Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. But I did get some TT stuff for Hanukkah.

Note: From where it's marked as a flashback, it continues as a flashback through the end of the chapter. It'll go back to present time sometime in the next chapter.

Rain poured down from the sky, mixing with the dirt ground to form mud and leaving a damp chill in the air. On a hill just outside of the city, a lone girl stood in the cemetery. The grave she stood at was fresh, the dirt covering the coffin not yet covered with grass. She held an umbrella to keep herself dry, but a few scattered drops of rain still fell on her, dampening her coat and her long red hair. Tears pooled in her emerald green eyes as she read, for the hundredth time, the headstone that had been erected only a couple of hours earlier.

Robin

1989-2006

Brave Leader

True Friend

Brushing away her tears, Starfire smiled sadly. It was true, she had never felt such a loss in her life. Robin, her best friend, the only boy she would ever love, had died. She felt an emptiness in the pit of her stomach that words could not describe. There were so many things she had never said, and now they would be left unsaid for all eternity. She had never told him she loved him, had never known his real name, had never even seen him with his mask off. But certain things didn't need to be stated verbally to be explained. The look in their eyes every time they had locked had been enough.

But although she felt like half of her was gone, a strange content feeling was also washing over her. Yes, he was gone, but now he wouldn't have to fight anymore. Now he wouldn't have to feel guilt over things he had no control over. Now she would always know where to find him. And now she would never have to lose him again.

Flashback: One year earlier

It had been strangely quiet around the Tower lately. Quiet because Jump City was quiet, and strange because Jump City was never quiet. Individually the Titans often asked themselves how a single city such as Jump could have so many villains. It wasn't like Jump was so different from any other city of its size; it had its bad areas, but it also had its better neighborhoods. But there seemed to be something about the city that attracted all sorts of bad guys, ranging from world-threatening madmen to small-time crooks. It was all the Titans could do to keep up with the constant flow of theft and violence that swept through the city.

So it was odd that for almost three weeks there had been just two bank robberies. At first Robin had been suspicious, or at least more suspicious than usual. Someone must be planning something, he told the rest of the Titans. Probably Slade. For three weeks there had been constant guard duty around the Tower, waiting for the plot to unfold. And for three weeks nothing had happened. And then came the 22nd day.

Starfire remembered that that day had been sunny. She remembered because she had been determined that morning to get Robin out of the Tower, to get him out of his constantly worrying state of mind. But she remembered something else about that day as well. When she had encountered Raven early that morning the empath had seemed preoccupied, and when Starfire asked her if everything was okay, Raven had answered strangely.

"Something isn't right. Something bad is going to happen." Star had pressed for details but that was all Raven's vision had come up with. Something bad.

Looking back, the morning passed in a blur. Cyborg made breakfast, Beast Boy made bad jokes, and Robin didn't come out of his room. And then the alarm went off.

No matter how many times she heard it, the alarm always sent Starfire jumping, its shrill scream and red lights sending a shiver down her spine. No sooner had the alarm began to scream than Robin had come racing out of his room.

"Report! What's the problem?" Cyborg sat at the computer monitor, typing away, drawing up a picture of the crime scene. He sat there silently for a moment, and everyone knew what was coming.

"Cyborg! What's going on?"

"It's him." And without even mentioning Slade's name, Robin was already out the door.

"Titans! Go!"

Reaching the old warehouse, Starfire let go of Robin's wrist, setting him down gently. "It looks like he's been here for a while," said Beast Boy, as they observed the wreckage already induced on the old building. Robin paid no attention to the comment.

"Search for survivors." The words had hardly left Robin's mouth when a swarm of Slade's robots descended on them. From out of the shadows came hundreds of them, and somehow in the craziness of the battle, Robin and Starfire had become separated from the rest of the Titans.

For a time they fought side by side, scattering the robots and helping each other watch their backs. When a lull came in the fighting he took a moment to flash her a smile.

"Don't give up," the look said. "We can do this." And then things went bad fast.

One of the robots, one that looked just like the rest but whose image would always be etched into Starfire's mind, threw a small disc at the ground in between the two Titans, and the resulting explosion was powerful enough to send them flying in opposite directions. Star hit the wall behind her and slid to the floor. Her head was already beginning to throb but she pushed herself up and shakily took a step forward before she saw what was happening on the other side of the room.

