Second Thoughts
"His vital signs are stable," Cyborg reported when Robin had walked into X's room. "But he's still out cold."
"The poison's all gone," Raven said, the blue glow fading from her palms. "He'll be fine with a little rest."
"What I don't get," Robin asked his team, "is how did he contact us?"
"Maybe he got a hold of a communicator?" Beast Boy started. He immediately clapped a hand over his mouth.
Robin didn't notice. "But I wouldn't give him one. I don't trust him farther than I can throw him. None of us d-" Suddenly, Robin knew. He met the others' eyes with a mixture of pain, anger, and disappointment. "Starfire." He walked out of the lab towards Starfire's room and pounded on his door.
Starfire expected this to happen the moment she had handed X the communicator, but she still wasn't ready for it. "Hello, Robin."
"Star, why?" he immediately asked.
"He was in the deep water," she replied. "I do not wish harm on anyone."
"But he's our enemy!" Robin said. He almost sounded personally offended by Starfire's actions.
"He is also human," Starfire said. Her eyes looked with pity on the Boy Wonder. "The ways of Earth still elude me," she continued, "but I understand the killing of another is wrong. Why should we give him the icy shoulder, even if he is our enemy?"
"Star, I can't believe this!" Robin was still mad. "After all we've been through... you went behind my back and put the team in danger!"
"Robin..."
"You handed an enemy a means to find us. We're lucky he didn't take advantage of it."
"Robin!"
"But how could you trust him?" Robin gritted his teeth.
Starfire thought a moment. "I did not," she replied with finality, and Robin looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"When he tried to explain himself that day," Starfire explained, "there was a look in his eyes. He looked at us with great respect, even if his words were not so much. He needed our assistance. This is why I had to help."
Robin was glad she had an explanation. Yelling at her seemed... wrong. Every word he had spoken to her since he knocked on the door filled him with pain. He lowered his voice. "But how did you know he wasn't lying?"
"You and the Red X are... similar." The word had an eerie ring to it - both realized that she had used that very same word to connect Robin to Slade. She corrected herself. "What I am meaning to say is... he looked at us the same way you looked at me last night - as a friend, as a person that you could be falling backwards onto."
Robin didn't bother to correct her English. She was right, and he was wrong. "The four of us weren't really acting very heroic, were we?"
"You were concerned for our safety," Star corrected. "Have none of the regret." She planted a kiss on his lips.
It shouldn't have made him feel better, Robin always thought, but it did. It always did. The first one - well, the first real one - did, as did the second, the third, the twentieth... It always did.
Robin was about to reciprocate when they were interrupted. The intercom came on, broadcasting Cyborg's voice over the speakers installed throughout the tower. "He's awake."
Robin and Starfire joined Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg in the med bay. X was still laying down on the bed. His eyes turned to Robin. "There are times when 'I told you so' just doesn't cut it," he jeered.
"Okay, X, I'm listening. What's going on?"
X sighed. "Well, it's actually pretty simple. I got mixed up with the wrong crowd. It was a sweet deal; they gave me the Xynothium I need to power the suit, and I did jobs for them."
"And by 'jobs' you mean stealing," Robin said.
"No, I mean painting their porch," X replied, sarcasm in his voice.
"But who could have given you that much of the chemical?" Cyborg asked.
"The Michiyo clan," Robin replied darkly. "They're the largest Xynothium traffickers in the world. They built their billion-dollar empire on it. I almost went to them myself... back then." His teammates looked away, not wanting to remember. Robin quickly changed the subject. "But Boss Michiyo doesn't allow anyone outside of his family into his operations. How did you strike a deal?"
"I didn't have to," X said. He reached back to remove the mask.
