Thank you so much for your patience everyone :o) Chapter 13 is finally up! :)

Chapter 13: The Last Straw

These next few days seemed to move like mud, because nothing was as it should be. Robin and Starfire were barely speaking to each other, and the other titans were involved in the drama as well. It almost seemed as if a tornado had flown through the tower, ripping up the sunshine and happiness that once pursued. That tornado is Slade himself. Because nothing has been the same since he returned.

Back then, it wasn't uncommon for Robin to spend most of his time locked away in his room. After all, it was the only way to get some peace and quiet in the tower. He only emerged to eat and use the restroom but other than that, none of the titans could get him to come out. They tried apologizing, offering to help him with the criminal case, but despite all that, our fearless leader remained silent.

I don't think anyone was more worried than Starfire. Right now, she was sitting at the dinner table with Beast boy and Raven. Cyborg was in the process of cooking their favorite meal. The tomato sauce, pepper, and meatballs mixed in the stringy pasta always helped make them feel better after a long week. Every 15 seconds, Starfire checked the door; she turned her head to the side entryways as well.

"He's not coming Star" Raven said "You may as well stop looking."

"I know" She sighed "I just wish he would accept our apology already."

"We just have to respect that he's got a lot on his mind" Cyborg said "He didn't agree with what we did, so we have to give him a little space."

"We didn't do anything wrong!" Beast boy said "All we wanted to do was protect him!"

"But Robin doesn't understand that" Raven said "He thinks we betrayed him for keeping our mouths shut about this whole Slade thing."

"To be honest, I don't think it has anything to do with us." Cyborg said "I think Slade coming back after 2 years is just overwhelming to him."

"I guess you're right about that" Raven said "but still, we've told him a million times that we had his back."

Nobody on the team knows what it's like being the leader except Robin. He's the role model and the titan with the most responsibility on his shoulders. Perhaps they don't understand him enough, but then again I really don't agree with how he reacted last night to Starfire "I honestly feel like he's disappointed in me the most..." she said sadly.

"Aww don't be that way, princess" Cyborg said hoisting the big pot of spaghetti on top of on the table "None of this was your fault."

"But...I'm his girlfriend" She said "I'm supposed to know him better than all of you."

Everyone started to laugh at her comment "What makes you think that?" Raven asked.

"It is clearly a fact!" Starfire said.

"Well No wonder Robin plays favorites" Cyborg said, winking at her with his non-mechanical eye. Starfire giggled as he fixed her a huge plate of spaghetti. I'm happy to see that she was feeling a little better.

All around the table, you can feel the rejuvenating effect that a good meal can bring on. Beast boy started to complain about all the meatballs that were added. Cyborg laughed at him while Raven made her sarcastic remarks and dumped her plate of spaghetti on his head. Even though there has been a lot of drama lately, I'm glad the titans still found a reason to smile and a reason to carry on. This goes to show that they know how to work together as a dysfunctional family.

But not even the food could get Starfire's mind off Robin. After dinner, she approached his bedroom door, holding a plate of pasta in her hands. When the food fight pursued, she managed to gather a small amount for him so he wouldn't be left out. Giving his door a light tap, she nervously trembled while waiting for him to answer "Robin?" she whispered softly "I brought you some dinner."

"The doors unlocked."

Hearing this, Starfire pressed the activation button. I quietly trailed behind her and spotted Robin sitting on his desk with his computer. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at her "Thank you" He said as she placed the food on the corner of the desk.

"You're welcome" Starfire said "Cyborg's spaghetti is too good to pass up."

Robin smiled back "Yeah" He said softly before turning his attention to the food. He twirled the fork around the stringy noodles and lazily stuffed it in his mouth. Starfire stood there and awkwardly watched him. Robin turned his chair, trying to avoid eye contact with her "Star...?" He said annoyingly "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I don't know" She said "I was just worried about you, that's all."

What did Robin expect? They haven't seen each other in over a week, so of course she's going to be breathing down his back "What is there to worry about?" he asked "I'm perfectly fine."

