Robin shifted slightly and paused, feeling a strange softness on his chest and in his arms. Had he fell asleep holding a pillow perhaps? It took a few moments to realize that he was in the Citadel where they didn't have pillows, but rather an uncomfortable pad lumps that served as one. It also took longer than it needed to for him to recognize said faux pillows as Starfire.

He smiled, his eyes still closed, and shifted his position slightly from here he lay on the ground, as the memories from the night before began to reappear in his mind. His fingers stroked through her fiery hair as he reminisced, letting the world fade back in around him.

How could he possibly be feeling so elated when everything else seemed so bleak? They were prisoners forever, and if that wasn't bad enough, he had to worry about Starfire's traitorous sister, who clearly didn't give a damn about them in the slightest. His unpleasant thoughts faded away once more however when the sleep induced Tamaranian Princess wriggled ever so slightly as she began to awaken.

"Mm…Robin?" she murmured, her eyes blinking open. Robin opened his own eyes at the sound of his name, not that she would be able to tell this change in appearance; not with the mask on at least.

"Yeah, Star?"

"Last night was most enjoyable, I thank you for doing the being there for me," she told him, a smile gracing her lips.

He chuckled, but in the back of his mind he wanted to wince. What had he really done? He wasn't any good with words, he had just kissed the hell out of her like they do in one of those drunken romantic comedy movies. Not exactly best friend material, forget boyfriend.

"Yeah…I uh, had a nice time too."

She shook her head, smiling at his awkwardness; however the pleasant moment didn't last long between the two, for cheering began to erupt outside the chamber, indicating the start of an upcoming event.

"The Battle of the Haj'r will commence soon," Starfire informed him, running her fingers through her hair in preparation. "You should return to your proper quarters soon. I will try to speak with my sister. Perhaps she will listen to reason," she added halfheartedly.

Robin nodded, although the last thing he wanted to do was to be separate from her. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Be careful," he murmured before disappearing out the door.

~0~0~0~

"This had better be good, little sister," Blackfire scoffed, putting extra emphasis on the words that reminded Starfire that she was below herself. "I'm actually sort of excited to watch this match, and I don't want to miss it."

Starfire nodded eagerly, impatient to inform her sister of her found knowledge. "Yes, of

course, sister, however what I wish to speak with you is of great importance." She glanced to the side, eyeing a few guards before putting in, "and is not meant for certain ears."

The guards gazed at their leader, waiting for any signal or sign that was meant for their dismissal. After a few moments, it came, for Blackfire sighed irritably and waved her hand at them, to which they followed through with the order immediately.

After they had left, Blackfire rolled her eyes back to her sister, and leaned her head on her hand from where she sat on her throne, looking almost bored. "There you go. Now you have the floor."

Starfire cocked her head to the side, puzzled by the Earthly slang. Blackfire's eye twitched slightly in annoyance at her sister's ignorance, and her tone was much less than friendly when she clarified with, "I meant get it over with."

"Oh yes, of course," she nodded again, slightly embarrassed for her delayed reaction. "Sister, despite your previous decisions, I wish for you to know that I still care for you greatly, and would be crushed emotionally if any harm was ever to come to you in any way."

"My patience is getting thin."

Starfire bit her lip before continuing. "The night before I overheard a conversation between Lord Trogaar and one of his guards. They were discussing a rather brutal and violent plan to assassinate you. I beg of you Sister, help us to escape this horrible place, and join us. We will never have to return again." Her eyes shined, revealing how desperate and vulnerable she was feeling, as she waited for her sister to respond.

Blackfire's expression however remained stoic throughout the entire ordeal, which was a surprise to Starfire. Surely she should be alarmed that her own men were planning her demise?

Finally after several painful moments of silence, she stood up from her throne and floated down the steps of the throne room until she was at her younger sister's level. Her mouth turned up in a slight smirk and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Starfire was completely taken aback. "I beg your pardon?"

"Do you think I'd be foolish enough to believe your pathetic lies? I am not like you, Starfire; I don't bow to the command of others. They bow to me."

The Tamaranian Princess's mouth dropped. "You think I am lying to you? Blackfire, I would never-"

She was cut off as she was slapped across the face. The force of it snapped her head back harshly, and she let out a shocked strangled noise.

"You will refer to me as your Grand Ruler. Now leave my presence," she said tiredly, returning to her throne again. "You've upset me greatly. You've betrayed the offer I've presented you two Troqs for peace. You betrayed me."

Starfire took a deep breath before she looked up at her sister, her eyes hard and unforgiving. "How ironic. You speak of betrayal yet you are the one who refers to me with a cruel name that was created to mock our entire race. You make think I have betrayed you, but that does not change the fact that you have betrayed Tamaran."

Then without another word, she turned around and walked out the door.

~0~0~0~

"So I have to pick the hot Tamaranian when I win, right?" Speedy asked.

Aqualad shook his head at Robin. "Why did you have to let him pick, again?"

Robin smirked, at the Atlantean before answering Speedy. "Yeah, just don't make a big spectacle out of it. Once you two are in the craft you can take separate pods. Just make sure hers goes back to Tamaran."

"And who should I pick?" Aqualad questioned. "I doubt any other girl is going to keep her mouth shut about our little escape plan."

Robin shrugged. "Send her on a different pod. Then you and Speedy can just take one back to Earth."

Both Speedy and Aqualad glanced at each other, seeming to have the same thought on their minds. No doubt they were thinking of spending a several hour cruise in a cramped compartment with another dude, and all of its…perks.

"Great," Speedy muttered, before the gong went off.

"Good luck," Robin told both of them sincerely, giving both of them a supportive pat on the back.

