(A/N)- Hello hello it's time to hurt Robin again.
C'mon, with a prompt like this one I couldn't not. Just be glad I didn't go with my original idea to do something post-a Very Bad apprenticeship kidnapping.
Disclaimer: Weeew laddies, I still don't own Teen Titans. Bummer.
RobStar Week 2020, Day 5 - Rescue
Cinderblock bellowed as he pitched the lifted piece of metal scaffolding at them. Cyborg ducked and Beast Boy morphed into a sparrow to evade but Robin caught the piece full in the stomach, grunting and doubling over as it knocked him from his feet, carrying him clean over the side of the pier and into the water below.
The chilly autumn saltwater blasted around his head and body in a stream of furious bubbles as he hit, and the scaffolding sank into the bay, down, down, dragging Robin down with it.
Robin struggled against its weight several moments. A sliver of panic poked through him as he felt his back hit the muddy bottom.
He looked up frantically towards the surface, not even fifteen feet above him, but still agonizingly far away. His hands pulled on a beam, tugging, hands slipping around the slick metal.
The heavy piece of construction material wouldn't budge. It had settled on the harbor floor, wedging him in place, pinned down by the corner pressing into his stomach.
Robin's legs kicked loosely. His hands scrabbed at the beam on his midsection, fumbling towards his belt, but his tools were just underneath the thick metal in a way that made them inaccessible and his throat was tightening and he was running out of breath.
His wide eyes flashed up towards the rippling ocean surface and the air above him, horribly out of reach.
-TT-
On the other side of the construction site, Starfire and Raven blasted twin streams of energy into the sloppy, gelatinous pieces of Plasmus.
The pieces screeched, melting apart and dissolving into amorphous goop, laying in splotchy patches on the concrete.
The main body of the creature wobbled and teetered, exhausted from the fight, finally breaking open and spilling the man inside onto the ground, where he moaned softly.
Starfire panted hard, but didn't relax, glancing over at Raven and seeing that the other girl had stiffened, her violet eyes widening slightly.
Cold fear started trickling through her. Their fight was over and yet Raven's face was paling, which meant she must be sensing something through her bond with Robin.
Which meant something had gone wrong.
She stepped towards her friend, worry beating through her heart. "Raven?" she called.
Raven shook herself, raising her hands.
"We need to get back to the boys," she just said urgently. "Now."
Starfire didn't need to be told twice, stepping quickly closer as Raven's black energy swelled up around them.
-TT-
Cinderblock sprawled on the dock behind him as Cyborg watched the water's surface anxiously. He had been acutely aware of Robin's absence at his back, a slow-growing anxious panic building inside him.
Robin had been under too long.
Beast Boy had dove in almost before Cinderblock had finished falling, morphing before he hit the water, becoming a large shark.
Now a fin broke the water, followed by Beast Boy's head as he morphed back, and then Robin's, limp and lolling forward.
Cyborg leaned down at once, stretching out as Beast Boy kicked back for the dock, one arm slashing through the water until he was within range.
His metal hands slipped under Robin's armpits as Beast Boy lifted him up.
Cyborg hauled Robin onto the dock, trying not to think about how limp and quiet and pale he was. Beast Boy scrabbled his way up onto the wooden pier momentarily, shaking the water off, biting his lip until it hurt as Cyborg checked first with his arm sensors and then manually at Robin's neck.
A swish of magic sounded and then Raven and Starfire were there, running up, Starfire already looking horrified and panicked.
Cyborg leaned his ear down over Robin's face, then straightened.
"Weak pulse, but he's not breathing," he told them, carefully tilting the boy's head to begin resuscitation.
He managed a single cycle of breaths before the girls reached them, Beast Boy biting his nails the whole time.
To his surprise, Starfire was the one who shoved Cyborg aside first, grabbing up Robin's head, sealing her mouth over his and…
…Well, it looked like some kind of rescue breathing, but no kind Beast Boy had ever seen. Some Tamaranian technique maybe.
Starfire's lips were practically biting Robin's and Beast Boy was fairly certain her tongue was down his throat, but a moment later he forgot his curiosity as Robin's diaphragm gave a sharp twitch.
Then he gargled.
Then Starfire detached, long tongue retracting quickly into her mouth and Robin choked, coughing up, turning his head over and expelling small mouthfuls of water into the wood under his right arm.
Relief pinged through the Titans, and it was obvious Starfire was holding herself back from throwing her arms around Robin. She sat back, her hands curled happily over her chest, expression elated as she watched him gasp and cough, slowly regaining color and recovering his breath.
Raven knelt down, looking him over in concern. "You okay?" she asked.
Robin pressed a hand to the base of his neck, swallowing and making a face. "Ngh…" he groaned. He sat up, touching a hand reassuringly to Starfire's arm as he shook his head. "My throat feels gross," he complained.
Starfire ducked her head, scrunching up sheepishly. She tapped the ends of her index fingers together, avoiding eye contact. "Forgive me," she said. "I… may have used secretions from my tongue to… stimulate your gag reflex."
He looked askance at her.
The other Titans were silent for an awkward moment.
"It is a Tamaranian first aid technique. For drowning victims," Starfire elaborated, hiding her face outright now, blushing furiously.
"Was that… safe?" Robin asked, his eyebrows scrunching slightly.
"For humans, I am… not sure," Starfire admitted. Her hands were wringing together now, agitated. "But… you were so still and… and Cyborg said you were not breathing so…"
Sudden tears welled up in her eyes and she gave a cry, throwing herself on him, arms grabbing him tightly.
"Oh Robin!" she cried in distress. "I thought I was going to lose you!"
He grunted a bit from her sudden affection, but immediately wrapped his arms around her back, squeezing her reassuringly.
"Hey. It's okay," he whispered. "It's okay, you didn't lose me. You saved me."
She hiccuped, burying her eyes in his neck and sniffling softly.
Raven cleared her throat.
The two became aware of the other three still awkwardly standing there around them and pulled away, though they didn't let go of each other.
Raven spoke in a neutral monotone. "You injured anywhere else or are you okay?" she asked.
Robin touched a hand to his side and grimaced. "I think the beam might have cracked a rib," he said. "And I'm definitely bruising."
Cyborg glanced at his arm scanner. "Well, doesn't look like you've got any internal bleeding. And I'm not reading any reactions to Starfire's, erm…" He trailed off a moment, his expression looking like he very much wanted not to think about it. "…'secretions'," he finished.
"Don't embarrass her, she saved my life," Robin chided, kicking Cyborg's knee a bit with his toe.
"Yeah but it's still gross," Beast Boy said, turning aside to mutter about weird alien biology.
Starfire gripped his wrist, standing, helping him gingerly to his feet. She was trembling slightly, the emotional rush of her fear and then her relief still vibrating through her.
He was right. It was okay. He hadn't drowned.
He was safe.
Her heart swelled with warmth as he turned a grateful look up to her, whispering a reverent, "Thank you." and she just squeezed his arm tighter in response.
(A/N)- Starfire's prehensile tongue FTW.