Early update.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Sweat dripped down his chiseled face slowly, time had stopped completely. His fingers tightened on his thick skinned neck, cerulean eyes staring through the white fabric meeting the single vacant eye looking back at him through metal restrains. There were the only two people in the room to him; everybody else had disappeared.

Don't believe him, don't fall for it.

He managed to laugh through the chokehold, croaky deep vocals ringing in his ears violently.

His metallic fingers had leaned forward grasping Nightwing by the shoulder, fingernails digging into the black Kevlar that protected his shoulder.

"Why do you think I had her all this time? I must admit I did get a little attached, but I hadn't needed to keep her that long."

Raven suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision, her demonic eyes glowing red brightly in the darkness. He hadn't even noticed the dark shadow of her demon projection appear behind Slade, black claws forming from its shape hovered over Slade's head ready to pounce.

He needed answers; it was no good to rush in and kill him like he wanted to. The animal instinct inside of him decreased slowly as logic sunk in. He needed him alive; not only for his own piece of mind but to find out how to get Starfire back, to find out what he meant about the progeny.

His grip tightened again, choking Slade.

"I won't kill you yet, but don't think that I won't. You'll give us answers first."

The shadowed demonic presence had wrapped its way around Slade's body, its arms pinning Slade's arms behind his back, it sprouted another set of arms; they tightened around his ankles as he fell to the floor with a loud metallic thud.

Nightwing had released his death grip, leaving Raven's dark force to deal with him. His strength was definitely no match compared to that of a demon. Cyborg had his sonic cannon aimed at Slade's head constantly, they hadn't come this far to let him go now.

Slade struggled with his demon shackles as Nightwing squatted down in front of him, eyebrows buried in an angry knot he stared at the man he loathed.

"Tell me everything. What do you mean progeny?"

Slade sniggered,

"I have no issue with telling you my plans; now that it's almost complete there is nothing any of you can do about it regardless."

"Tell me you bastard! I won't ask again, what progeny?!"

His voice boomed loudly, anger searing from every syllable.

"Power is a wonderful thing isn't it Robin? Violence suits you."

Nightwing squatted in front of him,

"Look for yourself. There's a photograph in my belt, by all means take it." His voice exuded confidence and taunt.

"In the future you breed with the pretty alien, the result being an alien-human hybrid woman who is a constant unnecessary pain in my life, a thorn in my side; a beautiful thorn though I must confess, she has her eyes."

Nightwing leaned down carefully, picking up the picture slowly from its tucked position in the metal belt; his eyes fell on the girl in the photograph gradually.

His breathing hitched, his eyes watered slightly. There was no mistaking this was Starfire's daughter; her eyes were exactly like hers, her skin was unusually tanned but no abnormal orange tint like her mother's; her hair was long and black…black like his…like his mothers had been. Her nose was small and dainty like Starfire's, but her lips were different; smaller, much like his own. The utility belt around her small waist was precisely like the Nightwing belt he donned this very second.

A child? I have….a girl…child? A daughter…with…Starfire?

Don't believe him Dick, he's poison, messing with your emotions like Cyborg said he would.

Sadistic bastard.

But…this picture…

"How do I know this isn't a lie, a person made to look like her? What did you mean there's nothing we can do?"

Squirming on the damp floor, Slade chuckled despite his current situation.

"It's taken me a long time to get here; time-travelling can take its toll but my mission is finally complete. I travelled back to the year of your offspring's conception to stop it from happening. She would have been conceived two years ago in your present world; I kidnapped your precious Starfire two years earlier to make sure it never happened, stole her memories from her so she wouldn't go crying to you. Lucky for me, you and your little girlfriend were not on speaking terms when I came for her anyway, you weren't an issue like I thought you would be; the kidnap was easy, quick when you have practise from years fighting a Tamaranian. The laws of the universe have changed, your future has changed; your child no longer exists. I had my fun. Toying with you all, seeing your misery; but it was simply too fun to depart so soon. I was never one to leave a party early."

They all stared in disbelief as Slade's silver-tongued voice spoke of such madness. The way he spoke of it was alarming for several reasons; the time gaps suddenly added up and if it was in fact true; he had killed Starfire and Nightwing's child, and his nonchalant tone seemed to be sinisterly truthful.

It explained everything. How he is able to defeat Starfire so easily, how she disappeared for four years without a word to anybody, how he knew of Nightwing and hers silent dispute before her disappearance. He had been watching her, watching all of them.

