"Starfire, are you sure you're okay with this, with sending RyAnd'r back I mean?" I asked as we stopped outside my door. The door slid open with its familiar hiss, and before I had time to react, she was on me, wrapping me in a Starfire squeeze so strong I felt my ribcage bow under her strength.
"Well I guess that answers that question," I grunted, patting her on the head. She lifted her face and kissed me hard on the lips. My feet left the ground as she flew us against the opposite wall. My back bounced against the smooth panels, but I barely felt it. Her fingers were digging in my hair, forcing my head back and my mouth up to meet hers. My hands wrapped around her waist, pinning her against me. I didn't know what was happening, whether it was gratitude over saving her brother or relief that everything was finally over or even just the relief at finally having a moment to ourselves, but I didn't care. I lifted her knee so that it rested against my hip and spun her around so that I was the one grinding her against the wall. She made this awesome noise deep in her throat and I knew she was liking the change.
"Robin, I could not live without you," she moaned into my mouth.
"You don't have to worry, Star. I'm not going anywhere."
"I thought...you were...dead," she panted as my mouth worked its way down her long throat.
"Nah...not me. I'm tough...to...kill. You know that," I said against her skin, the words coming between kisses. I groaned as her nails slid through my hair again. I'd never imagined this would be so good between us.
"I was so afraid I would lose you," she said, and this time the passion had faded. Her voice was thick with tears now and I sighed and rested my forehead against her collarbone.
"Don't think about it, Star. We did it. Your brother's alive and going back to Tamaran. One day you guys might even have a real relationship. This was just another mission accomplished."
"But it is different now," she insisted, and her voice wavered with emotion. "Before, you were merely my leader and best friend. But RyAnd'r knew that you were the other half of my heart and he nearly destroyed you to punish me. I could never have forgiven myself if you had died because of me."
I couldn't help but laugh, wrapping my arms around her back and hugging her tight against me. She squirmed.
"My distress is amusing?"
"No. You have no idea how many times I used that as my excuse for why we couldn't be together. I thought if I told you how I felt our enemies would target you to get to me. I never imagined I'd be the one in danger." The laugh came from deep in my belly now. Starfire wrinkled her nose, confused. "Ah, gorgeous, you are so perfect for me it's ridiculous!" I kissed her again. Her hands slid from my hair to tangle in my shirt. The rough sound of threads tearing did strange things to my head. God she was so hot! But the moment I felt her fingers on my bare chest alarm bells went off and I pulled back from her.
"R-Robin?"
"Sorry, Star. I got a little carried away." I cleared my throat of the husky sound that had crept into it. "I'm just going to take a quick shower." I scurried away before she could call me back. I didn't dare look at her face. I could feel her confusion from across the room.
Hot water jetted from the shower head, filling my narrow bathroom with steam as I kicked off my boots and stepped out of my green pants. A part of me very clearly wanted to finish what I'd started in the other room, but the rest of me knew better. God we hadn't even had our first date yet. I stepped into the shower, wincing as the hot water rushed over my skin.
I stayed in longer than I meant to. I was avoiding her. She would still be waiting for me though. In all the time I'd known her she'd never held back from asking a question. I didn't always give her an answer, but she always asked. Unfortunately, in my hasty retreat I'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes with me into the bathroom, meaning I had to walk back in with a towel wrapped around my waist and my dirty clothes in one hand.
She was sitting against my headboard, her hands clasped in her lap, the picture of innocence and uncertainty. I quickly avoided her eye, tossing my dirty things in my hamper and going straight for my dresser. That meant she got a good look at me, front and back. With the overhead light on and the sunshine filtering through my blinds there was no way she didn't see all of the scars. Bravely, I met her eyes in my dresser mirror. No revulsion. Only confusion. I grabbed a gray t-shirt but hesitated from putting it on.
"I try not to let people see me like this," I explained through my reflection. "I don't like for them to know how many mistakes I've made."
"You believe I think less of you because you bear the scars of battle?"
