Masks

by Kryalla Orchid

Sequel to Touch. As heroes, we wear masks to protect those we love, some metaphorical, some physical. How could the mask I need removed not be the one I thought I wanted? Complete.

10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Extra chapter cause you've all been waiting so long while FFnet was being silly. Enjoy.

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Chapter 10.

I ignored Red X as best I could. Initially he had complained, quite vocally, about the destruction of the thong, claiming he would have liked to have kept if I did not want it, but now he seemed quite content to just sit on the side of the roof and watch the building we were going to be breaking into.

I paced behind him, caught between wanting leave, not wanting Red X to steal anything again and being the inside person to take this Quicksilver Hand down.

"You know," he said eventually and patted the bricks beside him. "Someone pacing on a roof is a bigger giveaway than two people sitting side by side."

I paused, then sighed, wandering over to the building edge to slump beside him.

"Such a grumpy Starfire," he said.

"I do not wish to be here," I said, hugging my arms to myself.

"So leave."

I glanced at him and tossed my braid back over my shoulder. I really should put my mask on, but I did not see the point at present. He knew who I was. "What are we doing here?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Red X said. "Henderson Research is a weapons manufacturer. I'm stealing their latest weapon design. It can only be accessed from the mainframe, and that's behind a very large metal door."

I tilted my head at him. "So, in other words, you cannot do this without me."

"Oh, I can," he said. "I'll just take longer. There's a few other securities measures, but I'll disable them when I get there."

"What will you do with the weapon design?" I asked.

"Highest bidder," he quipped. "Don't worry, I'll split it with you."

"I am not interested in your money," I told him.

"Then what are you interested in?" he crooned at me, leaning closer. "You're still here."

My stomach fluttered nervously and I shied away. I turned to look down at building below. "How long—" Something brushed my hair and I flinched away from Red X's hand.

"Sorry," he said. "It's just so pretty."

I scowled at him, retrieving my mask from where it was tucked inside my corset.

"You don't need to put that on yet," he said and snatched it from me.

"Apparently, I do," I muttered. "Please stop flirting with me, I have a boyfriend."

"A boyfriend that doesn't know you're here," he pointed out.

"And how would you know?" I replied tartly. "Perhaps I have told him everything. Perhaps he is watching you right now, waiting for you to make the move and he could arrest you."

Red X laughed. In a quick reposition he wrapped an arm around me and dragged me to him. "What move would you like me to make?" he crooned, his masked face so close to my own. "What would he do if I kissed you right now?" I was frozen, my eyes wide with shock. His other hand came up to cup my cheek. "It'd be very easy," he murmured. "This mask flips up really quick, if you know how."

"Then I could see who you were," I whispered.

"Small price to pay for a Starfire kiss," he told me, lifting his hand from my waist and toward his chin.

I jabbed his chest with the palm of my hand, landing the blow directly where I had cut him a few days ago, snatched my mask from his hands, and pushed him off the building.

By the time he had shimmered back up to the top, I had my mask covering my head and was tucking my hair away. "Do not do that again," I snapped.

"I'm still here," he told me smugly and holding onto his side. "Your Robin doesn't know. I don't know a man alive that'd let their girl kiss another guy."

I lifted off the roof. "I am leaving," I snapped at him.

"Suit yourself," he said, turning away and looking over at the Institute building. "But the shift's changing. If you're coming," he reached out a hand toward me, "you need to take my hand so I can warp us in."

I hesitated.

"Five," Red X said, his other hand hovering over his belt.

I scrunched up my face, hating the feeling that I was being manipulated.

"Four. Three. Two."

I darted forward and took his hand and he pressed on his belt. We shimmered right up to the side of the building, directly behind some bushes. Red X yanked on my arm, twisted so it went over my head and therefore spinning me so my back curled against his stomach, then he forced me lower. "Sorry," he whispered, crouching behind me. "Someone's in there."

"Oh," I whispered, having been about to kick him.

"I always thought you were too trusting."

"I am not here for you," I snapped. "I am doing this for Robin."

"Are you sure he deserves your loyalty?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Red X."

