Chapter 2 Emotions will only make things worse
The Tamaranian girl had been out in the cold for about another hour before her communicator suddenly rang. She gasped with joy in hopes that it would be the boy wonder, but her prayer was denied when she realized it was Cyborg.
"Greetings, Cyborg. Any news?" She asked hopefully.
"No, Star. But you need to come home. It's raining and you need to get some sleep. We'll all go look for Robin tomorrow. I promise." Cyborg said in a brotherly tone.
"But..." Starfire began but Raven cut her off.
"Starfire, you can't do anything else tonight. Besides you're soaking wet. You're going to get a cold." Raven insisted.
"Yeah, and I don't think that the Tower could last long with you sneezing." Beast Boy chimed in to lighten the mood. Starfire let up a long, sad sigh as Raven and Cyborg sent Beast Boy an irritated look.
"You are right. I will be home shortly." The kind alien agreed as the other three smiled and nodded their heads.
The normally perky girl arrived at the T shaped tower short time later. It was so strange to her to see the Tower so silent, so lifeless, so....sad. It was almost like the Tower was weeping with her.
By the time she reached the Tower it was 1:30 a.m. She slowly entered the living room to find three Titans working as hard as their mortal bodies would allow. At the appearance of his friend, Beast Boy opened his mouth to say something but Raven put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. In truth, Starfire looked horrible; her hair was strung around her emotionless form, and her legs where shaking to show her exhaustion. But the worst thing about her was her face. Starfire was usually so happy her face seemed to glow, but that "glow" had been completely drained of its energy, of its source. Starfire looked in between the glum expressions of her three friends and forced on a smile.
"Everything will be well. He will be back." She said confidently as she slowly walked to her room. The other three just looked at each other for a few moments but didn't say anything.
"I'm not sure if I'm sorry for her emotional pain or for her ignorance." Raven said mostly to herself in her emotionless tone as the two boys sighed.
None of the Titans slept well that night; they were too engrossed in their thoughts. Beast Boy lay on the top bunk of his double-bunk bed nervously tossing back and forth. He was deep in serious thought, a new road for him. One question kept buzzing around in his head like it was threatening to explode his brain.
"Why was the chronotron detonator a dud?" He said, finally asking the question aloud.
In the metal teen's room a similar restlessness was occurring. He was lying on his "steel bed" tying to recharge, which was going along smoothly, and sleep, which seemed impossible, because the word "why?" was crossing across his brain for the thousandth time.
"Why did he just disappear? Why didn't he respond to our calls? Why?" Cyborg thought to himself. "Why?"
Sitting quietly on her bed the Azarathian could sense and fill the emotions of her fellow teammates mixing with her own; sorrow, pain, uneasiness, worry, even...doubt. Doubt that the boy wonder was still alive.
"I must stay calm. Emotions will only make things worse." Raven quietly scolded herself. Needing to calm her mind the gothic girl chanted her magic words as she slowly began to levitate.
"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos." But this only made things worse. With her mind completely open the emotions of her friends just became clearer; Beast Boy's uneasiness, Cyborg's restless questioning, and Starfire's sadness. Raven knew that this was going to be hardest on the delicate alien. She and Robin were the closest of all, best friends. But the telepath also knew that there was more than mere friendship bounding them.
Nestled safely in her lilac room, the Tamaranian was lying on her bed with her face buried in her pillow. She wasn't crying at the moment but the streaks on her face and the dampness of her pillow proved she had been. One thought kept playing over and over in her mind.
"It is my fault. I should have stayed with him. I should never have left him." The newcomer to Earth cried to herself. She looked down see her Titan communicator still clutched in her hand. Slowly sitting up her gaze began to drift to a small wooden dresser in one corner of her room. It was the only thing in the room that was cluttered; for you see, it was filled with framed pictures of her friends. She unknowingly smiled as her eyes settled on the one that was in the center. It was her favorite. It was of her and Robin sitting on the roof at sunrise. It had been taken the morning her sister was taken away by the Centarian police. She and Robin had been talking when Beast Boy came out of nowhere and snapped a picture. Even though the green boy had never really explained why he took the picture in the first place, Starfire was happy to have it.
Seeing the picture made her remember what had happened that night. The horrible thought of never seeing the teen hero again nearly made her sick. She sighed sadly as she lay back down to try to sleep.
"I am going to find him. I will never give up." She said into the darkness as she closed her eyes with the sunrise picture still edged into her mind.