Chapter 5

"Intruder"

Vincent knew that he was screwed when the other Titans appeared from the dark behind Vanessa. Each one of them had their signature weapon at the ready: Cyborg with his arm-cannon, Starfire with her eyes and hands glowing, Robin with bo staff and birdarangs, Beast Boy in cobra form, and Raven with her hood up and her hands glowing black.

"Um, I didn't bite her, if that means anything to you guys." Vincent whispered. His nails instinctively grew to their full length of four centimeters, and the gums above his fangs felt more tender than usual. He was prepared to fight for his life, even if Vanessa was there.

"We will kill you, vampire, if you make one wrong move." snarled Robin. He gave his bo staff a little twirl and positioned it in his hands so that he could bring it down on Vincent's temple if occasion called. "Why'd you attack Finesse?" demanded Robin loudly. Vincent just glared defiantly.

Robin's patience snapped. With a swift move, he kicked Vincent in the stomach, making Vincent's eyes widen in pain and lack of air. "Answer me, dammit!" yelled Robin. Vincent threw Robin a filthy look.

"Not only are you the most pathetic human I've ever met, but you're the stupidest, too." He knew not one second after he said that that he was going to pay for it. Sure enough-

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" Raven half-shrieked, the black spell encasing Vincent and throwing him clear across the basement. He landed with a loud thud, and he was fairly certain that something was broken. Robin, the Titans, and Finesse walked over to his still form that was sprawled on the concrete floor. Robin raised his bo staff.

"Last time." he hissed dangerously. "Why'd you attack Diamond Finesse?" His hands gripped the staff tightly, so tight that Robin's hands were beginning to ache. Vincent mumbled something inaudible. "Louder!" demanded Robin furiously.

The rest of the Teen Titans were beginning to get worried. They had all seen Robin go dangerously close to the edge before, and this situation was way too familiar. Vincent moved his hand slightly.

"I said…a starving person shall seek food, and a thirsty person shall seek water." His hand moved to his injured side, which was still bleeding a little bit. Vincent's eyes went unfocused. He didn't move after that.

The whole room was quiet. Finesse made the first noise. "What…did you do, Robin?" she whispered, horror and a tiny bit of fury lacing her voice. "If he's dead…"

"Vampires can only be killed by silver and garlic." said Robin stiffly, obviously uncomfortable with all the horrified stares fixed on him. "This sucker is probably just unconscious."

There was another long, awkward pause. Vanessa rubbed her right eye, which felt unusually moist.

"We'll leave him down here, and when he wakes up we'll question him some more." Finesse opened her mouth to respond, but she knew that she was in no position to argue with Robin. She bent down over Vincent's body.

"He needs help." she whispered, almost no sound escaping her lips. Robin simply frowned and turned to Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Let's go." He turned to leave.

"No."

Starfire's defiant voice seemed to fill the room. She stood next to Vincent's still form, her mouth formed into an extremely angry scowl.

"If you think that this boy is unharmed and o-kay, then you are not worthy to be our leader!" she said loudly, pointing an accusing finger at Robin. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy stared. Raven watched the situation while Finesse knelt next to Vincent, inspecting his wound and, apparently, not even listening.

"You have much to learn about being a hero, Robin! You fight evil and wickedness, yet you are blinded by your hate for criminals! You refuse to listen to reason when it is three feet away from you!" Starfire's eyes were solid green now. Cyborg raised his hand a bit.

"Star, calm down. Robin knows what he's doi—"

"Clearly he does not!" Starfire yelled. Everyone swallowed what they were going to say. Robin's look softened.

"Starfire, I didn't know that you were so concer—"

"I do not care if you did not know! I am telling you now! You have brought yourself down to his level if you think that by denying a being what his body needs—food and water—that you are doing right!"

"Starfire, that's enough." Raven said sharply. Starfire looked at her, her eyes narrowed. "You're correct; Robin is in the wrong here, but arguing about it is pointless. Now stop yelling at him and make your point." Raven crossed her arms.

Starfire closed her eyes. "Very well. I will make my point." She walked over to Vincent's body and knelt down across from Finesse. "Please, cooperate with me." she said quietly to Finesse. Finesse nodded. Starfire gently picked up Vincent's limp body and held him close to her own. Beast Boy and Cyborg inhaled sharply, while Robin simply stared, dumbstruck. Starfire turned to face them all.

"Vincent Alexei Gregorovich is a guest in this tower, and until we can find a solution to our vampire problems, here is where he will stay. He may train with us if he wishes so, and he will be welcomed at our table."

And with that, Starfire silently floated upstairs towards the hospital room. Cyborg was the only one who spoke.

