Author's Notes: So I now have more of an idea of how this story will end... now it's just getting there that's the hard part XD I'm actually writing several chapters ahead of this one, so hopefully I figure it out before this story catches up with me!

Chapter 13: Waves

Robin and Starfire entered the quiet tower, as everyone had already gone to bed. They both made their way to the common room, only to find it totally empty and neatly organized, all of the usual mess hidden away.

"Wow. Everyone cleaned up while I wasn't here to get on their case about it? I have to admit, I'm impressed." Robin said, admiring the scene that was void of video game controllers and discarded chip bags. Starfire smiled, but remained silent as she stood by the kitchen, timidly watching Robin inspect the team's cleaning job.

Robin looked over at her, noticing her unusual quietness. "You tired, Star? We did get back a little later than I'd expected." He commented, glancing at the clock which read: 10:47 PM.

"Oh, um... yes." She nodded slightly. Truthfully, she didn't feel well, having gotten progressively sicker since her ride on the Ferris wheel, but she preferred to leave that part out.

"Alright, let's get to bed then. I'm gonna have to make up for my little 'day off' tomorrow, might as well be awake for it." He started to walk towards the door to the hallway when he saw Starfire's somber expression, looking away from him. "Star?"

"I hope I have not caused you too much trouble, seeing as now you will be even busier than usual..." She trailed off, holding her hands in front of her and lifting her eyes to meet his.

Great, I forgot. She feels guilty about everything, Robin reminded himself. He went over to her and placed his hands on her own. "No, no, it's nothing like that. I would always take another day off with you no matter how much work I'm putting off. You're more important to me, Mrs. Grayson." He managed to coax a small smile out of her at the mention of their real surname. "Now let's get some sleep." He started to pull on her hand to lead her to their bedroom, but she pulled away unexpectedly, releasing herself from his grasp. He turned around to look at her, confused.

"I-I am sorry. Please, go on ahead. I am just going to fetch a beverage and then I will join you." She said, backing away from his waiting hand slowly.

"You're sure you're okay?" He asked, still concerned over what had happened earlier that night.

"Yes! I am great! I am merely craving some refreshments. I will come to bed shortly." She said, trying to reassure him. He nodded, begrudgingly accepting her explanation, and went off down the hallway by himself.

Starfire released a pent up sigh once he was out of the room, putting a hand on her aching stomachs. "What could be wrong with me?" She asked herself in a low voice, opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of Ginger Ale. She went to the couch and laid down, using a pillow to prop up her head, and took a few swigs of the bubbly drink. For what seemed like hours, she stayed in that spot, focusing on taking deep breaths and trying to do away with the discomfort that stayed firmly planted in her abdomen. She eventually fell asleep out of pure exhaustion, her achy feeling and intermittent cramps never leaving her.

Even in her dream, the pain was still there. She sat attached to the table, writhing in agony as the pain grew stronger and came more often. She even called out for help in desperation, her strained voice echoing off the walls of her nightmarish prison. For several more hours she sat there helplessly, only judging time by the coming and going of her intense stomach cramps, radiating throughout her body, causing her to hurt all over. Then, without warning, she was back in the common room, laying on the couch with pain clawing up her back, no different than in her dream. She fell off the couch and onto the floor, rolling into a tight ball to try to fight off the distressful pangs, but to no effect.

"Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven... Robin..." She called out weakly, barely able to croak out their names as pain wracked her body. For yet another few hours, the moon slowly falling lower and lower into the sky, she sat in the fetal position on the floor next to the couch, hoping dearly that someone would find her and help her, for the pain was so intense that she couldn't bring herself to get up.

Eventually, Starfire's would wishes come true. As the sky's hue grew slightly lighter, the midnight black becoming a dark blue and the stars turning translucent, Starfire continued to hold her stomach in agony. The pain came in waves, and at the moment, there was a tsunami rolling over Starfire. Without Starfire knowing, Raven silently walked into the room, heading to the refrigerator to grab a glass of water, but paused when she heard someone else in the room. She gasped as she saw her friend on the floor, curled up tightly and groaning.

