Hurray for reviews! I love reviews, hence why I thank everyone for writing them.

Fan of Romance - It may be fluff, but it's good fluff and necessary to the story development.

Stargirl - Thank you, and I look forward to more reviews from you.

RnRB - Behold, you are no longer hanging.

StarSoSweet - Thank you for your kind words, and I have no plans to "cuss."

Hotshot - Oh, there will be action. Just you wait.

Pickles - Well well, my friend, you're becoming quite a regular. And you'll have to see about Speedy and Jinx.

Samanthe - Thank you, I'm glad you like my story

That said, let's get down to business. I don't own the titans, much to my dismay.
Chapter Four: Not An Idle Hand In The Lot

The next three weeks passed in a blur for the titans. Every free, daylight moment was spent at the Jump City Naval Air Station, where the military had gladly lent hangar space for the fabrication of the newest addition to the titan's fleet, the spaceship, which Cyborg had decided to name Titan One. The titans were not alone in their construction. At varying points in time, other members of the superhero community showed up to lend a helping hand.

Batman was almost constantly on hand, as much to work on the ship as to keep an eye on Robin. Superman had showed up a few times to help with the heavy lifting. But easily the most important visit was from the Green Lantern. He put the mark of a Green Lantern Corps medical transport on the hull of the ship, emblazoning a green cross with a white lantern insignia in the center. That symbol would allow them safe passage through any space within the Corps' jurisdiction, which encompassed their entire flight plan.

Mas y Menos were in their element, dual-handedly assembling both internal and external ship components with their usual lightning fast speeds. Raven had earned a nod from Superman for her ability to lift the heavy titanium structural components. Terra had proven herself to be a natural with the rivet gun, earning the classification of "extremely hot gun toting babe" from Beast Boy as he flew buckets of rivets up to her in varying avian forms.

Not every one of the titans was suited for structural work. Aqualad was entirely out of his element with space being the farthest from water he could ever imagine. He spent his time working on the environmental systems inside the ship, dealing with the necessities of air and, of course, water. Speedy and Jinx worked together on navigation and helm control. For easily the two most cocksure of the titans, they worked quietly together, complementing each other perfectly as the control deck grew around them. Cyborg divided his time between the engines and the weapons. Once he got the ships fusion core activated, he was able to plug himself directly into the ship and work for as long as he wanted without needing to recharge, taking only quick naps as he needed them.

It had been decided in a semi-secretive meeting among the titans that Robin would be responsible for integrating the systems of the cryogenic chamber into the ship. It seemed that the only thing that the Boy Wonder was able to concentrate on was Starfire. No one was really surprised. He had called Galfore himself to inform him of the decision made to save Starfire's life and had made calls every day to update him on their progress.

Nights were a quiet affair at the tower now. Games were still played and laughter and arguments abounded, but there was a certain subdued nature that no one could ignore. Movie night brought the titans together, each resident couple taking up a section of the sofa for some escape from their present situation. But still, something was missing. The tower was missing a certain spark, a certain innocence.

Robin could find no escape from his situation; the missing spark was the love of his life, after all. He had been spending his nights at the lab where she rested, and in his dreams, nightmares really, she was a princess cursed to sleep until he woke her. Through the night, one number flashed through his mind, the amount of time she had left when revived. Starfire would have twenty hours.

"Titan One, systems check." Aqualad sat in the command chair, keeping his eyes to the star field ahead of him. The view from outside was actually displayed on a very large plasma display screen that wrapped around the whole front of the command deck, offering the titans a complete view of everything in front of them. The commander of the ship listened as the titans around him responded.

Speedy, in front of him, was first. "Helm responding. We are in geosynchronous orbit. All rocket boosters are clear."

Jinx was off to his right side. "Navigation is up, stellar cartography is online."

Raven sat off to his left. "Defensive systems, online."

Bumblebee was somewhere behind him. "Life support, online."

Beast Boy was also back there at a different terminal. "Weapon systems are active. Fusion torpedo warheads and plasma cannons charged. Gunners ready?"

