"The Crow: Black Robin"

Chapter 4: "Black Fire Rekindled"

Disclaimer: I do not own either Teen Titans or The Crow, but I'd love to. Sadly, the world doesn't run on "I'd love to"; otherwise, I'd be a lot better off than I am now.

Author's note: Now we get to Robin interacting with his old teammates and getting to know the new Titans. However, the major focus will be the romance between Robin and Starfire, as well as some jealousy on Raven's part.

"How can you see into my eyes like open doors?

Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb

Without a soul

My spirit sleeping somewhere cold

Until you find it there and lead it . . . back home.

"(Wake me up)

Wake me up inside

(I can't wake up)

Wake me up inside

(Save me)

Call my name and save me from the dark

(Wake me up)

Bid my blood to run

(I can't wake up)

Before I come undone

(Save me)

Save me from the nothing I've become.

"Now that I know what I'm without

You can't just leave me

Breathe into me and make me real

Bring me to life.

"(Wake me up)

Wake me up inside

(I can't wake up)

Wake me up inside

(Save me)

Call my name and save me from the dark

(Wake me up)

Bid my blood to run

(I can't wake up)

Before I come undone

(Save me)

Save me from the nothing I've become

Bring me to life.

"(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)

Bring me to life.

"Frozen inside without your touch,

Without your love, darling,

Only you are the life among the dead.

"All this time I can't believe I couldn't see

Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me

I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems

Got to open my eyes to everything

Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul

Don't let me die here

(There must be something more!)

Bring me to life.

"(Wake me up)

Wake me up inside

(I can't wake up)

Wake me up inside

(Save me)

Call my name and save me from the dark

(Wake me up)

Bid my blood to run

(I can't wake up)

Before I come undone

(Save me)

Save me from the nothing I've become

Bring me to life.

"I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside!!

Bring me to life

Bring me to life."

Evanescence - "Bring Me to Life"

Robin held Starfire in his arms, basking in her warmth. For a long time, nothing was said; they just basked in each other's presence.

"Your eyes," she finally said, looking up at him. "They are so beautiful."

"So are yours," Robin replied. "I've missed seeing them."

Beast Boy and Cyborg came up to them. "Robin! You're alive!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Not quite," Robin replied.

"Well, you're back," Cyborg amended. "And I have to ask --- what the hell are you on?!"

Robin just gave Cyborg a withering stare, releasing Starfire from his embrace.

Cyborg looked right into that stare, not backing down. "You crushed Cinderblock to dust, you left Jinx inside a space center that would explode less than thirty seconds, and I think you just killed Gizmo!"

"Yeah, I get that you're pissed off big-time," Beast Boy added. "If I came back after a year of being dead, I'd be mad, too. But it's not like you can just go around killing people, even if they are criminals."

"He was already dead," Robin replied. "He died the moment he signed on with Slade. They're all dead. It's only through my good graces that they're still walking around."

Raven, Superboy, and Wonder Girl hung back.

"So that's Robin?" Superboy asked. "Dunno, but I figured he'd be taller, the way you all talked about him."

"That's him without a doubt, Superboy," Raven replied.

"Yeah, well, I suppose you'd know, keeping him a secret from the rest of us," Superboy snapped back.

Raven just glared at the Boy of Steel.

Wonder Girl stepped between the two. "Hey, cool it. Raven had a good reason for not telling us."

"Oh, yeah, because the Dead Boy Wonder didn't want anyone knowing, not even the girl he supposedly loves," Superboy retorted.

Upon hearing this, Robin stalked over to Superboy, icy violet-blue meeting heated sky blue.

Superboy got no warning before Robin punched him in the face, sending him flying into a wall. He flew up and at Robin, who met his flying tackle with a grip on his wrists that gave him sufficient leverage to fall backward and kick-flip Superboy. Superboy righted himself in midair and telekinetically shoved Robin. Robin landed on one of the crates and somersaulted into the air, his foot meeting Superboy's chest.

"So, who are you?" Robin asked. "Superman's kid brother? Second cousin?"

"Clone," Superboy replied. "Hope you don't mind getting your ass kicked by one, dead boy."

Just as they were about to resume hostilities, Starfire stepped between them. "Please stop. I do not wish to see you inflict harm upon each other."

