Once again I want to apologies for updating late, but when I wrote the last chapter I didn't realize that on Monday I was spending the whole day at a theatre rehearsing for a play and in the evening performing it and that on Tuesday I would be in London at the Tate Modern Art Gallery as a trip for art gifted and talented club. As for Tuesday afternoon, I had to finish (and start) some assessed work that I had only just found out about on Monday… well that's what I get for not going to English lessons for two weeks (I was busy then too). I know that you guys are worth more than my stupid excuses so in all honesty, I have no good reasons for being late; I hope you can all forgive me.
"You were running your power supply dry. It was inevitable that you would soon be unable to use them at all…"
"The prize is an immortality potion. Can make you live forever. We can't let Slade get it."
"No, you are disqualified from the events."
Starfire gasped, "Blackfire?"
She was back on the island where she had been held imprisoned a while ago. Behind her was Slade, he had teleported her once again away from her friends.
"Over here!" shouted Raven, getting everyone's attention. They all ran up to her, there on the beach was Starfire, the waves splashing her face. She was unconscious, with a very pained expression. The water around her was stained with her blood.
"All we can do now is wait."
"Where is it?"
"The potion vial's gone!"
If Slade could now live forever, then Robin would have to make it the worst eternity imaginable. He swore revenge and he promised himself that he'd enjoy it.
"I would be happy just seeing the tower's medical room. It is a relief to be away from Slade."
"You've got two broken ribs, as for everything else; Raven's taken care of it."
He collapsed onto his bed, fully dressed. He on the other hand dreamt that night.
Suddenly, everything stopped. The figure threw his arms in front of him and with a wave of electric blue light that quickly faded; the team was frozen in their battle positions. An eerie ringing echoed across the room followed by a sudden bang. A split second later, the team broke free of the invisible binds holding them still completely oblivious to what had just happened. Then once again they stood stock-still but for a different reason, the figure had gone. Each titan looked around confusedly and Robin turned back to see Starfire lying sprawled across the floor with a heavy flow of blood streaming from what looked like a gunshot wound at her upper chest.
Then he woke up.
"Maybe it's a response to real life trauma like Starfire going missing… that kind of nightmare falls under 'Post-traumatic Stress'"
"How did you know my dream was about Starfire?"
"Because it always is."
Starfire awoke to the sound of birds chirping. She looked at her surroundings and smiled. She felt refreshed and happy and feelings that were hard to recognize and describe, having not felt them in so long. As if on cue, Robin appeared at the door carrying a tray. Starfire could not see what was on it from her angle and only when Robin went right up to her and placed it on her bedside table did she realize that it was food. There on the tray lay several plates, one with eggs benedict, another with several strips of bacon, a third one held an egg cup with a large brown egg inside. By the plates was a cup of what looked like orange juice. "You hungry?" asked Robin as he placed the tray on the bedside table.
Starfire's face brightened up even more than it had when she had just woken up. Without even answering, she practically threw the tray onto one side of her bed and devoured everything hastily, still managing to give herself time to savour each individual taste. Robin chuckled quietly to himself as he watched her happily eat. "I guess you haven't eaten a good home cooked meal in a while."
When the tray was clear of all food, Starfire lay back down comfortably in her bed and smiled at Robin, "thank you very much, Robin, I really appreciate all that you have done for me."
"Well it was only a breakfast in bed," Robin said modestly.
"No, I mean, for everything. Before Slade had taken me away, I never truly appreciated all that I have here, great friends, good food, a warm home, entertainment and opportunity, I have overlooked all that I should have been very grateful for. For that, I am very sorry, it shall never happen again," Very tiny tears welled up in her eyes and one managed to break through the invisible barrier and trickle down her cheek.
"Star, being grateful for what we have is something we can all improve at, you shouldn't be sorry. Honestly, I'm more guilty of the crime than you are. When you were gone, I realized how much I need you, how much you matter to all of us," he paused awkwardly thinking of what more he can say on the subject. When he couldn't think of anything, he asked, "So, how did you like your breakfast?"
"I love you - I mean I loved it," Starfire hastily corrected herself with a sheepish grin.
Robin smirked at her, "What did you say?"
"I loved it."
"No, before that."
"I… mean?"
"The three words before that," Robin pushed.
"I… love you," Starfire repeated hesitantly.
Robin smiled warmly at her, "I love you too." Robin walked over to the side of her bed and wrapped his arms around her; she did the same to him. Starfire rested her head on his shoulder and he laced one hand onto the back of her head, gently stroking her hair. They stayed like that for a few moments before Robin pulled back, footsteps were coming from the hallway where the door was still open. Robin picked up the tray and started walking towards the doorway. Suddenly, Beast Boy and Cyborg came into the room, slowly followed by Raven. As Robin passed them all, he threw Starfire a glace and a smile, which she happily returned.
"Hey, how are you feeling girl?" Cyborg asked as he walked over to the medical charts.
"Much better than I did with Slade."
"You gave us quite a scare, you know," Beast Boy said caringly as he sat down where Robin was sitting just moments ago.
"I am sorry for everything," she replied meekly.
"You shouldn't be, it was all Slade's doing," Raven joined Cyborg at the charts.
"So, exactly what happened with your powers?" asked Beast Boy hesitantly. Robin just walked through the doorway and sat down by Starfire.
"Well, since I used my powers more often than a Tamaranian should, they had run out. Slade told me that all my powers needed were a little push and then there'd be nothing left. He said that he had shot me so that my powers would switch off at a more convenient time and not when I am in battle."
"Is that what he told you?" asked Cyborg.
"He also said that it is rumoured that a great evil is coming."
