Starfire entered the lobby of the Titans Tower with a bright smile on her face. She quickly counted the number of teammates in the room and was satisfied that her salutation would be well-met.

"Greetings, friends! It is a glorious morning of sunshine and happiness."

Her eyes caught Robin looking at her over his shoulder, an amused grin on his face, and Starfire's cheeks turned a light pink color.

"You hungry, Star? We got waffles!" Cyborg called out, waving his fork around in the air.

The box-shaped contraption on the counter opened across the top, shooting five freshly baked waffles into the air. A plate was pushed out of the side, and as soon as the waffles landed in a vertical stack, a metal arm extended to cover them in butter and syrup.

"Oh yes, waffles sound most satisfying," Starfire agreed as she floated over to the center counter.

The smile on her face faded, however, when she noticed Silverwings was sitting curled up on a stool wearing a hood upon on her head. The plate of eggs in front of her had barely been touched. Something didn't seem quite right about her appearance, and it wasn't just the sweatshirt, Star decided, as she landed on the kitchen floor beside the stool.

"Friend Silver, you are alright?" the Tamaranean asked.

When Silver lifted her gaze, Starfire felt an unfamiliar chill go down her spine. Her teammate looked deeply disturbed, and Star had no idea what could be wrong.

"You appear to be…troubled."

It was unusual for the silver-haired shapeshifter to be so upset when she was normally much more sure of herself. Starfire had often compared her confident attitude to Robin's, but today was different.

Silver's brow furrowed as her voice became short and clipped.

"I'm fine, Star."

The Tamaranean was not convinced and took a step forward with a little more persistence in her voice. "You do not seem fine, friend. Tell me, what is on–"

"I said I'm fine," Silver growled.

The angry tone of voice was, without question, a warning. Starfire hesitantly backed away a couple of steps, feeling confused and even more concerned than before. She and Silverwings had always gotten along well. She was from another planet, and Silver was not born as a human. They had similarities, so why was Silver acting differently now? Had something happened to her that would suddenly stop her from sharing her feelings? Star didn't know what to do, she did not want to overstep any boundaries, but something was certainly not right. She had to find a way to help her distressed friend.

Before she could question her teammate any further, the doors of the lobby opened, and Beast Boy walked in. Wonderful! Beast Boy could surely ease Silver's troubled mind, as he had done so many times in the past.

"Greetings, Beast Boy. Come share in the tradition of breakfast waffles," Starfire beamed, holding up a plate.

"No thanks, Star," Beast Boy muttered, slowly walking past her.

Starfire stared after him, her jaw dropping open in alarm. Beast Boy did not say no to food – ever. She watched as he went and stood on the other side of the counter from where Silverwings was sitting, and his behavior was most unusual.

In fact, both of their behaviors were most unusual. Beast Boy and Silverwings did not even make a happy greeting to each other, which was always the first thing they did. They did not speak at all until Beast Boy turned around to get a plate for his tofu eggs.

"H-hiya Silver," Beast Boy greeted timidly, waving awkwardly.

Silverwings flinched at his voice, and if the Tamaranean saw correctly, she was suddenly trying to make herself appear smaller on the stool.

"Hey BB," she murmured quietly.

Starfire's face contorted with confusion. These were not the actions that took place between friends. These actions were what took place between non-friends and strangers.

She looked around and noticed that Robin and Cyborg were also watching the strange interaction taking place between Beast Boy and Silverwings, and they appeared to be just as confused as she did. Star was slightly comforted by the fact that she was not misinterpreting the situation, but the question remained as to why it was happening at all.

All of a sudden, Raven slammed her book shut from across the room, causing everyone to jump with surprise, and before anyone could even blink, Raven was dragging Beast Boy out of the room by the wrist.

"Hey, wait! Raven, what are you doing? I didn't even get my tofu eggs yet!"

The door closed behind them, and the lobby fell into silence. Her stool loudly scraped against the kitchen floor as Silverwings rose to her feet.

"I'm going to go train," she said abruptly, and rushed out of the room towards the elevator before anyone could argue.

As soon as she was gone, Starfire turned to Robin and Cyborg and saw that they were worried too.

"That was…an unusual interaction, was it not?" she asked.

"It was," Robin confirmed as his brow furrowed, "I wonder what's going on."

Cyborg lifted his arm and pressed a button next to one of his built-in screens.

"I might know."

"You have the answer to the strange behavior of our shapeshifting teammates?" Starfire inquired.

Cyborg nodded. "Maybe. I thought something was up with Silver when she walked in, so I ran a couple of discreet scans while she was making her eggs."