Pieces began to click together in his mind, the introduction as Deathstroke in Gotham was to have Bruce think he was coming after Batman; not the Titans. The shortness of his arrival was surely down to his years of time travelling; he could have thought he had become Deathstroke before his current time.

The words spun around his skull, waves of nausea flowed through him.

"Why are you still here four years later? Starfire could conceive again, why are you so certain you changed the future?"

Cyborg was always brave, but tonight he was the bravest; voicing the one dreaded question that pulsed through each of their heads. Nightwing didn't have the balls to say it, Raven wasn't particularly herself right now and Changeling was too preoccupied on keeping Starfire's heart beating.

Slade murmured slightly, possibly a snigger but he was in too much of a tied up predicament.

"This is where your chance to save her comes in Titans. I'm giving you an offer you simply can't refuse. One of you will perish, mother or father; Robin or Starfire. If you don't choose, I'll nominate you all; don't think I didn't come prepared. Clock's ticking old friends."

His masked eyes widened, he knew he was walking into a trap but he hadn't expected this. Hadn't expected such callousness, hadn't expected that his friends lives hung by such a short thread; a thread that he was holding.

"Why does it have to have been Nightwing she conceives with? She could choose another; they would still inherit Tamaranian power?"

He laughed in steel delight, Nightwing flinched.

"You really didn't know her did you? Tamaranians are bound to their first love for eternity, the flame never dies out. It would be impossible for her to…perform…with another, believe me I tried. Besides that, the progeny inherited the boy wonders logic and skills; sharp as knife, quick as a cat, powerful as a god; the ultimate unattainable weapon. Who else could obsess and despise me for years like Robin did; better than his daughter."

Nightwing sizzled with anger, the nausea had consumed him yet the rage got the best of him. He wasn't even sure if he had thrown up or not but he certainly felt like it; his face paled, his knuckles whitened as his fist clenched.

Grabbing his metal skull in the palm of his hand he picked his head up and shoved it back down into the ground just as fast. The brutal reality of what he was doing hadn't kicked in, he didn't want it to.

The harshness of the blow chipped away more of the mask, metal parts scattering loudly around the damp floor like hungry rats. Nightwing had crossed the line and he knew it, nevertheless he continued. His hand reached down again to the wicked man's head, clutching the bottom of the mask he tore it from his face and threw it across the room.

Eyes peered down to the unmasked face that belonged to the metal body.

Robot.

Not even a real person, not even him; just a voice box situated in the centre of the wired face belonging to a robotic body.

Nightwing jumped to his feet, looking around in panic. Veins on his head pulsed rapidly, his teeth ground tightly against each other as he spun to examine; looking for the monster.

"SHOW YOURSELF!"

Raven's shadow split the body into pieces, until short circuits were fried and sizzling in the puddles. Limbs torn off, the body lie next to the mechanical talking head. The shadow curled in the air, floating beside Raven as she watched in panic the scene in front of her unfold.

Cyborg leant down to the cybernetic head, examining the inside parts; his eyes widened in dread. A bomb; big red letters situated on the screen of the voice box; counting down quickly.

"Yo! We need to get out of here now; the bastard planted a bomb in the voice box!"

Cyborg was already on the move, he knew there was no way of stopping it before it went off; but there were still four human henchmen in the building they needed to save. His red eye flashed to life indicating a communication link.

"Abort backup! Bomb planted, we're on our way out. Three human henchmen are at the west side of the building, one in the room with us and a lot of robots. Flash did you find a way in here?"

Wally's voiced whispered in their ears.

"I could phase through the floor and grab them, but how will you guys get out? How long do we have left?"

"Two minutes, thirteen seconds. Phase through and get him, Raven will teleport us back out."

"Roger."

Cyborg turned to Raven, his questioning eyes settled on her panicked demeanour.

"What is it? What's up?"

Her eyes were wide underneath the darkness of her navy hood; the panic was hard to hide.

"I'm not sure I can teleport us all back to safety in time. I used a lot of energy to take out the army and keep Slade restrained!"

Upon hearing this Nightwing ran over to the still unconscious Starfire next to a shocked Changeling. He fell to his knees before her, stroking her face gently with his gloved fingers; he couldn't believe his luck. He couldn't believe she had been through so much, with no one to save her, the torment plagued at him as he scooped down and picked her up; cradling her in his arms. He buried his face into her neck, not caring about the blood that consumed her. He kissed her temple gently, eyes watering behind their fabricated wall and ran back to Raven.

