Tuesdays were supposed to be the most boring night of the week. Holidays rarely fell on them, they weren't as awful as Mondays, they weren't a day most people made plans on, there was less travel compared to the weekend. It was all of those reasons that made Tuesdays the perfect date night for Starfire and I. Crime rates were low once again, we had foiled a massive, premediated League of Villains attack last week. In theory now was the perfect time to take Starfire to a new restaurant that had opened by the pier. It was a little fancier than we normally went out to, but she deserved to be treated. We both did this week. They were less busy on Tuesdays which helped with the reservation as well. It should be perfect.
Who plotted to take over the world on a Tuesday? Well I guess logic and previous data from Tuesdays goes out the window when an unknown international terrorist organization operating out of remote islands in the Pacific Rim decides to make their move.
Though they certainly were going for one heck of a first impression, 3 confirmed city leveling nukes with a kryptonite tip which took Superman off the roster in dealing with them. Red Star did not have the speed needed and it was a losing game since they were coming our direction. Starfire was the next most logical choice.
We had at least gotten to the appetizers this time. She had flown us both back to the Tower to drop me off and get out of her dress which luckily was over her uniform. Her ability to strip quickly was always appreciated…in battle settings. She had taken the earpiece and preliminary explosives Cyborg offered and took off Westward trusting satellites and her team to be able to guide her. I was quickly inside working with Cyborg to monitor both her location and the missiles. It was important to line them both up so Starfire could simply attach the mini timed explosives and get out of there in time. This was unfortunately the safest way since they were going to blow no matter what, better to have it done in a safe space over the gyre.
"I was really looking forward to my salmon." She said over the line. "How much farther?" She was traveling at a steady speed so the computer could keep up. It was not her top speed by any means, but it was swift.
"You should make contact in 4 minutes and 38 seconds. Maybe we could see if they will let us take our meals home." I said since it was always fun to have our side conversations in the middle of a battle or mission. It was extra exciting to see the balance. We were both experts in multitasking and kicking ass so it just added another layer of thrill to flirt on a battlefield. It wasn't always flirting sometimes it was the most mundane things like shopping lists or plans for the day.
"I wonder if they wrap them up like swans like the restaurant we went to in Gotham. Do I need to adjust my position?" She asked and I checked her question to make sure she was indeed on course.
"No, you're perfect like usual." I said and saw her increase speed a little more not sure if that was in response to my comment or if she made a visual.
"Maybe we can still have some dessert once I get back. I remember your fondness for whipped cream-"
"Can you two horndogs save it for after? You two aren't the only ones on the line! Star those timers are set for 3 minutes so you should have plenty of time to get out of there, but don't waste it. You should have a visual in the next minute at your current speed." Cyborg cut in. It was probably for the best since Starfire was most likely going to say Strawberries, there was a big enough chance it would come off otherwise.
"Sorry Cyborg, it just always does the sucking when villains ruin date night. These are magnetic correct or do I need to adhere them directly to the target?" Starfire said as I glared over at Cyborg for referring to us as horny. All things considering we had kept it pretty PG.
"These need to be adhered unfortunately. Be careful when applying pressure since we appreciate you in one piece." He replied and I fell back into business mode. My girlfriend was going to stop 3 nuclear missiles if all went right, but if anything went wrong… Starfire was powered by radiation and transferred blast force, but being that close range had other elements. This was not a riskless mission for her. There was no plan B if she failed either.
"Understood, I think I can see them up ahead, they are all relatively close so I should be able to catch the time limit. I will enter upper atmosphere to observe to make sure all detonation goes according to plan."
Though as soon as the feed of Starfire and the missiles aligned we switched to watching one angle. They were still flying rather uniform, but they would be diverging soon enough.
"Go ahead and start with the one on the left. Make sure the numbers beep before you move on to the next." I said as it was important to make sure than they all were neutralized as their paths were becoming more clear. One was meant for Steel City, Jump City and Metropolis. She flew into the path and started following orders. She was now needing to fly backwards which I knew was more difficult to maintain standard speed. Though it was one of the reasons she was selected, missiles or other planes were not able to do everything she could.
"First target engaged." She said as she flew to the underside of the missile and briefly disappeared from sight. "Success, moving on." She reported a little bit after.
Another round of sirens rang out as another bomb was detected at a much greater speed. The satellites traded and we could see it was heading in a familiar path straight for Jump.
"Second target, success." Starfire reported unaware of the new threat.
"Little Lady we have another lightning Bogey heading you way." Cyborg said into the mic.