He chuckled, both his hands on my back as he peered inside the building, then we shimmered again. This time we were in a cubical. A neat and tidy desk, there were no papers or any personal effects of any kind and the computer was off. Red X kept a hand on my back as he peered out of the cubical and into the small makeshift hallway beyond. Opposite the cubical was a set of metal swing doors with a small number pad on the wall beside it.

"Stay," Red X said, tapping my back and crawled out of the cubical. I twisted, watching him as he pressed his back to the opposite wall, reached up and plugged some numbers into the number pad. The door beside him hissed as it opened and he gestured to me, before ducking through the door. He crouched at the entrance, holding it open for me as I crawled across the corridor to him.

Holding a finger up to the mask where his lips would be, he then pointed upward at the camera directly above us. The door shut and Red X lifted a hand and tossed a tiny device at it which I guessed would disable the camera.

"Okay," he whispered. "From here on in, there shouldn't be any people. There'll be cameras, but I'll disable those. Optical laser alarms as well, so just follow my lead."

I nodded. We set off down the long corridor, Red X taking out two more cameras that I did not even spot on the way.

"Do you have the prints of blue for this place?" I asked.

"Blueprints? Cutie, I love the way you talk. But, yes," he continued before I could growl at him, "I scoped it out a couple of days ago, couldn't get through the door. They haven't changed their security."

"So you just need me to open it?"

"Hold it open," he said. "It's one of those drop down doors, I need you to get under it before it hits the floor and just hold it."

"There is a limit to what I can do," I told him.

"Five minutes, tops. We go left," he said as we reached an intersection, bounding before me for a moment. He pressed himself against a wall, fired off two camera disabling devices down each direction. "C'mon, we'd better hurry." He took off running and I followed a pace or two behind him.

Red X led me through a maze of corridors, ignoring the closed doors branching off it. I do not believe I would have been able to find my way out if I tried. There were, however, increasing numbers on the doors that we ran past, with an incremental letter matching it, and I assumed this was how Red X knew where we were. We turned the corner, Red X disabling the camera mounted there and stopped before a dead end.

"Okay, you ready?" he asked.

I nodded. "Catch the falling door, hold it up."

"Good," he said.

There was a hidden control panel in the wall which Red X activated and the wall at the end of the corridor slid away. Red X grabbed my arm, hurried me through, while looking up, then planted me in position. "Brace yourself," he said. "The door at the other end won't open 'til this one is 'closed'," he said, using the inverted commas. "You hold it open, I'll go get the plans, then we can get back through."

"Can this door not be reopened?" I asked.

"Sure, in six hours time, it's on a timer for some reason and I haven't been able to crack the timer." He shrugged. "Ready?"

I steadied my stance, looking up at the slot in the roof. "Ready," I said.

There was a hiss and a metal door began to lower slowly. I pressed my palms against its metal and pushed against it. Metal groaned and I strained, but the door stopped moving.

"You realise you're a captive audience now," Red X smirked.

"Just hurry," I grumbled, closing my eyes so I could concentrate.

Red X laughed, then swore. "Damn, they upgraded."

Snapping open my eyes, I tilted my head and gasped. Red lasers crisscrossed the corridor between us and the door at the other end, which had not opened like Red X said it would.

"Could you not teleport through it?" I asked.

Red X considered, then shook his head. "Nope. Too risky. I can't tell their positioning from here, I'm liable to hit a laser."

"Perhaps they are merely the alarm lasers," I suggested. "And not the cutting ones?"

"Even so, I don't want to trip one. Won't give me enough time." He lifted his hands, undoing the clasp of his cape, before he approached me and wrapped it around my neck. "Hold this, would you?"

"Do I have a choice?"

He patted my shoulder, a friendly gesture, and I was glad he did not touch me anywhere else. "Anything happens, you drop the door and run."

This place reminded me of the spy movies that Robin enjoyed, the ones where there are rooms full of lasers and the spy must do as series of slow, controlled contortions to get through and deactivate them. That is exactly what it was like. Red X studied the room for a long moment, then glanced at me. "You tell me if you slip."

I nodded.

Red X went up into a hand stand, carefully lowering himself feet first over the first series of crisscrossing lasers, pushing his hands of the ground to jump the last little bit. He slipped to a crouch then placed one leg between two beams, shifting himself through.

