Chapter 1

Starfire sat floating on air, her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Raven was sat opposite her, the two girls holding hands. Consciously, Starfire steadied her breathing and blocked out any residual sound around her. Peace, quiet, tranquility. Raven opened her eyes and let go of Starfire's hands. "Right Star, produce a starbolt." Doing as she was instructed, Starfire lifted her left hand and produced a starbolt, letting it rest where it was. Raven observed the energy and noticed it was pulsing. This was normal at the moment, as Starfire had trouble controlling how much energy she put into her starbolts. "Well, it's certainly better than the last time we tried. Now the other hand."

Lifting her right hand, Starfire did as she was instructed again, and again Raven inspected the energy. It was the same. They were certainly making progress, but it was slow. It had been six months since Starfire had come home and not much had changed. She was controlling her energy better, and she was a lot less angry thanks to Robin's efforts, but she still couldn't fly, and Batman had ruled that she still wasn't fit to fight. So Raven and Robin carried on their individual sessions with Starfire as it was the only solution they could think of.

Raven watched as Starfire pulled a face and the two starbolts flickered a bit brighter. She was struggling to keep her energy flow consistent. "Concentrate on your breathing." Raven kept flicking her eyes between the starbolts and Starfire's face, and she could tell it was difficult for the poor girl.

Unfortunately, the two girls were concentrating so much on what they were doing that neither of them had heard the door to the living room open. So when Robin offered a small "how's it going?", raven jumped out of her skin and Starfire lost all concentration, falling to the floor and accidentally letting loose her two starbolts. Robin instinctively covered himself in his cape and Raven put up a shield around herself to protect from the deadly projectiles. The one from Starfire's right hand hit the ceiling, dislodging a few ceiling panels, and the one from her left hand shattered a window. The two girls looked at the mess caused and turned their gazes to Robin who was looking sheepish. He offered a nervous chuckle. "Heh, sorry."

Starfire sighed and got up from the floor, heading over to the cupboard to retrieve a dustpan and brush to collects the broken glass. Raven set to work replacing the ceiling panels. "It's okay Star." Raven looked down at her as she spoke. "We'll try again tomorrow, in a place where no one can distract us." Starfire looked up from her sweeping and sighed.

"What is the point? It has been half an earthen year and I have only made marginal progress. I am starting to doubt that I will ever be able to fight along side my friends again." She looked so sad. This happened often, that Starfire would doubt everything and become angry and frustrated. Robin moved over to her and took the brush out of her hand, setting it on the floor and pulling her into a hug.

"Don't think like that Star." He pulled back so he could look at her. "That little mishap was my fault, so we'll set up one of the spare rooms as a no entry zone so you and Raven and have privacy when you do these sessions. You're making progress, really you are. You'll be able to fight again, it's just taking longer than we thought."

Starfire sighed again and pulled from Robin's grasp. Wordlessly she picked up the brush again and carried on cleaning the glass. Raven landed and motioned for Robin to join her in the kitchen area. Robin did so, getting himself a glass of water in the process. "Robin you need to get her anger under control, it's making it harder for me to get through to her. She makes a slip up, gets angry and then refuses to do anything more until at least the next day. I'd carry on with her now but I knew you distracting her would make her angry. Not that I blame you, but she blames herself."

"I'm trying, I just... I'm having a moral dilemma to be honest. Star has opened up about, we'll just about everything really. She is angry at that scar obviously, but there's one other thing. She wants to know how Slade made her so powerful and I don't want to tell her. I hate lying to her but I don't want to be responsible for bringing back memories of her past. I'm scared of breaking her. I don't think it would have been so bad had I told her in the first place. I think my little white lie to protect her has backfire on me completely." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Let's just leave it for now. Give her time to calm down and we'll figure something out. I'll go find Cyborg and Beast Boy, I told them they were banned from the room until I told them they could come in." Raven moved out of the room and Robin looked over to Starfire who was putting the last of the broken glass in a bag.

"I'll get Cyborg to fix that, I'm sure we have spare panes in the basement." Robin frowned as Starfire didn't even acknowledge that he had spoken. He put his glass down and walked over to her, intercepting her has she went to put the bag in the bin. "Star?" She moved past him and silently threw the bag away. Robin knotted his eyebrows together. What was she doing? "Star?" Again no response, she just went to put the dustpan and brush away. "Starfire!" Robin shouted a tad louder than he had wanted to, but at least it got her attention.

Starfire, shocked at Robin's outburst stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. He wasn't angry, but he looked it. Starfire figured it was probably more frustration than anything. She knew it was wrong to ignore him but she knew what he was going to say and she didn't want to hear it. "Robin..."

