Happy Holidays to all!

Not much to say this chapter, really. It took me a little longer to complete this time around because there's been so much going on between work, performances, the upcoming Christmas break, and more. But I'm still updating faster than I ever have in the past. The final chapter should be up around New Years, followed by a short epilogue within the first week of January. Hopefully.

I'm actually curious as to whether or not this story even compares with some of my older works. Does it feel a bit too rushed? Do the transitions work as smoothly? Are any of the scenes lacking in any way?

A few things to note:

1) In the comics, Rose Wilson has a "history" with both Tim Drake AND Dick Grayson. Nightwing was the one to train her (Post-Slade) and taught her what it meant to be a hero. During this time, she developed a one-sided crush on him. However, she later attempted to seduce Tim...though this was more due to a fear of being kicked off the Titans if she didn't have his full support, not out of any genuine romantic attraction. It didn't go so well, probably because the the extreme way she went about it.

2) I am well aware of the fact that, even in the animated universe, Robin shows a much darker, almost crueler side. The movie, in particular, highlights how out of control he could really get in the heat of battle. However, keep in mind that this "episode" is meant to take place in the beginning of Season 2—long before Starfire is exposed to this side of him. Therefore, the shock of Nightwing's actions would hold a much greater impact than if she had traveled from a later season.

3) The hot cocoa flashback from last chapter actually came from a scene in one of my older fanfics, Playing with Fire. Completely shameless self-plug, perhaps, but I included it because I had been struggling to think of a cute Robin/Starfire moment until I remembered I'd already written one.

4) The quote chosen for this chapter is unique in that I had characters other than Dick and Kori in mind when I chose it; the latter may be the main character, but—as goes the theme of the fanfic—she's not the only one with a story....

"For, in romance, all true love needs is a chance." -Stevie Wonder, Overjoyed

Chapter 4

She was a hypocrite. A complete and utter hypocrite.

It would have been a lie to say that she had never taken a life before. Not just in self-defense, either; opponents during the harsh Okaara trials...Gordanian soldiers who mean to deliver her to the Citadel...Psion "doctors" who had performed countless hours of torture on her body in the name of science. Some had been the victims of tradition, while others had been the target of pure revenge. More than a dozen in all had fallen by her hands.

Granted, those had been extreme circumstances, but the fact remained that she was no different than he. Possibly even worse. She was heir to the throne of a proud warrior race, after all. Her people thrived on the rush of battle and thrill of victory over their enemies. Even their language sounded harsh to the ears.

Then why did the knowledge of Robin killing Slade continue to haunt her so?

No, that wasn't even correct. It was Nightwing who had done the deed—a new name to go with his new life.

o*0*o

The trip back to Jump City had been filled with unspoken thoughts and a palpable aura of tension. Nightwing hardly said a word to her since his admission in the underground base, though by then her thoughts had grown so distant that she hardly noticed. Neither mentioned the fact that she still rode behind him on the motorcycle as opposed to taking flight.

Only when the pair had entered the Tower's main hallway did she finally break the silence. He had gone on ahead, oblivious to the fact that she had stopped walking, and therefore had been surprised to hear her delicate voice call out to him:

"How?"

He turned around, and noticed that more than ten feet stood in between them. "How what?"

"How could you take a life?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she feared speaking any louder, and yet he was able to hear every word. "The Robin I knew would never—"

"Please try to understand, Star." He took a step forward. Gone were the traces of raw anger previously shown, replaced with an overwhelming sense of regret and guilt. "I had to. He was a monster."

She shook her head, stepping back. "That does not make it right."

"It doesn't make it wrong, either."

Her eyes closed as she struggled with the pain in her heart. She wanted so badly to disagree with him—to say that yes, itwas wrong. But she could not. Not if she truly didn't believe them.

Again, he braved another step towards her. "You saw what he'd done. What he was capable of. If he could do such a thing to his own daughter, then there's no telling what—"

"Daughter?" Her eyes snapped open in surprise, and for a moment, she forgot her inner turmoil. "What do you mean? What daughter?"

His body stiffened as realization quickly dawned on him. Then his expression grew dark. "I guess they haven't told you," he murmured, though more to himself than her. His next sentence, though spoken at a normal volume, rang through the large hallway as loud as if he had shouted: "Rose is Slade's daughter."

Starfire's breath caught in her throat; her mind instantly went back to the tale Donna and the others had shared with her earlier. "You mean...?"

