It was pathetic how many times I'd found myself incapacitated lately. That I'd been facing super powered beings was no excuse. I was better than that, and yet there I was, lying on the ground in a pool of my own blood having an out of body experience that seemed alarmingly like dying as I watched Starfire cradle my head against her chest while Cyborg, and Raven used their combined powers to keep RyAnd'r at bay. Starfire called something to Raven, probably asking her to save me. Raven was still with Beast Boy, her face panic-stricken as she was torn between who to save. Starfire called out again while RyAnd'r bared his teeth in a satisfied smile. Raven flung out a hand and he was encased in a black cube. Cyborg aimed his sonic canon at him.

The thing about out of body experiences is that you don't exactly have your body to help you out with things like hearing, feeling, and that sort of thing. There was a faint echo, but it was probably coming from what my actual body was hearing. I couldn't make sense of it, it was too far away.

Starfire was desperate, ripping my shirt off to see the damage underneath. She touched my face, felt for a pulse and pressed down on the wound to staunch the blood flowing out of me. RyAnd'r said something. I wouldn't have known it except that Starfire reacted instantly, flaring so brightly with energy that I felt the heat of it through the fragile connection I still had with my body. She flew from my side to grab her brother by the throat, screaming at him. I knew that from the veins sticking out at her temples and in her throat. Her eyes glowed green as his blazed white. If she killed him... I looked down at my body, willing it to move. I wasn't dead yet but it wouldn't be long with so much blood pumping out of me. I've survived worse. I could survive this too. Come on Dick, move!

"I would have given Tamaran to you if you had but asked me, brother. I would have welcomed you into my heart with pride and love. I could have even forgiven you for believing the lies Komand'r told you. But not this." I don't know whether I was reading her lips or my body was waking, but I knew what she was saying. On the fringes of my consciousness I began to sense a creeping chill invading me. No. Not now! The battle wasn't over yet.

With the cold came the red hot fingers of pain trickling like raindrops before a storm. I braced for it even as I welcomed it. Oh, this would hurt, but pain was better than death.

"We are even, RyAnd'r. You have taken the man who saved my life in exchange for the sister who saved yours. Are you satisfied yet?" I could sense her pain. The awareness of it mingled with the agony in my body as if they were both mine. My vision grew cloudy. RyAnd'r tossed his head as if he'd forgotten he no longer had hair to shake out of his face.

"You are weak, sister. Why do you not kill me?" His face twisted bitterly as he lifted his chin. Understanding dawned on me. What he felt consumed him and fueled his every action. Though it was hard to believe, he had loved Blackfire, and the grief he felt from her loss was destroying him. The same way Starfire overflowed with happiness, he was a bottomless pit of sorrow.

"You wish for death by my hand?" Starfire stepped back from him, her fists clenched, before she looked at where I lay. "If you have taken him from me then I swear I will grant it." She bent at the waist in a rigid bow. It had all the ceremony of a handshake sealing a vow.

"Alright, I've had just about enough of this," Cyborg announced loudly, striding up behind RyAnd'r and sticking his sonic canon against his back.

"You want to come to my planet and throw down with my sister, be my guest. She can take you. You want to spread rumors and be a pain in the neck, fine. That's what little brothers do. Hell, you can even claim that you're doing it all out of some weird sense of Tamaranean family loyalty if you want, I won't stop you. But take a look around you RyAnd'r. This is a family. We fight for each other. We would die for each other, and when one of us gets hurt it affects all of us. Where were you when Starfire was kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Psions again? Where were you when she and Blackfire were dueling to the death? It's been a year and you've only just now come out of hiding. If anybody's weak here, it's you!"

"I am the Crowned Prince of Tamaran!" RyAnd'r shouted, as if that meant anything to anyone.

"As far as Tamaran knows, there's only one And'r left and it ain't you," said Cyborg darkly. There was a whirring sound as his canon prepared to fire. RyAnd'r's eyes went wide, as though he couldn't quite believe what was happening. His gaze flew to Starfire's. She tore her eyes away and glided back to my side, knelt next to me, and brushed her nose against my cheek like a cat seeking comfort.

"Get up," Cyborg ordered, prodding the Tamaranean in the back. Stiffly, RyAnd'r moved to do as he was told. "Turn around and face the wall." When it was done, Cyborg lifted his arm high and cracked his elbow down on the boy's head. He dropped like a stone. Starfire shifted, making me groan. I crushed her fingers in my fist to hold her still. Coming back from the dead was painful enough without her bouncing around. She gasped.

"Raven!"

With a massive amount of effort I willed my body to accept me. My vision went dark behind my closed eyelids. Concentrating, I managed to wiggle the fingers on my left hand. I gurgled, choking on the blood in my chest.

Starfire screamed again, and then the two of them were beside me. Raven placed one hand on my chest and pressed down. A garbled scream burst out of me.

"That's what you get for nearly dying on us again. Now hold still."

It's good thing I'm only human and Starfire's the indestructible Tamaranean, otherwise she might not have had fingers left by the time Raven was done.

A/N: I know it's short, but I need to move this story along. Not much more left to go.