Disclaimer: I own no part of the Teen Titans or their associated canon nor, any other already copyrighted material.

(A/N): Finally, another chapter. I should have this story finished in the next couple days. I'm averaging about a chapter a day.

Chapter 6

Broken Threads

Starfire startled awake as the rain began to fall. She looked around quickly. Robin, where was Robin? Where was she? They had been…on a building…? He thoughts were fuzzy. She couldn't quite focus on anything. Raising her hand to rub her temples, she noticed the tattered sleeve of the hooded sweatshirt she had managed to salvage earlier in the day. It was amazing what people would throw away in this town. Wait…salvaged clothing? Why would she wear that? Looking over her huddled form she also saw the dirty jeans and tattered sneakers she had found.

Of course…her uniform had been too…unique. She had wanted to disappear after getting kicked out of the Tower and her uniform gave her away.

Wait…kicked out of the Tower? Her mind was confused. It was as if slices from two lives had been combined to form her memories, and neither was remotely like the other. She could remember being forced out of the Teen Titans, but she couldn't remember why. It was for that that she sat against this cold brick wall in a dark alley and suffered the drizzle falling on her. Instinctively she grabbed a nearby cardboard box to gain some shelter. Folding her thin frame up she fit neatly inside of it. As the rain pitter pattered on the box, she tried to collect her thoughts.

Working backward, she found that her memories more than a few months back weren't fragmented. Working day by day she tried to find the first time something was twisted. She remembered Hunter… He had come to the tower… The next few days seemed right… Then she and Robin had gone out for pizza… There had been a police chase nearby… And she blanked out. The next thing she remembered was the look on the other's faces as she left the tower for the last time. After that, her memories were spliced with another life. One still in the Tower. Were those memories a dream, a fantasy? They seemed too real for that. The tattered clothes and box she was cowering in spoke to how unlikely that was however.

Instead she tried to focus on the memories that fit with this place.

The first few days had been the hardest. She had left the Tower with nothing more than her uniform. She had considered going home, but had dismissed the idea immediately. If they discovered she had been kicked out of the Titans she would be jailed for life, possibly executed. She had tried to find a place to live, a job. She had never considered it before, but she really had no skills other than fighting crime and the only ones that she could join for that, had kicked her out. So she had ended up on the street.

Memories of what she had gone through those first days made her shiver. She had learned 'street smarts' the hard way. She learned quickly and painfully from a series of people she had encountered, each worse than the last. It was a darkened night two weeks ago she had reached the lowest point anyone can reach.

Huddled in an alley very similar to this one, save the smell of Italian food wafting from the next block, she had sat in the darkness staring at her exposed wrists and the rusty knife she had found. Unable to stand living anymore and unable to go home, she had been on the very edge of giving up. It was then that Marvin found her. He had been wandering the Jump City streets for years. He seemed to know all there was to know about the city. He was kindly elderly black man who wore a tattered trench coat and an eye patch over his left eye. He had a perpetual cough and walked with a slight limp. Despite all this, there seemed to be an air about him, as if he was royalty in disguise.

He had a manner about him that gave comfort to her and seemed to ward off the darkness that had closed in. From him she learned how to survive. He had been her friend and kept her from giving up. She found the will to live and had started to put together a life. She could get off the street. She would find a way.

And then he had been taken as well.

It had been a random police chase. The car flipped in the oddest way possible. If only she had been a second quicker she might have stopped it. But now…she was alone again. The irony of it crashed down on her again.

She was an alien, had super strength, starbolts, could fly and any number of other things…and here she was. None of those things mattered though. It had been a long time since she could summon the emotions necessary to use her powers. Silent laughs wracked her body until they changed into silent bone wracking sobs.

Several minutes later she managed to slow to a sob and wipe tears from her face. She couldn't do this anymore. She had to do something. Moments later she came to the decision she had been avoiding for days. The only choice she could really make. Finding the rain abated for the time being she rose and tossed off the box. Pulling the hood as far forward as she could, she huddled herself against the elements and started walking toward the street. Late as it was, there was hardly anyone out. She started off across town, headed for the docks.

A half hour later she reached the stone pier and gazed across the bay to the Titan's tower. Lights were still on, they were still awake. Searching her memory she managed to find a memory that gave her the emotion she needed. Lifting off the dock she flew silently through the dark night to the small island where the Tower stood.

