I hate waiting.
When I worked with Batman I was always waiting. Waiting for Batman to teach me some new tip or trick to make putting together the pieces of the case easier, waiting for the criminals to get caught in the act so we could apprehend them, waiting for the legal system to fail so they'd get released and we could go after them again, waiting for the right moment to strike. With Batman it had been tedious. We were always ten steps ahead waiting for the criminals to catch up. With the Titans it was different.
I trust my team, I really do, but they don't always trust themselves. It's no wonder considering everything each one of them has been through. I learned from a young age that if you were going to do something you had to put aside your fears and just do it. You couldn't do a quadruple somersault off the trapeze if you were concentrating more on not having a net than on finishing your rotations. Being an acrobat I'd always been a little reckless and over-confident in my abilities. Batman had only made it worse, pushing me past even my limits and not accepting any weaknesses. Getting shot or stabbed wasn't an excuse for failure. Emotions, fears, doubts...all that didn't belong in our line of work.
Except when I was with the Titans. Watching Starfire disappear into the mouth of that cave and not knowing what waited for her in the darkness was torture. It wasn't just because it was Starfire. I mean, I'd feel the same panic if I was watching Beast Boy walk off to face his demons alone. But Starfire's powers were tied to her emotions. I couldn't train it out of her because it was a part of what she was. How would she react to seeing her brother for the first time in I don't know how many years? She still had hope that he could be reasoned with.
"Raven, take these handcuffs. Get them on him at the first chance you get." I gave her the bracers that had come from the bottom of my closet. She took them, frowning.
"Why do you still have these?" she asked in a hard voice. I understood. They were a symbol of something horrific that had happened to one of our friends.
"They're our best chance of stopping him without any of us getting killed." She wasn't satisfied. After all I hadn't exactly answered her question. The truth was, I was hardwired by Batman to always have a fail safe in place. I knew how dangerous Starfire could be, and I'd kept the bracers just in case. Batman keeps a piece of kryptonite on his belt on the off-chance that Superman has a bad day, so it seemed perfectly reasonable for me to hang onto the only means of subduing a Tamaranean I'd ever come across. At least mine wouldn't kill her.
"Where are you going?" Cyborg asked as I climbed onto the top of the rock.
"I can't let her go alone."
"Dude, we're all worried about her. She'll be fine. She's Starfire," said Beast Boy with confidence.
"If having a girlfriend turns you this inside out it's no wonder you held out for so long," said Cyborg. My whole body clenched at his words and I glared at him.
"One more wisecrack about me and Starfire and you'll be swimming laps every day for a week." You want to watch a robot freak out, threaten to push him into a pool. Cyborg is basically waterproof, but some of his hardware will rust and it takes him hours afterwards to completely dry off every nut and bolt.
"Geeze, lighten up, bro. You know I'm only joking. I think it's great you guys are together. I'm happy for you. Really."
"We're in the middle of a mission. Now is not the time."
Inwardly I cringed as I heard myself parroting Batman. He reflected himself in me at the weirdest moments. Even though it was true I wanted to take back the words, only because of what they said about me and the person I was in danger of turning into.
"So while you're off saving your girlfriend, what are we supposed to do?" Cyborg huffed.
"Wait for my signal," I said simply. Don't think I didn't notice the hypocrisy. I hate waiting, but I had no problem telling them to sit tight while I rushed off into danger. If they didn't like it, tough. I'm the leader, I get a free pass to be a hypocrite if the situation calls for it.
"She's been in there a long time," Cyborg murmured, glancing back at the cave uncertainly. It was very quiet. I took that as a good sign. Maybe she was talking to him. I needed to know for sure though.
"We're coming with you," said Raven as I prepared to spring onto the nearest boulder leading to the cave. I staggered and nearly slipped off the wet rock. Whipping around to argue with her I saw that her pale face was set with determination. "You're worried about her. Even these two can feel it. You think she needs help. She's our teammate too. We're coming. Get on." Her black disc floated up a couple of feet so that I could step on. I opened my mouth to argue, feeling the petty need to have the last word. I hate when they steal my authority like that, but Raven raised one eyebrow in warning and I decided to let her have this one. Besides, I could save my strength riding the disc than leapfrogging across the rocks, which were far apart and slippery.
"Do you hear anything?" I asked as we entered the shade of the cave. Beast Boy had the best ears out of all of us, obviously, and in times like these he made for the perfect scout. He seemed to disappear before my eyes for a moment, but a second later I saw his silhouette fluttering across the backdrop of the blue sky outside and realized that he had turned into a moth. A second later he was himself again.
