Author's Note: This is a special chapter indeed! The new characters you will meet here were created and are owned by the talented author Metal Dragoon! Check out his profile right here on F F . net. I could not have breathed life into the crew of the Dragonfire Cannon and their background stories without his invaluable character notes and his patient guidance. Much of the interaction between the Titan and Cannon crew is a product of our collaborative efforts. So thank you, Metal Dragoon! This chapter (and the next, too!) could not have existed without you!
Standard disclaimers apply.
THE MIGHTY TITAN
Chapter Eleven – Drifter
The tiny smile on Raven's face wasn't as self-satisfied as Robin expected it would be. It was more relief than triumph, and it was very brief, as if she had better things to do than celebrate.
Raven strode over to Starfire, extending a hand for a shake. "Seal the pact."
Starfire hesitated only for a moment before she took Raven's hand.
Raven pulled her close, jerking Starfire towards her. Starfire gasped, their gazes meeting. "You realize how important this is to me, Starfire. My mother was raped by a demon. Do you understand? A monster forced her to fornicate with him to sire meAnd because of that, she spent the rest of her life thereafter with the singular purpose of putting an end to the curse. She searched through history and tracked down millennia-old corpses for me… for all of us to get this far. I was born and raised to complete the task. I have done everything I can to pursue it. I have resorted to extortion, blackmail, bribery and grave threats… because I had to. I have compromised my soul, but that's alright. I'm prepared for that, but are you willing to compromise yours? If I don't get that stone, you will be responsible for the death and damnation of every living thing in this galaxy. If you don't care about how much this means to me, care about what it means to everyone else. Do not break this pact."
The intensity of Raven's eyes had Starfire swallowing the lump in her throat. Mutely, Starfire nodded.
For a moment, they stood still, the dark presence in the room suddenly thickening. Robin wasn't sure if it was Raven's power at work or the oppressive quality in her otherwise flat tone, but everyone in the room felt the full force of her conviction.
Starfire and Raven's interlinked hands glowed black for a heartbeat. Then the presence was gone. The women separated and Starfire stared into the palm of her hand.
There was a faint black outline of what looked like a bird, spread eagle on her palm. The image faded just as quickly.
Starfire took a deep breath, as if to steady rattled nerves. "Where are Galfore and Roy?"
"Quintis Prime," said Raven. "They're being held in Alejandra Desiderio's property in Heliodoro."
Robin arched an eyebrow, displeased by what he was hearing.
"Some of the first settlers in Quintis Prime were Spaniards from Earth," explained Raven. "Heliodoro used to be a vineyard, thus its name which means 'gift of the sun'—"
"Raven, cut the crap," said Robin. "We know what Quintis Prime is. Quit making it sound like some quaint, wine-making locale."
Raven pursed her lips.
Robin couldn't entirely blame Raven for Galfore's being on Quintis Prime. Anybody with bad luck could end up there, but he supposed the thought of a law abiding citizen such as himself going there on purpose was a tad upsetting.
Quintis Prime was a little planet tucked in an otherwise nondescript corner of the third quadrant. It was basically a safe haven for the rogues and roughs of the galaxy. Of course, "safe" was a relative term. The planet was run by a coalition of gangsters, the "governing" powers divided sector by sector. "Governing" usually consisted of "protection", "tribute" and "judicial disposition". Of course, when the mob was involved, protection meant threatening legal shop and store owners with harm if they didn't pay certain fees, tribute meant paying mob leaders to be able to do your sleazy work within the sanctioned area and judicial disposition meant you could be dead within a day of screwing with a mob boss's "virginal" daughter. At the turn of each generation, they elected what they unofficially called an Hermano Grande. It meant "Big Brother", roughly, but there was absolutely nothing brotherly about any of it. The gangster bosses made sure there was order in the planet, but the Hermano Grande made sure there was order among the gangs, and to do that, an Hermano Grande had to posses great quantities of power. In a long-table meeting presided by the most vicious, ruthless and Godless individuals in the galaxy, it took more than wealth to keep things in "order".
Quintis Prime thrived on brothels, bars, strip lounges and slave markets. And that was their legal trade, as far as legal went in the planet. Their back dealings had to do with bounty hunters, murderers for hire, assassins, thieves and most profitable of all: Information Brokers. These industries, as well, had representatives of their own on the Hermano Grande's long table.
Gangster muscle patrolled within a thousand mile radius of the planet's surrounding space, enforcing a strict non-hostility rule, but beyond it, passers-by were fair game.
Overall, Quintis Prime wasn't exactly an ideal tourist destination.
"Well now isn't this terrific?" said Terra dryly.
Raven ignored her. "Tell me now where the gem is, Starfire."
Starfire nodded gravely. "The gem is in the possession of Blackfire right now. She lives in Coeur du Soliel."
Robin didn't recognize the place.
"It is in the fourth quadrant," she continued. "It is not mapped, but I know how to get there. I can even give you coordinates."
Raven nodded, satisfied. "We'll get to that when we have to. First we save your friends."
Beast Boy sighed. "Maybe we should do something illegal first; get in trouble with the federation, then we'd have a chance of going through Quintis Prime space alive, and with our limbs intact…"
"Well, Robin and I have broken out of jail," said Cyborg. "Technically we're fugitives."
"Yeah, but the peacekeepers have to know you broke the law first, genius," said Terra. She was not in the best of moods. "Captain, should I confirm Raven's information?"
"Yes. Get all the information you can regarding one Tamaranian male Galfore being detained in Alejandra Desiderio's estate in Heliodoro."
Raven looked over her shoulder at Terra. "And don't forget Roy Harper. You'd want to confirm him as well."
Terra rolled her eyes but typed all the keywords into her system.
Robin frowned. "Who the hell is this Ron Barber anyway?"
"That's Roy Harper," said Raven. "And I believe Starfire knows best how to answer that question."
Robin was about to do just that when Starfire shook her head and waved his questions away.
"It does not matter," she said. "Terra, I would be most grateful if you give me all the information you can gather. I will go on this mission by myself. I refuse to put you and the rest of the crew in danger."
Robin felt the words banging into his ears like a bad beat. The entire bridge fell silent; all eyes turned to him.
He dealt Starfire a fierce stare. "Are you out of your mind, woman? There's absolutely no way in hell you'd be able to get through Quintis Prime by yourself, unharmed, let alone busting Galfore and Rick Carter—"
"Roy Harper," said Raven.
"Whatever! Starfire, you can't do this alone."
Starfire scowled. "I can and I will. Just drop me off as far as Fardoos and I will take a public craft the rest of the way to Quintis Prime. I will come back with Galf—"
Robin laughed bitterly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked at Raven. "Drop her off, she says. Like I was driving her to the mall, or something. For once, back me up here, witch. If something happens to her, you're not going to get your stone."
Raven looked like she was about to chuckle. She didn't, of course. "Starfire, Robin is right. Going through space like that, you're going to need all the help you can get; the Mighty Titan's and your other contacts."
Starfire's jaw dropped. "How did you—"
Robin frowned. "What other contacts?"
Raven arched her eyebrow at Starfire expectantly. "Starfire?"
Starfire's expression melted into reluctant acceptance. "Fine, but do not say I did not warn you. Quintis Prime is nothing like pretty little Thelsor-Con."
