A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews. Each review encourages me to continue writing.

I just want to say, that of course Robin (Nightwing) and Starfire belong together, but if everything went fine for them, this would not be this story now would it? I also take this opportunity to formally apologize to all my readers that I am very sorry for taking so long to update. There is no real excuse for taking this long.

Please let me know in the form of a review if you think this story needs a higher rating than K+. This chapter is more violent than most.

Disclaimer: Eventually, it would seem like enough to write "I do not own Teen Titans" over and over again...

Time Changes Chapter Twenty-One

She was so close now. She could see with more clarity the outline of the fortress. Starfire stopped her flight and leaning against a huge rock began to equip herself with manuel weapons. Some were intended for hand-to-hand combat, others designed to be thrown with deadly accuracy. She and Ph'yzzon had known that the brigands had dangerous technology- shown to be a invisible energy field that disabled the starbolts and starbeams of Tamerainians. Knowing this, they had come prepared. Much to her dismay, she remembered that Ph'yzzon still had some of the more powerful weapons back at camp, but there was no way she was going back to get them... not now.

It was the coldest hour of the night, the time right before dawn. The guards stationed to the midnight watch would be tired and cold, maybe they would even be asleep... This was the perfect time to take them by surprise. Starfire felt a tinge of regret, for leaving without Ph'yzzon... and for dropping her necklace on the ground, but she would not allow herself to dwell on her regret.

Though she had all too often forgotten it, she was a Tamerainian warrior. A daughter of Kings, she should never have behaved the way she had the last few months... the weeping, the disbar... These things should never have happened. Though she had left Ph'yzzon behind out of fear, nay, regret of her love being torn between Ph'yzzon and Nightwing, the thing that kept her moving forward was the thought that she still had the chance to live, or maybe die, as a heroine of war celebrated by the people... not a weepy princess, her heart broken, brought to shame as some of the girls in the fairy tales of Earth.

Even as the fierce winds kicked up the red dirt into her eyes, Starfire flew slowly with her body as low to the ground as she could, hoping this her shadow-cloak would be enough in the darkness to hide her until she was ready to be seen. As she got about half the length of a football field away from the Brigand fortress, she could feel the air around her grow thicker. Much to her relief, she found that she could still fly, though she knew that this must be the energy field intended to render Tamerainians powerless.

In the darkness, Starfire smiled to herself, though if you could have seen her, it wouldn't have looked very much like a smile at all. Her face was quite dirty and her nose was wrinkled up because she had caught a whiff of some unpleasant smell lingering in the air. She looked very much the part of a assassin. All that remained to be seen was if she could play that part just as well as she looked it.

Starfire shut out every conflicting thought in her mind. She refused to think anymore about Ph'yzzon... or Nightwing. She couldn't dwell on thoughts of Earth, or her palace and Glafore. There was only one thing she told herself to think about, and that was the task at hand...

There was a guard, leaning against the wall of the building. He appeared to be half-asleep. Her own hands growing quite numb from the intense cold and wind, Starfire took a small poison-tipped dagger-like knife out of her store of weapons. Silently taking caution not to touch her own skin with the blade of the knife, she took aim... and the man drew what may have been his final breath.

The first deed of many was done.

Nightwing quietly packed his suitcase, sneaking in several of his altered uniforms and his new utility belt, the modified weapons with the paint and duck tape in place of his usual mix.

He was taking a trip to the home of Bruce Wayne, again... or at least that is what he had told the other Titans. He was taking his little section of the T-Ship, because his legs weren't well enough to drive the R-Cycle... this was probably true, but it wasn't the real reason to take his part of the T-Ship... The real reason was that he was going to Tameran, to see Starfire. He needed to be with her, and talk to her. He needed to help her sort out her thoughts... and he needed to know if she really had meant it when she had said she hated him.

But the Titans couldn't know that.

Nightwing knew that if Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven really knew what he was doing, they would want to come with him, or talk him out of going... both of which would ruin his plan. No, this was defiantly a time when the other titans couldn't help him. He knew that not telling the titans of his real plan could turn out to be a mistake, a mistake he had made before and did not want to repeat, but no. This was different, this had to be secret.

