Disclaimer: Teen Titans is not mine.
Summary: After losing her powers, Starfire feels she cannot be part of the Teen Titans anymore. She leaves the team of teenage heroes to live a normal life like a normal girl. But Robin shows her that powers do not make a hero.
Authoress' Note:This story is still alive! Rating has changed.
"Please do not follow me anymore," she said as she ran away.
"Starfire! Wait! Just wait!" Robin replied, who was only a few feet away.
Kory was not as used to running as she was to flying. Her outfit did not help, either. She inwardly let out a Tamaranian word that did not sound so nice. Naturally, Robin had caught up to her with a matter of a few seconds. He grabbed her accessorized wrist and spun her around so that she was now facing him. He noted that he had stopped her in the middle of the street, where luckily the green lights were for those making turns. He managed to bring her to the roof of a building with his grappling hook before receiving any unwanted middle fingers and French words when the traffic lights changed.
Kory did not budge once Robin had released her from his grasp. She was on the roof and she could not fly. She knew she had nowhere to go, nothing to do but face him. She braced herself expecting him to grab her arm and squeeze it until it turned blue, to reprimand her with a furious expression on his face, to force her to return to the Tower where she would be locked up or-
To wrap his arms around her from behind and bury his head on the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent.
"What were you thinking?" he murmured. "I-I thought, we thought, we'd lose you…forever."
His voice shook, a rare trait found in a hero. If he talked anymore, he knew he would break down. And heroes do not break down. They do not show weakness. Or if ever they did, never in front of anyone. Yet here he was, Robin, leader of the Teen Titans: in all his vulnerable glory. But that did not matter to any of the two.
Kory freed herself from his gentle embrace and turned around to face him with a smile that almost seemed like a frown, or vice versa. A smile because he had found her. A frown because he had found her.
"Robin, I am…thrilled…to have seen you again. But you should not have followed me. You have wasted time by doing so. You could have done more research on tracking Slade, or, or perhaps done the hanging out at the pizza place with the rest of our friends. It would have been a more useful thing to do."
"Star-"
"It is Kory, now. I am Kory Anders. Starfire, she is no more."
Robin did not believe this. "Look, Starfire. I don't care if you have your powers or not. I don't care what you call yourself. You can be called Kory, Raven, Terra, Barbara, Blackfire or whatever you want. I don't care. You're still Starfire." He paused. "You're still the person I'm going out with. Because last time I checked, we never broke up." He paused again, finding slight humor in the next few words. "I mean, sure you ran away, but I wouldn't call that breaking up. Or, is that how couples break up in Tamaran?"
Barbara? Kory shook her head both to erase the thought of the unknown girl's name and to answer Robin's question. "No, I recall that we have not yet broken up." Her eyes dulled down and her mouth turned down to a frown. "But perhaps it is best to do so."
"You can't mean that!"
"Oh Robin, I wish it not so but surely you do not want to be with me now that I am not a hero. I am normal."
"So? Starfire, I don't know how else to tell you that I don't care if you have powers or not." Robin said, almost in defeat. He was getting tired of debating.
Kory could see his weariness. She felt guilty for doing this to him. The more she looked at him beyond his masked eyes, the more she realized how much he really did not care about her being normal. He really wanted her back whether she was alien or human. He really wanted her back.
"Robin…"
He did not say a word.
"I cannot be with you..."
His heart must have stopped beating then and there.
"I cannot be with you at the Tower." She finished.
And he started to feel a thump! thump! A small thump but a thump nonetheless.
"The Titans Tower is for heroes. I am no hero anymore. However, I do not wish to let you go."
That was all he needed to hear. In an instant he grabbed her, which caused a small gasp from the girl, and enveloped her in tight squeeze almost afraid to let go. Reluctantly, Kory had returned the embrace with a satisfied smile.
"Where do you live?" Robin asked as soon as they let go. She replied by giving the address of her condo that the modeling company had rented out for her. "I'll be visiting you everyday."
"And what if I am working?"
Robin examined her and mentally slapped himself. "Is that why you're wearing all these ridiculous things?" he asked playing with her bracelets. She nodded unsurely. "A model? That's your job? Starfire, I knew you were tall and beautiful but a model?"
Kory blushed at the comment. "But you do not understand, Robin. I am in need of the money. In the jewelry store…"
"Star, if you needed jewelry-"
"No, please let me finish. In the jewelry store, there is a necklace of vital importance. I think it is relative to the Stone of Toransu. When I had come near it, it had done something to me. So you see? I am saving more of the green paper so that I may buy the jewel. I have made a contract with the company of modeling that I am to work for them until I have enough money to buy the Stone."
"I don't know if Kory Anders can get the Stone but maybe the Teen Titans can." Robin suggested almost too confidently.
"The Stone is more than expensive. The Teen Titans receive free income, courtesy of the city by means of taxes in return for their safety. Surely they would not like to pay more." In short, she meant, "No, they cannot."
"Well, what if we help?"
"How so?"
He just smirked, making Kory melt inside. She had missed that smile. How she had survived the few days without seeing it she would never know.
