Another three weeks of agony passed. Starfire thought about Robin constantly and would often wander around his room, admiring his things. Her relationship with Cyborg was becoming increasingly strained. The two argued every day because Starfire wanted to go save Robin while Cyborg felt that the team was still to weak to undertake such a task. Beast Boy's bones had healed enough for him to remove the casts by now, however weeks of inactivity had stripped him of a lot of muscle mass. Cyborg figured that it would take him at least three or four months of rigorous training before he could be counted battle worthy. But Beast Boy himself was undergoing an emotional crisis and working out was the last thing on his mind.

Lately, Beast Boy had been having many sweet dreams about Raven, so much so that he was beginning to sleep more just so that he could escape from the pain of reality and into Raven's arms in his dreams. Of course, he did not tell that to Cyborg and thus argued with his best friend every day. Cyborg wanted him to train more seriously so that they could go after Slade and rescue Robin but Beast Boy would rather curl up in bed and dream about Raven.

"Ya don't do anything around here!" yelled Cyborg as he glared at Beast Boy. "I go out to earn all the money while you sit at home and sleep. Would it kill ya to at least try to be battle ready? Slade could find us any minute! What would happen to us then?"

"You don't understand what I'm going through!" hollered Beast Boy in return.

"What have ya gone through?" screamed Cyborg in response. "You had a couple of broken bones, big deal! Get over it B! The team needs you and ya can't always act like a child forever!"

Meanwhile, Starfire sat in her room crying. She hated it when her friends fought but she hated it even more when they fought because of her. She knew that Cyborg was trying to get Beast Boy to train to be battle ready so that they could go rescue Robin as quickly as possible. However, Beast Boy was not cooperating and while Starfire was frustrated with him about it, she understood that he had his reasons for wanting to sleep all day. She could see it on his face that he was suffering and she did not know why. In the midst of her heartrending sobs, she heard a knock on her door.

"Star?" she heard Cyborg's voice on the other side.

"Yes?" she asked tearfully.

"Could ya please open the door?" Cyborg asked as politely as he possibly could. After hesitating for a moment, Starfire walked to the door.

"Yes?" she asked again as she looked at him through tear filled eyes. Cyborg's heart literally went out to her.

"Look, I want to go rescue Robin too, but at this point the team is too weak. Why don't ya go talk to BB? Something is bothering him but he won't tell me what." He hesitated as she bowed her head. "I need to go to work now." He said quietly. Starfire watched as he walked down the hall and disappeared down the stairs. Then she went to Beast Boy's room.

"Beast Boy?" she asked as stood outside his door. "May I come in?" She stood outside for a few minutes waiting for Beast Boy to acknowledge her but he ignored her. "Beast Boy!" she cried as tears streamed down her face again. "Please! Let me come in!" Beast Boy listened to her sobbing at the other side of the door for a few seconds before his heart softened. He walked to the door and opened it and watched in amazement as Starfire stumbled inside.

"Star, are you okay?" he asked now genuinely concerned.

"No, I am not." She cried. "I miss Robin so much! I need Robin! We must save him yet you refuse to do the working out! We need your help Beast Boy but now it seems to me that you do not wish to help!"

"Star! It's not like that!" Beast Boy protested. "Slade is a really smart guy! He knows that we are weaker without Raven and now that she's gone, he took Robin to make us even weaker! What makes you think the three of us can take Slade down on our own?" He practically yelled.

"That doesn't mean we can't try!" she retorted as she continued to cry. "You do not even try!"

"What if we get injured?" cried Beast Boy. "When I got injured, you and Cyborg did such a bad job of defeating the Sladebots that we lost our home! We are too weak now Star!"

"But we will be even weaker if you do not do the working to make yourself strong!"

"Even if I did work out, we will still be weak! Look at Cinderblock! He's really strong but because he's so stupid, smart people like Slade can easily make use of him! We've lost Robin and Raven, the smartest and most mature members our group! How can we fight Slade now? He's just gonna play with us like he plays with Cinderblock!" Just then, the door burst open causing Beast Boy and Starfire to jump in shock. Starfire let out a scream until she saw the person standing at the doorway was Cyborg. He had evidently decided to be late for work.

"Are you trying to say that I'm not smart?" he yelled as he stalked towards Beast Boy. "Are you trying to say that I'm not smart and mature enough to lead this team to victory?"

