With no electricity there wasn't much to do that night. Still, I think after everything we'd been through it was nice to sit in the big quiet house and detach from the world for a while. There was a fireplace in the living room and Cyborg and I brought in wood from a pile outside. Raven sat on a wooden rocking chair reading a book she found on a bookshelf. Beast Boy transformed into a green golden retriever and stretched out beside the fire. Cyborg plugged his portable charger into the wall and sat off to one side with one leg stretched out in front of him and the other drawn up to support his arm as he ran a diagnostic on his system. Starfire and I sat side by side on the couch. She had her long legs underneath her and was finger-combing her hair as she watched the fire with a distant smile on her face. I sat forward with my elbows braced on my knees.
"There's something I want to ask you," I said, speaking to the group without looking at anyone. Slowly, they all roused themselves to listen, and I took a deep breath before I asked, "do you think we should rebuild the Tower?" It wasn't what they expected, that's for sure. Beast Boy was so shocked that he popped back into his human form, and Starfire drew in a sharp gasp beside me. I kept my eyes down. "Rebuilding will take time and resources. We have other safe houses, many of which are more secure than the Tower was. We could make improvements to one of those rather than start over completely."
"The Tower is our home," said Starfire softly. There was a note of such pain in her voice it made me feel as if I'd just asked her to renounce her ties to Tamaran. Raven straightened in her chair.
"Why are you asking? You already know our answer." She's annoyingly perceptive.
"What's to stop another criminal from following Harley's example and blowing up the next Tower? We lost everything, and all it took was a few guns."
"She had a rocket launcher!" Beast Boy pointed out a little frantically. I shrugged.
"You think someone like Slade can't get his hands on one of those?"
"You'd rather hide? In a cave, for instance?" Raven guessed with a knowing glint in her eye. I ground my teeth together but refused to be baited so easily. Stargire touched my arm.
"Robin, we are not the only ones who lost something. The people of Jump City deserve to know that their heroes are not afraid. How can they know that if we hide in the shadows?" Star's logic made too much sense to be ignored. Still, a strong part of me never wanted to see that T again. Harley Quinn took us out so easily, and the next time it could be worse. What if the Tower fell while we were inside? It was my job to protect my team. They had to understand.
"The Joker put a hit out on Star," I said. Everyone got quiet. Cyborg glanced at Starfire, Beast Boy's mouth fell open, but Raven was looking at me.
"It is a threat we all face by being heroes."
"Don't you get it? Joker's not like other criminals!" I exploded. Why were they being so stubborn? Hadn't they figured out what a maniac he was when he was beating me to death with a crowbar? Were they seriously going to ignore him as a threat because they didn't want to deal with just how dangerous he was?
"Robin, he is only human," said Starfire quietly. "His mind may be depraved, but he poses no real physical threat to a Tamaranean. You have allowed him to do the getting to you. You believe he has more power than he truly possesses." So calm. So rational.
"You think I'm overreacting?!"
"Of course not," Cyborg interrupted, "but you're not thinking clearly. What happened in Gotham was horrible, and none of us ever want to see another teammate in that situation ever again, but the girls are right. His only real power is being unpredictable. He's no match for us physically. Heck I consider Slade a tougher opponent. And we're not stupid. We'll learn from this and make improvements. I had a chance to look at some of Batman's security features and I think I could make some modifications to our programs. But no one is taking our home away. Not now, not ever." The others murmured their agreement.
I got to my feet and stalked off. They didn't understand.
Starfire flew after me, catching me in the hallway.
"Tell me, what are you so afraid of, Robin? Do you truly believe he can capture me?" Her eyes were sad, disappointed by my lack of faith in her. I raked my fingers through the hair at the back of my neck.
"I..." I was afraid. This was why dating teammates was bad, because I wanted to hide all of us away from the world just to keep her safe. She wasn't going to let me. In her place, I knew I wouldn't have let me either. Groaning, I reached out to cup the back of her neck and press her forehead to mine.
"It's not just you, Star. I led the Joker to Jump. He and Harley followed me. I couldn't stand it if he hurt you to get to me. All those people who were affected...I couldn't save them. Babs..."