Robin tried not to let that get to him. He looked to his crew. "Anyone who doesn't want to get involved in this should say so. You'll be dropped off at Fardoos for the interim and I'll head on ahead with Starfire in the Mighty Titan to Quintis Prime. We'll come back for you after we've accomplished the mission; provided we're still alive, of course…"
Cyborg scoffed. "Shut the fuck up, Robin."
Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "What he said."
"Please," muttered Terra. "Like I would let you pansies do all that by yourselves. Out of all of you, I'm the real the ex-con, remember? Sheez…"
It was settled. They were all going.
Robin looked at Starfire pointedly.
She was not pleased, but there was nothing she could say to dissuade them. She looked at Raven. "And I suppose you are coming as well?"
"I have to look after my interests, you know. I can't let anything happen to any of you."
"I feel safe already," said Terra.
Raven paid no attention to her. "Alright. We're all in agreement then. In the meantime, I think the Mighty Titan has commitments in Linschoten."
Robin's attention perked. He had almost forgotten about that. "We do, don't we? Terra, set us on the original course to Linschoten Estate. We'll be a little late in our deliveries, but maybe I can sweet-talk Heinrich into skipping the late fees."
"Aye, aye, captain."
"We can talk about all this later, then," said Raven.
Starfire nodded. There wasn't a hint of her usually ready smile.
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The Mighty Titan arrived at the Linschoten Estate a few hours behind schedule. They didn't have much of a choice, considering they were low on plasma cells. Fortunately, Robin's contact was a mostly patient man.
Robin could tell that Heinrich was a little put off by the delay, but the German gentleman didn't feel like wasting time lecturing him about it, nor was he cruel enough to deduct the late fees from Robin's contract.
All Heinrich said was, "Next time, eh?"
Robin nodded, making an apologetic gesture. "We won't be late again."
Cyborg had no trouble finding replacement plasma cells in the self-sufficient society of Linschoten. And while the cells cost a bit more than the ones they usually bought from the urban sectors, Cyborg was certain the Linschoten brand was of a high quality. Robin's consolation rested on insurance. He could at least recover part of the cost of replacement plasma cells from his insurance company.
Robin finished his business with Heinrich before heading back into the ship. He went straight to the bridge. Terra and Beast Boy were relaxed in their seats, laughing lightly over exchanged conversation while Terra's fingers danced over her computer panel.
They looked up when he arrived.
"Where's Cy?" asked Terra.
"He's getting our new plasma cells. We'll be seeing him back here in an hour," said Robin.
"Everything go well with Heinrich?" Beast Boy asked. "He wasn't too mad, was he?"
Robin waved his concerns away. "Heinrich's a reasonable guy. Where are Raven and Starfire?"
Terra rolled her eyes. "Her Majesty the Queen Bitch is in your office and Starfire went to the brig."
"She what! She shouldn't be going there alone!"
Beast Boy scoffed. "Dude, Starfire's got super Tamaranian strength and from what Terra told me, she's got laser eyes or something. What are you worried about?"
For a moment, Robin thought about lecturing them on prison-visit safety, but he realized that the only one in danger in the brig was Harrison, which Robin was completely fine with.
"You have a point," Robin muttered.
"So," said Terra, typing something on her keyboard. "I've got the dirt on Galfore and Roy Harper. They're in Quintis Prime, alright, and they're being detained for execution in Alejandra Desiderio's estate in Heliodoro. They're taking the fall for the death of their master's son in a slave-quarter brawl. Nobody could prove they did it, but there was a previous incident with Galfore, Roy and the victim. That's enough proof, I suppose. Anyway, they're slaves; they're convenient. Summary judgment's all the rage in QP. It was big news over there."
"Does Starfire know about this already?"
Terra nodded. "Yeah, I told her."
"How'd she take it?"
"Calmly enough, but you never know with that girl. After all, I know more about Raven than I do about Starfire."
It was weird how true that was.
"Anyway," continued Terra. "Fortunately for them, their master is only some hit man on retainer; very low in the mob ranks. If they'd made the mistake of offing a boss's son, or even a captain's son, they'd be dead by now. Standard practice for low rank retribution is the prisoner gets a twenty four hour grace period… you know, like to repent or something. Some of the administering bodies over there can be kinda religious, especially among those of Italian and Spanish Earth descent. The only reason Galfore and Roy will be kept alive in the next few days is because it's some kind of Holy Week, or something. Hooray for lent."
"Amen. But we still don't know how we're going to get through non-Gangster Sanctioned territory with the skin on our backs, not to mention doing whatever shit we have to do without getting the entire bevy of mobsters shoved up our asses."
Terra scoffed. "That's the easy part."
Beast Boy laughed. Robin had to appreciate the false confidence for the joke that it was.
"Oh, is that right?" said Robin, grinning.
"Yeah, that's right. Here's the doozie. I've got the real dirt on Roy Harper. Wanna know what it is? It involves Starfire."
Suddenly Robin wasn't as amused anymore. "No, I don't want to know. Honest to God, don't people stay out of other's people's business anymore?" He turned to go to his office.
He heard Terra mutter that he was being a grouch again. He sighed, gritting his teeth to hold his temper. His office door opened just when Starfire walked through the bridge doors.
He was just in the right fighting mood to be bitchy. "You shouldn't have gone to meet Harrison by yourself."
She smiled apologetically. "I needed to confirm something."
Raven rose from the couch in his office and joined them on the bridge. "Is he still breathing?"
Robin shot her a glare just as Starfire threw her a dry glance.
"Of course he is breathing, Raven," she said, crossing the bridge to Terra. "I did not touch him. I would rather swallow nails than touch a man like that. Shoot him, maybe, but touch him, no. Besides… he is useless to me dead."
Robin was beginning to wonder if Raven was rubbing off on Starfire.
"Captain," said Starfire. "May I trouble Terra for something?"
Robin arched an eyebrow. "What about?"
"I need her to contact someone for me. It's a secure frequency so I cannot just use my comm."
He couldn't help but chuckle. "Your comm? I never gave you a comm."
Starfire bit her lip. "I—um—found an extra one in your office drawer?"
Robin shook his head, rolling his eyes. He snapped his fingers and jerked them towards him, going to her. "Give me back the comm, now."
Starfire sighed, digging in her boot and handing the comm back to Robin. "Alright, but can I still ask Terra to—"
Robin put the comm away in his coat, half-grinning in disbelief. "Sure. Do whatever you want."
These women were ruling his life and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He didn't know if he was more disgusted with them or with himself.
Starfire had the grace to look terribly embarrassed. "Thank you," she said in a soft tone. "Terra? I need…" She bent over Terra's computer panel, speaking in an ever softer voice. Terra nodded a few seconds later.
She typed in a few codes and soon, the laser screen popped up front. It took another few seconds before the hail was answered, and when it was, the face of a young man appeared on screen. He had a scar above his right eye, partially covered by dark glasses sitting just on top of his brow. There was a primal glint in his brown eyes, like he was prepared for anything. His short brown hair stuck out in all directions, adding to his laid-back appearance.
He plucked off what looked like earphones, setting it down around the base of his neck. "Draco here—" He stopped speaking, eyes widening like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Well, bust out the Bacardi because it's my birthday too-day. Star-blazin'-fire! Howare you, girl?"
Robin was immediately un-charmed. Star-blazin'-fire? What the hell kind of stupid nickname was that? He looked at her and saw her grinning bashfully.