"His own daughter," Nightwing repeated, torn between anger and pity. "She showed him nothing but loyalty and obedience, followed his every command without question...and in return, he drugged her into a near catatonic state without a shred of remorse."

Her hands flew to her mouth, and she stumbled forward in shock before regaining her balance. An overwhelming surge of emotions welled from within as she thought of the frail white-haired beauty, forever scarred by a horrendous self-inflicted wound while under the influence of the aforementioned drugs. Who could barely make eye contact, let alone speak. She thought of Tim, whose life now revolved around caring for Rose. The sadness in his gaze every time he looked at her, as if thinking of what could have been—what had been so wrongly taken from them both.

No longer trusting herself to look at Nightwing, Starfire turned away. Her fists clenched together at her sides, and she could feel the surge of heat as the strength of her feelings summoned the star-bolt powers within. She felt fury. A fury that was anything but righteous. And for a fleeting moment...she understood.

But, her mind continued to wonder, does that still make it right for Nightwing to have that man's blood on his hands?

Once again, she was a complete and utter hypocrite.

A sudden scream ripped through the air, breaking her from her thoughts. The bolts forming in her palms dissipated as she turned back to face Nightwing in question. His eyes were equally wide with surprise, though he motioned towards the entrance of the main common area. Nodding once, she quickly followed him down the hallway and through the large doors.

The sight that greeted them halted both in their tracks: near the center of the room, Rose was struggling furiously against Conner's firm hold, the boy having pinned both her arms to her sides as he tried to subdue her. Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of his face as he fought against her chemically-enhanced strength while keeping her from hurting herself or any of the others.

While Manuel and Miguel were noticeably absent, the remaining three Titans stood around looking helpless. Virgil was sharing uncertain glances with Donna as they both alternated their line of sight between the super-strength duo and a frantic Tim.

"What happened?" The boy kept asking.

"We don't know!" Donna had to shout over another wave of Rose's vocal protests. A large bruise was already beginning to form on one cheek. "She just started screaming! I thought she was having one of her visions, so I tried to hold her hand like the doctor said, and she went ballistic!"

Just then, Rose's eye rolled to the back of her head as she fell limp in Conner's arms. Her body began shaking at a frighteningly violent rate.

"Oh, sh--!" Conner hissed, looking to the others for help. "I think she's seizing."

Oddly enough, Tim was suddenly calm as he stepped forward, removing the cape from his shoulders.

"Lie her down on the floor on her left side." He rolled the fabric into a makeshift pillow and placed it on the ground. "Hold her up, but don't try to immobilize her." Conner followed his every order without question, and together, the two worked to ease the girl's spastic form into position.

"I'll call her doctor," Virgil offered, running to the nearest phone.

"Donna?" Tim called over his shoulder. "Can you see a clock from where you're standing?"

The Amazonian's eyes were already fixated on the large analog clock just above the kitchen entrance. "Yeah. I'm timing her now."

Seconds ticked passed, and gradually, Rose's trembles began to subside. A minute after the episode began, she grew still. Conner gave Donna a nod to indicate the end mark before helping Rose roll onto her back. The girl emitted a low groan, head flopping lazily from side to side as she subconsciously tried to burrow deeper into Tim's cape.

Then her lips moved.

Tim blinked twice. "Rose?"

"No...doctor." She mumbled, louder this time. "No...more...doctors..."

Tim and Conner looked up at one another with a start, each checking to see if the other had heard the same. Rose had not spoken coherently since the eve of her accident—a few words and broken sentences, perhaps, but nothing indicative of an awareness of her surroundings.

"Rose?" Tim leaned down, his voice low. "Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?"

Slowly, the girl's uncovered lid fluttered open. Her head turned just enough for their eyes to meet; hers was clouded over from fatigue, but the recognition in it was unmistakable.

"You're...Tim," she whispered, offering a weak smile. "My Tim."

Tim swallowed audibly as a lump formed in his throat. She knew him. Knew what he was to her, and she to him.

With a shaky hand, he reached up to brush away the sweat-covered locks from her forehead before resting it against her cheek. She, in turn, lifted her own hand to cover his and leaned further into his touch. For a moment, it was just the two of them in the room; not caring that the others were watching, Tim leaned down and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him.

"Hera," Donna gasped. For once, she lacked a single wisecrack. "I can't believe it."

