A/N: Whoo hoo! You guys just seriously made my day!
Okay, so it seems that I need to explain 2 things because they keep coming up:
1. No this is not a Robin/Raven fic. It should be fairly clear by now that I like the pairing, but I do not have them together in this story. What I do have however, is Raven kinda liking Robin. It could happen and besides, I like writing Raven's angst and longing -if you can't tell from my name. Robin is just watching out for a really good friend. You all would comfort her too if she had almost died for you.
2. How is "Starfire" the lock "code"? I used a fairly simple method: the alphabet. A1, B2, C3 and so on. And since the code was 12 digits, I broke up the two digit numbers. So 1-9-2-0-1-1-8-6-9-1-8-5STARFIRE!
Reviewer Replies:Big "Thank Yous"and cookies again to: PaNRoBiN, titanfan, Jadedea, "Gem", blonde shadowcat, kmc99,Eyes of Nevermore, Babi3 A, darkness-consumes-me, "kevin", FiragaJackSpicer, "hi", crecent moOn19(hehe), and DeathIsMyWayOut (I checked your stuff and oh the irony that your name is Serenity)
RavenOnline: no, there is no rape in this story. If there were, it would be rated R I assure you. Oh, and I made it up, but if I had to guess -I would say he hid it in his glove (or shoe).
"A Titans Fan": I'm happy that I could bring you out of your slump! And my signature basically means that I only profess to be decent -not suck.
Evilevergreen: I'm glad I disturb you! …I think. Your question 1 will be answered in the story, question 2 I answered above, question 3 will also be answered, question 4 –Yes, I am trying to drive you mad. Mwahahaha! BTW- loved your review, you're not crazy, and I don't know what "Highly Recommend" does either.
woodfairy: Your question will be answered and you shouldbe prepared to feel more "embarrassed". -Hope you live through it.
robinstarfire: I really like Red X too! …if you can't tell. And if you loved rereading that "examining" part, then you should really enjoy the rest of the story. –Oh, and don't pelt me! I'll try to update about every other day.
On with the story! More intensity and suggestion…
Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either.
Big Mistakes
(chapter 4)
Red X gazed at Starfire's sleeping form. She was so beautiful and he doubted that she even realized it. He had to knock her out quickly back at the tower and also had to hope chloroform would work on a Tamaranian. It had, and all too well. She'd been out for 12 hours already.
He walked over and sat down at his desk to use his laptop. After a while, he stopped and looked around the room. 'I've got this place lookin' pretty good.' He had only been is his new "apartment" for two weeks. He had found it in haphazard condition. It was being used as a storage place for old mattresses, but judging from the cobwebs and dust he found, it hadn't actually been touched in five years. He'd cleaned it up and found that the fixtures still worked and that once all of the dust was gone it wasn't actually too bad of a place. The heat didn't work, but luckily this was a temperate climate.
He'd needed a place to crash when he'd first arrived. This one had the best vantage points. It was on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Jump City. It was one of the only buildings taller than Titans Tower and he liked being able to survey his surroundings. 'Plus it's a great place to think without anyone to look down on you,' he thought.
X heard a low moan behind him and got up quickly. 'Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakens.' He lifted Starfire from his bed and leaned her up against the wall. If he could, he would have left her to sleep on the bed, but when she awoke, he knew she would burn right through it and in turn become extremely hazardous to him. As it was, he had barely finished reattaching her bonds when she stirred.
"I would like to know where I am please?" She asked groggily.
"You're where you should be cutie, right here with me." He replied lifting her chin. Even though she couldn't see him, he still wanted to be face to face with her. He was now as tall as she and in the perfect position to kiss her once again, but he did not. 'Later, when she is more awake.'
It took about half an hour of her nodding in and out of consciousness before she was truly awake. She was almost eerily calm when asking her next question, "Why is it that you are keeping me here?"
Truthfully, he knew, but he couldn't tell her why so he didn't answer. Instead he moved toward her and held her head in his hands, "You are at my mercy. If you struggle it will be in vain, but if you promise you will not use your beams on me I will take the tape off of your eyes. Now do not lie to me, because if you do the tape will go back on and you will have no second chance."
Starfire then lifted her head as if to look at him, "I am not the one whose trust should be questioned. -Yes, I promise."
"Good girl." He was trying to put on an air of total confidence, but he had been hurt by what she had said. 'I want to be able to have her trust me, although given her past knowledge of me I can see why she doesn't,' he lamented. "Now don't move, and try not to scream, though this will probably hurt a bit," he was trying to reassure her, but he knew that it was going to hurt much more than a bit. "I'll try to be gentle."
