Author's notes: Welcome back, and hey, Merry Christmas everyone and happy holidays. Hope you're all having a great time. So here's chapter 3, sorry for the delay. A quick note, I fixed the spacing problems in the first 2 chapters and added some authors notes to chapter 2 that explain the whole soundtrack thing. So without further ado, lets get right to the story. Thanks for reading!
-SOM
Deep in thought, Robin laid, back-down, on his bed. His hands rested on top of his head, his eyes were closed but his mind was wide awake. He needed time to think. He needed to be alone.
As if on cue, a soft tapping emanated from his door. "Robin?"
'Knew this was coming…' He sits up and swings his legs over to the side of his bed. He stands up and walks his dead man's march over to his closed door. It opens. "Hey, Star."
"Robin, I believe that we need to talk."
He nods in agreement. "Yeah, I think you're right."
"May I enter?"
"Ah…that might not be the best idea. Why don't I come out? Let's go for a walk."
Soundtrack:"Faithless" – Social Distortion
Song ends…
"So that's how it started…" Raven and Cyborg had continued down the hallway as they talked and now found themselves in the garage. Raven was sitting, legs Indian-style on the hood of the T-Car while Cyborg was on his back changing the oil under the machine.
Cyborg hated being idle when dealing with problems. He found he did his best thinking when he was able to keep his hands busy as well. "Uh huh…so wait. You just kissed him?"
Raven sighed and looked up at nothing in particular. "Well I didn't plan on it or anything. I thought I was still dreaming…Even now I feel like I'm in a dream. A bad one."
Suddenly a loud CLANG as some unseen piece of metal falls to the floor under the car. "Ah! Damn. Yeah, tell me about it, girl. I still can't believe it myself. Who the hell does that guy think he is?"
"Batman or Robin?" She asks dryly.
A chuckle. "Both, I guess. So seriously, Rae. What're you gonna do?"
She rolls her eyes. "You tell me. And would you come out here already? I'm tired of talking to your feet."
"Alright, alright." Cyborg crawls out from under the car and leans up against its side, arms crossed over his chest. "Well, what do you want to do?"
Raven looks vacantly off into the air again as she thinks. "Honestly, I don't really care. I never had a real purpose before I found you guys…or we found each other, I should say."
Cyborg smiles to himself. "It felt good, didn't it? Helping people? Felt like I finally re-found my place in the world. You know, since after the accident, I mean." He was referring to the accident that cost him half of his human body and the life of his mother. It was the accident that would turn Victor Stone into the hero known as Cyborg.
Raven nods. "It did feel good. But I have to admit, the idea of living a normal, care-free life? It does sound nice."
"So is that it? You want to be normal?"
She shakes her head slightly. "Not really, I mean, not by myself at least."
"Aaah. I get it. You want to go with him to…where ever it is he goes."
"Four years, Cyborg. For four years I wanted to tell him how I felt. But there was always something to be afraid of. What if he didn't like me, what about Starfire, what if it just wouldn't work out? I kept thinking about all the negative consequences our potential relationship might have on the team…"
"But now the team is out of the picture, so to speak."
She turns to look at her metallic friend. "This is probably the best chance I'll ever have at making something work between us. He just seems so sure about what he wants his life to be…what if I don't fit into that picture?"
"Well now you're just being ridiculous. Robin's done some dumb stuff in the past, but even he isn't stupid enough to walk away from you. He's lucky to have you, Rae. Don't ever let yourself think otherwise. Now get outta here and go talk to him already, wouldja?"
Raven pressed her lips together and scrunched her face a bit. "I will…but I think I'll wait a bit. Something tells me he's a little occupied at the moment."
"Huh? What makes you say that?"
Raven said nothing but gave him a look that said, 'Duh'.
"Man…that crazy brain-link you guys got going on is creepy."
"Uh huh. Never heard that word before." The two friends looked off into separate directions and smiled to themselves in the comfortable silence. "So," Raven said finally, "that was me sharing. Now it's your turn. I noticed earlier you still aren't talking to either of them. At least not directly. You plan on keeping this up forever?"
