Disclaimer: Hahahahahahahahaha!

Yay! Chapter thirty-two! I know you're all probably pissed about chapter 31, huh? Oh well. I just drank a huge caffeine-infested caramel coffee drink, and so this is a lot of fun to type right now.


I got one of the TT DVDs because I have nothing crucial to spend money on. I feel cheated for paying 20 bucks for six episodes, though. That is ridiculous. It should at least be the whole first season, don't you think?

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The Boy Wonder was disgruntled. No. Disgruntled didn't even begin to cover it. He was completely and totally confused and flustered. Annoyance was only a slight part of his current emotions. He was busy agonizing over the Cinderblock situation. Most of his mind was tempted to forget it ever happened and act like Raven had done nothing wrong. He and the rest of the team had attempted acting normally this afternoon, but he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep pretending. Robin was in a state of mental chaos. Raven had killed someone. A member of his team and his dear friend had ended the life of another being. The thought of this was hard to wrap his mind around. He was annoyed with himself for not acting like the situation was more serious.

Robin had taken special precautions to make sure that the authorities recorded Cinderblock's death as a complete accident, and they had listened. He was Robin, after all. Who were the police going to believe, the esteemed commander of the Teen Titans (the most prominent team of superheroes in the state), or a few frantic, terrified witnesses who had watched the scene from their bedroom windows probably only minutes after waking up? For all people knew, any witnesses could have dreamed the whole thing. So Raven was safe. She wouldn't be getting into any scrapes with the law over this. But still, Robin's mind swirled uncontrollably.

The perplexed leader rubbed a gloved hand roughly over his temple, staring blankly into the computer screen. He had been sifting through police files on Slade's numerous crimes, but his mind was not focusing on the agonizingly small print on the screen. His brain was torn two ways. On one hand, he could simply dismiss the incident as a complete accident, forgive and forget, and trust Raven, his closest friend in the world, to know herself well enough to know that it would never happen again. But on the other, he couldn't help but worry that this might not be the last time Raven lost control. It certainly was not the first. He wasn't sure what to do. For the first time in a long while, Robin was lost as a leader. He had no idea how to make this decision.

"Robin?" came a soft voice. Robin jumped several inches into the air and whirled around in his computer chair. Starfire was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey Star," Robin said, brightening visibly. "Come in."

Starfire ventured across the room and stood a few feet behind him. "You are alright? You are looking troubled."

"What? Oh, sure. I'm fine," Robin said.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

Robin nodded. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You are worried about Raven," Starfire stated. Robin marveled at the female ability to sense the roots of emotions.

"I guess you could say that," Robin said, giving a distressed sigh. "I'm not worried about Raven. I know she's going to be fine. I'm worried about making this decision. What are I supposed to do? Am I supposed to know whether to just forget everything?" he asked. "What if this happens again? Am I just supposed to let it go, am I supposed to put her in solitary confinement, am I supposed to throw her off the team? What am I supposed to do here?" he asked. For the first time she could remember, Starfire could see genuine confusion and even a bit of fear in the leader's eyes. She moved forward slightly and placed a loving hand on his shoulder.

"It is going to be alright," she assured him. "You do not need to fret over this quite so much. Perhaps before you make any kind of decision about this, you should talk to Raven."

"I already did, remember?" Robin asked patiently.

"I am not talking about the kind of talk where you tell her it is wrong to kill people. Everything you said in that conversation, she already knew. What I believe you need to do is talk to her so you will be reassured that she is alright and she would never hurt anyone that she truly cares about," Starfire said. "If she is truly our friend, then she can be trusted and we must allow her to make her mistakes. If we do this, it will probably be less likely to happen again."

Robin shook his head in wonder. People who called Starfire ignorant had no idea what they were talking about. She may be ignorant to the ways of the world, but about things that really mattered she was surprisingly wise.

"That…makes sense," he said. It did, if he thought about it. He could feel a bit of his stress starting to ebb. "Thanks, Star. That sounds good. I think that's what I'll do."

"I am joyous to hear that you are less worried," she said. "You no longer look quite so troubled."

"Yeah. Thanks. You just saved my sanity there," Robin said with a soft smile.

"You are most welcome!" Starfire said happily, clapping her hands together. "I am very pleased to help you!"

Robin smiled and shook his head. Over the last year, many things had changed in his team, but not Starfire. She was still the same, bubbly girl she had been the day she had joined the Titans. It seemed as though a year on Earth had not changed her kind nature, and Robin was grateful for this.

