Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.
STARFIRE
That was a disaster. We performed extremely poorly. No formation, no plan. Sloppy. The only upside is that we actually managed to complete the mission and defeat our first foe. Yet I can't help but worry if all our fights go like this, we will surely fall within a few alerts.
Worse yet is that Higher is displeased with me. Did I miss an order perhaps? Was I personally holding the team back? I would hate to think my incompetence was the cause of our ineptitude.
I am pulled away from the team by my wrist. Higher looks most unhappy, though the others do not seem to be in any state of distress. Cyborg simply seems confused while Changeling is giving me a most curious look: a grin on her face while gesturing at Robyn as if trying to give me a hint.
Sadly, I am at a loss. Her earlier sign to start dragging the rock monster was much more intuitive. Is this supposed to be obvious as well?
My teammates disappear from view as Higher drags me around a corner before turning on me and shoving me against a wall.
"Alright." She hisses. I can see her muscles tense; one hand rests on her bo-staff. "What's the deal? Why shoot me? Are you so desperate to be leader?"
I am more confused than ever. I must have missed something.
"I have no intent of taking your position Higher." I bow my head respectfully, not unlike my cloaked teammate would, in a bid to pacify my incensed leader. "I am unsure of what you speak."
"You. Shot. Me." She says, enunciating every word. Her grip on the staff tightens. "Don't play innocent. What's your deal?"
"I shot her?" My mind races, trying to remember. "Did one of my starbolts miss its target? Was I too distracted to notice?"
Suddenly it strikes me. I remember!
"You misunderstand Higher." I start explaining quickly, seeing her eyes narrow. "I was moving you out of greater harm. I apologize for any injuries I may have caused".
"Greater harm?"
I nod. "Cinderblock had turned on you, but your eyes were fixed on myself. I was worried that I had missed a signal and you were in danger as a result of trying to convey it, so I took action to move you out of striking range as quickly as possible."
"By shooting me." She states bluntly.
"Yes." I confirm nervously. "It is common among tamaranian soldiers. A shove to move an ally out of enemy fire, because gordainian projectiles are slow enough to be evaded, when they are too distracted to act in time; often battle medics who are too focused on their patients. I simply employed a long range version of the tactic."
She gives me a hard stare, as if assessing me for the truth. I stand at attention, hoping my tactic does not warrant disapproval.
"Starfire." She says sharply, causing me to stiffen.
"Yes Higher?"
"In the future, please keep in mind that humans are much more frail than tamaranians, and cannot withstand as much force."
I blink, processing this information. Humans are more frail? What does that have to do with me shooting… her...
Oh my.
"M-My apologies Higher!" I stutter. That is not going to help you! Look professional! "I did not intend any harm! Are you injured? Should I call for-"
"Stop. Just stop." She sighs, cutting me off. I did poorly. Stuttering and rambling like a new recruit. "Crow patched me up, I'm fine, and you were only trying to help. Just… Try and remember, okay?"
"Yes Higher." I respond meekly, shoulders slumped and head low. She nods and walks around the corner, back to her team. I trail behind, stewing in my inadequacy.
Today was a series of failures, and I the biggest of them all.
###
We return to find a crowd has already gathered. These "police" I've heard of don't seem to have arrived. There are no flashing cars in sight, but I do hear a siren off in the distance, and judging by how no one seems to be reacting it must not be one signifying danger.
My green teammate, Changeling, has already engaged the audience. She smiles at the men holding the giant cameras and blows kisses to the audience in between questions from the many people holding microhomes.
Or was it microdomes?
Err…
"Mircrophones." A voice whispers beside me.
I jump slightly, unused to being snuck up upon. The sorcerer beside me just bows a bit deeper.
"My pardon sir. I thought you were asking me a question." He whispers. I have difficulty hearing him over the babble of the crowd.
"I must have been thinking aloud." I say. "You are not at fault."
He nods and stands up straighter, though his gaze remains fixed on the floor. I fidget nervously beside him, unsure weather I should speak again or switch my attention to something else.
I am still unsure how to act around my pale teammate. Even among the many personalities of the Titans, he is a bit of an oddity. He almost never initiates a conversation, and spends most of his time cleaning the tower and fixing us food like some sort of servant.
