Author's Notes: Next chapterrr! Been lazily lounging around all day so figured I'd post something. On a random note, I have my drivers license test tomorrow, I'm terrified! :o
Chapter 19: Rules are Made to be Broken
Starfire laid rather impatiently in her hospital bed, watching the seconds tick by on a clock mounted on the other side of the room, tapping her fingers to the rhythm. It had been only about five minutes since she heard the T-ship take off, but it already felt like an hour. No matter how exhausted and drained she was, she found sleep an impossibility now as her teammates risked themselves to pursue Slade and rescue her newborn daughter. The only thing keeping her from rocketing out of the tower herself to assist in the search was the spinning dizziness she felt any time she tried to sit up. She had already tried fully standing once, and it had soon ended with her sprawled out on the floor. Her husband's order, on the other hand, held little merit in her current need to remain put. She was way more stubborn than that.
Despite her resolve, she was completely useless.
Interrupting her frustrating thoughts, Starfire heard a faint buzzing sound slowly grow louder as it neared the infirmary, soon realizing that Bumblebee had arrived as her head with two tight buns placed on top peered inside the room.
"Star!" Bumblebee exclaimed happily, with a tinge of relief layering her voice. She immediately flew into the room, haphazardly tossing her bags on the floor as she enveloped the alien girl in a giant bear hug. However, since Starfire was an expert at giant bear hugs, she more than returned the gesture.
"I'm so glad you're alright," Bumbleee started, releasing Starfire and shrugging her shoulders to try to alleviate the soreness she earned from initiating an embrace with the Tamaranean. "That call from Sparky a few hours ago had me so worried! I just threw together all my stuff and hopped into our jet the second he hung up! But honestly, I just can't wrap my head around the fact that you and Robin-"
Though she was having some difficulty interpreting Bumblebee's excited ranting, Starfire interrupted her as one phrase suddenly stood out in her mind. "Hold on… 'a few hours ago'?" Starfire repeated, her confusion slowly melting into angst. "It has been 'hours' since he has alerted you!?"
Bumblebee nodded slowly at the girl who looked like she was about to go into a panic. "Yeah. Right after the team got back to the tower, he said."
Starfire, who was having trouble fixing her gaze on anything in particular as her eyes darted back and forth across the room, found herself looking at the clock across from her bed again. This time, instead of idly watching the time tick away, she actually read it: 10:45.
She knew it was early morning and the sun was about to come up when she was 'transferred' to Slade's hideout, and over an hour later she reunited with her friends… and then apparently fainted. So, according to that math…
She had been out for over three hours.
As soon as Starfire finished her calculations, she suddenly lunged forward and grabbed onto Bumblebee's shirt for support, nearly pulling her down on top of her, her face inches away from the startled Titan.
"Why has it been so long!" Starfire demanded, directly her anger at her situation on her innocent caretaker. "They informed me they had merely been readying the T-ship!"
Bumblebee backed away ever so slightly from the growling alien in her face, having never seen this hostile side of the most hospitable member on the team. "Easy… easy, Star," she said tentatively, carefully grabbing her hand which was fisted around Bumblebee's clothing and prying it off. "Sparky told me they had to track down Slade's ship first, which took his best tracker a couple hours, and then had to treat you…" she trailed off, observing the spent girl in front of her more closely. She definitely looked like she had needed medical attention.
Starfire slowly backed away as she took in Bumblebee's words, laying her spinning head back onto her pillow. "I required medical treatment?" she asked in slight disbelief, blinking at Bumblebee slowly.
"Well, yeah! Why'd ya think I was so worried about you!" Bumblebee exclaimed, sitting down next to Starfire. "He told me they surgically removed that chip in your arm and then Rae had to heal all your injuries; even after that, you had to be closely monitored until you finally came 'round."
Starfire's mouth hung open as she listened to this new information and then shook her head sadly as she finished. "Oh, they must have been so concerned," she mused quietly. It is no wonder they had difficulty leaving the infirmary.
"They were. So you see? They were doing everything they could to go get the bad guy while also making sure you weren't lost in the process."
Starfire nodded silently, hoping nothing, or, more accurately, no one,would end up being lost in the process. They sat there in silence for a few moments, until realization suddenly dawned upon Starfire. She directed her gaze to her concerned friend.
"Wait, how did you know all of this? Friend Cyborg called you before all of these events took place… did he also inform you while it was occurring?"
Bumblebee chuckled, though Starfire swore she sounded the tiniest bit flustered. "Yeah… he called me back and we kinda stayed in touch for the majority of my trip to the west coast."
"Well, you two certainly get along better now than in the past." Starfire said thoughtfully.
"I guess, Sparky ain't half bad." Bumblebee shrugged, but had a somewhat faraway look in her eyes.
Starfire genuinely smiled at her friend, having sensed the connection between her and 'Sparky.' However, Bumblebee quickly picked up on her conclusions about their phone call and promptly waved her hands in front of her.
"Hey, not uh, we were just keepin' in touch so he could give me the low down of what was goin' on here. Obviously it was nothing more than strict business, so keep your fantasies to yourself!"
Starfire smirked uncharacteristically at Bumblebee's desperate denial. "But I did not speak of any fantasy or purpose other than 'getting the low down'?"
Bumblebee continued to stare at the smug girl in shock for a moment until her face became blank and unamused. "You know… I think you're feeling better."
The alien giggled. "I do believe so… your company is refreshing." She paused for a moment, then sighed as she looked towards the hallway sadly. "But I also wish I could help."
