Author's Notes: Wow. Twenty six reviews! I'm happy now!!! Very very happy! I tried hard with this chapter, but who knows how it turned out.

Blade of Secrets

Chapter 3- Reviving Secrets

"Come on Robin, somethings bothering you! You've had that sour expression ever since Star got hurt!" Cyborg complained. "Can't you just lighten up?"

Beastboy, who had been sneaking around in mouse form, appeared beside the titan's leader, looking at him with accusation. "It's not like Slade did her in or anything! I haven't seen you this angry since the time you thought Slade came back and none of us could see him."

"It's nothing." he seethed. "And don't mention Slade. We don't stand around and remind you of how Terra betrayed us."

"That was a hit below the belt!" Cyborg stated. "That's not like you Robin."

Beastboy glared back at him. "But in the end she did chose us, didn't she? You were Slade's apprentice once too!"

He didn't want to listen to the bickering anymore. There was too much going on, too many things he had to keep to himself. Robin stood up and headed down the hall, away from the other titans and toward his own room. At least there no one would bother him in there, and he could sit and think. He just had to make it the rest of the way down the hall without interruption. All the rest of the titans had been nagging him about his behavior, just as they had when he was intent on finding Slade; the only one who hadn't had much to say was Starfire, but that was for obvious reasons.

"You really should tell us what's wrong." came Raven's familiar voice.

'So now your getting into my head to try and get me to tell you?'

"How else am I supposed to get you to listen to me?"

'If you have something to say besides asking me what my problem is, then I'll listen.'

"I know it has something to do with Starfire. Beastboy and Cyborg may not have noticed the changes in her, but I know you have."

'What makes you think that?'

"I've been noticing them too."

'Raven, even if I knew anything I wouldn't be able to tell you. I promised.'

"Your right, but at least let me know where the problem is. Being a girl, I might be able to help Starfire."

'Okay, fine, it is Starfire, but I'm not telling you anything else.'

"Robin, I could guess it was something bad; your not very good at hiding your protectiveness."

'If you find out anything, you'll let me know, right?'

"Not if she swears me to secrecy."

With that, he could pshyically feel Raven leaving his subconscience, and he was alone once again. He sighed, knowing he had just partially given away Starfire's secret, even if it was in an indirect way. He had to get them to leave him alone. He finally reached his room without further delay, and the sliding opened with the same, familiar crisp whooshing sound. Robin didn't wait for it to open completely before he disappeared into his unlit room; he was extremely impatient for no apparent reason. Anxiety was clawing away at him, diverting his attention in a million different directions that it shouldn't have been in.

But of course, there is one way to get Robin's attention back, and that was the insane sound of the titans alarm, alerting them to a new disturbance in the city. He went racing out, once again, from his coven of silence and into the living room, awaiting a quick debreifing from Cyborg and Beastboy on their situation. Upon entering the room, Robin's eyes fell into small slits, and a growl erupted from the back of his throat. It was impossible, it was... inconceivable. There was no way that he could possibly be back.

"Slade..."

"Robin, I see you haven't changed since we last met." came the mechanical sound of Slades voice as his picture flashed over the television screen. "Still as weak as before."

"We did you in!" Robin exploded, stomping with hatred closer toward the screen.

Slade shook his head. "If you did, then why am I still here speaking to you?"

"We have all that was left of him in the evidence chambers, remember Robin?" Cyborg reminded him. "It could just be a prank."

"Some sick prank to pull." came his response. "Where are you Slade, and what do you want this time?"

"The same thing I wanted before, of course-- control of this city."

Raven was typing away at the mainframe computer, hoping desperately to be able to pinpoint the place that Slade's transmission was coming from. Beastboy was holding Robin as far way from the screen as he could while Cyborg inspected the picture upon the screen. The only one who hadn't entered the room yet was Starfire, and she came through at that exact moment, staring with disbelief at the picture before her. If Slade was back, then that meant....

"What has become of Terra?" Starfire questioned aloud. "Slade, what has become of her?"

A light chuckle came from their arch enemy. "Terra is deemed useless, and as something of the sort, she was tossed away."

The entire room when quiet as Raven typed away. They waited for further explination from Slade; Robin and Beastboy were both to enraged to say a word, Cyborg trying desperately to help Raven, and Starfire feeling somehow responsible for the events unfolding. How she could have possibly been connected with them not even she could know or understand, but part of her just screamed that it was her fault, cried out in agony at her failure. If only she could have helped Terra sooner...