"Does it really matter? They'll be out of here in a week, tops. Didn't you hear? They're gonna 'see the country together'." With that last phrase, he stretched his voice into a mock imitation of Kid Flash's. Cyborg pouted. It wasn't so long ago that he had infiltrated Brother Blood's H.I.V.E. Academy and met a certain pink-haired temptress. The two really seemed to connect, until Jinx discovered it was all a ruse, and that her new boyfriend 'Stone' was none other than Cyborg in disguise. He never got the proper chance to tell her that while his motives for being there were fabricated, his feelings for her weren't. 'Far too late for that now,' he thought.
"Can you really blame her, though?" Raven asked, interrupting Cyborg's train of thought. "She feels like you betrayed her. Or that you didn't trust her. Maybe if you had been honest with her from the start, she would have become a Titan a long time ago…"
"Girl, who's side are you on?! You're supposed to be making me feel better! That's what I did for you!"
She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. "You want me to make you feel better or you want me to tell you what I think?"
"Yeah, yeah…" He lets out a snort, then the tone in his voice turns to a defensive one. "Well, what's he got that I don't got, anyway?"
Raven playfully punches Cyborg in the arm. "You'll find your girl one day, Vic. And if you really think Jinx is the one, then just be there for her. She'll come around."
He smiles wryly. "I guess you would be the newly-minted expert in that subject, huh?"
"Heh. I guess so. Honestly, for a while there, I thought Star and Robin would be together forever…"
Soundtrack: "Seaweed Sheets" – Astronautalis
Robin and Starfire were outside of the Tower now, walking along the beach. Step by step they moved through the sand in silence, the only noise coming from the gentle rolling of the waves. Neither one had said anything yet, for they both knew that this was to be their first real conversation since Robin had started seeing Raven.
"I am going back to Tamaran." Starfire suddenly said, matter-of-factly.
Robin blinked. "What?" That was not how he expected the conversation to start. "You're really leaving?" A wave of guilt washed over Robin just as another wave washed over his feet.
Starfire gave him a warm expression. "Do not be sad, Robin. I am happy here. I am not leaving because of…anything that has happened recently…"
Robin winced. He knew she wasn't talking about the team breaking up.
"I just have been missing my home so much recently, and now that we all have so much time to take for ourselves…I thought it would be nice to go back for a while."
"So you're not leaving for good, then?"
Starfire shook her head. "No, Earth is my home now. However, I do feel like I owe it to Galfore to relieve him of his royal obligations, even if just for a short time." The last time Starfire had been to her home planet of Tamaran, she had won the crown from her devious sister Blackfire. Not wanting to abandon her friends for the throne, she left the crown to her loyal guardian Galfore, the man who had raised her from a child. Now it would be her turn to help him. While once a magnificent warrior, he was getting on in years and Starfire felt perhaps ruling an entire planet was becoming too much of a strain for him. She took a deep breath in and looked out to the sea. Then, she says softly, "You could come with me, you know."
A sigh. "Star…you know that wouldn't work."
Suddenly she exploded with emotion. "Why not, Robin?! Would it be so awful? You say you want a 'normal' life but you are not a normal boy! You are brave and strong and courageous and kind! You don't belong in an apartment, working your days away at a regular job. You could be king! You could be my king. Come with me, Robin. Think of the joy and peace we could bring to Tamaran."
"I'm not from Tamaran, Star."
"And I am not from Earth, yet I think of its people as my own!"
"Alright, you got me there…" He turns and looks up at her so that their eyes meet. "But you know why it wouldn't work out Star. We've been through this; we've done this dance before. Don't forget, it was you who ended it."
She looks down to the ground. "I know…"
They had stopped walking and now sat on a large rock, side by side looking out to the ocean.
"Where did it all go wrong, Robin?" She asks quietly. "Everything was so perfect for a while."
He nods. "Yeah, we did have a pretty good thing going."
"What happened to us, Robin?" The question was rhetorical, since they both knew exactly what happened.
"Tokyo happened." On a mission in Japan, the two heroes found themselves finally bringing their feelings out into the open and shared a passionate kiss in the city of Tokyo. "After that kiss…everything just sort of went downhill from there."
Starfire said nothing at first but silently agreed. "Everything became more…complicated."
They both sat and watched as the sky began to turn pink and orange. The sunset was approaching. "Have you kissed Raven yet?" Starfire asked, still not making eye contact with her former boyfriend.
Robin knew he couldn't lie to her. "Yeah…well, actually she kissed me the first time."
'First time?' "There have been many kisses?"