Bumblebee nodded, knowing how important this had to be for Starfire, until said person again sat up abruptly, causing Bumblebee to jump off the bed in surprise.
"And I will help!" She said, slamming her fist onto the hospital bed's railing, thus making it collapse onto itself. Bumblebee cringed, hoping Starfire didn't decide to become angry with her again. "I cannot sit here and do the 'wasting away' while my team and my husband are fighting for me! I must not be absent for my own battle!" she declared, feeling her natural 'Tamaranean warrior' urges flow through her, thoroughly washing away much of her earlier idleness and apprehension.
Bumblebee watched her sudden change in attitude in slight disbelief. "Uh, um…" she stuttered. "I-I don't know, Star… you can barely even sit up, and Robin told me specifically to keep you confined to the tower-"
"No!" Starfire blurted, directing her determined gaze at Bumblebee. "I will be fine! And you cannot stop me from going." She slowly rose from the bed, planting her feet on the ground and doing her best to remain standing and keep her fragile balance. She purposefully made herself seem intimidating as she strode closer to Bumblebee, who had taken a few steps back subconsciously, and was continuing to do so until her back hit the counter.
"Star, hold up," she said disarmingly, holding her hands in front of her. "I didn't actually say I was gonna stop you."
Starfire suddenly stopped her approach, the subtle glow in her eyes subsiding and her head tilting quizzically. "You… did not?"
Bumblebee laughed, relaxing as Starfire became less threatening. "No! I wasn't planning on just sittin' around! Why else did I make sure the ship was all outfitted and geared up for space before I flew here?" she grinned, turning away for a moment and pulling out her two stingers from one of her bags that had been abandoned on the floor. "I came ready for a fight, forget about Sparky and Robin!"
Starfire suddenly felt herself beaming at the super confident Titans East leader. So, her babysitter which was suppose to keep her out of trouble was about to take her directly to the source of the trouble. Perfect!
"I just wanted to be sure you were ready for this, and geez…" Bumblebee paused to wipe her upper brow in relief. "The way you nearly took my head off a couple of times kinda convinced me."
Starfire laughed lightheartedly despite her embarrassment. "I apologize, friend. Today has been a very… strange day for me."
Bumblebee returned her laugh, nodding her head in agreement as she put her arm around Starfire's waist to help her walk steadily, leading her out of the infirmary and down the hall. "It's all good, girl. 'Strange' days do weird things to the mind, especially the ones when you suddenly discover you're going into labor and will be fighting your old archenemy again to get the baby back."
Starfire paled slightly at that description, realizing just how strange all of this truly was, but continued to hobble beside Bumblebee as they entered the common room.
"What are we doing here?" Starfire asked as Bumblebee let go of her to quickly make her way to the main computers across the room. Starfire was unprepared for the loss of her crutch and stumbled backwards, but thankfully the recent hope she had been experiencing provided her with enough energy to fuel her flight as she caught herself and hovered a tad off the ground.
Bumblebee quickly plugged her communicator into a computer port and began typing some sort of code. What looked like a sonar tracker and an intergalactic map appeared and a download progress bar popped up on screen. "Sparky told me how he finally managed to find Slade's ship by tracking the sound patterns of his engine, which clearly ain't from Earth. I'm just gettin' all this tracking information so we'll be right alongside them in no time." Bumblebee said confidently, watching the status bar reach 100% and disconnecting her communicator from the main computer.
Starfire couldn't stop herself from floating higher in happiness, squealing in delight for the first time since her and Robin's six month anniversary celebration. "Oh, this is glorious! You have planned this out so well!"
Bumblebee smirked at the alien as she made her way back to the doors. "Well, yeah. Why else do ya think I put up with being on the phone with Sparky for several hours. He should really know by now that sharing everything with me is a bad idea, but he's just too dopey sometimes, despite his genius."
Starfire turned to look at Bumblebee as she flew by her slowly towards the elevator so as not to lose her newfound stability. "Oooh, so your conversation was merely a way to gather information, not the 'getting to know each other' or the 'enjoying each other's company' or… the 'bonding,'" she noted, but detected a slight blush grow on Bumblebee's cheeks when she mentioned 'bonding.'
"No! I mean, yes. Right, just squeezing everything I could outta him so I could come save the day." She said quickly, trying to remain nonchalant in spite of herself.
"It was nothing more?" Starfire inquired curiously.
"Nope."
"Not a thing?"
"Not at all."
Starfire smiled, realizing why her friends had loved to tease her and Robin so much - it was actually kind of fun.
A minute later, the two reached the Titans East ship parked on the water below, Bumblebee quickly flew to the driver's hatch and settled in, connecting her communicator to the ship's navigation system. Starfire followed suit, flying carefully over the water to the seat directly behind Bumblebee.
"Where is the rest of the Titans East, Friend Bumblebee?" Starfire asked through her headset as she buckled up in her seat, watching Bumblebee in the next compartment doing the same.
"Eh, I don't know. Probably wondering where the ship went," she replied with a smirk before switching the engines on. "Get ready for lift off, Star!"
Starfire quickly braced herself for the jarring ascent into outer space, sparing a glance towards the tower as the ship's roar became louder and louder in preparation for lift off. Soon, we shall all return here and things will be the way they should. I promise, Marla.
Author's Notes: Hehe, so, I think I forgot to mention I also ship CyBee. XD Well, now you know.