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Lupine-eyes: Thank you for your kind review. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Sonic 1: It gets worse before it gets better. You'll see...

And as usual, I do not own the Teen Titans...or Justice League for that matter.

Chapter Two: Diagnosis

Mas y Menos played Commando Monkey 7 at the lowest possible volume as they sat on the couch across from the sleeping Aqualad. Raven had told them to wake him up at two o'clock. When the appointed hour arrived, they tapped him on the foot. Aqualad grumbled and rolled off the sofa, instantly jostling him awake. He looked up to see the twins. "Hola."

Mas y Menos smiled. "Hola."

Aqualad stood up and took account of his situation. Jinx had fallen asleep on top of Speedy a few feet down the couch. Cyborg was in the kitchen cooking hamburgers and Terra was sitting at the counter talking with him. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and walked over, taking the stool beside Terra. "Report."

Cyborg looked up from the burgers. "She's sleeping now. Robin, too. I had to give him something to calm him down but he should be up in a few hours. I ran all the tests I could think of on her, and we're waiting for the last few results now."

Aqualad nodded and turned to Terra. "Did you get anything from the medical database?"

Terra sighed. "Just going on the symptoms she's presenting, seven day fever and coughing blood on the eighth day, there are at least four hundred different Tameranean illnesses that it could be. Most of them are fungal; apparently Tameran has a lot of fungi. But it doesn't seem like it could be anything terran or from any other planet."

The door opened, and Beast Boy entered wearing a white lab coat over his outfit. "Good news. The toxicology report came back negative. That means it's probably not fungal. That leaves viral or bacterial. I have a culture growing right now, we should have an answer in a few hours."

Beast Boy took the seat on the other side of Terra and set a huge book and a notepad on the countertop. He began leafing through Greyfire's Anatomy and taking notes as necessary. Cyborg flipped the burgers on the stove. "So removing fungus, how many possible illnesses could it be?"

Terra spoke up. "A little over a hundred."

Beast Boy corrected her, not looking up from his studies. "One hundred seven."

No one could think of anything else to say.

The clock on the wall said it was nearly eight o'clock at night. Robin sat on a cold metal chair next to Starfire, who was resting on the bed beside him. She was asleep and looked peaceful, but the monitors above her told a different story. Her heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature were high even for a Tameranean. He really wasn't sure what scared him the most, the fact that she was this sick, or that he was slowly losing control of his own carefully crafted battle ready exterior because she was this sick.

He took her hand in his and held it for a long while, until Beast Boy's voice over the intercom interrupted him. "Robin, you need to get up here, we've got it figured out."

Robin placed a soft kiss on her hand and then stood up, walking quickly to the living room. The doors opened and he saw all the titans, east and west, assembled before him. Beast Boy, still in his white lab coat, stood beside the computer with Terra. On the screen was a magnified view of the cellular culture. Robin took a seat on the couch. "What is it, Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy cleared his throat. "Based on symptomatic, toxicological, serum, and cell culture data, I'm pretty certain Starfire has come down with bacterial bar and'r'y. The best translation I could come up with is fire fever."

"What's the prognosis?"

Beast Boy changed the screen, and the page describing the illness from the Green Lantern Corps database came up. "Well, it progresses in three stages. In the first stage, it presents like the flu. The second stage produces bleeding coughs in addition to the flu like symptoms. The terminal stage brings about a temperature spike and severe pain across the chest. It progresses with almost clockwork precision, seven days for the first and second phases, and one day for the terminal phase. And it's species specific, we don't have to worry about quarantines or anything else."

Terra continued. "Untreated, it's almost completely fatal. But treated, even in terminal stage, it's one hundred percent curable. The only problem is that the antibiotic is made from a fungus that only grows on Tameran. Locally, it's known as barglox. There is no other source available. In order to cure her, we have to get her to Tameran and we have to get her there fast. She's already a day into the second phase of the illness. In another six days, she'll enter the terminal phase and twenty four hours later…"

Her sudden silence left no doubt as to what would happen. Robin punched his gloved fist into his hand. "How on earth did she get this, anyway?"

