Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or anything related to them. The story idea is also completely mine and any story similar to it is pure coincedence.

Chapter 4

She saw his receding figure sneak back through the cave. Although she thought about following him back to figure out where the lair was, she thought better of it, instead focusing on the problem at hand: Terra's powers. How could this girl have neglected to tell them that she was not fully in control of her powers? How could she have been so dumb as not to ask in the first place?

"Duck!" Beast Boy's voice came out of nowhere as the changeling came flying towards her. With ease, she sidestepped him, letting him land beside her. With a determined look on his face, the boy jumped right back into the fray.

Shaking her head in both amusement and disbelief, she continued to search around for the rest of her friends. Raven was behind Terra, lying on the ground and clutching her leg. Apparently, she had been hit by one of the rocks thrown madly about by Terra. Concerned, Starfire pulled the girl out into a safer area, away from the swirling vortex in which Terra was situated. Once they were out of danger, Raven lay down and closed her eyes, entrancing herself so as to heal her wounds. Starfire knew that her friend would be safe now, so she ran quickly back towards the fray.

Cyborg was the next one to find Starfire. He was blasting every rock he saw, trying to make the tornado lose momentum, but his efforts were futile. In a fierce whisper, she told him of Raven's condition and asked him to watch over her. She continued through the swirling dirt and dust, trying to find her way to Beast Boy and Terra, but she could not find them.

"Terra!" she heard Beast Boy calling with concern and intensity in his voice as he attempted to locate the blonde.

"Beast Boy?" Terra's voice resounded, giving Starfire an idea where the center of the tornado was.

Suddenly, she felt something connect with the back of her head, and she felt suddenly dizzy. Dropping to her knees, she groaned, grasping her head in pain and she fell to her side. Her world went black as she saw Beast Boy and Terra falling slowly back down to earth as the tornado dissolved, then saw Terra's eyes brimming with tears.

"Starfire? Starfire! Hold on! We need to get you back home now! Star!" Terra was saying, but she couldn't discern the next few phrases, for she had blacked out.

Waking up, she bolted upwards, turning her head from side to side, trying to get an idea where she was. Nothing clicked. All she could see were blurs and colors, not much to go by. Sighing impatiently, she waited for her vision to clear, then tried again. Apparently, she was in the hospital wing of the tower, sitting in bed.

"Nice to see you up," said a gloomy voice beside her.

Starfire whipped her head around to see Raven sitting on the cot beside her, reading a book. "Raven? You are okay?"

"Yeah, I've been okay for the past few days, but those two dimwits won't let me out of here because they say the ligiment isn't completely healed yet. I'm supposed to be allowed to leave tomorrow. I've got to say, it's nice to see you up, although it was nice and quiet around here with Beast Boy and Cyborg handling all the work and you out of commission," Raven paused. "Then again, it's not like you say very much to begin with."

Nodding absentmindedly, Starfire looked around the room. There was nothing to do here, no computers she could use to moniter the boys. Suddenly, something clicked. "How long have I been in this place? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Three days, give or take."

"Three days?" The revelation was astounding. She had been out of commission for that long? How had they managed? Had they gotten any more reports on Robin? How was Terra? "What has been occurring in that time?"

"Well, Robin hasn't hit anywhere so far. According to Cyborg's camera- that you so wisely had him install in his armor to document all of the mission's concerning Robin, thank you- he was hit pretty badly. Last the camera saw of him, he was running away into the sewers, bleeding pretty badly from his shoulder," Raven replied, knowing instinctively that it was the first thing that Starfire was going to ask about.

"That is good to know, at least, that you have not had to deal with our former friend during my absense. What about Terra?" she asked.

"She locked herself up in her room. She's been up there crying for these past three days. I think you might need to say something to her, once you're better that is. Hey, where are you going? You're not supposed to be up! When you faint in the hallway..." Raven continued her rant as Starfire pulled herself up out of bed and into the hallway. Grabbing the railing for support, she slowly made her way up the stairs to Terra's room.

"Hello?" she asked tentatively as she knocked on the door.

"Starfire? You're okay?" Terra's voice came from within, filled with pain and sorrow.

"I have just recently awoken and have come to check on you, friend," Starfire said in as friendly a tone as she could manage despite her dizzy sensation.

"I'm so sorry. I just lost control! I didn't want to tell you guys because I thought you wouldn't accept me if you knew and now you do know and I don't know what to do because if I stay I'm putting you all in danger, but Cyborg and Beast Boy say that I shouldn't just leave because of one mistake and that I should think my decision through but after what happened to you I don't know if I can or not because I don't want that to happen to anyone else, I'd never forgive myself if I did, so maybe I should just go!" Terra said this all in one breath as soon as she opened the door. After taking in big gulps of air, she fell on her knees, crying and apolegizing over and over again.

"It is all well, friend. You meant no harm. Sometimes we make mistakes, but we must continue." Her words were like a sword in her mind, but a beacon to Terra. In her mind, she was convincing herself that Robin was to be forgiven and that he really was simply the victim of an innocent mistake, while to Terra, it seemed that she was being a kind, loving friend.

"Star! What are you doing up and about? You get right back to that medical ward, and I mean now!" Cyborg's voice said behind her and she whirled around to face the big man.

"I am sorry, friend, but I merely wished to comfort Terra and invite her to stay on permanently as a member of the Teen Titans!" she explained, throwing as big a grin as she could manage in the direction of the poor girl.

"Apolegies or not, you need to get back in that bed," Cyborg replied, picking her up and carrying her back to the medical room, though he could not suppress a grin as he handed a communicator to a beaming Terra.

"May I at least have my laptop so that I might work on my bewildering case?" she asked with as buttery-smooth a voice as she could muster.

"Whatever floats you boat, and keeps you inside," Cyborg replied, secretly relieved that Starfire was not going to fight him to roam freely.

"Thank you," she smiled easily, happy that she could at least do something productive while she was stuck in a room for the next few days.

After she had been brought back to the medical ward, she was plopped down next to Raven, who nodded to acknowledge her presence, then continued reading. She immediately keyed in her password and began working on the case. Both of the other Titans rolled their eyes. Same old Starfire, always unwilling to give up hope in Robin. Sometimes they wondered if it was effecting her health.

She was immediately engrossed in the case, opening the file with the newest findings. What was that dot and could it be anything? Suddenly, she looked up to see that Cyborg was no longer there. She called him on her communicator and he came rushing in.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Worry not friend, I merely need your assistance on an element of the present case," she said, soothingly.

Sitting down beside her, he asked, "What can I do to help?"

"I found this in the stream of particles emitted from the blaster with which we were hit on that day when it all started. I would like for you to, since I am currently in the medical ward anyway, scan to see if these tiny devices are located anywhere within my body."

"Can do," he grinned, pulling out several instruments and setting to work to create a scan that would sense something so tiny. Starfire hoped fervently that this was an essential clue in the case, that there would be a breakthrough. If they had truly injured Robin as badly as Raven had said, his life could be dependent on it!