Warning: Dialogue on my last two installments will be different from the actual episodes

Enjoy!

Year Three: Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy: Age 17 Robin: Age 18 Cyborg: Age 19

Jealousy

I was engulfed in a cloud of red. At first I just couldn't see anything outside of the smog, but then I began to feel light headed. I tried to find my way out, but I grew weaker, my breath growing shorter. Just before I collapsed, I was surrounded by blackness, and suddenly I was flying. I smiled at Raven, who stood beside me on a black disk as we flew after the others. Far up ahead was Red X, but Starfire was hot on his tail. I was just about to tell Raven to hurry, but my glance at her said enough. Soon we had caught up to Beast Boy, who was holding Cyborg in his pterodactyl claws.

Red X and Starfire turned a corner, and I was anxious to catch up. Red X is kinda flirty when it comes to Star. Makes me want to do more than simply arrest his ass. As Raven and I reached that same corner, I leapt from the black disk, tucking and rolling onto the ground.

Beast Boy, still as a pterodactyl, was stuck in some kind of red netting. Cyborg had a red x on his back, and he was fighting to get it off.

"Dude, its messing with my circuits!" he exclaimed, and as Raven assisted Beast Boy, I helped Cyborg pry this thing off.

Up ahead was Starfire, who had just broken out of two red constraints on her hands. I kept my eyes on her as she shot a starbolt at Red X, which caused him to crash onto the ground. He got his bearings and turned to Starfire, stalking towards her as her threw various devices in her way. She surrounded herself with a large starbolt to block them. With Cyborg finally freed, I took off toward Starfire.

Just as Red X was backing her against a wall.

I felt my face grow hot with anger when I saw him grab at her wrist. His masked face leaned close to her. I bounded towards them and threw myself in front of her, jabbing my fist in the direction of his mask. It connected, but he didn't back off much.

"Leave her alone," I growl, and I instinctively wrapped my arm back around her.

"She's not your girlfriend. So she's fair game, kid," Red X taunted.

"I can take care of myself, you chlorbag!" growled Starfire behind me. I had just registered the angry tone in her words when I felt an impact against my back and was sent flying. She had used just enough of her strength to send me quite a distance away, but not enough to hurt me.

I jerked my head back to look at her and saw her eyes shining green as she glowered at me. Now I felt even angrier. But I was angry with her.

Her momentary distraction allowed Red X to restrain her with a giant "x" against the wall. Raven flew up beside me.

"What the hell was that?" she asks. But I was just too pissed off to speak. And to top it off, I could tell by Starfire's face that Red X was speaking to her. She didn't like what he had to say.

I jumped back up from the ground and sprinted towards them again. The others followed behind me as I swept my bow staff under Red X's feet. I couldn't believe he was distracted enough not to notice me approaching. He fell to the ground, and gorilla-form Beast Boy scooped him up in his arms. Cyborg stood guard in front of the safe door, holding the xenothium that Red X was after. I was just about to place the handcuffs on Red X, but he began to fade. I looked down to his belt and saw his hand against the teleporter.

"See you later, chuckles." I swiped my hands through his shimmering form, but he was gone. I slammed the handcuffs to floor and snarled.

Beast Boy changed back with a frown on his face. "Well, at least he didn't get the xenothium, right?" he asks. I looked over to Cyborg, who just shrugged his shoulders. Red X doesn't necessarily have to use the door.

"We'll leave that to the authorities," I grumble. Still attached to the wall, Starfire grunts as she tries to free herself. Beast Boy takes a step in her direction but I reach out and stop him. "Don't bother. She can take care of herself." I didn't look at her again as I began walking back through the building. I didn't hear footsteps behind me. Just the rage-filled scream of one pissed off Tamaranean.

…..

I rode my motorcycle back home, not checking in with the team before I took off. We're all going to the same place anyway. We don't have to babysit each other. Starfire had ridden with me to the warehouse when we got the call, but I didn't ask if she wanted to tag along on the way back. Right now I didn't really care to speak to her.

I didn't think it was possible for me to really be angry with Starfire. Usually any little bit of annoyance I might be storing melts away when I look at her. She just looks so innocent and happy… how can you be mad at her? But the look she gave me today when she shoved me, her tone of voice when she snapped at me, it set something off inside me.

I press my garage door opener and pull in, carelessly setting my bike up on its stand and chucking my helmet into the corner. I tear off my riding jacket and cast it away as I head for the door.

