Chapter 3: Jealous Alien

Ugh, why do I have so many stupid author notes throughout the story… not to mention the awful "thanxxx" and "plz" things that I have come to solely associate with the cherished Harry Potter fanfic "My Immortal." Which if you haven't read, you should. It is seriously the best entertainment in the world once you accept the fact that people like that exist. It's pure gold.

Anyways, I apologize for the Starfire bashing. I really do like her… now. Apparently back then I didn't? Or something? Whatever. Sorry, Star.

Raven dropped Robin unceremoniously on the ground by Cyborg and Starfire before landing next to him.

"Told you I would drop you," Raven said dryly, staring down at him. He stuck his tongue out at her and smiled as he saw her try to conceal a small laugh.

"Oh friend Robin! Are you injured?" Starfire cried, picking Robin up and dusting him off. A small smirk made its way on to her face as she started brushing off his shoulders, then moved to his back, lower, lower…

"What the hell!?" Robin yelped, jumping into the arms of Raven who promptly dropped him, again, in front of her as she stumbled backwards.

"I was merely brushing the dust off of you, friend Robin," Starfire said innocently.

"Starfire, you know quite well what you're doing. You asked me about 'touching' yesterday after we watched that movie." The unheard "dumbass" at the end of Raven's sentence was obvious. Raven crossed her arms, trying to quash the sudden urge to slap Starfire as she remembered her own crush on the Boy Wonder.

"You are sure that is what we talked about after watching the movie, friend Raven?" Starfire shot back. Raven was surprised at the venom in her voice.

"Starfire, you've been here what, three years? Why the hell wouldn't you know! That was totally uncalled for!" Robin said angrily as he picked himself up off the ground and shifted towards Raven.

"Yeah Starfire, you know better," Cyborg said while trying to hide his laughter.

"Hmph." Starfire turned her nose into the air and crossed her arms. Robin rolled his eyes.

"Where's Beast Boy? Shouldn't he be back by now?" As soon as the words left Robin's mouth, Beast Boy popped up in front of them.

"It's really weird, dudes! He's just sitting there laughing to himself! It's like he's gone more nutsy cuckoo than before!" Beast Boy exclaimed with his hands waving in the air.

"Let's go," Robin said, and the Titans began making their way towards the back of the boat. While they were navigating the cargo on deck, Raven noticed Robin was indeed very close to her, almost in a protective manner, the whole time. Helping her over boxes and holding out his hand getting down from them. It was actually kind of comforting, she realized, though quite unnecessary. They stopped at the top of the second to last stack of crates to peer over, making sure there was nobody waiting. This stack was bigger than all the rest, but there was no sign of anyone beyond the last stack of crates. Cyborg climbed over and jumped down, then Beast Boy, then Robin.

Oh Robin, why cannot you like me instead of that witch Raven? Starfire thought jealously. As Raven turned to climb down, since Robin commanded they climb and hug close to the boxes to avoid detection, Starfire had her first "evil" idea since leaving Tamaran. As Raven's head disappeared over the edge, Starfire casually ground the heel of her boot into Raven's exposed fingers.

"CRAP!" Raven quietly yelped as she let go. Totally unprepared and forgetting she could fly, Raven shut her eyes and prepared herself for the hard impact of the wood 15 feet below her.

"Shit," Robin cursed, starting to climb up the box in front of him.

Shit shit shit shit SHIT! Raven thought, squeezing her eyes tight. As she neared the ground, she tensed up her back for the impact on the unforgiving wood. When she was about to land, she felt something hard hit her from the side. She instantly curled up in a ball and felt her body flip around in a circle. She landed on the ground by the box in someone's arms. Opening her eyes slowly and groaning, she found herself half-curled up in Robin's arms, looking up into a very concerned masked face.

"Are you okay Rae?" he asked urgently, gazing down at the petite beauty in his arms.

"I'm fine Robin. Sorry. That was really stupid of me," she said, fuming at the fall as well as Starfire. She looked at her hand. It had several bleeding cuts on it from being smashed in between Starfire's heel and the box. It was also beginning to turn black and blue. Robin took one look at her hand and turned angrily towards Starfire.

"What the hell was that for, Starfire? She could have really been hurt!" Robin hissed through his clenched teeth, sitting down with Raven to get a better look at her hand, still not wanting to let her go. Starfire angrily watched Raven in Robin's lap, wishing it could be her in Robin's arms instead. She felt a rush of guilt when she saw Raven's hand, but quickly tucked it away. Tamaranians were extremely protective of what they thought was theirs.

"Oh friend Raven! I am most sorry! Are you injured badly? Perhaps you should not accompany us on this mission!" Starfire said, insincere worry dripping from her words. Raven gave her a look and turned her attention back to her hand.

"Shut it, Starfire," Robin said while wrapping Raven's hand in white medical tape.

"I'm perfectly capable of finishing this mission. The flight thing was only a little misstep, and look, my hand's fine," Raven said, holding up her taped hand. Pushing herself off Robin's lap and onto a nearby wood pallet, she inspected her hand and the wrap job Robin had done. Not bad, she thought to herself. Robin stood up and held his hand out to her. She looked up at his smiling face, concern and something else she couldn't place radiating off of him. She smiled slightly but quickly put on her normal emotionless façade and took his hand. He pulled her up and she quickly let go, mindful of the hovering alien. "Umm, thanks Robin," she said quietly.

"Anything for you Rae," he said so only she could hear. Raven let a look of confusion cross her features before settling back into battle mode as Robin turned to rattle off instructions. "One more stack of crates, Titans, and we don't know what we'll find on the other side waiting. We've wasted time. Starfire, you're going down first. Then Cyborg, then Beast Boy, then me, then Raven. Let's go, and quickly."

They made their way over to the final stack of crates. Starfire quickly scaled the side with Cyborg and Beast Boy right behind. "C'mon Rae, you go first." Robin said giving her a leg up.

"I thought I was supposed to go last, Boy Blunder," she said lightly, smirking. Robin merely shook his head and followed close behind, slightly to the right of her. Raven started climbing, wincing every time she used her bad hand. Flying would be so much easier… Starfire peeped over the edge at them and frowned. She would not be bested! Her red hair disappeared and a chunk of wood fell towards them shortly after. It missed Raven and headed straight towards Robin.

"Robin!" Raven said. She used her powers and stopped the wood right before it clunked Robin in the head. She floated it down to the ground. "You okay?" she asked him.

"Fine, thanks to you," he said, glaring up at the top of the stack. "Come on, let's get up there. I need to talk to a certain alien bitch who is not at all herself today." They finished the climb up to the top of the stack, finding the rest of the team already on the ground. "I'll go down first," he said. He jumped to the ground and executed a perfect roll upon landing.

That body, Raven thought before shaking her head. No, not now, stupid, she berated herself. Raven moved to a crouch and was about to jump over the edge when something hard slammed into her side for the second time that day. Only this one was hard and metallic.