A robot was advancing on Robin, who had managed to clear the wall and was standing in a ready position. Somehow, she didn't know how, Starfire knew it was the same robot that had thrown the disc.

"He doesn't seem to like hand to hand combat," Star thought to herself as the robot threw an orb the size of a quarter towards Robin.

Revving up her starbolts, Starfire made to fly over to him, but was sidetracked by another band of the seemingly endless supply of robots. As she fought them she tried to spot Robin but found a cloud of smoke had formed around him, probably from the bomb. As the smoke began to clear Star caught sight of her friend and, sending a few more starbolts towards the enemy, flew over to fight by his side.

As a group of particularly savage robots began closing in on them, Robin pulled out a handful of bombs and flung them out in front of him, sending robots flying into the air and a wall collapsing, blocking their way out.

When the dust settled, Robin came back into Starfire's view, and she could see he was already trying to work his way through the wreckage to get back to the other Titans. She flew over to help him and together they lifted fallen beams and rubble, all the while listening to the fight going on on the other side of the wall.

She was trying so hard to move through the rubble that she almost didn't notice that Robin had stopped. He seemed to be staring off into space, staring at something in a far corner of the room. But when she looked over in the direction of his gaze she saw nothing there.

"Robin?" She was answered with silence; only the sound of their breathing could be heard.

Cautiously Starfire moved around so that she was standing in front of him and inhaled sharply. There was something wrong. His eyes seemed dull, and his breathing shallow. She put her hand in front of his face and moved it from side to side, watching to see if his eyes followed, and when they didn't she took his hand in hers, feeling it was cold even through their gloves. She was contemplating what to do when he collapsed in her arms. Immediately she pulled out her communicator. She was so preoccupied that she didn't even remember her friends had been in battle just a moment ago.

"Star? Where are you guys? The robots are gone- they left just like that." Starfire didn't look at her communicator, her eyes held captive on Robin's.

"Cyborg, we need help." Starfire's worried voice caught Cyborg's attention.

"Where are you?" He repeated.

"A wall collapsed. We are behind it."

"Okay. We're coming." A moment later a loud bang was followed by a hole emerging in the fallen debris. Through the smoke Star could see Cyborg lowering his sonic cannon. When Cyborg, along with Beast Boy and Raven, made their way over to Starfire and Robin they could tell immediately that something was wrong.

"Starfire, what happened?" Raven asked, kneeling down and looking Robin over.

"We were fighting and became separated. I tried to get back to him but could not. One of the robots threw something at him, threw a bomb at him. There was so much smoke- but he seemed uninjured. And then I looked at him again and he was… like this."

"They threw a smoke bomb at him?" said Beast Boy. "What, does he have asthma or something?" Raven glared at him before Cyborg said, "We have to get him back to the Tower."

Starfire nodded, still not understanding what was happening. Putting one arm behind Robin's neck and the other under his knees, she picked him up and flew out of the warehouse, back towards the Tower. In front of her Raven led the way back, her hood pulled over her head, and in back of them Beast Boy had become a pterodactyl and was carrying Cyborg on his back.

As she flew Starfire tried not to think about what was happening but questions surged through her head. What was in that bomb? Was it meant just for him? Is he seriously hurt? The question of whether or not he would survive never even crossed her mind.

Upon reaching the Tower Star brought Robin to the infirmary and set him down on a bed. A second later Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven walked in. The three of them looked over Robin once more before Cyborg and Raven turned to each other and began to talk medicine. Now Starfire felt helpless- she knew little about medicine and knew that for Robin's sake she should leave the healing to Cyborg and Raven.

"Hey, Star." She turned and saw Beast Boy pointing towards the door. "Why don't we go wait upstairs?" For a second she was torn; should she stay by Robin's side and watch helplessly as he was examined or should she leave the room- leave him? Starfire smiled weakly.

"Let us go up the stairs and wait."

Beast Boy led the way to the elevator and Starfire followed him, staring at the floor. When she looked up Beast Boy was smiling at her.

