I'd like to make a recommendation myself if I may: one of my inspirations (whom you may have noticed I've given special thanks to) - Scott Okragleski - has written a wonderful story entitled 'Ship of Heroes', so if any of you would be interested in reading about the Titans on the Titanic, I urge you to check it out. It's on my favorites.
Reviewer Replies:
Thank you all so much. I've gotten so many that I'm almost overwhelmed! But no worries - I haven't run out of cookies yet! How does "sugar" sound for today?: DeathIsMyWayOut (No no, Robin's mine. haha), Sprox 083, Babi3 A, lil' LIK Star, blackcatt, crazyauthorperson, Aeris9919, kmc99, Jadedea, titanfan, Emmery, corza12002 (mmm…I think) and Evilevergreen, and yay! another "special thanks" to Scott Okragleski!
Queen of Azarath: you are so right! I completely forgot that Rae had that premonition. See, I don't really like Terra much so I've only seen that one once.
"this. is. stupid.": he does seem to be more touchy-feely with Raven thusfar doesn't he? That should change here soon. Oh! And I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I would like you to keep your hands on! There are still 2 more chapters to review!
angelinajfan322: I still laugh every time I read your review (hahaha). I shall update quick to avoid the wrath!
StarfireFowl13: I'm so glad you decided to check out my story! (gives mental thanks to whomever had me on their faves) There will be more action in the next chapter!
Saint H: Interesting guesses! -"A really high Aqualad" (haha). Thanks for reviewing 2 in a row!
"val("at")val": did you mean that I spelled stilettoed wrong? Because otherwise I'm confused… But thank you for reading my story anyway.
Softballtitan009: thanks for the multiple reviews! I know, this one is "soo close" to Rob/Rae, but my next long story will be more than "close".
"foreverfree": yay! I'm so glad you could "see" what was going on in this last chapter. That's what I try for when I'm writing. More "thin ice" for Rob this chapter -Only 2 more to go to figure out X.
Blood Darkness: huh, I didn't know that there was anyone who wasn't a fan of Rob/Star. Interesting…well, as I said before, my next long one is going to be Rob/Rae.
Forlorn Melody: well hey alright! More "sensuality" this chapter and more Red X next!
Disclaimer: If I owned the Titans, Terra would have been "accidentally" cracked by now…
Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either.
Curious Methods
(chapter 9)
In order to find a thief he would need to think like a thief. He really didn't want to "enter into Red X's mind", but since Starfire couldn't remember anything, he'd have to. She had flown off to get Raven, leaving Robin to resign himself to this plan. 'Okay, he broke in, figured out my code, and stole the damn utility belt,' he sneered a bit at this, but moved on quickly, 'Starfire called us to say that she hadn't seen anyone, so obviously he didn't attack her until after that. We were here five minutes later, so it had to have happened in that short period of time.
'He knocked her down with her hands on the floor and had her eyes taped at this point, otherwise she would've blasted him and that would've been that. She must've had her feet free when she threw him against the wall,' he rubbed his shoulder again thinking of this, 'so he taped them down too.' He really didn't want to hash out any other details. He felt bad enough knowing that this had happened at all and he hadn't been there to save her.
'Disabling Starfire had to have taken at least a few minutes, but he still could have hung around for a while. Maybe he heard us coming and needed to get out of there. Then why would he need to knock her out?' That one was easy enough, 'He wanted to move her. But why?' Robin may never know, but X wouldn't have needed to use any chloroform if he just left her there. 'So he carried her up stairs to Beast Boy's room and removed the Xes to make it seem like someone else had attacked Star…Wait, if he had just ripped the tape off of her it would've stung like hell and he would've risked waking her up. And he didn't have the kind of time it would've taken to peel them off slowly. Besides, if he just ripped them off like two minutes after attaching them, the red marks would've been much less noticeable than they were after I found her. Okay, so…either he hid here for a while - but no Raven would've sensed him (he couldn't be that cool all the time) OR he took her with him! But how'd she end up back here? And why can't Starfire remember anything?' Those last questions he'd have to deal with later. Right now, he needed to deal with what he knew happened – at least, up to the point at which he and the rest of the Titans had entered the scene.