"Yes!" retorted Beast Boy. "Remember what happened when you tried to lead the titans east? You totally blew it!" Beast Boy had bruised Cyborg's sensitive spot.

"You know what?" he yelled. "If you think you can do a better job as a leader, I welcome ya to try!"

"Please stop fighting!" cried Starfire at the top of her lungs.

"What exactly do ya want?" Cyborg yelled again, this time at her. "Do you really wanna rescue Robin? If you do then you'll let the best leader lead!" Starfire remained silent and looked at the floor.

"Why are you so quiet?" demanded Beast Boy. "Do you actually think that Cyborg would make a better leader?" He began to raise his voice.

"No…"

"So ya don't think that I'm a good leader?" roared Cyborg before she could finish.

"You are!" she cried in response.

"So now you think he's a better leader than me?" yelled Beast Boy.

"I just wish for everything to back to the way they used to be!" Starfire suddenly cried out, running out of Beast Boy's room as quickly as she could. Cyborg and Beast Boy glared at each other.

"Now you've made her cry!" Beast Boy stared accusingly at Cyborg.

"She was already crying when I got here!" roared Cyborg in return.

"She was already crying when she got to my room!"

"She was already crying when I knocked on her door!" The two continued glaring at each other for several seconds before Cyborg turned around and headed out the door. He really had to go to work this time.

Starfire remained locked in her room for the rest of the day, bawling her eyes out. In fact, she spent the next two weeks in her room, only coming out for food once thanks to her nine stomachs. Beast Boy ignored her because he knew that she felt that Cyborg was a better leader because Robin had made him his second in charge. Cyborg on the other hand had a lot more pressing issues on his mind, leading him to ignore both Starfire and Beast Boy.

Cyborg was truly and deeply worried. The city was running out of oil, making electricity even more expensive. The mayor had replaced the titans with another group of superheroes, known as the STRIVE. Cyborg thought that their name sounded suspiciously like the H.I.V.E. and having reviewed a secret footage of the team's battles, was convinced that the mayor had released the H.I.V.E. from prison in exchange for their services as superheroes. Team STRIVE consistently brought in three oil tankers into the city every week. However, considering that the whole country was currently being deprived of oil, that was very little. But since they fared better than the titans and their true identities were hidden from the public, everyone welcomed them with open arms. This made Cyborg very worried as the H.I.V.E. did have affiliations with Slade. These affiliations could explain why they had such an easy time obtaining those three oil tankers of oil per week.

To make matters worse, it was autumn and winter was fast approaching. Already Cyborg was beginning to notice that the solar panels were producing less power as a result. If not for the fact that Beast Boy was now working out vigorously after Cyborg told him that Raven might like a guy with a better physique, Cyborg would not even have enough power to get through the day. The position of their house also worried him. The house's position meant that it would not receive more than half an hour of sun every day during the winter. In their hurry to find a house when they were made to move from the tower, Cyborg had overlooked realized that by the first week of winter, even if Beast Boy and Starfire worked out continually, they would only be able to produce enough power just to keep him running, let alone enough power for a full charge. Cyborg decided that it was time to hold a team meeting, since his ability to fight or even move would soon be threatened, seeing he had so little power left and so little was being created.

"You mean that very soon you won't be able to move?" asked Beast Boy.

"Well, I still could if you and Star worked out like mad."

"Is that why you told me that Raven would like a more muscular guy?" Beast Boy was smarter than Cyborg gave him credit for. "You were making use of me to charge your power cell!"

"You were the one that believed me! Besides, Raven may actually like more muscular guys!"

"You could have just told me the truth that you needed power!" Beast Boy snapped angrily.

"And if I told you that would you have helped me?" asked Cyborg. "I think not. You were too busy trying to prove that you're a better leader!"

"So that's what this is about! Well, I'm gonna just work out in my room then! We'll see how you can lead when you've run out of power!"

"That's what I called this team meeting for!" retorted Cyborg. "We need to have a plan!" Just then, Starfire came down the stairs. Seeing the boys arguing, she quickly tried to retreat to her room but they were too fast for her.

"Starfire!" they both yelled in unison. Unwillingly, she came back down the stairs and sat down at the table.

"Star, Beast Boy and I were having a discussion as to who would lead the team in Robin's absence." Announced Cyborg. "Beast Boy voted for himself and I voted for myself. Who ya vote for will be the leader. So what dya say?"

"Is it going to be Cyborg or me?" Beast Boy asked winking at her.