"Don't worry, Star. He'll be okay." Starfire didn't answer but followed him into the living room where they sat in silence for an hour and a half, waiting for a sign that they should go back.

They got that sign in Cyborg rushing into the room, looking frantic.

"Guys, we need to talk." At the words Starfire's heart quickened. She had learned from experience that "We need to talk" was code for "We have bad news." And of all the things to have bad news about, the health of one of her teammates, particularly Robin, was the worst.

She didn't wait for Cyborg to lead them back to where Robin was; instead she flew ahead, opening the door to find Robin hooked up to various monitors, a screen on the table next to him showing his heart rate and other statistics that she couldn't read. Raven was standing beside the bed, her hood down around her shoulders, looking at the screens intently. When Starfire opened the door she turned around, and the look on her face told Starfire everything she needed to know.

"He is not going to wake up." Starfire put it as a statement, not a question, but Raven shook her head anyway. At the confirmation Starfire collapsed into a chair next to the bed and took Robin's hand, willing the tears to come, but they didn't, not yet.

At the sound of footsteps entering the room Starfire looked up. When her eyes locked on Beast Boy's, the shape shifter's shoulders slumped and he gestured at Robin as he spoke.

"So… What happened?"

Cyborg had stopped in the doorway as if at any moment he would turn and leave this scene behind, but now he walked in and closed the door.

"We're not sure exactly what was in that bomb," he started, avoiding Starfire's eyes, "But whatever it was, it's shutting down his system. His heart, lungs, brain…" He sighed. "He's not gonna make it."

"We've attached him to a machine that will breathe for him, but his heart's failing and once his brain goes…" Raven trailed off. "There's nothing we'll be able to do."

Starfire's eyes were locked on Robin's closed eyes, pleading with them to open. She spoke softly, without raising her gaze from his face. "How long?"

Raven and Cyborg turned towards each other, trying to decide what to say. Cyborg spoke up first. "He's going quickly, Star. Its only been two hours and already," he motioned at the monitors next to the bed, the lines on the screens jumping up and down and dancing wildly with his heartbeat and artificial breathing, "We can't be sure but it's happening fast."

"And there's nothing you can do? Nothing at all?" Beast Boy's eyes pleaded with Raven's and Cyborg's.

"I can't keep him alive, I can just keep him from feeling any pain," Raven said quietly. "And I've been trying to do that but I don't think he can feel anything anyway."

"We've done everything we can, B." Cyborg assured him.

There was silence for a moment, and all eyes were on Starfire, who was aware not of anyone else in the room but Robin, who was slowly fading away from her. So she hardly noticed when Raven motioned towards the door and led Beast Boy and Cyborg out. And, finally alone, Starfire broke down and cried.

T-B-H-S

The funeral was three days later. Cyborg had persuaded Starfire to go get some sleep around midnight, and six hours later she had awoken to the sound of an alarm going off, an alarm signaling heart and brain failure, and had arrived in the room just in time to see him take his last breaths. She hadn't even thought about the fact that by that time he was no longer breathing on his own anyway.

Cyborg and Raven had said they didn't know how long he would last, but even they were shocked at how fast everything had happened. In the space of just eighteen hours Robin had contracted and died from a poison that was still as mysterious to the Titans as it had been at the beginning.

Starfire had arrived first in Robin's room, and had known as she watched him that it was over. Still, she waited for Raven to actually say it before leaving.

"I'm sorry, Starfire. He's gone." Star had nodded and walked out of the room, down the hallway, to the elevators, and had not stopped walking until she had reached her bedroom, where she collapsed on her bed and broke down in tears. For the next couple of days she refused to speak to anyone, so Robin's funeral had been planned without her, but still according to what he would have wanted. It wasn't flashy or expensive, and there were few attendants. After all, how many people knew Robin personally?

She had cried quietly during the service, tears streaming down her face. And when it was over and the rest of the team had started to leave, she asked for a few minutes alone. She stood there and read the headstone quietly to herself.

Robin

1989-2005

Courageous Leader

True Friend

After a few minutes she had taken one last look at the headstone, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and walked down to where the T-car was parked. No one spoke on the ride home.

