Chapter 9

Three days ago

Sometime not long after midnight, Starfire heard voices. Not loud ones, just a gentle murmuring, a whisper down a tunnel.

She'd migrated down on to the track itself, into the dark where the tears staining her face were harder to see and that's really the only reason she felt it. A rumble. A knock, vibrating up the track itself. Like someone had stepped on it or dropped something on it, somewhere near.

She wouldn't have paid any attention to it, considering the place was supposed to be empty, if it weren't for the fact the rumble came with the whisper of a voice.

Although she would have liked to remain curled up in a ball, nursing her battered heart, something made her move. Something made her follow the vibrations along the track, crawling and listening to the voices, until she was at that blank wall again. The concrete blockage that had stopped her the first time she'd been down here. The wall with the tracks still embedded in them. And the sounds were coming from beyond it.

She frowned at the wall, sitting back on her haunches as she studied it. And then almost hit herself when she realised what she'd missed.

Hologram. A hologram wall. Could he have been there all along, hidden behind the wall?

Testing her theory, she reached out to touch it. She hit solid but it was wooden solid, not concrete solid. Cursing herself, she hadn't even thought to check if the wall was solid when she was last here. It didn't take her long to find the small opening, the area where there was no wood to the touch. Clever, anyone throwing things at the barrier, would see it bounce off as it should, but only if you touched it would you realise the ruse.

Taking a deep breath, she crawled through it completely.

Into what seemed to be a self contained storage area. She was surrounded by wooden crates, stacked up against the barrier with only the smallest of crawl spaces.

The voices she could hear only got louder as she moved further through the boxes and Starfire's heart caught as she realised she recognised who spoke. It still echoed oddly, the words bleeding together. Finally, she entered into open space. A small living space by the looks. A mattress on the floor in the corner, a table, a small fridge spliced into what looked to be electrical cables.

And Red X, sitting at a laptop, talking to someone over video phone. His back was to the entrance crates, and when she stood, she realised she'd was right in the sight of whoever Red X was talking to.

Mistake.

The person on the screen, mostly concealed from Starfire's view by Red X's shoulder announced, "Who's that?"

Red X twisted to look at her. "Shit."

"You've betrayed us! That's a Titan!"

Starfire drew her arms toward her chest and tried to make herself smaller. "Oops?"

Red X spun back to the computer. "No, wait!"

"Never call us again!" The screed went dead.

Swearing rather viciously, Red X kicked back his chair as he spun to face her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I... ah..." she pointed to the crawl space. "I found you."

Tearing his skull mask from his face, he yelled, "Do you know what you've done?"

She blinked at his expression, at the savagery in his face. "I-"

He stalked toward her and gripped her upper arm. "You've ruined everything!"

"But-"

"Get out, Starfire. Get out of my life. I want nothing to do with you any more."

His anger infuriated her, the injustice of it, she hadn't done anything. So she hit him. Cast him halfway across the room by thumping him on the chest. He rammed into the table and staggered, holding his torso with one hand while staring at her. She bared her teeth and snarled at him. "Do not. Do not dare. Not now."

"Goddamn it, cutie, all you had to do was keep your mouth shut and be with him. You could've had everything you wanted. But you couldn't, could you? No, little miss perfect had to stick her nose in and ruin-"

"I did not want him."

He straightened, his face going blank.

"You push and you pull and I go every direction. Your words say one thing and your body says another. You tell me nothing and then yell when things go wrong. How am I to know? I have never been more confused than I am right now but I know one thing and I will hold on to that one thing with everything I have and I will not let it go."

Red X's throat worked. "What?"

She kept her gaze level on him. "I love you."

And there it was. Her heart bared open for all to see. No more hiding, no more secrets. If he wanted her heart, it was his.

"I love you," she repeated. "And I pray to X'hal at this moment that I did not because I would never have allowed what you did to me to occur. I hate myself that I am seeking you and still hoping that perhaps we can be more. I know in my heart I should not be here and I should not be there or even on this planet. There is no place anywhere for me. But I am here and I love you and I cannot control it and it hurts."

