End With Honor

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans

((Hum… I believe I have a rather odd affinity to daggers… ah, well… anyhow. On with the story, yes?))

Adrenaline pounded in his head, pulsing through his veins like fire. His gloved hand gripped the dagger, the wicked point shining with malicious victory on its blade. He drew back his arm to strike the final score, his greatest enemy finally vulnerable at his feet. Robin felt the power rush through him, the exhilarating release that told him he had won. Slade lay unconscious on the ground… the product of a horrific battle in which both adversaries had suffered many hurts, but Robin had held the upper hand of youth's endurance, and finally dropped a well aimed attack setting him to his present situation.

Robin was hardly aware of the blood that was running down his body, hardly aware of the inhuman angle at which his unoccupied wrist was bent and hardly aware of the bruising that covered him. All that he was, was focused into the killing point of his weapon. The young man plunged his arm down, the blade winking in the flickering artificial light of the warehouse. There was nothing to stop him from severing the cord that bound this life that had so long tormented him. Just as he prepared to feel his strike hit its target, a delicately formed hand shot out and gripped his wrist with unimaginable strength, pausing the dagger but breaths from Slade's throat.

A hush glided over both him and his current captor, the sound of his panting breath sounding wildly loud. His arm was slowly withdrawn back, until it was released to hang at his side. He turned, slowly, to meet the endless pools of emerald which had become his truest mirrors as of late. Behind her were the three others, their eyes wide and uncomprehending. They had been otherwise occupied with Slade's various robot fighters during the extent of this fight, and now had turned to see their leader poised tediously over their most infamous of enemies.

"Why did you…" he hissed, his voice rasping. Starfire blinked, her face set, head held aloof.

"Because it would be wrong," she said simply. Robin felt a froth of rage smoldering up in him and felt his mind grow hot.

"Wrong? HE'S wrong, Starfire!" came the bursting reply, behind his mask his blue eyes were alive with livid anger.

"Why is he wrong?" Starfire countered, her tone like a mother carefully scolding her child. The way she was watching him was the most irritating thing he had ever felt. He reared his arm back and swept to plunge the dagger back down and finish what had been begun, but again her grip came too fast. Robin's breathing had resorted to shuddering gasps, his swelling frustration at the alien's behavior sending him to the brink of what most would consider insanity. It was Slade! He was right there! Lying in front of him, just asking to be finished! And this stupid girl was asking why Slade was wrong? "Robin, answer me," Starfire's command bit the air.

"Because he's SLADE! He's a thief, a-a pedophile, and… damn it, Starfire! He's a murderer!" Robin roared, his fury flaring with every word.

"You say he is wrong because he is a murderer?" she said evenly, her eyes locked with his, and as much as he wished to tear from her gaze, he could not.

"Y-yeah! Now let go!" Robin snapped. Starfire shook her head, auburn locks rustling.

"Friend Raven, call the police please. Be sure they have bonds to hold Slade down should he wake and that there are enough officers to detain him. Also verify he will be on 24-hour surveillance with a several guards posted outside of his door until his trial is decided. I would guess he will receive the death penalty, but none the less…" Starfire spoke without turning her head. Behind her, the dark empath flipped open her communicator and sent a transmission to the Jump City police force. Robin glared at the Tamaranian.

"Let me finish him!" Robin struggled against her. The princess tightened her grip on his wrist a little more, her somber face faltering as he gave a gasp of pain. She didn't want to hurt him.

"You wish to kill him?" Starfire asked slowly. Robin hefted an exasperated snarl.

"YES!" yelled, infuriated by her actions.

"Then what makes you any better than him? You say he is wrong for killing… and yet you wish to kill," Star said coldly. "I do not know the ways of this planet, but on Tamaran it is the greatest dishonor to fall into the same sins as one's foes. Robin, you will let him be taken and dealt with justly. I do not wish for you to live with the weight of a dead man on your hands… it is inevitable you will come to regret it," she frowned on him, her eyes glowing with a soft but penetrating green aura. Robin's struggles ended abruptly and his hand went limp in her grasp.