"Starfire we have another missile coming at a greater speed than the first batch. You only grabbed 3 detonators right?" I translated so she would understand what was going on.
"Yes, I only have 3. I do not have time to grab more do I? Third one successfully implanted." Though her success was downcast by the remaining threat.
"This one is coming towards fast, and it's not going to line up with the timed detonation." I heard Cyborg say running through the calculations. "Starfire you know how you were able to move those ship mines with Val-Yor and most of them didn't go off?" I felt my stomach drop.
"Give me an angle and time." She said with a grunt as she left the underside of the third bomb. She was going to manhandle a nuke.
"Starfire, be careful." I said over the line, because even if she had done something like this time and time again, I didn't want her to get hurt.
"It is rather hard to be careful while dealing with warheads." I heard Raven deadpan from behind as she had joined us and deployed the public service announcement to not fear.
"I will do my best, dear. Cyborg I see it, I need an angle or I am going to come up with my own." She said into the comms and then the screens only showed one video feed.
"You got this girl, as close to 90 as you can." Cyborg said and I saw on the screen as Starfire changed her angle of flight so she could sneak underneath.
"Thank you." We heard through the line as acknowledgement of direction.
The satellite had a countdown of when they would intersect, but then suddenly the screen turned white. A fizzle sound in my ear demonstrated that a connecting piece had been destroyed. The screen started to dim back down revealing a cloud of smoke when it took white again as it was still in range of the slower missiles. The timer of the first one must have gone off.
I had not heard anything past the fizzle in my ear, but I knew words were being exchanged. I just kept staring at the screen waiting to see her give some sort of sign she was all good. She would fly above the smoke and give the peace sign with her fingers she was so fond of. I stared at the screen as the image started to get clearer, but no pop of red came into view. Maybe she needed a moment. She just was waiting until the sky cleared a little more. There were things happening around me, but my whole focus was catching every bit of motion waiting to see her. Maybe she had been shifted around by the blasts. I moved my hand to pan out the image hoping to catch her distinctive colors somewhere within the smoke.
My chest felt tight and I remembered I needed to breathe. Once Oxygen returned I shifted over to the other satellite's feed hoping she was just an outlier.
I knew it looked bad on screen, to anyone else there would be no question.
This was Starfire. She was practically a living star with her powers. She had survived countless explosions. She had survived Red Star's flare up. She had survived a life in those cells. She was meant to survive practically everything. She had to have been able to survive a blast like that. There was no logical explanation why she couldn't. Though as she still had to make an appearance.
"She could be hurt." I said out loud. That would make perfect sense, she must have been disoriented by the two blasts. I quickly locked onto to the coordinates and dispersed them to the Titan network. Red Star would be able to investigate in addition to Aqualad. A stationary point was better than a moving missile. All the work didn't have to fall on her shoulders of getting back.
Maybe she was already flying back. Maybe after the first blow she had shot straight up to space like originally planned and the headpiece just broke since they were prone to do so with too much heat. After coming to terms that the satellite images were not showing me anything useful, I turned on the Tower lights to beacon mode so she would be able to see where she needed to go from a far distance.
I walked in sort of a daze as I saw Beast Boy clutching a hand over his mouth next to a waste basket as the footage began to start over as Cyborg had taken over the controls. I needed to get up to the roof so I could wait for her. She was probably exhausted and would need to just rest. We could have dessert in bed. That would be enough to end my night. A happy ending just to have a mild night in after all this excitement. Maybe we could even watch a movie until she fell asleep.
I stared off into the wide berth of the ocean. The sunset was almost over with just some lingering purple clouds and perhaps a low hanging sun in the distance. I loved watching these with her maybe she would make it home back in time, but soon the light dimmed as the sun was swallowed by the sea. It was a good thing I turned the beacon on as she would surely need to see the Tower clearly if she got discombobulated.
I stood and waited for her to float onto the roof. Maybe she would have a surprisingly witty joke about blasts being stronger in space. Maybe she would just need me to support her up as she used all her energy to make it home.
I did not know how long I stood on the roof, but it was not long enough as she didn't come back.
Hello! Welcome to Jumpstart my attempt at exploring what would happen if Starfire wasn't peer pressured into following the hero mentality. Honestly I had fun writing HIVE Five interactions in my last story Game Set Match( finished now) and wanted to explore more of that aspect. This is very loosely based on the movie Overboard and of course a mix of comics in addition to the 2003 show. This is going to have some darker themes as hinted upon issues in the show will be overt such as racism, war, and trafficking. This is also a Robstar, but that romance will not be the driving force. Please review! Thank YOU for reading!