"Take her, please. No matter what you do, take her out of here."

Raven stared at him in horror and shook her head.

"N-No, nobody gets left behind. Let me try to teleport us all together or at least one at a time."

Changeling stood to his feet and ran over towards his wife, a warning look in his eye.

"Don't even think about it. You're getting yourself out of here at first chance."

Cyborg scanned the room with his device, detecting the human man buried beneath the robotic army, he ran to him; grabbing him by the scruff of his neck he brought him back to the Titans. He didn't have to be kind to him; but he couldn't leave him to die.

Raven's eyes began to glow their familiar white, the black shadowed raven bird screeching out from beneath her cloak; its wings spread wide.

"Everyone in!"

Much to Changeling's aggravation the Titans and the unconscious weedy man huddled next to their empath sister, the wings expanded tightly, trying to expand over all of them at once; it was struggling to cloak them all.

One of them couldn't make it back and they all knew it. They could get in easily before; four souls were easier to teleport than six, especially after using so much energy to project.

Raven ground her teeth together, her arms raised in front of the Raven wings; her arms shook and refused to pull back.

"T-Too weak t-to expand…I-I can't"

Changeling turned to his wife, and caressed her cheek gently with his green fingers, trying to soothe and relax her.

"Nightwing we can't all fit! Flash will have to come back for one us!"

Cyborg had set a timer in his computer that coincided with the time remaining on the bomb; he stared down at it in worry.

"One minute left. We need to move!"

Nightwing looked down at the woman in his arms, her battered and bruised face still angelic to him; the red crimson mane that surrounded her face made her look somewhat small, he noticed the curl of her hair had returned just like it was in his dream. He smiled, bringing her upwards towards him and placed his lips gently on her bloodied forehead again.

"I love you Star."

Changeling and Cyborg were staring at Raven in panic, the wings of the shadow were so close together; but it seemed her limit was five people.

Nightwing handed over Starfire to Cyborg, carefully placing her in his giant cybernetic arms; Cyborg looked at him in worry and disbelief.

"I'll stay. Wait for Flash."

He stepped out of the black circle; the wings of the raven now had enough room to close.

Raven had fallen to her knee to keep the shadow from faltering. It was pushing against her; wanting to retreat so it could recharge but there wasn't any time for that.

"You know there's no guarantee Flash will come in time?"

He nodded. His eyes glued to the redhead in Cyborg's arms.

"She's worth more than I am."

Cyborg nodded solemnly. He in no way wanted his friend to stay and perish but he knew he would never forgive himself if Starfire died at his hand. Flashing his red eye he communicated to the outdoor team.

"Flash, the men; are they out?"

"Yeah, just got them outside now; what's the situation in there?"

"Raven can only teleport five of us out, we have one other person down here; another henchman. She used up a lot of energy in battle; she can't teleport us all without killing herself. Nightwing has…volunteered himself to stay. Can you get him out?"

Cyborg heard the silent gasp of Wally; he could almost see the panic in his green eyes.

"Of course, I'm coming now."

Changeling turned to his newly departed friend and shook his head.

"Dick…you don't have to do this-"

Nightwing nodded, staring at his team and smiled gently. He knew there was no guarantee he himself would escape, but making sure she did was enough for him. Stepping into his leader role, his face became serious.

"Go, get out of here. I'll go wait by the entrance point; make it easier for Flash to grab me before this place goes off."

He nodded to his team one last time, and headed out of the door and back down the brick corridor.

Raven stood to her feet again, her fists clenched so tightly; blood was beginning to draw from her palms. Her mouth open widely as her eyes began to glow red, the power of the demon resurfacing; she hated to rely on its strength but at this moment she needed to.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

The black raven engulfed the Titans in its powerful wings, scooping them up like small children it flew through the ceiling, back through the floorboards and eventually out of the roof. Escaping into the black sky, it swooped slowly down; away from the building; opening its wings before it touched the ground.

The Titans spilled out of it one by one; hitting the cement floor roughly they spread like wildfire. Wondergirl and Batgirl were there within seconds, grabbing the unconscious Titans and dragging/flying them to safety.

Donna grabbed Starfire and Cyborg; Batgirl grabbed Raven and the henchman with her grappling hook whilst the only conscious Changeling adapted himself; changing into an eagle and flying behind the superheroes to safety.

The second his claws reached the floor, it sounded off.