The blinding rush that had clouded his view and fogged his mind with bloodlust died with a sudden and painful jolt. He went pale, and Starfire hesitantly released his wrist. The dagger clattered to the floor and the sounds of urgent sirens wailed closer. Within moments the police force had rushed in and were making hastily away with Slade's unresponsive form. Robin took a step back, his eyes… though masked… still locked with Star's. The other titans watched his display with a silent but real nervousness.

Robin swallowed hard and he looked down at his hands and back up at Starfire. He shook his head in disbelief, and then ran. The screeching roar of the R-cycle blasted the Titans' senses and Starfire hung her head. "We must meet him at the tower… he is severely injured. His energy will quickly ware now that his battle is over," she said quietly. The others nodded and bustled out to the T-car, a brief flurry of doors opening and shutting. Starfire took to the air, and drifted outside where rain was now pelting the ground. It quickly soaked her and she pushed back the falling strands of ruby hair that tried to press themselves to her cheeks.

She flew well ahead of the T-car, her speed enough that the rain fell swiftly away from her and wreathed her in a whitish halo. Upon reaching the tower, she fumbled inside, taking note of the slovenly thrown helmet and the streaking tire-marks that told her Robin's entrance had been a reckless one. The girl walked into the tower without so much as an attempt to dry herself, leaving a trail of rain water in her path. Small spatters of blood on both the hall walls and the floor showed her Robin's stumbling journey to his quarters.

She didn't bother to knock on his door to come in, opting to use the override code instead. The door slid open with mechanical accuracy and the dark form hunched on his bed flinched. "Robin?" Star said quietly. She couldn't hold the disappointment out of her voice. She'd never thought she'd see the day that she was stopping Robin from such a wretched deed. She'd always respected the Boy Wonder as a person with a strong sense of what was just and what was not. Robin left his back to her, fumbling with something in front of him. She became sickly aware of what he was doing when the grating crack of bone reached her ears. She saw Robin shudder, but he did nothing more then that and perhaps a small grunt.

"Robin, you should have let Raven heal it and set it with her powers. It would be much less painful…" Starfire hesitated, rubbing her own wrist at the thought of snapping the bone back into order. A very low ripple of cruel laughter slithered from him.

"I deserve the pain," came the gaunt reply. He was quickly wracked with a fit of coughing, and she saw his hand move to his face where he was probably wiping away dribbling blood.

"Robin," she spoke warningly. She didn't need him lessening her opinion of him even further with a fit of self-hatred.

"It's true though. You know it. You practically said it. I'm a sick as that-that thing the police took away," Robin spat. Starfire shuddered at the darkness of his voice. "I don't belong on this side, do I, Starfire?" he snarled. His anger was being averted now, off of Slade and off of himself. The girl sucked in a cold breath, wary of where this fury would next be directed.

"I do not know what you speak of. You came close to making a mistake… at least, I would have felt it a mistake. Some might have justified your actions but… it is not our duty to take lives, therefore what you would have done was uncalled for," she said. Robin stood suddenly, but was briefly doubled over by the wave of pain and nausea that hit him. Starfire was instantly at his side, seating him back on the bed again.

"I know. And I don't belong on this side… for truth and justice and—the hell with it all! I couldn't have stopped myself there, Star. I would've killed him… and I'm one of those people that can find a way to justify it. It still seems right to me. He should die." Robin growled. Starfire bit her lip and sighed, reaching to brush a rain and sweat-soaked strand of hair from his face. He jerked his head away though, and she let her hand drop.

"You do belong on this side. You did not do the deed, and it is the past. Had you done it you would still belong with us. I would not be able to see you the same way, but… it would not take your belonging away," she murmured, her tone softening, her distress slowly wilting.

"But you don't look at me the same way now, either. You know that it wasn't my own will that stopped me," he slammed his fist to the bed and then gave a hiss of agony as pain knifed up the broken wrist. Starfire's hand darted across his lap and gingerly grabbed the injured wrist. Robin gritted his teeth, even her light touch sent tremors of hurt down his arm.