"She hasn't found him yet. I think he's still hiding from her," he whispered.
"How can a moth figure that out?" asked Cyborg, genuinely surprised. Beast Boy grinned.
"The wax moth has the best hearing out of any animal on the planet. It's so good it can even hear sonar from bats. There's a nest of them back there and they're a little uneasy with Starfire moving around in their territory. Don't be surprised if they swarm out soon."
I gave a hollow laugh. Right, like bats scare me. Beast Boy grinned again, realizing who he was speaking to. Ignoring him, I reached up to tap the side of my mask to initiate night vision capabilities. Of the four of us, I was the only one who had difficulty seeing in the dark. Raven wasn't on Beast Boy or Cyborg's level, but her dark magic gave her an added boost that I didn't have. At once, the layout of the cave became visible in the greenish hue of infrared vision. Beast Boy turned into a panther, stalking ahead of us. I'm always impressed with his knowledge of animals and their strengths. I've never sat down to talk with him about how he picks and chooses which ones to turn into or whether he instinctively knows which ones have the greatest strengths and weaknesses or if it's all trial and error. Either way, the panther was a good choice. It was silent, strong, and easily camoflaughed in the darkness, with strong enough night vision to stalk through the winding tunnel.
"RyAnd'r? Why do you not come out?" I heard the echo of Starfire's voice. "I do not wish to do battle with you. I am overjoyed to find that you are alive. Please, Brother, let us not fight."
We froze, waiting for his reaction. There was a hissing sound that sounded terrifying echoing off the cave walls. it was followed almost immediately by rapid squeaking sounds and the flap of leathery wings. i lifted an arm to shield my face as the bats swarmed out of the tunnel, just as beast Boy had predicted. Starfire shrieked, but I could tell from the tone that she was only surprised and not in danger. I don't know if she's ever seen bats before.
"You killed our sister," RyAnd'r snarled. I glanced around at the others. We all heard the venom in his voice. He was on the verge of doing something desperate. we picked up our speed, trying to be as quiet as possible. When Cyborg's metal feet made a mettalic thump on the ground, Raven made him another disk and we all leapt on it as it sped through the tunnel.
"Please, you do not know the full story," Starfire began. "I had no control-"
"Lies! You abandoned us to return to Tamaran. You left me for dead!"
"KomAnd'r told me you had been slain. She said she would do the holding off of the Psions while I escaped. If I had known..."
I don't know if anyone else heard it, but there was a small catch in Starfire's voice. Suddenly, my opinion of RyAnd'r as a threat increased. He knew how to manipulate her. Being Tamaranean he understood exactly how to use her weaknesses against her. He wasn't hiding, he was wearing her down. If he kept bringing up what happened in their past she would lose control of her powers. She had already admitted that she didn't want to fight him.
We rounded another curve and Starfire came into view. At the sound of our rapid approach she whirled around, a starbolt ready in her hand. I held up both hands to show her it was just us and we weren't trying to attack. She scowled at me. She didn't like that we had changed the plan without telling her.
"You chose them over your family, Kori. You would rather stay on Earth than go home to your people. You are a disgrace!" It was hard for me to get a read on his location with his voice echoing off the walls. We were in a large cavern. There were several abnormally bright heat signatures around us and my opinion of him went up again. Knowing that we could track him this way he'd used his starbolts to heat up the rocks.
"Over there," Beast Boy whispered, pointing to a ledge where another heat signature could be found. I focused on it. It was actually not as hot as the others, and certainly not giving off the heat Starfire was.
"Once you are dead I will return to our world and assume the throne that you have discarded! I will rule Tamaran as she was meant to be ruled, with strength and honor, not weakness and fear."
"RyAnd'r, please, we need not do this. Let us put the past behind us. You are the only family I have left." Starfire pleaded with him and my heart broke for her. She wanted so badly for things to work out, but I could see they weren't going to. I didn't touch her, but I wanted to pull her against me and wrap my arms around her. This was like watching her lose him all over again.
"Really? Because I have no family. My sister was slain by a pretender to the crown."
Finally, he attacked. Like a shooting star he shot out from his hiding place streaming a jet of silver light. It was so bright that my eyes screamed due to the intensified light receptors in my goggles. Instinct took over and before I thought better of it, I knocked Starfire out of the way. RyAnd'r slammed me to the ground. My head hit stone and my whole body went limp. Not a good sign. Starfire hauled him off me instantly, flinging him away from us so that he struck the wall of the cave. Angry at myself for looking so weak, I forced myself to get up, but my stomach lurched with nausea and I knew I'd received another head injury.
