Shattered Diamonds
Summary: Five years after leaving, Robin comes home to discover that Starfire has a daughter and is engaged! But worse, with the return of Blackfire and the unexpected death of one of their greatest foes, how can Robin cope? (ROBXSTARXOC)(BBXRAE)(KIDFLASHXJINX)
Thanks for reviewing! To Shoraku: I appreciate your advice. I did proofread the last chapter. To be honest, that was the only chapter I have ever really proofread(I usually go back and correct anything I find) - I can be very lazy, but I decided to proofread I am, however, going to keep putting my chapters in capitals. I like it... It's only a few words... What's a 'Starfire speak' down thing? Thanks for your review and everyone else's:D
CHAPTER ELEVEN
PASSION
Robin glared at nothing in particular, his arms crossed as Raven spoke, giving Robin sideways glances once in awhile - weary of his silent fury and childish irritation. Nonetheless, she continued speaking.
"... So, Jason is going to hang out here for awhile", Raven finished, narrowing her eyes at Robin who returned her burning glare.
Cyborg and Beastboy grinned, anxious and giddy. "Claire's coming, right?"
"Right", Raven clarified, still agitated by Robin's attitude.
"Alright!" Beastboy cheered, standing up and skipping over to the TV, followed by Cyborg. Raven ignored them, and stalked over to Robin, shaking her head at him. Honestly?, she thought, her lips pressed into a tight line.
She placed a hand carefully on his shoulder. "Are you going to act like a child the entire time he's here?"
"I'm not acting like a child!" he protested. Right…
She gave him a look, and motioned with her head toward the entrance. "You are... Now, they're here, so try and compose yourself? Please?"
He shrugged off her hand and started toward his room, eager to retreat away from Jason's presence. Raven rolled her eyes, and waited as Jason and Claire approached, both grinning. Raven smiled falsely, still sour from Robin's bitter mood.
"Hey, Claire", she greeted. Claire ignored her and rushed over to Cyborg and Beastboy, who already had a game controller waiting. Soon, they were shouting, and the lights from the screen blared, blinding the dark room. Raven turned to Jason, who smiled in greeting.
"Sorry about her", he apologized, "I guess she was very eager today... Mind if I go and get something from Starfire's room."
She shook her head, and started toward the counter where her book lay. Hopefully, Robin and Jason wouldn't run into each other on the way. Jason didn't have a problem with Robin, so why was Robin so irritable?
"He is Robin, though", Raven mumbled under her breath. It was as if she were babysitting five year-olds who hated sharing the Barney doll…
"Why is he even here?" Robin groaned, his fists clenched as he marched down the hall. He realized how pathetic he was acting, but the sheer knowledge of Starfire getting married to someone else made him furious.
He sighed, solemn. "Then again, I did leave her for a long time…"
Robin scowled and proceeded to turn the corner, but he ran into Jason, who stumbled back, startled.
"Sorry", Jason apologized, running his hands down his shirt as if to smooth it down. Robin merely nodded, and continued toward his room. However, he was halted when Jason called after him, annoyed.
"Why don't you like me?" he demanded. "I've been on good terms with you, so why won't you just at least try to 'open up' to me?"
Robin, his jaw set, slowly turned after a prolonged silence. "It's just hard", he confessed. "I have to watch her with you… And sometimes…" His voice trailed off.
"What?" Jason pressed, a pang of anger present in his voice.
Robin glared at the wall as he spoke. "Sometimes I don't think you even deserve her… I've seen how you stare at other girls."
Robin was expecting rage or Jason's fruitless insults… however, he wasn't prepared for what Jason replied with.
"I know…", he admitted, shaking his head, ashamed. Robin gaped at him, shocked and bewildered. Did he just?-
"Yeah, I know", Jason snapped, sending Robin a look of pure loathing. "I'm that kind of person – a player. I try not to be, but it's in my blood… sort of.
"My father cheated on my mother. I still loved him, and was very angry when my mother took me, and left him, alone. I think living with someone like my father really screwed up my view on woman. The way he treated my mother and other women was horrible, now that I look at it.