They're all sitting in the common room when I get there. Maybe Raven had just teleported them or something, I don't even really care. But when I locate Starfire, I make a beeline for her, ignoring a comment by Beast Boy as I grasp her wrist and pull her forcefully out of the room. I subconsciously think that my grip would probably hurt a human girl, but if Starfire really wanted to get away she easily could. I barely register her protests. Just lead her into the training room and close the door behind us.

I let go of her wrist turn to face her, crossing my arms. I note the glare that has settled on her face, her jaw slanted and tensed.

"What the hell was that, Starfire?" I ask, my voice surprisingly quiet and controlled, when really my mind is racing and crazy.

"Oh come on, Robin. I will not take this." She places her hands on her hips.

"Who do you think you are? Shoving me across the fucking room, shouting at me, acting against me?!"

"You will not curse in front of me," she says sternly.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want, I'm your leader."

"But what you did was not leading me, now was it? Placing yourself in between me and a criminal was selfish, and-"

"Selfish?" he interjected. "He was closing in on you, Starfire, and you were just letting him-"

"You did not give me a chance! I was waiting for an opportune moment, to find a weak spot. You deemed me defenseless and threw yourself in front of me." And at that point, we were talking over each other.

I shouted above her voice, "Oh sure, yeah, you were just waiting? He was, like, centimeters away from you!"

She continued, "So you just had to jump in and protect me, Robin? Do you truly believe that I am not strong enough to take on a human? My strength is greater than that of yours and you know it!"

"Protect you?" Our voices battled one another's. "Do you really believe that you're my first goddamned priority? That all my focus-"

"Yes I do!" she shouts, overpowering me. She takes deliberate steps towards me as she speaks, "I believe that you feel like you need to protect me! That something within you drives you to watch my every move and wait for the moment that you think I need you! And when, of all people, Red X got too close to me, you snapped!" She paused, seeming to catch her breath as I did the same. My arms fell to my sides as I just stared at her. I couldn't speak. But she continued. "And that is why this bothers you so much," she says quieter now, "because I did not need you. I do not."

I looked down at the floor. "You say you don't need me, huh?" I cringe at the sound of my voice. I sound so defeated. I hear her footsteps approach me, and her shoes move into my vision. I look up at her after a moment. Her face holds so much emotion. It's amazing how much she can feel. And just how opposite we really are.

"Robin. I was trained by the Warlords of Okaara for many years, and I am a princess of a warrior planet. On my planet, what you did would have been shaming. It would have declared me as weak, and that is how all of my people would see me." She sighs, her eyebrows slanting and forming an apologetic expression. "I love working on a team, Robin, I truly do. But what I do not love is being seen as incompetent. In my lifetime, I have had more training than Cyborg and Raven combined. And yet, you do not feel the need to protect them?" I feel a blush creeping into my cheeks, and I lower my gaze back to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Star. I just… You're important, you know that? You're my best friend." She places a hand on my arm and I look back up at her. Her smile is warm and soothing.

"Star? Uhh, wha-what was Red X saying to you that made you so upset?" Her demeanor changes at my question and she drops her hand from my arm.

"You do not want to know, Robin." Her voice is quiet and innocent, and her answer causes the anger to bubble up inside me once again. I clench my fists.

"God damn it-"

"Please do not do the cursing," she requests calmly. My shoulders slump and I release my fists, my white knuckles returning back to their normal color.

"Robin, there is an underlying reason for your behavior, is there not?" I remained quiet, knowing exactly what she was addressing, but not wanting to admit anything. I'm the leader of this team. Her leader. And we are heroes. Bruce's words echo through me head…Never get involved with a member of your team.

"Star, I can't…" I let my voice trail off and I can tell by her expression that she understands what I'm saying. Or not saying, I guess.

"I may not always need you in battle, Robin. Times may come when I do, although I am strong. But you are important to me, too." She smiles, and I return it. I can feel my palms sweating at her inquisitions. She sees right through me.

"Okay. Well, uh, I gotta go fill the report for today. I'll talk to you later?" She just nods and I turn back around. Before the door shuts behind me, I just barely catch her words.

"…more important than you know…"

Stranded

(Warning: I'm changing the dialogue a bit…)

I took a few steps back from the edge and burst forward in a run. Pushing off from the rock, I launched myself downward after a falling Starfire. Her hands reached forward towards me, fists grabbing at nothing but empty air. Her voice shrilly screams my name and I am willing myself to fall faster. Why is it that she can't fly?

