Chapter 6

Robin jolted out of his sleep at the sound of someone not knocking but pounding on his door. He was stunned when he saw that it was just past noon, and even more stunned at the voice now calling to him through the door.

"Hey, bird boy, I want to talk to you!"

Robin sighed as he sat up, then stood and went to the door. 'Leave it to Blackfire to be the one to come get me,' he thought then palmed the door activator.

Blackfire raised an eyebrow at Robin's appearance. His clothes were very wrinkled and his hair wasn't in its usual spiky appearance. He was a little on the pale side and she could swear that she could see the telltale dark circles just under his mask. "X'Hal, Robin, you look like a zarnik was eaten by a rampaging gloorg then spit back out," Blackfire said. "We've got to talk, and by we I mean you, me, and the rest of the Titans. We'll meet you in the common room."

"Right," Robin growled then shut the door. He tossed his cape onto the back of his computer chair, then dropped his gloves on the desk. A quick shower and a clean uniform later, Robin walked into the common room and got a cup of coffee. "Okay, Blackfire, what's so important?"

"First, I've been in contact with the TOMOR'O," she replied. "It should arrive around sunset today."

"That's the ship that's bringing Vern'a, right?" Robin asked.

Blackfire nodded. "Unfortunately, there is no medication to reduce what my sister is going through. It simply has to run its course. On that point, I have confirmation of what my earlier research said. Vern'a told me that just under one Tamaranean month is how long it takes for the imbalance to subside."

"About three weeks," Robin said, then looked over at Cyborg and Beast Boy on the couch. "Guys, I told Raven before, so I'm telling you now. I don't want you pressuring Star to let me see her, or Liand'r. I'm not going to be happy about it, but she'll come around on her own."

"Sorry, Rob, but I'm not gonna let her do that to either you or your daughter," Cyborg said. "She needs her father, man. She needs both her parents."

"Actually, Robin is right," Blackfire said. "In her present state if you try convincing her to let Robin visit, you just might find yourself on the non-visiting list."

"So you were right; she's barred you from visiting too?"

"Not exactly, Robin. I can visit, but only when Raven is with me. Once the BRIND'R arrives with Nie'l, there is a way you can press your right to see them. You can petition the Ca'ri to impel her to allow it."

"Yeah, but only with at least two Tamaranean Warriors sponsoring me."

"That will not be a problem, Highness," Chr's said as he and Shel'b entered the room. "I am certain that Nie'l will even stand behind you."

"Even she will admit that a child needs both its parents, and she will seek your true feelings through your bond with her," Shel'b said.

"About that," Blackfire picked up. "It wasn't the smartest move blocking her last night. It certainly didn't help your standing with her."

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It was two days later; well more precisely, it was two nights later, and Robin was alone on the roof of the Tower. Or so he thought. He sighed as he looked across the bay at the lights of the city. The chiming of the bell tower was barely audible from this distance, but it told Robin that it was one in the morning. He found it hard to believe that an hour had passed since Cyborg had come up and told him that he was locking down the Tower for the night, and gently reminding him that he should get some sleep. He smiled sadly as he noticed that his gaze had found and locked onto the lights that belonged to Saint Mary's Hospital.

"You do come up here a lot, don't you?"

Robin gave a soft chuckle at the sound of the voice. "Yes, Blackfire I do. To be alone, to think."

"Well, I don't mean to intrude, but. . ."

"Then don't," Robin snapped.

". . .but I'm not one of the Titans for you to order to leave," she went on. "I'm also not about to tip toe around you, that's not my style."

"Lets just say that my friends respect my privacy more than you do."

"Well, I'm not one of your friends," Blackfire shot back. "I'm worse. I'm family." She raised an eyebrow as Robin didn't argue back, but simply turned back to look at the city. "Robin. . ."

"There's an old saying, that home is where the heart is," he said. "If that's true, what am I doing here?" he asked, then answered his own question. "It's because she doesn't want me there right now, and I can't say that I blame her."

"You blame yourself for this?"

"Well it's certainly not Starfire's fault. She didn't make the decision, I did," Robin said then gave a derisive snort. "Raven would probably say that, for once, I'm right in blaming myself."

