A/N: Hey everyone welcome back! Big thanks to everyone reading and an even bigger thanks to everyone leaving reviews. I read them constantly and they keep me so motivated! So thank you! Also... Sorry in advance. lol Gonna keep you guys in suspense for one more week but this chapter is important for context in the following chapters. I hope you don't mind, but thanks again for reading! Don't forget to fav/follow/review and let me know how I'm doing! Hope you like it!
A settling storm passes over the half destroyed structure of what used to be a laboratory. The sound of soft rain drops falling from a half exposed roof to the tile floors of the lab played tones like an orchestral harp. Soothing the air and ridding the area of the choas of the previous storm.
In the depths of this building a young woman both brave and strong found herself in a situation she was not familiar with. She was facing an enemy she didn't know and all her loved ones were definitely going to be caught in the crossfire as collateral damage. It was something she had always feared but never expected to become a terrifying reality.
"You sure about this?" Red X robotic voice echoed through the empty halls, "you know this could go terribly wrong at any time... right?"
"Yes," Starfire's calm and soothing voice respond, "I do not fear for my safety. I fear for the safety of my friends. So if I must face this alone to ensure their well being... I will."
Red X stared at the young woman. His admiration for her bravery intensified. Yet... a great sense of jealousy swept through him. He never had anyone care about him the way she cared about her friends. It stung his heart. He knew that the one she was most worried about was the romantic rival of his.
"Hmm..." He said as he pondered her purposed plan of arranging a sting to find her foe. He thought about how this could benefit him while also protecting Starfire in the process... nothing seemed to line up in a favorable way no matter how he pieced it together, "bad idea. I don't like it."
Starfire sat on the bed she had once woke up in after she had been attacked on her date with Grayson. Her hands and arms were folded in her lap as she slouched her shoulders over her body with her legs lazily crossed over the edge of the soft mattress.
"Please," she said softly with closed eyes, "I beg of you... Help me."
X had never seen this side of Starfire before. It almost made him feel special. Like he was getting to know her on a deeper level. If anything... helping her might help him win her over in the long run.
He let out a soft sigh and dropped his head with his arms crossed in front of him while he leaned against the wall of the room. The same room he had brought her to before... only this time, she came of her own free will with this important favor to ask of him.
"Fine," he said as he stood up from the wall, taking a few steps towards the beautiful alien sitting on his bed. He stopped a few feet short of her, looking down at her, "but if we're gonna do this... we do it my way," he said with force.
"But-" Starfire began to argue as she lift her head to make eye contact.
"No buts," X cut her off, "remember... You came to me for help. Either you let me call the shots... or you're on your own."
Starfire looked back down at her hands in her lap and dove into a deep internal thought process. She began to question her decision to trust someone she barely knew... much less a vigilante whose main purpose was self gratification. Her hands gripped each other tighter as her heart started to pick up the pace with her growing nerves.
"I..." Starfire hesitated, "I... Understand," she knew she didn't have anything to argue or bargain with. She was asking a stranger for a free favor that could possibly get him hurt or killed. If anything... she was the one who shouldn't be trusted.
"Good," the robotic voice replied with a more relaxed tone, "besides... if we can avoid you getting hurt then everyone wins right?"
Starfire's gaze shot back up at the tall, dark, figure standing in front of her. Her jaw slightly dropped as she was not expecting him to say that.
"Listen..." X continued, "I'll set up the exchange. You'll pretend to be my prisoner but you will be out of sight and hidden like camouflage. I'll take care of everything. Find out who is after you, why, and if possible, catch the one responsible."
"Please!" Starfire began to protest, "allow me to assist you!"
"Not a chance," X replied, "first of all, you are the one thing they need in order to win. Second, we don't know who they are and how powerful they might be. And lastly, I work better alone."
Starfire grew angry at that last comment, "you mean you will be the only one who is injured if things are to go wrong!" For some reason Starfire felt like he was being selfish in trying to handle the entire encounter by himself she stood up nearly getting in his face, "unacceptable! I must help you! This is not your fight yet I am the one asking you for assistance!"