He didn't move, frozen in one place, that carefully crafted blank face was all he could give her.

"I wished for you to know-" Starfire's voice cracked. "-before... it... I..."

He didn't move. Not toward her, not away. Expressionless statue.

Starfire closed her eyes to contain the tears. To be truly honest, she did not know what she expected.

A declaration of returned affection?

For him to run away and hide like Robin did? To make some excuse and leave her broken?

Was there really anything left worth salvaging?

Earthlings were so confusing. Hiding everything, never saying what they truly felt. Words and actions being two separate entities. Perhaps she would do better if she returned home to Tamaran, where her emotions would not be scorned but embraced.

She groped behind her, placing a hand on the crate for support. Keeping her eyes closed so she didn't have to see, she turned toward the small hole between the crates.

His hand closed over hers on the crate, his other hand gripped the back of her neck and a handful of hair. His pelvis pushed against her rear as he yanked her head back. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice husky.

Swallowing, she looked back at him, both hands on the crate. "Passion and freedom and you."

His gripped loosened, fingers stroking at her hair now, tenderly moving it out of the way. "Do you know what you're asking?" He ducked his head, lips to her shoulder, his eyes still on hers.

"I do."

The fingers on her shoulder applied a little pressure and she followed his coaxing, turning toward him. "There'll be no going back," he warned and pressed her to the crate.

"There is not anything left to go back to."

He swallowed. "No one's ever chosen me," he whispered and it was as close to a declaration as she was going to get.

Starfire smiled. "I have."

His mouth covered hers. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she responded with enthusiasm. Tight grip, he held her closer than he ever had before, squeezing the very breath out of her. Tongue exploring her mouth and, with a little jerk, he lifted her from the ground, arms still wrapped around her ribs so tight he was almost touching his own chest with his fingertips. Aloft, she wove her legs around his hips and he propped her up against the crates.

"You stupid girl," he murmured. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he moaned and ground his hips against her. "Oh, Star."

"Please," she whispered, then gave him the words he loved to hear.

With a moan, he lifted her away from the crates, staggered across the room and dropped them on his mattress.

–

Trailing her fingers along the edges of the plaster bandage on his otherwise bare chest, Starfire murmured, "Did he hurt you?"

"Nah. I'm tough."

"You were limping."

"Bastard got a luck shot on my knee, that's all."

"I am sorry."

Red X shifted. Lifting the hand of the arm currently trapped beneath her, he ran his fingers along her shoulder. "Don't be. Been a long time in coming. If it wasn't over you, it'd be over something else. I gave as good as I got."

"I saw."

"Did you have to tell him?" he complained. "I was quite happy making sly innuendoes and laughing when he never got them."

"I do wish you would not tease him so much."

"Tough, cutie. It's the only way the bird brat and I can interact. He would've been suspicious if I started acting like he was my best buddy."

"Did you truly need to tell him about my mole?"

He frowned at her. "Hey, I was angry. He comes in, busting my chops, and I have no idea why. Fucked up my knee pretty bad, I had to ice it most of the day. It hurt. So I lashed out."

"Yes, but-"

"'Sides, I like the mole." He gave her a squeeze and ran his hand up her thigh and she knew he wouldn't apologise.

Starfire sighed and pressed her lips to his chest. "He kissed me."

"Oh?" he asked, off-hand.

"He told me he wished to begin again. I told him no."

"That was dumb."

She poked him. "Do not be mean. As I told him, even if I had not been seeing you, I would not return to him now."

"I'm amazed you think I actually care."

"You care," Starfire pointed out. "This is the first time you have held me afterward."

"You're at my place. What would have me do, tell you to get out?"

Starfire lifted her head away from his chest to look at his face. Was that the break up sex she had heard of? "Do you truly want me to do the getting out?"

Lifting his far hand, he touched her face. "I think I'm stuck with you now."

Starfire frowned, a little hurt. "If this is not what you wish for-"

He tugged her back down. "Don't be silly." Settling her back into his arms, he kissed the top of her head.