He brought his hand up to one corner of the tape. He could have just ripped it off, but going slowly presented a much less gruesome picture. He saw her tense and he moved closer to her so that he could better see what he was doing. He knew that she was in pain the whole time, but she never said a word. He peeled off the final inch and she blinked a few times before fully opening her eyes.
She looked around her before focusing keenly on him. Only a few inches from her face, he could feel her breath on his skin and he couldn't take it anymore. Without thinking he flipped up his mask. Starfire's eyes widened, "Oh my g…" but he silenced her with the kiss he had been planning. He became lost in the moment and soon so was she. He deepened his kiss and this time he was sure that she was kissing back. 'I knew it,' he sighed happily.
A long while later he pulled himself away. The blood rushed back into his brain and he realized what he had done. 'Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell am I going to do? I shouldn't have even brought her here and now I am so screwed.' His mind raced through possible ways of rectifying his mistake. 'Okay, for now…' he grabbed his chloroform soaked rag from earlier and begrudgingly held it over Starfire's mouth and nose. He hoped it still had enough kick left to knock her out for a while.
Her screams were muffled, but before she completely blacked out he heard her whisper, "It is… you."
"Yes, it is me…Starfire," he replied to her now motionless form. It was nice to finally be able to say her name again.
It was noon. Robin had not slept one wink. At this point he didn't care about sleep all he cared about was finding Starfire. He scoured everyplace he knew she liked to hang out then started in on the south side of the city. Raven had taken over for Beast Boy during the night after he dropped out of the sky from sheer exhaustion and found himself in a dumpster. He'd joined the hunt again in the morning, but was now complaining about being famished.
Seconds after being ordered to search for Star's signal Cyborg stepped into his car and realized that it was coming from inside the tower. He'd radioed Robin who found her communicator in the corner of the 3rd floor hallway. 'Probably the last place she contacted me,' he'd thought and took it with him. He'd told Cyborg to check the North East sector of town and resumed his own search, after quickly changing back into his uniform.
'That was twelve hours ago and I still haven't found her.' He knew it wasn't his fault but he still blamed himself. 'I shouldn't have sent her alone…but we were fighting for our lives…but she was taken…Starfire's a tough girl, I thought she could handle herself…but she couldn't," he argued back and forth with himself like that for the next few hours of searching.
By 4 o'clock that afternoon and still with no luck, the inner demons were aroused further when he heard Beast Boy complaining again. "Rob, we've been looking for Starfire all night. It wouldn't hurt anything if we stopped to eat for just one minute," he said whining hopefully.
Robin was incensed by this, "No, YOU haven't been looking for her all night. If this is really how you feel, you can just go back to the tower and stay there! In fact you can all just go back! I'll look for her by myself! And I don't care how long it takes, I WILL find her." He turned off his communicator at that point. He heard it beep in response, but he was not up for talking to any of them right now. He was way too pissed and way too determined. 'So what if I'm being unfair! She should mean more to them than this!'
Just then Raven appeared next to him and put her hand on his shoulder, "Robin, you have to calm down. Beast Boy didn't mean anything by what he said and we certainly aren't going to stop looking for Starfire. I know how much she means to you and even though she gets on my nerves sometimes, you should know that we love her too -almost as much as you do." Robin looked at her and he couldn't believe how concerned and caring she appeared at that moment. He was so touched he grabbed and held her tightly, but when she actually hugged him back, he broke down.
"I can't take this Raven," he wept into her shoulder. It was very uncharacteristic of him, but he couldn't help it. He'd been running on pure adrenaline for the past twenty-four hours and now he felt that Raven was almost inviting him to heal himself by freeing his emotions. "You are so good to me," he started, "You're always there to tell me what an ass I am," he chuckled a bit through his tears and she hugged him tighter. "I need to find her Raven," he breathed, "I just…she…I…"
Showing just how much of a friend she truly was, Raven prodded him, "Say it Robin. Just say it."
"I think…I'm…in love with her," he whispered, almost surprising himself by how natural it sounded.
"There, that wasn't so hard now was it?" she joked in monotone, but out of the corner of her eye he saw her wipe a tear from her cheek. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he figured that she was probably happy for him and that was the most she would show it.
He wasn't quite as confident in his assessment when he felt her tremble slightly in his arms. He became concerned, but realized that he wasn't actually positive if he had felt what he thought he'd felt after all, so he asked her, "Raven, are you, okay?" he furrowed his brow and dipped his head so that he could basically make eye contact with her. "Raven, I want you to know…"
He wasn't able to finish, Raven's communicator went off and she quickly flipped it open. A harried Beast Boy was on the other end, "Raven! You soo need to get over here right now!"
A/N: Oh, a cliffie! But neverfear! Chapter 5 will be posted right away do to complications with this chapter.