"Starfire!" Raven hurried to her side, kneeling down beside her in worry. Starfire continued to squeeze her eyes shut, waiting for the pain of another cramp to pass. As it began to subside, she took longer, deeper breaths, recovering.

"Friend Raven, I do not know... what is wrong." Starfire cried, still out of breath. "This has been happening all night." Tears found their way down her cheeks, somewhat from the pain and somewhat from the worry of not knowing why she was hurting so much.

Raven's face showed evident concern. She had known for a long time that something was not right about Starfire, but now she regretted not acting on it. "Hold on, Star. I'm going to get the others." Raven was about to stand up, but Starfire grabbed her hand.

"Raven, please, must we worry them? Perhaps I ate something wrong, or have... caught the illness? Maybe... maybe you can... help me..." Her breath began to shorten as pain made its way up her back again.

Raven looked at her in surprise. Even as she sat there, hunched over her abdomen in obvious torture, she still thought about the well being of others before her own.

"Starfire, I really think this is something serious. Please, let us help you." Starfire shut her eyes, unable to protest further. She nodded. Raven rose, walking at an accelerated pace to awaken the other Titans. Of course, she headed to Robin's room first. She didn't bother knocking on the door; she phased through his wall, appearing beside his bed. She spooked him awake with her energy and he immediately shot out of bed, grabbing his mask and slapping it on his face without thinking about it, having the 'fight reaction' to being abruptly woken up. After getting over the shock, he looked over at Raven, a little irritated.

"Robin, you need to go to the common room. Something is very wrong with Starfire." Robin's face quickly abandoned all annoyance and replaced it with worry.

"What? Raven, what's going on?" Robin looked back to his bed, realizing that Starfire had never come to bed that night.

"Please, just go. I don't know what's going on. I'm going to go wake up Beast Boy and Cyborg." She enveloped herself in dark energy and disappeared into the floor. Robin stood there for a minute, still too stunned to move, but then ran at full speed into the common room. I should have stayed with her! Why did I let her talk me into going to bed first?

What he found killed him inside. Starfire was under the relentlessness of another wave of pain, shaking and gasping. Robin went to her and held her, feeling his heart drop down farther and farther the longer her bout lasted. Some seconds later she finally came out of it, looking up at Robin.

"R-Robin. I am s-so-sorry," she stuttered as she shivered out of fear.

Robin shook his head. "Star, you have absolutely no reason to be sorry. You're very sick. We will find out what's happening, don't worry." Robin said that last part mainly to reassure himself. He was getting sick with worry, having never seen Starfire in such bad shape, and regretted the fact that he had ignored all the warning signs, which undoubtedly had something to do with this.

Starfire put her face in her trembling hands. "I have no idea what it could be."

Then the other Titans ran into the room. Beast Boy's eyes were clouded with sleepiness, but they shot open once they saw Starfire in Robin's arms, moaning and shivering. They all went to their side.

Cyborg needed no further proof of what had rattled Raven so much. "Come on, we need to get her to the medical bay." Robin nodded, lifting up the feeble girl in his arms and quickly making his way to their own miniature hospital. He gently set her down on the table and she abruptly bent into a fetal position again upon being released. Robin's heart pounded irregularly seeing her in this state.

Cyborg was already in action, preparing multiple sensors and monitors to hook her up to. With the others' help, she became completely covered in wires and tubes, keeping track of her every breath and heartbeat.

"Star, can you remember anything that could have caused this, anything at all?" Cyborg inquired.

Starfire winced at the pain dwelling in her abdomen. "N-no, I do not. I have eaten nothing bad or undergone injury."

Raven shook her head, looking at the floor. Robin noticed this, giving her a questioning look. "What is it, Raven?"

She glanced up at the group. "Don't her symptoms seem a lot like... labor to you?"