'I know what happened, but what use is it? How am I supposed to find him? It's not like he took her back with him dragging her body over the ground, leaving a nice convenient trail for me to follow.' He needed to figure out a way to recreate another emotion from Starfire that would allow Raven to track Red X. 'All right so what happened next? He took her back to his place. He'd still want to keep her immobilized, or she'd kick his ass. So he'd keep her eyes taped and her hands attached to…what? Nothing that can be burned through. Concrete, brick, or steel would do it, so the ground, the floor, or the wall. Well, if it was me…'
Starfire floated down the hall toward him with a cloaked Raven trailing behind. Robin reached out, grabbed Starfire's right wrist, yanked her to him, swung her around, and shoved her against the wall. He pinned her wrist, his other hand was on her shoulder. His body pressed against her so close there was hardly room for either to breathe. He placed his head to the side of hers to stare at the wall rather than into her pained eyes and whispered into her ear once more. This time he had to come up with something on his own -though he knew it would work, "You are at my mercy. Can I trust you not to scream?"
"I am not the one whose trust should be questioned," Starfire shot back. Then she gasped loudly clutching her hand to her mouth.
Robin was in the air again. This time he did not smack into the wall, but was encapsulated in a black bubble. Raven set him on the floor and walked forward. She angrily slapped him across the face. "What the HELL was that! Look at what you did to Starfire!" she pointed directly below the place they were just standing. Star was huddled in a ball with her arms and hands covering her head.
"Raven. I'm sorry. I'll explain later, just do that empathic thing that you do now. Please?" Raven glared at him, but he knew she would do as he asked. Meanwhile, he knelt beside Starfire and attempted to free her head from her hands.
"Robin! I remember…something," she said shakily, turning to face him, hands still clenched. He looked back at her expectantly. She continued very slowly, "It tasted like a ball of cotton was residing in my mouth. Under my fingers there was something, rough, scratchy, and cold. My ears could hear very distant sounds of automotive vehicles …but sounds of an aviary were very near. The air felt breezy and cold, except…for a warm breath," she touched her cheek, "…but something would not allow my eyes to see."
"That's great Star!" he exclaimed as he helped her to her feet, "Anything else?" She shook her head no. "That's alright. Look, I'm really sorry that I had to do that to you. It must seem like I am being a total ass," he looked at Raven while he said that. "I think I know what happened to you, but I really needed you to help me fill in some parts. It seems that the only way to do that, was to shock your system into remembering."
Starfire put her hand on his shoulder, "Robin, I do not understand your methods and I am not sure I would like to attempt them again, but I am aware that your intentions are honorable. I wish to help you in any way that I can, but please, I do not wish for you to continue to call yourself names."
Robin almost did a double take. She was so understanding, and despite what she said, he still felt like an ass. "Uh Star? Could you go get Cyborg and Beast Boy and tell them to meet us topside? We've got a hideout to find."
"I sensed little fear and no anger. Some disdain, but that was also slight. It was almost as if she knew that she could be safe," he was listening to Raven explain as they climbed the stairs to the roof of the tower.
Robin nodded, "Her 'clues' were actually fairly helpful, so do you think you could try to read the places that fit them to find those emotions so we can put everything together?" He caught a sideways glimpse of her raised brow, "My gosh that sounds soo stupid out loud."
She shrugged, "Yeah it does, but I know what you mean and if it can help us find Red X sooner I'll try."
As they emerged from the tower, they gained the attention of the other Titans, "All right guys. Here's the deal. We're looking for Red X." He heard Starfire gasp. Both Beast Boy and Cyborg turned to look at her, but Robin just continued, "He was the one who kidnapped Starfire, so we're gonna find him." Again Starfire gasped, this time Beast Boy and Cyborg just stared at Robin.
"She was kidnapped?!? I thought someone just left her in my room!" Beast Boy yelped arms flailing.