Soon he would be leaving, in a matter of less than 3 hours. He had told the Titans that this way he would reach the Wayne mansion by noon... But in reality, he planed to land at the Tamerainian capital sometime well after that.

Having been in a wheelchair for so long, his arms had grown strong. Picking up his heavy suitcase was easy. Wwalking with it on his weak legs was difficult. He took slow but steady steps, being careful not to tumble over with the heavy extra weight of the suitcase. Another thing that would have made walking hard for anyone was the huge amount of junk all over his room. He regretted not having cleaned it.

When he got out to the hallway, walking became easier, even though he did knock himself against the walls a few times. He had just past Cyborg's room, when Cyborg came out of the elevator.

"Hey, Robin... Uh, I mean Nightwing- I got your part of the T-Ship on the roof, and I can take your suitcase up there if you're having any trouble. Beast Boy's already awake, he's downstairs attempting to make waffles, but they're probably the soy kind." Cyborg explained

"Thanks Cyborg... I wasn't really having trouble... Well, sort of... I guess it would be cool if you took this up to my T-Ship. I'll go check on Beast Boy and make us some waffles that we can actually eat." said Nightwing.

"No problem. See you at breakfast!" exclaimed Cyborg.

"COULD YOU BE A LITTLE MORE QUIET!" Raven yelled from down the hall. "Some people here are still trying to get some sleep!"

"Sorry Raven" both guys yelled back down to her. Cyborg almost started to laugh, but then he seemed to remember that Raven might hear, and Cyborg took Nightwing's suitcase and went up to the elevator, quietly whistling a tune that Nightwing couldn't quite hear.

In a very short time Nightwing was down the elevator, and in the kitchen. Sure enough, Beast Boy was there, pouring himself a glass of soy milk, though, Seeing Nightwing approach, he did not drink it.

"Good morning Robin, or Nightwing. Dude, even though I've known for a while that you weren't going to be Robin anymore, it's going to take even longer to get used to calling you Nightwing. I made some waffles if you want any."

"The soy kind?" the former boy wonder asked, though he was already certain of the coming answer.

"Would I make my friends anything else?" Beast Boy asked, though not as a genuine question. Nightwing just smiled a little and got some bacon and eggs out of the fridge for his own breakfast.

A few hours later Nightwing had taken off and was now beyond the Earth's atmosphere. His ears were just growing accustom to the muffled but steady sound of the smooth engine propelling him through the vacuum of space at a speed far more fast than any airplane. This would be a long ride with only himself to keep his mind company, but compared to life at the tower, this could turn out to be a welcome time of calm. If only his ears would stop ringing he would be able to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Trying to distract himself, he put on his headphones and tried to picture Starfire in her beautiful red dress, dancing gracfully in his arms. He loved to think that he would soon be near her again, he just hoped she would be glad to see him. In his mind he could almost hear her whispering in his ear. If only that ringing sound would stop he could really think!

When in five minutes the ringing sound did not go away. Nightwing could feel his head start to throb with the sound. Then he realized, that yes, it was a sound. It wasn't his ears ringing, there was a sound... A high-pitched, constant sound, and if it wasn't just his imagination, the noise was getting louder.

Nightwing sat up, alert. That noise was getting a lot louder, and even with the sound-controlling headphones if he didn't stop it soon his ears might be permanatly damaged. Maybe I should just go back to earth... He thought, but he knew that if he turned back now he wouldn't get to see Starfire.

Calmly and slowly, the young man began searching the cockpit of his ship, a growing fear dawning in his mind. If it wasn't just his imagination, he could almost hear a lower, but equally loud beeping noise joining the high-pitched noise. The two sounds together triggered his thoughts to begin searching for the memory of where he had heard that sound before.

His mind began to race, the beeping sound grew faster. He knew that sound, but just couldn't put a name on it.. His heart skipped a beat, and he remembered that sound.

It was the ticking of a time bomb, and the time was running out.

A/N: Again, sorry for taking so long. Hopefully I can get future chapters out much faster. Please review.