"Yes it was. Even after I had explained it, you could have carried out the killing. You could have, but your heart and conscious told you I was right and drew you back. Robin… you are correct to say I cannot see you the same right now. What you were about to do—it made me ill. But, that will fade with time. You are still the most honorable person I know," she countered gently. Robin coughed again, and Starfire frowned and a small trickle of blood made its way to the corner of his mouth.

"It doesn't matter. I was so close, Star… so damn close it's not even-even fathomable to me. I don't belong here, my-my view is wrong. It's dark. It's like Slade's. I'm not meant to be… I nearly killed a man. Even if it was Slade… I…" he broke off and swallowed hard. "Why do I still want him to die?" he choked out. Starfire exhaled slowly.

"Because he deserves to die. I will grant you that. But he does not deserve… no, you do not deserve to have him die on your hands. You are a defender of what is right and you cannot allow yourself to be tainted so simply," she answered.

"I'll do it again. I can feel it. I don't have it in me to stop myself if that time comes again…" he shook his head, his eyes closed tightly.

"No you won't. Yo won't do it again, you have that strength in you… you love justice and that is what will keep you strong," Starfire said. The sound of the other titans moving quickly down the hall silenced them. The door slid open and they peered in, only to scuttle out in order to fetch medical supplies.

"I don't love justice," Robin said quietly.

"Yes you do, that is why you were able to stop today… when it was time…" she argued.

"No. That's not why. I didn't stop because I loved justice. I stopped because I loved what loved justice…" he looked up at her, and he saw the very slow dawning or realization begin to edge into her eyes. "… And she was ashamed of me," he finished, his face still drawn tight and angry. Starfire blinked slowly.

"I was not… ashamed of you," she said carefully.

"Yes you were. You can't hide from me, Star. I could see it on your face…"

"But… it stopped you, yes?" she finally replied. Robin let another ripple of laughter bite the air, but this held at least a hint of her old Robin returning. The one that was strong and brave and true and did not flirt with fantasies of the dark.

"Yeah. But not because of all that justice crap," he muttered. Starfire nodded and stood.

"Perhaps. But… then, will you remain to fight the good fight if not for justice but for me?" she asked. Robin nodded quietly. "And perhaps one day… you will find that you do love what is right as I know is true?" Robin hesitated, but nodded again. "Then- then that is all that I can ask. I do not wish to say I am displeased that you love me… for I-I love you as well. But I should hope one day, when you end a hard fight such as this and make a truly hard decision as you have done, you will have ended in honor not for the love of me but for the love of what is good," she said quietly. Robin nodded a third time and he head her moving to leave. "I am… glad. Now rest yourself and let the others tend to your wounds. We both have much to think about now. And I feel it may be best done on our own," she said. Robin let himself drop back onto the bed and she took it as answer enough.

When she was gone, Robin exhaled slowly. He did love justice, he decided. He did, and Starfire was right… and he would end with honor as she hoped… for the love of her and what was good and right because to him… they were one and the same. He would not be able to blame Starfire's unease at what he had nearly done on anything other than himself and that would be weight enough on his conscious for now; but it was the past as she had said and if he tried he could make it fade with time and prove he was worthy of her love and worthy of defending what was right and worthy of understanding the truths of black, white, and the grey in between.

Author's Note: Gah, I'd hoped to get this up sooner... but oh well. I hope it didn't seem like I was babbling, because I felt like I was babbling. Was the plot too trivial? I'm feeling rather paranoid about this one... it seems like the first one I've written in a while... hm... Oh, and this is kind of a first for me in that it is probably my longest one-shot as well as the first that did not result in a kiss. But I felt this was more than romantic enough without spoiling the darker mood... of course my feelings hardly matter when it's you reading it unless we share some odd and disturbing connection through which you feel my emotions, eh? Well that was a totally pointless comment, but whatever. Reviews appreciated. Oh, and just so you will feel more kindly towards dropping me a little note, I offer thee muffins of the blueberry kind.

Love, Princess Starfire of Tamaran