Disclaimer: Still don't own Teen Titans

Author's Notes: Thanks again for the reviews! Just to warn you, the story is about to diverge a little from the usual setting. I wanted to ground this story in a Teen Titan world, but then show life outside the tower. I've got two more chapters planned out this way, but if everyone thinks this is too OOC or... uh... Out Of Setting, then I might re-write. And Thanks as Always to Lovely White Violets for beta reading!

Chapter 2: Running

I am sorry, the note said.

I am sorry to leave when we are already missing a member, but as I am now, I can be of no use to anyone. I must try to regain my powers so that I may help you, my friends, once again. If I do not try all that I can to 'fix' what is wrong, then it is my own fault if one of you is hurt in battle. I will try to return quickly, but I do not know how long it takes to do the 'time away to think.'

She must have gotten that from Raven, Robin thought.

I wish to remind you that I care deeply for you all.

-Starfire

Robin folded the note carefully and tried to think of a way to tell Beast Boy and Cyborg that they had lost another member to an introspective quest. After what had happened a week ago, Starfire must have concluded that Raven's solution might work for her.

Robin couldn't blame either girl for wanting some time to think. After what had happened with Terra, they had all been shaken, but both Starfire and Raven's abilities were tied to their emotions, so it was understandable that those two would be the most effected.

When Robin added that to what had happened with the robbers, it was no wonder that Starfire needed some time to sort out her thoughts.

After the obstacle course debacle a week ago, Starfire had become an inactive member, staying behind when the others rushed into battle. Robin had tried his best to convince her that she was still an important member of the team. He tried to reassure her that everyone wanted her to be there.

But Robin couldn't be there for her all the time. After last night's particularly brutal battle, Starfire must have blamed herself for the team's injuries. True, if she had been there, the fight would have been a lot easier, but it wasn't her fault... Robin frowned. If only he could get her to believe that.

- - -

Starfire walked through the dark streets, pulling a dark grey sweatshirt closer around her shoulders. She wasn't really cold, but she wanted to conceal as much of her uniform as possible. This part of town wasn't fond of heroes, which was the reason why Starfire had chosen it.

After two days of living in an upscale apartment and hearing the adulations of an admiring public every time she stepped outside, Starfire was sufficiently convinced that the time away to think could not be done in such a setting.

No, for her purposes, the small, rundown room she was headed to would work perfectly. She climbed the depressing stairs up to the top floor and juggled the container of Chinese food she held while she used a series of small keys to gain entry into her room.

She locked the door carefully behind her and set her keys on her bed, which served as the only furniture in the room. After removing her sweatshirt, she followed the keys, jumping onto her bed to snuggle into her blankets as she devoured her dinner.

She missed Cyborg's cooking. And Beast Boy's cooking. And the arguing about the cooking. She sighed over her chow mien and turned her thoughts back to the events of a week ago that had started all of her problems. If she could finish doing the time away to think, she could return to her friends.

Starfire took another bite of noodles, and tried to find a new meaning in the events, but she couldn't seem to get past the thought that kept haunting her.

They were bad men. They had tried to hurt Robin. She had to hurt them. Did that make her just as bad as?

She had never worried about the thin line between good and evil. If anything, she had seen that line as planets wide. That was before Terra, who blurred that line past recognition.

Terra was an enemy. She was also a friend. She was a villain, and she was a titan. The plaque that served to commemorate her had conveniently omitted half of those facts, but Starfire couldn't erase them from her mind.

Starfire had fought against Terra and alongside Terra. She had laughed with her and she had brutally attacked (and been attacked by) her. She had been a friend, but she had also been a 'bad guy.'

No matter how much anyone assured her, Starfire worried that someday, she would cross that line between good and evil, and find herself battling her own friends. And that thought kept her from returning to the Tower.

Starfire wished she knew where Raven was. Raven would have helped her figure out this problem. Raven was always doing the 'time alone to think' and would have instructed her how to do it properly.

Starfire had tried going to Robin with her problem, but Robin seemed to think that she was incapable of anything malicious. He had her on a pedestal so high that he dismissed her concerns as childish and irrational.

The more Starfire thought about it, the less sure she was that Robin could act as an impartial judge when it came to matters of 'good' and 'evil.' When it came to Slade, Robin's tactics certainly bordered on 'wrong.'

Robin seemed to feel as though the ends justified the means... Starfire trusted Robin implicitly, but she couldn't help holding herself to different standards.

Realizing that these thoughts weren't getting her anywhere, she rummaged through her sweatshirt's pockets and pulled out a crumpled wad of bills and a handful of coins. Counting the money, she found that she had $8.78 remaining, hardly enough to get her through one more meal, let alone one more day.

Starfire got to her feet and pulled on her sweatshirt, zipping it up all the way so that her costume was hidden as much as possible. Starfire smiled, satisfied with her disguise, completely oblivious to the bright purple boots that came up past her knees.

Time to find a job, she thought. Humans do this all the time. How hard can it be?