Everyone froze. Labor? Raven's observation sunk in for a moment. That really was the best way to describe what was going on, symptoms-wise.

"Um, but, she isn't pregnant?" Robin pointed out, doubt filling his mind. "R-right?"

"I do not believe so. We took the test of pregnancy long ago and it was negative, Robin." Robin looked over at the others, blushing slightly. They didn't know that Starfire being pregnant was even an... option... yet. But then again, they were husband and wife; it was to be expected that they would engage in those activities. However, telling such things to your best friends was still minimally awkward.

Cyborg shook that off. "Robin's right, she's not pregnant. The machinery would be detecting that. Plus, there's the obvious, she doesn't look like someone who's full term. We have to think of something else."

Starfire, still in between the pangs of distress, croaked weakly. "W-wait. This does seem a lot like..." Her voice trailed off. She started to think that mentioning this would be ridiculous.

Beast Boy stared at her in curiosity. "Like?"

She sighed. "This will be silly, but it seems much like my dreams." Raven became more alert.

"Your dreams? Star, what happens in those dreams?"

"It is always the same story. I am with child, but cannot move. I live in a cell, and hear... AHHH!" Starfire was cut off by another shot going through her system. Robin hugged her close, helpless to do anything else, while Cyborg studied the monitor's readings. Lasting a little longer than her previous bouts, it eventually stopped, leaving a weak and defeated Starfire.

Cyborg examined the data with heavy confusion. "Nothing... nothing happened?" He navigated through the computer, double-checking everything. "Nothing. Whatever just happened, according to this, was purely psychological. It is real pain, but doesn't come from her stomachs."

Robin huffed in disbelief. "Of course something happened, look at her! Your instruments must be wrong!" He was starting to get frustrated. His lovely wife was hurting intensely, yet he hadn't a clue why. This just has to be related to her stomach issues from several months ago, Robin thought frantically, I knew we should have flown to Tamaran to make sure it was nothing serious, I just knew it!

Raven went back to their previous conversation. "Starfire. Please, keep telling me about your dreams."

"I-uh, well, I was in a cell..."

"You said you hear something?"

"Oh, y-yes. I hear a voice. A man's voice. It is not one of my teammates, but is someone that I know. I cannot determine to whom it belongs."

Suddenly, Raven began to float, crossing her legs in mid-air, assuming her mediation stance.

"Raven, is now really the time to..."

"Hold on, Robin. I need to concentrate." Raven said her brief chant, then her soul self escaped her body, its darkness shifting into a raven. It then went inside Starfire.

"Raven! What are you..." Robin protested, but then went silent as Raven's energy abruptly went back into her and Raven emerged, gasping for air.

"That... is... not... Starfire." She managed to get out between panicked breaths. Everyone was bewildered, stunned into silence, except Starfire herself.

"What are you saying, Raven? Of course I am me!" She exclaimed, fear causing her already strained voice to increase in pitch.

"No. You aren't. And haven't been for... a long time."

Robin felt like crying, overwhelmed by this whole situation. Their good day together that had been simply hours ago shattered, totally forgotten and abandoned due to this crisis. "Raven, p-please, explain!" Robin's voice shook as he held onto Starfire tighter and tighter, trying to prevent her from leaving him.

"I have long sensed something wrong... different about her. I should have done this long ago... when I first suspected. This is a replica." At this, Starfire began to hyperventilate more than she already had been, her heart pounding out of her chest.

"But that cannot be! I am right here! I am Starfi- AGHH!" She crumbled before everyone's eyes yet again, her cramps getting worse each time they returned. The team helped her get through her painful bout, but then remembered the mystery that had just been unfolded before them. However, everyone was completely lost, unsure of what to make of Raven's allegations. Despite their hesitation, the boys allowed Raven to continue, hoping she could solve this puzzle, because they had absolutely no clue what was going on.

"Starfire... your dreams..." Raven began, connecting her previous investigation with this new one. "I don't think they are dreams."

"Wha-what?" Starfire asked, taken aback by this suggestion.

