Chapter 4
Robin refused to let Starfire look away from him, and she was too frightened to try. "I want the truth Starfire." It wasn't often that Robin was so harsh to Starfire, if anything, he was nicer to her than he was to anyone, but now he was in 'Slade Mode, and there wasn't much anyone could do about it. She knew now that she would have to tell him everything, no matter how much she didn't want to.
"Robin… I only did it to protect you." She pulled out of his grip, her arms still tied by the grapple. "Slade wanted to exploit you; he said he wanted to use your obsession with him to destroy you. I couldn't let that happen so I tried my hardest to keep his return contained. When he realised I wasn't going to tell you, he decided to tell you himself." She carefully kept out that Slade knew about what had happened between her and Robin in Tokyo, if there was one thing Robin could do without, it was a reminder that he had broken her heart. Surprisingly Robin stood, and turned away from her.
"What happened in the park?" His tone showed nothing of how he was feeling, and this frightened Starfire. She was unsure how Robin was reacting. She managed to sit up, still tied.
"I was sat by the fountain when he came, and told me he wanted me to give you a message. That was when he attacked me, and he said to tell you that he had returned, and this time, he was not going to fight fair."
"Anything else you feel you should mention?"
"I… Robin please. I do not think…" Robin cut her off.
"Starfire. Is there anything else I need to know?"
"I feel like Slade has been following me. If I am to be truthful, he was the one who apprehended the Red X in the warehouse, not I, but he had vanished before anyone arrived. And…" She stopped. Should she really tell Robin that Slade had been in the tower? In her room?
"And what?" Robin turned and looked at her, his expression hadn't changed. He was still furious. But Starfire was unsure if he was mad at her, or at Slade.
"And… I did not want to tell you because I knew that this would happen. Even though I knew you would be aware of Slade at some point, I was trying to keep it to myself for as long as possible. I did not know that Slade would just appear and tell you." She looked to the floor, unsure of how many more times she could look at Robin's expression.
"Knew what would happen Starfire?" Robin stepped towards her again, anger evident in his voice. She knew that he was asking a… Rhetorical question? He already knew what she was referring to, and he wanted her to say it.
"I… I do not want to admit it, and Robin I know you do not wish to hear this, but Slade was right." She saw Robin's brow furrow in anger and he balled his fists. "Robin, I feared that you would begin your hunt for Slade again and become, as Slade puts it, obsessed with finding him. He said that you would not stop until either you or he was dead and I believe him! Truly I do. I am sorry Robin."
"Do you realise what you have done?!"
"Robin please, I was…"
"He's after you now! If you'd have just told me when this whole thing started then you wouldn't be in such danger."
"Forgive me, but I just wished to help!"
"I don't need your help Starfire." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Starfire looked at him hard. Without hesitation she tore the grapple apart and freed herself. Robin's words had upset her. She stood and faced him.
"If you do not need help with Slade, then why is he still out there? And if you do not need my help, then why am I still here? Why are Beast Boy and Cyborg and Raven still here if you do not 'need' help? You may not wish to admit it, but you know you cannot do this alone."
"I meant that I don't need your protection." The two stood facing each other. Robin could not hide his growing frustration and stress.
"You do Robin. If not from Slade, then from yourself. You and he need to stop this on-going battle. Do you not understand that neither of you can succeed without damaging yourselves? You and Slade are so… similar in your determination for the destruction of the other." Without warning Robin dived on her and pinned her to the ground. He wasn't one to attack his friends, never mind Starfire, but she pushed him too far.
"Don't you compare me to him. Of all the people Starfire, you should know better." He looked at her eyes, wide with fear.
"If you are not like him, then why do you attack me? Just like Slade did?" Tears gathered in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Robin however, noticed the liquid. Starfire continued. "Slade kicked me to the ground and held me down by my throat. All so he could get his message to me. And here you are, holding me down, to try and get your message to me that the two of you are not similar." Robin's eyes widened as he realised she was right. He looked away before getting off of her. Starfire quickly stood again and rubbed her shoulder where Robin had had her pinned. "Robin…"
"Look Starfire, I'm sorry. But Slade is out to get you now and I don't know why. I have to find him and I have to take him down before he can do anything to you!"
