Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Back to the Present ❯ The Argument ( Chapter 7 )

BACK TO THE PRESENT
Chapter 7: The Arguement

By: Jacque Nicole

Robin's uncharacteristic outburst echoed over and over again in Starfire's mind. She'd never felt so guilty, especially for something that she shouldn't feel guilty for in the first place. Starfire stared at the Boy Wonder and imagined a torrent of emotions swirling through his eyes behind his mask - emotions that were identical to her own, no doubt. Countless unfamiliar feelings were fogging Starfire's brain, and she channeled them out the only way she could - with anger.

Starfire shot up from the sofa, a blazing rage toward her best friend clouding her rational side. She marched up to the Boy Wonder slowly until she stood directly in front of him, only a foot away from his prone form. A deep sound resembling a growl resounded from deep in Robin's throat as if in warning for an oncoming verbal onslaught.

Before Robin could even begin another outburst, Starfire interjected.

Starfire raised a dainty finger and aimed it directly at Robin's uniformed chest. “You have no right,” the Tamaranian teen growled out, each word punctuated by a jab to the chest. “You have no right to speak to me in that way.” She took a deep soothing breath to calm her anger. “If you ever decide to keep your beak out of my personal life and mind your own business, you may come speak with me.” Her hair flared as she made a sharp turn toward the door. “I shall reside in my quarters.”

Before she could even take two steps, Robin's gloved hand shot out and gripped her wrist. He yanked on it, causing her to twirl around and land directly in his arms. He pulled her even closer by instinct. `God,' Robin thought as he caught a whiff of her strawberry scented hair, `this feels so right.' He felt her lithe body begin to tremble, from rage, the sudden chill in the room, or something else, he did not know.

“Star,” he began gently, in a whisper. “You are my business.”

The Tamaranian girl shot out of Robin's arms, as if she'd burned herself. “How dare you say that? You know nothing - nothing - about me and what I want. I certainly know absolutely nothing about you.”

This shocked Robin. “Star, how could you say that? I've told you everything - “

“Shit of bulls!” This shook Robin to the core. Starfire never - ever - swore. “How could you persist lying to me?” By now, small crystalline tears shimmered in her eyes. “I believed...” She broke off with a tiny sob. “I believed,” she began again, voice stronger; “we were friends.”

“Starfire,” sighed the Boy Wonder, “we are friends -- “

“No! Friends do not lie. Friends do not stop other friends from making even more friends. Robin, we are not friends.”

There was a long silence between two teammates filled only by the sound of Starfire's heels as she walked through the doors. She stopped and let out an ironic chuckle. “You know,” she said, her back facing the boy. “I learned more about you from Nightwing in five minutes that I learned from you in two years.”

At this, Robin face flushed red in fury and he began shaking. “I am sick and tired of hearing about Nightwing. Ever since he came here, all I hear from everyone is `Nightwing this and Nightwing that.' Well, do you know what I have to say about him?”

Starfire already knew what Robin thought about Nightwing, but she knew he'd tell her anyway.

“FUCK NIGHTWING!” Robin nearly screamed. “Who the hell does he think he is, walking into my life and screwing it all up?” Robin found himself stalking over toward Starfire as he yelled. “Who does he think he is, taking all my friends away from me? Controlling my team like he's the leader? Stealing the love of my life away?” By now, Robin stood directly behind Starfire, breathing heavily on her neck. “Tell me Star...” he whispered in her ear, warm breath tickling her lobes. “Who does Nightwing think he is?” A tear fell down her face, and Robin's voice became gratingly low. “Who?”

Starfire took in a shuddering breath, unable to speak. She had never seen Robin so furious before and she couldn't deny that it scared her... a lot. He was still breathing into her ear and on her neck, and Starfire held her breath as she felt the feeling disappear as she walked away from him. With her head held high, she walked right out of the room.

All Robin could do was stare.

And behind the door, Starfire collapsed in tears.

XOXOXOXOX

That was how Nightwing found her, minutes later. Unwilling to disturb her, he picked up her delicate figure from where she sat in anguish on the floor. Nightwing quenched the urge to grin as Star wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his sculptured shoulder.

