Author's note:

Limitations of writing before canon (and wanting to keep canon). I can't do Raven and Starfire girly time, because as Starfire says in Switched, they'd never hung out before. Darn.

Also, no update tomorrow. It's an important day for me and my family, as it is for a lot of Australians and New Zealanders. For my family it also marks a personal tragedy, so I will not be on the internet. Lest we forget.

Falling.

"Okay, you ready?"

Starfire nodded.

"And you're sure?"

"I am very quick to react."

"The safe word is "Aaaarrrrrgh, save me, I'm gonna die.'" Starfire giggled behind her hand and Robin grinned in return. "Okay, so it's just 'catch'."

Starfire nodded. "I will not fail you."

Robin adjusted his weight, shifting it from side to side as he glanced over at the edge of the building. "And you're aware of how far I can safely fall?"

"I believe so."

"I'm going to try and trick you."

Starfire nodded. "A query first, if I may?"

Robin nodded.

"Where is the best place to catch you?"

"Huh?"

Starfire reached out and tugged his cape. "That would not be a good place, I assume."

Robin shook his head. "No. Legs aren't good either, because then we can't go for a quick release. Anywhere around the arms or chest is fine."

Starfire nodded, then pointed to his belt. "Your weapons... will you want access to them?"

Robin tapped his lips in consideration. "Read me as best you can. If you catch me, I'll probably shift so I'm holding onto you somehow. That way you can tell if I want to be released, because I'll let go."

"Agreed."

"We'll probably screw this up a couple of times before we sync. Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I was watching you yesterday, at the Watchtower." He scratched his head. "How to explain this... you curve and dip all over the place. Your body isn't always pointed in the direction you're flying."

Starfire understood what he was referring to. "No. It does not. You wish for me to match my direction with my body?"

Robin nodded. "It makes it easier to calculate momentum and direction and I can tell when a good release is."

"I will make every effort to adhere to basic physics."

"Thanks." Robin jiggled, his gaze now on the edge of the building. "We'll take this slow. Ready?"

Starfire took up a position slightly behind him. "I believe so."

"You don't need to catch this first one, 'kay?"

"Very well."

"Oh and I normally roll, so don't be concerned."

"Roll?" Starfire asked.

Robin flashed her a grin. "Just keep up," he cheeked and broke into a run.

Starfire immediately kept pace, watching his actions closely.

His boots thudded against the roof, his steps carefully placed so the last one landed up on the brick edge of the building. He expelled a breath of air and used that leg to propel him forward.

Starfire fought to hold her position and not fly to his rescue.

He hit the opposite rooftop with ease, further in than Starfire had calculated. He was more springy than she suspected. His legs folding beneath him and he rolled forward. Starfire supposed it was to take care of some of the kinetic energy and to keep his momentum traveling forward without injuring himself. He rolled so easily, legs over head, the somersault was like it was second nature to him. Just like flying was to her. One graceful motion then he was up and sprinting toward the next gap in the rooftops.

She held her position, just behind him, matching his speed.

The next jump was similar, except his approach was different. The distance was slightly larger than the first, she watched for any signal that he would need assistance. Muscles bunched, his foot hit the awning, his chest thrust forward, his legs swinging behind then extending out in front as he prepared for landing. The cape around his neck, previously caught in the propulsion of his body, followed the line of him as he rolled through that landing too.

"Ready?" he called again, sprinting for the next roof.

She was.

"Keep the speed," he commanded as his feet thumped against the roof.

The approach of the next one was similar to the first two, foot against the awning, chest thrust forward, whole body reaching for the opposite rooftop, except this time he extended his hand out toward her.

She moved in and gripped his hand, matching the speed he had been traveling at and carried him over the short distance to the next roof. He lifted his legs in preparation, his feet toward the roof.

"Release!" he demanded as his foot touched and she obeyed, Robin rolling again, then he was up and running.

"Nice work," he said, flashing her a grin.

Starfire beamed.

"Keep going."

They tried three more of the hand extending jump and she made each one of them, trying to preempt whether he would need assistance or not. The hand extend was an easy signal to follow, but Starfire felt that was solely for her benefit. After all, he was putting a lot of trust in her. He would want to know she was there before he allowed himself to really fall.

Robin shifted direction mid rooftop, skidding on one foot. Starfire stayed right with him as he leapt, snatching his out stretched hand and propelling him over the gap.

He stopped, grinning at her. "Nice."

She smiled, pleased.

"Okay, let's keep going. Back up a bit and see if you can guess whether I'll make it or not. Once we've got that, we'll work on whether or not I'm going for a grappling hook."

"Back up?"

"Don't fly so close."

"But then I will not be able to catch you-"

"That's the point. You can't always be shadowing me. I can save myself, and I will do so in battle, but if we're working as a team, I'd use up less equipment if you occasionally carried me." He smiled. "I'm hyper aware of people around me at all times. I know your position relative to mine. I'm just trying to make you more aware of me."

"I am most aware of you," Starfire said.

Robin shifted and tugged at his collar for a moment. "Ahh... so... um... let's try this again."

"How much distance?" she asked.

"How about a building distance? I'm just gonna keep running and jumping and you decide if I need help."

