TT: Wrong Conclusions - Ch. 8

Wrong Conclusion

Chapter Eight: Reconsideration

“What’re you two so down about?” Cyborg asked, turning momentarily away from his own metallic arm and lifting the goggles he had been using up to his forehead. Robin and Raven had entered the Tower no more then ten minutes ago, and from Robin’s somber expression and Raven’s colder-than-usual attitude, the metallic Titan had been able to tell something had gone wrong.

“Nothing,” Robin spat out. “Nothing at all.”

“And my mother was a toaster,” Cyborg rolled his eyes. “What happened?”

“I said 'nothing'!” Robin growled now, but Raven sighed and answered properly.

“Robin’s jealous of the fact that Beast Boy’s the one going out with Starfire.”

"So they are datin’, huh?” Cyborg asked in mild surprise, ignoring Robin’s indignant look. “I was wonderin’ when it’d happen. I mean, they both changed a lot after you two got together-"

"We’re not together!"

Robin twitched in fury, and the shadow over Raven’s face revealed four red, glowing eyes. Cyborg ducked just in time as a Burglar-Rang and a wave of black energy went for his table, causing a small crater to form in the middle of it.

“DUDE! I know, okay? I was just messing with you two!” Cyborg got back up carefully, staring at his friends in disbelief. “Seriously, if you two’re THAT jealous, maybe you should just tell 'em.”

“I’m not jealous of anything!” the Boy Wonder cried before turning on his heel and heading towards the gym, murmuring indignantly under his breath.

“I don’t do ‘Jealousy’,” Raven said coldly, floating a few feet in front of her metallic companion. “And furthermore, there’s nothing for me to be jealous of.”

“Will you two stop foolin’ yourselves?” the metal-clad Titan sighed, pulling out his screwdriver and ignoring how taken-aback he had made Raven look. “You’ve had it bad for BB ever since the mirror-thing. But you’re never gonna admit it because you think you’re this awful demon thing. Just like Robin’s been droolin’ over Star for as long as I can remember, but won’t say anythin’ ‘cause he’s too scared it’ll mess up the team. All of you gotta just suck it up, tell each other how you feel and give me some peace and quiet.”

Raven was now emanating an energy so black that it made her leotard seem grey. She glared at Cyborg, wondering what she could do to make him regret saying what he had uttered.

She could encase him in energy so he couldn’t breathe...no, he probably had an oxygen mask. She could take all his bolts out of him! ...No, no, he could just pull himself back together. Something, something to get him back for daring to say that she had feelings for that stupid monkey of a boy...

After a few seconds, the furious glow around Raven faded and a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.

“...Says the guy who fell for a pink-haired villain during his mission.”

“H-hey!” Cyborg's head shot up, blushing in surprise and embarrassment, but it was too late. Raven was already floating back into her room and shutting the door behind her, leaving nothing but a peeved teammate in her wake.

But as the door slid shut and she floated onto her bed, Raven couldn’t help but begin to wonder...

Her? And Beast Boy? Sure, she liked him enough to tolerate him, but that was it, wasn’t it? He was just an annoying, green, obnoxious boy who never knew when to keep his mouth shut!

She sighed. That isn’t true... She told herself instantly. He’s a lot deeper than that, even if he acts like he isn’t...

Her eyes fixated onto the ceiling as the memory of Terra’s betrayed ran through her mind. Beast Boy had shown off some of his true, darker colors with that, but despite everything, he had given the Earth-user a second chance, and Terra had redeemed herself because of it.

And then there was Malchior. Beast Boy had turned into a fly on her wall just to watch Raven, to make sure she was alright. She had taken it as nosy at the time, but now appreciated how it had merely been the green teen's way of showing concern.

And then there were all the times he had tried to make her laugh. It was easy enough with the others, but he tried extra-hard for her, even if she didn’t appreciate it...

Raven let out a small sigh, feeling her face break into a warm smile...

Wait. A smile? Her, smiling, thinking about Beast Boy? No, no, that...that wasn’t possible! He was loud, annoying, stupid...There was no way she had any feelings for him!

She sat bolt up-right and scanned her room momentarily. The jewel on her forehead glowed and her drawer opened, causing a black mirror to float towards her. She looked at it, inhaling deeply.

She needed to know. She needed to go inside of herself and see what she truly thought about Beast Boy. What all the sides of her thought of him.

With a final deep breath, she concentrated, feeling herself being drawn into the mirror, and found herself within the gates of her own mind...

“Kii-YAH!”

The punching bag flew back a few feet into the air before falling back and causing the chain that held it to the ceiling to jangle violently. Before it even had a chance to swing back to a motionless position, it was punched again and flew even further than before.