"Robin, you need to stop. You need to think rationally about this. I feel that Slade cannot succeed if he cannot exploit you. If you can try and control yourself, and not put everything into trying to find and defeat him, then he cannot possibly cloud your mind." She stepped towards him, and gently put her hand on his face. "I agree that we must find Slade, as we must any criminal, but as with any other criminal we must wait for the right moment to take them down. Slade said that he would be in touch again soon. Could we not just wait and find out what it is that he wants. Slade will want you to know. He will tell you things to lure you in. If we wait until he contacts us, then we can prepare ourselves for what it is that he will bring."
"Starfire we can't."
"Can we not?" She stepped closer and grabbed his hand, the other still stroking his cheek. "Could we not just…" Robin pulled away from her and turned his back on her.
"Starfire, don't start this again."
"But Robin…" She reached for his shoulder.
"I said no!" He pushed her hand off his shoulder as he turned to face her. Starfire had been so frightened that he was going to attack her again that she jumped back and produced a starbolt, aiming it at his chest. She did not fire. "Starfire, you know I can't. Even if I wanted to, it's too much of a risk now that Slade is after you."
"Even if you wanted to?" She let her arm fall, and the starbolt dissipated. "Are you saying that you truly do not have the feelings for me? Are you saying that what happened in Tokyo did not mean anything to you?"
He wanted so badly to tell her. To take her in his arms and kiss her again. To tell her everything would be okay. But he couldn't. He needed to protect her. Even more so now that Slade was out to get her. So he had to lie to her. He had to break her heart, so she would stop trying. So she would be safe. It was the only way. He looked at the floor and sighed before looking at her face again. No expression, no change in tone, he gave nothing away. "Yes Starfire. That's exactly what I'm saying."
Starfire brought her hands to her mouth and gasped. Once again she cried, the tears falling down her face. Robin didn't move, despite wanting to. He just watched as her knees buckled and she fell crying to the floor. He just stood and watched. Unknowingly to Starfire, it was breaking his heart, but it had to be this way. After a few minutes, she calmed down, and their silence was only broken by her occasional sniffles. Robin walked behind her, and wrapped his hands under her arms, lifting her to her feet. "Come on Star, inside." She refused to look at him, and slowly made her way to her bedroom. Robin followed behind her, until she went in her room.
"Robin, what's going on?" Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy met him in the corridor.
"Slade is after Starfire. I don't know why, but we need to find out. But we also need to keep her safe. She said she refused to tell us to try and protect me, but this time Slade's not after me, and I'm unsure what he's willing to do to reach his goal. She doesn't leave this tower without me. If we're on a mission, I want a pair of eyes on her all the time. No excuses. We have to keep Slade away from her."
"Is she…" Beast Boy walked towards Starfire's door.
"I think it's best that we leave her alone for now. I doubt she's stupid enough to go out alone again, not after her encounter with Slade. Beast Boy, Raven, I want you to keep an eye on her. If you can, when she comes out of her room, get her into the Command Centre and keep her there. Cyborg, I need your help to see if there is anything on any of the security cameras from the night Starfire went out, and the time when Red X was at the docks." The four dispersed.
Starfire had been listening to everything Robin said. She was somewhat relieved that Robin felt so compelled to protect her, but she also knew that Robin's obsession with Slade had begun once again. Plus, Robin was probably only protecting her because she was a Titan. But what Robin didn't know, was that Slade could get in and out of the tower unseen. Undetected. She knew she should tell him, but it would only make matters worse. It did create a sense of fear in Starfire though, and she couldn't calm it. She knew that no matter what Robin did to try and protect her, Slade could reach her anyway.
Robin and Cyborg were going through video footage from the camera's set up at the docks and the park. Slade was unseen at the docks. But on the footage of the park, Robin and Cyborg managed to watch Starfire and Slade's fight from several different angles. The only problem was that they couldn't hear anything that was being said between the two. Robin rewound the footage, and played it through again. "Even on screen he manages to just disappear and reappear without a trace."
They watched as Slade kicked Starfire to the floor. "I'm not surprised she was limping, he wasn't holding back." Cyborg kept his eyes fixed on the screen. "Then he just leaves. Poor Star, she must have had to walk home, hurt and in the rain..."
"I don't understand. If Slade wanted to get his message to me, then why wouldn't he talk to me during that transmission. He only wanted to talk to Starfire."
"The man's unpredictable Robin. You never know what he's thinking."
Cyborg was right. Robin really didn't have a clue what Slade was thinking, or planning. Perhaps Starfire was right. Maybe they should just wait. Slade would come to them. Or at least he would come to Starfire.
Don't worry! Some serious action coming soon :D i hope you enjoyed! Midge.