Robin answered but kept his gazed steadily fixed on the horizon. "Not so many, but enough."
"And when you kiss…do things go up or down the hill?"
He wished he could just not answer, but knew this conversation was bound to happen sooner or later and told himself it had to be done. "They go up. Things with Raven have been really great, especially for the small amount of time we've been together."
Starfire felt like she was at a funeral that was coming to an end. It wasn't a fresh heartache she felt; just when she thought she had come to terms with her loss she watches as that final shovel of dirt is thrown on and the hurt comes back one last time. "I am happy for you, Robin. I wish you the best."
The teen hero finally turns to face the beautiful alien. "Thank you, Starfire. You don't know how much that means to me." He reaches out and places his hand on her shoulder. "You know how much you still mean to me, right Star?"
She smiles genuinely. "Yes. As much as you still do to me."
"And you know I'll always cherish our friendship."
"As will I." The two friends sat in silence as they watched the sun slowly sink off into the distance.
"Be good to Raven, Dick." Starfire says as she looks back to the tower. "She deserves to be happy."
Soundtrack:"When You" – 50 Fingers
A little later, the Titans reconvened in the common room. Starfire and Jinx stood leaning against the kitchen-bar as the alien told her new friend about her home planet. Kid Flash sat next to Beast Boy on the couch, giving him some back-seat-driver advice on how to play a game on his Nintendo DS. Raven stood off to the side, leaning a shoulder on the large glass wall as she looked out over the bay.
Tssst. Using the bottom of his forearm, Cyborg twisted the tops off a couple bottles of Root Beer and handed one to Robin. The two friends chuckled as they clinked their bottle necks together. "You know I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't go talk to her soon."
The boy wonder took a swig of his soda. "Yeah, I know. Trust me, I wouldn't fight back." He chugs down another gulp. "So tell me, is it going to be a good talk or a bad talk?"
Cyborg smirked. "Ah, you ain't got nuthin' to worry about. It'll be a good talk. Probably one of those cheesy Dawson's Creek moments that'll change your life for the better."
"Hah. Yeah I guess I'm due for one of those, I suppose." The two friends said nothing for a moment as they finished their bottles.
"Hey man," Cyborg said apologetically, "I'm sorry about earlier. Guess I was getting kinda down on you. I'm happy for you, man. Glad you know what you want at least…just make sure you take care of her, huh?"
Robin smiled. "Thanks, Vic. And don't worry; I'm not letting this one get away. So what about you? What are you going to do?"
"Think I'm gonna stay right here, man. Someone from the old guard needs to be here, make sure the original Titans still have a voice on this team. I ain't scared of no Bat. Besides, it's not like I'll be alone. I got my team within a team."
"The Titans East."
"Yup. I know they got my back." Cyborg's face shined with confidence. "I'll show that old boss of yours that he can't make a punk out of Victor Stone and if I only last a week before he gives me the boot, hell, I'll make it a week he'll never forget."
Robin reaches out with his hand turned palm-up. "Give him hell, Vic."
Cyborg slaps his hand firmly into Robin's and they grip tight. "Like nothing he's ever seen, Dick."
The next day:
Cyborg was alone, sitting in his room. Hunched over his workbench, he had been toiling away for hours. He knew his remaining time with his friends was limited, but he only had a week before Batman took over and Cyborg needed as much time as possible to finish the project set before him. His plan was to install an untraceable fail-safe into the Titans communication and defense systems. He needed to make it advanced enough that not even Batman would be able to find it. Not an easy task. If it worked, it would be his ace in the hole in case he ever had to make a stand against the Dark Knight. 'Batman ain't the only one who can plan contingencies.'
He was shaken out of his thoughts by a voice at his door. "Hey."
Cyborg spun his chair around to see Jinx standing there in his doorway. Her right arm was leaning against the door-frame, her head propped up by her hand. She cocked her left arm, her hand resting daintily on her hip. "We're leaving," she said bluntly. "Don't know why I'm bothering to tell you though; you haven't said two words to me since I got here."
"What do you want me to say?" His voice was void of any emotion.
"How about an apology to start?! That would be nice."
"You want to talk apologies, why don't we start with all the things you did to us before you jumped ship."