If demolition had a voice it would be that. The pop of the brickwork expanding and explode burst his eardrums, the crackling of the wood softened the noise as a sharp deafening ringing consumed his hearing.

Changeling had unknowingly returned to his human form, the pressure of the blast knocking him backwards. Shielding his eyes with his arms he stared at the orange haze in front of him. Everything wavered; everything resembled a mirage. The burning smell of wood flew up his nostrils, the black smoke around him reaching his eyes; making them sore and watery.

His ears were still buzzing but he was sure he heard a female voice, screaming in terror. His heart sunk. His wife, where was his wife? Jumping onto his feet, ignoring the stinging sensation in his eyes he scanned around quickly; he saw Wondergirl climbing to her feet with the help of the now conscious Cyborg, he saw the red of Starfire's hair on the floor behind his built form; turning direction in panic, he saw a hysterical Batgirl running towards to the fire; a small woman pulling her back; his wife.

Relief glided through him happily, he noticed the human henchmen still unconscious on the floor behind her; but he saw nothing of Flash or Nightwing.

The relief disappeared; pain overriding.

His feet planted deeply in the ground, he spun around; searching for the two lost superheroes. Babs wailing suddenly made sense. His hearing returned slowly, but was flooded by her cries; he turned to look at her. Tears pouring down her unmasked cheeks, Raven held her by the waist pulling her back; now accompanied by Donna.

Raven looked exhausted; her face unusually pale, cheeks and eyes sunken. Her grip on Bab's dropped as she fell to her knees to the wet floor. The rain had stopped but their tears made up for it.

She had failed. She wasn't strong enough. Sturdy green arms suddenly surrounded her waist, matted hair nuzzling at her neck; her husband. She had failed him too; failed to save his best friend, failed to save their brother. She felt his tears run down her neck, she felt the hiccup of every silent cry he tried to hold in.

Turning to her left she watched Cyborg on his knees, staring in disbelief at the flames in front of them. The body of Starfire lying unmoving next to him, more people she had failed, how could Starfire get her memory back without Dick being here? She knew how powerful their love was, that was the ticket to bringing her back.

Two lives lost…all because she was too weak. How could she possibly live with this?

"M-My fault"

Her eyes closed slowly, her body shaking against her husbands; she let herself fall into darkness, allowed herself to disappear from the broken scene that surrounded her.

Cyborg looked down at the girl next to him, he'd almost forgotten all about her. She was so lifeless, so pale and covered in blood; so small and hidden beneath the red mass.

His vision turned back to the flames, a high pitched shriek coming from the frenzied Batgirl to the right of him; different from the cries he heard before.

Two figures approached from the blaze; two shadows shimmering in the light of the orange flame.

Walking away from the fire and towards them, one was holding the other up.

That was all the information he needed, Cyborg and Batgirl zoomed towards them instantly. A dirtied Flash holding up an immobilised Nightwing, his costume torn, scraps of fabric clinging to his bloodied naked skin along his torso; mask ripped slightly and blood smeared on his face. Wally was not much better, his costume was still intact but it was covered in blood, dirt and soot along with his face; flecks of blood splattered on his left cheek under his eye; despite his misfortune he smiled.

"Almost didn't make it out there."

His voice was weak but he never was one for admitting pain.

Flash passed the powerless Nightwing to Cyborg who held him upright and brought him away from the flammable area; Batgirl trailed after him; tucking herself under Nightwing's free arm holding him up. Wondergirl had appeared in front of Flash, picked him up and flew him to safety behind the buildings metres away from the burning institution.

He cocked his head slightly up at her,

"H-Hey I don't need a lift."

Donna smiled, her hands planted firmly under his armpits as she flew.

"I don't think you have much choice, West."

He smiled cheekily,

"I think you just wanted an excuse to rub your hands all over me."

Donna chuckled and winked; delighted her annoying friend was safe.

"You caught me!"

Nightwing had gained consciousness somewhere along the return to safety, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his mouth hung open dryly. Everything was double vision to him; he could make out his teammates and his surroundings; he could feel the cold ground as he was placed gently on the floor by his big robotic friend, he looked up; Bab's face now clouding his vision, was she crying?

"W-Where is she?"

His voice was frail, the cuts on his lips making it harder to form words.

Babs expression dropped. Of course his first thought would be her, he nearly lost his life for her; wasn't that enough?

Cyborg held his friends hand gently.

