Chapter 28

There was no feeling quite like having a bone broken on purpose and though it hadn't been the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last, that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell. Jason sat in his lone cell, his back up against the wall, cradling his arm across his belly. It wasn't so bad now. After a few hours the pain had dulled down to a pulsing ache, but god forbid he tried to move his limb. Anyone looking at him could see it sat at an odd angle. Thank god it wasn't a compound fracture.

He leaned his head back against the wall behind him and let out an annoyed breath through his nose. It was stupid really, that he found himself in this situation. Batman had taught him better than this. Not to say that he should have expected it, but he should at least have been better at dealing with it when Starfire came crashing through his bedroom window. It took him a fraction too long to get over his initial shock and he soon found himself waking up in this very cell. He'd managed to put up some sort of a fight... the word 'fight' being used loosely. He'd managed to keep her from knocking him out for at least three minutes.

What really struck Jason though, was that he'd been unable to contact Batman to let him know that there was a problem. It's not often that Batman's communications go down, but Jason had been unable to contact anyone. Bruce, Dick, he'd even tried contacting Babs. Nothing worked, he just got static in response. He'd not seen Alfred when Starfire attacked, he could only hope that Alfred had stayed safe and was unharmed. God help Slade if Alfred was hurt. The Bat family did not take kindly to people hurting Alfred.

Starfire, he noticed, adjusted easily to her situation. He'd tried multiple different tactics while he'd been trying to get away from her, none of which had worked. She was fast and it seemed like she was able to determine your next move before you'd even thought of it. Jason's bedroom took quite a beating. Or rather, Jason took quite a beating from his bedroom. The broken desk and the few cracked walls were from him being propelled into them quite heavily. The scorch marks were Starfire's fault.

Jason lifted his good arm and looked at his hand. There was a burn there. It wasn't too bad and he'd definitely had worse, but it was strange. Starfire had managed at one point to pin him against the floor, trapping one arm against his side. As she brought one of her hands down to grab his shoulder, Jason had brought his free hand up to deflect her. He managed to lace their fingers together in a rather stupid attempt to push her off. He should have known it wouldn't work, she was too strong, but still, he had to try something. She didn't grip his hand as hard as he expected, but he could see his own knuckles going white in an attempt to counter her.

That was, until their joint hands went green. The energy from her starbolt seeped between their laced fingers almost like liquid running into every gap it could find. He grimaced a bit as he felt the skin on his hand begin to burn. He yanked his arm as hard as he could, pulling his hand from hers. She let him pull away, only to grab his wrist and pin it above his head. She pulled him to his feet, before hitting him quite hard on the side of his head with her elbow. It was the last thing he remembered before he woke up.

Looking at the burn on his hand now, he almost marvelled in it. It was a hand print. It spread across his palm, and through the gaps between his fingers to the back of his hand. He could trace where her thumb had wrapped around the base of his own. It was sore and should probably have been wrapped to avoid infection, but Slade wasn't that giving. He could forgive Starfire for it, after all this wasn't her fault. But in all the time he'd known her, and from what Dick had told him about her, her starbolts were mostly just heat. Or something like that anyway. Solar energy manifested into a ball. Like fire, but different. He'd never have known she could do this. He had felt the heat run between them... maybe this was something he should bring up with Dick when he saw him. If he saw him.

After Slade had cut the call with the Titans off, Starfire had unceremoniously thrown Jason back into his cell before moving back over to where Slade was stood. He had congratulated her on a job well done and told her to rest. Slade had said something about not wanting her to head after her next target just yet. He wanted to give Robin a chance to come around and give himself up. Jason was under no illusion that Robin would happily just walk in and surrender. He also knew that Slade knew this too. Jason noted that Slade has specifically mentioned to Starfire that he wanted Robin to give himself up, rather than Robin's whole team... interesting. He filed that piece of information away.

"Dude." A voice called out and Jason looked up to see a ginger boy in red looking at him from a few cells down. The room they were in was odd. It was round for one. The cells curved round half of it, with a gap in the middle for a door that Starfire and Slade used to come in and out. The other half held a console, much akin to the one in the Bat Cave actually, just slightly smaller. And there were a few desks littered about with various things on them. Currently, Slade was sat at one of the desks, quietly working on something Jason couldn't see. Starfire, oddly, was curled up asleep on a sofa that looked entirely out of place. Jason couldn't quite understand why everything in this base seemed to be in this one room, but then he supposed, keep your enemies closer.

Looking at the ginger kid, Jason recognised him as Speedy, from Titans East. He looked a little roughed up, but other than that, he seemed okay. "Dude, are you okay?"