She waved at the image. "Hello, Shawn! I am doing quite well. And you?"
Shawn shrugged. "Oh, you know… bagging a crook or two here and about… cashing them in, though it's mostly not about the money… routine stuff." He pressed his face closer to the monitor, his eyes roving to her surroundings. "Nice digs, Star. Finally got yourself a ship, eh?"
"Oh, no. This is not my ship. The Mighty Titan belongs to Robin." She turned, gesturing to him. "Robin, I would like you to meet Shawn. Shawn is the captain of the ship Dragonfire Cannon."
Shawn saluted him. "Yo!"
Robin just kept looking.
"Friendly, ain't he?"
Robin's cheek twitched.
"What the fuck?" cried Terra, her fingers flying rapidly over her keyboard. "The Dragonfire Cannon's trying to hack into our systems! Oooooh, you messed with the wrong ship, you mo' fo!"
Beast Boy scowled. "Hey!"
Robin glared at Shawn. "Not appreciated!"
Terra growled, typing with dizzying swiftness into her work panel. "Die, scum, die! Haha!"
Starfire gasped, turning to the screen and stomping her foot. "Shawn!"
Shawn sighed, cursing under his breath. "Sorry! Sorry! My bad!" He looked over his shoulder at someone. "Hack! I want you to quit that shit, now! You hearing me?"
"Oh, no, no captain. Not this time. No way," came the disembodied voice of whom Robin could only assume was Hack. "This dude's really good. I mustget through to that system!"
The tone of his voice was half-menacing, half-excited. This was a challenge and he was liking it.
"I'm not a dude!" cried Terra, her focus barely removed.
"Wha—the dude's a femme? That's… totally hot. So, hacker femme, there's a cute little Thanagarian restaurant just up—"
"In your dreams, pal!" That one, coming from Beast Boy.
"I believe the lady can speak for herself," said Hack.
Shawn's eyebrow arched. "And I believe there would be another lady with a say in the matter."
Hack seemed to have choked on something and Terra hissed a cursed.
"Can you believe the heat in this ship?" said Hack. "Kind of makes you lightheaded, doesn't it? Oops!"
Terra laughed, but she kept pressing codes into the computer. "I almost had you there, sucker!"
"Almost! But not quite. I'm telling you Shawn… atmosphere in this ship…"
"Yeah, blame the Cannon," said Shawn dryly.
Terra and Hack continued to battle it out with Terra shouting obscenities and Hack aggravating her by chastising her gently for her foul language. But it was all beginning to sound like banter, as if both sides were actually enjoying themselves.
Beast Boy glared at Shawn. "Okay, officially? This is not funny anymore!" His voice had risen to a slight squeak and squawk. He got that way when he was severely agitated. Hacker boys trying to get good with his girlfriend counted as agitating.
Robin stepped up to the screen. "Tell your systems coordinator to back off, now."
Shawn held up his hands. "Duh! Tell your systems coordinator to back off first!"
"You're the one who tried to hack into our systems. My SC was only doing her job protecting it. Now back the fuck off."
"SHIT!" Terra and Hack cried in unison.
Robin quickly glanced at his system indicators. Everything seemed to be in working order. Whatever happened, it didn't sound like either of them had managed to crack anything.
Terra pushed herself away from her panel, stomping towards the screen and pushing Robin aside. "Argh! You tell this Hack weirdo that this is so not over!"
Shawn was promptly shoved off the monitor, replaced by a blonde, blue eyed guy who was probably older than he looked. His face was set into a stern frown. "You bet this isn't over. Next time, I'll get you so bad… what the…?" He pressed his face closer to the screen, the intensity fading from his eyes. "Oh my God… you're that hacker, aren't you? The kid that brought down that planet in Andromeda. You're Earthshaker! I knew it… I just knew your signature codes were familiar!"
That seemed to have taken the fight out of Terra considerably. She frowned. "What do you know about Earthshaker?"
Beast Boy pushed his way to her side. "Yeah! What the hell do you know?"
"What do I--?" He made a sound, like he had choked on his disbelief. "Only everything.Earthshaker… you're legend in our circle. Your work's an unofficial case study in Hacker 101. That program was so perfect that there was no way you could have gotten caught unless someone ratted on your exact location. You, my dear, were betrayed. Someone had you ass-tagged in real time eye-spy. No way they could have found you by electronic track. You had that baby wired to scramble the stars!"
"This, I know," said Terra, shooting Raven a deadly glare.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Great. Attack of the blonde and blue-eyed computer geeks."
"Okay, that's enough," said Robin, reclaiming his spot. "Terra; Beast Boy; go back to your seats." They complied grudgingly. "Raven."
Raven's only reply was an arch of her eyebrow. She was probably wondering if he was going to order her to do something.
He did, unfazed by her penetrating gaze. He pointed to one of the guest seats. "Si' down."
His tone was brusque and authoritative enough for Raven to follow, though she rolled her eyes and pouted the slightest bit.
With the crowd dispersed, Robin looked to Starfire. "Starfire, is there even a reason you called this guy?"
She frowned. "Well, of course there is!"
"Get to it already, then. We're not exactly hitting it off with these people."
"That's only 'cause you're so serious, chuckles!" said Shawn, his broad grin practically taking the entire screen. To his left they could see Hack, grumbling something while wearing a haughty frown on his face. To Shawn's right was a new face; a man with long silver hair and what looked like dog-ears sitting atop his head.
Robin's gaze narrowed the slightest bit. "Flippancy is overrated."
Shawn laughed, looking over his shoulder at the silver-haired stranger. "Hey, Slash. You and Captain Robin ought to talk. You'll like each other."
Slash's only reply was the uplift of his eyebrow.
Shawn sighed, looking at Starfire. "How did we end up with these party poopers?"
She dealt him a barely tolerant glance, saying his name in a gently warning tone.
Shawn rolled his eyes, putting his hands up in surrender. "Fine. Let's start over." He took a deep breath, taking on a renewed demeanor. "Starfire… how nice to see you again after all these years! You look great! Have you gained weight?"
Robin slowly shook his head in disapproval. When was this guy going to stop clowning around?
Starfire chuckled, expelling a breath as if she were resigned to the fact that the entire thing was going to take a while. "No. I am afraid not."
"Funny. I could have sworn you've…" He made a comical face, like he was searching for the right word in his brain. Then his hands came up, as if he was cupping imaginary coconuts to his chest. "…grown!"
She scowled. "Goodness, Shawn!"
Robin folded his arms in front of him. Just how much did this guy know about Starfire's anatomy, is what Robin wanted to find out.
Shawn laughed at Starfire's shocked tone. "I'm kidding! It's just been a long time, that's all. Now, much as we like each other's company, I know you didn't call me on this super-secret frequency to catch up on old times. You have a job for me, don't you?"
Starfire blushed. Robin tapped his foot impatiently.
"Ha! I knew it. Well, the Cannon's at your service, mon ami. How can we help you?"
Starfire hesitated another moment before she spoke again. "We need to get in and out of Quintis Prime space unharmed. If possible, undetected."
Shawn's smile faded. He stared at Starfire a moment, as if to figure out if she was serious before he finally concluded she was. "Starfire, I don't know if you know this, but you're marked. The word's out on your head. Someone wants you brought in and someone wants you brought in bad."
So it was true what Harrison said.