"She might say that, but she also realizes that it partly Starfire's fault for not listening to reason when she tried to explain your reasons."

"I told them not to pressure her into letting me see them."

"And you expected them to listen to you on that?" Blackfire asked incredulously. "Robin, they're your friends. Yours and Starfire's. Have you given any thought to their feelings about things? I mean, aside from your moping around the Tower? That, I think, they're used to." She went on when Robin didn't answer. "They're all nervous, and concerned, Raven especially, although she hides it well. With the bond she has with the two of you, that doesn't surprise me."

"How do you know about Raven's and Starfire's bond, or even the one she has with me?"

Robin saw the smile on Blackfire's face. "My little sister may be a wonderful diplomat, but she's terrible at keeping secrets from me. Although she does have a few, mostly about you."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"One thing she did share with me about you is that you never give up fighting for something you believe in. That's why I can't understand about you giving up on her."

"I'm not giving up on her," Robin insisted.

"Then fight for her, for X'Hal's sake! She's a warrior. She'll understand and appreciate it."

"I'm not going to force the issue. All that will do is push her even further away from me."

Robin was surprised at the Tamaranean curse Blackfire muttered under her breath. "Pe vechana shu a i hifa du gala've," she said.

"You challenge me to a what?"

"The closest translation is battle of wills," she replied. "Seeing as your not taking the advice of a superior species, we'll settle this the old fashioned way. I win, and you'll at least try to explain to Starfire your reasons, you win, and I'll stay our of it, and let you handle it your own way."

Robin gave his head a quick shake. "That's crazy! I'm not fighting you, Blackfire. It would be pointless."

"Oh ho, Robin, take care or you might elevate this to a shavek hifa. Besides, what's the problem? Aren't you warrior, or man enough to accept?" she taunted lightly. "Besides, you know what's going to happen when the Ca'ri finds out that you rejected a properly issued challenge."

Blackfire smiled softly when she saw that Robin thought that over for a moment, and that he did indeed know what would happen. Once stripped of his status as a Warrior of Tamaran, he wouldn't have to worry about pushing Starfire away.

Robin gave a frustrated growl. "Fine! I'll go along with this. Is our large training room acceptable to you?"

Blackfire nodded. "And I'll restrict my powers to your normal terms," she said. "Besides, all I'll really have to cut back on is my strength, as this will be hand to hand only."

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Blackfire turned when she heard a small thump behind her. She knew that Robin was too honorable to attack her from behind before the actual start of the challenge, and she saw she was right when she saw that it was only his putting his utility belt on the floor by the doors. "Don't trust yourself, eh?"

"I just don't want to lose by reflex," he replied, then took a defensive stance. "Lets do this."

Blackfire nodded, then mirrored Robin's stance. She noticed appreciatively the look on his face. She remembered seeing it once before, when she watched the videos of his fighting with the Palace Guard, as he tried to reach Starfire's side to prevent her marriage. She had seen that look on the faces of many warriors as they prepared for battle, and she hoped that Starfire and Kim'r had exaggerated when they told her of his fighting abilities. 'If they weren't, this isn't going to go as easily as I thought, but he needs to release some of the nervous tension he's under, and get his mind off my sister for a little bit.'

They circled each other for a few moments, then Blackfire feinted with her left, then threw a right cross. She was surprised to see Robin simply jerk his head back so her fist passed through empty air. She was even more surprised when Robin's leg sweep slammed her ankles together and dumped her on her back.

For his own part, Robin was astonished that he had knocked Blackfire down so quickly. He knew that he could occasionally take Starfire down with a leg sweep, but figured that the elder sister wouldn't be so easily tricked. However, he quickly learned that Blackfire was just a quick as her sister was, as the fist he aimed for her stomach slammed into the padded floor as Blackfire rolled away. Straightening back up, Robin found himself on the receiving end of a flurry of punches and kicks, which he found himself hard pressed to block. Finally, he managed to jump back a few feet, then threw a kick that connected with the side of Blackfire's head, staggering her.

"Robin," she said as she caught her balance and ran a finger on the inside of her cheek to see if it came out of her mouth bloody. "You pull a punch or kick again, and I'll declare myself the winner. Trust me, I can take whatever you can throw at me."