Jason cast a glance over at Slade. He could probably hear them, so don't give away any major information, but that didn't mean they couldn't talk. "I'm fine. Doesn't hurt as much now." He cast Speedy a small smile and registered the guy who was moving to kneel next to Speedy. Aqualad. Jason recognised him too.

"Are the bones in the right place? If not, the bones will start fusing badly and it will need breaking again before it can heal properly." Aqualad seemed quite concerned, which was nice considering they didn't know each other. Probably not a good idea to mention that Jason was Red X. He knew that Titans East were aware that Red X was someone Robin knew, but he also knew that Robin had not revealed any identities to them, including his own. So probably best to keep his mouth shut.

Jason looked down at his arm. There were no harsh angles or odd bumps across his skin. The bones seemed to be in the right place, though he didn't count out that it might possibly need breaking again anyway. Maybe Raven would be so kind... "As good as it's gonna get. Are you guys okay?"

"A few scrapes and bruises, but we're all good." Speedy was trying to sound light hearted, but it wasn't working. Aqualad looked at him with his brow furrowed.

"Speak for yourself. You don't have powers to suppress." Aqualad pulled at the bracelet slapped on his wrist. Really, Jason thought, it must be awful to have meta human abilities and have someone take them away. They become a part of you, he supposed, and to have them gone in an instant must be awful. Although, Aqualad did make a good point. Speedy didn't have powers to suppress, and neither did Jason. They would have to rely on their own skills. Perhaps that was something they could use to their advantage when the time came.

Jason looked past Speedy and Aqualad to see the two young twins sat behind them. "Are they okay?"

Aqualad turned his head to look at them. They'd woken up about the same time that the other two had, not long after the call ended, but were sat looking sadly at their hands which were joint between them. "They rely on each other for their speed to work, but I suppose it's a bit different when they have each other but no powers to use. They'll be okay." He turned back to Jason. "Any idea how we could get out of here?"

Jason looked round at Slade who had turned in his chair to look at him. He could almost see the smug smirk on Slade's face. Jason didn't look away as he replied to Aqualad. "Robin will work out what I was trying to tell him. He always does."

Slade barked out a laugh and stood from his chair, walking over to stand in front of Jason's cell. Jason glared at him through the bars. "You have a lot of confidence in Robin, don't you?"

Jason didn't reply, just intensified his glare. One day, he'd be able to Bat Glare, and it would be one of the best things he'd ever learnt. Slade glanced around at the other cells. Most of the Titans were awake, a few were brave enough to meet his eye but mostly they looked at the floor. "Robin may well figure out what you meant, but it won't help him."

"You don't know Robin very well if you think you can win this. Tell me, why don't you want Starfire going near that kid? Scared he'll beat her?" Jason had over heard Slade briefing Starfire before the call. He'd seen the photo he was showing her that was enlarged on the screen at the top of the room. Slade had given Starfire her next target; Thunder and Lightening. They were honorary Titans. But Starfire had looked at the photo and pointed to a young lad with blonde hair. Jason didn't know who he was. Slade shook his head and told her that under no circumstances was she to engage with that boy. It was an important detail that Jason hoped to god Robin would figure out.

Slade considered Jason for a moment before silently turning and moving away. Jason watched with curiosity as Slade walked over to where Starfire was sleeping. She looked so peaceful. Her knees were curled up to her chest, her hands resting in front of her face. She looked worlds away from the girl who had attacked him. That girl came in with her eyes and hands blazing. Slade bent down and shook her shoulder gently. Jason almost laughed at how gentle Slade was being.

"Starfire."

She blinked her eyes open as Slade stood back up straight. She followed him and sat up. She didn't look like she'd just woken up from a nap. Her eyes were instantly alert and her body went stiff as she sat up straight. She looked up at Slade as he stood before her, silently waiting.

"Come, I need to test you." He turned from her and walked over to the table he had been working at to pick something up before turning and moving into the open part of the room. Starfire followed him, standing from the couch, and stood facing him. Jason noticed that the rest of the Titans who were awake, were also watching them. Slade held up a silver device, that looked almost like a Titan communicator. He didn't know what it was but was sure he was about to find out. Slade clipped the device to his forearm and held it up for Starfire to see.

"This is the portable teleportation device that you stole for me. I've managed to put all the pieces together and now I need to know if it works. This technology is one of a kind as it's a prototype, however, after reading correspondence between the Titans and the Justice League, I know that they're planning on using the Red X belt to try and contain you."

Starfire cocked her head slightly. "Red X Belt?" It shocked Jason just as much as it did the other Titans to hear her talk.

