Chapter 11: Here We Go
"Robin! Please, are you in the vicinity!?" Starfire yelled, frantically flying around the shipping containers for any sign of her lost friend. "Robin!"
Beast Boy was running along side of her, in the form of a bloodhound sniffing furiously along the ground.
The battle had been short and fast, everyone wanting to get to Robin as soon as possible. The Slade-bots didn't stand a chance against all of their powers, and were quickly overwhelmed and destroyed.
Now the only problem they were having was actually finding the Boy Wonder. It had been about ten minutes since the battle had ended. M'gann's mind link was still absent of Robin's presence, and the distraught Superboy claimed that he hadn't been able to hear anyone talking or Robin's heartbeat. Super girl had the same luck.
This sent Starfire off immediately in search, and the other were not far behind. Everyone was in a frenzy trying to find the Titan's leader, especially the Titan's themselves.
The Young Justice team may be Robin's friends, but they had no idea of the real stakes. What could really happen if Slade got his hands on the Boy Wonder.
Below her Beast Boy changed back to his regular form, still crouched on the ground. His ears were pointed down, and even from the air Starfire could see the fear and panic in the young boys eyes.
"Robin, dude! C'mon, this isn't funny! Answer us, bro!" he called out, ears perking to hear a possible answer. After a solid ten seconds of silence, his ears dropped again and he went back to sniffing the ground as a bloodhound.
Starfire felt tears well in her eyes. Robin was not answering any of them, which likely meant he was gone. And so soon after they had gotten him back. He was back in the grasp of the terrible mercenary.
The Tamaranian took a deep breath and shook her head. She would not fail to find her good friend because she was blinded by sadness. The only way she would leave this place was if Robin was with her.
With new-found determination, she flew off again to search for her missing leader and Slade. They would find him, no matter what.
M'gann suddenly gasped in the mind link, and Starfire felt a another person join the link. "Robin! Where are you!? Are you alright?!" the Martian exclaimed, and soon the link was filled with worried voices, including her own.
Starfire could have fainted from relief. If Robin was able to connect to the link, then surely he was still in the area. She stopped flying immediately, dropping down besides Beast Boy who had yet again returned to human form.
There was a brief silence in her mind as they all waited with baited breath for Robin to say something. To say anything. Just to confirm that he was alright and not in danger.
"...I'm fine, guys. Slade is gone." Robin's voice was small, and the sentence came out as a whisper that barely touched their minds.
Starfire frowned, her forehead crinkling in worry. That certainly did not sound like the bot she had become friends with. It sounded like a child desperate to be left alone.
Beast Boy frowned beside her, glancing up at her and giving a confused and worried look. It seemed that Beast Boy had also caught onto the tone of voice.
"Robin, are you sure you are the oh-kay? You do not sound like yourself." She paused, wondering how to phrase the question she wanted so dearly to ask, bit knew she couldn't without revealing the apprenticeship to the other team.
That had confused her as well. She knew that Robin was still hurting, but did not understand why he kept the hurt hidden from his other friends. Or why he did not want them to know about the incident that happened only a month ago. Would that knowledge help the others understand exactly what Slade was up to? Would that not help in the capture of the criminal?
But she needed to ask. If not for her peace of mind, then for the Titan's. "Did Slade...attempt to..." She trailed, and could physically feel the way everyone tensed over the link. The Young Justice team were confused, but the phrase concerned them nonetheless.
There was a palpable moment of silence before Robin answered. "...Yeah. But...I managed to get away."
"Robin, what exactly are you and your team referring to." Kaldur spoke. It was phrased like a question, but everyone could hear that it was quite clearly a demand. And they could also feel the spike of anger from Robin's connection.
"I don't have to tell you anything. You aren't my leader, Aqualad. Back off." Robin spat, and Starfire felt her eyes widen at his tone.
She had only heard that tone one other time, and that was when they tried to make Robin stay behi d while they went to go find Slade and destroy the cronotan detonator. The same day...
"Geez, calm down, Rob. It was only a question." Kid Flash said, his tone sounding a bit hurt.
Starfire was a bit confused as to why he sounded hurt. Was it not the Atlantian who had asked the question? But she did not question it, as it was obvious Robin had known this boy for quite some time.