He took one more bite and handed the plate back to her. Starfire looked down, and sighed at the plate still full of spaghetti. He didn't even eat half of it, let alone any of it. She looked upset about it too, I mean who wouldn't be? She went through so much trouble making it for him, and from the looks of it, he wasn't getting his way "Prove that you're fine and eat more of this for me." She said, placing the food back on the desk.

Robin rubbed his temple and grimaced at the food "Star, I'm not real hungry..."

"Too bad!" She snapped "I made this for you, and you're going to eat it, whether you want to or not!"

Oh kill em Star, let him know who's the boss. Robin grumbled and took a few more bites; Starfire watched him and made sure he ate the entire thing. Once he finished, he shoved the dirty dishes in her hands "Alright, are you happy now?" He asked "Now leave me alone."

"Fine" Starfire pouted before gathering the dishes and leaving the room. Before leaving myself, I looked back over at Robin who had his entire attention glued on the computer screen. I could totally start messing with his stuff, and knock things over, and he wouldn't even notice...which is kind of scary if you ask me.

So, I made a rash decision, and crawled under the computer desk. There were so many plugs I couldn't tell which one went to the computer. I just started chewing on the big one, and I yanked it out quickly.

"What the?-" I heard him say when the computer shut off on him. I chewed on that wire with all my might, hoping to snap the chord in two, but I wasn't quick enough because he spotted me under the desk. At that point, I knew how much trouble I got myself in.

I sprinted out from underneath the desk, and tried to run out of the door with the chord. My mentality told me this would work because it worked with the bedroom slipper that one night Starfire got sick...

A gloved hand yanked me off my feet and the other ripped the chord from my mouth, then he slapped my butt…really hard. Ouch! I've never gotten a spanking before…and boy did it hurt! My body froze in place the moment he dropped me on the ground. The fact that he was actually being physical caught me off guard "Go!" I heard him shout "Out!"

I scurried my way out of his room and he slammed the door the moment I ran out. Even though I was left with a stinging butt, I still managed to damage the power chord to the computer. I usually know better not to do that, especially because those things are real expensive. But if I could help cure Robin's obsession, I am willing to do whatever it takes.

I trailed back inside the common room where I found Starfire sitting on the couch, watching Cyborg and Beast boy play mega monkeys 4. She still seemed upset from the mean thing Robin just did, so hopefully a few minutes with the other guys would help cheer her up a bit. I climbed in her lap and watched the game with her. There were two monkeys blasting each other with radioactive space guns.

Suddenly I sensed Robin's angry presence storming inside the room, he walked towards us holding the chewed up power chord in his hand. Robin glared at me on the couch and pinched his thumb and finger together "I am about this close to kicking that animal out of the house!" he told Starfire.

"What?" She asked "What did he do?"

"I caught him messing around with this!" He shouted, holding up the piece of wire I just chewed up five minutes ago.

She looked down at me and smiled, giving my large belly a rub "Awww" she laughed "I'm sure he didn't mean to do it, did you boy?"

Technically I really meant to do it, but it was for his own good, and he just doesn't realize that.

"I have told you a hundred times to watch that thing!" He said "If you're not going to be responsible for it, I'm not going to allow you to keep it."

What? Starfire does a fantastic job of taking care of me! I don't have the slightest clue what he's talking about...She hugged me tightly in her arms "Oh Robin! Please don't make me get rid of him!" She shouted.

Yeah Robin! I really don't want to be kicked out of the house! Where would I go and how am I supposed to take care of myself? All those stray dogs and cats I see hiding out in the city streets, I would really love to NOT be one of them.

Beast boy and Cyborg seemed surprised about this rash decision as well "You can't be serious dude!" Beast boy shouted "Silkie is part of the family!"

"We'll go to the store later and pick one up for you." Cyborg said "It's not worth throwing the poor critter out of the house."