"She's here man, we got her. We need to get outta here, back to the Tower if we can. We need medical facilities. Your Zeta-tube get damaged?"

Nightwing shook his head, wincing in pain at his own movement. His chest hurt; probably from the laser beams he received earlier in the day and added damage from the fight.

Cyborg looked over at his comrades, Raven was out; Changeling at her side. Flash was being aided by Wondergirl; the bodies of the three henchmen Flash saved earlier huddled and handcuffed next to the dumpster, the voodoo henchman lay on the floor between the team.

He sighed, he needed to get them to station; but also needed to get Nightwing, Starfire and Raven to the Tower. He turned to the slightly scowled Batgirl,

"Could you stay for the police to come pick them up? We need to get back to the Tower."

Batgirl looked uncertain. She of course would much rather stay at Nightwing's side but she knew her duty came first. She nodded slowly.

"You need a quick way back to the cave, I can call for Nightwing's car; he keeps it hidden in a garage around this area of Blud."

Cyborg nodded thanks to the redhead,

Batgirl pulled out a small gadget from her utility belt, pressing the button on a device that looked similar to a car alarm. She placed the device back in her belt and reached for Nightwing's un-gloved hand.

He smiled up at her slightly, thanks radiating from his eyes and love coming from hers.

Within seconds the black armoured car sped around the corner, white headlights flashing to life and blinding the damaged Titans. Cyborg smiled helping Nightwing to his feet with the help of Batgirl,

"Thanks Babs. He'll be fine, please don't worry."

She nodded slowly, eyeing the alien redhead still lifeless on the ground. Cyborg turned to see her interest; forgetting the alien again.

"I got him, could you help Star?"

She nodded slowly, hesitant about touching the woman. Nightwing turned to look at her, a smile on his split bloody lips.

"T-Thank you Babs."

Of course he'd speak thanks for helping Starfire.

She ducked from underneath Nightwing's arm, headed towards the alien girl and hoisted her up carefully. She was surprisingly light considering her strength. Babs looked at her closely for the first time, her blooded and beaten body, how could she envy this girl that had been through so much?

The girl looked like a corpse, not at all like the vibrant bright alien she first met; the one that captivated Robin's heart; the one that flew around the tower hugging anything and everyone in sight. Her usual orange glow was sickly pale; she wasn't even sure if this girl was alive.

Wondergirl appeared next to her in a second, a hand on her shoulder gently

"I got her, don't worry."

Batgirl smiled; glad for the intrusion. She passed the alien girl into the safe hands of Donna, she knew it was hard for her to hold her and see her like this but Donna was strong; her and Starfire were the best of friends before she disappeared, she must be overwhelmed to have her back. Donna held Starfire cradled in her arms; her long red hair flowing downwards along with her long limbs.

Batgirl smiled at Wondergirl; the two were never close but were in no way enemies. They hardly saw one another; both at other sides of the state it was a rare occasion that they crossed paths.

Wondergirl headed back to the team, Wally, Cyborg, Nightwing and Raven now piled into the black car. Cyborg signalled to her, letting her know the car was full; she nodded and took to the air; Starfire cradled in her arms.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

Annoyingly continuous, the beeping became louder and louder.

What was that other noise? Breathing? Contained breathing…my breathing.

What the hell is this on my face?

Oxygen mask…tight…can feel the elastic pulling behind my ears…way too tight.

Fuck my muscles are so sore, my whole body…hurts.

Dick opened his eyes slowly, blue pools examining the room carefully. He knew this room, he knew that blue chair over there, and he knew that big computer right there.

He leaned up against the metal bedhead slowly, pulling the oxygen mask over his ears and from his face. He examined his hands quickly, noticed the dried blood and dirt in his fingernails.

"Tower…"

"Yeah, glad to see you're awake."

He turned to his left, startled by the voice next to him.

Changeling sat in the chair beside the bed, arms crossed over his chest; worry visible on his wrinkled forehead. He was out of costume, clean and shaven in his civvies. It took Dick two minutes to notice the sleeping Raven in the bed at the other side of the shape shifter.

Dick sat up instantly, legs swinging off the bed; he ignored the thirst in his dry throat and looked to Garfield for answers.

Garfield saw the worry and panic of Dick's face and sighed gently, his green eyes falling to his wife.

"She's fine…just sleeping. A lot, she's totally drained; I guess she's meditating or something to help regenerate herself. Still, doesn't mean I can't worry."

Dick nodded slowly; his vision and hearing still not up to scratch from his long mystifying sleep.