"Didn't you say you're with child in your dreams? Pregnant?" Raven pressed. While Cyborg and Beast Boy were still beyond confused, Robin began to see where Raven was going with this, freezing right on the spot. Six months... it's been six months, he repeated in his mind, remembering what Starfire had told him the day he asked if she was pregnant. A Tamaranean gestation period is six months!

"Um, yes, but I don't see how that..." Starfire's voice trailed off, also seeing Raven's point. "No..." She whispered in disbelief.

Raven nodded sadly. She turned to address Cyborg. "The pain is real, but it isn't coming from this body. The real Starfire, our Starfire, is somewhere else... and she's having a baby." Cyborg looked at Raven, and then channeled his gaze at the broken Starfire, attempting to process Raven's outlandish conclusion.

Robin finally broke free from the ice that had encapsulated him, returning to reality in time to let panic fully settle on top of him. "How... how can you say she is somewhere else?! This is Starfire! I know my own wife and this is her!" His voice quickly grew louder, nearly becoming a yell.

"No, Robin. It is just a replica. Starfire is here with us consciously, but physically..." Raven paused, unable to definitively say where she was physically, because she didn't know. "Physically, she's pregnant, and likely far away from here."

Robin felt his knees to give way, leaning his weight onto the table Starfire was on to keep himself from sprawling out onto floor. He put his head in his free hand and tried hard not to start sobbing. Not only did he just discover that Starfire really was pregnant this whole time, which explained all of her odd symptoms over the past few months, but also that she and the baby were in terrible danger, likely being held captive by someone who had anything but good intentions. Plus, it was someone who had the capability to produce an exact copy of Starfire and fool the entire team for months, which in itself was scary.

Beast Boy finally started to grasp the situation, up until then merely standing near the doorway in utter silence. "I don't get it though... since when has this not been Starfire? How did this happen? How could this happen..." He asked, reflecting the thoughts of everyone there, including Starfire, who had been laying on the table helplessly, going over every one of her dreams in the past six months in her mind.

"I know." Raven stated, somberly glancing over at Robin, who was struggling to compose himself after having been hit with such devastating news. He caught her eye and looked at her pleadingly, as if begging her to go on. "It was a long time ago. Back when we fought Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Overload. That was the first time I felt that something was wrong with Starfire. The night she went up on the roof..." Everyone exchanged looks, realizing that Raven's paranoia had been correct.

"Well why didn't you DO SOMETHING EARLIER?!" Robin yelled, slamming his fist onto a nearby counter, his sadness expressing itself through anger as a defense mechanism. "You KNEW she was different... SHE'S NOT EVEN REAL FOR GOD'S SAKE... AND YOU NEVER THOUGHT TO TELL ANYONE?!" Raven backed away slowly, sensing Robin's rising fury that was directed at her, but she scowled at his words.

"I tried to tell someone, I tried to find answers, but you told me to leave it alone. Yes, I didn't tell anyone, but I didn't even know what was wrong. I had bad vibes, but I could still sense her mind, since she was with us consciously, so I tried to dismiss them." She explained her stance firmly and severely, but she knew deep down that she was trying to cover up her guilt for not acting sooner or trusting her senses.

"You should have tried HARDER! It's not like this was a little difference... OUR TEAMMATE WAS KIDNAPPED AND REPLACED WITH A CLONE AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN-"

"I'M NOT PERFECT, OKAY!" Raven shouted, breaking her usual sound barrier. She felt raw and untamed emotions pouring out of her, threatening to make her powers run amok, but she held them back with great effort. As she tried to cool herself off, and Robin recovered from Raven's outburst, Starfire went into another relentless wave of pain, crying out and tightening her fetal position.