From the gunnery turrets came two voices. Mas y Menos both responded with the same call. "¡Si!"

Terra continued from beside Beast Boy. "Internal and external sensors have telemetry, all are go. Sensors confirm all booster rockets are away."

Cyborg's voice came through the communications system. He was in the engine room. "Fusion core is at one hundred percent. Engines one through four are active."

Robin's voice came through the system from the cargo hold. "The cryonic system is stable. Starfire is secure."

Aqualad smiled. He leaned back in the command chair. "Speedy, set course for the sun. Jinx, prepare the navigational calculations for a slingshot jump to Tamaran. Cyborg, give us escape velocity."

Suddenly the lighting on the command deck dropped, only to be replaced with ominous red running lights and the sound of a blaring klaxon. Aqualad sat bolt upright in the chair. "Terra, report."

Her voice was easily heard even over the blaring noise. "Internal sensors are detecting a feedback loop in the number three and four engines. Temperatures in the affected engines are increasing. Plasma pressure in the fusion core is also increasing."

Aqualad knew how to handle this. "Cyborg, vent engine plasma and increase coolant flow to the affected engines."

Cyborg's reply was quick. "Venting plasma and increasing coolant flow to engines three and four. Pressure and temperatures are dropping."

Aqualad grinned and looked around. "How was that? Good?"

Raven smiled and rose from her console, patting him on the shoulder and letting her bright white cloak flicker against him as she passed. "Better. We didn't blow up this time. Do you want me to salute you?"

"Maybe later tonight."

Everyone within earshot groaned. The crew of Titan One had been training for as many different disaster scenarios as they could think of within their allotted time before take off. The ship had been built in a record three weeks and deemed spaceworthy after a shakedown flight through the solar system. Crew assignments had been given and the last week had been spent in constant training.

It was a full month since Starfire had been put into cryogenic suspension and no one was taking it harder than Robin. He came up onto the command deck and leaned against one of the bulkheads. "I want to go over the procedure for initiating backups in the event of a main power failure."

Speedy stood up from the helm control. "Robin, we've been through that five times in the last week, plus two additional times this morning. She's going to be fine. Besides, even if her systems aren't switched over to the auxiliaries, her chamber still has a battery backup good for fifteen hours before it wakes her up." He saw the worry growing in his expression. "You won't let her down."

The other titans nodded. They were well prepared for the mission and eager to complete it. The tower had been abnormally quiet without the alien girl bounding about. The true measure of how bad things had become was when Beast Boy had mentioned that he was in the mood for Starfire's pudding of sadness. No one could disagree.

Night had fallen upon the tower and Robin stepped out onto the roof, looking up at the stars above. He counted over from Polaris and then down until he found Tamaran. He stared at the shining spot for a few minutes before a voice in the darkness startled him. "It's a long way off, isn't it?"

Robin looked over to see Aqualad, head and shoulders sticking out of the hot tub. He was dressed in his normal outfit and got out of the water, opting to drip dry as he turned off the tub and covered it. Robin waited until he was finished. "I wanted to thank you for taking command of this mission."

The Atlantian nodded. "No problem, it was easy to teach Bumblebee the environmental systems. But I do want to know why you asked me to do this. I would think you would want to have total control over this since you have the most at stake in the mission."

Robin leaned against a transmitter tower, gathering his thoughts. "Yes, I do. But let's face it, I'm in no shape to command this mission. I need to be back in the cargo hold looking after Starfire. I am the person most affected by all of this and I'm not so proud to admit otherwise."

He shrugged. "The mark of a real leader, I suppose. Listen, I told this to Raven once. You have to think like an Atlantian. Bad things happen, but you have to take it as it is and work through it. Horrible, life shattering cataclysms are rarely that."

"When did you become a philosopher?"

Aqualad laughed. "It's an Atlantian thing."

The silence of the night fell back across the roof of the tower. Robin looked back up towards the skies, wondering what the future would bring. Aqualad looked out to the ocean, contemplating his ancestral home.