Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, the Justice League, Young Justice, or anything else from the DC Universe.
1. The Fall of Tamaran
"So," the green changeling whistled as the group settled into the couch, "anyone up to convincing Dr. Doomsday he should take a break?" Absentmindedly, he wrapped an arm around his favorite empath, who didn't bother looking up from her book. The couple had been together for two years, and their union had shocked and excited nearly everyone in the Titan network. The only two who weren't truly surprised were Nightwing and Starfire, who each had at separate points learned Raven's perspective of the situation. Cyborg only had his suspicions. Beast Boy, waiting for a response, scanned the living room at Cyborg, Bumble Bee, Oracle, and Starfire.
The ruby-haired alien was studying her hands folded tightly in her lap carefully with a saddened look contorting her pretty features. Barbara offered her a sympathetic glance from her wheelchair, which ultimately went unnoticed. At the same time, the red-headed girls offered, "I can get him." Then, blushing, insisted, "No, you." Starfire had stood, while Barbara had rolled forward.
Raven, noticing the awkward tension, stopped reading mid-sentence, and carefully watched her oldest friend, then glanced back toward her new one. Both girls were blushing furiously until Barbara insisted once more, "Really, Starfire, go get him. He's all yours." Barbara tensed at her own word choice. Of course Dick is hers! How could I possibly insinuate otherwise?
Raven shook her head slightly, offering Barbara a slight, supportive smile without Starfire noticing.
Barbara Gordan, also known as Oracle and formerly known as Batgirl, had been used to uncomfortable interactions with Starfire. Initially, the princess had been incredibly warm and welcoming of Batgirl when she joined the Titans' efforts to defeat Deathstroke. However, upon learning of her boyfriend's boyhood crush on the other-resident-red head, Starfire suddenly felt an uneasiness about their friendship.
Putting the alien more at unease was Barbara's current condition. Starfire blamed herself for what happened. Typically, it was Nightwing who unnecessarily took the blame for forces outside their control, although he certainly was doing his fair share of a similar internal battle. Starfire hadn't confessed the guilt that weighed heavily on her, but she wholeheartedly believed she was solely responsible. After all, the team was attempting to rescue her when it happened. Cinderblock had been reaching for Starfire when Barbara jumped between them and smacked him with a couple of Bat-Bombs. After yelping and blinking profusely, Cinderblock picked up Batgirl and snapped her like a twig. It happened in a flash, no one had the chance to react. Raven was able to heal her enough to prevent her from dying, but the damage to her nervous system was set. She couldn't walk. She only had the ability to move her upper body.
Barbara understood how Starfire felt without her saying anything, but she didn't blame Starfire. She didn't blame anyone except for Cinderblock and Deathstroke. She missed the adrenaline rush that came with being in the field on a mission, but she had to admit she was starting to enjoy flexing her mental muscles.
Without acknowledging her existence a second time, Starfire sauntered toward the door that led to the evidence room. She sighed deeply as she considered how the quiet, dark hallway compared to her relationship with Nightwing. The hallway was familiar, but if there was a new piece of furniture added without her knowledge, she wouldn't be able to avoid stumbling over it in the darkness. She loved him dearly, and she confidently knew he loved her. However, she could not confidently say that he did not also share a similar love for another red head.
It brought her an uneasiness which couldn't be easily explained nor easily thought away. She wanted to take Barbara's word for it, she wanted to take Nightwing's word for it, but the uneasiness existed nonetheless. For Starfire and her people, falling in love with someone meant forever. She considered a crush might be different than love, but it was an unfamiliar concept to her and her people. As much as she wanted to embrace Barbara as one of her best friends, as much as she wanted to continue to love Nightwing without doubts, she couldn't resolve the cultural differences. It was an uncomfortable unknown in an otherwise very familiar and comfortable environment.
As she reached the door, she reflected on the number of times she stood in the same position, feeling sad and trying to convince the former Boy Wonder to take a break. She took a deep breath, clenched her tense right hand, and rapped on the door vigorously. After a split second, a floppy-haired, masked man opened the door with a satisfying swish. His gaze immediately softened upon seeing the princess, "Hey, Star. What's up?"
Starfire allowed herself a soft smile, but studied the carpet carefully, "Would you care to join us for a stay-home movie night?"
