Disclaimer: No, I don't own Teen Titans, what makes you think that?

Rory: Hi! Sorry about the last chapter…Toldja t would be weird. I just didn't tell you how short.

It was very crowded in the Med Room, which was holding ten people when it was built to hold only five. Raven slipped away without being noticed and wen to go find Darkfire.

She found him sitting at the edge of the water, staring out across the ocean. Beast Boy was next to him, telling him something.

"Dude, don't worry about Robin," he said wisely. "That guy can be as cold as stone, but you know he'll always be there to save the day. And don't be so hard on everyone else, too. They just don't really trust you yet. Especially Raven. She doesn't trust people so easily."

The boy shook his head. "It is not her who was angry with me for saving her," he said softly. "My sister dislikes me. I wounded her pride."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Star'll get over it," he said. "Trust me."

"She is not the only one," Darkfire insisted. "Robin dislikes me for no reason, and I believe that the one you call Bumble Bee thinks I am – I think the word is 'deranged,' or the like. What have I done? Did I offend anyone?"

"No, you didn't," Raven said, drifting over to sit on the other side of him. "They just – don't really like you for some reason. And Bumble Bee thinks you're crazy because of how you acted over the video game."

He blushed a bit. "Well – I did not mean – "

"It's okay, dude," Beast Boy interrupted. "They hated me for weeks because I replaced all the food in the Tower with tofu."

Raven raised her eyebrows. "Cyborg nearly choked to death on his cereal," she pointed out.

"That's not the point," he replied touchily. "The point is that they eventually forgave me, right? So don't worry, Darkfire, they'll quit bein' so cold to you eventually."

The Tamaranian shook his head. "That word, 'eventually'," he said. "It means 'indefinitely'. And I do not wish to live with the 'shoulder of cold' from my own sister."

"Excuse me?"

Darkfire looked up from the roof of the Tower to find Robin standing before him. "Hello," he said cautiously.

Robin smiled, a bit forcibly. "The other Titans and I wanted to see what you could do," he said. Darkfire shot him a questioning look. "Well, if you want to be a Titan, we should at least understand your powers, right?"

There was a long silence.

"Um, Darkfire?"

The other boy had a blank look on his face. "You wish…for me to stay?"

"Starfire insists," he admitted.

He nodded. "Then I will show you what I know I can do," he said, standing.

Together, the two walked down to the practice arena. The other Titans were there: Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy were working the control panels, while Aqualad stood near the ocean's border, keeping it in check. Mas y Menos were bouncing around in the safe area, and Speedy was setting the targets. Saffire stood alone at the beginning of the challenge, tugging at her skirt nervously. "Go stand over there," Robin said, pointing to her. "I'll go start it soon, okay?" He turned without waiting for an answer.

Darkfire stood by his cousin, giving her a gentle look with a clear meaning. I won't let you get hurt.

"Get ready," Robin called, and hit the button.

Saffire shrieked as two columns of dirt rose beneath her and Darkfire. She dropped to her stomach, holding on to the column for dear life. Darkfire flew off it, hovering in the air between the columns. His eyes glowed red.

Metal balls began shooting at them. He punched them away, sending them harmlessly to the ground, and flew on, watching Saffire. To the surprise of the Titans, she didn't fly off it – she slid down it. About five feet from the ground, she hopped off and started to run. The pair moved towards the end, dodging and tumbling to avoid the balls. Then, sonic blasts shot at them. Darkfire blasted the guns from their posts.

"Korian," he called down. "Are you all right?"

She nodded, huffing. Satisfied, Darkfire looked up – straight into an oncoming beam of light. With a shocked yell, he fell to the ground.

Obvious even to the far-off Titans, he could hardly move from the pain of the beam. Saffire knelt to help him as another hot beam aimed at them, and this time it wasn't alone. Five other beams took sight along with it. She stared up into it, shocked.

Beast Boy was figuring something out. If those beams nearly paralyzed Darkfire, a full-grown, tough Tamaranian, and Saffire was only thirteen and half-blooded Tamaranian…"Saffire! LOOK OUT!"

A huge flash of light exploded from the course. The Titans threw up their arms, shielding their faces from the intense light. "No…" Starfire muttered, staring down at the arena.

To their shock, a deep azure bubble glowed from the dust of the arena. Saffire stood in the center, looking very strained. Something pale, bright blue hovered just inside the bubble, trembling. Slowly, Robin realized – it was the beams that had tried to hit her.