"Isn't the whole point of asking me for help, instead of your friends, to avoid getting any of them hurt?" X sounded more serious like he saw straight through her, "why not just ask them for help?" He leaned towards her so now they were face to face.
Starfire stepped back after hearing his words and seeing his actions. Now she felt like the selfish one. It left her confused... Why did she come to him if not for that EXACT reason? She looked down from his face to the floor at her right side and clenched her teeth as she searched for an answer. Before she could find one Red X continued...
"If you're using me to protect your friends, then might as well protect yourself as well," he finished his flawless argument before continuing, "speaking of your friends..." He stood up straight once more, "they're bound to show up to try to intervene." Starfire looked back up to meet his gaze, "your friends aren't about to let you go without a fight. They're smart and diligent. They'll have us figured out before long."
Starfire grew more concerned. She knew he was right. She left her communicator at the Tower so she couldn't be followed but it was only a matter of time before they figured out something else and tracked her down. They loved her as much as she loved them and that kind of love made it very hard to hide, let alone run away.
"You're friends will be there..." X repeat himself with confidence, "and when they show up, you still stay out of sight and hidden. If you come out too soon we could lose our target."
"But they are my friends," Starfire said softly, "I cannot just do nothing..."
"That's exactly what you need to do," X respond, "the second you show yourself, one of two things will happen. One: the target figures out were up to something and flees. Or two: they attack everyone in an ambush and take you prisoner by force."
"How do you know this?" Starfire asked nearly shocked from his intelligence. She was genuinely curious how he could know any of this.
"I don't," the casual nonchalant response took Starfire by surprise, "I'm just using the two most extreme scenarios I would do based on how prepared I am," he lifted his arms out to his sides as if weighing two options in each hand like a scale, looking back and forth from each hand, "if I'm not prepared I'd retreat. If I am prepared... I'd have a massive attack force at my command," he then motoined his head to the gap in between his hands, "everything in between can be dealt with if I'm prepared for the two most extreme possibilities."
Starfire felt small. She felt like her leadership was no match for his simplistic yet incredible train of thought. He truly did think everything through. He reminded her of Richard back when he was Robin. Always had a plan. Always expecting anything and everything. They were very similar. Almost as if they were brothers.
She caught herself staring at him with a sense of nostalgia before she shook it off accepting his plan.
"Very well," she said softly, "but please allow my help if needed in an emergency." She stepped forward placing an open palm over her heart, "I will not stand by if I know my friends are in danger!"
X glared at her under his mask. He didn't like that she was willing to let him be expendable while protecting her friends... but he couldn't blame her. He didn't know what that was like. To have friends you would risk your life for and they would do the same in return.
"I'll tell you what..." He said with a sense of frustration, "if they decide to retreat and I can't get to them... I'll tell you. Then you can go after them yourself."
"What if you or my friends are in danger?" Starfire shot back trying to push her luck.
"You have to remain hidden at all costs," X sounded even more aggravated. This was something he would not budge on. But not for the reasons Starfire thought. He wanted to protect her. He wanted her out of harms way. He just didn't want her taken from him. Or at least... taken from his sight. But her last sentence stuck in his mind for a moment... what if YOU or my friends are in danger? The single word that changed his mind, rest within that sentence. She was now also concerned for him as well. He lowered his head and softly spoke, "if worse comes to worse, I'll call for you." He sounded defeated as he finished that sentence.
Starfire could hear the defeat in his voice. She could tell something about this unsettled him but she felt a bit more comfortable with the idea that she could help when asked. She smiled and stood up straight putting her hands over her heart, closing her eyes and lowering her head towards him in a tiny bow...
"I thank you. You are most appreciated." She said with the most sincere and heart felt gratitude.
X saw the intense posture of thanks with her beautiful face emanating her soul's truest form of gratitude and he couldn't help himself. Under his mask he blushed before turning away from the gorgeous girl in embarrassment and softly respond to her over his shoulder...