Rose was the first to pull away from the embrace, sensing someone else approach. She turned her head just enough to see a masked man dressed in black come to kneel by her feet. Nightwing, her mind told her as she searched through the haze of memories. A friend.

"I'm not sure if you realize this, Rose," he began, his voice gentle. "But you just had a seizure. We need to take you to see a doctor."

Her body tensed at the thought, and she vehemently shook her head. "No. No Arkham. No more."

"Fine." Nightwing made a mental note to inquire further at a later time, when she was better. "We'll take you to a regular hospital. You need to be checked out so we can figure out what caused the seizure."

Her eyes widened, and she turned back to Tim in search of support. The boy was already reaching for her hand, gently stroking her knuckles with his thumb. She would have relished in the loving gesture had something just beyond his shoulder caught her attention.

A gasp escaped her lips, and she immediately shot up into a sitting position. "You!"

Initial protests against her sudden movement ceased as the room followed her line of vision...where they saw Starfire staring back in confusion, still rooted to the floor just inside the common area doorway.

"M-me?"

"Yes." Rose's face took on a misty-eyed expression, staring at something beyond what the others could see. "You...you do not belong here."

Misunderstanding, Starfire looked away. "I am sorry. I realize that I may no longer be considered a part of the current team of Titans, but I have nowhere else to—"

"I didn't mean you don't belong here." Rose interrupted. "I meant you don't belong here. In this time."

"I...fear I do not understand."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated as a sudden wave of pain shot through her skull. She winced, a hand rising to her temple, as she gave a small whimper. Tim was at her side at once, wrapping his arm around her shoulders in support.

"A vision?" he guessed.

She burrowed her face into his neck, murmuring, "Yes and no." After a brief pause, she turned back to Starfire. Her eye was narrowed as she tried to make sense of what her Sight was telling her. "Your presence in this world is a...paradox, of sorts. You are not supposed to exist, because you vanished four years ago, and yet it is precisely because you vanished that you are here as your are now." She frowned. "Our future is split because you shouldn't be here. The images are beginning to overlap, melding together in a way that will only bring chaos to the time-stream. There can't be two futures."

"Rose, what are you trying to say?" Tim asked.

She turned to him, expression softening. "What I'm saying, Tim, is that Starfire cannot stay. She needs to return to her own time."

"But, wait." Conner's voice startled them both; they had nearly forgotten he was still there. "If the past tells us that Starfire never actually went home...but then we manage to send her home...what does that say about our present?"

"And furthermore," Donna stepped in. "What's all this nonsense about more than one future? Shouldn't the time-stream adapt itself when something new and unexpected happens?"

Tim looked back to Rose in concern, fearing the sudden barrage of questions would take their toll on her. He knew his teammates were not intentionally trying to gang up on her, but Rose was still physically weak from her most recent ordeal...to say nothing of her state of mind.

Much to his surprise, however, Rose simply shrugged. "I only See what my visions want me to see; I can't control them." Her words were still slow from the months she had gone without speaking, but deliberate all the same. "All I know is that they're telling me a person can't just skip out on four years of existence, then return to the time-stream without disrupting the balance of things."

"Makes sense," Virgil nodded. "But is it even possible to get her home? I mean, do we even know how?"

As if on cue, the familiar Titans' jingle ran through the air. Conner, Donna, Virgil, and Tim each reached for their communicators; Rose's had been damaged some time before, so she was left to lean over Tim's shoulder in order to listen in. He didn't seem to mind.

A frantic voice came bursting through the speakers: "Él está aqui! Está aqui! Mi hermano y yo lo encantramos! Se rompió en la laboratorio y estamos intentando lucharlo, pero es demasiado fuerte!"

"For the last time, Miguel," Donna sighed in exasperation. "Speak English!"

There was a faint crackle on the other end, followed by muffled static as the communicator was being passed to another.

"We have found Señor Warp!" This time, it was Manuel. "He is attacking the S.T.A.R. Laboratory ahora!"

"Understood." Conner gave a nod, even thought the twins' video feed was off and they couldn't see him. "We're on our way."

"...Warp." Everyone turned to Nightwing. The young man looked as if he were deep in thought. "If what Rose said is true...that Star needs to return to her original time...then Warp is the answer. That amulet on his chest is the key to getting her home."

Starfire could not see his face then, but the sudden tension in his body as he spoke of her possible return did not go unnoticed.

"I want to come as well," Rose stated abruptly, moving to stand.