With obvious force, Saffire pushed her arms out, hard. The light flew forward, now covered in what seemed to be a cerulean gel, and exploded before the machines. They were destroyed.

Rubbing sweat form her eyes, Saffire picked up her cousin and carried him on her back, staggering to the finish. He seemed to be able to move a little and blasted anything that came towards them, then started to fly, carrying the girl under him. They hit the final targets, and Darkfire threw her to hit the final button.

Bing.

The devices stopped, and Darkfire set down on the ground. "Good job, Saffire," he said quietly, grinning at his cousin. She smiled back wearily.

They turned to the other Titans, and their smiles faded. Everyone was staring at them. Saff moved instinctively towards Darkfire, who put a brotherly arm around her.

Finally, Robin spoke. "That was…amazing," he said, as though too dazed to speak. "I've never seen anything like it. Ever. Saffire, the way you shielded your cousin…It was so powerful. Where did you learn how to do that?"

She gazed at him. "Father," she said simply, leaning into Darkfire.

"Robin," said Raven, "Why did those beams hurt him so badly?"

Beast Boy stared at him with a suspicious gaze. "I've never seen those before, Robin, they have to be new. And I practiced here with Cy last night. Did you put them in today?"

He turned red, embarrassed. "Um, well, yeah," he said lamely.

Starfire landed beside him. "Did you not know how hurtful they were?" she asked inquisitively.

"Those were Kertho beams, I think," Raven said slowly. "Speedy uses Kertho in his arrows."

The archer nodded. "You have to use a certain dilution of it to freeze your opponent for a few minures," he said. "If you use too much of the concentration, or get hit too many times, the paralyzation lasts longer, maybe even permanent."

Raven appeared next to Robin. "You knew that, didn't you?" she asked very quietly.

"Well, I took all the necessary precautions – " he began.

Darkfire was suddenly in front of him. "You shot paralyzing beams at us," he said dangerously. "You shot Kertho beams at a thirteen-year-old girl?"

Robin swallowed. "It was part of the training," he said.

"You could have killed her!" Darkfire yelled in his face.

"NO!"

They turned. Starfire stood a little ways away from the group. "Robin would never do anything that could kill our friends!" she cried. "He is a good person! You were safe the whole time!" She turned around and flew into the Tower.

Red eyes narrowed as they drilled into Robin's gaze. "I do not believe you," Darkfire said simply. With that, he floated over to Saffire and picked her up. "Come, Saffire," he said. "I do not think you should do this 'training' anymore. Not if Robin is in charge."

After that, Darkfire and Saffire disappeared from the Tower. Nobody could find them, and when Cyborg came back, he was horrified.

"Kertho beams? What in the world possessed him to do that!" he yelled at Raven.

The girl sighed. "I don't know," she said. "But he did it."

Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were sitting in the front hall. The two smaller Titans were explaining the rather disastrous training events to their friend.

Beast Boy piped up. "He just put 'em in this morning, too," he informed Cyborg. "I think he did it just for those two to practice on. He's out there practicing with it now, but he took a couple out because Raven and Speedy told him to."

Cyborg shook his head. "So what does Starfire think about Robin almost disabling her family?"

"She won't believe Robin did it on purpose," Raven said darkly. "You know she won't think anything bad of Robin unless he really, really proves it." She sighed. "Darkfire took Saffire and he didn't come back. I think we should go look for them."

"Yeah," said Beast Boy, rubbing his cat's ears. "Darkfire already thinks the other Titans hate him. We need to find them before someone else does. Like the HIVE or something."

Nodding, Cyborg stood. "Well, we'd best get going now," he said. "I'll take the T-car. You two travel together. They can't have gone too far, right? I bet they just went to the nearest mall or something. But you're right, BB, we have to find them." He started to walk to the garage, then stopped. "If Robin asks, we're going toget some dinner."

They nodded and took to the sky.

Indeed, Darkfire and Saffire were not where Cyborg or the others suspected. They were sitting in Jump City's biggest library with a child's picture book.

"All the dogs in Oatsdale were searching for him," Darkfire was saying, pointing out each word to Saffire.

She sighed. In her own language, she asked, "Ryand'r, why now? Can't we go back to the Tower to at least tell Raven good-bye?"

He smiled sadly at her. "I know you admired her, Korian, but we can't go," he told her. "They – don't want us there."