"Is this weapon design really that important?"

"Not sure," Red X replied, turning and sliding along the floor on his belly. "All I know is the boss wants a look at them."

I shifted my grip to turn myself more toward him so I could watch. "I did not envisage you as requiring the boss."

Red X rolled onto his back, shuffling along the floor with his shoulders, then with controlled movements he folded in half, his legs rising above his head, going feet first between two beams, then pushing his body through. "I need more Xenothium. Not many suppliers now. Gets rather expensive."

"Is that why you steal? To power the suit?"

He was crouching now, one foot in the air as he slowly inched himself over a beam, ducking his head at the same time. It was almost a crab akin movement as he shifted his weight. "I steal because it's a challenge. It's fun. Just like flirting with you."

"I am a challenge?" I asked, curious.

"Yup." He was back on his back again, sideways to me, using his hands to make little shuffling movements.

"Perhaps I would have more interest in you if you were not a criminal."

"Nope. You'd still be hung up on bird boy." He stood, turning, and conducted a fast little jump and kick, a motion very much like the roundhouse kick. "As far as you're concerned, you're unobtainable. That's what makes trying to steal you fun."

I fell silent. I shifted my back, my palms were getting damp. I moved most of my weight onto one leg to give the other a rest. "You could be a good hero, even without the Xenothium."

"I'm not the hero type." He stopped. "Halfway there."

"You could be," I insisted.

He gave an exasperated sigh and rolled his shoulders as he studied the next part of the laser maze. "Star, this is much more difficult than it looks."

"My apologies. And please do not call me Star."

"You'd rather I call you 'cutie'?"

"Yes."

"Oh… really?" He turned his head to look at me, pausing.

"I know where I stand with you as cutie," I responded. "Star is what my friends call me."

"I'm not your friend?"

"I do not know what you are."

Red X grunted and turned his head back to the maze. "Okay, I need to do this one fast. How are you holding up?"

"Fine."

Red X conducted a series of gymnastic flips. His hand barely touched the floor a times as he bounced between the lasers and I think I even saw him push off the wall at one stage. I counted six leaps and twists before he landed; lifting his arms in the air. "Ta-da," he said, sounding smug.

"Nicely done," I told him and nodded.

"Were you checking me out?" he asked slyly.

I jerked my head. "No!"

Red X laughed and pushed pressed the button at the end of the hallway. The lasers turned off leaving the corridor bare, the door at the end opened, and my door became extremely heavy. It groaned again as it started trying to force its way down. I gasped and strained.

"What?" Red X called.

"It became heavier."

"Can you hold it?"

"Hurry!" I called through gritted teeth.

Red X vanished into the room beyond the hallway. I groaned and pushed against the door. There was a sharp crack as one of the tiles beneath my feet broke. I shifted my grip as the door continued to drop. My knees bent, I braced my shoulders and head against it and managed to halt its decent.

Something whirred, the metal of the door shuddering, then it was pushing against me again. The cracked tile collapsed and my foot sunk into the floor. "X!"

"Thirty seconds!"

"The floor!"

Shifting my weight to my other leg, I pulled my foot out of the hole I had created and braced myself again. I could hear Red X chanting up the other end of the corridor, willing whatever he was doing to go faster.

The door continued to rival my strength. I was forced to drop to a knee. I do not know why I did not just do as he told me before and drop the door. Then my knee went through the floor. Why did they have such weak floors? Was it so someone could not stand beneath the door and hold it open as I was doing? The floor continued to crumble around me, there was nowhere for me to stand.

I had to, I had to. I hated it and I promised, but I could not hold it, not with the floor disintegrating. I would be squashed and then how would I help Red X? I rolled to the side, releasing the door and it slammed shut.

I stared at the door in horror, my hands pressed against my cheeks. I paced, wringing my hands for a moment as I considered what to do. He had told me to run, but now he was trapped in there and the door could not be opened for another six hours. Was there even enough oxygen in there? What would happen to him if he was discovered?

I stamped my foot on the floor, but it sounded as hollow as well.

Perhaps they had not counted on someone who could fly. I removed my gloves, dropping them onto the floor a distance away and lifted off. Floating upside down I gouged hand holds into the metal. Perhaps if I could lift it enough, he would be able to teleport free.