"I'll let you know tomorrow. I think it's time we go. I'll take you to your place."
Robin picked up Kory bridal style and leapt off from roof to roof so as to not catch any unwanted attention. If they were caught, the news front page would probably be something along the lines of "Robin Has New Girlfriend" or "Robin Breaks Up with Starfire" or something like that.
She pointed to the building they had just landed on as a way to tell him that this was her place. It was a few stories tall and cream colored with clean glass windows. They went into the building through the roof door. Her room was three floors away from the roof. His gloved had pressed the down arrow button but the elevator was slow to arrive.
Elevator. So many people had moments in the little spaces the elevator provided. Robin mentally kicked himself for thinking such a thing. I watch way too much movies, Robin thought to himself. But Robin was human: a teenage boy. He may be a hero, but he still had raging hormones. He looked at his girlfriend. She was waiting anxiously for the door to swish open. He watched as her chest moved upward then downward with every rhythmic breaths. The way her body turned to face him, the way her lips parted when she sighed. Damn, he had to stop thinking this. He had to control his hormones. Oh, who was he kidding?
He cupped her face and leaned in. Kory tensed at the surprising contact but returned it even so. What started as small kisses turned French once the elevator door slid open and Robin had gently pushed her against the steel wall. The elevator ride was short, which caused a grunt from the boy and a giggle from the girl.
"Please, come in." Kory said as she opened the door to her condo.
"Not bad," Robin commented. The room was in the range of purple to silver colors.
"I had not decorated the room. It had done for me by the agency."
"It's nice. But I think the Tower is better."
"Yes, I do miss my room. Oh, and Silkie. He is…"
"He's fine."
"Thank X'hal."
"Listen, Star, you're sure you don't just want to stay at the Tower?"
Kory nodded. A long silence came between them.
"I guess I better head out. The rest of the team is probably wondering where I've headed off after I beat up that guy and ran after you."
Kory nodded once more.
"I'll see you tomorrow ok? I'll bring the rest of the team up, too. We'll meet you at the top of the roof at around eleven? We can all get pizza for lunch. And, hopefully there'll be no trouble."
"Eleven is wonderful. Except, would it not be strange for me to be doing the hanging out with the Teen Titans?"
Robin laughed. "I've got it covered," He gave her a swift kiss and left.
Kory let out a long sigh. What a day, she said to herself, it had been all so thrilling: my sister attacking, being sent to jail, and seeing Robin once more. Then the kiss came flashing back to her mind. "Oh…wow," Did all Earth boys act like this, was her last thought before falling asleep.
The sun had been extremely generous in the morning. It tickled Kory's face lightly but enough to wake her. She looked at the clock that read 10:08. She jumped off the bed after a quick stretch and made way to the bathroom. She had fifty-two minutes to get ready.
In forty minutes, she had finished getting ready. It took an extra ten to find an outfit that did not look too stylish. She decided on a short green tank top over a white one that partly showed her midriff, jeans miniskirt with a loose silver belt, and brown knee-length boots. To finish it off, put her hair in a high ponytail. Modeling had given her some styling tips. Feeling satisfied with her appearance, she headed out to the top of the room with two minutes left to spare.
Eleven o'clock came around and Kory had noticed four people on the roof, but no Titans.
"They are late?" Kory wondered.
"Who's late?" one of the four asked.
"No one. Oh, it is my friends. We have planned to meet here at this hour but they are nowhere in sight. Please, perhaps you have seen them? One wears a mask, the other is green, another wears a blue cloak and the last one is half robot but also human."
"Nope, haven't seen them."
"Perhaps they have forgotten," Kory said crestfallen.
One of them cupped her face and planed a short but sweet kiss on her lips. Kory gasped.
"You should not have done that!" Kory warned.
"Relax, it's us."
In a pair of gray sweats and hooded jacket was Cyborg. Most of his skin was covered in his clothes and there was no way to notice his robotic form.
In a vacation shirt and cargo shorts was a younger boy. He had blond hair and a peach skin. Beastboy had looked normal without his green skin.
There was a girl there with a black turtleneck shirt and fitting black pants. Her red jewel on her Ajna charka gave her away as Raven.
The last of them was in a casual red screen shirt and somewhat baggy jeans. In his eyes were a pair of sunglasses that hid his eyes well. He had been the one to kiss Kory.
"Friends! You are all so different. Beastboy, I barely could recognize you." Kory turned to each of her friend and rewarded them with a much missed, tight embrace and little more of the boy wonder.
"Heh, but I like my green skin better. Cy just programmed this thing that makes me not green. See?" He showed her a watch that was the reason behind his change of skin and hair color.
"You have done a magnificent job, Cyborg."
"Yeah, but y'all know you can't call me that. Ya know? Ruins the whole 'disguise' thing, man."
"He has a point." Raven pointed out.
"Well, uhm, I don't know if I've told any of you yet but uhm, my name's Gar Logan."
"Victor Stone."
"Rachel Roth."
"Richard Grayson."
"Kory Anders."
There was a moment of silence until Gar had broken the silence. "Woah, dudes, we're like…normal!"
And then Rachel smacked his head.
To Be Continued
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