Robin had dreaded this moment. The mask was a symbol for him - a symbol of his descent into darkness. It had the same stigma that the mask of Slade did. He almost expected to see himself behind the mask. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
The mask came off. The Titans were greeted with the sight of a handsome, solemn face with unkempt black hair and piercing dark eyes. Robin breathed an imperceptible sigh of relief. "My name is Yamada Michiyo," X replied, in his real voice - the one not generated by the voice changer in the mask. "And I need your help."
That night, X - or Yamada, as he preferred not to be called, was still laying in his bed in med bay. This doesn't feel right. He fidgeted; the straps securing him to the bed prevented him from laying on his side the way he usually did. Should I really have given myself up this quickly? He wrestled with his own mind.
Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Raven continued to meditate. The past week was becoming quite a lot to bear, what with X showing up out of the blue. She tried her best to keep focused. But the memory resurfaced.
"I found X. I'm taking him out!" Robin's commanding voice echoed through the communicator as the T-Car sped down the highway, Jump City shrinking in the distance.
"Robin, wait!" Starfire yelled, but he had already cut his transmission.
"Starfire? What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked.
"He is the one who sent the signal of distress!"
"What?" Raven asked her. "How?"
"It is my communicator that he is using."
"Starfire, how could you give him your comm?" Cyborg said. He would have turned to yell at her but had to keep focused on the road.
"If he is in the danger, then I will not stand to see him hurt!"
"He's our enemy, Starfire," Raven replied calmly.
"It does not matter! He has sent the signal and now we must give him the assistance!"
Cyborg winced. "Well, you heard the lady!" He put his foot on the accelerator and activated the car's thrusters.
Raven put up her hood and closed her eyes. She tried her best to repress her emotions. Deep down, though, she was angry with Starfire. She would never show it, but she nearly wanted to hurt her for being so reckless.
I nearly struck her then and there, Raven thought with a shudder. My emotions are becoming much harder to suppress. I must ensure that I can keep them in check. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos.
"Raven?" Beast Boy said from outside of Raven's room. "Can you help me with something?"
The door slid open. "What?" Raven asked, in her usual monotone. She was surprised to see not only Beast Boy, but Cyborg as well.
"We owe Star an apology," Beast Boy said resolutely. "She's the only one who didn't want to throw X out on his butt when he came to us for help."
Raven wholeheartedly agreed. "Of course. Let's go. I'll assume Robin's already with her. They're inseparable nowadays."
Cyborg was surprised. "Raven? Really?"
She decided not to explain herself. "Yeah." Together, they headed for Starfire's room.
Starfire had managed to tear Robin from the screens and drag him into her room. They sat and talked, the way they have been since they became official several months ago. She took pride in what she had done for Robin - he was not as secluded as he was before. Back in the present, Star looked deep into Robin's eyes. "Robin. No matter what happens, I love you."
"I love you too, Star," Robin stammered out. "And I'm sorry for yelling."
"Do not be." She leaned in to kiss him. How many times had they done this now? It didn't matter. She closed her eyes.
At that moment, Starfire's door slid open. "Starfire, we- ooooh," Cyborg started, before realizing he had interrupted a moment. Starfire sat up straight and blushed, while Robin shot him a glare that could cut... well it was a good thing he was made out of metal.
"What is the matter?" Starfire asked after a while.
"We... just wanted to say sorry," Beast Boy kicked the floor.
"We were out of line," Cyborg added.
"You were right to help Red X, even when we didn't." Raven's remorse didn't show on her face. "We have no right to say that you were wrong."
"Thank you, friends," Starfire said quietly. "But you must also apologize to one other." She gestured towards the medical bay.
"We'll all go," Robin said. The others were surprised at Robin's response... never before had the Boy Wonder been so ready to apologize. Starfire really knows how to persuade him, they all thought.
They walked down the hall, to the place where X was staying. Robin opened the door. "Yamada?" An empty bed greeted their sight. The metal bands had been picked, and a ceiling tile was dislodged.
Beast Boy gasped. "He's gone!"
Robin's hands turned to fists, Starfire watching in dismay. "Titans! Search the tower!"