Robin panted, continuing his barrage of upper-punches. He was dressed in gi with ripped sleeves and sweat poured down the sides of his face and into his mask. But the Boy Wonder didn’t seem to notice as he continued to abuse the bag before him, trying to keep his mind free of thought, empty, clear-

What’s he got that I haven’t?

“Augh!” Robin cupped his hands over his ears in an attempt to block his own thoughts out, only to be hit in the face by the punching bag on its swing-back. He was sent back and found himself on the floor before he could react to the bag's act of vendetta.

“Stupid bag!” Robin growled, rubbing his nose and glaring daggers at his assaulter. He thoroughly considered standing and giving it another beating, but after a second thought, decided to take a breather instead. He sat up and ran a hand through his spiky hair, exhaling slowly, his thoughts now free to roam again on matters which he had attempted to avoid.

Why did she pick him? What did Beast Boy do to get her? ...Why didn’t I say anything to her sooner?

He groaned, another voice in his head quickly answering his questions.

He’s not scared of telling people how he feels, and that’s all he had to do to make Starfire feel special. Where as I stayed quiet, telling myself she was like a sister for the past...what, three years?

Robin sighed and glanced up at the ceiling. Growing up with Batman had, indeed, taken a toll on him. All the talk about 'job first, personal matters later' had made him too jumpy to ever talk about...feelings. It had always been Starfire who had made him realize he had to think of the whole team, not only himself or how to get the job done as quickly as possible... Which was quite surprising, considering how the two had met.

Starfire had been the one he had considered the villain at first, and in all honesty, he had been wary of her their first few months together because of it. Robin had avoided making her angry or annoyed, thinking of her as only a war-class being. He had think of her as a friend, that much was true, but more as a friend who could break him in half than a possible girlfriend. And the more he avoided her, the more Starfire had tried to get to know him, doing her very best to grasp the concepts of kindness and love. But even she had soon started to lose hope in ever getting Robin's full trust.

That was, until the cooking incident. Starfire had never used a kitchen before, and had been asked by Beast Boy to make some toast. She had agreed, and attempted making them... Somehow (none of the Titans had ever found out quite HOW), Starfire had managed to set half of their kitchen a-flame, as well as half of the living room.

After seeing half of the files he had worked so hard to burnt to a crisp, Robin had lost it. The Boy Wonder had spent almost twenty entire minutes yelling at Starfire about how she had to be more careful and ask if she didn't know how to use something, rather than risking turning their entire home into a pile of ashes. He had even called her stupid, air-headed, and a few other things he still regretted. But the moment he had finished his rant and realized what he had said, Robin had cringed, expecting to be hit into the next week. But to his amazement, all he had heard was a whimper. A small, weak whimper, followed by the sounds of crying and rushed footsteps. That had been the first time Robin had ever made Starfire cry.

Robin sighed, unable to keep from smiling when he thought of the incident. True, he felt nothing but guilt for having made tears fall from those beautiful green eyes, but it had also been the first time he had hugged her. For almost the entire night, while she cried, muttering apologies, half in Tamaranian, half in English.

After that memory, more began to rush into the mind of Robin. All good ones, about how he and Starfire had become very close friends, how she had learned more things about Earth, how he had learned to be a better person all because of her. And the more Robin remembered, the quicker the realization came...

I’m in love with Starfire.

He merely breathed in deeply, the thought coming to him as much less of a shock than he would have expected. Truthfully, he really had been fooling only himself. After all, if all he had merely felt platonically about Starfire, he wouldn’t have gotten jealous about he getting married, and his heart wouldn’t have skipped a beat when Cyborg had called Starfire his girlfriend. He could have carried on normal conversations with her without worrying what she thought of him, or wanted to protect her as much as he had. The feelings had been inside of him for so long, but he had merely pushed them aside, calling them ‘friendly’, or mentally referring to Starfire as a sister.

And now, it was too late. She was with Beast Boy. They were having a good time, he had put her hand around her and she had leaned close to him. All was lost...

...Or was it?

Robin thought back to when Kitten had asked for a date from him. He had far from enjoyed it, considering how annoying she was, but Starfire had acted very, well...jealously then. She had even dressed up just to follow Robin to the dance and make sure no harm came to him. And she had also been jealous when she had thought that Blackfire had replaced her...

So there was hope yet! Maybe, maybe if he told Starfire, then she would still have feelings for him! Maybe Beast Boy and she really were just friends. ‘Maybe’ was usually not something Robin would dare gamble with, but for Starfire, he was willing to try it.

Just as Robin began pulling his last piece of uniform on to go find Starfire again, the door to the gym slid open and Raven and Cyborg stood outside of it. A Communicator was flashing in Cyborg’s large hand and his expression was grim.

“Robin, there’s trouble at a hospital to the East. Starfire and Beast boy are there, but they said they can’t hold out alone much longer.”