"Did you find anything?" Robin asked.

"Yea, but…the results don't make any sense. There is a spot on her neck where her DNA is different, so I ran a comparison algorithm on the sequence, and it shows up as an identical match to Beast Boy."

"Beast Boy? But that doesn't make any sense," Robin said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Why would Beast Boy's DNA be in her neck?"

Starfire's head tilted to the side as she wondered the same thing. Whatever had happened between Beast Boy and Silverwings could not have been an unfriendly attack, or else the team would have surely been awoken by the commotion.

A quiet gasp came from Star as she suddenly realized what may have occurred with her friends.

"Perhaps…I can be of assistance?" she offered.

Robin and Cyborg exchanged a glance, wondering what Starfire could possibly know, before Robin gave her a nod to go ahead.

"On my planet, we have Zarnics that are often kept as pets, but they must be in separated pens because of their frolicking behaviors every month. I have noticed that friend Silverwings has also been keeping herself apart every month, and I wonder if it is because she too has been wanting to avoid the behaviors that humans sometimes refer to as "mating", but perhaps last night she changed her mind?"

As soon as she said the word, both boys cringed. Robin started tugging at the collar of his cape and Cyborg suddenly became very interested with the information from his scans. Starfire looked between the two of them, putting her hands on her hips.

"Am I to assume I am mistaken? You are both very quiet all of a sudden," she inquired.

"I-I don't know, Star," Robin said, wholly uncomfortable with the mere thought. "Beast Boy doesn't seem like he would do that."

"But it would explain the DNA," Cyborg pointed out. "And the hoodie Silver was wearing. I'm willing to bet she was trying to hide the mark on her neck."

Robin raised a brow at him. "Mark?"

"It is customary for a male Zarnic to bite a female on the neck as a symbol of claiming, and the teeth leave a mark for which other males can identify that a female has been chosen," Starfire explained. "I believe it is the same for male and female animals on planet Earth, yes? Silverwings has known the life of a wolf much longer than the life of a human."

"Actually, Star, it's rare for animals on Earth to do that. Usually it's just sharks that will bite. We don't know what kind of pack Silver came from, so it's possible she's seen it before," Cyborg theorized, "but that doesn't explain how Beast Boy would know about that practice."

Cyborg was maintaining calmness about the situation much better than Robin was. Starfire was not surprised to see their team leader fidgeting and looking so uncomfortable as they talked about these things. Cyborg was a few years older and closer with Beast Boy than Robin was, so it made sense that the topic of animal behaviors was better understood by him.

A frown crossed Starfire's face as another thought went through her head.

"There is one thing I do not understand," she said, earning curious looks from Robin and Cyborg. "These "mating" practices are only done when a female agrees, but it did not look like Beast Boy and Silverwings were very agreeable this morning."

The room fell silent.

"You're right Star," Cyborg admitted in a worried tone.

Robin's eyes widened, and he struggled to voice his next thoughts. "You don't think he…forced himself on her, do you?"

Starfire's head quirked to the side. That was not a phrase she was familiar with, but before she had the chance to ask, Cyborg let out an amused snort.

"BB? No way. I would be surprised if it even got that far at all. The guy barely knows his left foot from his right."

His statement didn't appear to bring much comfort to Robin, which made Starfire nervous. This 'forced' action that they were referring to seemed to have a much more complicated meaning than she understood, and not in a good way.

"Still, there's definitely something else going on," Robin stated.

Starfire raised a hand, lifting herself off the ground as she prepared to fly.

"Perhaps I shall go have a talk with Silverwings, now that she has been given the space necessary to calm down," she offered.

"Good idea," Robin agreed. "We'll stay here until you get back."

Starfire nodded and headed for the stairwell, using her power of flight to quickly descend to the training room, which was down in the basement, below sea level.

As she approached the door, Star noticed just how quiet it was. It did not sound like Silverwings was engaging in a session of training. She pressed the button on the wall, and as the doors slid open, Starfire let out an audible gasp.

The training room had been utterly destroyed. Equipment had been knocked over. The walls had been torn into. Free weights and shards of metal were strewn everywhere. It was a disaster.

Amidst the mess, right in the center of the room, was Silverwings. She was on her knees, bent over with one hand on the floor and the other hand covering her face. The hood was still up.

"Silver?" Starfire called out anxiously as she flew to the middle of the floor.

As she landed, she noticed Silverwings was shaking and realized that her friend was crying. Starfire inhaled sharply, quickly kneeling down and placing a hand on the shapeshifter's upper back.