"You didn't lose your powers because you used them too often, he drugged you Star," Cyborg told her. Starfire turned wild-eyed. "There are trace amounts of a neutralizing drug still in your blood. Not much, it should be gone soon enough. But not only that, there was some kind of performance enhancer there too, that's why you were hurt over and over when fighting Brindar and didn't show any pain."
"And I only felt the pain when the enhancer wore off."
"And you were hovering several feet above water at the time," Raven continued.
"So the pain was enough to make you black out," Beast Boy skepticized.
"So, you knew about the enhancer?" asked Robin.
"He had injected it into me when he took me to the training room."
"You've really been through a lot," Raven said solemnly.
"Yeah, Slade's a jerk," Beast Boy stated spitefully.
"And now he lives forever," Cyborg added.
"If he's now immortal, let's make it the worst eternity of his life!" Robin proposed.
"Actually," Starfire began while grinning madly, "He is not immortal at all. When the performance enhancer wore off, the last thing I did before I fainted was I uncorked the vial and replaced some of the liquid with sea water." Smiles appeared amongst the group. "I guessed that the ingredients were all measured out carefully, and my suspicions were soon confirmed when Slade explained about the vial when he came to steal it. The best part is that he now thinks that he is immortal and will take more risks and be more daring-,"
"And fall under a false sense of confidence," Robin interrupted.
"And fall right into our trap," Cyborg finished.
"Oh this is going to be so sweet!" Beast Boy rubbed his hands together menacingly.
The Titans decided to let Slade make the first move and so now they had to wait for his appearance. Robin sat at the counter doing a crossword puzzle with Cyborg looking over his shoulder while casually getting a glass of milk. Beast Boy was sitting at the window sill staring out attentively. Robin noticed him but chose not to say anything; instead he got back to the puzzle. "Six letter word for a number puzzle…" Robin mumbled to himself.
"Sudoku," Cyborg answered.
"I wasn't asking for your help."
"A good friend doesn't need to be asked to help them," Cyborg smugly replied.
"Well this friend doesn't want any help," Robin said edgily. There was an annoying silence between the two as Cyborg put the milk back into the fridge. "So… how do you spell Sudoku?"
Cyborg didn't answer instead; he went up to Beast Boy, "What are you looking at?"
"What do you think Raven's doing?" Beast Boy asked without taking his eyes away from the window. Outside, Raven was meditating a foot of the ground casually but every once in a while, a wave of ebony magic would quickly pass over the grass around her and then she'd move slightly to one side and repeat the wave of magic.
"Dunno. You gonna go ask her?" asked Cyborg.
"Yeah, I'll go do that," Beast Boy got up from the window sill and opened the front door. He walked up to Raven with his hands in his pockets and looked at the wave of magic that was swishing across the grass. He reached out to try to touch the wave as it went across.
"Don't do that," Raven snapped.
Beast Boy quickly pulled his hand back, "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Look closely, but not too close," Raven replied.
Beast Boy looked up at her and saw that she had her eyes closed and she had the same serene look on her face that she normally had. He turned his attention towards the magic. Beast Boy chuckled. "Cool, you're cutting the grass." He noticed that every time the magic passed over the grass, the tops of the blades would snip off and shower the ground. "How long have you been doing this?" he asked casually.
"Just about twenty minutes."
"Why?"
"…I was bored," she answered hesitantly.
"You know, most people watch the grass grow, not decapitate it."
"It's grown enough already. When was the last time someone cut it?"
"Dunno. I think Starfire normally cut it when she was bored." An awkward silence passed between them and allowed the sound of grass being cut to be heard. "After Robin taught her how to use the lawnmower and was sure she wouldn't run herself or anyone else down."
"We have a lawnmower?"
"Hehe, that's what I said. So, what do you do with all pieces of grass when you're done? They're all over the place."
The sound of Raven's magic abruptly stopped. "I do this," Suddenly, a swarm of green snippets of grass rose up from every stretch of ground on the island with a loud 'whoosh' sound and collected up in a great ball of green which, when as compact as it could get, collapsed onto Beast Boy. After a slight pause, a little green mouse burrowed out from under the heap and morphed into Beast Boy.
"Hehe, nice one!" He started doggy paddling in the heap of grass. Raven inwardly chuckled.
Back inside, Robin was reading one question over and over again trying to think up the answer. Cyborg had given up on whispering the answers over Robin's shoulder and went onto the computer to reorganize some of his files and write up some information onto the computer database. Also, he wanted to do some research on the immortality potion. They were both keeping themselves busy when the door suddenly opened. There stood Starfire holding onto a metal bar suspended on four wheels that held up a sachet of blood and a drip attached to her arm. She looked a little faint but healthier than they had seen her lately. "Hey Star, what brings you here?" Cyborg asked from the computer, Robin looked up.
"Hello Friends, I was just a little bored."
"You wanna help me with my crossword puzzle?" asked Robin. Cyborg glowed at him but went back to his work, Starfire walked across the room and pulled another chair up behind Robin never letting go of the bar.
Robin read out the questions one by one and Starfire would pause at each one and then answer almost all of them, when they were finished, Starfire noticed something, "Where is Raven and Beast Boy?"
"They're outside," Cyborg answered.
"I shall go visit them."
When Starfire got outside, she was surprised to see Beast Boy diving in and out of a great heap of what looked like grass, and was even more surprised that Raven was smiling tenderly at him. She turned her attention to Starfire, still smiling. "Hey Star, how are you feeling?"
"Just a little sore, but better than I have been feeling lately. Please, what is Beast Boy doing?"
"Enjoying his youth," replied Raven while getting up from the ground, "And acting like an idiot," she added and walked away.