Innocence Lost by CidGregor

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.


Chapter 3

Raven had had no idea exactly what do expect next. Would the alien girl be happy? Confused? Scared? Some mixture of all three? Raven didn't how the issue of pregnancy was dealt with in someone as young as Starfire in her culture, if it was even an issue at all. The only thing Raven felt somewhat sure of was that she would immediately want to speak to Robin; Raven couldn't think of anyone else that might be the lucky dad.

But whatever reaction Raven had expected to see from Starfire, it was certainly not this. A wave of pure shock and terror had struck the alien girl's face; then she had collapsed on her bed, as though she had fainted, and burst out crying, more than she had in weeks.

"Starfire? What's wrong?" Raven asked tentatively.

Starfire barely heard the question, for she was lost in her own sorrows. She had thought…hoped that that night was behind her…she'd hoped her friends would never have to know…but now she couldn't hide it any longer. There was no hiding something like this. What would they all say when they found out? Picturing their horrified faces was almost as bad as thinking about actually telling them the truth. And Robin…the weight of it would crush him…Starfire knew he would somehow find a way to blame himself for it, and suffocate himself with the guilt…

"Star, I…I'm sorry if this isn't good news for you…" Raven said. "I won't tell the others if you don't want me to, but…they're going to find out; sooner, not later."

"I must speak to Robin."

The words were no surprise to Raven. "I figured as much. Funny…I always figured you two had a little more self control."

The second the words were out of her mouth, Raven wished she could take them back; Starfire's sobs grew louder, her eyes were turning red and puffy; and Raven realized that she had seriously misjudged the situation.

"Okay. You stay here, I'll go get Robin," Raven said.

"I must continue to speak with you, as well," Starfire said through her tears. "You…need to know the truth, now."

Raven swallowed nervously, and realized she'd never felt more scared in her life. Pieces of the puzzle surrounding Starfire over the last few months were starting to fall into place, and there was little room left for guesswork. It was still only suspicions, but Raven was already drawing conclusions in her head, and none of them were pleasant thoughts.

"Okay," she said, and hurried off to find Robin, hoping with all her will that her suspicions were wrong.


"YOU'RE WHAT?"

Robin's eyes were bulging behind his mask, his face showing quite clearly that this was the last thing he'd ever expected to hear Starfire say.

"I am…pregnant," Starfire repeated, fighting back her tears as hard as she could.

For a full minute Robin could do nothing but sputter incoherently as thousands of possibilities swam through his head. "But…you…I mean…we…I…you can't be pregnant!"

"She is, Robin," Raven said. "Trust me. I can sense the child. It's a very faint sense, but it's there."

"But how…?" Robin said, going very red. "I mean…we've never…"

"I know," Raven said. "That's what scares me."

Robin barely registered the words. "How far along is she?"

"I can't say for sure, but judging by the sense of the child, and the symptoms Starfire has right now…I'd say about three months."

"Three months?" Robin said. "That's right about when…"

The Boy Wonder's brain ground to a shuddering, heart-stopping halt just then as pieces began to click into place, just as they had for Raven. "No…you don't think…?"

"I think we need to let Starfire tell us what exactly is going on before we start jumping to conclusions," Raven said, turning her pointed stare upon Starfire.

The alien girl's sniffles quieted, but didn't fade entirely. "I am…sorry, friends, that I have kept this from you for so long…I simply could not face having to relieve that night all over again…but it seems I no longer have a choice."

Raven visibly stiffened, her worst fears slowly being confirmed. "Tell us."

Starfire nodded, and at last began to tell them of that fateful night.


"Ugh…could this guy possibly weight any more?" Beast Boy said. Cyborg's deactivated body was hanging limply, supported only by Beast Boy and Raven.

Starfire looked back the way they had come not really listening to Beast Boy's comments. She stood there for a few minutes, wondering if Robin was okay. He was all alone, fighting that strange villain. Starfire wanted to help him, but she knew Robin and Raven were right. With Analyst's device robbing her of her powers, she would only get in the way. So she was simply forced to be content with hoping he would be all right.

She turned to look forward again, and to her shock she realized that Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg were gone. She looked up and down the street, but they were nowhere to be seen. They must have continued walking, not realizing that Starfire had stopped. How long had she been standing there?

She looked up at the sky, trying to get some idea of where she was, but it was a cloudy night; there were not stars visible by which she could find her way home, and down on the ground she had very little sense of direction in the city, as she was usually flying over it. She was lost.

(Perhaps the locals might know where I am, or which way my friends went,) Starfire thought. She immediately spotted two men nearby, standing at the edge of an alley, and hurried over.

"Pardon my interruption, sirs, but might you have seen my three friends pass by here a short while ago?"

The two men glanced at one another, and smiled. "Yeah, sure, hon," the one on the left said. "They went right down this way. C'mon, I'll show ya."

"Oh, thank you!" Starfire exclaimed, and followed the man who had spoken down the alleyway. The second man followed behind her.

A second later Starfire felt a blinding pain in the back of her head. She fell forward onto her knees, and bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. She wasn't used to feeling such pain; but without her alien strength, she felt it as strongly as a normal human. The first pain was quickly joined by a second as rough hands grabbed her by the wrist and slammed her into the wall, and suddenly the two men were staring at her with unpleasant, hungry smiles on their faces. She tried to pull her arm free, but she was still powerless from Analyst's machine.

"I would like you let go of me now, please!" Starfire said.

"What's the hurry, hot stuff?" one of them said. As he spoke, Starfire felt his hand on her leg, slowly tracing its way upward, and Starfire kicked wildly out at him, horrified.

"You will not do that again!" she shouted.

"Oh, what's the matter? Didn't like it?" he said in a terribly fake-nice voice.

"I most certainly did not!"

"Too bad."

She felt the hand touch her leg again, and Starfire began to scream, but another hand reached out and clamped over her mouth, muffling the sound.

"Keep her quiet, would ya?" one of them said. A second later Starfire felt a wad of cloth being shoved into her mouth, muffling her screams further. She screamed as loud as she could, but nothing more than a mumble escaped. Starfire struggled with all her might as the hands quickly grew more and more invasive, but she was overpowered; she could do nothing, nothing at all but watch in horror, as the thugs dragged her down into the darkest depths of her own personal Hell.