"How long she been out?"

Forest green eyes moved up from the floor and landed on Dick's blue eyes.

"Two- Nearly three days now."

His heart stopped. Three days? Three days he had been out of it? Three days ago the battle with Slade happened? Nobody sleeps for three days, especially not him; he was always alert!

Dick rubbed his black matted hair vigorously, fingernails clawing at his scalp. He had never felt so disoriented than now, so out of the loop.

Garfield noticing his confused and panic stricken state laughed slightly, he'd never seen his leader look so utterly perplexed; it was amusing.

"Dude, chill; nothing happened since you've been out. Been pretty slow really, everyone's still recovering from the mission; 'cept Wally; he was out of here the next morning, you know what he's like. "

Fingers stopped their fiddling and fell into his lap, his eyes scanning Garfield for more information.

"Starfire? Where is she? Is she ok?"

Garfield nodded, but the worry in his eyes was unavoidable.

"She's…still recovering too. We had some trouble when we brought her back…lost her for six minutes…but Cy managed to pull her back. She's in the ICU. She hasn't woken up yet."

Dick's heart dropped. What had he expected? That she'd suddenly gain her memories back and coming running into his arms after being terrorised by that maniac? No, he knew he'd be lucky if she even gave them a chance to talk to her again.

Jumping to his feet, Dick wobbled slightly, looking down at his ripped naked torso in the bright room complete with white gauze dressing wrapped around his right side, he hadn't realised he was wearing tight paper pants.

Garfield broke into a wave of hysterical laughter, holding his stomach in delight as he squealed at the newly embarrassed Dick.

Crimson-faced, he braved the walk of shame out of the medical room, accompanied by rude chants and whistles regarding his…private area. He smiled gently, no matter how grown up Garfield looked; he was still the same immature comical Beast Boy.

Scanning the area before exiting, he clung to the metal doorframe like a scared child. Seeing no one in the dark halls he tiptoed towards his old room; hoping he could find any form of clothing that would fit. Tip-toeing in his white paper briefs, he scaled the walls carefully when turning corners; careful to avoid any further humiliation. Good job he had a good physique now, and not the small unmuscular chest he once donned as Robin; that could have been even more embarrassing.

Finally at his familiar metal door, he tapped in the code for entry. The door slid open, revealing his empty old room. He smirked, memories flooding to him as he edged further into the black room.

Everything was always black and dull, black bedding, black curtains, black furniture…he should have recognised the Bruce in him back then.

He walked towards his desk, stood lonely in the corner. No paperwork covering the surface like it used to, no weapon collection piled in the corner, no cigarette butts lying around; he was always extremely sneaky with that one. Slade really did bring out the worst in him.

He remembered the good times in this room, when he and Starfire used to share it. Her girly possessions scattered everywhere, thongs tossed over the lamp, hair curlers left on the floor, those little metal hair clips that seemed to be everywhere, hairbrushes left on the side with clumps of crimson lodged into the bristles. It took him a while to get used to it all; he did live with Bruce after all but in the end it was worth it. Seeing her naked body lounging on the bed waiting for him most nights, getting the chance to watch her prance around in her towel, seeing her smiling face first thing on a morning and of course her giant pet silkworm dragging himself across the carpet leaving an annoyingly wet trail; he really did hate that thing at first.

His smile wavered upon noticing a black metal picture frame; face down on the desk. He knew what picture was in there but he wasn't sure he could face it. He turned on his heels, walking towards the big metal wardrobe he slid open the door.

He examined the small pile of clothing hiding at the bottom of the wardrobe; he recognised the clothes from his Robin days; just before the Nightwing transformation. Leaning down to pick them up, the pain in his chest blazed, clutching his hand over the wrapped wound he winced leaning against the wardrobe for support.

Come on…just a little cut.

His internal pep talk worked, ignoring the ignited burn he picked up the clothes and threw them on the bed; much easier than leaning down there in pain trying to find something to wear. Spreading the clothes out on the cover, he decided on a navy blue tee and black jeans. Now to find underwear….

The time had come to see her. To touch her, to smell her, to talk to her; even if she didn't hear he would talk, he would talk to her for the rest of his life if she wanted that.

Dick stood in front of the white panelled door, staring into the contents of the room through the small square. He couldn't see her from here, but he knew she was in there. The familiar beeping from the heart monitor sounded different through the doors, it was softer…not as harsh as the reality.