"Absolutely not." Nightwing told her. "You're staying here until we can take you to get checked out."

"But—"

"There'll be plenty of other fights in the future. I'm just asking you to sit this one out for your own safety."

Rose's brow furrowed, face scrunching up into an oddly childish expression. She opened her mouth to argue.

"Rose, please." Tim shifted into her line of vision, taking both her hands in his. "I only just got you back. I'd never forgive myself if I lost you again."

All words of protest died on her lips there and then. She exhaled loudly as her shoulders slumped, lowering her head with a single nod of compliance. It always had been impossible for her to go against Tim when he looked at her like that. He probably knew that, too.

Her obedience was rewarded with a light kiss on the forehead, and suddenly it was difficult for her to keep from smiling.

"We'll be back soon. After we stop Warp once and for all." Conner called back over his shoulder, already halfway to the exit. "Titans, let's go!"

o*0*o

It didn't take long for the group to figure out which area of the S.T.A.R. Laboratory main complex was hosting the battle. Even if there hadn't been a gaping hole in the roof of one of the larger buildings, all they had to do was follow the sounds of explosions and bilingual profanities.

Donna came to an abrupt mid-air halt just over twenty meters from ground zero as she caught wind of the twins' choice of language. She let out a gasp of horror.

"Told you." Virgil smirked as he sailed past her.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she followed him through the roof. "Those two are so grounded."

The entire building, it seemed, consisted of one large room. Most likely, it was a storage facility for the multiple science labs. There were crates and boxes everywhere, scattered about in seemingly random order, with some towering nearly as high as the three-story tall ceiling. Windows had been placed high above the ground, and even with the large hold letting in a decent amount of moonlight, dark shadows were still cast in every corner.

In the center the wooden labyrinth stood a middle-aged man wearing strange, gold-plated armor. He was firing wave after wave of proton beams from an unfamiliar source around his hands, his attention split between a large pile of splintered crates and the wild antics of Más y Menos. The twins were zipping about at random, attempting to avoid being hit while playing their usual role of decoys. From the looks of their faces, it was providing more of a challenge than usual.

"Serves them right," Donna mumbled to herself, still bitter, before flying over to help Superboy and Static.

Not long after, Starfire and Nightwing arrived at the scene. Robin wasn't far behind them. The former of the three quickly glanced about the room, assessing the situation at hand, before she turned to Nightwing in silent question. Despite the remaining tension between them, habit still led her to look to him for leadership in the heat of battle.

"There's someone behind those crates," Nightwing stated, motioning to the large pile of splintered boxes. "Go see if they're friend or foe, and if they need assistance. "Robin and I'll head for the twins."

She nodded briskly, then summoned the boundless confidence within that allowed her to soar high above the chaos. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dimly lit area once she landed; when they did, she did a double-take as the sight of a slightly older, but still familiar face came into focus.

"Cyborg?"

"Starfire?" The man's human eye bugged out when he caught a good look at her. "What the—?"

Their reunion was cut short as a stray blast hit the corner of his wooden cover, sending a spray of splinters in all directions. Cyborg had to hold his arms up to shield himself, then turned his attention back to Warp. The robotic circuits on his arm converted to a large cannon—even bigger than the one he used to wield.

"Never mind. I should've guessed after this guy randomly showed up tonight trying to swipe one of our molecular power cells." He sent her a smirk over his shoulder. "Good to see you again, by the way."

"And I, you." She allowed him time to fire a quick succession of shots, waiting until he pulled back to reload before adding, "Have you been well?"

"Well enough. Been working for my dad the last few years. Not a bad gig, really." His tone was humorously casual for a conversation taking place amidst a heavy firefight.

After getting in a few more blasts, he turned to Starfire with a knowing look. She nodded, understanding the silent message, and together they jumped out from behind the crates with near perfect synchronicity. Cyborg made a running dash for Warp, while Starfire provided adequate coverage. Her eyes glowed with righteous fury as she pummeled the area with her star-bolts.

Warp's reflexes were just fast enough for him to duck out of harm's way, narrowly avoiding the brunt of their coordinated attack. He then slid back as Superboy came in with a downward punch. The ground shook violently as it was struck, cracking under the boy's impressive strength. Bits of concrete went flying into the air in the aftermath, and Warp had to raise his arms to shield himself from the debris.

"Not bad," he called out, lowing an arm to aim at a location just beyond Superboy's location. "However, while you Titans may have four years on the last bunch I fought, I still have nearly a hundred on you!"

