Starfire lay down on her bed, hair spread around her pillow. She rested her injured arm across her stomach, turning her head slightly to watch the macabre shadows paint a story against her walls. Her mind was whirling with all that had happened to them in the past twenty-four hours. It was strange, having Raven laugh and joke like the rest of them, even if it was just a soft chuckle or sarcastic blow at Beast Boy. It had been...personal, almost as if she had broken away from her past and let herself show who she really was. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy it. No, she loved Raven so open, so different, but like the rest of the team, she was used to Raven being composed and disheartened and hating anything that brought joy to her dark world.
She ran her tongue over her busted lip idly as her mind immediately jumped to her predicament. It didn't feel right, walking on two feet. She was so used to flying anywhere and everywhere that walking with her feet planted firmly on the ground made her tire easily. The muscles in her calf hurt from merely walking around the tower.
She wanted her powers back, she admitted with a sigh. She wanted to be valuable to the team again, to be able to defend her and her friends with what she had been gifted with at birth, but now she could barley protect herself, much less an entire city of innocent people. She didn't want to depend on anyone to protect her, especially Robin. Never before had someone sheltered her, and she did not need them to do so now.
Deciding that she was never going to get to sleep with her depressing thoughts, she sat up cautiously, heaving her legs over the side with care to make sure she not to jolt her side or irritate the stitches. When her bare feet hit the carpet, she stood leisurely, stretching out her body slowly to rid it of the kinks that had accumulated after being so still for so long. Starfire tiptoed to the door, slowly poking her head out to make sure no one happened to be around. Finding the coast clear, she made her way to the roof door.
Her feet padded against the cold concrete as she made her way to the edge of the roof, the end tugging lovingly at her loose hair. She sat down near the periphery, her knees tucked up to her chest and her arms circled tightly around them. She sat there for hours, eyes distant and mind throbbing with thoughts. After coming to the conclusion that she was getting nowhere, she sighed, instead deciding upon watching the sunrise.
She was so sidetracked from the real world that she never heard the metal door close and the sound of boots soft on the concrete. Someone laid a hand on her shoulder. Starfire jerked with a yelp, pressing her hand to her unruly heart as she glanced up at an amused Raven. The gothic teen eased down beside her, mimicking her posture and linking her hands over her legs.
They were quite as they watched the first rays of morning caress the horizon. Raven broke the peaceful silence by soft clearing her throat.
"Starfire?"
She glanced over at Raven, turning her cheek to her knees and watching her friend with troubled eyes. "Yes?"
Raven pursed her mouth, idly tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Is it...wrong that I don't want my powers back?"
Starfire watched a bird dart by them, winds spread widely. It landed gracefully on the roof, head cocked slightly. And it just so happened to be green. She grinned at Beast Boy's tactics, and glanced at Raven, eyes softening with humor. "Raven, if you do not them back, then it is not wrong."
Raven sighed, feeling guilty despite Starfire's assurance. "I mean I can feel now without having to hold back because of my powers. I can express emotions and I can actually..." Raven trailed off with a frown, eyes hard on her hands.
Starfire smiled, glancing at the green bird that moved stealthily closer. "Love?" Starfire finished for her, holding back a laugh when the bird staggered, tripping over its own feet and taking a serious nosedive.
Raven's eyes snapped to Starfire's. "I...um...I...guess... But, then again, when someone gets into trouble, I won't be there to save them. But, when I stop to think about it, I can feel now. I know you think I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but when I was being held back by my curse...I truly couldn't do anything. No laughter, no anger, no...love. But now I have a chance. I can laugh, cry, scream, love, and nothing will happen. No buildings will topple, no light bulbs will shatter, nothing. I just...don't know what to think anymore. I want to feel for the first time in my life, but I want to protect all that I care for. I can't do that with nothing to back me up." She gave a miserable groan, dispassionately watching the first rays of light filter through the water.