"No. Yes... I don't know. It's just hard to let you see me like this. It just proves how vulnerable I really am. I mean, anyone who looks at you, who sees how powerful you are would think you're indestructible. But if our enemies saw this they'd know I'm just some kid they could shoot down just as easily as any other person on the street."
"What I see is courage and strength. Robin, you know my past. If you think I have no scars you are doing the fooling of yourself." A dark edge crept into her voice. I went to sit on the edge of the bed. I sighed.
"This is all moving a little fast for me. I mean, we're already engaged and we haven't even had our first date yet. We almost... I just think we need to slow down. These are issues I never thought I'd have to deal with. I told myself I couldn't be a hero and have a wife and a family, so the scars didn't matter, but now we're together and it's harder than I expected to share this side of me with you. I don't want you to think I'm weak."
"I could never think that, Robin. But if it will ease your mind then we may do the slowing down. Besides, I should speak to the League regarding my brother's status. You need your rest." She floated up from the bed and landed on the opposite side. I lunged to catch her hand before she could put too much distance between us.
"If you keep kissing me like you did before I won't be able to resist you for long. But thank you for not pushing." I kissed her quickly on the cheek, needing her to know it wasn't a rejection. Her eyes ignited with a sultry smile that scorched me straight to my toes.
"I will not do the tempting of you if you are not ready, but I cannot help myself when you do the rough handling of me." Her hand found my through, tilted back my head and she dripped kisses slowly down on me. My resolve to slow down was melting away, but then she lifted her lips from mine and slowly walked away, rolling her hips in a way I'd never seen before that accentuated her very feminine her body was. By the time the door slid shut behind her, my mind was in a fog and sleeping was the last thing on my mind.
Starfire contacted the League, who patched a message through to Tamaran where Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were still dealing with the outraged Tamaranean counsel over my kidnapping. She assured them that we had everything under control and told them how she planned to handle RyAnd'r's future. Wonder Woman was skeptical of the plan. Superman was cautious that Starfire might be giving her brother too much leeway, but Batman accepted the decision without comment. He would, considering how he locks up the criminals of Gothamn in Arkham knowing it's only a matter of time before they break out again. I've started to think that he hopes they'll break out so he can have an excuse to keep testing himself.
Batman and Superman would come to collect RyAnd'r, leaving Wonder Woman on Tamaran to keep the peace until they arrived.
"Why isn't Batman staying on Tamaran?" Beast Boy asked later when Starfire recounted the conversation over the pizza w'd ordered. "I mean if RyAnd'r got loose it's not like Batman's going to be able to do much to stop him."
I sent him a withering look. He blushed, realizing that he'd indirectly insulted me as well.
"I bet Tamaran and Batman are eager for a break from each other. He doesn't exactly do emotions, and they're not known for holding them back. I bet they're either really confused by him or driving him crazy with questions." i grinned at the thought, but beside me, Starfire stiffened.
"Do I do the driving crazy of you with my questions?"
"Walked right into that one, Rob man," said Cyborg around a mouthful of cheese.
"Of course not," I replied, not ruffled at all. "Your questions make me think About things differently than I'm used to. It's refreshing. Batman doesn't have patience for any way but his way. Plus he doesn't have my sparkling personality."
"Bet you wouldn't say that if he was here," Beast Boy said with a grin.
"Bet you I've said worse to his face," I shrugged. A look of awe came over Beast Boy's features. It gave my ego a welcome boost after his unintentional dig at us de-powered heroes.
Abruptly I stood up and wiped the pizza grease from my gloves. "Well, you guys enjoy. I've got some work to catch up on." I touched Starfire's shoulder lightly in passing and she gave a little smile. Cyborg and Beast Boy rolled their eyes that I was going back to work so soon. Raven's gaze flicked knowingly to mine and I looked away.
I let them think I was going to the evidence room. Technically the room was available for anyone's use, but I was the only one who ever really used it so it had become my unofficial office. We'd even reached the point where I would sometimes lock myself in and they didn't try to follow me, except send Starfire to try and call me out.