"Oh." Her eyes were downcast, and she concentrated on the book. After a moment, she paused. "Are you sure? Do you not even want to say good-bye to the Boy-Beast? He was your friend. He was kind to me too. I think he wanted us there."

Darkfire nodded. "I suppose so," he said. "But he's the only one."

"You cannot be sure," Saffire said. "Raven was kind to me too. And I did not know my namesake cousin for very long, but you say she is kind and loving, too."

The boy laughed derisively. "Some sister," he said venomously. "She believed that little – grr."

Saffire frowned at him. "Robin is a 'grr' like a – a dog?" she said in English. Darkfire snickered quietly, and she grinned. "I am ing-think it is right that we left them," she said, continuing in English, "If they not'did wish to keep us. But I really dothink the Boy-Beast and Raven wanted to be our friends."

"You're right, Saffire."

The two aliens turned to see Raven standing behind them, arms folded over her chest. "We do want to be your friends." She realized this was true. In the short time she'd known the girl, Raven had become very attached to Saffire. Almost like a younger sister, or a child she was responsible for. "Beast Boy and I were looking for you for the last hour and a half. Cyborg was, too. We want you to come back."

Darkfire glared at her. "We do not need to stay anywhere near Robin," he hissed. "I swore to Korian's mother that I would keep her safe."

Raven sighed. "Being a Titan is about keeping people safe," she said. "It's about putting yourself in danger to save the lives of others. And Robin understands that more than anyone. He knows that you have to risk your life. He thinks that training should be risky, too, which it why he put you in danger."

"Yeah," said Beast Boy, appearing at her side. "He didn't mean to insult you, I guess. He did take some of the beams out, so you'll be safe. And we risk our lives a lot, I guess."

The other boy smiled wryly. "You guess very much, do you not, Beast Boy?" he asked.

"Yup," he replied cheerfully.

Saffire gazed at her older cousin, a look much like that of a child begging to get a puppy. He sighed. Oh, the ragtor-mat eyes. He never could resist. "I suppose we can return to the Tower," he said slowly.

She leapt into the air. "Oh, joy!"

"Shhhhh!" the librarian hissed.

Saffire looked flushed, but she was still very happy. "Oh, joy," she whispered. The others laughed quietly at her and walked out of the library.

"Dude! You found them!" Cyborg said happily. His face grinned through Beast Boy's communicator.

The green teen smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I'm glad they decided to come back with us. Darkfire was kinda hard to convince."

The four teens were walking down a street on the East Side of Jump City. Raven, in some strange, demented good mood, had bought everyone iced coffee, and they drank it while they walked. Saffire in particular was shining as though she were the very sun itself. Darkfire seemed glad to be away from the noise of the Tower, and away from Robin. Beast Boy was getting hyped up on the sugar.

"Well, they're back, and that's all that matters," Cyborg said. "I'll come pick you guys up in a coupla minutes. I'm just a little north of you." The small screen went blank.

Beast Boy grinned up at the others. "He said he's coming," he informed them.

Darkfire smiled back. "Good," he said. "I like Cyborg, although he does try to murder his close friends."

The two girls giggled. Raven covered her mouth with her hand quickly. Beast Boy looked at her suspiciously. "What did you do, Rae?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. But the girls kept laughing, even when the T-car pulled up and they were nearly back at Titans Tower.

"I really don't get girls," Beast Boy said, staring after them.

"I do not understand them, either," Darkfire said, equally dazed.

Rory: Well? How'd you like it?

That was definitely a chapter I was happy to type, even though it IS ten thirty at night now. I thought it gave Robin character. Rude, careless character, but still. I really DO think that Robin would put dangerous devices into a training field, just to push himself and others harder. He seems to be like that.

Anyways, I wanted to explain why he did that. I'm sure a couple of Robin fans are passed-out before their computers. And a couple of Robin haters are saying something along the lines of, "I knew he was heartless!"

I also need to explain something else. The book that Darkfire and Saffire were reading from is called 'Sylvester and the Magic Pebble,' by William Steig. It's a weird picture book. And I don't own it.

Also, if you want to know where Bumble Bee and Cyborg were during Darkfire and Saff's test, I suggest you read my other story called Oh, Brother. Actually, I suggest you read it anyways. It's a short two-chapter story about those two. You have to read that before the next chapter. If you don't read it, you won't understand some of the stuff that's happening in there.

So…reviews please? Tell me if you love/hate Robin in this chapter? And what did you think of Raven and Beast Boy? I NEED TO KNOW! Click that little button down there! Please?