The green bird looked around, making sure that neither girl happened to be watching and morphed into a tiny fly, hovering inconspicuously around them. Raven glanced at it, swatted it with the back of her hand, and risked a glance at Starfire. "How does it make you feel
Starfire watched the fly stagger, as if intoxicated, and then fly off again. "I abhor it. I feel so...pitiable and weak. I am so used to flying that it hurts to walk like humans do. I can't shoot star bolts, or lead anyone out of darkness. I can't do anything. This...just doesn't seem right, as if it were not supposed to happen. And then, sometimes, I feel as if it was meant to happen for a reason. Oh, I am just so disorientated!"
Raven nodded, eyes trained on the rising sun. The wind blew slightly, taking the disoriented fly with it. Raven turned away from the bright light and studied Starfire. "How about we talk about something encouraging and something that doesn't bring us down more than we already are?"
Starfire grinned happily, and before long, their discontent was locked back inside their minds, buried beneath the laughter of Starfire and the slight smiles of Raven.
Beast Boy stumbled in, rather awkwardly, plopping down on the couch with a smoldering glare. "That's it! That is the last time I spy on them. Next time, one of you are doing it. Then we'll see how you like getting smacked around!" Robin chuckled as Beast Boy crossed his arms over his chest, fuming and mumbling about being swatted around by freaking chicks.
Suddenly, Beast Boy leaped up and shoved a finger in Robin's face. "Do you know how many times I was thrown against a wall or smacked at? Huh? Well, it's more than you and metal mouth put together."
Cyborg smothered a laugh behind a cough, mouth pursed. "Well, we aren't annoying flies." Beast Boy opened his mouth as if to say something, only to close it again with a heavy pout.
Cyborg snorted, yanked the remote that Robin held in his limp hand and started to channel surf. Robin watched the blurred images with a slight frown, his tone bored as he asked Beast Boy, "Well, what did they say?" Sighing, Beast Boy plopped down on the couch again, crossing his legs at the ankles and lazily resting his folded hands against his flat stomach. "Nothing that we didn't know already."
Robin bit back a sigh. "Okay, so we have one who wants her powers back, and one who doesn't. Then, we have the fact that we don't even know who, or what, took them in the first place. So basically, we're back to square one."
Cyborg had abandoned flipping through channels to eavesdrop on the discussion. "Maybe," Cy said slowly, head cocked to the side, "if we investigate their planets' history and the origin and basic makeup of their powers, we might find something of importance." Beast Boy and Robin exchanged looks of confusion.
"But how would that help anything?" Robin asked, mind turning over the idea. He thought of the pros and cons as he murmured, "Actually there is something valuable to know about their past. I mean, even if it leads to a dead end, at least we would have some basic knowledge on their ancestry. Maybe this has happened before. Maybe the trauma of the wreck sparked a defense mechanism inside them to protect their powers. It could be an ancient way of keeping others from taking their powers when their body was in danger of dying or in serious peril."
Beast Boy nodded slowly, pretending he understood everything that Robin had just said. "So you think that maybe it's coded into their blood to shut off their powers when a serious accident occurs? 'Cause someone might steal it from their dead bodies? That, or just having their bodies hurt could have something to do with it?" Beast Boy tapped his fingers against his stomach. "Kinda farfetched, ain't it?"
Cyborg and Robin scowled slightly. Cyborg folded his arms over his chest, head cocked in annoyance. "Got anything better? That, of course, doesn't include warring planets or an army of hamsters. We would love to hear your ideas on possible reasons."
Beast Boy held up his hands in defense, eyebrows drawn together. "Wait, hold on a sec. I was just stating an opinion. Don't jump down my throat. Geez, I was just thinking that it sounded more like something you would read in a comic or something." He turned his head away from his teammates, frown settling over his features. He then decided that his input was unnecessary so silence was his best bet.
Robin sighed softly. "Don't worry about it, Beast Boy. But...we can't think of any other possibility, unless the wreck was caused intentionally so that some sick bastard could take their powers. But if that were the case, how did they do it? Magic? What was their motivation? So, really, we have nothing more than empty possibilities. We're just grappling at straws here."
The green teen nodded, his confidence lifting a fraction from before. "They only way to know if someone did this on purpose would be to check the T-car, right? I mean, maybe they somehow got into the tower and messed around with it. If nothing seems wrong, then, well, guess we're screwed, huh?"