But I didn't go to the evidence room.
Instead I went to the gym. I flicked on the lights and immediately saw RyAnd'r sitting on Starfire's weight rack across the room. The braces are still on his arms, but he had his hands in his lap and an extra length of chain had been found to tether him to the ground. He looked up as soon as the lights came on, probably expecting to see Cyborg and seemed almost relieved to see that it was me.
"She sent you?"
"Uh...no." I bristled at the thought of being sent as someone's errand boy, even Starfire's. "I wanted to talk to you."
"You are her chosen, yes? How could my sister have fallen for a human? Compared to us, your race is weak."
"Maybe because Starfire understands the difference between weakness and strength. Yes she's stronger than I will ever be, but there are a lot of things I know that she's just learning."
"Spare me the details of how you defile my sister," he growled, turning his head. I almost laughed, half-convinced he'd purposefully mistaken my meaning. Instead, I folded my arms easily and leaned a shoulder against the weight rack that was basically another set of bleachers made from giant slabs of steel.
"Now that you've met her and seen her up close you can't really believe she's as evil as you thought, can you?" He moved his head like a snake, trying to worm away from my question but having nowhere to go.
"She is not what I was led to believe, no."
"Then you can see that she still loves you?" His green eyes rose to mine for a moment. He'd had most of the afternoon to myself to work all this out, and I knew he was coming around. But I needed to reassure myself that we were making the right choice.
"Look, we let you go this time, but if you ever try to hurt like that again I will you down." For just a moment I let a little bit of the Batman creep into my tone just so that he knew how serious I was. Let him think he was stronger than me. Let him imagine that starbolts and flight gave him the advantage. If he ever hurt her again he would answer to me. The rest of the Titans would be out for his blood too, but I was the one he should worry about.
"I've wondered," he said in a low conversational voice, "how different things might have been if she and I had escaped here together. I envy that KoriAnd'r finds a home wherever she lands. Komand'r and I did not have an easy time together. We were refugees constantly looking over our shoulders. Tamaran never came for us and I believed it was because KoriAnd'r betrayed us. That other one has shown me the videos of her. I recognize these bracers and saw the footage of how she was when she first arrived. I saw how you freed her even though she was a threat to your city." His eyebrow rose in a silent question. I shrugged. To this day I don't know what made me take off those bracers. She had already proven she had no qualms about destroying the city or hurting the people in it, but maybe it had been the desperation in her eyes, the fear. Even before I knew her I'd wanted to protect her.
"Everyone deserves at least one chance to prove themselves innocent. Everyone," I added meaningfully. "What you do with that chance is up to you. Starfire chose to stay and help fend off the Gordanians even though we were outnumbered and she might have easily been taken prisoner again. But we won and she earned a place on this team. Look, I'm sorry your life has been difficult up to this point. I know how that is. Each of the Titans had a rough start. But trying to hold on to the past just keeps it alive and holds you back from becoming something better. Starfire is giving you a chance. Don't blow it." I though I was getting through to him until his brows creased in an expression that was so like his sister's that I nearly grinned again.
"And how does one do the blowing of it?" he asked with genuine confusion. Finally, I threw back my head and laughed. Luckily he didn't take offense. In a very Starfire-like bemusement he waited for me to explain myself.
"Be very grateful that I'm the one you said that to instead of Beast Boy. You'd get a totally different answer."
A/N: Well that's it. I may do an epilogue chapter, but this ends their problem with RyAnd'r. If there's loose ends I forgot to tie up let me know in the comments and I'll sort them out. As far as public opinion goes that will always wax and wane for the superhero community based on what threat they face. Batman and Robin will always disagree, butt heads, agree and then agree not to talk about it, so yea... As for Robin and Starfire getting married, that's ceremonial for Tamaran, but on Earth they can take it to mean whatever they want it to, hence Robin is slowing things down so they can go at a more normal pace. Thanks for reading. :)