Red X's cape pooled around the floor by my head as I braced myself to lift. Gritting my teeth, I strained against the door, using both my flight and my strength against it. Metal whined in the roof above me, a stuttered whirring noise and the door lifted a fraction. I could tell the moment whatever mechanisms giving the door strength activated, the whirring in the ceiling becoming louder, followed by a shriek of metal.

I hoped whatever Red X had retrieved was worth this trouble. With a yell, I tugged at the door as hard as I could. It lifted up a hand span before the door fought against me once more. It seemed it was enough, Red X shimmed beside me, lying flat on the floor.

"Good thinking," he said, getting to his feet.

"The floor was hollow," I scolded as I pried my hands out of the door.

"Yeah, I noticed. I'll remember to check that next time. Sorry." He took my hips, spinning me back upright. I resisted the urge to jab him for the unwanted contact as his hands went to the cape to unclip it. "Thanks for sticking around. You could have left me there."

I blinked, that had not even occurred to me. "Let us just make with the haste to depart," I suggested, stalking past him to retrieve my gloves. "Before we are discovered."

Red X nodded as he reclasped his cape around his neck. "Good idea."

It was a sound idea. It was the pity it did not go as planned.

Red X took my hand as we ran, I only allowed it because it would be easier to teleport if he was already holding on to me, especially because he was making all these shimmering hops through the corridors. I wondered if he knew something I did not.

"Was there an alarm on the door?" I asked. "Is that the reason for this haste?"

"No," he replied. "But since I was stupid and missed the fact that the floor was hollow, I don't know if there wasn't an alarm on that."

"Oh…"

He slid to a stop, pressing himself to the wall just before an intersection. He extended an arm diagonally across my chest, forcing me to the wall beside him. "Do you hear voices?" he whispered, before I could protest. My fingers were just itching to do the smacking of him. He slid down the wall to a crouch and peeked out. "How do you feel about beating up civilians?" he whispered.

"Umm…"

Someone down the hallway shouted.

Red X shoved at me, pointing down the corridor we'd just come from. "Go."

I ran down the corridor as fast as I could, but I could not hear footsteps behind me. I skidded, turning just in time to see Red X doing a hand stand on a security guard's shoulders, spinning him around so that he was off balance and tossing him into another guard. As Red X came off the guard, he placed a hand against the floor, kicking out with both legs in opposite directions.

He sprung upright and jumped forward, leaping over one of the guards heads, somersaulting as he did. He grabbed the guard's back as he completed the somersault, transferring his momentum into the guard as Red X lifted the guard and tossed him. He then extended his leg and kicked another one in the stomach.

Guards were pulling guns now, Red X snatching them and tossing them away before they'd been withdrawn completely from their hoisters, but there were still more guards coming. I wondered if I should go back and help, but they were just doing their jobs.

"Freeze!"

I swivelled, looking down the corridor to where I was supposed to be running. There were six guards there now, all of them holding guns and pointed them at me. I was not bullet proof, nor did I think I could move fast enough in this place to dodge one or disable the guards before they could fire at me. There was also the possibility that they would fire and hit one of their comrades or Red X.

I froze, lifting my hands to show I gave up, but they did not seem to care. Their faces hardened and one of them lifted his gun until it was pointed at my head.

Red X shimmered before me and tackled me to the ground just as the gun fired. "Float!" he snapped at me.

I responded immediately to the tone of voice and the words, only because it was so much like a command from Robin, engaging my flight so we floated. He dug a hand between us, we shimmered into a teleport and suddenly encased in metal.

An air duct. He must have been able to see one from where he was. We were in the wall, I could see the guards below us through a grating.

Red X was on top of me, pressed against me hard as I supported our weight. I knew why he had asked me to float, if we had not, our sudden weight in the duct would have given away our position. Red X clamped a hand over my mask where my mouth was. "Shh."

"What the fuck?" one of the guards yelled.

"Where'd they go?"

"Find them!"

"Someone check the cameras, someone else check the mainframe."

"Spread out, room by room search."

They were all confused, going any which way. Footsteps thudded along the corridors as they ran.