"I guess having the sense of control is what got him – beating her and shouting at her because he knew she couldn't do anything about it… And I guess, what I'm trying to get to here, is that I sort of don't look at women as… worthy… Because my father didn't."
He finished and stared intently at Robin, patient. Robin raked his fingers through his ruffled black hair, and finally spoke.
"Well… sorry?"
Jason threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh. "No – don't say sorry… I don't need pity, not at all. I'm not the type of person who hides behind excuses."
"Me neither", Robin agreed, scratching his throat.
"… What about your parents?" Jason asked, ready to end the awkwardness and tension that had existed between the two of them for the past weeks.
Robin cast his eyes down. "They died", he began. "A long time ago… They fell to their deaths by sabotaged equipment. They –along with me- were acrobats that performed mostly at circuses. That's why I began to train under Batman…"
"Batman…", Jason repeated, musing. "Wow."
Robin gave him a broad smile, proud.
"I'm so beating you, BB!" Claire shouted gleefully, her fingers and thumbs moving rapidly on the controller.
Beastboy shook his head in denial. "No! I refuse! I deny it! You can't beat me! I'm the king-"
"I won!" Claire cheered, letting the controller fall on the couch as she started bouncing up and down, ecstatic. Cyborg grinned, and gave Beastboy a smug smile. Beastboy stared hopelessly as Claire's name crushed his on the game's 'Record Time'.
"You lost to me, also", Cyborg joked. "Making you in last place."
Beastboy tilted his head to the side. "If we were fighting in combat, I'd so beat you, Cyborg."
"You don't know any fighting, not even karate, like you think", Cyborg teased, laughing loudly. Beastboy grimaced.
"I may not know 'ka-ra-te", but I do know 'ca-rae-zy'!"
Raven actually cracked a smile and peered over her book to stare at Beastboy. However, her attention was redirected to the hallway, where Robin and Jason entered from, talking. The entire room froze –except Claire, who was absently playing with tresses of her hair- and gaped at them, utterly perturbed.
Robin halted and cocked an eyebrow, watching them carefully. "What?" he asked innocently, strutting toward the refrigerator.
"You… he-but… I- talking?" Beastboy was incoherently stammering, at loss for words. Robin, the king of stubbornness and jealousy, talking happily with the man who was going to marry his ex-girlfriend who he still cared deeply for? What was the word coming to?
Weird…, Raven thought, shaking her head and returning to her book. Cyborg and Beastboy exchanged quick glances, before continuing their game with Claire.
"It's the end of the world", Beastboy joked under his breath to Cyborg. Raven rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway – Beastboy beamed when he noticed this from the corner of his eye. Soon, Jason was sitting next to Claire, cheering her on.
Starfire returned to find Claire sleeping on Jason's lap, Cyborg baking dinner and Beastboy arguing with him, and Raven meditating, and Robin flipping through a magazine, bored.
"It's been more than seven years and we're STILL arguing about this?!" Beastboy shouting, throwing his hands in the air. Cyborg rolled his eyes, not even bothering to deal with the whining Beastboy.
"Hello, friends!" Starfire greeted. Robin and Jason immediately directed their attention toward her while Raven simply inclined her head in Starfire's location, a small smile stretched across her face.
"How's it goin', Star?" Cyborg muttered, trying to pry Beastboy off of him (who was violently attempting to snatch Cyborg's cooking utensil away).
"Glorious!" Starfire responded, twirling around as she danced gracefully toward her daughter.
"How so?" Raven asked, curious.
Starfire ceased walking, and shrugged, her smile still intact. "I'm not sure, Raven… I guess that I am just naturally happy?"
"Are we ready to go, here?" Jason asked, lifting Claire's sleeping form into his arms and waiting for his fiancée.
Starfire nodded. "Yes, we are… But I would like to get something from my room. Did you get Claire's doll?" she asked, turning to Jason. He held up a filthy, torn doll as proof.
"Thank you… You can head to the car; It'll be just a sec."
He nodded and with Claire still in his arms, left the tower, cautious with his movements so that he would not wake 'his' daughter.