"Ball's in your court, Fearless Leader."

Vincent opened one eye, the eye that didn't have a huge shiner. He glanced to his right. A curtain. He glanced to his left. A curtain. He was completely surrounded by curtains! He tried to sit up, but something under his blankets held him down. By the feel of it, the Teen Titans had strapped him down to this bed.

He finally gave up trying to free himself; it was useless. He lay in the bed, fuming. Finally, when the silence was too much for him to bear...

"Where the hell am I!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He paused, but heard nothing. He opened his mouth to yell out all the Russian swear words he knew when a door behind the curtains opened and then closed. Soft footsteps made their way to his right side on the other side of the curtains. A thin hand parted the curtains.

Starfire stood there, smiling down at Vincent. Her svelte figure and warm smile made her the most wonderful thing that Vincent had seen in five months.

"I am pleased that you are awake, Vincent Alexei. Tell me, do you feel well?" she inquired.

"Yeah, I feel fine…" he mumbled, a little confused. He had only just noticed that he wasn't hungry or thirsty. A small IV with blood in it attached to his arms solved the question of why that was. "What happened?"

"You were taken here after you fell unconscious, and Diamond Finesse went to the Jump City Life League Blood Bank and brought home three bags of your required human blood. She saved your life." Starfire sat down at the foot of the bed, her head bowed slightly.

"I…am sorry that you are restrained. Robin insisted quite fervently, you see." Vincent blinked, then turned his head.

"...It's okay, I guess. They don't hurt or anything…" He didn't really know what to say to this strange alien girl. Starfire looked up, her eyes wide with sadness.

"You must not think ill of Robin." she said quietly. "He is good; he really is. But sometimes he goes too far…when he feels that he and what he cares for is being threatened. He will even go as far as to seriously injure…people." Her hands fidgeted with a bit of blanket.

"I see." grunted Vincent. What was this weird girl saying? Was he supposed to trust Robin now that she was defending him? Should he trust her? She seemed nice enough…of course, niceness had fooled him before.

"You are a guest in this tower now." said Starfire officially. "Cyborg and I prepared the guest room, and Diamond Finesse went out with Raven to get you a small fridge for your edibles. By 'edibles', she meant small packets of human blood from the blood bank."

"Uh…thanks?" said Vincent in a small voice. What did I do to deserve this...hospitality?

Starfire grinned. "So that leaves me just one more thing." She bent down to the side of the bed and fiddled with something. Vincent felt something on his shins loosen. Then on his thighs. Then stomach. And finally…

"And that is the last restraint. You are free to move about the tower now. Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Vincent stared at Starfire. This sudden change in mood and temperament was so...bizarre. First, the Teen Titans were playing the bad cops. Now, they—well, Starfire—were treating him like one of them. A sudden thought popped up into Vincent's mind.

"Where's Vanessa?"

Starfire paused. "Van—Oh! You mean Diamond Finesse?" She smiled warmly. "She's right here." Starfire yanked back the rest of the curtains surrounding the hospital bed to reveal Diamond Finesse sitting on a chair at the far end of the room.

"Hey, Vincent." she said quietly.

"Man, that was some good grub!" proclaimed Cyborg loudly as everyone cleared away the dishes after dinner. Beast Boy nodded.

"I especially liked the vegetarian lasagna. There seemed to be a lot of it though." he added thoughtfully.

"BB, there was a lot of it because you were the only one eating it. Nobody with half a brain around here would eat lasagna without meat."

"I did!" said Beast Boy indignantly. Raven smiled slyly.

"Who said you had a brain?"

Raven ducked as Beast Boy threw a dishrag at her, much to the amusement of everyone else in the room. Vincent watched from the corner, not quite sure what to do.

Vincent had been quiet all through dinner. No matter what Starfire said or did, no matter how many kind words went his way, Vincent couldn't shake the feeling that he was an outsider here, and that he wasn't welcome. Perhaps it was the way that Robin stared at him icily all through the meal that made him think this. He was very happy when the kitchen was done and he could go to his room and stay there.

Vincent's room was Terra's old room. The desert skyline theme was still on the walls, and the door still read TERRA. It was very odd. Vincent walked over to his bed and sat down on it. How long was he going to stay in the tower? He was definitely a stranger, an intruder. Would all of the Titans ever completely trust him, especially after what he had pulled the night before? Furthermore, should he trust them?

With thoughts like these swimming around in his head, and the fact that Diamond Finesse was somewhere above him, sharing a room with Raven that night, sleep didn't come easily to Vincent. Just when he drifted off to sleep, the lights started blinking and an alarm started blaring just outside his room. Robin's voice blasted through the building.

"Titans! We have an intruder!"