"Got it!" came Cyborgs voice. "Save the location."

"I will speak with you later, Robin."

The screen went blank, and a knock came to the door. Everyone was tense; who was there? Was it possible that Slade had somehow gotten through the security system that Cyborg had ingeniusly installed? Starfire inched her way to the metal doors, since she was the closest to them, floating cautiously above the ground in hopes of not making a sound. She could sense her friends tensing up; the way Raven began to allow her aura to permiate about the room, how Beastboy's shoes started to squeak when he hoped from foot to foot, the sound of Cyborgs metal parts grinding together, and feel of Robin's hawk-eyes observing her every movement. She couldn't remember ever feeling so single out, but for the moment, she pushed away her anxieties and her fears. All her attention was focused on getting to the door and finding out what- or who- was on the other side.

Starfire slowly opened it, half expecting to be shot in the face with some sort of destructive mechanism or being pulled outward and locked away from her only source of rescue. Instead of those worse case scenerios, a body fell forward, limply lying within her arms. The distinctive clothing and blonde hair were noticable beyond anything else, but the butterfly hairclip gave away teh identity of the mangled mess. Beastboy tore over toward Starfire and the wounded person, gently lifting the obviously fractured skull so he could confirm that this was, indeed, Terra.

"Terra..." came his soft cry, a whimper that was usually only heard when he took the form of a dog.

"I'll unlock her room." Cyborg said. "Star, bring her over. Raven and I will try to fix her up as well as we can."

Before Starfire could take Terra back to the abandoned room that had onced housed her and all her secrets, Beastboy had taken her body and began to walk away, seemingly in a trance. Starfire just stood there, her eyes tearing up. It was hard to explain; she could feel the life flowing out of Terra, the way she was willingly letting go. Beastboy was obviously heartbroken, and a deep somber mood had overfallen the entire tower. This was Slade's work, something that had always hit close to home with the group, and Terra was being played for a pawn yet again. She was very easily manipulated, but in the end had sacrificed herself to tie Slade away forever. It made sense; if Slade were to come back, then Terra would have had to come back as well. She knew all of his secrets, meaning she was his biggest weakness, and he had needed to get rid of her. Terra was the only thing locking Slade away; if she were to awaken from her stone state, he would be released as well.

Now Terra was losing her lifelong battle to find a home, a place she belonged, all because of a mistake. It seemed like a high price for someone who was overly naive to have to pay when there were so many other people who deserved her fate much more. Starfire mentally slapped herself for the thought; it wasn't right to think so viciously about people she didn't know or understand, but Terra was her friend, and this was affecting every other friend Starfire had. It was all she could do to try not to cry. She had to be strong now, at least until she was alone. Then she could bury herself in a sea of blankets and revert back to the savior who had protected her for years.

"Robin... what do you think... how did Terra come back?"

"I don't know." he ground out. "But right now you and I need to track Slade while they take care of her."

Starfire looked at him. "Robin, we cannot leave when Terra is in this kind of condition! Slade will wait a while before he takes anymore action, you know that. He never attacks when we are in a weak state, only when we are at our strongest."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not letting anyone else get hurt." came his angered reply.

"Robin!" she cried, the energy of her 'righteous fury' showing with the creation of her starbolts. "We are in no position to go after Slade right now! If you get hurt, then what will the rest of us do? Wait on getting to Slade; that will come soon enough. Do not take unnecessary risks, please."

He softened slightly, realizing how much Starfire just wanted him to lie low for now. He knew that she was right, but his entire conscience told him that he had to go after Slade now or he would never get another chance. That fact was a lie though; if Slade meant any harm (which he obviously did), he would show up again and they would all fight once more. In the end, they would get rid of Slade again-- there was no way they would lose to him. It was obvious that Starfire realized his submission to her plea, and she lost the furious energized glow that had been surrounding her hands as she allowed herself to avert her gaze back to the floor.

"Now, I... I will be going to my room." she stated, rushing away before Robin could stop her.

Starfire's mind was completely clouded; there was no way she could stay their any longer. She had to retreat back. She had to get back to her blade.