"Stay here!" one of the guards yelled at another. "Just in case they're close."

Red X swore softly, his head now peering around as he studied the duct we were in. He lifted his hand from my face, and pressed it against the side of the duct. The metal creaked beneath the slight pressure of his hand. He clenched his hand in reaction, pulling it away to swear again.

He dropped his head until it was beside my ear. "Sorry," he whispered. "Got to reposition."

I hissed at him, keeping my voice as low as I could.

The hand between us moved his belt to the side, most likely so we did not accidently trigger his teleport, then he clutched at the back of my shoulders. He shifted his hips so his legs could run along the length of mine, hooking his ankles on the opposite side of my leg from his knees. "Better?"

"How can this possibly be better?" I whispered, angry.

"Well, you could help by holding onto me," he returned.

Oh, I wished I could blast him right there, but then we would be discovered.

"And quit the eye glowy thing, I can see that from this close. I didn't plan this, you know."

"No, it was the accident," I hissed at him, being sarcastic.

"Calm down, tiger, you'll get us caught."

I growled at him, then lifted my hands so I was holding onto his chest and turned my head so I could look out the grating.

The man outside the grating paced, up and down the corridor. I could hear the other guards talking on the radio as the sounded off the rooms that were clear.

Red X tiled his head as he studied the layout of the corridor. "If he opens that door across from us, I'll get us in there before he closes it. Until then we just have to hold on."

I pulled a face at him, even if he could not see me. I huffed and shuffled and pouted and willed the man in the corridor to leave. I drummed my fingers on Red X's ribs to show my displeasure at this predicament.

"Quit fidgeting."

"This is entirely your fault," I hissed. "I should never have come."

"How is you coming my fault?" he asked. "You made your own decisions, cutie. No one forced you."

"X'hal curse you."

"Aww c'mon. You can't say this isn't at least nice."

"For you, perhaps. Not for me. I dislike being trapped."

"Been trapped like this before?" he asked.

"Not that I would tell you," I snapped.

"Keep it down," he replied, checking on the guard. "Do you want us to get caught?"

I huffed and turned my head away, biting my tongue to keep from snapping at him. I really did not like the way he was pressed up against me. I wished I could stop floating, that the metal would not creak as we touched it. I wished the man would leave so I could escape.

I wished I did not know what was pressing against me. I jerked my head back to Red X, baring my teeth and my eyes glowing as I struggled not to snarl. "Stop it."

"What?"

"I can feel that, bobsnar."

"Body armour," he responded. "What's a bobsnar?"

"The male reproductive organ situated on the head and that is not body armour."

He cleared his throat. "Wait…. Did you just call me a dickhead?"

"I will tear it off."

Red X gulped. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I can't help it you know."

"Yes, you can." I pinched his ribs, he jolted in response but was no longer pressed against me.

"It's a reaction," he whispered.

"I have heard that before. I am not stupid," I told him and looked out the grating. "The guard."

Red X's head snapped to the guard, who was standing at the door opposite the grating searching the room. Red X lifted his hand from my back, poised it against his belt. "Just don't hit me, okay?" he whispered as he waited for the guard to begin to close the door.

I remained silent. Red X waited until the last possible moment before he shimmered us into the room. He scrambled off me immediately, darting so he was crouched behind the door, his cape wrapped around his body.

I hid behind a desk, curling myself up into a ball and wrapped my arms around my legs.

"You okay?" he called, keeping his voice soft and low.

I peered around the edge of the desk to see him fiddling with his belt buckle. "No!" I snapped at him. "Do not you even dare!"

He jolted, then hurridly covered himself up with his cape. "Gah! Mind out of gutter!"

"It is not my mind I am concerned with!" I spat.

"I was doing it back up!" he insisted.

"Stamina is not your prowess," I told him haughtily.

"Make up your mind," he snapped.

"What?"

"Think about it," he told me, turning his head so he could keep his eye on the position of the guard.

"I would rather not."

He kept his head turned away. "Either you're upset that I'd jerk off to you, or you're upset that I can't last long enough when I jerk off to you! You can't have both."

My face flamed at his insinuation, understanding him perfectly, but I could not let him have the upper hand. "What is this 'jerk off'?"