Nightwing, noticing her discomfort, tugged on her chin gently to get her to look at him. His masked eyes poured into her emerald orbs, silently pondering what was bothering her. "Want to talk about what's bothering you first?"
Starfire shook her head out of his grasp dismissively, "I do not understand what it is you mean. I am most content with our present circumstances and our friends; I only wish you would join us for a night of relaxation."
Nightwing folded his muscular arms over the broad of his chest, "Hm. Okay. I'm not convinced, but I'll let you brood a bit longer if it will make you feel better."
Starfire's eyes jolted back to see his masked eyes widen in amusement. He winked jovially, and she rolled her eyes playfully, "So you will join us?"
Nightwing glanced back at the dark room behind him and sighed heavily, "I suppose thirty minutes won't kill me." He had been in the middle of pouring over evidence of Deathstroke's most recent reign of terror, but the analysis he was working on would take at least thirty minutes, if not longer, to finish scanning. Nightwing grabbed Starfire's slender hand, gave it a tight, reassuring squeeze, and pulled her back toward the main ops room. Starfire, pleasantly surprised at his pleasant demeanor, quickened her pace with a smile.
Deathstroke was moving more rigidly this time around, but he was more dangerous than ever. It had come at the cost of Barbara's ability to walk, something Nightwing was having difficulty forgiving himself for allowing to happen, even if it wasn't technically his fault. He was leading the mission that evening, though, and he wasn't able to get to Barbara in time. He was, on the contrary, incredibly grateful they were able to get Starfire out safely.
He and Barbara had lost touch for several years when he moved to Jump City, which had been what he desired at the time. When he was much younger, he believed he had deep-seated feelings for Barbara, which led to tension and awkwardness on Batman's team. Batman, who was still licking the wounds of a failed attempt to win Cat Woman over, was adamantly convinced of the danger of developing feelings for either teammates, friends, or enemies. Eventually, he realized he, truthfully, considered Barbara more like a sister than anything. Their friendship became more familial over time, all the while he began to recognize a unique inclination, for lack of better term, he felt toward Starfire.
Also occupying his mind was the upcoming fifth anniversary of the team's trip to Tokyo, when and where he and Starfire had finally confessed of their mutual romantic feelings for one another. He grinned as he briefly considered the emerald ring that used to belong to his mother locked away in his bedroom. There was only one person who would be able to honor his mother's memory by wearing it, and that was the Tamaranian princess who stole his heart when he was sixteen.
There was another element to the Deathstroke situation that was weighing heavily on Nightwing, that the inner detective in him always settled on when he was wrestling through his thoughts. He couldn't prove there was a connection with Deathstroke, but there was an alarming number of missing children cases rising in Jump City and outer suburban areas. He knew they were connected somehow, but couldn't quite piece it together. It was gnawing on him, but to no avail.
He knew he had started working harder and longer hours than usual after Deathstroke emerged from the abyss, and especially so after Starfire was kidnapped, but he considered he had come a long way since his first mission involving Slade. He was no longer obsessed with the mad man, but he was, he thought, working a reasonable amount to accomplish the mission.
When the couple had reached the main ops room, they were surprised to see Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Kid Flash, Artemis, and Black Canary among their usual group. Beast Boy stood by the couch grumbling about how they never get a break, while Raven rolled her eyes at his complaints.
Nightwing's stomach lurched when he noticed the grim demeanor which bestowed each of their faces, but he didn't need to see their expressions to confirm it wasn't a visit for pleasure. Starfire's facial expression immediately sagged upon seeing the group she left had doubled in size.
"Please," Starfire broke the silence, clasping her hands together sweetly, "what may we do for our friends with the League of Justice?"
Batman's countenance softened briefly at her word choice, but quickly returned to his usual scowl. "We have trouble," he explained, eying Nightwing carefully, "and we would like to request Starfire's help in assessing and addressing the situation at hand."
Nightwing clenched his jaw and his eyes narrowed. Instead of concluding a resounding absolutely not, he asked for a brief of the situation at hand. Batman nodded with gratitude toward his adopted son as Wonder Woman stepped forward, asking Martian Manhunter to show everyone the situation as she explained.