"X-"

"Let's leave the discussions on feelings for another night," he suggested. "Big day tomorrow."

"It is?"

"If you're serious about helping then, yeah. It will be. I 'spose there's things to tell you."

She nodded. "I believe-"

"You're infuriating sometimes," he told her and bopped her on the nose with his finger. "Shut up and sleep."

He hugged her close and she listened to his heartbeat and then, in time, his quiet snores. Closing her own eyes, she slipped in to sleep.

–

"You never said my device would be used to hold a snot-munching Titan!"

Starfire frowned in her sleep, wondering why Gizmo's voice had invaded her dreams.

"A... oh my gawd... she's naked!"

Starfire was thrown into wakefulness as she was hauled from the bed by many hands. Hands around her ankles, hands around her wrists.

"Oh, boy, this is going on the website."

"What the fuck?" Red X roared, lashing out at those who grabbed him.

Starfire shrieked angrily, punching and kicking, teeth snapping perilously close to hands which held her. Something cold clicked around each wrist, but she had no time to see what they were. Summoning her strength and fury she lashed out and was suddenly encompassed in cracking energy, screaming in pain as energy coursed through her. It didn't last long, just enough to drain her strength.

"Told you mud-crunchers it'd work."

She was dumped face first on the ground, the men all stepping backward and away from her. Coughing, she tried to move and was hauled to her knees, her arms back so she could barely move them. Not willing to be subdued so easily, she called upon her powers again, only to summon the same incapacitating pain as before. She jerked, letting them go just as fast and panting, she hung her head.

Red X was forced to his knees beside her, his arms cuffed behind his back and a red mark on his face. Starfire snarled at the mark, throwing herself forward as she tried to free herself. She didn't make the mistake of summoning her power, trying to rely on other skills.

And was smacked across the back of the head with something hard. Vision spinning, she slumped and the men let her fall to the ground.

"Well, well. Now, isn't this intriguing." A strange voice, dark, ominous. Dangerous. Starfire felt the cold finger of fear slide down her back, a knee jerk reaction to what was going on. She had no clue but everything felt wrong.

Beside her, Red X grunted.

"My boy, you said she was a redhead, but you never said this."

"Leave her out of this," Red X snarled.

"You brought this on yourself, child. Did you really think you could play both sides and get away with it?"

"I'm not playing-"

"And yet, I hold the evidence right here in my hand. Red X, was it?" The man's tone was mild, not in the slightest curious. Starfire tried to raise her head to see who it was but one of the men shoved it back against the floor and put his foot between her shoulder blades. "Here I thought we'd be containing someone with superpowers, not an old friend in a suit. Still, it was lucky I hired Gizmo, look at the catch."

"I swear to God, you touch her-"

"Did you really think you could plaster a smile on your face and come back to the fold without me watching you? How stupid do you think I am?"

Through her hair, she could make out a tall, thin man in a blue pin striped suit leaning against a silver cane. Someone she'd seen before. In a picture.

"No favourites, son."

"I'm not your son," Red X spat.

"Hold him still."

There was another crack, the sound of something wooden hitting flesh and Red X grunted.

Reacting to that, with gritted teeth, Starfire summoned her abilities for a third time. This time she held them, allowing the pain to come with it, prepared to use it as a fuel. Starbolts flared in her hands, her eyes aglow, Starfire kicked out at the nearest male, catching him between the legs. He went down hard. Another kick to the standing let of the man holding her down, forced him away from her. Rolling, she pushed herself upright at the same time and racked her hands down Red X's arm until she reached the cuffs, then tore at them.

"Ho-sheet," Gizmo blurted and cranked a dial.

The pain increased tenfold. Shrieking and convulsing, the metal around her wrists so hot it burnt her skin, Starfire fell to the ground. In one last act of defiance before she succumbed to darkness, she starbolted Octave Bonnot in the face.

Author's Note: No update until Monday (sorry, I know it's a bad place to leave it, but it can't be helped. So come back... Sunday night for Americans).