Agent X
The Unscrupulous!
Presents
All For Me
A/N: I welcome any and all feed back and constructive criticism. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: TEEN TITANS and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC COMICS and are copyrighted.
The Tower was in turmoil. Muffled yells, thumps and other noises could be heard echoing through the passageways. Footsteps left in their wake a trail of litter and disrepair that stretched from common room to launch bay, where most of the individuals were now gathered.
She had thought that the Tower seemed empty in the last few unproductive weeks, but as the final box disappeared into the craft it was time to acknowledge that once again she'd been disproved. If it had been empty before, it would be crypt-like now.
Unobtrusively she watched as the red-haired girl stared ahead, clutching to her person a small album with 'My memories of Earth' scribbled on the cover. Starfire looked on as the crate was sealed in the storage bay as if watching her own death sentence. She probably was, or close enough.
Beside her Robin stood, looking on in the same intolerable silence and managing to separate himself from the rest of the bustling room. They had all resigned to this together and yet were separated by the sheer gravity of the situation.
All surrounding drones and personnel started to retreat back into their craft as it readied itself for departure. Starfire was broken from her daze and moved back out of the way as the last drones, engines and ramps went by her.
Around the corner came two officials and, despite the agreement made within the first day of their arrival, Robin tensed and Starfire's breaths came shorter. She just watched as they meticulously examined the scene before heading over.
"Princess Starfire, are you ready to go?"
"Yes."
Slowly she opened her eyes and the colour of the room came flooding back to her. Her meditation had been relatively smooth, if not a little shorter today due to restlessness.
For the time being she decided to stay seated and began to look about, spying little novelties here and there that momentarily caught her interest. A lot of mess had seemed to gather itself on the floor, couches, table…
There was the thick tome under the coffee table, one she hadn't touched for so long she almost forgot where she was up to. Here was a cracked ceramic mug, the last ounces of undrunk tea sitting cold and stagnant at the bottom.
As she bent to pick up one of the many TV remotes, lying untouched in the middle of the floor, there was the familiar chirp of the transmission alarm. Being closest, she was the first to answer.
On screen there appeared an armoured figure, head discernable from the torso only by a serrated visor and neckpiece, blood red against the titanium black.
"Transmitting … this is a communication from the Gordanian Empire ship Fint, initiating contact with lodgings 'Titans Tower'… awaiting response…"
"What's this?" came a steady voice from behind her. Robin came up cautiously to the screen and glanced at her quickly, demanding explanation.
"They've only just made contact. I have no more idea as to what they might want than you do." He only frowned at this.
Firmly he pushed one of the buttons on the panel and replied.
"This is Robin, leader of the Teen Titans speaking. You should be aware that you have breached Earth space and –"
" – We demand immediate dialogue with Princess Starfire of Tameran."
Robin pulled back at the interruption and gave the speaker a steady glare, before turning to fetch Starfire. However he stopped in his tracks.
"Starfire?"
She was already there by the entrance, eyes fixated on the screen. The red and the black. And all that she could say in response was a silent
"No…"
They were waiting adamantly beside her. She hadn't moved. She breathed in slowly and turned to Robin. There was a tense silence as mask met eyes, then Starfire began to speak.
"Robin, you are my best friend and as such I would like to leave you with a token of my appreciation for the companionship and hospitality you have shown me during my stay here on Earth."
"Star…" He began, but curiously a hand was held up to stop him. She noted that the crisis, rather than affect Starfire's courage had instead strengthened her resolve and regal bearing. The Tameranean sense of duty was indeed deeply ingrained.
"In the Tameranean tradition," Starfire continued, "I present to you the Armal stone; may our friendship endure as long as it does."
Here, with seemingly little effort, she began to remove one of the green-tinted gems from her gauntleted hands and placed it in Robin's waiting palm. Then she continued on with her speech, oblivious to the musing of the empath beside her.
The Red and Black minions, although there were only two of them, still managed to be imposing. She could only watch as they loomed over the petite, sobbing alien.
"Galifore?"
"Dead." They replied in unison.
"My Kingdom?"
"Gone"
"My people?"
"Enslaved."
Then came the last hesitant question. "Me?"