As Nightwing carried her toward the direction of her room, Starfire tried to grasp what had just happened in the Main Room and failed miserably. Was her hard earned friendship with Robin over? Starfire certainly hoped not; she already felt terribly sorry for everything she said, but she knew that if she saw Robin again, she'd say it all over again. Besides, over the past couple of weeks, her feelings toward Robin had increased tenfold to an emotion that Starfire could not - or maybe she was afraid to? - identify. Still, she was eager to explore the new affections, but after that terrible argument, she knew that Robin probably hated her and wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

Whatever the case, Starfire knew that being in the arms of the subject of their fight was not where she wanted to be.

“Please Nightwing, release me,” she said in barely a whisper, and Nightwing wasn't quite sure he heard it at all. He stopped in the middle of the hallway, unsure of what to do. Starfire made the decision for him, disentangling herself from his grasp and sliding to the floor.

“Thank you,” the Tamaranian said simply, before knocking on a nearby door. Nightwing racked his brain, trying to remember whose room it was.

The door slid open and revealed darkness. Raven, Starfire's teammate, stepped forward. “What?” she grumbled monotonously.

“Raven, I seek guidance,” Starfire told her, voice wavering.

Raven did not need to use her psychic abilities to know that her cheery friend had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and red, and fresh salty streaks trailed down her face. Raven's eyes left from Starfire and concentrated on Nightwing. She could tell by the tension that Starfire gave off that her need for advice had to deal with him.

The door to her room opened wider, revealing the Raven of the future. As soon as she laid eyes on Starfire's distressed face she gave a startled gasp. “Oh my, Star. What happened to you?” Before Starfire could respond, she continued, “Come on in and tell Raven all about it.” With that, she dragged the shocked teen through the door and into the darkness of the room.

The teenage Raven gave Nightwing one more glare before the door slid closed.

XOXOXOXOX

Robin was at a loss of words. He never blew up at anyone - except maybe Batman. He especially never thought he'd loose his temper and take it out on Starfire. Seeing them together on the couch talking about going to the circus together... He'd never felt more envious toward Nightwing than he had at that moment.

Robin sat on the semi circular sofa, contemplating his situation. Was this the end of he and Star? Was there ever a `Robin and Starfire' to begin with?

Robin held his head in woe. To not have Starfire in his life would be utter torture. He would always be thinking about what could have been instead of what was.

The steel doors swooshed open, and Robin knew who it was before they even spoke.

“What did you do to her?” Nightwing's accusing voice resounded in the large empty room. “Do you know how I found her? Do you?”

“I have a feeling you're going to tell me.”

Nightwing ignored him. “She was bawling her eyes out on the ground,” he said. “What did you do?”

“Leave me alone Nightwing.”

“You think that just because you the leader of this team that you can blow up at anybody you want without any consequences? Think again!”

“Shut up and get out of my face,” Robin responded, not too happily. “I'm not in a good mood.”

“Too bad,” said the futuristic vigilante as he approached the Boy Wonder. “Deal with it.”

As Nightwing sat on the couch, Robin stood up. “Look, I'm going to be the bigger man here and leave. I know that if I'm near you for another second I'll kill you and I know that Starfire definitely wouldn't want to talk to me ever again if I did that.” And with that, Robin walked out.

XOXOXOXOX

The older Raven sat back on the black beanbag chair her counter part had in her room as Starfire finished her story. The smile that she once held on her face had disappeared and was replaced with a look of concern. The younger Raven remained stoic, as she always did.

Recounting the event wasn't as upsetting as Starfire thought it would be. In fact, it felt like she was lifting an unbearable load off of her shoulders, although she was still unsure of what to do about her situation.

“So you and Robin had a fight. One of you will apologize tomorrow and it'll be over with. Get over it,” the younger Raven said.

“No, I don't think it was just a fight, but I do know that everything will turn out fine with you and Robin, Starfire. Don't sweat over it,” the older Raven put her two cents in.

“I am grateful for your input but what am I supposed to do about Nightwing? I promised him I would accompany him to the circus,” Starfire said worriedly.

“Go with him. A promise is a promise,” her teammate told her.

“Just don't do anything that I wouldn't do, okay?”

And with that sound advice, Starfire left for her room.

XOXOXOXOX

“Kitten, is it ready yet? I'm becoming very impatient.”

“It's only a matter of time, Master Slade. By this time tomorrow, the Titan's will be no more.”

“Excellent...”

...End Chapter 7...

Number of Words: 1,742

Posted: May 20, 2005
Edited: July 16, 2006