Landing on the rocky shore she faltered. It seemed like so long since she had flown she didn't want to stop. Firmly landing she took a hesitant step toward the structure. As she did so, something caught her ear. It sounded like music. Or more, the echo of music heard from across the whole of time. She glanced around sharply, trying to find the source. For a split second she thought she saw a flicker over the city. If faded, as did the music. Turning back to the task at hand, she started the climb to the front door.

Thunder rumbled overhead as she approached the entry way and hit the call button. After several moments the face of Robin appeared. He had been smiling, but he turned immediately stern on recognizing her face. She could hear the others behind her they seemed to be watching a movie.

"Starfire." All background noise stopped as he spoke her name. He glanced off screen to confirm an unheard question. "What are you doing here?" The way he schooled his face and moderated his tone, most people would have never guessed the two of them had once been very close. "I told you not to come here." His voice was harsher now. She wanted to believe he was covering for any emotion that might be creeping up at seeing her, but she couldn't.

"I…I know. I'm sorry Robin." It was amazing how much a few weeks on the street changed her speech patterns. "I…I came to ask a favor. One last favor." She could see the consideration in his eyes as he stared.

"What?"

"Could…could you take me…home?" Several moments stretched out as he stared at her, masked eyes boring into her face. In a flash his hand shot out and keyed in a sequence on a nearby pad. The door slid open to her right.

"I assume you remember the way up." A moment later the screen went blank. Turning, she headed into the place she had called home.

The elevator opened unexpectedly on the guest quarters floor and she found herself facing Robin. There were no warm welcomes here, no forgiveness. "Follow me." She did as told and followed him one of the doors. "You can stay here overnight. We'll take you home in the morning." The door slid open and he motioned her in.

"Robin…I…I'm sorry…"

"I don't care."

"That's a lie! You do care! Robin… When I go home…I'll be imprisoned for the rest of my life, if I'm not executed. I didn't want to go with out telling you…I'm sorry."

"Sorry? That's what you said before. Are you sorry? I believe you're sorry. So do the others. But it doesn't change anything. YOU KILLED PEOPLE!" Like a flood the memories rushed back to her. They had followed the chase, found the car, the kidnapped children…she had lost it. No jury in the world would've convicted her…but Robin couldn't have a murderer on the team. She hadn't killed them in a rush of adrenaline. She had beaten them to death…and she had taken her time. She had said it was because they had stolen children….but the real reason… "It wasn't worth killing them. Not for kidnapping."

"It wasn't for that."

"What? You told me…"

"It was because you…were injured?"

"That bullet wound? That was nothing. I've been hurt worse. Why would that-"

"Because I love you, you bat brained idiot!" She hadn't meant to say it like that. The music had returned, it was scrambling her thoughts again. Robin stared at her, shocked. Before he could speak she ran into the room and let the door slide shut. A moment later she heard it lock from the outside.

It was wrong, it was all wrong. She didn't belong here, not like this. The music was growing. It wasn't an echo any longer; she could make out a tune. It seemed to come from the city. Moving to the window she looked out over the cityscape. After several moments of searching she found the flicker she had seen earlier. It was now a steady beacon, pulling her. She had to get to it. For some reason, everything would be better if she got to it. Looking around, she discovered just where she was. It was a specially designed room Cyborg had created to contain people with high strength. The windows were reinforced, the walls and door thicker. She had to get out of here.

Summoning all the emotion she could, the first punch landed against the door.

Minutes later she reached the roof and ran for the edge. A black shadow rose from the tile behind her and coalesced into Raven. "Star! Stop!" She ignored it and continued on, dodging a black coil that tried to entrap her legs. Diving off the roof she took flight and raced toward the city. A quick glance told her she wasn't alone. The R-Cycle and T-Car raced along the waves below her and a massive black shadow and an eagle's cry told her the others were close her tail. The music was pounding in her head now, making all other thought impossible.

Reaching the city she dodged a sonic cannon blast and wove between the buildings. Closing on the beacon she could see it was a tear of some sort located above a construction site that seemed familiar somehow. Grenades, sonic blasts, black balls and falcon dives filled the air as she strove to reach the tear. The music seemed to be all that there was, drowning out even the explosions mere feet from her. One of Robin's shock bolos wrapped around her ankles and released their charges. She tumbled forward as her nervous system was overloaded. The four pursuing Titan's were the last thing she saw before the world exploded in a blinding flash.

Robin recognized the mask immediately. It was the Red X mask he had used when working as Slade's apprentice. The reason for why he was wearing it now though… Glancing around he found himself in a broken down corner of a broken down room in a broken down building. It looked to have been a hotel room at some point. There was a passable bed, a dresser, two chairs and a table. Moving to a window he glanced out and beheld a city in ruin. Jump City was a wreck. Buildings were crushed, trees burned, streets torn apart. He instinctively knew Slade had done this. But how?