"I'm making my way to where we were blown up. Then, we are leaving." Robin was curt, and ignored Kid Flash's statement completely. Starfire could feel the speedsters sadness wash over her, and she found herself reciprocating the feeling.
Robin was finally getting better. He was just starting to put the entire apprenticeship behind him, and now this? Why did they even get involved? This was doing nothing to help her leader. It was simply making things much worse, and putting Robin in even more danger!
"Didn't you hurt your leg?" Supergirl asked, sounding extremely hesitant.
"I'm managing. Let's just get out of here." Starfire also knew that tone. It was the one he used when he was hurting more than he wanted people to know.
She sighed, and locked eyes with Beast Boy for a moment before he turned into an eagle and started to fly towards the smoke collum still rising towards the sky. Starfire followed after, her worry still as strong as ever.
All she wanted was for Robin to be happy. And so far, the only time he had shown true joy was when he was with Kid Flash.
This entire situation was not going as planned. Granted, not one of the Titan's thought that this would be a simple job. They knew Slade, and they knew there would be complications. They also knew he would go after Robin, and yet they let him.
A sudden though struck her, and it was startling enough to almost make her flight falter. It was only now that she realized what Robin had said did not make any sense. She was just too relieved in the moment to notice.
Robin had said that Slade had gone. There was no possible way that the mercenary would simply leave the Boy Wonder when he was alone and defenseless. And how exactly did he manage to get away, when he had an injured leg? Robin was the most skilled on their team, but Slade was faster. And stronger. As much as she believed in her leader, Starfire doubted Robin could have escaped.
Which could only mean Robin was lying. It was something that Starfire did not like, but she knew there would be no talking about it until she could get them somewhere private.
For now, she focused on the figure on the ground growing steadily larger, and how he looked to be mostly alright.
"Robin!" Starfire cried, and before she could think she was in front of the teen and wrapped her arms around him. Her joy dampened when she did not feel his arms around her in return.
She floated back, now hesitant as she looked at her leader up close. Starfire could not see any sort of emotion on his face, and only saw that he was indeed favouring his right leg.
"Robin?" the Tamaranian saw Raven, Cyborg, and Zatanna out of the corner of her eye, all running towards them. But her main focus was Robin.
He looked at her for a moment, and then his expression softened. "Hey, Star. I'm okay."
Starfire smiled, but she could see that everything was definitely not the oh-kay.
But everything she wanted to say would have to wait, as soon everyone was in the small clearing and bombarding Robin with hugs (that he looked very reluctant to be a part of) and smiles of relief.
He answered every question directed at him in short, clipped tones, and his entire body was stiff. Everyone seemed to finally catch on that he did not want to talk. Finally, they all silently filed onto the Bioship, all of them aware of the awkwardness and tension.
Starfire opted to fly back on her own, as did Supergirl and Beast Boy. It didn't seemed that either of the three wanted to be stuck in a confined space with that kind of atmosphere.
It also gave Starfire more time to think, and think she did. She thought about how she was going to approach Robin after everything settled down. She thought about what really happened between Robin and Slade. She thought about what could have possibly been said for Robin to have been let go by Slade.
The Tamaranian took a deep breath full of the fresh sea air, following the Bioship closely and with Supergirl on her right side and Beast Boy on her left.
She had a lot that she needed to talk to Robin about.
But as the Mountain slowly came into view, she could not fathom how wrong things were about to turn when they landed.
WOAH OMG ITS FINALLY A CHAPTER FOR THIS BOOK. HOLY CRAP I KNOW.
Welcome back to 'Changing Tides'! It's been A WHILE. And I would like to sincerely apologize for that, but guess what? I FINALLY HAVE THE PLOT FOR THIS STORY DOWN. YAS.
It took a while, but it happened. I'm so excited to be writing this again! I would suggest not expecting regular updates, however, as I don't really have any set schedule for any of the my books.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! It was relatively short, and it was interesting writing in the sort-of perspective of Starfire, but I thought it would be best to ease back into this a bit. This will probably be the only chapter with her as 'lead'.
See Ya next time!
~Atatami