"You asked for it," he muttered, then went on the offensive, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks that Blackfire managed to either block or avoid. All except the last one.

Blackfire grunted as Robin's foot connected solidly with her ribs, then grunted again as the force of that kick slammed her into a wall, and she fell to the floor, the breath knocked out of her. Recovering quickly, she rolled to her right then to her feet just in time to see Robin throwing a left jab at her that would have connected with her jaw. She quickly turned her back to him and trapped his arm between her own left arm and her side. She reached over to grab his hand and flip him, but she felt his right foot slip past her own, locking his ankle against hers. Her reaching across her own body threw her off balance enough that she couldn't counter Robin's pushing his whole weight against her, and she landed face first on the floor with Robin on top of her.

Feeling Robin reaching for her right hand, she quickly rolled to her left, pulling sharply on his still trapped arm. She winced slightly when she heard his yelp of pain and felt the soft pop through his arm. Releasing his arm, Blackfire quickly got to her feet. She saw Robin, face down on the floor, trying to push himself up with only one arm. She kicked that arm and Robin ended up on his back and she quickly moved to pin him there. She knew she had definitely hurt his left arm, as the blow to the side of her neck wasn't hard enough to knock her out, but caused her head to swim, and her vision to dim. The blow from his right arm, however, was hard enough to throw her back a few feet.

Unfortunately for Robin, Blackfire had use of both her arms, and she quickly pounced on him again, her right leg stretched across his, her left hand grabbing his right, and her right grabbing his throat.

"Give it up, bird boy. You're beaten." Blackfire raised an eyebrow as she felt Robin's body tense for a moment, then relax when she tightened her hand on his throat in response.

"Pe rochena," Robin grated out. "I surrender."

"Accepted," Blackfire said, then got to her feet. "Don't take it too bad, Robin," she said as she helped him up. "This lasted longer than I thought it would. How bad's the shoulder?"

"You dislocated it," Robin replied. He kept his voice even, despite the fact that his shoulder felt as though it was on fire. 'Its bad enough I had to give up,' he thought, 'I'm not going to give her the satisfaction of knowing how bad it hurt."

"Let me see," Blackfire said as she went over to him. She gave him credit for hiding the pain that she knew he was in. "For X'Hal's sake, Robin I'm not going to bite," she said as he took a step back. "This might hurt for a second, but it'll get better." She stood with her back to him, and gently took his arm in basically the same position it was in when she dislocated it, then quickly twisted her upper body to her right, jerking Robin's arm and popping the joint back into place. "Now just hold still," she said as she went around behind him, her right arm crossing in front of him, her fingers from both hands expertly finding certain pressure points around his shoulder, first pressing, then gently massaging. "That better have been a sigh of pain relief, Robin," she teased a moment later.

Robin's eyes snapped open and he became acutely aware of Blackfire's closeness. He stepped quickly away from her, and cursed himself as he felt his cheeks burn. "D. . .don't worry, it was," he stammered, and felt himself blush even harder at Blackfire's chuckle.

Blackfire chuckled at Robin's discomfort, but sobered quickly when she realized just who had been on his mind a moment ago. She reached out a put a hand on his shoulder. "Robin, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have teased about that," she said softly. "I take it Kori has been. . .teaching you some of our acupressure?"

"All I'll answer that with is a yes," Robin replied. "This month isn't going to go by fast enough." He watched as Blackfire wrapped her arms around herself as she took a few steps away from him.

"Robin, I. . ." she began, but trailed off when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was surprised when she turned and saw Robin smiling softly at her.

"It's okay, Blackfire. Like you said, you're family," he said then smiled a little more. "Besides, if Kori's forgiven you, I guess I can too. I owe you a thank you as well. You reminded me that I've got to keep remembering her that way, as my best friend and wife."

"Just remember, tomorrow you have to try to talk some sense into her."

"Blackfire, that's. . ." Robin began, then reluctantly nodded. "Alright, I'll try. The last thing I need is you running off to either Galfore or the Ca'ri," he said. "But she can be stubborn when she wants to be," he said. "Probably a trait she's learned from me."

"No, not from you, Robin," Blackfire said. "From our father. He was noted for his decisiveness during his rule. It also made our home life. . .difficult."