I'm so happy the other titans stood up for me. They were right; it was just a 20 dollar power chord which could be easily replaced with a single trip to the store. Robin sighed and looked at Star, who was trying to hold back her sobs "You better watch him next time." He said "Understood?"

I sigh in relief realizing that I'm not going to be living in the streets tonight. Starfire hugged me tighter and nodded, but at this point, I think she's just about had it with Robin's behavior.

Suddenly the alarm system went off, which meant trouble was going on. On the screen was the live footage from the security cameras set up all around the city. Cyborg turned from the screens and looked over at Robin.

"Guess who" Cyborg sighed "His goons are trying to steal supplies as we speak."

Great. To be honest, Slade is the last villain we need to be dealing with right now. This meant more fuel to the fire and more drama in this household. Starfire frowned and placed me on the couch and flew to get a closer look. Those robotic minions were shown on the screen loading their ships with supplies. The security guards were unconscious, tied to the lamp posts with rope and coil. One by one, those criminals were snatching up every building material they could get their grubby hands on.

"This doesn't make any sense" Robin said "What are they do-"

Before Robin could finish is sentence, another alert came on the screen. Cyborg switched the camera footages to reveal where the crime was coming from. It turns out, Overload was attacking downtown Jump City. Two bad guys at one time? Boy they're going to be busy tonight.

"Perfect" Cyborg muttered "Now we've got this guy running lose too."

"Were going to have to split up" Robin said "It's the only way we can be 2 places at one time."

"Okay then" Cyborg said "Who's going to handle sparky?"

"You, Raven and Beast boy will" Robin said "Me and Star will try and stop these goons."

Um, I'm not too sure that's a great idea, Robin. Slade's robots are more difficult to deal with than Overload. But then I remember this is the same guy who had just spent his lifetime trying to track down the madman and why he returned.

"Are you sure you dudes can handle it?" Beast boy asked

"We'll be fine" Robin said "Trust me; I know what we're doing."

Poor Starfire looks uncomfortable right now, but she's handled worse situations before. Right now, she knows that she must put her personal feelings aside and focus on the mission, because the safety of Jump City rests in her hands.

So the titans burst out of the door, and split off into 2 separate teams. Cyborg, Raven, and Beast boy went downtown in order to tame the infamous Overload. With 2 team members out of the picture, I hope they won't have any trouble. But I was more concerned about Starfire's mission with Robin. They were facing a bunch of goons, and who knows how much stronger Slade has made them. I'll never forget that one night when they all broke into our house. There were hundreds of them, and it took the titans hours to kill them all off.

Hours pass, and the trio group was the first to arrive home. That was no surprise, Overload may be tough, but by the end of the day, he's just another typical bad guy that could easily be brought to justice. Cyborg pulled up Robin's and Starfire's coordinates. From the looks of it, they were still kicking bad guy butt in the piers.

"Do you guys think we should go help them out?" Raven asked.

"Robin said they'll be fine" Cyborg said "I'll leave my communicator on, in case they need backup."

"Poor Starfire was the sacrificial lamb for that mission" Beast boy said

"I know…" Cyborg said "But she's a big girl, she can handle it."

I sure hope so…

It was now a few minutes before midnight, and there was still no sign of Robin and Starfire. A thunderstorm brewed outside, and shook the walls of the entire tower. I pass the time by chasing the same mouse I found in Beast boy's room. It somehow had gotten out, and was running around the lobby area of the tower. With all my might, I hunt that rodent down, snatched it by the tail, gave it a good shake, and left it on the ground to die. I didn't mean to murder the poor thing, but its my job to keep these lethal pests out of the home.

After killing the mouse, I heard the sound of the door opening. Starfire walked in, and she looked absolutely horrible. Her uniform was ripped into shreds. Her green eyes were fighting back tears. She collapsed in the chair that was closest to the door and tried so hard not to sob.

Robin furiously stormed in the room and slammed the large door behind him "That was unbelievable, Star!" He shouted "I can't believe you screwed up this entire mission!"