"Yeah man, what's all this about Red X?" Cyborg chimed in looking very confused.
Robin answered both of their questions at once, decisively; "It'll take too long to explain. We just need to find him. From what Starfire said he should be up high, most likely on the top of a brick building. Raven will assist in determining exactly which one, but we need you guys to help us scout out possibilities."
"Robin?" Starfire rocked back on her heels and started wringing her hands, "I cannot go."
Now it was Robin's turn to look confused, "What? Starfire are you okay?"
"The pictures in my head…they are starting to become clear. Some are disturbing, but most are confusing and I must take this time to sort them all out." She opened her arms and addressed the other Titans, "You all should go and find the Red X. I believe I will only require a short amount of time to focus my anxieties."
"I'm not leaving you here alone again Star," Robin stated flatly.
Cyborg cut in, "Hey, Rob? I can stay here with Star. I don't fly and I'm seriously lacking in the "cat-like reflexes" department. I'd just be a hindrance to y'all. I'll be of much better use here, looking out for this little girlie," he chucked Starfire on the shoulder in a genuine show of friendship, "You guys go. We'll be fine."
Robin looked directly at Starfire. He was still concerned, but had little reason to say no, "Okay. We'll call you when we find something." He ran toward the edge of the tower and leapt off. Beast Boy caught him in his claws and they flew off, followed closely by a levitating Raven.
A majority of the buildings in Jump City were not made of brick and of those that were, most were less than 3 stories. This aided their search considerably.
In a very un-Beast Boy-like move, he made a great suggestion to start with the tallest brick building and work their way down. So, this was what they did. The tallest, happened to be a huge apartment complex in the middle of the city. They landed on the roof and Robin looked around. 'I certainly can't hear much traffic…and the birds are flying by in droves.' He found an open door and peeked in. No one was home, but even though the furnishings were sparse, the place did look used. "Raven. Come check this out."
She walked inside and looked around, "I'm going to have to ask you to step back a fair distance again Robin. It just makes things much easier."
He grabbed Beast Boy and dragged him away from the door. Even though he would've loved to, he couldn't watch her this time because the space was too small. A minute later, he heard her repeat the words from the new spell that she had used earlier, "Antium Echoshun Valiar!" He saw the door blow open wider, but could only listen otherwise.
Beast Boy stood with his head cocked trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside, "Dude, what is she doing?"
"Shhhhh…" he replied holding up his index finger.
So, Beast boy just shrugged it off, "Okaaaay."
Raven stepped out and called Robin to her, "We lucked out. This is it." He questioned her with his eyes and was quelled by her response, "Definitely."
Robin burst back inside. "Where's X!?" he demanded out loud to no one in particular. His eyes locked on the only thing that could give him the information he sought: the laptop sitting on the desk. 'Thank you good ole information age.'
He turned it on and started searching. He hunted through every file on the hard drive. He even attempted to hack into a few places, but nothing produced details of X's whereabouts. He finally gave up and dropped his head on the keys. A "bling" sounded and he looked up. 'That? That was what it took to find the info I needed?' He rolled his eyes in disgust, but quickly snapped back into "concentration mode".
Once he had pinpointed the location, he gathered Raven and Beast Boy, "X is down at warehouse #15. A huge shipment of goods came in this morning. He must be sifting through the merchandise. Let's go." Raven nodded and they headed off. Robin called Cyborg while in the air, "Cy, X is down at warehouse #15. Can you and Starfire meet us there?"
"Yeah man, but I don't know if Star's alright. She keeps spouting gibberish. But from what I can tell, I think she's just talking to herself and throwing alien words into the conversation." Robin saw him shrug on the monitor.
"Okay, just get there as fast as you can." He flipped the lid on his communicator and as Best Boy set him on the ground,Robin took off running.
A/N: FINALLY! Robin's found X, but how will X feel about that? And just who IS he darn it!
Maybe I'll tell you…Maybe I won't.
Review and Maybe you'll find out which one I choose…