"Thanks man, see you around," Speedy responded, returning the friendly nudge before bouncing off in the direction of the table that held weapons, some of them being objects that resembled arrows if you looked at them sideways.

Aqualad gave Robin a firm nod, showing his thanks before joining his friend in the arena. A few moments later the announcer's voice came on to explain the usual rules, and then another gong sounded, indicating that the battle had commenced.

Robin watched from where he sat in the chambers, looking out a small window into the clearing ahead of him. His eyes wandered up the massive steel walls, instantly locating the balconies that were supposed to hold the Grand Ruler as well as the Okaara Gem, but for some reason, both Tamaranians were not present.

Robin frowned, instantly becoming worried. Had something gone wrong? Starfire mentioned how she had wanted to warn her sister of the murderous plot the aliens of the Citadel were planning, but surely that couldn't have taken much longer than a few minutes? Perhaps Blackfire had gotten extremely angry, or maybe one of the guards had overheard and they were fighting to the death at that very moment and-

Calm down, he told himself sternly, taking deep breaths. Everything would be fine, because everything was going according to plan. There really wasn't anything to get in their way now.

Trying to distract himself, Robin watched Speedy and Aqualad dueling outside, and he secretly took note of their strengths and weaknesses. Aqualad was good at improvising with the lack of water around him, using alien puss, sweat and blood, to blind his opponents, but Robin had to admit he was rather clumsy on land. Speedy however seemed to be in his element. He weaved around attackers, and made a few daring attacks of his own, some a little too risky. He was also a very big trash talker. It was good to get the opponent riled up once in a while, but it was dangerous to provoke them too much. You never really knew what they would do in response.

Eventually in the end, they were unstoppable, but Robin knew from the beginning that that was inevitable. Blackfire had set the whole thing up after all. She didn't even bother letting another tribute move up a rank. Only the two Titans were the ones left standing.

As soon as the announcer came on again and asked them both what they desired as reward for their victory, Speedy wasted no time in claiming the tall Tamaranian girl. Aqualad ended up hesitantly selecting an alien female with bright blue skin and short purple hair. Robin nodded at his choice. Aqualad had chosen wisely given the fact that Beast Boy had to battle a male version of that species, so she shouldn't be a major threat.

The Boy Wonder then noticed a swish of red hair next to the balcony he was looking on and he smiled in relief as his eyes met with Starfire's. She appeared perfectly unharmed. However the smile soon melted off his face when she gazed at him sadly and shook her head ever so slightly, causing any remaining hope left in him to extinguish.

~0~0~0~

Starfire was filled with a melancholy feeling as she watched three pods take off into the evening from her room. She was relieved that her friends had made it to the craft safely, but she was also concerned for her sister and for Robin. What would they do now? Blackfire would not listen to reason, not that Starfire could blame her. The timing of the whole plan did seem rather suspicious.

Still though, what would it mean as far as Sanctor'x went? Would Robin still compete in the Battle of the Qiteccs? Only one would be able to move up a rank, and the one that did would have to fight her to the death for their freedom. She knew Robin would rather put his own being in danger than ever dream of hurting her, so she knew he would throw the battle.

However perhaps that was not such a bad thing. All tributes that failed to surpass the rank of Qitecc would merely be moved down to the Haj'r rank instead of being killed like they would be if they failed to win in the Troq rank. However there was always the risk that he could be brutally injured or even killed in the arena, and that would crush her. She would never be able to live with herself if something happened to him.

She heard footsteps behind her that jolted her out of her thoughts. She let out a puff of breath and the warmness of it made a white cloud in the cool crisp air. She was glad that Robin was here. They needed to talk again, now more than ever.

"Oh, Robin," she said softly, still not turning around to look at him. "I do not know what to do anymore. I fear for your safety and it would hurt be greatly if any harm whatsoever were to come to you."

"He is not the one you should be worried about."

Starfire froze from where she sat. She knew her figure had visibly stiffened and she forced herself to relax so she wouldn't arouse any suspicion. She turned around carefully, her eyes set in a hard glare that she hoped to X'hal was convincing enough.

"Why are you here Trogaar?" she asked him warily, her hands shaking slightly.

Trogaar smirked, and folded his hands together. He was not armed. "What? I cannot merely visit you from time to time, Princess?"

Starfire glared back at him. "Blackfire has informed me that you are not to enter this chamber. Am I mistaken?"

He didn't answer her right away. He casually walked closer to her so they were only a few feet apart. "The Grand Ruler does not need to know about our encounter."

"And I suppose she does not need to know about her planned assassination either."

Something dangerous flashed in Trogaar's eyes for briefly before it faded. He stepped closer to her, a little too close for her comfort. She took a step back.

"I somehow knew you would find that out eventually," he mused, nearing her at a gradual speed. "However you will not be able to stop my plans." He pressed a button on his suit and all the openings in chamber-the balcony windows, the doors-shut and locked. "Just like you will not be able to stop me now."

Starfire's eyes widened. "You will stay away from me. You are not allowed to-"

"My, my Koriand'r," he purred her name in a way that made her shudder in displeasure. He took the back of his hand and stroked her face with it. "What I am and am not allowed to do is not a concern for me anymore. You will be mine. And this time, your little Robin is not here to save you."

Author's Note: I apologize for the delay. Mid-terms are coming so my teachers decided to cram their final tests in before. So that means lots of studying. My brain hurts. Anyway because I'm the worst person ever I decided to end this chapter with a cliffy. I'm so sorry. I'm the worst. Seriously, I can't even look at myself. Please review, and don't flame at my evilness, that would be much appreciated.