He fired, but Superboy was able to levitate out of harm's way with ease. Surprising ease. He hovered over the field and observed as Warp continued the assault on an oncoming Static, noting that very few of the shots actually struck the electrically-charged teen.

A second later, Wonder Girl flew over to his side. She was also frowning at the scene.

"What do you think?" Superboy turned to her.

"I don't get it," she murmured. "It's like he's not even trying to hit us."

Below, Warp easily fended off several well-aimed kicks and punches by the duo of Robin and Nightwing. Cyborg came in with another attack, only to find himself all but shunned as Warp turned to blast at the twins' feet. The speedster brothers went flying backwards, crash landing in a nearby wall. Disoriented, but otherwise unharmed, it took them less than a second to rebound.

"You know, I think she's right." Static steadied his electric disk as he came to hover at Wonder Girl's immediate left. Obviously, he had heard their previous exchange. "He really isn't trying. Is he just toying us or something?"

"No. Not toying with us." Superboy's head snapped up as a thought came to him. "Protecting his future."

Wonder Girl's eyes widened. "It's just like Robin said! Starfire wasn't a part of his original plan. None of us were."

"And he knows that if he causes too much damage now, it'll screw up the future he's trying to return to." Static clenched his fists together, summoning a fresh wave of electricity. "Maybe he should've thought of that before he decided to rob the past."

Encouraged by their sudden revelation, the trio swooped down to rejoin the fight.

Warp fended off a wave of bird-erangs that Robin had thrown his way, then extended an arm to parry Nightwing's bow-staff. Nightwing reacted by pushing off into a back aerial flip, sailing into the air with all the grace of his acrobatic upbringing before landing in a crouching position atop a nearby handrail. The staff in his hand twirled several times, coming to a resting position under his arm.

Seeing an opening, the twins smirked at one another and clasped their hands together.

"Más y Menos, sí podemos!"

With their signature battle cry still ringing through the air, they took to running a series of rapid circles around Warp. The man stumbled back as a wave of vertigo set in, but composed himself enough to fire a well-aimed blast directly in their chests. Fortunately, his power was low enough to merely stun them; they briefly lost consciousness, but showed no other outward signs of injury.

The sounds of electricity crackling above was the only warning Warp had as he instinctively dodged, feeling the residual currents crackle against the top of his helmet as he narrowly avoiding yet another of Static's attempts at a sneak-attack. Superboy followed up with four hits to Warp's lower torso before the villain was able to knock him away. He was getting weaker.

Wonder Girl saw the opening in his defense, and struck with the full force of her mystic strength. Her bracelets clanked harshly against the metal of his arm, and she planted her feet firmly on the ground for additional support. Together, the two wrestled back and forth before simultaneously pushing back. Warp was a fraction of a second faster than she, firing off a wave of shots before she could position herself to properly block them.

All but one missed, though the last bounced off the edge of her cuff and hit her in the side of the face. She let out a cry of pain as she was thrown to the ground, hand rising to the burn wound just above her right temple.

Smirking at his minor triumph, Warp allowed himself to be caught off-guard just long enough for Starfire to swoop in from above and plow right into his chest. The force knocked them both back several meters until she had him pinned against the wall. His helmet did little good to protect his skull from harm as it slammed against the plaster-coated surface, leaving a spiderweb-like series of cracks.

"You...you..." she began, glaring at him with charged eyes until realizing something. "You...have also grown older."

Sure enough, as she was able to get a proper look at his face, she saw lines and wrinkles that had not previously been there. His hair, too, had grown limp and grey with age. The mustache above his lip was frayed and unkempt. Age spots were peppered along his forehead and cheeks. Gone was the youth he had possessed during their first encounter, replaced by a man more than twice the years his senior.

"This is what happens when you mess with someone's time-space stabilizer." Warp sneered at her, hardly concerned by the firm grip she had on his collar. "And while fixable, none of this would have happened if you hadn't tried to interfere in the first place."

"Lies!" The heat swelled beneath her cornea as she lifted him further off the ground. "If you ever want to see your future again, you will repair the damage you have done to my past!"

Warp let out an unabashed roar of laughter. "Silly girl. I have done nothing to your past. You've done more damage by trying to stop me than I ever could have."

"That is enough!" She threw him to one side, turning to aim her eye-beams.