"No. I appreciate that you're upset Star but ignoring me isn't going to help it. I don't say the things I say, and repeat myself for the sake of it, I say it because it's true. We will get through this and we will get you fighting and we will get your flight back. I made a promise to you and I'm not breaking it."

"I am just frustrated with the repetitive routine in which I have found myself. Every day is the same. I have a session with either you or Raven, I get angry or frustrated, and then you and Raven tell me the same words that you told me the day before. I am beginning to dread these sessions because I know they will end the same as they always do." Starfire sat on a chair, feeling and looking defeated. Robin sat next to her and took her hand,

"Star, I know it's hard, but it is working. You might not see the progress but Raven and I do, and every time Batman comes, he says he can see an improvement. It may be slow, but it's still progress. Please, don't give up. I want to fight by your side just as much as you want to rejoin us."

Starfire sighed and looked up at Robin. "Fine. I will keep trying. But I wish to be alone for a while. I need to do the calming down." Without a second glance at him, Starfire left. She didn't realise it, he could tell, but she was putting a strain on their relationship. The longer it went that she couldn't fly, the less affectionate she became, and it was becoming harder and harder for Robin to bring her out of her moods. When it first started, Starfire would seek Robin out, and sometimes just sitting with his arms around her would calm her down. But as time went on, it worked less and less until she just stopped trying to find him. If it was a session with him, instead of letting her frustrations out with Robin there, she would leave and he would find her some time later usually crying.

The worst thing for Robin, on a personal level, was that their physical contact had practically come to a standstill. She would no longer hold his hand should they go anywhere, their hugs became shorter and shorter everyday, and they only kissed when Robin managed to sneak one in should he catch her off guard. Which he did manage, but not very often. There was also the fact that a month or so after Starfire had come back, she and Robin had unintentionally found themselves sharing a bed every night. She felt safer with him there, and he felt better knowing no one could get to her if he was there. But that had halted about three weeks ago. One night Starfire had locked her door before Robin had gone to bed, and she refused to answer the door. After five days of the same scenario, Robin took the hint and just took to sleeping in his own bed alone again. Starfire never did offer any explanation.

Just as Robin was about to go calm his thoughts by doing some work, when the computer started beeping. Confused, he went over to the desk and answered the call. Surprisingly, Batman appeared on the screen. "Hello Robin." After Starfire had spoken to Batman at the watchtower, Batman had given a concerted effort into trying to show Robin how proud he was, and Bruce had put the same effort into being a father figure to Dick Grayson. Whatever had caused Robin to leave was in the past now, and they were working on a better relationship. They realised they owed it to each other.

"Hello Batman. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I was wondering if you were coming back to Gotham this weekend?" Batman looked stoic, but his voice was a little softer than his usual Bat voice. This was Bruce talking to Dick. And Dick knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Yes. I was going to call you later today actually, I want to come back on Friday afternoon so I can spend all of Saturday in Gotham."

"Will you be returning on Sunday? I understand if you do but I had hoped I could convince you to stay for a week. Not only because of the time of year, but because Alfred misses you, Barbara wanted to see you, and I was hoping you, Jason, and I could go out to dinner?"

Robin thought about it, a small smile stretching across his features. "I suppose a week wouldn't kill me." Now a year ago Robin wouldn't have even entertained the idea of staying at Wayne Manor for more than was absolutely necessary. However, the approaching weekend was the anniversary of his parent's death, and Robin made absolute sure that on that day, every year, he would put flowers on their grave and spend time in Gotham, so as to respect his parents' memories. There was also the fact that as he got older, Dick realised that while Bruce could never replace his father, he had tried his hardest. Bruce was not a fatherly man, and it was the lack of that figure that had caused Dick to distance their relationship. But after their talk the day Batman had brought Starfire back, they had agreed to meet once a month to talk about things that were not hero related in any way, and just spend time together. Dick owed Bruce for taking him in, and Bruce owed Dick for giving his life more meaning.

"Great, well since most people in Gotham know about this weekend, I would advise that you make a public return to Gotham as Dick. You know, just to avoid suspicion. Therefore I will send the private Jet to Star City airport. You make your way there and we'll say you were visiting friends."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. What time do I need to be at the airport?"

"Shall we say take off at four? That way you could make it back here to have dinner. I'm sure Alfred would love to cook for you."

"Right, four on Friday. I'll be there. See you soon!"

