Robin's Point of View

She said it all so calmly. At first I thought the royalty bombshell was it. It was a surprise, but it didn't matter really. Diana was the Princess of Themyscira and it didn't change anything. But then it got worse. Slavery...torture...experiments...rape. My mind recoiled from the word. That word and Starfire didn't belong in the same sentence. No! Was this some kind of joke? Did she want out of our relationship before it started and thought this would scare me away? God, Dick, how could you even think that about her just look at the way her hands are shaking. Starfire was afraid. And it dawned on me as she finally lapsed into silence with her head bowed awaiting my reaction that I could hurt her more by saying the wrong thing than any of the creatures who had abused her before.

Words crowded in. Questions, denials, threats of violence to the ones who had done these things, and a thousand meaningless words of comfort. I must have been quiet too long because she drew a deep, ragged breath.

"It is as I feared. This has changed your opinion of me. Forgive me for-"

"Don't you dare apologize." It came out sounding like a growl and she froze. I stood up from the end of the couch and walked toward her. She cowered. "I mean it. Don't ever apologize for what they did to you. You...I... This is a lot to take in, but..." I trailed off, getting lost in the things I wanted to say and the feelings I hadn't been prepared to face. Suddenly, I reached down and tore my shirt out of my belt and yanked it over my head. Starfire's eyes widened. If she could bare her scars, then I could share mine.

"Robin...!"

I do my best never to take my shirt off in front of the others if I can help it. Experience in the superhero world comes with a painful price. Unlike the others, I have no extra special healing abilities. Every missed block, every gunshot, every broken bone, they're all written in my skin. It's grizzly. Even I don't like looking at them. Starfire drank them in and then reached to hand me back my shirt.

"You do not have to do that. I am aware of your scars." The pretty blush on her cheeks told me that she remembered them from the night before. Her blush was encouraging.

"If you can look past mine why should I hold yours against you?" I asked, pulling the shirt over my head.

"It is not the same and you know it. Last night you asked me if there were others from my past whom you should feel the jealousy toward. You meant another who held my heart, but you cannot claim that you are unaffected by this."

I gaped at her.

"You think I'm jealous of what they did?" Jealousy didn't even play into it. Even if I cared about being her first, which I didn't-at least not the way she thought I did-I couldn't hold her past against her. In fact, I was slightly insulted that she thought I would.

"You mean that this-what I've told you-makes no difference in your feelings?" Her voice wobbled with hope.

"Of course not. In fact, I can't believe that you've lived with all of that and still manage to trust and love. I don't think I could if I was in your place."

"There is much to love, Robin." She got slowly to her feet. "And you were the one who taught me to trust."

"Then trust me, Star, there's nothing on this earth that can change the way I feel about you. You are awesome." She giggled, remembering my failed attempt on an alien planet to tell her how I felt about her more than a year ago. I hoped she would. Her laughter broke the bubble of tension expanding in my chest. I grinned and pulled her in for a hug. She bent so that she could tuck her chin on my shoulder.

"You're the most incredible girl I've ever met," I whispered against her hair. I was so grateful to hold her that I didn't register the cool touch of a shadow across my back.

"Touching," Bruce said coldly from the doorway. "Robin, when you can pry yourself away, you're needed in the Bat cave."

Starfire eeped and quickly pulled away like he'd caught us doing something wrong. I sighed, knowing that to make him wait would only prolong his unwanted intrusion.

"I'll see you later, Star. We'll talk more when we get back to the Tower."

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Bruce asked after we stepped into the elevator to take us down to the cave. "After everything that Joker has just done you think starting anything with that-"

"Careful..." I warned. Bruce was not always politically correct when it came to aliens. Superman was a rare exception but Bruce had hang ups with him too. After the conversation I'd just had with Starfire I was feeling more protective of her than usual.

"You think you can date her as Robin and expect to ever live with any sort of peace? What if the next time it's not Babs lying in a hospital bed? You think Joker won't use her if he gets the chance? You think Slade won't exploit your weakness for her."

"I'd like to see Joker get within five feet of her starbolts," I said with false bravado. Actually I wanted Star as far from him as possible.

"She clouds your judgement, Dick. You're too busy trying to see up that miniskirt that you make careless mistakes."

"When has that ever happened?" The absurdity of it stopped me cold.

"You allowed your attention to wander during the fight with Joker that led to your capture. I saw the surveillance tapes. You turned to look behind you and he hit you over the head with his crowbar."

"I fight on a team now. As leader I have to make sure my teammates are safe."

"If I called Vicky Vale to write an article she couldn't do a better job of broadcasting your feelings for the whole world to see than you do. You have enemies, Dick, and they will follow you wherever you go. The closer Starfire gets to you the more pain you'll cause her."

"You don't know what you're talking about," I muttered. Starfire was a fighter. She had survived worse than Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, and Harley put together. "Is this why you brought me down here? To harp about why I shouldn't be happy for once in my life?"

"No. I brought you down here because Joker left a message for you."