Starfire sighed, though she did not sound as alarmed about the news as Robin thought she should be. Then again, Starfire seemed to be used to the fact that there was always someone trying to catch her.
Shawn continued. "It's fresh news, so you likely won't encounter any bounty hunters in the next couple of days. But come day two, you'll have them coming out of your ears. So for whatever reason you're going to Quintis Prime, forget it. It's one thing to dodge bullets, it's another thing to put the gun to your head and pull the trigger."
"I have no choice, Shawn."
Shawn eyed her suspiciously. "Oye… what kind of bad juju are you getting into these days?"
"You remember me talking about my k'norfkaGalfore, don't you? And Roy?"
"The junkie?"
Starfire flinched ever so slightly. "Former… but yes, that is the one."
Robin caught Terra's gaze, her eyebrow lifting knowingly. He shot her a glare before returning his attention to Starfire and Shawn's conversation.
"What about Galfore and Roy?" Shawn asked.
"They're being held for execution. They were blamed for killing their master's son."
Shawn's eyebrow arched. "Did they do it?"
Starfire shrugged, her eyes suddenly shrouded by sadness. "You remember how it was in those slave quarters, Shawn… people die on the streets; they turn up in our cells…"
Shawn nodded. "Slaves get blamed. Yeah. It's cheaper to lose a slave than it is to wage a gang war. Old story. So now you wanna go in there, guns blazing… umm, you will use guns, won't you? I mean, you're not going in there bare handed, are you?"
She glanced at Robin for a reply.
Robin thought about it for a few seconds before addressing Shawn. "Well, my engineer's got this tricked-out, built-in sonic cannon on his arm, but he usually doesn't aim it at people."
Shawn shook his head. "You're entering Quintis Prime with no guns. I swear to God, there are too many crazy people in this galaxy."
Starfire rolled her eyes. "As if you carry a gun."
"Like I said: Too many crazy people! On that note… I think maybe we can smuggle you in and out of Quintis Prime. For free, even. You know you're my favorite drifter."
"Wonderful! But there is one other thing…"
"Lord, the girl drives a hard bargain, don't she?"
She grinned. "This one I can pay you for."
"Ohhh?" Shawn leaned over, a strange gleam in his eyes. "How much are we talking about here? Euphorix credits?"
"No credits. I am paying in kind. I am going to give you something you have always wanted."
Robin's gaze shot to her, lip twitching involuntarily.
Shawn chuckled. "Starfire, girl, I like you. You're a babe! And believe me when I say it's not you, it's me, but I can't. My girlfriend will kill me. You know how Maria gets. Besides, I really love her."
"No, silly," she said, laughing. "Not that kind of payment."
His eyes twinkled. "You really gotta be careful about your choice of words, Starfire. You know that half the boys in this galaxy would be more than willing to misinterpret your—"
"I have Lorix Harrison."
Shawn stopped speaking, like Starfire had hit him over the head with a mallet. Starfire's name-drop also managed to call the attention of Hack and Slash.
The humor from Shawn's eyes disappeared completely, his lips setting in a straight line. "Show me."
"Terra? If you would be so kind as to send a visual to these gentlemen of Captain Harrison in his cell?"
Terra nodded, fingers flying on her keyboard.
Robin stifled a protest. Was Stafire going to give him Harrison? But Harrison was his prisoner!
On the other hand, he really shouldn't be surprised if she gave Harrison away. She never really did have a problem using his things without his permission.
The Cannon crew's eyes swerved away from the monitor in unison, as if they were looking at another screen. Moments later, predatory smiles began to form on each of their faces, like they had finally found the gold they had long been looking for.
Shawn looked back up, grinning with feral delight. The pupils of his brown eyes shrank to slits, like a cat's, astonishing Robin and probably everyone else on the bridge. "Starfire, for Harrison, I'll run circles around you and dance like a monkey. Tell me whose ass I have to kiss."
"Well, there is no need to go that far. Help us with this rescue and he is all yours."
Shawn began to laugh, and he was slowly joined by Hack and Slash. It was the kind of laughter that implied they had gotten the better part of the exchange, and they probably did. "Baby, you got yourself a deal."
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Robin twisted the miniscule screw in the supposedly state-of-the-art miniature hologram disguiser he was helping Cyborg construct. The work was tedious, but he needed an excuse to sit in his office. Starfire was there, and he really wanted to talk to her. So far, he wasn't finding much success.
Starfire sat on the couch with Raven, apparently working some things out on one of Terra's laptops. Outside his office, Cyborg, Terra and Beast Boy worked in the bridge.
They had left Linschoten hours ago, and because of their new plasma cells, the distance they traveled between leaving the stargate and where they were now was considerable. Starfire's friends had agreed to rendezvous with them in the Eisenach nebular cluster. It was just a bit off Fardoos, but it was ideal, because Quintis Prime roughies never went out of their way to scout potential hi-jack victims in Eisenach.
So between then and now, the crew would devote their time to putting together some of the things they would need to pull off the rescue.
The plan hadn't actually been completely worked out, yet. They had discussed several general points with the Dragonfire Cannon crew on how they might go about it, but the details of the plan were still dependent on Shawn's connections in Quintis Prime. Nothing could be finalized until the last minute. Hopefully, when they met up with Shawn again, they could set everything up with the precision Robin was comfortable with.
The tiny screwdriver slipped from his fingers, rolling on his desk. He sighed, getting a better grip of the tool.
"Cyborg said you do not have to do that," said Starfire.
Robin said nothing. He could, of course, help Cyborg on the bridge, but then he would lose his chance with Starfire for the evening. He was a little bit peeved, though. Raven, the empath, chose this time, of all times, not to tap into his feelings and realize that he didn't want her there.
Raven's eyebrow arched in his direction, as if responding to something he had said, before she spoke with casual ease. "So, Starfire, where'd you meet Shawn?"
Robin froze for an instant. Perhaps the empath was tapping into his feelings after all. He resumed his work, affecting nonchalance. He did, however, raise his gaze to watch the expression on Starfire's face.
She laughed. Not good.
"Slave pens," she replied. "In… let us see… ah, Hagihara. He got in trouble with the local drug lord slash philanthropist. Shawn beat the drug lord's son near to death when he caught junior trying to rape some girl. It is always the sons, isn't it? Natural, I suppose. The fathers almost always run things from the shadows while their sons run amok, causing trouble…"
Raven seemed mildly surprised. "The girl… was she someone he knew?"
"Oh, no, but Shawn does that sort of thing. He pretends to be a badass but he's actually a goody-two-shoes."
Robin scoffed softly.
Starfire looked at him, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "Like Robin, actually."
He rolled his eyes, disgusted. I'm not a goody-two-shoes.
"Fascinating," said Raven. "So Shawn was incarcerated when he was with you. What were you in for?"
Starfire chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Do tell."
There was a sheepish look on Starfire's face. "I blew up a van-load of Dragon Myst."
Robin dropped his screwdriver again.
Raven's eyebrow arched. "You what?"
"By accident! I was not even anywhere near that van! But there were these goons after me… and there was a tanker full of fuel… and a fueling station. And you have seen how powerful my starbolts could be…"
Somehow, Robin was getting the picture.
Raven dealt her a penetrating gaze. "You realize that you were lucky they didn't kill you right there. Drug lords are more attached to their drugs than they are to their families."