"Goodbye Dick." The screen went blank and Robin smiled to himself. Although, there was that little thought in the back of his head that he would have to tell Starfire he was leaving. First though, he would tell the other three, if not only so Cyborg could prepare for being leader for a week. Pulling his communicator from his belt, he individually called Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy to join him in the living room. And it wasn't long until they joined him since they were on their way back there anyway.

"What's up Rob?" Cyborg sat on the sofa, his arm resting on the back, and Beast Boy made his way to the kitchen to make a snack. Raven just sat on a chair.

"I have to leave for a week on Friday. It's... Erm... Well it's the anniversary of my parents' deaths so I'm going back to Gotham. Cyborg you're in charge while I'm gone. Oh and please fix the window that Star broke."

"It's cool man, we understand." Truth was, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy knew who he was now. It had all come out when Star had returned, just so no one was confused about what had happened. They were all fine with it. Well, all except Beast Boy who didn't believe him for about a month. How could a pretty boy like Dick Grayson waste his life being a hero when he could live the easy life? It hadn't gone down well with Robin, but he let Beast Boy believe what he wanted. It wasn't until Robin had left one night, and Dick Grayson had randomly appeared at a charity event in the city that Beast Boy believed him.

"I take it Star already knows?" Beast Boy appeared from below the kitchen counter, crumbs around his mouth.

"Actually, I haven't told her yet. I literally just organised it, and didn't call her through because she's not in the best of moods." Truthfully, Robin felt slightly ashamed. He was honestly a bit frightened to tell her because of how she would react. Bitterly though, he thought to himself that his absence probably wouldn't be any different to the way there were now anyway.

"You should go tell her now. If she finds out you kept it from her, she'll be even less pleased. It's Wednesday today, you only have two days." Raven had a good point. Hesitantly, Robin made his way to go and find her. She would be one of two places. Her room, or the roof. He tried her room first, and knocked on the door.

"Star, I need to talk to you. It's important." First time lucky, it turned out Star was in her room, and Robin was greeted with Starfire as she opened the door.

"You may enter." Starfire went and sat back on her bed. She was playing with Silkie. Robin followed her in. "What is it you wish to discuss?"

"I have to leave for a week on Friday. I've put Cyborg in charge, I'll be going back to Gotham."

"I thought you might be at some point, but why are you leaving for a week? You never spend more than a day in Gotham at this time of year." She didn't look at him, she just continued to stroke Silkie.

"I know, but Bruce wants to spend some time with me."

"Very well. I hope you have wonderful time."

Was that it? Was that all she had to say? Really? That was no where near what he had expected. An 'I'll miss you' wouldn't have gone amiss somewhere in that. He was getting angry now. Okay so he wasn't leaving for two days but that wasn't the point. "Is that all I get?" She looked up at him blankly. "I appreciate you're upset and frustrated Starfire, but there's something else, I'm sure of it. You've been avoiding me like the plague and I don't know what I've done wrong. You won't listen to me, you won't let me touch you, you won't let me kiss you. Hell, I don't even feel like we are in a relationship anymore."

"I am sor..."

"No. Don't apologise. Just talk to me. Tell me what's wrong." He knelt down in front of her, taking his mask off and properly looking at her. "Please. I feel like I'm losing you." She sighed and nodded slightly.

"I feel... Useless. I cannot help you or our friends when it comes to the missions. I have purposely distanced myself from you because I feel like I cannot be an adequate girlfriend until I have my anger back on track. I got overly concerned about hurting you should we have an argument, so I decided it was best I just avoid any kind of relationship behaviour. Perhaps I have made the wrong decision?" Starfire looked at the floor, but was brought back to Robin when she heard him chuckle. He was laughing?

"Star, you're so silly. Of course you're going to lash out at me, but I would happily take it because I understand what you're going through. Just have a little more faith in me, I wouldn't hate you because of it. Trust me. I just want my girlfriend back. I miss you, and it's weird because we live together, I should even have chance to miss you. But I miss things about us that have come to a standstill. I want us to be able to kiss, and hold hands, and hug. I want to share a bed with you again, because there's no greater feeling than waking up to your face. I love you, Star. No matter what."

"I love you too Robin." She stood from her bed and pulled Robin to his feet and the two embraced, hugging properly for what felt like the first time in forever. "I will strive to be a better girlfriend. I have been the silly. But please promise me you will overlook anything should I accidentally get angry at you?"

Robin pulled back and smiled at her. "Of course Star." He leant forward and kissed her, again it felt like they hadn't kissed properly in forever. "I'll miss you this next week while I'm gone, I don't want to have to miss you when I get back."

"I will be here waiting for you Richard. I promise."