He hadn't even thought what he would say to her when she finally woke, would he confess his love? Not likely, seen as though he was a stranger to her. Yeah, that's right he was a stranger, a nobody, an irrelevant sack of meat who tackled her to the ground and took her against her will.

Smooth move boy wonder.

His breath condensed against the window pane; his eyes masked once again by an old Robin mask he found in his room.

Would he take it off for her?

Would it even make a difference?

"No."

His voice was so small.

He inhaled deeply, planted his palm on the white door and pushed it open. Stepping inside, the beeping of the machine irritated him again. Every beep making his skin crawl, made him wince, made him want to run out of the room and never look back.

He loved her, but he was so frightened of her at the same time.

His feet stopped; looking ahead he watched Cyborg fiddle with the machine connected to his precious girl. She looked no better than when they found her, she was dressed in a new white paper gown; the blood cloth that clung to her before completely missing. Her skin still stained with bruises, cuts and dried blood; her perfect face still slept silently.

Where were her colours?

Where was the shine in her auburn hair, the orange glow in her skin, the pink in her lips, the green in her large eyes?

Her face had been cleaned, but that only brought his attention to the bruises he hadn't seen beneath the dirt. His stomach was uneasy, his breathing had stopped; was he going to throw up?

"Yo, glad to see you up man."

Cyborg had brought him out of his nauseated trance. Thank god.

He walked towards his friend who welcomed him with a sad smile.

"H-How is she?"

Cyborg turned completely from the computer; his full attention on Dick.

"She's…ok I guess. She's pulling through, that's all we want right now."

Dick nodded a hypnotic dreamlike nod but a sign of acknowledgment nonetheless. He looked at the screen behind cyborg, a camera view of the inside of a brain. He followed the chord connected from the monitor to some form of technological headgear placed on Starfire's head; similar to headphones but a rectangle mobile device attached to the rim that moved across either side of her temples.

Cyborg's sensed Dick's uneasiness as he eyed the plastic device.

"The neurocam's safe, don't worry. Just wanna see what kinda chip I'm dealing with first; figured it would be best to do it whilst she's still out."

Hypnotic nod again.

"Jeez Dick, you look like shit. Sit down, don't strain yourself too much man; you're still injured too ya know."

Dick looked at his friend, the compassion in his human eye evident, why were so many people looking at him like that recently?

He sighed gently, taking a seat in the plastic blue chair beside Starfire's bed. His jaw tightened in stress as he looked upon his broken girl; she looked so helpless and beyond repair.

"Tell me all you know so far."

Cyborg nodded, turning back to his arm computer he reeled off all of his gathered research.

"Five broken ribs, fractured ankle, and two black eyes that will heal; the stab wound seems to be healing although slow for Starfire's usual alien recovery. Her bones will mend in time, it's the chip and the amnesia I'm concerned about. Slade was telling the truth about the chip, it's there alright; can't think of a damn way to get it off without hurting her. And the amnesiac drug…can't find anything about it…it's almost as if it doesn't exist…or there is no medical term for the substance."

Dick pondered on his words

"A concoction of drug-induced amnesia substances perhaps?"

Cyborg nodded in agreement.

"My thoughts exactly."

Dick leaned over and grabbed her small hand delicately, he looked at her in detail for the first time since the mission; there was something…different about her. He brushed her red hair away from her face gently, his fingers raking through her roots just as he used to when they were in bed together. His hand stopped abruptly, fingers still entwined in her red locks.

Cyborg looked over, the abrupt stop of his actions grabbing his attention.

"What is it?"

Dick removed the headgear from her, setting it down on the pillow next to her face. He stood to his feet towering over her and pushed her hair back revealing a shaven patch of hair on the left side of her head.

Cyborg watched his friends curiousness get the better of him, he sighed seeing his face drop.

"He shaved it. Easier to get to the chip I imagine."

Dick nodded, his eyes never leaving the shaven patch of hair; Starfire would go crazy when she woke up, she loved her long hair; even if it was just a patch missing she'd hate it.

Taking a seat back in his uncomfortable chair, Dick kept his eyes locked on her face. Cyborg eyed him suspiciously; he knew he would have to talk about it sooner or later…why not now? He cleared his throat quietly.

"So…the future daughter thing…that's pretty…intense, right?"

Knocked from his thoughts by the child bomb, he nodded slowly.

"You think he's telling the truth?"

Cyborg thought for a short while, he had already been piecing the things together.