Starfire rolled her eyes. "Do you not get it? Look at me. I am beautiful enough to charm my way out of practically any fatal situation. It is my not-so-secret weapon." She said it without vanity. In fact, she sounded a bit bitter about it.
"So… what, did you trade sexual favors for your life?"
"What? No. Goodness, I did not need to do any of that! Besides, it was not as if I did it deliberately. It was totally an accident."
Robin shook his head, frowning, but he couldn't exactly be upset about it. Starfire did what she had to do to survive. If he could charm women the way she charmed men, maybe he'd have a lot less problems.
"Of course, I still ended up in the slave pens," she continued. "They told me I had to work off the debt I incurred destroying the Dragon Myst. 'Working off' debts as a slave is total hogwash, you understand. Not like we get paid for the work we do. I met Shawn there and all the while, he was up for execution. The only reason he was alive was because the drug lord wanted to make him suffer his last days alive, or something like that. The funny thing was Shawn did not exactly suffer anything. First thing he did when he got there was form a gang, which included me, of course, and no one could push any of us around. The entire time he was there, he wasn't the least bit worried about being executed. He kept saying he would be out of there when he got tired of working the pens; he said the 'syndicate' would come for him. True enough, his Uncle Tom, head of the so-called Dragonfire syndicate, came and busted him out. They obliterated a Dragon Myst factory along the way, too, so I suppose it was total chaos the night Shawn O'Reily got 'tired of working the pens.' It was easy to escape with all that going around. Last time I talked to Shawn was a bit after that incident, by transmission. Just a hi-hello, I am alive, blah, blah…"
Raven nodded. "So did you and he—you know—hook up?"
Robin froze a second time. This time, he did not resume his work.
Starfire laughed. "Are you joking? He could not shut up about his girlfriend. It was always Maria this, Maria that, Maria says… I would dream of Maria because of him. But we are—as some would say—cool. We are friends. Always were and nothing more."
Robin went back to work. Shawn suddenly wasn't such a bad guy.
"And what's the story with Harrison and Shawn?" asked Raven.
She chuckled. "Shawn told me Harrison was once hired by a bio-chemical Psion-run corporation to find Jim O'Reily, Shawn's other uncle, to bring him in so he could be used as a genetic blueprint. I am not quite sure what they did to Jim, but it seemed that the Psions performed illegal experiments on him and turned him into some kind of human-shark anthromorphic hybrid. Anyway, after he got away from them, they sought to get him back. Harrison got the contract and raided several other O'Reily-clan ships in the process. Harrison almost got Jim too, but Jim managed to get away. Uncle Tom, who just happened to be Jim's older brother, does not take kindly to threats to his family at all. He put a bounty on Harrisona bounty only members of the Dragonfire Syndicate can claim. Harrison is worth a lot of money, not to mention the fact that he has quite a bit of bad karma to answer for to the O'Reily clan…"
"And you and Harrison?" Robin asked in a flat tone. "What's going on with that? Other than the fact that he tried to bring you in as a bounty, of course."
She seemed surprised that he had spoken to her, but she replied. "Well, Harrison has not done anything to me personally. He probably did not know I existed until the contract was put out for me, but another friend of mine… someone I met long ago; a good friend. Harrison killed her because she tried to help one of his bounties get away from him. She did not even know the bounty personally. She was just being kind. I thought I saw Harrison shoot her, point blank between the eyes. I confirmed the fact when I spoke to him at the brig."
That had to be horrible; to see your friend take it in the face.
Robin lowered his gaze to the gadgets in his hands. "Sorry."
She shrugged. "Well, she is avenged. Harrison will be turned over to Shawn and I am sure Tom O'Reily will make Harrison sorry for every black deed he has ever done."
"Yeah, about that… it's funny how you took it upon yourself to trade my prisoner. You do that a lot with my possessions, I noticed. This is a bad habit."
She grinned at him winningly. "Robin… I will make it up to you. I promise."
Robin sighed, rolling his eyes in disgust. He wondered how much of her words were true and how much of it was survival instinct.
"In the meantime," she said. "Did not Azar say Harrison was brought to us for a purpose? I believe this is the purpose."
"At least Starfire doesn't blackmail you," said Raven, tongue in cheek. There was a split second sparkle of mischief in her eyes.
Robin's gaze swerved back and forth between the two women. He reached down to the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out the single most reliable thing in his life: Pepto-Bismol.
8888888888888888
Robin was the last to leave the bridge at the close of the day. The ship was comfortably speeding through a stargate wormhole and would be set on auto-pilot for the next ten hours. The day had been a relatively short one, but downtime was always free time.
After making the final rounds of the ship for the day, Robin set out to find Terra. He figured they were due another talk. He knocked on her door. This time, she actually answered the door herself. She seemed mildly surprised to see him.
"Chief! What's up?"
"Got a sec?"
She looked at him askance, like she was trying to figure out what it was about. Robin found that a little pointless. She'd know in a second if she let him speak to her. Nevertheless, he waited.
"Sure," she said, grabbing something from her room. It was a mug. "I may as well get myself some tea from the mess hall." She stepped out on the hallway with him, cup in hand.
They walked.
He was quick to bring up the topic. "Have you decided about what you'll be doing after your probation period's up?"
She smiled. "I should've known it was that."
"Well?"
"BB and I have been talking."
Robin arched an eyebrow. On the one hand, that was good. On the other hand, that could be pretty bad. "Oh?"
She nodded. "I asked him if he ever thought about leaving the ship."
He tried not to be too bothered with what she said. "What'd he say?"
"He said he loves it here. Said he wouldn't want to leave it. I asked him if he'd leave it for me." She chuckled. "He didn't know what to say to that."
Robin's brows knotted. He knew she wouldn't be so mean as to take his helmsman away from him, but ultimately, Beast Boy's leaving couldn't be blamed on Beast Boy or Terra. "Nice to know BB's happy being here, but right now, I'm more concerned about what you feel about this ship."
She cocked a grin, fidgeting with the cup in her hands. "I really like it here, chief. These last few years… it hardly felt like I was on probation. The only thing that really reminded me was my parole officer, and I'm glad I rarely had to deal with him at all. You really looked out for me, chief."
He felt a little embarrassed by her words. "You weren't all that hard to manage, Terra. You done good."
"Thanks."
They walked on to the elevators to head to the mess hall. When they got to the kitchens, Terra put some water on to heat. She sat with Robin on the long table as she waited for the water to boil.
Terra propped a hand up by her elbow and rested her cheek against her palm. "I've had a lot to think about, mostly about what that witch said."
Robin was mildly surprised by this. "Which part?"
"The part when she asked me why I hacked into that Andromeda planet."
"Why did you?"
Terra chuckled, shaking her head as if to disapprove of something. "Because I could, just like Raven said. I still can. I did it because I was bored and because I wanted to prove I was the best. They're the worse reasons, I suppose. When I hacked into that system, all I really thought about was computer systems failing, viruses clogging the lines and circuits shorting. I didn't think it would hurt anyone. Annoy them, maybe, but hurt? I probably did, though. A bunch of people lost their jobs, and they might have lost the means to buy medicine, or good food, or nice clothes, or pay for a mortgage on a house… the witch was right. I was out of control. I wasn't thinking about the consequences of my actions. And maybe, if she hadn't reported me, I'd be doing worse things, working for the worse kinds of people."