But I finally get to her, grabbing her hands and pulling her body against mine. With one hand around her waist I reach down for my grappling hook, simultaneously searching for a place to swing into. A hole in the wall of rock catches my eye, so I am and shoot. I feel Starfire tuck her head into the crook of my neck as I swing full speed toward the cavern. Pieces of rock collide against my skin sharply, but I'm just worrying about Starfire.

As we quickly approach the cavern, I release the grappling hook, sending us flying into the darkness. We hit the ground sharply, but I take the full blow to my back. We continue to roll until I finally brace my arms against the ground and stop us, my body hovering over hers. And the only reason I can tell how close my face is to hers in this darkness is because I can feel her breath on my cheeks.

I clear my throat, pushing off the ground so I'm now standing.

"Can you still make your starbolts?" I ask. The green light illuminating the cavern is my answer. "Damn it, the rocks caved in." Large boulders completely covered the way we came in, making it seemingly impossible to get out. I let out a sigh, which turns into a shiver. I didn't realize how cold it was until just now.

We end up building a fire together in silence. I found some tree roots that had broken in through the cracks of the rocks and Starfire used her powers to create the flame. The fire cast a pretty orange glow across the cave, making my skin the same shade as Starfire's. I slumped against the cave wall feeling suddenly tired. When Starfire began walking to the other side of the cave, I reached out for her wrist.

"Star, will you please just talk to me?" I ask. She finally looks at me for the first time since we've been down here, and her eyes widen when they reach mine. My eyebrows furrow.

"Robin, you are bleeding!" she exclaims. She lifts her hands up towards my face but stops herself, and I see a flicker of something in her eyes as she drops her hands. "You have many cuts on your face and arms," she says quietly, lowering her gaze once again. I touch my fingers to my cheek and pull them back to look. Yep, there's a slick redness. But it doesn't hurt. I look down at my arms. Why didn't I notice these cuts?

"That's okay. I don't even feel them," I mutter. I look at Starfire who stands in front of me, but won't look at me. I sigh. "Starfire, come on."

"There is nothing to talk about," she says sharply.

"Yes, there is," I copy her tone of voice. "What happened back there? Why couldn't you fly?"

"My flight is affected by my emotions. It is the same for all Tamaranean's. We need to summon joy in order to fly."

"But your starbolts and eyebeams… they aren't affected by emotions?"

"Not in the same way."

"So how you are feeling will determine whether or not you can fly?" She only nods. "Well, we've faced danger before without this happening."

"I was not afraid of the danger, Robin. I am feeling unfamiliar confusion." I blink rapidly, unable to respond. When I don't say anything, she finally looks at me. "You are confusing me." I swallow loudly.

"Uhhh…" Oh, fuck me.

"Ever since Cyborg did the teasing and called me your girlfriend, things have felt different between us."

"Star, it's just a misunderstanding. We're fine-"

"No, Robin. I am not that naïve." She sighs and looks to the fire. "Would it really be such a terrible thing?"

"Look, you know I can't-"

"Well then I fear that we will never be 'fine'." I feel myself deflate when I hear the sad, defeated tone in her voice. But I can't date a teammate. It's just not right. Bruce would kill me. "Can you not just tell me how you feel?"

I just looked at her. For a long time, I allowed myself to gaze at her as the colors from the fire danced across her face. She did not look up and did not question my silence. And I just took her in.

For a moment, I almost forgot why we couldn't be together. For a moment, it didn't matter.

"It's great how you're- well, you're like-" Sighhh. "You're the strongest person I know. And I don't mean your super strength, 'cause that's pretty awesome too. But you're so brave. Almost recklessly though sometimes, but so am I." I clear my throat. "And it's cool how we can just, like, hang out together. I love spending time with you, Star." She turns toward me, the fire making her green eyes twinkle in the most beautiful way. A smile stretches across her face and makes her eyes do that cute little wrinkle thing that I love.

For a moment, this was all we needed.

Tokyo

I yank my hand away from Starfire's as I stand up from the ledge of the building. I look out onto the city, my mind racing. Yes, I think about this new revelation, how I might be onto something with Brushogun. But I also think about what almost just happened. Why am I so fucking stupid sometimes? This kind of thing can't happen for me, it just can't. But part of me is yearning to turn back around to face Starfire, to continue having this fun that everyone was talking about. I feel terrible for doing this to her; she's such an emotional being. She's the kind of person that needs relationships and contact with people. And as much as I really, really, want to… I can't give her that.

"But Robin, surely the Commander Daizo and his troopers can handle-"

"Well if they can handle it, why are we still here? This kind of stuff is not what we do," I snap.