"Robin, would it not be easier if we were chasing a criminal just for me to carry you the entire distance?"

"Sure it would," Robin said. "But this is more about noticing the signs mid battle. Knowing if I need help. Being aware."

"Oh."

"It builds trust too. Instinctive trust. Practicing so we'll be able to just do it at crunch time."

Starfire gasped. "Will someone be eating us?"

Robin chuckled. "No. Sorry. Crunch time means... ahh... when it matters.

"Oh, I see."

"So, ready?"

Starfire nodded. "Yes, Robin."

It was harder to judge when she kept her distance. A few times she had to frantically dive after him when he didn't make the jump (whether by design or the distance was too great, Starfire couldn't tell), catching him and hoisting him back up onto the rooftops. It was hard too, in her haste she would catch the wrong bits, his foot, his elbow, his cape. Other times, she nearly collided with him, reacting and darting in close when he didn't need assistance.

She even crashed into him, sending them both tumbling into the alleyway below. Even though she managed to halt their fall and cart him back up to the top, she was quite distraught.

He rubbed his arm, grimacing.

"Robin-"

"Don't worry about it," he insisted. "Really. I knew we'd have problems before we could work together."

Starfire shook her head. "But-"

"Star, we can do this. Let's keep trying."

She thought they were getting better. She thought she was reading him well. She still overreacted when he leapt, her heart pounding with anxiety. He'd told her how fragile humans were. How far he could fall before he'd break bones (breaking bones! Unheard of for Tamaranains except in great falls), how far he could fall before he could die. She was continually altering her flight so she was angling toward him until she was certain whether he was going to make it or miss the leap.

He did try to trick her a few times. Making the jump and deliberately falling short.

Then came the pivot jumps. His foot would land sideways on the awning, pivoting as he jumped, resulting in a mid air spin. He flashed her a cheeky grin the first time he did it. "Incoming bombs on next one," he called. "Dodge."

She blinked, confused but as he bolted for the next jump, she saw him reaching into his belt.

As he leapt he pivoted again, thrust out his hands and cast several small grey balls at her. She ducked and wove, keeping and eye on their trajectory as well as on Robin and what he was doing. The balls exploded around her, never close enough to hurt her but close enough to cast thick black smoke around.

She lost sight of Robin for a moment, speeding up to charge through the smoke so she could catch him if needed.

He didn't need it on that one, but he did on the next.

Except that she caught him back to front, he hadn't finished his spin. Keeping the momentum he'd set, she flipped him, set him back on his feet and retreated.

"Nice one!" he called out to her and kept on running.

Starfire was feeling quite pleased with herself now. She was understanding him more and what he wanted from her, and every successful catch and place made her more comfortable and happy about what they were doing. And confident too.

Then, he missed a step.

His foot went up on an awning and the brickwork crumbled beneath him. He didn't get the lift required to make the jump. With a yelp, he fell. A proper fall and not his pretend ones.

A little panicked, Starfire dove into the alleyway between the buildings to catch him, only to find him being propelled upward by his grappling hook.

Eyes wide, she slammed into him.

The force of the hit dazzled her. She lost hold of her flight, her body squished up against him, then was falling. Robin floundered for her, grabbed her hard around the waist. His grappling hook lifted them up and they were thrown back onto the roof. Rolling and tumbling she felt gravel at her back, weight against her front as they skidded to a halt.

Robin panted, most likely from the exertion he had just been undergoing. He was pressed right up against her and lay there for a long moment before he roused. "Ow," he said, his hands slipping down her sides until he could prop himself up.

"Oh." She could see the sweat beading on his brow, they were so close. She went a little wide eyed at his proximity.

"You okay?" he asked, his breath fanning her face.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yeah..." His breathing hitched, his lips parted and he stared at her through his mask, she could just discern his eyes but she couldn't tell where he was looking.

Confused as to why he wasn't removing himself from her person, she watched him. There was this... heat in his face she'd never seen before. That was really the only way she could describe it. Heat. She wasn't sure why, or what caused it, perhaps from all that running.

He still didn't move, just stuck staring at her and it was rather disconcerting. She glanced downward and shifted her legs. "Robin?" she asked, moving her head away from his. Was he hurt? Is that why he was frozen in place?

He jerked his head back, scrambled away, bounced to his feet and retreated. "Sorry, sorry," he said. He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks flaring. "Sorry," he said again, his face downturned and resolutely not meeting her gaze. "About the grappling hook thing, too. It's a reflex."

She sat up. "I understand," she said with a nod, feeling very much like she missed something then. She wasn't quite sure what.

His breath came out in a whoosh. "Cool. Good. Ahh..." He cleared his throat. "I... think that's enough for today."

"Oh, truly?" she asked, a little disappointed. "We were doing well."

"We are. But there's only so long I can run for. I need a rest."

Starfire went pink. "Oh, of course. My apologies."

"Want to go grab a burger for lunch? We can do some different training after. No, wait," he snapped his fingers. "We gotta go to the grocery shop for some food."

"We do?" Starfire asked.

Robin nodded. "You ate the last of my eggs this morning, if you want something for breakfast tomorrow, we need to grab some food."

Author's Note:

Next Chapter: Slogan - suggested by Kikwoka