But again, Warp was faster; he had a hand raised before he even hit ground, firing a blast directly into her chest. Starfire flew back several feet, crashing into a large concrete pillar. A hiss of pain escaped her lips at the contact before she fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. From there, she did not move.

"Starfire!" Nightwing cried out. His sight then turned to Warp, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You!"

"Hate me all you want," Warp replied back casually, allowing himself a moment to brush off the dust coating his armor. "But I speak the truth. I went back in time to steal the Clock of Eternity because history had already foretold of its disappearance. Even if I had not planned for such an unexpected inconvenience, it still does not change things."

Nightwing gave a low growl before dashing forward, moving at a speed far too great for Warp to keep up. In the blink of an eye, the tip of his bow-staff caught the aging man by the chin, throwing him onto his back. From there, Nightwing pinned him down with one foot, weapon hovering less than an inch from his throat.

"This ends now, Warp."

"In a way, it already has...Nightwing." Despite his predicament, Warp looked highly amused at the sudden turn of events. "I know of you well from the history books of my time, and the fact that you stand before me now only further proves my point."

"What are you rambling about?" Nightwing pushed down harder with his foot, hearing the metal groan from the pressure.

Warp gave a light wince, but remained otherwise unaffected. "It's quite simple, really. With or without her, you still became the dark, solitary figure that look over a city epitomizing the very meaning of the word desolate. I also know that, by nature, you lack the necessary will to act upon your little threat here." He smirked. "One insignificant child means little compared to the big picture. Your future is as certain as mine."

"You took away my future!" Nightwing screeched, raising his bo-staff to deliver the final blow.

The smile quickly faded from Warp's face, replaced by a look of horror as he realized what Nightwing truly intended to do. But...nothing in his records had ever told of the young man taking a life! It went against everything his mentor had ever taught him—everything he had ever believed in!

Frantically, Warp searched the darkened corners of his memory for any recollection of Nightwing's darker side. He recalled reading about the Joker episode, eventually leading to his departure from the Titans. How it was Superman who had first inspired the young man to take up the mantle of protector once more with tales of an old Kryptonian legend. How his marriage to longtime lover Kori Anders had been interrupted by a former teammate mere moments before the amorous pair could...

Wait.

...marriage to longtime lover Kori Anders...

...also known by the superheroine name of Starfire!

Warp's eyes widened as he finally began to realize just how important the Tameranean's existence in the timeline may had been after all...and for the first time, he feared for his own future. Or lack thereof.

"Nightwing, no!" Superboy was suddenly at the man's side, one hand firmly keeping the bo-staff at bay. His eyes were narrowed, but he managed to keep his voice low and calm. "That's enough."

At first, Nightwing said nothing. His breathing was coming in deep, audible gasps, chest heaving with every breath. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, feel his whole body shaking with adrenaline. But then he looked down at the genuine fear in Warp's eyes—fear of him, and what he had been about to do—and was shocked back to reality. Staggering back, he let the staff drop harmlessly to the ground. His knees felt weak, and for a moment he thought he would vomit out of pure disgust.

"I...didn't mean..." he began, looking to Superboy helplessly.

The Boy of Steel nodded. "I know you didn't."

Closing his eyes, Nightwing took in a deep breath to steady himself, then turned to face the others.

He wasn't sure what was worse: the looks of disapproval on most of the Titans' faces, or the fact that none seemed surprised by his sudden display of rage. Wonder Girl, in particular, had her arms folded over her chest and was shaking her head. A glance to the left showed Robin and Cyborg staring back at him in pity. The twins looked almost frightened.

A sudden movement to his left told of Static's approach. The younger boy refused to meet his eye as he knelt down to wrap the fear-stricken Warp in a length of rope made from pure electromagnetic energy.

At last, Nightwing steeled himself and turned to where he had last seen Starfire fall. The girl was awake now, and apparently had been for some time. He visibly winced upon seeing the tears that flowed freely down her cheeks, eyes shimmering with those yet to shed. A deep knot swelled in the pit of his stomach when she recoiled back from his gaze.

"Starfire," he tried calling to her, voice pleading for her to understand. "I—"

But she turned away before he could finish, making a dash for the nearest exit. Away from everything. Away from him. It didn't matter that she had treated Warp with a near equivalent degree of harshness mere moments prior. She did not care that she had been tempted, herself, to strike out of pure anger. She was not the kind, gentle Robin held so dearly in her memories.

...and neither, it seemed, was Nightwing.

TO BE CONCLUDED...