"You think so? You don't think you'd have realized on your own that what you were doing was wrong and decide to put your talents to good use?"
She shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I've… always been more inclined to break the rules. You think I could've made the right decisions, captain?"
Robin gave it some deep thought. When Terra first came to the Mighty Titan, she wasn't exactly a model employee. She was always trying to get into places she wasn't suppose to be in; always trying to prove that she was smarter, better and tougher. He remembered feeling aggravated by the fact that he was only sixteen and already it felt like he was raising a kid, a kid that seemed hell-bent on making her own rules. But after he and Terra weathered the first year, the second year felt easier, and the third year easier still.
Perhaps he had gotten better at being captain, but Terra herself had grown, and her attitude now was a great improvement from the wild and angry ex-con that first stepped into his ship. Maybe he had tamed her. Maybe he had managed to guide her into shaping up. Maybe he didn't believe she could have made the right decisions yesterday, but now, sitting across from her, listening to her recounting her past mistakes and hoping to hear him tell her she would have learned from them by herself, he could believe in her today, and that made all the difference.
"Yeah, you could've, Terra," he said. "You would have figured it all out and done better. Might have taken you longer, all by yourself, but that wouldn't have been your fault. We all need somebody to tell us if we're doing something the right or wrong way." He didn't know if it would make her stay on the ship or make her decide to leave, but he would never begrudge Terra the truth. "I mean, who knows what would've become of me if I didn't have a godfather to look out for me when my parents died? Who knows what would've happened to Beast Boy if his parents didn't leave him enough money to get him a legal guardian and if he hadn't gone into training with the space force? There's no telling how the rest of us would've turned out."
She grinned. "Starfire turned out okay."
He arched an eyebrow.
She shrugged. "Well, for a pick-pocketing, thieving moocher with great legs."
He cocked a smile. "I guess some people are more resilient than most."
The kettle began to whistle and Terra got up to make her tea. She returned to the table moments later with two steaming cups of chamomile. She gave one cup to Robin which he gratefully accepted.
"Chief, I've been looking around the galactic database for a possible replacement."
Robin's heart sank. She was leaving them. He felt a deep sadness well up inside him, but he nodded, resigned to her decision. "I see."
She reddened, but she seemed determined, which was slightly comforting to him. This wasn't a random decision on her part. She had given this a lot of thought. "I found a few coordinators that might work well with the crew. One of them is a guy who calls himself Gizmo and the other is a biosynth."
He laughed softly. "A cyborg, only, more robot than human."
She nodded. "He calls himself Fixit. He's a little weird, but I figured he'd fit right in with you guys."
"Ha, ha," he said dryly. "You got a third guy?"
"Girl. Calls herself Bumble Bee."
Robin's attention perked. "Wait a min—"
"You asked her to work for you before. I know. She didn't want to, then, but she's heard a lot of good things about the Mighty Titan between then and now. I think she's more willing to apply for the job."
He thought about the names. He was sure they were all good replacements, but he would always be sorry to lose Terra. "I know this is none of my business, but… why go at all?"
She sipped from her cup. "Chief, when you first set out on your own, you've already learned a lot of things about being captain of a gating ship from watching your godfather do it in the Mighty Gotham, right?"
"Yeah. It was the main reason I believed I could be on my own."
"Learn anything new from being captain of the Mighty Titan?"
"Course I did. I'm still learning a lot, too. There's a world of difference between doing something when you very well know there's someone you could turn to when things become rougher than you're prepared to deal with, and having no one but yourself to look to for a solution. You've never really done it yourself until you've done it yourself."
"I gotta do it by myself, captain. I have to know if I can."
He nodded, accepting the reality of the situation.
They fell silent and Terra just kept sipping her tea.
Robin forced himself to be rational. "So when should we expect you to go?"
"I'll be sticking this entire Raven thing out. I still think she's a bitch, but she has me totally hooked into this drama. I have to find out what happens next. It's like a friggin' soap opera and it's addictive. 'All My Titans'."
He laughed a bit, momentarily relieved that she wasn't ready to leave just yet. Maybe he could still convince her to stay. "You know, Terra, maybe you don't have to leave the ship to find out if you can depend on yourself to do the right thing. I could give you more duties; give you more responsibility; let Cyborg give you more responsibilities. You and he coordinate on a lot of things, anyway."
She smiled. "You're always looking out for me, chief. You all do. That helped me most of all, and I think that'll help me when I'm out there by myself."
"You know you'll always be welcome here. You know that, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"You talked to BB about all this?"
She didn't reply.
Robin sighed. "It's not my place to tell you what you ought to be doing when it comes to BB, but I think you should've told him before you told me. He'll feel really bad when he finds out you didn't tell him first."
Terra looked up at him pleadingly. "I know, but BB… he'll feel awful if I tell him now and I don't want my remaining days here to be about how sad my leaving will make him feel. I'll tell him before I go, of course, but—"
"Think about it, Terra. Switch places with the guy and consider how it would make you feel if you were him."
They sipped their tea in silence.
After a while, Terra chuckled softly. "What am I gonna do when there's no one to give me good advice like you do, chief?"
He shrugged. "You figure it out yourself, I guess."
They finished their tea and they headed out of the mess hall.
"Chief, Starfire came by my room just a few minutes before you did."
For a moment, Robin didn't respond. When he did, his response was brief. "Oh?"
"Yeah. She asked me if she could have the reports about Galfore and Roy. I lent her my laptop with all the information about them… I think she's reading them on deck."
"Good for her."
Terra said nothing.
When they reached the elevators and the doors opened, Terra stepped in. Robin didn't join her. He would be waiting for the next car.
She didn't even blink. "I'll see you in the morning, chief. G'night."
"Yeah."
She disappeared behind the elevator doors.
888888888888888
Robin could see the lines of light passing the ship by as it coasted on the stargate's speed. It was like the ship sliced through the stars of the galaxy, transforming everything into a luminescent, glowing blue. If Robin weren't so used to it, he would consider it a pretty awesome sight.
He scanned the wide deck and found Starfire sitting on the floor of the forecastle; up front. Her back was too him and he could tell she was hunched over something in front of her, hugging one leg to herself while the other was folded, Indian-style. She hadn't noticed him.
For a moment, he wondered why he was even there. Sure, he wanted to talk to her. Even Terra thought that was a good idea judging by the subtle way she gave him her opinion about it. And the fact of the matter was, there were a hundred things he could ask Starfire about, particularly about the things she had gone through in the last ten years, but he couldn't help thinking that instead of feeling closer to her, he felt even more alienated, especially since it didn't seem to matter whether he knew more about her or not. Apparently, she didn't let anybody get too close. She had blown up drug factories with them and she still hadn't felt the compulsion to spend the rest of her days with her Cannon friends.
Nevertheless, he walked up behind her. Soon enough, she looked over her shoulder, smiling when she saw it was him. She shut the laptop as he approached. Maybe she thought he hadn't noticed.
He stifled a sigh, crouching to her side. "Working late?"
"I am restless. I cannot stop thinking about Galfore."
"Or about Ray?"
"Roy."
"That's what I said."
She giggled softly, turning to look out of the glass bubble.