Perhaps Changeling can shed some light on him later. I heard it mentioned that they have a bit of history before the formation of the Titans.
"Mister Starfire!" An unfamiliar voice calls out. I turn to find one of those microphones shoved in my face and a giant camera pointed my way. "Was Cinderblock a challenge? It seemed the Titans were having trouble."
I glance to my side, hoping to get help from Crow only to find that he has disappeared, and so, despite being bewildered as to why he would need to know, I give my answer. "It was a disappointing fight. The Titans-"
"-were hoping for more of a challenge." Higher interrupts, suddenly appearing at my side. She glances at me before continuing to speak. I understand what is wanted of me. Watch, listen, learn. "We've been practicing non stop since our formation. There were a few issues, but nothing so major as to be labeled as "having trouble"."
The reporter seems disgruntled, like a predator that just had its prey slip out of his grasp. He doesn't bother with another question and turns towards the center of attention, AKA Changeling.
"That was close." Higher sighs.
"If you do not mind my inquiry, why did we lie to him?" I ask in a whisper.
"Can't show weakness. These guys would love nothing more than to rip us to sheds. It makes for good stories, which makes for good money." My leader informs me grimly.
"You're too cynical Rob." Cyborg laughs, coming up beside us. "Not all reporters are selfish money grabbers."
"Yeah, you're right." Higher admits. "Just most of them." She whispers under her breath.
Cyborg shakes her head, still smiling. "Lighten up. It's our first week on the job. They'll wait at least a month before slamming us."
Higher cracks a smile. Again, I feel like I'm missing out on something.
"I'm just glad that they seem to love Changeling so much." Cyborg hums. "I'm not sure I could handle all that attention."
"I think they're more interested in her body than her." Higher says with disgust. A scowl crosses her face.
"Her body? Are humans cannibals?" I wonder, remembering to keep my thoughts silent this time. "Perhaps I need to be a bit more wary."
"You know she doesn't mind." Cyborg chuckles, shaking her head. "Plus, she's a master at avoiding questions. Even if you don't like it, having her to sex up the cameras will be damn useful in the future."
"Well I don't like it." Higher pouts, crossing her arms and huffing indignantly.
I hold back a smile of my own. I won't admit it out loud, but Higher looks quite adorable in that position: like a child protesting against having vegetables.
Granted, most children aren't as tall as she is, and they aren't nearly as fit, and they aren't normally capable of beating up thugs and supervillains, but they are both cute.
It's not just her fitness that is attractive though; the hair is nice too, smooth and silky in contrast to my unruly ponytail, and… What am I doing? Am I seriously ogling my leader?
I am loosing my professionalism faster than I can fly. May X'hal save me.
"-patriarchy I tell you!"
"I'm sure it is Robyn." Cyborg says, poorly hiding her amusement. "I think the police have arrived, they're the ones who called us in the first place right? Didn't you want to give a statement or something? Or would you rather I do it?"
"No way! I need this practice. You two stay out of trouble, and see if you can find Crow while you're at it!" Higher orders, pointing at us and giving us a meaningful look as she backs up. She spins around and dashes off towards the flashing lights I had failed to notice.
Another failure on my part, and I didn't keep track of all my teammates. So yet another mark against me. If this were the tamaranian military I would have been discharged long ago for poor performance and lack of professionalism.
"Chin up." Cyborg chuckles, clapping me on the back. "Don't take Rob's fanaticism to heart. She's not exactly what she claims to be, and she doesn't even realize it."
"I don't know what she's talking about. I must have missed something again." I just give a small smile and nod in agreement. "Hopefully that looks convincing."
"Good." My metal teammate grins. Her concern is touching, even if I don't know what we're talking about. "Now let's see about locating our little friend, shall we?"
"Yes, lets."
Not bad if I do say so myself. I'm rather confident about Starfire. I think I did well.
Yes, "Higher" is Robyn. There's a reason for this. I also just realized I already have way too many threads out (Why Robin is called "Higher" being among them). I need to develop some of them before this gets out of hand.