'Little sister... if all you can do is whine to me about things that upset you, why don't you just hurt yourself? Each time you want to complain to me, each time your upset, just hurt yourself. Eventually you'll be so focused on that pain that you will forget everything else. If you ever want to compete agaisnt me, you are going to need to develop a tolerance to pain'

She shook her head. Why did she still use that for an excuse, even though she knew inside (and has stated to Blackfire before) that Blackfire was not the ruler of her? Why did she still think of this everytime she used that god-forsaken razor? It didn't matter, she needed it, almost craved it. Her room wasn't far away, meaning her salvation was just as close. The doorway opened quickly and she slipped inside, letting the dark colors envelope her.

She could finally... be open.

Author's Notes: Are you all still with me? I know, a lot happened in this chapter, and it's still short. I tried to make it longer, I really did, but the next chapter has to have some substance as well. If you can't tell, another pairing will probably be Beastboy/Terra.......... maybe Raven/Cyborg (my best friend picked them out and they've been stuck in my head), but we will see. I'm trying to focus just on Starfire and Robin, really. What do you think of me bringing Slade and Terra back? Let me know!

solodancer789: I'm glad you liked my second chapter!! Thankies so much!

PixieGirl2009: I knew what you meant when you said you were talking like a fortune cookie, lol, it's okay. It's not as bad as me calling myself and my friends fruits. LOL, I do that all the time. Bad habits. And there is nothing wrong with finding stories like these interesting; I mean, a lot of people do. Heck, I like to read them (heck, I am the one WRITING them) but some people get offended and stuff by the subject, because of things that have happened to/with them. I myself had dealt with friends who cut themselves, this is actually how I vent my anger. Don't feel stupid for liking these kinds of stories! It's a good thing!

ccabello: I will write more soon, and thanks!

Rekka's Angel: I myself had sympathize with Robin in this story; I've been in his position MANY times before (and yes, as with you, sometimes WORSE), and you are very right about how hard it is to help people like this. I'm glad you like how I've been making Star's character-- she's the hardest to write, because I try to keep her in character and change her outlook all at once. I'm glad you think I've done well with it this far? I hope this chapter kept you as into the story as you were before!!

Rochelleteentitan: Thank you!!

S. Giovanni: :: blushes :: Is my work REALLY improving? I was afraid I was moving too fast, but I can always place up blockades to 'halt' the improvement just as well as I can make it reverse or increase. I just have to think. A lot. Do you think I'm a better writer than you? Dear, everyone criticizes their own work (heck, I usually hate what I write), so you probably aren't giving yourself enough credit. Maybe, if I have time, I can get around to reading something of yours.

TanukiGirl22: Well, you have returned, have you not? I know the chapters are short, but we don't have Microsoft Word on our laptop, just WordPad and Notepad, so I have to guess how long the chapters are. Parts of it seem redundant? I don't mean for them to; the thing is, in Starfire's position, they will have to repeat themselves, because people who cut themselves usually (from experience, I've dealt with many of those people) focus on one or a few certain things that make them upset, sorta like a onetrack mind. I'm glad you still find it interesting though!

Broken-Mask: I didn't know there were other Star-cuts-herself fics.......... maybe I just haven't read enough? I'm going to TRY and get Starfire cheery again, but I truly can't rush that if I want this story to work out. I'm glad you like the idea, though. Thanks for your input!

Inferna: Lol, I try to update. Sometimes I have problems with that, it all depends on how filled up my well of ideas and inspiration is. In the first chapter, I did state that it seemed more like a Raven kinda thing to do, but you are right too, not everyone can be cheery without it being fake. And please, do send me your poem!! You can get my e-mail off of my author's page. If you wish, you can read some of my poetry concerning this subject, you can find it at My penname there is SiretaInDisguise.

Nightbolts101: In another story you had something really sick and sad in it? Dear, I LIVE off of sick and sad stories. LOL, I know it's pathetic, but it's really... interesting. And that is another WONDERFUL point-- in real life, there are RARELY ever happy endings. Most people don't realize that! And there is nothing wrong with rambling on; actually, those are the reviews that I perfer. LOL, as you can see, I ramble on on my own. Thanks for reviewing my story, it means a lot to me, and I will read somemore of your stuff soon!!

Starfire of Tamaran: :: blinks :: I can't just NOT STOP, lol, the story has to end SOMEWHERE!! I'm glad you liked it that much though... it means a lot to me!! It made me very happy!