"GUYS! Now is not the time to argue or blame anybody. We need to help Star, who we have just discovered is somewhere out there having a baby right at this moment." Cyborg commanded, staring at Raven and Robin. A few moments later they temporarily abandoned their hostile feelings towards each other and managed to work together to get Starfire through her pain - which they now knew were contractions - holding her hands and rubbing her back to comfort her. A little later she pulled through, breathing deeply once more. She wanted to thank them for staying with her and encouraging her, but she couldn't find her voice, it being buried under heavy panting and groaning. After the contraction ended, the team stood there in silence for a minute, unsure of what to do or how to proceed.

"Wait..." Beast Boy started, looking confused. "If this Starfire isn't pregnant, why is she getting contractions?" His reasonable question surprised everyone, as that was actually a rather notable observation.

"I... don't think she is..." Raven said slowly, trying to figure it out herself. "She's just feeling them, but wherever she is, she's having contractions."

"Rae's correct." Cyborg interjected. "That's why the machines said her pain wasn't physical. She feels what her real body feels."

Everyone agreed, but silence fell once again, as no one knew what more could be said that would actually be helpful to the situation. Never had they felt quite so under pressure, and never had they felt so beyond helpless.

"I... I think..." Starfire croaked weakly, panting. Everyone leaned in closer to try to catch what she was saying. "When I sleep... I return there... Perhaps I must... sleep."

Cyborg sighed. "She's right. If she's giving birth right now, she needs to be there." He opened up a cabinet and retrieved a kit, which he soon revealed to be for administering anesthesia. Robin's heart skipped a beat when he saw this.

"But wait, Cyborg... if we lose her now, how will we find her? We don't know where she is..."

"It is alright, Robin." Starfire said quietly, gripping onto Robin's hand tightly. "You will know what to do, and I will be fine. But I must do this. You will find me... and you will find our child." She sounded completely spent, but managed a tiny smile at the mention of her and Robin's child. She could have only dreamed of ever having her own baby, and although all these complications weren't exactly part of her envisionment, she felt joy and hope course through her battered body.

Robin caressed her dainty hand in both of his, feeling his tears escape his eyes and dampen his mask, unable to hold them back any longer. "You put too much faith in me." He said softly, his voice wavering.

"Because you are Robin, my husband. If I were to have faith in anyone, it would be you. I trust you completely." She said, feeling a tear slide down her own cheek.

Robin took a deep breath to stabilize himself as Cyborg prepared to send Starfire back to reality - her reality. "You're right though, Star. We will find you, no matter how long it takes." He reassured her, rubbing her hand consolingly. She smiled ever so slightly, staring into Robin's mask and fixing her gaze onto his hidden eyes.

"Okay, ya'll. This is it." Cyborg said, wielding a gas mask and hose connected to a machine, prepared to give her anesthesia. "Are we ready to do this?" All eyes turned to Robin and Starfire, who still looked deeply into each other's eyes, trying to study every detail they saw and imprint them into their memory.

"Yes, we are ready." Starfire said, confident but also afraid of what she would find on the other side, away from the support of her friends and alone with the man in black. Robin nodded as well, not breaking his eye contact with her.

"Robin?" She asked quietly, just as the mask was about to be placed on her face.

"Starfire?"

"I love you." Cyborg slipped the mask over her nose and mouth right after she said these words, switching on the machine.

"I love you too, Star." He said as he watched her eyelids become heavy and start to fall. "So much."

Within a minute, Starfire's eyes shut completely and she relaxed, her tightly curled up ball stretching out as her muscles released.

"She's gone. She's back with her real body." Raven stated in her monotone, having sensed the departure of her consciousness, this body now just like the empty shell after their run-in with Dr. Light.

The team remained where they were for what seemed like an immeasurable amount of time, trying to take in this whole event and the fact that Starfire was being held captive somewhere, giving birth to a child. Not only that, but she had been with this person for six months, thinking she was at Titan's Tower while she was actually in her dreams.

The only sounds that could be heard until after the sun rose several minutes later were the steady pulses and beeps of the medical monitors and the steady breathing of four grief stricken Titans.

Author's Notes: Well... things just got a bit more complicated... but I hope everyone can understand what just happened.