Chapter 7: Gifts from the Heart
"Robin, where are you taking me?" Storm asked. She had a piece of black cloth over her eyes and Robin was holding her hand, guiding her down the hallway.
"You'll see." Robin answered.
It had been four days since Control Freak had attacked Jump City. Robin had spent the four days by himself, doing something…..Storm was curious as to what he had been up to and when she asked him all he said was: "You'll see."
Raven had recovered fairly quickly. All she had suffered was a minor concussion and a loss of blood. With the help of Storm's healing magic, and her own, she was walking around with Beast Boy after only two days of recovery. She insisted that if she stayed in the recovery room for another day, she would go crazy.
Storm felt Robin stop in front of something and then the blindfold slipped off her eyes. She was standing in front of a door. There was a name plate on the door and Storm looked at it with wide eyes. The silver name plate had her name on it: Storm.
"Robin……you didn't have to."
Robin smiled and ran a hand through his black hair. "There was an extra room beside mine. Besides, you can't live in the medical room for the rest of your life. I spent the past four days working on it. Come on! Let's go inside." Robin slid the door open and grabbed Storm's hand, pulling her inside the dark room.
Once inside Robin slid the door shut and the room went pitch black. She felt Robin let go of her hand and then the light flicked on.
"SUPPRISE!" Storm was speechless as she looked around her room. The walls were black and blue lightning was painted across them. A double bed was across the far wall and furniture like a dresser and a bookcase were by the side walls. "Hope you like it." Robin was standing beside her a smile on his face.
"Yes……thank you it's really nice." Storm stifled a small smile back at him. "But why are you doing all this for me?"
Robin held out his hand, a yellow communicator with a black T in the center of it. "You're a Teen Titan Storm, you should have a room to yourself."
Storm took the communicator and held it in her hand, looking at it. "Robin….I….I don't know what to say….Thank you." She felt Robin rest his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him.
"Glad you like it." Robin turned and walked out of the room….leaving Storm to get used to her new bedroom. She walked around the chamber, a smile on her face. "Maybe I do belong here…" she though to herself. "Maybe…maybe someone actually cares about me."
"Soooo….Storm's a Teen Titan now." Raven stated in her mono-tone voice. The Titans were sitting in the meeting room discussing Storm's future in the team.
"Yah….after she beat Control Freak, I don't see why not." Robin answered back.
"You do forget the incident with Terra." Starfire cautioned. "Storm could possibly be an apprentice sent here to find out about us."
"I didn't forget it Starfire and I have considered that she might be working for Slade….but there's just something about her that…." Robin trailed off lost in thought.
"I have felt her hiding great pain….But we can never find out that pain if she keeps barriers around her." Raven crossed her arms and looked at the floor. "She has great power but where she got that power I can't say."
"You think she's dangerous." Beast Boy asked.
"Maybe…." Raven looked up "She needs to get close to someone….She needs to trust someone...Then her walls will crumble and we can learn the truth."
Robin shifted uncomfortably. "She seems to be getting closer to me. There are times when she's almost told me things….I think I'm getting through to her...I should spend more time with her."
Starfire's face contorted at the idea. "Why not friend Raven? She is, as Storm claims, her twin."
"I've tried to talk to her….Storm is uncomfortable when I'm around her…she knows that I can feel her pain and she's very wary about what she says to me…." Raven explained.
"But she is just a clone is she not?" Starfire protested.
"She's not a clone!" Robin bust out. Everyone stared at him in surprise. Robin felt his feelings for Storm were strong but he tried to ignore them. "I'm positive that she's not a clone and if we expect to get any information out of her, I should spend more time with her." Turning, Robin walked out of the room and down the hallway.
"Why do I feel such a strong attachment to Storm?" Robin thought to himself. "Is it possible that I might even love her?" Robin brushed his feelings to the back of his mind. He stopped in front of Storm's door and raised his fist to knock. Robin hesitated and then rapped on the door….
Storm sat on her bed trying to read a book, but she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept wandering back to Robin. She cared about him and she felt her barriers start to weaken. "Should I trust him? Robin has done so much for me and yet I still shy away…I do care about him…ok maybe I care about him a lot…but still…my barriers to everyone is the thing that has kept me alive…can I live with out them?" Storm sighed and closed her book rubbing her temples. She stopped suddenly and looked at her door. Someone was standing out side of it….. "Robin?" she thought. Hearing a small knock, she eased herself off the bed and floated towards the door. She slid the door open and her heart flipped in her chest.