"This might cause some minor discomfort," Martian Manhunter warned when his eyes began to glow. Everyone winced as they put their hands to their temples.
Wonder Woman spoke again, "We've recently been made aware of the presence of an alien race known as the Psions on Earth." Images of the aliens reaching Earth played across the Titans' minds, all of them except Raven wincing at the phenomenon.
Starfire visibly tensed at the mention of the Psions. Instinctively, she reached for Nightwing's hand as she took sharp, discombobulated breaths. She was trying to calm herself, but images of the green creatures continued to flip through their minds. She squeezed his hand hard when more images cropped up of the aliens kidnapping children, some as young as two years old clinging to stuffed bears, from their bedrooms. Each kidnapping happened to children from various nationalities, socio-economic status, and ages. Nightwing, caught off guard by Starfire's strength, briefly buckled under the pressure, then quickly regained his composure. He gave his girlfriend a concerned glance. She didn't acknowledge him. Batman observed the two carefully and his scowl deepened, anticipating what was coming and all-the-more anxious about the other news they needed to disclose.
Wonder Woman continued, not taking notice, "They've wreaked particular havoc on developing nation-states in the Southern Pacific region, kidnapping children of all ages." She paused to consider the reactions of her audience, then concluded, "We believe they, under guidance of the Light, are targeting minors believed to have what is known as the meta-gene in order to experiment on them and potentially extract some of their powers."
Martian Manhunter's eyes stopped glowing, and the images ceased. Nightwing immediately made the connection to the missing children cases throughout the Jump City area, and internally slapped himself for not getting to the research checking to see if there were similar reports globally. He was supposed to do that the night prior, but the team had become preoccupied with a minor inconvenience caused by Control Freak.
Raven began quietly meditating in a feeble attempt to help Starfire process her emotions. Even then, her anxiety was evident. Nightwing was incredibly in-tune with Starfire's physiological reactions. The sweat oozing out of her hands, the heart pounding in her chest, the sinking of at least three of her stomachs, and the anxious glances she gave each of the heroes in the room. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, then shifted his hand from hers to the small of her back, rubbing small, soothing circles. He was surprised to see the aliens make an appearance on Earth as well, but he knew nothing could compare to the memories Starfire was experiencing. While the Titans were witnessing snapshots of what was believed to have happened to children, Starfire's mind flashed back to her own past, when the Psions captured her and Blackfire after her initial escape from the Gordanians. The Psions tortured them and experimented on them, among other unspeakable acts. The so-called experiments resulted in powers additional to those natural to the Tamaranian race.
The only individuals Starfire told about her past with the Psions were Nightwing and Raven. Most people assumed she had been prisoner of the Gordanians alone, and that everyone from Tamaran was able to produce starbolts like herself and her sister. It wasn't true, but she didn't feel inclined to correct them. Most people didn't need to know what really happened.
"Starfire, we know about your past with these aliens," Batman stated matter-of-factly, stepping forward.
Nightwing and Starfire shared a bewildered expression. "But, how?" She asked sweetly, though perplexed, her voice shaking ever-so-slightly.
Wonder Woman placed a gentle hand on Starfire's right shoulder. "We intercepted a message from your sister, Komand'r, inviting more of the Psions to Earth." Her eyes grew sad, "That brings me to my other piece of bad news I need to inform you of tonight. Starfire, Komand'r invited the Psions to Earth as a peace offering between Tamaran and Psion after the Psion army helped Komand'r conquer Tamaran. Komand'r has offered half of the Tamaranian population and any human with the meta-gene to the leader of the Psions. They plan to perform the same 'experiments' on them as were performed on you and your sister."
Starfire blinked hard in disbelief, "I apologize, but I do not believe I am understanding."
Black Canary joined Wonder Woman, placing an equally comforting hand on Starfire's left shoulder as Nightwing shifted the placement of his hand to give her side a comforting squeeze. "We understand if you need time to process all of this," she offered, "but we are incredibly sorry to inform you that Galfore was killed."
Author's Note: This story idea has been torturing me, so I had to start writing it. I'm borrowing some concepts and characters from the Justice League and Young Justice, but all entirely in the Teen Titans universe. Please let me know what you think, if I should continue, etc.