"Silverwings, please, tell me what is wrong," Starfire begged. "I do not understand what is troubling you."

Silver sniffed, choking back a sob as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"There's nothing you can do to help, Star," she said hoarsely. "I screwed up bad…really bad."

Starfire hesitated. She wanted to offer help for these upset emotions, but she knew from previous conversations that Silver did not like to linger on her feelings for very long. Was it better to mention what her, Robin, and Cyborg had been discussing in the kitchen? On one hand, what they decided seemed like a logical explanation. On the other, saying so would reveal that they had been speaking things about her when she was not around. Either way, Star knew had to uncover the truth, no matter what Silverwings found out.

"I do not wish to pry, nor do I wish to cause more hurtful feelings, but Silver, I must ask." Starfire pulled her hand away and moved to kneel in front of the shapeshifter. "The hood that you are wearing…it is to hide the mark of a Zarnic bite on your neck?"

Silverwings tensed up. Almost immediately, her crying stopped as the last few tears trickled down her cheek. Slowly, she lifted her hand and pulled the hood away to reveal her head, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

Starfire gasped.

On the lower right side of Silver's neck, there were four deep holes that were slightly puffy, but did not appear to have caused any bleeding as there was no redness. Upon closer examination, Star realized there were also faint outlines of human teeth that created a circular shaped mark. She lifted a hand to take a closer look but was stopped by Silver.

"I'm not hurt, Star," she assured, "it's just a…what did you call it?"

"A Zarnic bite. You are sure you are not injured?" the Tamaranean implored.

Silver nodded, reaching a hand up to gingerly rub the spot. Starfire was silent for a moment, looking at the mark with concern. It did not appear that any pain was being inflicted.

"On my planet, such a marking means a female pet has been claimed by a male and cannot partaking in the "mating" practices with another."

Silverwings flinched, but unlike the boys upstairs, her reaction was calm.

"That's…not quite what happened, Star," Silver said quietly. Her hand fell back into her lap and she started fidgeting with them. "It's…it's hard to explain."

"Please, friend. Share with me so that I may try to understand," Starfire urged. "You are in need of someone to listen, yes?"

Silver hesitated, and for a moment, Starfire thought she was going to ask her to leave, but after a couple minutes, the shapeshifter sighed.

"Yea...I do need to talk, no matter how uncomfortable it might be," she admitted.

"Come, friend, let us sit and do the hanging out," Starfire said cheerily.

Silver let out a snort, unable to conceal her smile. The two of them pulled their legs out from underneath their thighs and shifted into seated positions on the floor across from one another. Starfire was not worried about what she was going to hear. She was just glad that Silver was once again willing to talk with her.

Silverwings took a deep breath, pausing a moment to think about how she wanted to explain.

"Your Zarnic creatures, as you call them – I am assuming they go into a frenzy every month and the males have to be kept separate from the females?" she asked.

Starfire nodded.

"I thought so. It's called going into heat, and the cycles happen every month. What happens is that the females start secreting a pheromone that makes their scent very strong and it attracts the males. It is so overwhelming to them that the males cannot think about anything else besides claiming that female. They do not have the ability to stop themselves because it is purely instinct that is driving them."

Silverwings paused, studying her teammate's face. "Do you understand so far?"

"I believe so. This heat smell is what causes the frolicking behaviors?" Starfire asked.

The edge of Silver's mouth quirked up into a half-smile. "Yea, exactly."

Starfire beamed, delighted that she was learning, and also a little relieved that she was already familiar with some of the information. What she knew she had learned from her own Zarnic before it was eaten by a Glorg.

"Anyway, do you remember that fight we had against those two brothers, Thunder and Lightning?"

Starfire nodded again.

"Beast Boy and I were both burned during that fight. Not too bad, but enough to release our pheromones, and after the battle, ours touched. When that happens between any male or female animal, the female's heat becomes much more painful and intense."

"Painful? This cycle injures you?" Starfire asked with concern.

"Not in the way a fight does. Going into heat is like…" Silver's fangs poked out as she chewed on her bottom lip, choosing her words with care. "It's like getting a really bad stomachache, only instead of feeling sick, you get…urges."

Starfire's head quirked to the side, and her confusion grew when Silver swallowed hard and seemed to brace herself for something.

"I do not understand. What are these "urges" you speak of?"

Silverwings let out a breathy sigh, sounding a little bit uneasy. "Well, as far as I know, they are mostly an animal instinct, although I've heard humans get them too. They are…" She struggled to find the words, and then gave up on trying to beat around the bush. "Well, they are a physical reaction that comes from the desire to mate."