"Robin!"
Robin smiled "Hey Storm."
"What….What are you doing here?" Storm felt her face turning red and she pulled her hood over her head to keep Robin from seeing.
Robin looked at his feet. "Uh…I was just wondering if you would like to go out somewhere."
Storm looked up at him a slight smile pulling at her mouth. "Where?"
"Just around…..I know some really great places that you haven't seen yet."
Storm hesitated, she could feel the heat burning on her cheeks. "Sure."
Robin took Storm to one of his favorite places; the park. He talked mostly about himself what he liked to do, where he came from, how he met Batman, and other things about his past. He was hoping that she might spill about where she came from and how after years just showed up.
Storm kept mostly to herself she kept walls around her to prevent anyone from getting close to her, but she could feel the walls crumbeling. When ever she was with Robin she felt comfortable and relaxed. She loved the park and when Robin offered his hand she hesitantly took it. When the day slowly started to slip into night and after thinking about it she finally decided to say something to Robin.
"Slade's original plan was to kill me." Storm said it so quietly that Robin almost didn't hear her.
"What do you mean?"
"When Slade told Raven to come to the bridge alone…..well he was going to kill me right in front of her." They walked over to a bench and sat down.
"But what about your powers? Couldn't you stop him?"
Storm shook her head. "He used a special kind of rope. It has metal strands woven into it that draws my powers away from my body. All of his weapons and ideas are so advanced now that he has become very dangerous. You might have thought that you destroyed him but you didn't. He's coming back Robin and I don't want to think what trouble he might put you guys through." Storms voice started to shake and she was fighting to keep herself under control.
Robin moved closer to her and put his arm around her. "Don't worry Storm we'll be ready for him."
"You can never be ready for him."
Robin looked at her, the fading light casing shadows across her face and a breeze blowing her blue hair behind her shoulders. Robin felt something burning inside of him and growing stronger every time he was with her. Robin knew that now was a better time then ever…..
Reaching into one of his belt compartments he pulled out a silver necklace. "Hey Storm…."
Storm looked at him her blue eyes shining up at him.
"I got something for you…just so you won't give up hope." Picking up one of her hands he placed the necklace in it and closed her fingers around it.
Surprise flicked across her face and she pulled her hand back and opened her fingers to look at it. It was an S with a lightning bolt through it and a heart behind it. It was about the size of a quarter with a strong sliver chain. She could feel her face getting red and she lifted it to put around her neck. Her fingers fumbled with the clasp and Robin helped her to close it.
"Robin…thank you it's beautiful." Storm suddenly noticed how close together they were, but she took a risk and threw her arms around him in an embrace. She could feel her eyes bun with tears but she fought them back.
Robin was taken aback but gently hugged her back. He felt her starting to shake and realized that she was crying. "Storm….are you ok?"
Storm didn't answer. No one had ever loved her that much to give her anything. Not even her mother…. she couldn't help crying. She felt Robin's grip around her tighten and she rested her head against his chest. Storm felt safe in Robin's arms. A feeling that she thought she would never feel…..when her tears slowly started to cease she leaned back to look at him.
Robin was smiling; he seemed to understand why she was crying. Just thinking about it was had for him to do. Robin couldn't even imagine a world where no one loved or care about you. He held her close trying to comfort her. He really did love her and when he got the necklace he thought that he wasn't even going to get a chance to give it to her. He looked down at her and Storm looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling. Robin started to lean down towards her….
Their communicators ripped through the silence like nails on a black board. Robin cursed under his breath and broke the embrace. Digging in his belt he pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. Cyborg's face appeared.
"Rob we got a situation."
"What is it?"
"It's Slade…."
Robin saw Storm shift uneasily.
"Where is he?"
"He's on the outskirts of Jump City. He hasn't caused any havoc yet but you can never be sure what that creeps going to do."
"Storm and I are on our way." Robin flipped the communicator closed and turned to Storm. Her silver necklace stood out against her navy blue leotard and black cloak. Robin laced his fingers in hers "Don't worry Storm….everything's going to be ok."
Storm's other hand flew up to grasp the necklace. "I hope so Robin….I hope so." Robin stood up and pulled her after him running back to Titan tower. Storm felt him grip her hand and she had this funny feeling in the pit of her stomach that something very wrong was going to happen………
