circuits here; no metal.
"Ah!" Cyborg let out a surprised little cry, snapping his head back. Robin was really hurting him – biting right into him with his teeth – and he had a suspicion that the other boy had actually broken the skin there. But he liked it, somehow. It was agony, but he liked it…
"Robbie, please… you're gonna leave a mark…"
Robin's head came up again.
"I know."
There was blood on his mouth. Alarmed, Cyborg's metal hand snapped to his neck, clasping over the wound.
"You little— You bit me!"
"I gave you a hicky." Robin wiped his lips off on his gloves.
Cyborg was outraged.
"That was not a hickey, Robin! I mean… this isn't a hicky! For petesakes, you made me bleed!"
"My own special brand, Cyborg." Robin's mouth pressed back to the perfect circle of tiny punctures and he began to lick it clean.
Cyborg shivered.
"What, you some kinda vampire now?"
"Oh, yeah…" Robin's tongue lapped at Cyborg's no-longer flawless skin. "A vampire, Cy; a vampire bat."
Cyborg tugged him away from where he was leeching at his throat and promptly put him down.
Robin smiled.
"Mine now," he murmured. He sounded way too happy.
"Robin, that's dangerous."
Robin's expression became very droll. He observed Cyborg boredly for a few seconds. Then;
"You liked it, Cyborg. I felt you shiver when I bit into you. You liked it. Because I was branding you, Cy. You've never felt like you belonged anywhere before. Always felt like no-one's ever wanted you. But then I branded you – gave you a hickey – and suddenly you know you're wanted You're wanted on my team, because I need you; and I love you too, and I need you for other reasons, and…"
He tugged at the neck of his cape, exposing his own milky-pale skin.
"…Wanna mark me?"
OOOOO
Minutes – though it seemed like hours – later, Cyborg took his mouth from Robin's neck to admire his own "hickey". Another perfect ellipse of small crimson punctures.
They were on Robin's bed now, Cyborg pinning the former – and owner of the bed – down. He had been scared of crushing him at first, but Robin was agile and had squirmed into a position in which Cyborg could not crush him even if he had tried.
The tight black neck of Robin's cape snapped back to his throat, covering his mark.
Cyborg's metal hand went back to his own "brand".
"What am I gonna do about this? I can't hide it like you can, and it's hardly unnoticeable."
"Trust me, Cyborg…" Robin exhaled deeply, looking up at him. "…You aren't gonna be in that competition tomorrow long enough for anyone to notice…"
Cyborg scowled.
"Is that all that matters to you, Robin? Seriously?"
"Winner take all, Cy."
"Yeah, I heard…"
"So take me, then."
Cyborg blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Robin's gaze moved lazily from Cyborg's face to the ceiling and then back again. "Winner take all. And you won. So take your prize. Take me."
Cyborg looked blankly at him and Robin sighed in disgust.
"Cyborg, look, I'm not stupid. You seem to be, though…"
And he wriggled out from underneath the larger teen and hopped off the bed, wandering away in a huff.
Feeling stupid despite his earlier declarative.
"Robin!" Cyborg rolled over and sat up.
Robin stopped about halfway across the room.
"What?" He asked icily, not looking back at the half-robot.
"I just… I don't understand-"
"No, Cy, you don't, do you?" Robin interrupted angrily, whipping around to face him. His masked eyes were hard and cold as steel. "You act so smart, but you don't seem to understand anything! You can't understand that you're special and important no matter what you look like; just like you can't understand that sometimes it's only my "hyper-competitiveness" that keeps me going. That when I feel all else is lost – that I can't solve a case, that I can't beat a villain – it's only my pride that keeps me standing. You and the others think it's arrogance but it's not, Cyborg! It was taught to me by Batman, to just… never give up, ever! Because when you do, everything just… And you can't understand that, Cyborg! I don't know why; I don't know what it is, whether it's some chip in the electronic part of your brain that disables it or what, but you can't understand!"
The Boy Wonder took a deep gasping breath, calming himself down as he searched Cyborg's aghast face.
"And I can't…" He rubbed circles on his forehead with the heel of his right hand. "Cy, I just… sometimes I feel like we have so much in common, like we're so much alike. Like now; just then, when we… I could look at you and see myself, I could touch you and feel myself… You were there, and I was there, and it was like… I was in you, somehow, and yet somehow still in my own body… And other times… God, Cyborg, sometimes I can't even see how we can get along. We aren't the same. We see things from totally different view-points; sometimes I get the feeling that you just think I'm totally up myself… Sometimes, Cy, and it's terrible, but I feel… sometimes I feel that you aren't even human…"
He turned away again, shaking by the fervor of that sudden outburst.
Expecting Cyborg to sweep past him in a sudden show of cold fury and slam the door behind him.
But nothing.
"You know, Robin…" Cyborg's voice was soft, still coming from the bed. "…Sometimes I feel that too, man…"
Robin turned to him, blinking back the burning tears that were gathering unwelcomingly in his eyes.
Somehow he found his way back into the older teen's strong metal arms.
And somehow they found within each other a sorrow. And a joy. A cure for their pain, and a reconciliation for their sins.
Within each other, they found their own sought prize.
Worth.
Value.
Understanding.
OOOOO
And later still…
"Robbie?"
Cyborg whispered it as he stood over the bed. Within it, Robin slept soundly on his side, naked beneath the sheets that were clutched tightly around his lithe little form.
"Robin?"
"What?" Robin moaned, putting his head under the covers.
"I have to go back to my own room. It's almost sun-up."
Robin gave another moan and nodded. The covers shifted with his movement.
"You… you'll be okay, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Okay…" Cyborg straightened up, hovering awkwardly.
Wanting to say something else, but not sure what.
"Robin, I-"
"It's fine, Cyborg…"
"No, I… nothing. It was nothing anyway…"
Robin sat up, the covers sliding off his head. His jet black hair was tousled; the spikes backcombed beyond all recognition. He was frowning sleepily.
"What, Cyborg?"
"Nothing." Cyborg nodded and turned away, making for the door.
He stopped with his hand on the handle, just as he had done the night before.
"Oh, and, uh…" He turned back, smiling vaguely. "…Good luck for today…"
Robin smirked in reply, lying down again.
"Thanks, but I don't need it…"
"And why's that?" Cyborg asked haughtily, leaving as he said it.
Already knowing the answer.
"Winner take all, Cyborg," Robin replied softly, more to himself as he wriggled back into the warmth.
The memory of the night before.
He smiled.
"Winner take all…"
Well, it was a lame ending, I guess, but fun all the same… And yeah, I stepped around the "intimacy" thing too. Depths-of-Passion wanted a lemon but I couldn't write it because I honestly can't see how it works. Literally. I mean I'm not sure what goes where or how…
…ahem…
You'll just have to use your imaginations.
You know, this fic started out as a bit of a joke, actually; a parody of the actual episode Winner Take All. But it ended up – surprisingly – quite serious. It wasn't intended, but I quite like how it turned out. I like serious Robin/Cyborg moments on the show, to be honest. There's something cute and seriously genuine about their friendship.
Which I have now just mutilated…
My "Cy-fic Revolution" is, as of now, officially over. Closed. Kaput. Two fics, from different angles, and neither of them worked.
All hang your heads in shame.
Now; review if you want, all love Cyborg, and don't forget—
I know where you live.
…A sudden flurry of bats would look so impressive right about now…
- RobinRocks xXx