There was a short pause.

"I think I'd better go talk to Raven," Robin said, standing up. "Maybe then we can have movie night and order some pizza. That might kill some of this tension that's dragging everybody down around here."

Starfire nodded happily. "I am hoping it will help, Friend Robin-" she began, and then cut off. She paused, glancing shyly at him. "Robin?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"We are…'together', yes? Then what am I supposed to call you?" she asked. Together. It sounded even better when she said it. "Am I still able to call you Friend?"

Robin smiled gently. "Of course you can, Star. Even if we are in a relationship, we'll still always be friends, too. No matter what," he said. Starfire's smile widened.

"I am glad," she said, leaning over and kissing the Boy Wonder's cheek, and Robin brushed her hair gently out of her face. He was still a little nervous about physical contact and affection, but he was slowly getting better about it. He had no problem when she kissed him, he could return the gesture without hesitation, but initiating a kiss himself seemed to him like he was intruding in upon her personal space, though he knew she didn't mind.

'She loves you, remember?' he told himself. 'You said you were going to stop being afraid.'

Robin slowly leaned forward and then stopped himself just as their noses were starting to brush. He hovered there for a moment. He could see Starfire looking straight into his eyes even through the mask. He paused for only the slightest fraction of a second before leaning in all the way and sweeping her up in a kiss. She melted into him naturally, and it was a few moments of bliss before the two teenagers broke apart slowly.

"You have no idea how long I'd been wanting to do that, Star. Ever since right after we met," Robin said diffidently. Starfire's golden cheeks were brightened with the faintest hints of cherry as she smiled back at him.

"I had been wanting to do the same," she told him. The two of them smiled at each other for a moment as though sharing some deep, meaningful secret.

"I suppose I should go talk to Raven so we can get that pizza. I'm starving," Robin said finally, rubbing his stomach in a ridiculously exaggerated way. Starfire giggled.

"Yes. Shall I find Cyborg and Beast Boy?" she asked.

"Sure," Robin said as they exited his room together. "I hope Raven and Beast Boy made up."

"I am sure it is fine," Starfire assured him as they parted in the hallway and went their separate directions, Robin toward Raven's room and Starfire toward Beast Boy's.

When Robin reached Raven's room a few seconds later, he was hit with a wave of considerable dread. You never knew how severely she was going to react when you tried to enter her room. He reached out a hand and knocked firmly on the door.

"Raven?" he called. There was no answer. He tried again. "Raven?" he asked. Starting to worry, he pushed the button on the wall beside the door and it slid open. Hoping Raven wasn't going to kill him, he stuck his head into the room. "Raven?" he asked. She didn't appear to be there. Puzzled, he drew his head back out and turned away, scratching the back of his neck, looking around the hallway in confusion.

Meanwhile, a little ways away, Starfire was knocking loudly on Beast Boy's door. "Friend Beast Boy! We are getting the pizza! Would you enjoy joining us in the togetherness of movie night?"

There was no answer. Star wasted no time opening the door. "Beast Boy!" she said happily, but stopped speaking when she realized that there was only an empty room there to hear her. "Beast Boy?" she asked, looking around in confusion. She backed out of the room and literally ran into Cyborg.

"Eep!" she squeaked.

"Arg!" Cyborg gasped. When they turned and recognized each other, they both started laughing. "Hey Star. What's goin' on?" Cyborg asked.

"I was looking for Beast Boy," Starfire answered.

"So was I. He doesn't seem to be anywhere," Cyborg said, scratching his head.

"Perhaps he is in the living room?" Starfire asked. Cyborg nodded and the two started off in the direction of the room.

It turned out that Robin was the only Titan there. He was standing just inside the door looking around.

"Hey Star, Cy. Didn't find Beast Boy?" he asked when they entered.

"No, we did not," Star said.

"Raven wasn't in her room, either," Robin said. "Where are those two?"

"I just hope they're not off banging somewhere," Cyborg muttered under his breath. Robin heard this and gave a slight chuckle.

"Me too," he said.

"We must find them," Starfire said, looking worried. "We must share the joy of pizza!"

"OK. Let's split up. Star, you take the left halls. I'll take the right. And Cy, you take the roof. We'll meet back here," Robin said in a businesslike manner. "Titans, go!" he added just for spirit. The three headed off in separate directions with one goal in mind: finding their missing friends.

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Next chapter soon. Sorry if the last few paragraphs of this one felt a bit jerky.