Starfire gingerly rummaged through her closet, setting aside unneeded items and articles of clothing. As she stood back up, she felt someone else's presence. Her hands glowed a radiant green, and she turned sharply, ready to strike.
"Whoa, calm down, Star!" Robin held up his hands in 'surrender', grinning at her. She placed her hand on her chest, her breathing heavy.
"You scared me", she breathed, smiling lightly.
He smirked. "Sorry…?"
Starfire shook her head. "It's okay, friend… Okay."
She then looked at him, questioning. "Did you want something?"
"I wanted to talk to you about something." Starfire scrutinized him, not understanding his hesitant attitude.
"About what?" she finally asked, biting her lower lip, and taking an irrational step backwards as if she were uncomfortable by the lack of space between them.
He looked away, eyes narrowed in determination. "… Do you really want to marry him, Starfire?" he whispered, gazing at the pink carpet. "Is that really what you want? Or is just an act of getting over your grief? You wanted to feel… wanted? Was that it?"
Unwilling tears brimmed the edges of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away, and shook her head frantically. "You don't understand how I feel right now…"
His eyes traveled to her's, boring into my jade orbs. "Of course I do", he said matter-of-factly. "When you feel abandoned, lonely… you become vulnerable and the slightest feeling of someone actually wanting you makes you weak and gullible. That's how I was… a long, long time ago."
Her eyebrows knotted together, saddened. "No… I'm not weak."
"You're not", he agreed. "And that's why I asked. Do you want to marry him?" he repeated, his voice firmer.
Starfire paused for the slightest second, but nodded quickly, as if she were trying to convince herself. "Yes, I do."
"Are you sure?" he pressed.
Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I AM sure…"
"You don't seem like it?" he whispered, placing a delicate hand on her shoulder. She shivered, but didn't protest when he pulled her into a gentle, soothing hug that made her heart beat fast, and her breath increase. It had been ages since she received a hug from Robin, her best friend.
She wasn't expecting her body to take control of her, though…
Slowly, she leaned toward him, rising on her toes so that her lips lay barely half an inch from his, their breath mingling, and the desire raging. Her mind knew how wrong the situation was, but every barrier she set up fell.
It was Robin who closed the space lingering between the two, and he pressed his lips softly yet yearningly against her, enjoying the past sensation that surged through his veins, threatening to give him a heart attack. Her tongue slid sensually across his lower lip, and his hands gripped her waist, clinging.
"Robin", she whispered, slightly pulling away. The barrier returned, and all that was left was a sense of shame. He staggered back, not daring to stare into her eyes.
"I'm sorry", he mumbled, his fists clenching and unclenching. "Very sorry."
Starfire inhaled a large amount of air, eager to cease the fast beat of her heart.
"Starfire, just to let you know", he began, not looking up. "You should marry Jason."
There was a prolonged silence seething between them, and when Starfire decided to speak, she could feel her heart tearing apart.
"… I'm not sure… Not now…"
His eyes widened, and he gawked at her. But an emotion suddenly coursed through him as he realized that consequences of the kiss; she was guilty, and he was guilty.
"No, Star-" he began to protest, but she held up her hand, silencing him.
"… The problem is, Robin… is that I enjoyed that kiss… very much. Now, I'm so confused… these feelings…" Her voice trailed off, and a dry sob escaped her mouth.
As he reached out to comfort her, she jerked back.
"Please… I need to go to Jason and Claire."
Robin was speechless as she hurriedly exited her room. This is could not be happening… He just ruined the possible future and happiness of his best friend…
"You must give us the young blood of the Tamaranian royalty, Blackfire", a monotone, yet fierce voice commanded.
"I will", Blackfire hissed, staring at the screen as a person from Servix, the forbidden planet, glared at her, its eyes pitch black. "I'm just having a little 'fun'. I'll get the 'youngest blood' so calm down…"
"Stop fooling around", it growled, and then the screen went blank. Blackfire sat there, annoyance flowing through her.
"The youngest blood", she mused, a smirk carving on her face. "… Starfire."