"Especially after Okarra, yes?"

"It all boils down to that between Kori and I, doesn't it?"

"Only to those who don't know you better," Robin said, then sighed. "And until recently, I was included in that group. Blackfire, one thing I've learned from talking to Kori, and seeing you when I have, is that despite everything you may have done, you do love her. You may not show it all the time, but you do care for her."

"She's my sister; of course I care for her," Blackfire said, then her eyes narrowed, "Who has been saying that I do not?"

Robin chuckled when he noticed that when angry, Blackfire didn't exactly lose her smoother form of English, but she did stop using contractions. "Athani, prevani," he said with a chuckle, telling his sister-in-law to calm down. "Galfore knows, I'm sure, and with your actions at Slade's lair, I'm certain Nie'l does too. You risked yourself to get her away from him, and as I told you once before, I owe you for that."

Robin was surprised when Blackfire suddenly wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Robin," she said softly. "Aside from Kori, you're the first one to honestly accept me."

"What in Azar's name are you two doing up at this hour?" Raven demanded from the doorway.

Robin turned, his hand staying on Blackfire's shoulder. "Just getting to know my sister-in-law, Raven."

"So, you were shouting loud enough at each other that you've both got bruises?"

"Just sparring some, Raven," Robin said. "Now that she's Jemara, Blackfire doesn't get to train as much, so I agreed to spar with her to shake the rust off."

"Riiiiight," Raven said, her tone clearly showing she didn't believe him. "Well, whatever, you better get some sleep."

"She's right you know," Blackfire said after Raven left. "You've been getting little, if any, sleep since Starfire went into the hospital."

"If you ask the others, they'll tell you that I'm used to that," Robin said with a lopsided grin. A grin that faded with his next sentence. "I'm just not used to it being because of Starfire. Between her simply not being here, and with the feelings she's got about me that I'm getting through our bond, it's pretty hard to sleep."

"Trust me, Robin, I know what you mean."

"I take it Kor'mel is on some affair of state?"

Blackfire nodded sadly. "And he was . . .not happy that I suddenly took a trip to Earth. He'll get over it, I know, but he's still fairly angry about it."

"He does know that you were called so that you could save her life with your blood donation, right?" he asked, then raised an eyebrow at the sheepish look on her face.

"Well, at first I simply told him that it was a family emergency," Blackfire related. "The next thing I know we're yelling at each other, and I stormed out."

Robin shook his head as he took out what Blackfire recognized as a Tamaranean communicator. "TOMOR'O, pe vat Vido'an Rob'n," he said into it.

"Highness, this is Commander Mik'l, it is good to hear your voice," came the reply. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm hoping you can contact Jemidar Kor'mel aboard the TAMAR."

"One moment, Highness," Mik'l said and there was a series of clicks.

"This is the Salvainian vessel TAMAR."

"This is Prince Robin of Tamaran," Robin said. "I'd like to speak to the Dynast, if he's available."

"One moment and I will check, Your Highness."

"I hate using my title," Robin whispered to Blackfire. "But it has its uses."

"What are you up to?" Blackfire asked.

"Robin, it's good to hear you well," Kor'mel's voice said over the speaker. "I was under the impression there was some kind of emergency."

"That's why I'm calling," Robin said. "Starfire was injured, and because of some internal bleeding I almost lost her and the baby. Blackfire arrived just in time to donate some blood, and the doctors told me that the extra blood is what saved them both. I thank you for letting her come."

There was a long silence over the channel. "Robin, I apologize for not coming myself, but I was not aware that the situation was that grave. I have tried reaching Blackfire on board the LIANDER with no luck," Kor'mel said. "You wouldn't know where she is by any chance?"

"Well during the day she's at her sister's side, but right the moment she happens to be standing about two feet from me."

"Is there any way I could talk to her with some degree of privacy?" Kor'mel asked. "I'm afraid I didn't let her fully explain what the emergency was."

"I see," Robin said, giving Blackfire a knowing grin, as he handed her the communicator. "Here, I'll be in the common room getting a snack."

"Koma, I'm sorry, I should have let you explain, but the conference. . ." he heard Kor'mel say and the rest of the sentence was cut off by the door closing.