Cy nodded, dropping the remote to the ground with a sigh. "It's the only thing we can really do right now. I can check out the T-car later on and check for any signs of tampering. You two," he said with a smiled, "can watch out for our now vulnerable teammates."
Raven and Star walked in to the main room, only to find their male companions bickering about something in hushed tones. Whatever it was that they were talking about sparked amusing anger in Robin and Beast Boy, for both boys' faces were flushed and eyebrows twitching.
Starfire and Raven exchanged looks of mischief, scheming silently with no words spoken. With stealth, they crept up to their teammates. Raven only caught bits and pieces of their conversation, but could tell that it had to do with them, in some way or another. Never one to like being talked about, Raven leaned down slightly, and asked, voice soft and deep, "What are you talking about?"
Beast Boy yelped, unprepared for her sudden appearance, and snapped his head up quickly. Robin, who was still trying to figure out how she managed to sneak up on him, the leader of the team, was unable to move in time. Raven cocked her head to the side as the boys jerked away from each other with a curse, Beast Boy clutching the top of his head, Robin pressing a large hand to his throbbing chin. Cyborg, thankfully, had caught a brief glance at Raven before she made her move, so he was placed far away from his unsuspecting male companions.
Raven cracked a smug smile while Starfire burst into peals of laughter, glancing in the opposite direction as if to hide the fact. Beast Boy glared at Raven, hands rubbing his abused skull. "How come when you lost your powers you became mean? Before this, ya'll would have never of done something like this."
Raven arched an amused brow, hands on slim hips. "You're right. I guess I really missed out, too. Forget meditating. You're the solution to forgetting about my anxiety."
His eyes squinted. "Lucky me. I am so glad you enjoy my pain."
She shook her head, something akin to a soft chuckle slipping from her mouth as she headed for the kitchen. "Me, too."
Starfire grinned, holding out her good hand to Robin. He took it with a slight frown at the pain throbbing through his jaw. Cyborg, ever the schemer, took the opportunity to add some spice to Robin and Starfire's hesitant relationship. He shoved Robin's butt with his foot so the Boy Wonder crashed into Starfire's chest, though lightly, so not to hurt her. She blushed hotly when Robin held her waist to keep them from falling, face buried against her. Robin blinked at the splash of purple and the hot skin beneath, pulling back with a snap when he realized where he had landed. He rubbed the back of his neck, a blush staining his cheeks.
"I… ah…sorry about that," Robin stammered and then aimed a furious glare at Cy. Cyborg grinned innocently, standing up with care and headed for the hallway.
"I'm gonna go the auto shop, maybe go take a look at the T-car, so I'll see you later." When the doors slid shut behind him, Cyborg laughed, shaking his head slowly. "Oh, that was too much fun. Beast Boy and Raven are my next target, but first, I need to see Caitlin and go to the place where we wrecked to see if I find anything of importance."
He whistled, strutting cockily down the hall but stopped abruptly, cursing under his breath. "Well, damn, I'm gonna have to walk. I keep forgetting about the T- car being destroyed. Crap." He sighed heavily, turning around to head back toward the main room. He was still muttering beneath his breath when he passed the other members, heading for the main door.
Robin watched Cyborg go with a wolfish grin. "Serves him right."
All right, this is all I have for now. The White Rose: PoB will be my main focus, and when I hit a dead end, I'll get to this. So for now, this will be a mere side story. Good thing is that my summer is fast approaching, which means vampire hours and lots and lots of time on my hands. I am also seriously thinking about stepping away (not completely, of course) from Teen Titans and dabbling in Naruto. I am just itching to try that out; though I'm sure it'll be a bust. I gotta try, though. I started one (got about forty possible ways to write it) that sounded like it had potential, though I somehow managed to make it more angst-y for Sakura without the help of Sasuke. Well, guess the only way to see if I might be able to pull off Naruto is to write and post it, huh? Anyway, after this, I'm getting started on the next chapter for TWR: PoB. Took me awhile, but I finally got the hang of writing it again! Damn writers block…gets me every time…