The Young and the Hopeless

Chapter 5: Off the Wall

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Robin's forehead was resting against the cool metal door leading into the training room, his masked eyes squeezed shut. He'd given up trying to pound the door open with his fists, after giving up a similar action of beating it open with his head. Rolling his shoulders and groaning, he kicked the door once with the toe of his boot.

"Star…please, open the door."

She'd been locked in there for hours and he was beginning to worry. True to form, thefiery Tamaranean had blown up all the camerasin a bid for privacy and had asked everyone to give her 'room for breathing.' The image of her sister blowing up the mall firmly ingrained in his brain, he half heartedly kicked the door again and then decided to give into her plea.

Stomping down the hall, in a decidedly bad mood, he stopped up beside Cyborg who had continued to work with the video footage. To his friend's credit, the video was no longer grainy and Blackfire's face shone through clearly. Glaring at the smirking image, he sighed when Cyborg turned to face him.

"Don't know what to tell you man. I've been trying everything I can think of, but, there's nothing to say that this is an imposter. Besides, you'd think her own sister could spot a fake. She'd be pissed off…sure, but, to blow up a mall."

"In Jump City; the bitch is tormenting Star."

"Speaking of which, I think she's managed to escape to the roof."

He turned, threw a grateful look to Raven, and hurried towards the top of the tower. Robin swore that, even if it had been Slade, he still would have dropped everything to see if Starfire was all right. It was a thought that scared him, but, he continued none the less.

Reaching her, he snaked his arms around her waist and blew against her ear. She'd tried to lighten his mood once before, he might as well attempt to return the favor. The woman against him shivered slightly before her hands reached up to tangle in his short hair.

"I believe our friend Cyborg will need to repair the wall…along with several pieces of equipment."

"S'okay, Star, he'll like having something to do."

"I've given her so many chances, Robin, but she…she did this."

Both figures were silent for a moment, the breeze blowing past bringing up the smell of ash and burning building. Not knowing what to do, the Boy Wonder rested his chin on his companion's shoulder and placed his lips against the juncture of her neck and shoulder. She arched up against him and whimpered, moving to face him.

"Hey now, Blackfire couldn't have gotten too far from here. We'll find…"

"I do not wish to spoil this moment with talk of my sister…"

Green eyes flashed as she pounced, her lips curving into a delicate smirk. Knocking Robin to the ground, rolling to shield his body from the impact, it was all she could do to keep from laughing as he gaped at her. Now straddling the vibrant woman beneath him, Robin traced a gloved hand against her cheek and shook his head.

"I promise we'll find her and you can pound her sorry ass into the ground."

His lips descended on hers, silencing any protests, as his hands wandered between their bodies. Every kiss with Star was different, a surprise, but it only made it more delightful. They fit together so well, her legs wrapped around his waist, that he forgot that there was Titan business to attend to.

"Can't take you on the roof, Star."

"Can we just kiss for a little while longer?"

She just looked so innocent, swollen lips parted slightly, that it was all he could do but nod his ascent. The young woman beneath him had seen so much, had suffered greatly at the hands of her older sister. Blackfire was going to pay, but, Robin decided he'd see to Star first. It was the least he could do.

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"They're not…you know…going to have…well…on the roof?"

Beast Boy's eyes were wide, even as Raven reached over to blank out the feed from the security camera on the roof. Masking a frown, even though it didn't keep him from getting smacked, Gar propped himself up on the couch. Opening his mouth to protest the current goings on above their heads, mostly because he was being denied such activities, he ducked a flying book and shut it quickly.

"I doubt Robin would be so careless, it's entirely out of character. Anyway, Cyborg, can we get anything else out of that damn video?"

Raven's voice was even, if not a little cold, and she made a move to stand beside her mechanical friend. The green teenager's eyes were boring into the back of her head, but she was dutifully ignoring them.

"I've crossed this with every other image we have of the crazy bitch. It's her, all right, and if it's not…I'll eat my own leg."

"What I don't understand is why she blew up a mall. I mean, seriously, why not go directly for the Tower?"

Two pairs of eyes whipped around to stare at Beast Boy, his second insightful comment in a day. The pale young woman frowned and then shrugged before striding over to join him on his perch.

"I think that she wanted to hurt as many people as possible. Starfire and her sister don't exactly have a healthy relationship…I think this is less of a Titan's matter than a family matter."

"But, we're going to stand by her, right?"

"Man, we're going to kickBlackfire's sorry purple ass into the groundfor even thinking about setting foot in our city."

Raven snorted and her partner nodded in agreement, even as Cyborg turned back to the computer. Wrapping his arm around her waist, Beast Boy yawned and pulled her closer. Until they got another hit there was nothing that they could do. Smiling to himself when she laid her head on his shoulder, Gar hoped that it all be over shortly. Even Slade hadn't gone after innocent victims like this.

"Don't worry, Gar, we'll get it sorted out…we always do."

"Yeah, just feels different this time, that's all."

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Quick Note: Oh my gods…chapter five! I'm so, so, so sorry that this took almost a year…over a year? It probably isn't any good, either, and I hope you forgive me. I've finally started to get inspiration but I needed to get this little piece out of the way before I could get started up again. I'm hoping to get more chapters up before school starts, so, I'll be taking my computer to Texas with me during vacation. Never fear, I hope to have this done before 2006 (wish me luck). I also want to thank everyone who has reviewed and pestered and generally forced me to get back to work. You guys totally rock! I wouldn't keep going without you.