Starbolts flew between the two siblings as Starfire drove him back. He hissed and spit like a wildcat as he danced out of the way. A cool hand touched the top of my head and Raven's power seeped into me.
"Don't make a habit of this, Robin," she murmured as the light dimmed from her hands. I ignored the mild taunt.
"Just get the cuffs on him," I muttered, running after Starfire. Beast Boy was ahead of me, a giant green gorilla hurling rocks and stones at RyAnd'r. He didn't need night vision with all of the light coming from the two Tamaraneans, and I quickly tapped my mask again to turn off the sensors. I was lucky I hadn't blinded myself.
RyAnd'r gathered his feet behind him and pushed off the wall, shooting toward Beast Boy like a missile. The gorilla was too slow to bat him away. RyAnd'r caught the large fist swinging toward him and grabbed Beast Boy under his massive jaws. The howl of the gorilla sharpened painfully into Beast Boy's shriek as RyAnd'r funneled energy into his hands. I fired off two birdarangs that dug into the flesh of his forearm, but he simply gritted his teeth and clenched his fist around Beast Boy's throat.
"Hands off, buddy!" Cyborg shouted, blasting him with his sonic cannon. The two figures flew apart, and Beast Boy collapsed to the ground in a heap. The smell of burning hair and flesh stung my nostrils and I fought not to run to his side. Raven was already there. Her eyes and hands were already glowing.
"Raven, toss me the bracers!" I shouted, stretching out my hand for them as I watched Cyborg and Starfire struggle to hit RyAnd'r, who was bouncing off the walls and firing silver starbolts from his hands and eyes. He fought differently than his sisters. His movements were jerky, swift strikes. He moved fast though, almost as though he was freeze-framing from one move to the next. That wasn't good. I couldn't keep up with someone who moved like that.
Raven lifted the bracers with her powers and threw them to me, not taking her hands off Beast Boy's neck where the flesh had been burned away. My stomach turned at the sight and anger rippled through me. RyAnd'r would pay for that.
When I looked back at the others, RyAnd'r had somehow managed to get beside Cyborg. I cried out, but was helpless to stop him as he tore the sonic cannon off, taking most of Cyborg's arm with it. Cyborg howled, not so much with pain but frustration. Starfire threw a roundhouse kick that caught RyAnd'r in the stomach. He folded around her leg. Snarling, she put her fists together and slammed them into his back, dropping him to the ground. His face hit the stone floor and he made to rise, but she drove her knees into his back, wrenching his arms behind him with brutal force.
"Yield to me, brother! I do not wish to do this!"
Flight is one hell of an advantage in a fight. It takes things to a whole different plane than regular fighting. Despite all of her weight on him, RyAnd'r rocketed straight up, slamming her head into the ceiling. Starfire's body sagged sideways and he whirled on her, punching her kneeing her. They were too high for me to help. He snarled in Tamaranean, grabbing a fistful of her hair and slamming her against the wall. She elbowed him in the chin.
"I do not wish to hurt you!"
"You already have! You killed KomAnd'r. You killed my sister!"
To my shock, he lost altitude. Starfire was dazed still, or else she would have noticed.
"When they recaptured me after our escape she came to my rescue. She saved me and she kept me safe. You didn't even look back. You told me you would protect me and you left me there to die!" He roared at her. His face contorted as he lost a few more feet. He still held the ends of her hair in his hands, but Starfire's face was streaked with tears now. She dropped as though she was a marionette whose strings had been cut.
"I did not know!" she moaned. He kneed her in the chest, but his strike had less power than the previous ones. There were tears on his face too, slipping through the lines of anger. Suddenly they both dropped the remaining ten feet to the ground. Neither moved. Starfire lay on her side, her back facing me. I could see her shoulders shuddering with silent sobs. RyAnd'r landed on his back, his face contorted with black hatred, but for the first time I don't think it was really directed at Star. Not waiting to give him an opportunity to get back up, I sprinted to his side, caught his wrist with one hand and snapped on bracer over his right wrist. Anguish flared into hatred once more, and he lifted his other hand to hit me, but I ducked around and used the movement to fasten the second bracer. Like a rodeo cowboy I backed away with my hands in the air. I forgot about his eyebeams.
Silver fire hit me square in the chest.
I staggered as fire engulfed my lungs. My hands rose slowly to cover the gaping hole in my chest. I swayed. Raven was going to have a hell of a time with this one, I thought before I collapsed face first on the ground.
The last thing I heard was Starfire screaming my name.