He spun around as footsteps began to draw closer. Slipping into the shadows he waited. After several moments Raven appeared, stepping cautiously into the room. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans instead of her uniform. Entering, she unzipped the sweat jacket she wore and tossed it onto a chair. She picked him out of the shadows and stepped toward him. He stepped out to meet her as well. She spoke as she closed the distance.

"I came as fast as I could. I'm sure I wasn't followed." Before he could react she stepped up and embraced him, catching his lips in a not dispassionate kiss. Acting on instinct he followed suit. For some reason this felt…not right….but correct. They had done this before, several times. It was how they had begun coping. It had started with comforting each other during those stolen moments when Slade let him free, but it had become something more. Wait…hadn't he been thinking of something else a minute ago? "Cy wanted me to tell you…we only lost three people on that last raid."

"That's three too many."

"Don't say that. If not for you, hundreds more would have been killed. Including me. You keep working for him because it's the only possible way to save anybody. We all know that."

"It didn't save Beast Boy…or Star."

"No…but it saved three hundred lives. They knew they might have to die in this work, they went onto it with their eyes open."

"On the battlefield or stopping something sure…not like this. Not to a virus stuck in them by a coward."

"You know your only options are to keep saving who you can, or stop and sacrifice me, Cyborg and everyone else. You can't protect them all alone." Stepping out of the embrace she moved over to the bed and sat down. He set his mask down on the table and turned to her.

"You're right…as usual…"

"Yeah… Now…come on." With a deft motion she removed her shirt and tossed it to the chair. "Slade'll get suspicious if you're gone too long."

"Yeah…he will."

A half hour later Robin headed for Slade's HQ, the one intact building in downtown Jump City. He passed through the dozens of sentinel bots on his X-Cycle and parked in the secure garage. Making his way into the lobby he headed for the elevator. As it began its accent, he was sure he heard faint music coming form the speakers…but that was ludicrous. Slade had never liked music, especially elevator music.

Stepping out of the lift he made his way toward Slade's form, standing at the far end of the room, observing a bank of monitors. "You're late." Robin instinctively dropped to his knees and bowed to the floor.

"I'm sorry sir. I thought I saw a rebel leader near the docks. I followed them and found a small cache of weapons. They escaped but the weapons are destroyed."

"I see." He stepped forward and pushed a few buttons on the control panel. Spybot video of him and Raven from just minutes ago played on screen. "Yes…quite dangerous weapons indeed." Images of Cyborg and Raven appeared on the main screen. "You've been more and more lax lately. Perhaps it's time for another reminder…"

"NO!" Something red streaked across the room and stuck into the console between Slade's hand and the buttons he was about to push.

"I thought I told you to remove these vestiges of your former life." He pulled the bird-a-rang free from the console and turned. "If you're going to keep being my apprentice-" Slade reeled under the power roundhouse that connected with his head.

"I'm not your apprentice!" Slade shook his head as he stood, facing the battle ready Robin.

"I see." He tossed the projectile to the side. "I always thought this day would come, though I expected to you would wait a little longer. After all, the student should always strive to best the master. You've always know your only options were victory or death. So…come…show me what you have learned"

With a primal roar Robin launched himself at Slade. His attacks weren't the refined techniques Bruce had taught him or the styles Slade had tried to impart, it raw, unbridled rage. Such unskilled attacks should have been easy for Slade to counter, but they arrived with such speed and such ferocity that he was being pummeled back into the wall. After taking several of these assaults Slade realized something incredible. Robin's skill level was higher than he could believe. Somehow he had hidden his level of expertise, and was finally pulling no punches.

Robin let out guttural shouts as he tore through Slade's defenses and shattered his body. He fought with all the hate and all the rage that had been building in him for the months of destruction, the death of his friends, and the murder of Jump City residence. A powerful palm strike sent Slade smashing into a column, causing much of it to crumble to the side. Slade lay stunned on what was left of the column's foot. With the structure gone a flickering tear was revealed in the air behind the struggling terrorist. Music was playing; Robin could just make it out over the pounding in his ears. Dashing forward he launched a powerful jump kick at Slade, who was just starting to sit up.

Robin felt the mask shatter as his foot made contact, followed by Slade's skull caving in. A split second later he contacted the rift and the world exploded in a white flash.

(A/N): If you feel it is warranted feel free to review. I welcome any and all opinions.