Oh my, what could Starfire have done to make Robin this furious with her? She shook her head and looked away from him "Please stop yelling at me" She whimpered "This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous..."

"None of this is ridiculous!" He snapped back "I gave you these simple tasks to do, and you didn't do them."

Starfire just sat there. I wouldn't say that she's speechless, but I knew that she was getting real upset with the way Robin was talking to her.

"It was bad enough that you guys lied to me, and now I'm talking to you like you're a brick wall..." He said "I knew I should have gone on this mission alone."

"Then why did you ask me to go with you?" She asked.

"Because I needed your help out there tonight!" He shouted "I thought that you were the one on this team who actually cared!"

"Robin..." She said "You have no idea how much I truly care."

"Well you obviously don't do a great job at showing it."

I hadn't seen them fight like this in a long time. And I knew that Starfire had tried her very best to bottle up her emotions all day. She has been too nice, and Robin had finally pushed her to the limit. When her eyes started glowing, I knew that this fight was going to take a turn for the worst.

"Well you know what? I'm done!" She shouted as she started to walk out of the room "I am not going to argue with you any longer."

"Oh that's the easy way out" He snapped.

"No, I'm done!" She shouted "This is NOT what I signed up for."

"You signed up to follow my orders!" Robin shouted "You should know by now that you can't just go out there and do your own thing!"

"Well how do you expect me to listen to you if you keep on yelling at me like that?" Starfire asked raising her voice.

Her comment seemed to have caught Robin off guard, because we all knew that she was right. Starfire began to relax "Robin, please..." She breathed out "You're allowing this to destroy you."

"No Star" He said sadly "Maybe...you're the one who's destroyed me."

And from that moment, everything started to fall apart. Those words, what was he talking about?

"Maybe its best that we take a break for a little while"

"A break?" She asked "from what?"

"From...us" He said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was Robin really breaking up with her? This was the couple that everyone talked about, the dynamic duo of the team. I just refused to accept the fact that he was willing to throw it all away just like that. The worst part about this was seeing Starfire's reaction to his words. This relationship was going so strong! I never thought they would ever break up. The tears already started to form out of her eyes "But Robin!" She sobbed "What about all the promises we've made? What about all the things we've done?"

"I think we've been focusing on this relationship too much." He said "We have to remember that we're heroes, and there's a city out there that needs us."

Those were the words that only the old Robin would say, and they stabbed Starfire right in the heart. Once again, Robin's whole life revolved around his duties, and there was nothing Starfire could do about it...except for one thing: one thing that he truly deserved:

A slap in the face.

Robin's left cheek had received the impact and it sent him stumbling across the room. His body spun a good 180 degrees before he hit the ground. Starfire said no more. She lifted her head and walked out of the room with crossed arms.

The boy wonder recovered and sat up. She had left him with a scarred cheek and a bleeding nose. He sighed and shook his head, shocked that she reacted this way "Well that didn't go to well" He whispered to himself.

My stubby legs struggled to keep up with the alien's speed. She was upset, and her tears were ready to burst at any second. Before she made it to her room, she accidently ran into Cyborg.

"Hey Star!" He said "how did the mission go?"

She briefly glanced up at him, but he knew from one look that she was crying "Whoa! Wait a minute!" He said, latching his mechanical hand over her arm. Starfire tried to fight his grip and run inside her room.

"What's wrong?" Cyborg asked "Why are you crying?"

"I hate him!" She sobbed "I hate him so much!"

Cyborg's face dropped and so did mine. Hate is such a powerful word and I hoped that Starfire didn't mean it. Cyborg let go of Starfire's arms and tried to pull her in a comforting embrace. But Starfire pushed him away "Leave me alone!" She cried out before flying past him and inside her bedroom.

After slamming the door, she threw herself against her pillow and the heavy sobs begun to commence. I climbed on the bed and sat down next to her, so that way if she needed a friend, I would be there. The worst of the crying was over after minutes, and she pulled me to her chest, she cried and cried and kept on crying.

At this point, the only thing I can do is be a supportive friend.