KaliAnn: Yep, and Wally is just as blind in this chapter as well! And I'm glad you like how Robin's name means hope in Tamarani.
Hazzamo: I know right? I'm glad you like Aqualad. And yes, Zee and Babs have competition.
The Keeper of the Worlds: Yes I enjoy writing Wally.
Patattrak: Yes that is the point of Starfire keeping her name a secret.
Chapter 26
"Stop it, both of you, we do not have the time," Aqualad snapped in a rare show of impatience, glaring at the two youngest boys.
"…Sorry," both muttered quietly, looking properly chasten. They keep their gazes on the ground and shuffled their feet, their faces turning red. Starfire had to place her fist against her mouth to keep from laughing. They really had to be brothers.
Looking appeased at the show of remorse, the dark skinned boy gave a satisfied nod before turning back to face the Shieldmaiden.
"Starfire is a beautiful name," he said warmly, "And it suits you well."
Then his face became serious once more.
"But back to the matter at hand…will you help us?"
Starfire immediately locked gazes with him, searching his soul as she had Robin's and Kid Flash's. When she had looked into Kid's soul she had seen a fiercely loyal and caring heart, wrapped up in a jester's good humor. When she had looked into Robin's, she had seen a selfless spirit and unbreakable will, encased with brightness unlike anything she had ever seen.
Aqualad was in some ways very similar to his friends…and yet very different. His eyes were filled with a strange calmness that Starfire instantly envied, an inner strength that had the power to either nurture his loved ones, or drown his enemies.
And…and there was something in the way he carried himself, and in the way he spoke, which reminded her of home at the Royal Court on Tamaran.
Yes…Aqualad was clearly familiar with that world- the world of nobility and duty, of honor and mercy.
She could trust him…she could trust all of them.
And she could help them rid their world of the evil that now threatened it.
"Yes," she said with a firm nod. "Yes I will go with you, and I will fight besides you with all that I am. I will help you in anyway that I can."
Kid Flash's smile could have splinted his face.
Letting out a whoop of delight, he suddenly speeded forward and began to shake her hand enthusiastically with both of his own.
'Welcome to the Team Angel!" he beamed at her. "Happy to have you with us!"
Y+J
The ride back to the Cave from the apple field went by much faster than the trip to it. At least that's how it seemed to Robin.
He still couldn't believe their luck. Not only had it been reasonable easy to find the girl-Starfire- but it had been insanely easy to convince her to come back with them.
Sparing a quick glare upwards to where the Shieldmaiden was flying above their motorbikes, Robin was powerless to stop a grin of pure excitement from spreading across his face.
Y+J
Happy Harbor, Mount justice
Road Island
When the finally made it back to Happy Harbor, and to the front entrance of the mountain, they had to stop Starfire from just waltzing through the door and setting off the alarms.
"Whoa, hold it Angel," Wally announced as he stepped in front of her "you can't go in just yet."
She stared at him as though he had slapped her clean across the face.
"W-what?" she stammered out, her voice cracking with confusion and hurt. Clearly she had taken the speedster's action as an insult.
And as Robin watched her delicate features flush red with humiliation, he could all at once hear every insult that had been thrown his way- from the disgusted seer of an old man when he spat "Filthy Gypsy" into three year old Dick Grayson's face to the vicious rumors that had started when Bruce first took him in.
He immediately stepped forward.
"He doesn't mean it like that," he hastened to reassure her, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder (and this time she didn't hull him up into the air).
"You see, we have security measures in place to keep out Unknowns. So if you went in before we log you in, you'd trip the alarms," he explained quickly.
Her emerald-jade eyes widened in understanding, Starfire's face flushed again, only this time with relief.
"Oh, okay. I understand," she replied, nodding. "…Thanks Imp," She added softly after a moment.
By this point, Robin was sure his smile was much too large for his face.
"Y-your welcome," he managed to force out. To his delight this only caused her to smile in return.
While they were talking, Speedy had taken the liberty of heading inside and punching in the necessary commands in the nearest computer.
"Alright, we're all set!" he hollered up to them as soon as he was done. "She can come in now!"
Wally perked up at once.
"Yah, come on Angel- boy are you in for a treat!"
With that he zoomed inside.
Rolling their eyes, Superboy and Aqualad followed.
Taking a deep breath, Starfire straightened up and walked cautiously forward down the grassy ramp into the Cave, and jumped slightly when the computer voice rang out.
"Recognized, Starfire A03."
Y+J
From the moment she stepped into what she assumed was the boys' home, Starfire had been overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the internal structure.
When she had first realized that the boys' hideaway was within the mountain, she had been relieved-excited even. She had much experience being underground, due to her time in the raid bunkers.
She had thought that it might be just like home.
What a stupid thought.
The bunkers on Tamaran were series of tunnels and chambers that stretched for miles upon miles. They were well-kept of course, but admittedly they were rather…primitive.
This complex was anything but.
A whole Tamaranean village could fit inside this first room alone, a wide space that was built with as much metal as it was earth. It even had a water supply.
"Oh…oh my," she managed to breath out, she wasn't capable of saying more.
Kid Flash was suddenly at her side in a gust of wind.
"I know," he said, nodding empathically. "It kind of leaves you breathless doesn't it...though not as much as you do Gorgeous," he finished with a wink.
Starfire didn't really hear him. She was too busy gawking at her surroundings.
"…How did you build this place?" she finally asked after a moment or two had passed.
This question caused the boy's eyes to widen before he quickly started to shake his head.
"Oh, I didn't build this place. Superman and Green Lantern hollowed it out in the early days of the League, the Cave is the entire mountain," he explained.
Starfire blinked.
Somehow Kid Flash's explanation only seemed to confuse her more.
Superman?
Green Lantern?
League?
None of those words meant anything to her. She had never heard of them in her life.
But Kid was looking at her expectantly, so she had to say something.
"…League," she said slowly, testing the word out on her tongue. "Is that the name of your Clan?"
As soon as the words were out, she wished she could pull them back in upon seeing the look of shock that overcame Kid Flash's face.
"Wait a minute," he said in disbelief, "You mean you never heard of the Justice League?"
At this point, Starfire just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
"Um, no I haven't," she mumbled, her gaze finding the floor as though it were an old friend in her embarrassment.
She felt like a simpleton…a backwards savage from a backwards world.
"Hey, don't do that," Kid suddenly said gently, carefully knocking a fist under her chin to raise her head. "It's alright. Not everybody in the universe has heard of the League. Just most of it-"
"What Kid Mouth is trying to say is that we'll teach you all the things you need to know," Robin interrupted before Kid could make the situation worse, as he had a knack for doing.
Thankful to have been given an out, Kid eagerly pounced on it.
"Yah, what he said," he agreed readily. Taking the Shieldmaiden's hand, he began to lead her further into the Cave.
"Come on Angel, the others are waiting for us in the mission room."
Reviews make me happy so tell me what you though and I'll update sooner.
Well, Starfire is in the Cave, and this story has reached its mid point. I hope you liked it! Especially Robin's part, because he knows what its like to be humiliated.
And poor poor Wally, he just doesn't give up.