He stiffened. "Oookay. Not touching that with a ten foot pole."

I liked the way he writhed. "No, I insist, explain to me the jerking off," I said, cheeky.

"I'm sure your Robin would have told you."

Robin and I had discussed it already, but I wished to make Red X squirm. Boys did not like talking about these things. "I am asking you."

"Ask Robin. Let him answer it."

I huffed. "Then he would ask where I heard it from."

"Exactly," Red X told me and I could tell he was smiling. "To be a fly on the wall when he tells you. He'll go all red and squirm. Can I watch?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, deliberately phrasing it a way that was certain to make him uncomfortable. "Why would Robin go all red and squirm when confronted with the jerking off? And why would you wish to watch?"

Red X choked on laughter and glanced at me briefly before he turned back to the window. "Okay, we need to stop. Trying to hide here."

I turned around and sat down, studying my hands. "Is it something boys do often?" I asked. He opened the line of questioning and I was curious.

He groaned. "Go back to being innocent Starfire, would you?"

"I live with Beast Boy," I told him. "Innocent is something I am not."

"I don't believe you."

"Robin believes I am innocent too and yet here I am, conducting criminal activities with you."

"That's because I corrupted you." Red X was silent for a moment. "Why are you asking? Worried your little bird boy is being all dirty with you in mind?"

I flushed.

"Or are you concerned he's not being dirty enough with you?"

"I am not answering that."

Red X laughed. "Oh, but you're quite happy to ask me."

"I was hoping you would answer. Robin never would."

"Have you tried asking him?"

I fell silent. I would have liked to, but I could not. Not when he had not removed his mask. I told him we could not go further if he did not share with me his eyes, and asking him those questions would mean he would be thinking about it and might share his eyes with me for the wrong reasons. Perhaps when he returned to Jump City. He did promise to share with me them then.

Red X sighed. "I can't believe I'm trapped in a room with a hot girl and we're talking about whether or not her boyfriend jerks off to her," he lamented.

I could not help it, somehow the way he phrased it was incredibly funny. I covered my mouth and began to giggle.

Red X chuckled. "You're silly. Sex isn't dirty, cutie."

I peered around the corner at him. "I know."

"And that begs the question, if you're so interested in what he's doing, are you doing the same?"

"What?" I squeaked.

"You are! I want details," he said and I could hear his smirk.

"Should you not be watching the door?"

"Not getting out of it that easily."

I huffed. "I am not about to give you details of anything I may or may not do. You have already been inappropriate around me, I do not wish to give you more you can use against me."

"I think you've given me enough to last a lifetime there, cutie. Deny all you like."

I covered my face in my hands and groaned.

"You started it," he reminded me.

"Can you just stop? Please?" I asked, my face flaming.

"Okay. Sorry. That was too far." He sounded remorseful.

I sighed. "I cannot blame you, since I asked first."

We dropped into silence, the guard's shadow pacing against the blinds on the window in the door. His shadow was becoming more and more infrequent and I was hopeful we would be able to escape soon.

"You know, he probably does," Red X said.

"Truly?" I was intrigued.

"Why not?" he shrugged. "I would if I were him."

That was disgusting. "And that was the mental image I did not want."

"You can't stop what other people think. You already know how I react to you," he told me matter-of-factly. "Maybe you should dump him and date me. At least I can talk about sex with you."

"No."

"You are really loyal, aren't you?"

"I am."

Red X sighed. "The guards seem to be spread out more now. I can probably bunny hop us out. Shall we get out of here?" I was more than ready to leave as we stood and he took my hand. He hesitated a moment. "Um… I'm just under half power, it uses less energy per teleport if—"

"We are closer together," I finished with a sigh, stepping closer to him and resting my hands on his sides. "I do understand matter to energy conservation."

He did the bunny hopping, his hands alternating their positions on my back as he continually checked our surroundings. Surprisingly, we were not accosted until we reached outside, Red X teleporting us through the door to behind the bushes, then onto the roof of the apartments we had waited for the shift change so I could retrieve my coat. I bent down to retrieve it when I noticed two pairs of boots, one set yellow, the other black, standing on the other end of the roof.

"I was wondering if you'd come back for that," a feminine voice said.