Author's Note:

Angst warning. Quite a bit darker than the ones previous so this is fair warning.

RobStar Week - Day 5 - PTSD

Nightmares had plagued the young alien princess since she left her home all those years ago. Images of enslavement and her desperate attempts to free herself from her shackles, but to no avail. She would awake in a cold sweat and would see the look of concern on her boyfriend's face as he watched her, he claimed he could hear the hammering of her heart. Some nights she would dream they would return for her, that the Gordanians wouldn't cease until they had captured her and claimed her as their slave.

In one vivid nightmare she had watched as her friends had been destroyed in front of her for attempting to protect her. Robin had awoke at 3am that night in a panic to find her clutching to him and sobbing heavily into his shoulder. His heart stung every single time and he knew he could do nothing other than comfort her when she awoke. He had spoken to Raven about it once, hoping she could possibly wipe away the bad memories but Raven had told him that doing so could cause negative effects on her personality and there was a high risk of it damaging some of her other memories in the process.

In her dream she was running, she couldn't remember what exactly was chasing her but she could hear the footsteps closing in on her quickly, she couldn't feel her flight and she feared her legs would tire soon. Her speed began to decrease and she begged whatever was following her to stop, she screamed for help but the only response was the footsteps getting closer. Within moments she felt a tight grip on her shoulders and her name being called. In a panic she snapped her eyes shut and blasted her Starbolts forwards at her attacker, her hands were quickly restrained and tears poured from her eyes as she struggled to break free of her bonds. Opening her eyes she saw the black shapes watching her in the darkness and she pleaded for release. Looking down at the blackness surrounding her hands, memories of the Psions torturous experiments on her burned in her mind. She began to hyperventilate as adrenaline pumped through her veins, but she could feel herself beginning to slip into unconsciousness.

"Koriand'r!" a distressed voice called to her, it sounded like she was underwater and the voice was calling to her from above. Something was caressing her face in small strokes and the voice was starting to become clearer. "Kory!", the concerned voice was familiar and she focused on it, her eyes darted to the source of the voice and the darkness began to clear. Seeing her slight awareness, the figure removed a piece of cloth from his face and focused intently on her. "Kory…sweetheart, it's me. It's Richard, I'm here. You're safe"

The word Richard struck a chord in her mind and she calmed substantially, "I was not captured?" she asked cautiously

He smiled and stroked her cheek comfortingly, "No. You had a nightmare but something scared you and you panicked"

She tilted her head slightly and noticed Raven stood slightly across from Robin with a deep look of sympathy on her face. She tilted her head further and noticed that Cyborg and Beast Boy were holding her legs to the bed as she lay on her front, with her head tipping over the edge. "Why?..." she asked in confusion

"You kind of attacked us, Star" Beast Boy explained with a nervous chuckle

"I thought you were having a night terror so I tried to wake you up by grabbing your shoulders but you blasted me across the room" Robin replied with a slight smirk "How do you feel?"

Starfire felt embarrassed beyond belief, "I…I hurt you?"

Robin shook his head, "It's fine. It's just a small burn" he said lifting up his shirt

Her eyes filled with tears and she dropped her head in shame, "I am so very sorry, Richard"

He lifter her chin with his hands and he gently kissed her, "It's fine, beautiful. You didn't know what you were doing. Raven head the screams and managed to restrain your hands before you could fire again"

Beast Boy and Cyborg retracted their grip and moved away from the bed, "I am sorry to have troubled you, friends"

"Don't worry about it, Star" Cyborg said with a smile, he tapped Raven and Beast Boy's shoulders and signalled towards the door and the two followed him out.

Starfire threw her arms around her boyfriend tightly and buried her face into the crook of his neck, "I have not felt such fear since my capture, it is not an emotion I enjoy"

"I used to get them a lot when I was younger, Alfred would bring me tea and tell me stories until I calmed down. I stopped having them when I got older but I can still remember how terrifying they are"

"I do not feel much like going back to sleep, may we watch the sunrise from the roof instead, I wish to here some of these stories" Starfire replied, she tried to sound cheery but it was obvious she was still extremely shaken.

Robin smiled and took her hand, "Of course. Which ones would you like first, the ones about unicorns or the ones about dragons?"

The End

Author's Notes:

This one is quite a bit shorter than my other 3 but I really liked how it turned out. It's strange to me how easily I can turn angst into fluff and I sometimes have to reign myself in from doing that.

Hope you enjoyed. I don't really have any ideas for day 6 but if I come up with one then I'll try and write something for it.