Unafraid of the metal behemoth, she stormed up to him to yell into his face. "Oh don't you give me that crap! None of it seemed to bother you when you came to the H.I.V.E.! Or was all that time we spent together just a bunch of lies huh, Superspy?" She turned away from him and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I can't believe you were my first." Venom and remorse coated Jinx's words. "How could I have been so stupid? I mean sure, it was prom and all the rules say you're supposed to give it up, but dang! How could you have screwed me over like that? And by the way, I meant that metaphorically. Ass. And they say I'm supposed to be the evil one."
"You're right," Cyborg said simply. "I was just doing my job. I needed to get as much information on your operation as possible, and to do that I needed to get close to someone. You just drew the short straw, darling."
"Are you really so cold? Is this supposed to be what you're actually like? Just some heartless bastard? Some hero. The 'villain' I met back in the H.I.V.E. was a better person." She turned to walk out the door.
"What do you want me to say?" Cyborg said again, this time with a small strain on his voice. "You want me to tell you how sorry I am? Would you even believe me? You want me to tell you that I've regretted it every day since then. That for one brief moment, I almost considered turning on my friends and throwing my life away…for you. I screwed up, alright? I should have trusted you. I should have been honest with you. I should have known what a good person you were and that you'd have the guts to stand up for yourself when it really mattered. But I didn't, and I'm sorry." Cyborg thought back to all the time they had spent together while he was undercover at the H.I.V.E. "You think I really could have faked all that?"
"I don't know…you were a pretty convincing asshole earlier." A small smile threatened to creep up the corner of her lips. "Thanks, Vince"
Cyborg winced. "Um…it's Vic, actually. Victor Stone. The name I gave you was-"
"Fake. Of course it was." The smile disappeared.
"Nikki, I…"
"No, I should have seen that coming. Don't sweat it. I gave you a fake name too. My name's really Jasmine, not Nicole."
"Really?"
"No."
"So…Kid Flash, huh?"
"Oh please, don't even start with me. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. He believes in me. He's honest with me. Even my bad luck powers work a little less when I'm with him."
Cyborg raises an eyebrow. "So you know who he really is?"
She sighs, "Of course I know. But I'm not gonna tell you. If people found out who he really is…they might try to take him away."
"What? Why? Did he hurt someone?"
"No. Never. It's just…complicated."
"Alright, fine. Say no more. You two are happy, I get it. I'm glad." His tone was unconvincing and he didn't really sound like he meant it, but at least he was able to say the words. That must have counted for something, right?
"Well…I should get going. We got a lot of road to cover, and who knows how much time we really have…"
'There she goes, being cryptic again.'
"But hey," she says, "I'm glad we were able to have this talk. I feel a lot better."
"Yeah, me too. You take care of yourself, ya hear?"
She turns to give him a wink and a finger-gun as she leaves. "See ya around, Tin Man. I mean, Victor."
"See ya, Nikki..."
A week later:
It was a cloudy night as the two heroes stoop atop the roof of Titans Tower. Raven looked off into the distance, Robin looked only at her.
""I can't believe she really left..."
"Why not? The team was all she had here. Take that away and what's left?"
"Not to mention, she lost you." Raven drops her gaze to the ground below them.
"I don't think that had anything to do with it..."
"You're saying it, but you don't believe it."
"Why are you, of all people saying this to me?" He looks to her in concern.
"I don't know. Guilt?"
"Heh. Yeah, I think I know that guy. My old friend..." A sigh escapes from his lungs like a prisoner. One whose spirit was broken long ago, and crawls rather than runs for his freedom. "At least she has a purpose now. She's got a whole planet-kingdom to protect. I still don't know what I'm going to do..."
Robin stared off into the night. The city lights glowed like the stars in the sky. It was almost Christmas.
"Do you miss her?" Raven asks him, suddenly.
Robin was becoming exasperated. "Alright, why are you doing this to me? Are you mad at me? If you're having second thoughts about us-"
"No! No. Ugh, you're so dramatic. It's nothing like that. I miss her. I never thought I'd actually say it, but I do..."
For a moment, silence covers their conversation with its blanket of black. Then, "Hey, Raven."
"Mm?"
"Want to go for a ride?"
"What?Why?"
He shrugs. "Why not? It's not like we have anything to do or anywhere to be. All we have here are ghosts and memories..."
"You want to go right now?"
"What better time?" He smiles.