Upon seeing the pleading expression in Starfire's eyes, Robin opened his hands, his posture relaxing somewhat. Superboy dropped his fists as well.

"Good thing you stopped them, Star," Cyborg said.

"Yeah, besides, if they're going to be fighting, we need time to sell tickets," Beast Boy added.

Robin and Superboy both gave Beast Boy odd expressions, and another memory took hold for Robin.

"Jailbreak?I don't see any jailbreak," Beast Boy had said after the Titans had foiled Cinderblock's distracting jailbreak.

"None of us would have seen one if Cyborg hadn't messed up!" Robin had exclaimed.

"Me? I messed up nothing!" Cyborg had retorted. "You got in my way!"

"You were too far forward, and Cinderblock got away because of it!" Robin had yelled back.

"You saying this is my fault?!" Cyborg had asked.

"Want me to say it again?" Robin had replied.

"Stop!" Starfire had pleaded. "No more mean-talking."

"Yeah, if you two are going to fight, we need time to sell tickets," Beast Boy had quipped.

"Cinderblock escaped," Raven had stated. "No amount of yelling will change that. So stop acting like idiots and let's go home."

"I guess not that much has changed since I died," Robin said.

"Except for Slade leading a criminal mega-syndicate and your old buddy Nightwing forming his own team, nothing," Cyborg said.

"I see that you've got two new members," Robin said.

"I'm Wonder Girl," the blonde teen Amazon said. "You've already met Superboy, although your fists were talking more than you actually did."

"Hey, Robin," Superboy said. "I didn't really mean anything by what I said earlier, it's just that ---"

"His mouth opens before his brain can catch up to it," Wonder Girl finished. Superboy had the dignity to look slightly embarrassed at that.

"We'd better get back to the Tower," he said.

So they walked out of the warehouse. Fortunately, Robin had gone out the back door before spilling Gizmo's blood, so the Titans did not have to see the gruesome sight of Gizmo's corpse next to a blood painting of a crow.

"So what's with that crow that's with you?" Beast Boy asked.

"The crow's my link between this world and the next," Robin replied.

"What was it like?" Superboy asked.

"What was what like?" Robin asked.

"When you got out of your grave and all," Superboy replied.

Robin remembered that first moment when he had awoke, feeling the earth pressing in on him from all sides, suffocating him.

"No way," he had said to himself. "If this is one of Slade's sick plans, I'm not going to let him succeed!" He had banged furiously on the coffin lid, breaking it open. Too panicked to marvel at his newfound strength, he had climbed up through the earth, forcing his way back up to the surface.

He had arisen from the dirt and, feeling a sudden agonizing pain, screamed.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Robin said.

"Ok," Superboy conceded.

Raven hadn't said anything at all since seeing Robin in action. Her insides (mental, not physical) were spiraling in torment.

Starfire's not scared of Robin, now is she? she sneered to her evil side.

So what? her inner evil replied. Looks like he's not all yours now, is he?

Just like a dark fairy tale, Raven thought, somewhat bitterly. Handsome prince dies saving beautiful longhaired princess and comes back as a black knight to protect her.

"Robin?" Starfire asked.

"Yes, Star?" Robin replied.

"May I speak to you in private?" Starfire asked.

"Sure," Robin replied.

Raven watched them go, with a pang of jealousy in her heart.

"Looks like somebody's jealous," Wonder Girl said in a singsong voice. She took Raven's wrist and pulled her aside.

"Why should I be?" Raven asked. "He's always loved Starfire. He died protecting her."

"I'm sure he'd have done the same for any of you," Wonder Girl assured her.

"But Slade shot at Starfire," Raven replied. "It was her he intended to kill because her death would have crushed his spirit most."

"You're jealous," Wonder Girl stated.

"So what if I am?" Raven replied. "I can't do anything about it. Even now, their love is as strong as ever."

"Then I suggest you find yourself a new love," Wonder Girl said. She caught the bemused expression on Raven's face and smiled. "It's not like you can spend forever pining after a boy whom you admit can't ever return your feelings. And cute as he is, even with the freaky makeup, he's still a boy."

Meanwhile, Robin and Starfire were together.

"Robin?" Starfire prompted.

After the Titans had foiled Slade's attempt to steal a computer chip, Robin had been in his investigation room, brooding.