There was a pause. A shaky breath made it in and out of her lungs before she turned to the darkly cloaked girl and again started in a formal, distant tone.
"And I cannot forget you either, my dear friend. I… I have no gift for you. I merely wish to offer you the knowledge of my happiness whilst here on Earth, with all of our family. You were the only female individual I have known well here and I feel that the friendship we share is as special a one as any other.
It is true, I have nothing to give you…"
She was walking swiftly as possible away from the voices. The whole Tower felt besieged by mindless drones, packing away the princess' belongings and invading the privacy of all those who still resided in the tower for the last few days.
The Gordanian officials that had been sent were busy as well, formalizing events and explaining the situation in full to Starfire, and Robin, who had demanded to know every detail of the interaction.
The sound of a soft sigh caused her to halt, and she turned to find the very subject of her thoughts hovering dejectedly behind her.
"Starfire" she greeted with a nod.
There was a resounding thump as Starfire's purple boots hit the floor and she resisted the urge to step back as a serious green gaze became fixed to her face. All traces of naivety were gone.
"What's wrong?" she offered in an attempt to break the girl's unnatural silence. The answer wasn't what was expected, yet somehow didn't come as a surprise.
"Many things are wrong. Everything is wrong! My home planet has been defeated and defiled by our bitterest enemies, the Gordanians. My family on two worlds has been destroyed. I am forced from all I know and love into a slavery that I never wished to see again. How can you presume to ask me what is wrong?"
She studied her friend carefully as she calmed and finally spoke.
"So, they told you what's going to happen?"
"Yes," came the meek reply. Starfire wrapped her arms about her torso, hugging away her insecurities. "I am to be transferred to the Gordanian court, where I shall thenceforth become a prisoner of war, and be held as a hostage to keep the wild and warlike spirits of my people under control."
"If everyone is already enslaved anyway, can't you simply not go?"
"No. It is my duty as a queen to be with them, no matter their status or my discomfiture."
"And you stay in the court?" she repeated. Starfire nodded, but her grip on herself tightened. She frowned, sensing something.
"Starfire, why did you come here?"
"I'm scared."
There was a pause as Starfire looked to the ground and shuddered. "I'm scared of what I know will happen. It is true that my people are warriors, but the Gordanians… they are monsters. Violent and cruel. I knew once what it was to be at their mercy, and I never want it to happen again… I don't want to go." Her voice wavered at the end, before softening to a whisper.
At a loss as to what to do, she just stood there. She took a tentative step forward, trying to exude a monotonous comfort, but it didn't work.
"Starfire, I can't help you-"
" –I know, friend. And I would not ask it of you. There is, however, one thing I wish. I-"
"No!"
Starfire's large eyes widened as her friend stepped back, retreating into the darkness and only saying by way of explanation
"There is nothing I can do."
She faltered here. After finally glancing up to meet violet irises Starfire had found herself momentarily unable to continue with the goodbye. Swiftly the shared memory had passed between them, striking a discordant note with both. The world seemed to wait with baited breath.
"I have nothing to give you," she repeated, "but I have something to ask."
They both braced themselves. One for the question, the other, the response.
" –Princess, we must depart."
"What? Already?"
"Yes."
She turned away from her metallic escort and glanced back at her friends.
"Then I am ready."
The soft purple material of Starfire's boots clanked against the dark chrome ramp she ascended. The even darker doorway clamped shut tightly behind her. Starfire seemed already gone from the world.
She looked behind and noted with mild surprise that Robin had already vanished. Either that or he had retreated into the shadows cast by the large ship. Assuming the former, she too turned to head inside but the prickle of large green eyes on her back stopped her.
In one of the few portholes stood Starfire, looking out at her friends and their world for the last time.
As Starfire noticed her friend's gaze on her again she began to say something, indiscernible through the glass and wide distance between them. Yet every word was clearly understood and memorised, the mark of a telepath.
As the craft rose and sped out of sight she kept her eyes fixed on the one point of dark in the middle of a darkening sky. It was getting late, and her friend's last comment still hung in the air around her.
She had heard.
"As I will surely pray for you…"
And yet she didn't do it.
"… Raven,
Pray for me"