"A teleportation device powered by a Xenothium core. Teleportation can be tricky to avoid. You need to be able to figure out where your opponent will appear. Do you think you could grab me before I hit you?"

Starfire thought for a moment. "Yes."

Slade merely nodded lightly before he disappeared. Starfire closed her eyes and stood deathly still. She didn't open her eyes as she moved, stepping back slightly with her right foot and reaching around to grab at the air. Slade appeared in her grip, his arm looked mid swing towards her face. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Good. Again." He disappeared once more.

Starfire straightened herself and closed her eyes again. Jason noticed that her head moved ever so slightly before she reached out. She turned, arching her arm back over her own shoulder. Slade appeared in her grip, before she twisted and hoisted him over herself. He landed gracefully on his feet in front of her. They did this flawlessly a few more times. Each time Starfire would reach out before Slade appeared. Jason had to wonder how the hell she was managing it. How could she possibly know where he was going to appear? Figuring out someone's next move was difficult but it could be done, but this. This was impossible. More to the point, if she could do this, why hadn't she done it when he was Red X, really it would have saved the Titans a load of hassle.

Then, as Jason watched, along with the rest of the Titans who were watching in awe, Starfire faltered. She was stood still with her eyes closed, waiting to catch her prey, when she coughed. She must have felt the liquid that left her throat as Jason watched her bring her hands up to catch it. Staring at the red that now spattered her hands, she was caught off guard as Slade reappeared behind her and forcefully rammed his palm between her shoulder blades. She pitched forward with a shout and stumbled before tripping and hitting the floor. Slade stepped up to where Starfire was picking herself up. As she turned to look at him he noticed, as did everyone else, the blood that was running out of the corner of her mouth. Slade was silent for a moment as Starfire stood before him. When she got to her feet, she coughed again, but this time it was worse. The blood pooled in her hands as she attempted to contain it. She swayed a bit and her eyes went slightly glassy.

Slade let out a sigh of disappointment as he looked at her. "Produce a starbolt."

Starfire looked up at him before pulling her hands apart. Jason saw as the blood she'd been holding dripped from her hands, neither Starfire or Slade seeming to care as it spread down her arm and on the floor. She produced a starbolt in her right hand and Slade looked at it intently. Jason had been up close and personal with her starbolts so he knew when she let this one shine, that it wasn't normal. The typical ball shape of her starbolt was there, and it was pulsing with energy willing to be released. But what was struck everyone as odd, and slightly frightening, was the energy that dripped from it.

Green seeped from the ball like liquid and hit the ground in front of her, sizzling like acid. Jason looked down at his burnt hand... that explained why his hand had burnt in such a bizarre way. Shifting his gaze back to Starfire he watched, trying to gather as much information as possible. Slade let out an annoyed sound through his nose. "Can you take it back in?"

Starfire looked at the bolt and curled her fingered tighter around it. It resisted against her, dripping energy faster like she was squeezing an ice cube that was melting. The bolt took a while to disappear, but it slowly got smaller and vanished in her grip. Slade knelt down to investigate the burn marks on the floor before standing again to look at Starfire. She was swaying again and the blood ran down from her mouth and into the collar of her uniform. "This is happening more often. You need to let go of some of that energy. Go clean yourself up and then I want you to go after your next target. Do not kill them. Do I make myself clear?"

Starfire nodded silently before turning and walking away. Jason and the other Titans watched as she stalked past their cells towards the door leading out of the room. She coughed a few times on the way out, leaving a few drops of blood in her wake. Jason stared at the door after she closed it behind her, his brow furrowed in thought. He turned to look back at Slade who was inspecting the burn marks again before following after Starfire.

"What's wrong with her?" Jason didn't know if he'd get an answer, but Slade stopped to look at him as he spoke.

"The solar energy she's holding is too much for her, it's slowly destroying her from the inside out." Truthfully, Jason hadn't expected Slade to be so honest with him. There were a few quiet gasps and whispers from the other Titans.

"And you're just going to continue using her?" Jason spat the words out, anger weeping into his voice. He thought that Slade at least would want to keep Starfire safe.

"It's of no consequence to me whether she lives or dies. As long as she lives long enough to see this through." Slade turned and left.

Jason couldn't believe it. Slade was going to let Starfire die. He didn't care about the consequences of what he'd done to her. Starfire was going to be consumed by her own energy if she didn't get help soon, and Jason had no way of relaying any of this information to Robin and his team. Slade knew that, which was probably why he'd been so willing to tell him. Jason let out a frustrated sigh. Starfire was dying, and Robin had no idea.