Starfire had gotten hurt. That miserable android had shot her when all she'd wanted to do was persuade it to surrender.

Slade.It had been all his fault that Starfire had gotten hurt.

Starfire had come in, trying to coax him out. Robin had refused her company, saying that he needed to work, to find out something that would help him figure out who Slade was so he could stop him. He'd closed the door on her.

Robin began to cry, but held back his tears for fear of ruining the makeup Raven had adorned his face with. However, Starfire saw his tears.

"Are you upset by me, Robin?" she asked.

"No," Robin replied. "I'm upset that I shut you out for so long." He held her slim-fingered golden hands in his black-gloved ones. "I'm so sorry. I should have told you how I felt. I love you, Koriand'r."

"And I love you . . . Tim," Starfire replied.

For the first time since they'd known each other, their lips met in a sweet, loving kiss. Robin's fingers entwined in Starfire's silky crimson hair, while Starfire's fingers stroked his dark hair.

As they kissed, Robin's mind was filled with Starfire's memories. He felt her pain when he'd shut her off to investigate Slade, her fear that he would come to like Blackfire better than her, her gratitude to him for teaching her about Earth, her anger and guilt that Robin had died to protect her, and the love that permeated it all.

When the kiss finally broke, Robin smiled. Perhaps "setting things right" didn't have to just mean finishing Slade.

"Star?" Robin asked.

"Yes, Robin?" Starfire replied.

"Would you like to go out on a date with me?" Robin asked.

Starfire hugged Robin tightly. "I would love to share time with you as lovers!"

"You know," Raven said after finding Robin, "if you and Starfire are going to go out, you'll be very noticeable in that makeup."

"You're the one who put it on me," Robin replied. "Besides, we used to go out in costume all the time, anyway."

"I can cast a glamour on you," Raven said. "A spell that will cloak your appearance. I can tailor it so that no one will see the makeup."

"Ok," Robin conceded.

Raven waved a glowing hand over his face. "Now look at yourself."

She gave him a hand mirror and he looked at his reflection. It was his face, all right.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," Raven replied, smiling. "Have fun."

The smile momentarily disconcerted Robin. Then he shrugged it off and went to join Starfire, who couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him.

He's so beautiful, she thought, taking in all his features. The lovely, almost feminine face, the shining pale amethyst-sapphire eyes, and his lips, which were so perfectly formed that she wondered how she had been able to keep from kissing him.

The first place they went to was a trendy little restaurant. However, after they got there, fans of Starfire's modeling work accosted them.

"Kory Anders!" a girl exclaimed, holding out a pen and fashion magazine with Starfire's image on it. "Would you please sign this for me? I'm such a big fan of yours and I'd love it if you signed this!"

"I would be delighted," Starfire replied and signed her name on it.

After the girl went away, Robin smiled. "Kory Anders?"

"After I started modeling, a reporter could not quite understand my name and transcribed it as 'Kory Anders,'" Starfire replied. "I decided to keep it as my Earth name."

"It's lovely," Robin said.

They quickly found a table and a waitress soon arrived to take their orders. Actually, Starfire ordered. Robin didn't, as he didn't quite feel the need to eat and he wasn't sure his not-living body could digest food.

After eating, they left the restaurant, unaware that they were being watched by a couple of Slade's androids. Slade had built special video links into them so that he could see everything they saw.

The next place they went to was a new nightclub that had opened up by the name of Fire's Star. Once they entered, pounding dance music filled their ears.

"I have perfected my dancing skills over the past year," Starfire said. She smiled. "Would you like to see how they've improved?"

"Sure," Robin replied, smiling back.

Starfire waded into the throng and began to dance, her hips rolling sensuously to the beat of the music. Robin watched, awed by her incredible beauty. No, the word beautiful alone wasn't quite sufficient to describe her. Perhaps exquisite would do better, when he thought of her gorgeous emerald eyes, the silky scarlet waterfall that was her hair, the soft golden-tan skin . . . how that purple top and micro-miniskirt accentuated her sexy curves, and how those thigh-high purple boots clung to her long, gorgeous legs.

One year. One year since he'd been torn away from her. He knew he didn't have very long to stay in this world. So he smiled. Why not make the most of it.