He sat beside her, pulling his knees up and leaning his elbows on them. He thought about easing her anxieties about Galfore and this Rex person, but they would be empty reassurances. Even he didn't know if they could pull it off. Sure, he'd transported and protected important people on the Mighty Titan, but rescues were a new thing for him. He wasn't afraid of the danger. He could deal with that. He'd dealt with it often enough with the crew, but he was more used to all-out battles, with guns blazing, not the covert operations of extracting someone from peril.
No, telling her everything was going to be alright would be giving her a false sense of security. He had better things to talk about with her.
"So, tell me about this Redd."
"Roy."
"Yeah, whatever."
She smiled wanly. "I only ever find friends as a slave, really. It cannot be helped when you stay in one place for very long, to forge friendships in a place that generally makes you feel like you are nothing. It is a wretched life. If I could avoid capture from slavery, I would, but being the way I am; having the status of a nameless drifter with no documents to identify myself with and no apparent legal livelihood, I have always been prone to being hauled off and sold. The sad part is, being caught as a slave is a lot less worse than being caught as a stone wielder."
Robin couldn't imagine. "So this Rhet's an old boyfriend from the slave pens?"
She looked at him a moment, as if something bothered her. But a heartbeat later, she spoke on, making no mention of it. "Roy is not an old boyfriend. I met him in Iqbal, a barren planet in the third quadrant. We were, of course, slaves. It was not really such a bad place. Actually, it was better than most, but… well, Roy was taking it hard. It was his first time being a slave and I suppose I tried to help him get through the worse of it. We became very close, but it wasn't enough for him to get through it in one piece. The planet Iqbal allowed most of its slaves to leave their masters' homes, mostly because we could not get away with our collars on and because the government supports slave owners, so there are guards everywhere. Still, what little freedom was available managed to give us lives apart from being slaves. I spent my time trading things for stuff like reading a book, or a candy treat or something good to eat… simple things. Roy found something else. He found drugs. I do not know how he supported the habit, but he found ways; bad ways. I could not stop him. The drugs gave him relief. What right did I have to tell him the drugs were no good when it made him forget the pain? Inevitably, the drugs got him in trouble and of course, they had to dispose of him. He told me he did not want to die that way, so I made a deal with him. If I could get the both of us out of Iqbal, he would come with me and get himself cleaned up. I suppose you can call his execution some kind of blessing in disguise. If he was not in such dire danger, I would not have endeavored to risk life and limb to get away. I would not have fought such odds to escape. But somehow I managed to get us out of there and I brought Roy to Blackfire's home where we got him cleaned up. When it was time for him to go his own way, I made him promise to keep away from the drugs. I told him to remember that so long as we had our wits about us, we could help each other if there was ever a need, and ultimately, we would not let each other die as slaves. I am hoping he has kept himself clean. I would be sorely disappointed to find him a junkie after all that. Escaping Iqbal was not exactly a picnic."
Robin expelled a breath. Perhaps the most disturbing thing of all, hearing Starfire's story, was realizing just how weird it was that he was really beginning to care for this thieving, aimless, and danger-prone woman. Why, he wasn't sure. Maybe he was being a control freak again and he wanted to fix everything wrong with her life. Maybe he had looked back too many times on the events from ten years ago, how he could've kept her in that pod with him and saved her from all the things she had gone through. Maybe after everything he'd seen, roaming the galaxy, everything that was wrong about her only emphasized everything that was right.
She stole, she drifted and she got herself in trouble. She's a survivor, an adventurer and she helped friends in need.
Anyone else who had gone through what she did would have looked worse for wear. She handled it better than most. "If I were Reg, I'd make good on my promise. It ain't everyday a dame risks her neck to save mine."
She laughed and he wasn't sure why.
"What?" he asked.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Call Roy by different names? Are you doing that on purpose?"
"Of course not. Ren is such an easy name to remember."
She stared at him, a grin of disbelief on her lips. When she tore her gaze away, she was shaking her head and chuckling. "You are so funny sometimes, Robin."
"That's a first. The others always say I lack a sense of humor."
She smiled. He was surprised when she took his hand, the soft pressure of her grip strangely pleasing.
"Robin, I am happy we are talking like this again."
He felt a slight pinch at her words, suddenly remembering why he was so reluctant to patch things up with her in the first place. When this was over, he was going to be just another story she could tell someone else. He didn't want to become a story. "When you're back out there, Star; when you find new friends and one of them asks you, 'So who's this Robin guy you mentioned?', what are you going to tell them? Hmm?"
Her smile faded, and the light in her eyes softened. "I will tell them Robin was the one person I wished I did not have to leave behind."
That only made him feel better by a tiny bit. After all, it still meant she was leaving. After everything she'd done, he was still hoping she'd stick around. He'd hate her for the briefest moment then one look into those brilliant eyes of hers and he'd be out of his depth all over again.
She may as well put a collar around his neck.
He muttered a curse under his breath, getting to his feet to lean over the deck railings on his elbows. He just couldn't look at those eyes right now.
He fidgeted, straightened his stance as his hands grasped the fiber-glass railings. "God, you're just—I don't know whether to kiss you or just bang my head against the wall."
She sighed.
He heard a shuffle and she was beside him, looking at his profile with her hip to the hard white molding. He gave her a brief glance and saw that her brows were slightly knotted in worry.
"What?" he asked.
"I am sorry."
"Do you even know what you're apologizing for?"
"I have… 'pissed' you off, again?"
He rubbed the heel of his palm against an eye. Maybe she was pretending she didn't get it. "Take a good look at me, Kori. Do I look like the kind of guy that buys candy hearts and writes silly little poems for his girlfriend? Do I even remotely look like a guy who ever gives a flying fuck about sentimental, romantic shit?"
She fidgeted uncomfortably on her feet. "No…"
"No. I don't do that. So you understand that if I suddenly feel that I do begin to give a flying fuck, I mean it, and I mean it hard." He ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling his black strands in frustration. "When I—when I kissed you in Azarath, it may have been some 'moment' for you, like some temporary fix or something nice and schmaltzy to remember me by, but to me, it was a bit more long-term than that."
He hazarded a glance at her face and he wasn't sure if she understood any of it. He couldn't tell by her expression.
"Are you getting all this?" he asked.
She blinked several times. She looked mildly astonished, but she nodded.
He figured that would have to do. "You didn't have a clue… hell, I didn't have a clue that you can reel me in so deep it's—it's ridiculous. I mean, who the hell loses it for someone on day three? I'm the last person in the galaxy who's supposed to do that, but here I am, willing to jump circles around you—hell, let's be plain about this: I'm going into Quintis Prime, the center of the criminal universe, to help you save your nanny and some guy whose stupid name I refuse to remember because I'm being a jealous freak. I can even throw in the candy hearts and poems if that's what you want. It's like I'm addicted to you or something and I'd do anything to get a fix. And the sad part of it is I already know you hardly give a damn about this thing we're suppose to have. You know how I know that? Because you looked at me in Azarath and told me that you were going to leave the ship as soon as we were back out in space. Just like that; as if we never had that 'moment'. God, I'm really beginning to hate that word."
And then he didn't have anything else to say. He fell silent, turning his gaze back to the flashing lights outside. After a while he felt her hand on his shoulder.
He felt like such an idiot. If she tells me she's sorry, I'm going to swear off women… or maybe not all women… like, just for a while. He shook his head.
"I am… still here," she said. It sounded like some kind of lame consolation prize. Like when the winner got a million bucks and the runner-up got a game-board.