"Seems like a long process, traveling back in time to stop someone; and the picture…you looked like you'd seen a ghost when you saw it…was she really like Starfire?"

Dick nodded slowly, his eyes falling to the tiled white floor.

"Exactly like her…and me."

Wetness gathered in his eyes, determined to push it back he changed the subject quickly.

"What happened to Raven? Is she ok?"

Cyborg nodded, "yeah she's fine. Exhausted but fine, she told us once before if she 'slipped' into a deep sleep like this; to wake her after at most four days. She's meditating to heal, apparently time is lost during meditation…especially for Raven, her demonic powers are supressed so well she almost doesn't want to return to the real world and deal with them. That's why grass stains in there with her, if anyone can bring her back; it's him."

Placing the neurocam back onto Starfire's head, Cyborg was buried into his computer again, the small rectangular device moving along the plastic bridge; recording her brain process on to the monitor. Dick watched the device dance along her red hair excitedly, swapping from left to right; making tiny electrical noises as it went.

"Dick…yo Dick wake up dude…DICK!"

Shaken from his sleep, Dick jumped up from his seat; sweat pouring down his face and neck; hands ready for attack.

Cyborg laughed, slapping his hand over his head.

"W-What is it? When did I-…"

"You dropped about two hours ago man, didn't wanna wake ya so we left you there."

He scratched his head groggily, rubbing the curve of his index fingers into his eyelids for clearer vision. He looked around the room, noticing Karen sat quietly in the chair at the other side of the bed. He smiled at her sadly, receiving the same back.

Cyborg beamed,

"Figured you'd want waking up for this though, I think I found a way to remove the amnesia…a type of antitoxin that's used to help feed memories back…doctors use it a lot of for patients with Alzheimer's.

Dick adjusted himself back into the chair, eyes glued to Cyborg.

"Alzheimer's? She doesn't have-"

"I know. I'll admit it is risky, and there is so much we don't know about the Tamaranian body…I was thinking we could contact Galfore…ask him-"

"Absolutely not, we can't contact him yet."

Cyborg sighed pulling up a seat at the opposite side of the bed next to Karen.

"We need to let him know that we found her, he's making himself ill with worry. Imagine if Star knew you was keeping this from him; she'd be furious."

Karen nodded in agreement, her hand gently holding Starfire's.

"I don't think we need an army of angry Tamaranians attacking earth right now Vic, he'll come storming here demanding answers; you know that."

"I do. But we can rationalise with him by videophone, tell him all we know; he deserves to know what's happening. Plus we could use his help."

"He deserves to know I'm the reason his daughter is pretty much dead? That I let her down because I'm a selfish bastard…that I let her be kidnapped? He trusted me to take care of her and I failed."

Cyborg shook his head,

"No Dick, this isn't your fault. You heard Slade, he'd had years fighting your dau-…a Tamaranian…he knew what he was doing. Even if you had been there, he would have won; he came prepared."

Dick sighed, running his fingers through his hair in stress.

"Fine…but let me do it. I should be the one to tell him, he left her in my hands after all."

Cyborg disagreed but said nothing. Starfire was a grown woman; a powerful one at that; there was no way she needed Dick to keep her in a protected bubble.

"Another thing…the chip; I've been thinking…I know it was a medical procedure that placed it on her brain; but there isn't a medical reverse for it. It would be too much to directly pull it from her, we need to operate from the inside and knock it off…disable it; get inside her brain without any physical contact. Raven would be the obvious choice for something like this but I'm pretty sure Gar would kill me if I asked. Second choice would be J'onn."

Dick shook his head in defiance.

"No, no League intervention at all. We don't need them, we can-"

"We do need them; come on Dick Star's life depends on this. Stop being so stubborn and let people help; if you ever want her back you're going to have to let people help, I know she'd be telling you the same if she was here."

Karen interrupted.

Dick knew she was right; Starfire would be appalled at his secrecy, his self-inflicted struggles. He sighed heavily.

"Ok. I'll make the call to Tamaran, you call the watchtower for J'onn; see if there's anything he can do about this…chip."

Both stood to their feet, Cyborg turning back to his computer, Dick turning on his heels heading to the mainframe computer in the monitor room.

"H-Help..."

All three stopped abruptly, turning to the small voice of the woman in the large metal bed.

Her green eyes opened weakly, looking at the three shocked faces hovering above her.

"T-Titans…"

Green rolled to the back of her head, hiding beneath her closed lids once again.