"I do not know." She said confused by the whole situation.

"Don't tell us you want to be the leader?" said Cyborg sharply.

"No." she said shaking her head.

"Then which one of us will it be?" demanded Cyborg.

"Vote for me!" suggested Beast Boy. "In a few days Chrome Dome here won't be able to move!"

"What?" Starfire asked turning to Cyborg, concern in her eyes.

"He's right." Said Cyborg sadly. "Before long there will be so little sunshine that the solar panels on the roof will generate very little power. Even if both of you worked out like crazy, I won't have enough power to go on any missions."

"Is there not any spare power cells?" asked Starfire.

"We have spare power cells," Cyborg admitted. "But they aren't charged."

"Why not?" asked Beast Boy.

"Well, we needed the money so I took on a lot of jobs installing solar panels. The response was so good I had to work twenty-hour days. So I naturally used up a lot of power. When the solar panels on the roof didn't produce enough power and neither of you worked out, I tapped into the spare cells we have in the garage." Beast Boy was silent for a minute when he realized that the only reason why he could sleep and dream about Raven all day was because Cyborg was out there working so hard.

"I'm sorry, Cy. I didn't know." He said hanging his head.

"It's okay, BB. The point is, we are a team and we need to solve this problem together."

"But what are we to do?" asked Starfire, clearly discouraged.

"I could change into a Cheetah and run really fast so that I can make a lot of electricity!" Beast Boy said brightly.

"But won't that tire you out?" asked Cyborg.

"That's okay." Beast Boy replied with a smile.

"No, it's not." Cyborg insisted. "If you and Star tire yourselves out just to give me power, we would still be just as weak in battle."

"We can't just leave you to shut down!" cried Beast Boy in dismay.

"Do you know why we're using candles for light? All the power in the city has been channeled to those who need it the most, those in hospitals! You have to face the fact that I'm running out of power!" Cyborg said hanging his head. A knock sounded on the door. Standing up, Cyborg put on his ring as did the others.

"I'll get it!" said Beast Boy as he ran to the door. Grabbing the handle he opened the door just as a gunshot rang out. With a scream, he clutched his chest and fell to the floor. Cyborg and Starfire ran to the door. Three men with guns stood at the door.

"You are the teen titans!" the leader yelled. "And you deserve to die for not protecting the city!" Lowering his gun, he fired a bullet, which bounced off Cyborg's metallic body. The three men jumped away as the bullet ricocheted. Starfire picked Beast Boy up and ran to the med bay with him. He was bleeding profusely. Meanwhile, a small army of men from the town broke down the fence and gathered around the house, guns in hand.

"What makes you think we're the titans?" demanded Cyborg as he stood firmly at the doorway.

"A bullet just bounced off you!" one of them yelled.

"Actually, we heard Beast Boy say your name during an argument. He also mentioned Robin and Raven." Their leader added.

"What makes you think that the city being without power is the titans' fault?" yelled Cyborg. "Don't ya know that we tried our best?"

"Yes, but your best was not good enough. Because there is no oil in the city, the ambulance didn't come and my mother died of a heart attack!" the man spat out. "The STRIVE may not be doing a great job either but we trusted you titans to take care of the city and you have failed!" a determined gleam shone in his eye. "And we will punish you for it!" The men steadied their guns as Cyborg heard Starfire scream Beast Boy's name from upstairs. Glaring at the men, he pulled off his ring and unleashed his sonic cannon. Though he knew this would probably knock him out, he fired his cannon and blew the entire group of men out of the yard. Shocked and frightened, they fled like a herd of stampeding wildebeests. Closing the door and locking it, Cyborg saw that he had just one percent of battery left. Moving as fast as he could, he returned to his room and plugged himself in. Then everything went black.

Starfire spend hours in the med bay, desperately trying to stop the blood flow. She had gone to Cyborg's room to get help from him only to find him completely shut down. The blast from his sonic cannon had drained whatever power he had left and night was falling, meaning Cyborg would get no power from the solar panels.

Starfire worked endlessly to try to save Beast Boy and after several hours, her efforts appeared to pay of. He stopped bleeding and she was grateful to see that he was still breathing. In that day, two titans had been taken down with just one bullet. Closing her eyes, she leaned back on her chair for a moment when she heard something on the roof breaking. However, she was exhausted from her labors to save Beast Boy and too deeply upset about Cyborg to care. She never felt so alone in her life.