"Great," he muttered.
They were silent, and at first Robin thought she had nothing to say, but it seemed that she was merely composing herself for what she had to say next. "I am sorry you thought Azarath meant nothing to me. I have done many inappropriate things in my life, Robin, but I did not speak to you of such personal things about my life just so I can get you to kiss me. If all I wanted was a kiss, I would have done it without need of preamble. You know that, already, right?"
He remembered the first day she came to the ship; when she stole a kiss, a transcard and a communicator. He doubted if he'd ever forget it, in fact.
"But perhaps I was as unprepared for the overwhelming feeling of attachment as you were. I was a little flighty afterwards… please do pardon the pun…"
He arched an eyebrow. She was a bit red in the cheeks.
She went on, casting embarrassed glances at him. "But I tried to make up for it. I really did. During dinner, I tried to be more attentive… I am sorry if you did not notice."
He had. He wished he had been more obvious about his appreciation, then. But expressing emotions was never one of his strengths. "Maybe I did… a little bit…"
She seemed pleased by his admission. "I did so wanted to pick up where we left off during our picnic… it felt nice, didn't it? Not just the kiss, but… everything else that went with it."
"Nice" was a spectacular understatement.
He reluctantly replied. "Yeah, it did. Why do you think I want you to stay so badly?"
Her eyes were suddenly sad, and he was losing himself to her again. "Why do you think I wanted to leave? What Raven said in Azar's chamber put things back in perspective for me. I have put enough people in danger being a carrier of the stone and knowing where it is. And even if Raven says the rest of you were bound to get involved anyway, I had the power to put a stop to all of it. You and the crew can still live peaceful lives if I removed myself from all of you. Raven can do nothing if I adamantly refused to help, but as much as I wanted to spare all of you the grief, I… I cannot help it that I want to save Galfore. So here I am, dragging all of you back in and taking a few more with me for the ride… and now I am bound to some pact with her. I would probably find myself and those I love eternally damned if I do not honor my end of the deal. I may not believe in magic, but after having seen and heard what I did on Azarath, I have to say that there is a different kind of science at work here."
He couldn't help but agree with her on matters of science taking an eerie turn since their Azarath trip. He sighed. "We all want to help you save Galfore."
She laughed softly. "You want to help me save Galfore. Terra, Beast Boy and Cyborg want to stand by their captain. If you had not insisted on helping me, they would not have volunteered themselves."
He chuckled wearily. "You're a hard woman to please, princess."
She reddened. "I am not trying to—" She became even redder. Maybe she realized that what he said was half a tease.
He had to admit that what she told him so far was making him feel slightly better about his weird relationship with her. It was likely she would say or do something again that would upset him but at least he was beginning to understand where Starfie was coming from.
"How about we try it this way, then: You don't talk about leaving and I don't talk about you staying, at least not until this entire deal with Raven is over."
She seemed worried. "If you wish… but—"
"It doesn't mean we won't talk anymore," he interrupted, guessing her concerns. "We can talk all day, if you want. Just… not about staying in or leaving the Mighty Titan. And while we're at it, I'll try to be less obsessive about… controlling things… about you, but you're going to have learn how to trust me when I say I want you to stay here, and that I can help protect you."
The anxiety from her gaze slowly began to fade. "That sounds… reasonable."
"I'm good at reasonable when I put my mind to it. So, do we agree to these terms?"
She nodded, grinning.
"Good. I'm glad we had this talk."
"Yes. I, too, am glad. Robin?"
"Yeah?"
She inched closer, their shoulders touching. "Yesterday and this morning, when you were being grouchy and pretending by turns that I did not exist, I missed you."
He frowned. "I wasn't pretending anything."
"Of course, you were! You just about broke my heart letting me think you were going to hate me forever. I thought you would never smile at me again. I was so sure you would find it funny when I stole your trans-card, but you did not get the joke."
"That was supposed to be a joke?"
She widened her eyes at him, like a wordless, "Duh!"
"I told you I've got a lousy sense of humor."
"Well, I still think you are funny."
He felt the light touch of her fingers run along the rim of his ear and down the short hairs on his nape. It tickled, but very nicely. It coaxed a tiny smile from him and she smiled back.
"I never hated you," he said softly.
"It felt like you did. I am not like Raven, who can read emotions exactly the way they ought to be read. I feel things then I interpret them, most probably incorrectly." She slid her arm over his shoulder, fitting herself between him and railing.
He was only half-conscious of her words, enjoying the feel of her skin against his fingertips as he ran them against her arms. "I can't hate you. I tried, but it's nicer to like you, even if it inevitably makes you think you can steal things from me and get away with it."
She grinned. "I only steal things from you to get your attention, Robin."
He leaned forward, tilting her chin up. "You know… you've had my attention for the last ten years…" He kissed her, and it felt even better than it did in Azarath.
Maybe it was because it was a make-up kiss. Laced with forgiveness, make-up kisses had a different flavor in its passion.
Bound by the velvety spell of her lips and tongue, Robin was more than willing to forgive and forget. He did miss her, and feeling her this way. Maybe it was why he'd been cranky in the last two days. Then again, cranky seemed to be his natural state, so he had probably been crankier than usual.
But now that she was coaxing him into a very good mood, he could hardly believe that he had denied himself this awesome sensation.
When they separated, he had to struggle to clear the pleasurable haze. "How's that for attention?"
She smiled lazily. "Oh, you're getting there…" She punctuated her whispered words with slow kisses along his jaw.
He couldn't exactly resist it all at once. He had, in fact, closed his eyes again and began to lean against her, but he still had enough of his senses to understand just what she was saying. His heartbeat triple timed and he was already feeling heaviness in his breathing. He knew, in his mind, that he didn't want to go this fast with her, but it wasn't as if any man alive could look at Starfire and say, "No, we can't!" because he sure as hell could; right now; with great enthusiasm.
He sought her kiss again, pulling her even tighter into his embrace.
And just when he was about to convince himself that they could work it all out in the morning, she was the one who resisted with a gentle push of her hands.
He stared into her upturned face, unable to form words through the ragged release of his breath.
It didn't take long for his mind to find reason again, and while they stood there, looking at each other, they needed no words to explain.
They were both of them young, but having been made to grow up sooner than they should have had taught them at least about some of the nature of relationships. There was always passion in love, but there wasn't always love in passion. In a relationship forged by ten-year-old memories, thievery, attempted kidnappings, rescues, universe-rocking revelations, a ship-load of baggage and futures entirely uncertain, it was well worth it to make sure there was something other than passion in the mix.
He released her with reluctance, though he kept her hand grasped in his.
She gathered the equipment Terra loaned her and headed to the elevators.
They left the deck and walked back to chambers without a word. At her door, she gave him a smile, a kiss and a tenderly whispered goodnight.
He watched her disappear into her room. He didn't know how long he stood in the hallway, staring at her door. All he had to do was knock, and neither of them would be alone that night, but he didn't.
Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he turned and walked away.
To be continued…
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Reflections of Starfire: Who made these Relationship Rules, is what I would like to know. Did they have some kind of Relationship Convention where they decreed that people who just might have deep feelings for each other cannot have intimate relations immediately? And more importantly, who was the majority who voted in favor of this rule? Did not anybody have the sense to veto it? Humph! Maybe they put up a door and no one knocked on it.
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