Starfire sat there with a blank expression, and the attempted grin deflated from Silver's face.

"You…don't understand."

The Tamaranean shook her head, and Silver turned her eyes to the floor, scratching the back of her head as she tried to come up with another way to explain it.

"Uhhh, ok, well, it's like…it's like when we were fighting the H.I.V.E Five and Robin disappeared, you had the urge to keep looking for him, right?"

A shiver went down her spine. Starfire had not enjoyed the squeamish movements in her stomach that had lasted until Robin had been found.

"Yes. That day was most dreadful," she recalled unhappily.

"Well, that urge feels similar to a heat, only the female wishes to mate, not go looking for a lost person," Silver explained, once again searching Starfire's face for a reaction. "Does…that make sense?"

Starfire was quiet for a moment. She had never participated in any acts of mating, and truthfully, knew very little about them. However, the desire she had to find Robin, during that awful day when the Titans received the kicking of butt, was not something she had forgotten. If those kinds of feelings were similar for Silverwings during these cycles of heat, then it made some sense why it could have happened between her and Beast Boy.

"Mostly," she confirmed. "I believe I shall have to learn more to fully understand."

"That's ok, Star. As long as you kind of understand that part, the rest of the story isn't too hard to follow.

"Anyway, during that H.I.V.E Five battle, I started going into heat, and I wasn't expecting it. That was why I stopped fighting and Mammoth almost nailed me. When we took back the Tower, I hid in my room just like I have been the last few months. I thought I would be fine, and I was, until Beast Boy knocked on my door. He asked if I was ok, and I told him yes, but instead of leaving, he came into my room instead."

Starfire's eyes widened. "But Silver, if you were on a cycle of heat, would that not also mean you were creating the desirable smell?"

Silver's jaw tightened. "Yes. That's exactly the problem." Her breath hitched, and Silver swallowed hard. "Beast Boy walked in, and that's why I now have this mark on my neck, but…"

Starfire waited patiently for her to finish, but the rest of the story never came. Star noticed how Silver appeared to be looking at something across the room, but when she looked over her shoulder to see, there was nothing there. She turned back to her teammate and spoke softly.

"But…what, Silver?"

Silverwings sighed heavily, scratching at the back of her neck. "I can't help but think that it's my fault," she admitted. "I should have left the Tower for a while or locked my door or done something different."

Starfire noticed that Silver avoided her gaze while she spoke, and when the shapeshifter looked back up, Star had a strange feeling that the words were different than what Silver wanted to say. Was she not sharing something again?

"I do not believe there is blame to be placed," Starfire said, placing a hand on Silver's shoulder. "You said the heat scent is overwhelming to the minds of the males, and you cannot control your cycles of heat, correct?"

Silverwings sighed, shaking her head. "Still, I should have kicked Beast Boy out the second he opened my door." She pushed herself to her feet and began pacing through the rubble on the floor.

"He is too young to understand how complex my heat cycle is. We may be the same age in human years, but I've dealt with all of this before. My scent just…overwhelmed him and he lost control of himself, and I don't blame him. I was the alpha female of my pack before the Brain turned me into a shapeshifter."

Starfire noticed her pause to take a breath, and quickly interjected her question. "Alpha?"

"It means the leader, like how Robin is for our team," Silverwings clarified, and Starfire nodded her understanding.

"Alphas always secrete a stronger scent than other members, and when the Brain changed me, my scent became even stronger. So much so that even regular males, like Beast Boy, are entirely overcome by their instincts when they are near it."

Starfire had followed Silverwings to the other side of the room during her emotional explanation, and the shapeshifter now leaned against the wall with a quiet groan.

"He couldn't control himself. I know that. But now he has to carry this on his conscious and it was not fair of me to do that to him," she murmured. "I should have found a way to stop."

"From what I once saw of the Zarnic behaviors, I do not believe that would have been possible for you," Starfire said gently. She walked up to Silver and placed her hands on top of the shapeshifter's crossed arms. "Do not place blame upon yourself. There is nothing you could have done to change it."

Silver's gaze slowly drifted up to meet Starfire's eyes.

"You and Beast Boy are…close. Perhaps now more than ever, and I believe that you should share your feelings with him so that you are no longer carrying this guilt."

The shapeshifter cringed at her teammate's suggestion.

"I don't know, Star…he's not going to want to talk about it," she said glumly.

Starfire held out a hand. "You must try."

Silver eyed it, then reluctantly placed her hand in Star's.

"Alright. Let's go find Beast Boy."