T-B-H-S

The next day the alarm rang out in the Tower. At first Starfire had thought it was the alarm from the infirmary, and had jumped out of her seat and turned towards the elevators before realizing what it really was. If anything, the red light flashing throughout the entire Tower could have told her that it was merely the alarm signifying a villain in town.

She hadn't wanted to go, had wanted to just stay at home and sit in the quiet of the empty Tower, but the team had insisted it would be good for her. "To get your mind off of him." But the real reason she was going was that she knew he would have wanted her to. He would have insisted she live her life without him and continue to protect the city. So, following Cyborg's lead in the T-car, she had flown out of the Tower and into the bright day.

Arriving at the scene of the crime, a factory on the outskirts of Jump City, Starfire gave her all to the fight, smacking Plasmus with starbolt after starbolt, and giving him a few swift kicks in the back. She had thought she would be too upset to fight, but having someone to take her anger out on felt good, and in just twenty minutes Plasmus was down.

The team huddled around the fallen form of Plasmus, who had reverted to his human self and was sleeping deeply, if not peacefully. Her face locked in an angry glare at their fallen enemy, Star felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Cyborg.

"Come on. Let's go home." They turned to leave, each one of them feeling a little strange after undergoing their first fight without Robin, when something caught Starfire's eye. In the human-Plasmus's hand was a disc, a disc with a blinking red light on it. Starfire broke off from the group and flew over to Plasmus, pulling the disc out of his hand and inspecting it closely. The disc was just about the size of Star's hand and was silver metal save for the red light in the center.

"Hey, Starfire, let's go," Beast Boy called over to her. Pocketing the disc, Star flew back to her friends and followed them silently back to the Tower. She didn't know why, but for some reason she thought it best not to tell them about the disc.

T-B-H-S

That night Starfire couldn't sleep. She had been having trouble ever since the night they had brought Robin to the infirmary but tonight was different. Tonight she couldn't sleep not because of a waterfall of tears threatening to drown her if she lay down but because she couldn't stop thinking of the disc. She thought, no she knew, that it was somehow related to Robin's unnatural and distressing death. So at two in the morning, when she could no longer hear the sounds of Beast Boy and Cyborg playing video games and could no longer discern Raven meditating, Starfire got dressed and slipped out her window, into the cool night air. In her left hand she clutched the disc.

Star didn't know where she was going, didn't even know what she was looking for. But after a little while of fruitless searching she realized something: The disc in her hand, the disc that had been blinking at a slow pace since she had first acquired it, was starting to blink more rapidly.

Star stopped flying and lowered herself to the ground, never taking her eyes off the light on the disc, and started to walk slowly down the street. As she walked the light increased its blinking seemingly with every step she took, until finally it was blinking so quickly that Starfire knew it had reached its maximum. But she was still confused, not to mention she still didn't know what she was looking for. When the light reached its maximum speed Star stopped walking and looked up at her surroundings. And she gasped.

Without noticing it, Starfire had ended up staring at the entrance of a warehouse, the same warehouse in which Robin had collapsed right in front of her eyes. Now she was sure of it: This disc, whatever it was, whatever it meant, was most certainly connected to Robin's murderers.

Starfire shuddered and took a step forward. As soon as she did so a glaring search light turned on, momentarily blinding her. Putting an arm in front of her eyes to shield herself from the bright yellow light, Star looked around, trying to see who, if anyone, was there. After a few cursory glances around she started walking again. The Tamaranian wasn't entirely sure that she was alone, but she didn't really care one way or the other: Either she would find out what had happened to Robin or she would die trying.

As Starfire entered the warehouse she felt her heart pick up speed. Figuring it was just because she was returning to the scene of the crime, Star paid little attention to it. Only when she was deep into the building did she realize something felt… strange, almost forewarning. Something was pulling her forward, willing her to walk onward. Star's heartbeat got faster and faster until she felt she might collapse. It was then that she saw it, on the ground, not twenty feet in front of her. It could have been a pile of clothing, except that she swore she could see it moving, almost as if it were breathing. And the colors looked so familiar. Those greens, reds, and yellows, and-

"Robin!" Starfire gasped.

A/N: My first posted chapter fic! I'm pretty excited. The chapters aren't going to be very long, but I'll try to post every four days or so. I hope you liked it! Read and review, but no flames- thanks!