He went into the crowd, making his way to Starfire and dancing with her. "I am glad that you could join me, Robin."

"I'm glad to be with you, too," Robin replied. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands on her hips. Starfire's arms were wrapped around him as well, her hands meeting around his neck. They moved to the music as one, their hearts beating with the music.

After dancing at the nightclub, Robin and Starfire stopped at a playground.

"Want me to push you on the swing?" Robin asked, smiling.

"I would like that," Starfire replied, and she sat on a swing, holding onto the chains. Robin pushed her and she glided gracefully through the air.

They were like this for a while, Robin pushing and Starfire swinging. Finally, Robin got onto the swing next to her. "Wanna see who can go higher?"

"That would be fun," Starfire replied.

They moved as far back as the swing would allow them to and then swung as high as they could. Starfire let out a giggle of happiness. As always, her happiness proved infectious and Robin found himself giggling, too.

At the highest point of his swing, Robin did the impossible. He flipped over the swing bar!

"Robin?" Starfire asked, stopping. "Robin, where did you go?"

"Boo," Robin's voice said from behind her. Starfire jumped up from the swing in surprise.

"Robin!" she exclaimed with a mixture of happiness and relief. "You startled me. I thought you had vanished into thin air!"

"No," Robin replied, smiling impishly. "I just jumped over the swing bar."

"But I thought such a thing could not be accomplished," Starfire said.

"Not by most people," Robin amended. He looked up at the moon. "I'm glad I could have this night with you."

"I am glad as well," Starfire said, smiling.

It was late when Robin and Starfire returned to Titans Tower.

"Everyone must have gone to sleep by now," Robin said. "We should, too."

"Yes," Starfire agreed as they made their way upstairs. "However, there is one thing about you that makes me curious."

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"When Raven explained to us about your powers, she said that you could not feel pain," Starfire replied. A sly smile made its way to her face and Robin could almost swear she was channeling Blackfire. "But can you feel pleasure?"

Those five words, spoken in that dulcet voice, awakened something inside him. He smiled. "Care to find out?"

They were in Starfire's room, passionately kissing, their hands gently moving over each other's bodies. They made their way to her bed and sat on it, or rather, Robin sat on it. Starfire was half on the bed and half on his lap.

Robin removed Starfire's neck guard, revealing that her midriff-baring purple top was a basic spaghetti-strap style.

"I love you, Kory," he whispered. "I love everything about you. Your voice, your body, your lips, your eyes, your personality --- everything, my golden angel."

"I love you, too, Tim," Starfire whispered, removing his cape. She stripped off his gloves and studded wrist-bracelets, then the top of his costume. "I always have. You are kind, patient, and giving. Thank you for giving me your heart, my dark angel."

"You're welcome," Robin whispered.

Soon enough, both Robin and Starfire were nude. Robin's lips had moved to her neck. "Don't worry, Koriand'r." He gently bit her at the place where her shoulder met her neck. "It'll hurt at first." Then he began to suck at that spot, savoring her moans of pleasure. "But you'll enjoy it."

With that said, Robin and Starfire consummated their love for the first time.

Meanwhile, Raven lay in bed, feeling the waves of love and sexual energy emanating from Starfire's room.

"Be happy," she whispered. "Be happy."

"In this darkness . . .

Troubled water . . .

Lies a flicker . . .

Of hope's fire . . .

"Come to your senses . . .

Wager a risk . . .

I won't let go . . .

Waiting for this . . .

"It's wonderful . . .

Reality . . .

I watch as . . .

This golden bird flies free . . .

"In this ash-vault . . .

A rose garden . . .

These walls never . . .

See me just to . . .

"Save me!

Save me!

Save me!

Save me. . . ."

Kittie - "Safe"

End Notes: I've brought Robin and Starfire back together, but it's not going to last very long. Slade will enact his plan to get Robin back in his clutches, and you'll just have to wait to see what Robin does.

Also, the first flashback was derived from the scene in "Divide and Conquer" where Robin and Cyborg argue. In the comics, Raven was an empath, meaning she could feel and manipulate the emotions of others, which is why she could sense what Robin and Starfire were up to.

I may write an extended version of the Robin/Starfire love scene, if you like, but you'll only find it on adultfanfiction.net and mediaminer.org. I like knowing what you think, so please review.