"Corny." She looks first to him, then out to the world around them as the evening wind blows her hair ever so slightly. "Where would we go?"
"I don't know. Anywhere. Somewhere that isn't here."
She half-smiles. "What better place."
"C'mon," he says, "my bike's downstairs." The couple entered the garage and approached Robin's motorcycle. He casually tossed Raven his spare helmet. It was the first time he had taken her out on his bike. In the past, he had just borrowed the T-Car from Cyborg to go out on dates. Or rather, Raven borrowed the car, since she was the only person other than himself whom Cyborg would let drive it. 'If you haven't worked on her, then you don't get to sit behind the wheel.'
Robin climbed onto the bike, but Raven still wasn't convinced.
"Is it safe?" She asked eyeing it out suspiciously.
Robin grinned. "Course it is. Just be sure to hold on tight."
As the engine fired up, Raven was surprised to feel excited. As Robin revved the throttle, Raven could feel her heart race. Suddenly they took off like a bullet through the night.
Soundtrack:"Forever Fades Away" – Tiger Army
As they raced through the city streets, Raven watched as the buildings and streetlights around her melted together into a kaleidoscope of light and color. She wrapped her arms just a little tighter around Robin's waist. At first all she could feel was the engine shaking beneath her, but then realized she could also feel Robin's heartbeat against her chest. She didn't notice it right away, but their hearts were beating in unison.
As she watched the city disappear behind her, Raven could feel her old life fading with it. All she had now was Robin and the future. That was all she needed.
They were now jetting up the hillside, up to the cliffs that overlooked the coast. Robin brought the machine to a stop when they reached a lookout point with a view that stretched out over the bay. It was the opposite of the view from the Tower, which they could now see looming like a shadow in the distance. Robin lifted Raven up, off the bike into his arms and then set her down in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She reached her arm back and ran her hand through his hair.
"So," she said warmly, "Are we finally going to talk about it?"
"Sure. I'm ready if you are."
"You seemed so sure about what you want to do now that the Titans are done…you want to tell me about it?" She left the question dangling like a worm on a hook.
"There's not much to say. All I want is a simple, normal life. If that's alright with you, I mean."
"Why would it have to be alright with me?"
He smiled. "The naïve game, huh? Alright, I'll play along. Because…" He spins her around so that they're facing each other. "Because I love you, Miss Roth, and no matter what my life becomes, I want you to be a part of it."
Raven feels a crimson tint wash over her cheeks as she smiles sweetly at the boy holding her in his arms. She kisses him a little as they rest their foreheads against each other's.
"We could do anything you want, Raven. We could travel. I'd really like to take you to Gotham. I think you'd love it there."
Her eyebrows droop a bit as she looks unimpressed. "Why, because it has the word 'goth' in it?"
"Wow. That was unoriginal."
"Shut up." She playfully nudges him in the gut. "Jerk."
"Really, though Raven. We could go anywhere you want. Anywhere in the world. We could see China, India…"
"Paris?" Raven's eyes sparkled with hope.
Robin beamed. "Sure. We could go to Paris. We could leave tomorrow…"
Raven reaches up and runs her hand through his hair again as she stares into his eyes. "Cute and rich. That's too perfect. You sure you aren't gay, Dick?" They both laughed. "Where would we go after that?" Raven asked, changing the subject back to serious matters.
Robin shrugs. "London? Rome? Glasgow? Anywhere your heart desires, Rave."
Smiling, she shakes her head. "No, I mean in the long run. We'd have to settle down somewhere."
"Well, sure but there's no reason to worry about that now. Let's just follow the roads and see where life takes us. We'll find our way."
Raven grabs the hair at the back of his head and pulls Robin's lips into hers.
Forever fades away…
That's it for chapter 3! What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Switzerland? Let me know what you think. I really appreciate it. So coming up next isn't a full chapter, but a short interlude. It's called "Interlude: Revealed part I". Alright, Kid Flash. Time to take off that mask and whip out your drivers license because the whole world is about to find out who you are. And by 'whole world' i mean the ten or so super awesome people who are reading my story. I love you guys. Anyway, after that we're making the five year jump to see just where our heroes have ended up. Beast Boy, you're up to bat first!
So thanks for reading everyone. It really means a lot to me. And if you've got the time or energy, leave me a review, let me know what you think. It makes me smile. Once again, Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Peace.
-SOM