"Don't mention it," as he finished, he began heading for the door.
Starfire looked back up from her pose and with the same smile on her face before she began following her new comrade towards the door to embark on this secret mission of hers. She felt a sense of comfort. Much like the feeling she had when he saved her from her previous attacker. She knew it. Her instincts were right. She could trust him.
The scent of pine wood that had been chopped and processed now filled her nose. She sat on top of a think pile of twisted hay as an insulator and protective packaging for whatever was supposed to go in the crate she now hid in. She sat with her legs compressed into her chest and her arms wrapped around them while her chin rest atop her knees. In the complete darkness of the crate, she waited with no idea what to expect at this point. She was deep in thought of what might happen before her trance was broken by the muffled voice of someone standing outside...
"I still don't like this plan," X said softly to the crate.
They were at the docks waiting for their target to arrive and begin the sting they had planned.
"Do not be troubled," Starfire respond from the crate fully trusting they could emerge from this with a victory.
"Its time," the muffled voice said from the outside of the box.
Starfire went silent and put all her effort into her sense of hearing to get an idea of how everything was going.
"Consider THIS your payment!"
Starfire gasped before quickly covering her mouth to silence herself. She knew exactly who that was and it shot her worries to maximum. She never doubted X when he said they would show up but she didn't think they'd find them so quickly.
She heard them banter back and forth before an explosion caused her more worry before she heard a soft "Booyah" in the distance. She knew all of her friends had arrived and things were quickly falling apart.
More banter.
Then she heard familiar voices knowing fully well they were not friendly. This worried her but not nearly as much as one of the statements made by the unfriendly voices...
"Daddy's in the hospital because of you!"
Even with that horrifying statement nothing prepared her for the next statement from someone she loved more than anything...
"The Robin you knew is dead."
Starfire's eyes went wide as she continued to cover her mouth to stop herself from making a sound. She gripped her knees closer to her chest wrapping her arms tighter around them trying to keep to the plan that X had told her.
You must remain hidden at all costs.
She tried to drown everything out at this point. Just begging for X to call out to her so she could help her friends and put an end to this. After sitting in this crate for what felt like eons, as she suppressed her emotions as much as she possibly could, she finally heard it...
"Starfire! Now! They're getting away!"
Starfire's eyes changed with an ominous green glow. It was like the glow had a slight fog of the same color slowly drifting from her eyes. It had a sinister yet empowering look to them.
She unleashed a devastating amount of power shattering the box from the inside like a nuclear bomb's detonation. Her fists glowed with the same green color of her eyes and the same tinted fog was rolling off of them. Something was different about her. She was all business with an overwhelming mixture of emotions surging through her.
She propelled forward to see her target on a platform in the waters as if retreating into the ocean and she began hurling towards them with insane velocity. She herself had never thought of a time she could fly so fast.
In fact her surprise of her own speed is what caught her off guard as she reached her target much faster than expected. Before she could react, the hooded figure had thrown her hood back revealing a flawless smooth face with soft lips half hiding an evil smile while her left eye stood behind an eye patch as she dawned a strange weapon from beneath her robes. Starfire recognized this face. It was the same face that offered her lipstick in the bathroom at the restaurant...
Starfire was then halted mid flight by a metal coil wrapped around her body followed by the most excruciating pain she had ever felt. Her entire body tensed up to their complete limit. Her head tilted back as her eyes welled up with tears only to be dried instantly by the sparks radiating up and down her body. Her mouth was clenched in an open position as she tried to scream in pain but she couldn't even manage to breathe let alone speak. She was held suspended in air for only a few moments but to her... it felt like an eternity.
When the pain finally stopped, Starfire felt weak and exhausted. She had no control over it. Her eyes shut and she fell through the air unconcious. Before she drift off completely she heard one voice that she instantly recognized, It echoed long and loud for an extended time within her mind ...
"STARFIRE!!!!"