"We?" she asks. I turn around to face her, and she is now standing mere inches from me.

"We're heroes, Starfire," I say sternly. "We don't have take vacations, we don't get to make mistakes, and we certainly don't have time for-"

"For what?" Her eyes narrow and her shoulders seem tense. The breath catches in my throat as I realize what I'm about to do.

"For this. For more." And it seems like everything goes silent. I can no longer here the loud city sounds below us. It is just Starfire and I looking at one another, something dying between us.

"Can we never be more than heroes, Robin? Is this all we are?"

"I know it is all that I am. And if you don't like it, then-"

"Oh, Robin. I like that part of you more than you'll ever know." And with that, she walks away, toward the stairwell on the roof of the building. I turn back to look at the city and take a deep breath. I realize now that it's sunset. Oh, well that's now ruined for us. The sunset was always our "thing"; we'd go out onto the roof of the Tower and just talk until it was dark out. It was one of the things I looked forward to most during the day.

She walked away, she didn't fly. That means I hurt her so much that she couldn't find the joy to lift her feet off the ground. I squat down on the ground and smack my hand against the roof. That would probably hurt if I could even notice pain right now. Any pain besides what I'm feeling in my chest.

Things will never be the same now. I could tell by the look in her eyes, the eyes that I love so much to look at. I lost my best friend tonight. And I'll never be able to do what I've been asked to in order to fix what I broke.

…..

I put my hands up like Daizo asks as he screams at me through the megaphone. I look around at the police force he's assembled to capture me. I watch the slow grin spread across Daizo's face as several troopers begin to move towards me with handcuffs and guns. But out of the corner of my eye, I see my savior in the sky. I wait until she's close enough to reach my hand up, so as not to direct any attention to her. We grab onto each other's forearms and I am lifted up from the ground. She speeds away, and when we are a safe distance from the troopers, she swings me up onto her back. I link my arms around her neck as we fly over the city.

"So where are we going?" I say into her ear. I feel her shiver beneath me. She turns her head toward me so I can hear her more clearly.

"We have found an abandoned house outside of the city. We will not be able to stay long, but it will be safe for now." Our eyes meet, and I just see her blush before she looks back in front of her. I smile slyly.

"Starfire," I say as I tuck my chin in the space between her neck and shoulder. I feel her shudder once again and I have to repress a chuckle. "I'm sorry."

"For which offense?" she asks.

"Will apologizing for being an ass pretty much cover all of it?" She giggles.

"I suppose so." We have just gotten out of the city and Starfire has begun her descent. "We are nearly there," she says.

It is a traditional little Japanese home, complete with a garden that is just a bit overgrown. It is unfurnished on the inside, but in the middle of the floor lays a pile of folded up clothes. My uniform.

"The others must still be on their way," says Starfire, awkwardly rubbing her arm. "I-I will give you time to-"

"Star?" I reach for her hand, preventing her from walking away. I pull her towards me a little so we're only a few inches apart. I lean forward, and I can tell when she realizes what I'm doing because she beings to lean in as well. Just as I can feel her breath against my face, the front door slides open.

"Dudes!" shouts Beast Boy. I slap my palm against my face. Of course.

…..

I lift Starfire up from the pile of black ink. I pull her onto my lap and brush ink off of her face. Her eyes flutter open as I say her name, and she smiles when she sees me.

"Hey," I mumble. She tries to sit up and I help her, then I guide her to stand. Suddenly, rain begins to fall heavily from the sky. Starfire laughs as she looks up at the dark clouds, allowing the rain to wash the blackness from her face.

And I just watch as she laughs happily and playfully, then looks back down to smile at me.

"So I've been doing some thinking," I say, taking her hands in mine and moving closer to her. "And I've decided that-"

"Robin?" says Starfire, taking another step towards me. "Stop talking."

I laugh as I lean forward and touch my lips to hers in the most simple way, completely opposite of the way my feelings are for her. I barely hear the "whoops" from Beast Boy and Cyborg. The world has gone silent and there's nothing that I need to think about except for this girl in front of me, my best friend, and the person I care about most in the world. Sorry, Bruce.

And when we lean away, I realize that she is suddenly much taller than me. When I look down at the ground and see that she's hovering, I let out a loud laugh. I grab her shoulders and pull her back down to me, wrapping my arms around her. The feeling of her arms settling around my waist is the best in the world.

"That's much better," she says quietly, and I smile at this girl who could override years of teaching by Bruce. He won't be happy about this.

Reviews please! And if I get ten, I'll post the next chapter tomorrow :)