"Believe me, I know how easy it is to accept the blame when atrocities are committed against those you are sworn to protect. I was given to the Citadel to buy my planet peace. When I escaped, the treaty was broken and war broke out. Many Tamaraneans lost their lives, and there are some who blame me for bringing death to our people, but I could not endure the degradation a day longer. The Gordanians nullified the treaty a thousand times over in their treatment of me, but still some would say I should be in their hands still if it means peace for Tamaran. It is my choice to carry the guilt of the lives lost or not. Just as it is your choice to allow Joker to dictate the way you live your life."
I hated that she had to use her past to make her point. Why did they all think I was trying to hide? It was about building our strength. In order to improve you had to learn from your mistakes, and our mistake was building our base of operations in the middle of the city on an island designed to look like a giant T so that every extraterrestrial that entered the atmosphere could guess where to find us. We needed contingency plans in case we ever found ourselves in this situation again. We needed worse case scenario training, escape maneuvers, alternate lines of communication, better-
Starfire's lips crashed into mine, sending a cloud of strawberry-scented fog to cloud out whatever I'd been thinking about. Her arms rose to drape around my neck and automatically my hands drifted to rest on her hips.
"You are becoming the anxious fungal disorder," she teased. The what?!
"Did you just call me a worry wart?" I asked, trying and failing to sound stern.
"Dudes, is this what it's going to be like now? You two running off to make out every five seconds?" Beast Boy complained from the doorway behind us. I flinched, a Bruce-instilled instinct for privacy going to war with my newfound pride at finally being able to call Starfire my girlfriend.
"It will if you keep trying to spy on us when we're alone together," I warned.
"You're in the hallway and I have to go to the bathroom!" he said with way too much innocence to be believed.
"Perhaps it is time we retire for the evening. Are we taking shifts, or is this dwelling deemed safe enough to forgo that precaution?" Starfire's hands slid away from my neck as she assumed a business-like demeanor. I missed her closeness the moment it was gone. But, if she could slip in an out of teammate mode that easily then so could I.
"I'll have Cyborg set up a scanner before he powers down, but we should be safe enough. Goodnight, Star." She turned and floated away in the directi on of the bedrooms. Raven must have told her where to go because she opened a door on the right with complete confidence and went inside. The back of my neck prickled as I felt Beast Boy's eyes burrowing into me.
"What?" I growled.
"Nothing! You're just so whipped!"
Starfire's Point of View
It bothered me how much Robin was willing to alter our lives because of the Joker's threat. Not rebuild the Tower? Did it mean so little to him? After seeing the grandeur of the Manor perhaps the Tower seemed dispensable by comparison, but it was our home. No villain should be able to frighten us away.
And that was just it. When did Robin make decisions based on fear? What had changed? Was it Babs' injury? His own? Or was it because of me. Much of the evidence pointed to the last. In all my years of dreaming of being with Robin I had always imagined that he would be a protective partner. His jealousy and controlling tendencies were strong indicators, but I never thought he would feel the need to lock me away to protect me for my own good. It was like the Earthen fairytales in which princesses relied upon warriors to save them rather than prove their right to their warrior by freeing herself. On my planet such a weak female was looked at with disdain. We were a warrior culture and we prided ourselves on the strength of our men and women. Tamaranean females are often more deadly fighters than the men, being more agile, flexible, and vicious on our attacks. Males relied primarily on brute force. It was another reason I had come to admire Robin so, his ability to adapt his fighting style to any terrain. For a human that lacked the ability to fly he still proved to be a formidable I opponent against me in our sparring matches.
On Tamaran I would know what to do if my chosen did not believe me capable of defending myself. I would prove him wrong and earn his respect. However, Robin did not react well when I went against his wishes, even if I did have the situation completely in control. But allowing him to shield me made me into the weak female he perceived and I did not like that.
I would have to do something. But what?
A/N: okay, having my work compared in any way to Kryalla Orchid's stories is probably the biggest compliment I could ask for. She's the reason I finally started posting stories, so major thanks for that. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks for the reviews. They really brighten my day.