"Her zorkaberries, most likely." Beast Boy called up a different screen from the database. "According to this, in order for zorkaberries to germinate properly that bacteria must be in the soil. Apparently the last batch she received wasn't washed properly."

Robin groaned. "Raven, see if you can get a signal through to Tameran. Tell them it is in regards to their princess. Galfore will want to know about this."

Raven nodded, and started the process for a transgalactic call. It wasn't long before the hefty bulk of the grand ruler of Tameran was filling up the screen. A tall man, Galfore literally looked down upon all of them. "Robin, it is good to see you again. I have been very busy but I can always make time for Koriand'r and her wonderful friends. To what do I owe this honor, and where is she?"

Robin shifted nervously. This would be rough for him to hear. "Starfire, Koriand'r, is sick. She has bar and'r'y and she's in second phase. We didn't know that it was so severe. We thought it was just a terran virus. We are preparing to bring her to Tameran for treatment."

The shock was evident on Galfore's face. In his many years, he had seen some unfortunate souls succumb to the infection and he knew exactly how horrible it was. But for dear Koriand'r's friends, who had never seen this disease before, it would be doubly awful. And then there was Robin. Galfore approved of Robin, and Koriand'r had written such a glowing letter not a month ago telling of their first date and how much fun they had.

He was quiet for a long while, and then he got up and adjusted the camera so it was pointing out the window. The sky outside was lit up with what appeared to be fireworks. "Robin, trade discussions with the Gordanians have gone sour. War has broken out and Tameran is under siege. There is a blockade around the planet. They aren't letting any ships in or out, not even medical transports. The Gordanians are formidable opponents with the weapons to match. I am not sure if your ship would be able to run the blockade and survive."

Robin looked at the scene before him. Starfire was right; the Gordanian attack really did look like fireworks. He sighed heavily. "Galfore, we'll think of something here and keep you informed. Robin, out." Galfore nodded, the worry consuming his features as it had with Robin, and the screen blinked off. Robin collapsed onto the nearest free space on the sofa. "What do we do now?"

There was silence for a second before Aqualad spoke up. "Raven, hail the Watchtower."

She did so and again the blue Titans logo was replaced with the Justice League logo. This time, a very large man in a red cape answered. Jinx, who was perched delicately atop Speedy's lap, blinked. "That's Superman."

The man smirked at the recognition. "Yes, that would be me. How are things going down there?"

Beast Boy spoke up. "Not good. Starfire is sick with Tameranean fire fever and we have one week to get her back to Tameran for treatment before she dies."

Robin continued. "Tameran is under Gordanian siege. Their armada is no match for our ship."

Speedy peeked out from behind Jinx. "Wait a minute. Cyborg, last time I was over you were bragging about your new plans for a Titans spacecraft. You were going on and on about how fast it was and how many weapons it carried. What about that?"

Cyborg shook his head. "No good, it's only a blueprint. We've only got a week and it would take far longer than that to build it."

Robin pounded his hand against the coffee table. "We need more time!"

A steely cold and dark voice cut through the tower. "Robin, maybe you just need a way to stop time for her for a while."

All eyes went to the screen. Standing beside Superman was the dark knight himself. Robin thought for a second. "A way to freeze time?"

Batman nodded. "Meet me at Arkham Asylum in two hours." The link between the two towers terminated.

Robin stood still for a second, collecting his thoughts. When he finally spoke, he sounded like the leader they all knew. "Cyborg, work up a timetable for getting that ship built. I want it done as quickly as possible within the limits of safety. Beast Boy, look after Starfire while I'm gone. I should be back by morning." With that, he was out the door.

Bumblebee flitted her wings nervously. "What was all that about? And why is he going to Arkham?"

"To see if he can freeze time." Everyone turned to Raven, who was still seated at the computer. In front of her was the prisoner manifest of Gotham City's premier criminal repository. She had opened the file of one specific prisoner. "Or to find someone who can."