53Hey. Well, I'm back again. I must say this is one of my more thought-out fanfictions, and I'm still thinking about if I should keep it the way it is or not. Hmm. But I really like this story, so please send me reviews! I don't care if it's flames, but it would be nice if you could tell me what I did wrong and how to improve. Also, I know it's REEEEEALLY long, but it's also REEEALLY good and emotional so that makes up for it, right? ¬¬
Ugly Consequences
When you play with Starfire, you're gonna get burned. (Cliché, I know. So sue me.) Robin really should stop poking around in things he shouldn't. The consequences are disastrous… Robin/Starfire. PLEASE R&R!
Rated PG for some thematic elements, semi-adult humor, and... um... I dunno.
Disclaimer: Why would I be writing fanfiction if I owned the Titans?
Ugly Consequences
It was movie night, and Starfire was nowhere to be found. They called her over the intercom and she didn't respond. They decided to once-over the city. Again, she could not be found. So now they were combing the tower, and Robin was stuck outside her room, hoping she was inside despite his prior knowledge that she wasn't. He was all alone on that floor of the tower, listening to the clock across the hall tick away. A small curiosity stirred inside him. He'd never been in Starfire's room before. He wondered vaguely what it looked like inside. But that would be invading her privacy, and she had a thing about her privacy. Robin respected that, so he tried his best to ignore the nagging urge to open the door and peek inside. He paced for another five minutes, pausing only once when he heard Beast Boy's call of "Staaaaaaaaarrrfiiiiiiiiiirrre!" from down below.
The feeling of curiosity intensified inside him. He wanted badly to just throw open the door and look in… The walls seemed to be closing in on him, leaning on him, breathing on his face, whispering to him. "Go inside," they hissed in his ear. Robin would argue with it. "No, no, Starfire wouldn't like that. It's her room. Not mine."
But you let her in your room before. Why can't she let you in just this once? The wall pried at him.
Because she's not here to give me permission, anyway, he defended. It would be wrong to just go in there and snoop around.
Yes but, like you said, she's not here to stop you. She's not here to tell you no. No one's here to see, to tell you differently, to tell you it's wrong. Just go. No one will ever know, it persuaded. What is said was so utterly true…
Robin couldn't take it anymore. He looked left, right, then straight ahead. Very slowly, he opened her door….
Cyborg was in the living room, waiting for Starfire to get back. Beast Boy and Raven were just coming back in to wait as well when Starfire came bursting into the room.
Beast Boy's face lit up. "Hey! Star! You're back!"
She ignored him. She had the strangest feeling… a deep, undeniable foretelling of doom. She went to her room as quickly as possible…
Robin stepped inside, his eyes wide in awe. Her room was so beautiful, styled to suit her and only her just like Raven's was suited for Raven and Cyborg's was suited for Cyborg. Robin looked around. Strange-looking pictures and trinkets lined shelves that were nailed awkwardly to the walls. Most of the pictures were from Tamaran, but a few were from Earth. There were pictures of Robin, of Raven, of Beast Boy and Cyborg and even one of Aqualad. Starfire's bed was left unmade in the far left-hand corner; a pillow lay on the floor and a book was face-down on the messy sheets. Her closet was left slightly ajar, and he could see skirt after purple skirt inside. He took another few timid steps into the room. His nerves screamed at him to turn back, to leave, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from the vast, alien room. She had a bookshelf. It was almost empty, and what few books she had were tattered and ripped. One lay on the floor, forgotten. Finally Robin could stand the awkwardness no longer and turned hastily to go. But what he saw then stopped him in his tracks. There was a desk by the door, one that held nothing but a lavender cushion. But it wasn't the cushion that intrigued him. It was what sat on it.
He stepped up to the desk and stared at it. It, in definition, was an orb. An oval-shaped, pallid blue object that let off a light aquamarine glow. He bent close to the orb, staring at it with wide eyes. Floating inside the orb, curled up as if to shield itself, was a miniature Starfire.
Robin didn't know what it was, but its beauty pulled at him. He slowly lifted a hand to touch it.
Starfire picked up the pace, and came to a halt in front of her door. She flung it open and burst into the room, looking from right to left. She saw Robin, and screamed at him to stop. If he knew what he was doing… he had no idea it would create… she couldn't let him… what would she DO if… "ROBIN! NO!"
Robin was about to touch it, when the door flew open and Starfire screamed at him. "ROBIN! NO!"
Robin, startled, sprung away from the orb. He looked at Starfire, and, embarrassed, began to utter a hurried apology. He tried to back away, evade her, get out, but she stepped up and her calm, questioning voice froze him in his tracks.
"Robin, why are you in my room?"
Robin wanted to just sink to the floor and melt into a large puddle of Robin-y goop. But he didn't. He was just some mortified teenager standing under the searing rays of light that were Starfire's eyes who's fighting skills would do him no good against the overwhelming power of her gaze. Robin wanted to die, to have an elephant fall through the ceiling on his head, for a monster to jump out of the closet and swallow him whole. But he knew that wouldn't happen. It didn't happen. He was forced to speak.
"Star, I-I'm so sorry. I-It was just that… uhm…" What? he though cruelly at himself. 'It's just that you never let me in your room so I snuck in while you weren't here?' 'The walls told me to come?' Not bloody well likely. "U-Uh… I…" Robin was struggling for words.
Starfire's voice was dangerously quiet. "Robin, do you even know what that is?" she hissed, pointing at the orb.
Robin shook his head. He was cowering under her, scared to the point he nearly wet himself. "N-No!" he squeaked, sobbing dryly. "I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!" He jumped up and tried to make an escape, but in doing so slammed into the desk. He reached out to regain his balance, and his palm went right against the cool surface of the orb. At first, neither of them realized what happened, but then a sharp jolt went through Robin's body. He cried out and tried to pull away, but his hand was stuck to the orb. His body vibrated, sending unpleasant sensations through the roof of his mouth and the pit of his stomach. It hurt. Bad. Shock after shock went through him. His body shook and he doubled over in pain, his hand still glued to the orb. An intense heat shot up his arm, then through the rest of him. He screamed. There was a feeling of finalization, and he was suddenly blown backwards onto the ground. He lay there a moment, then sat up, gasping for breath. The orb was glowing brighter, and when he glanced at it he was blinded by it's brilliance.
Starfire stared at him, mortified. "Robin…"
Robin coughed and continued panting. "Starfire, what –"
Starfire held up a hand to silence him. She stood there, a pained grimace on her face. "Watch what you have done," she commanded, pointing at the orb.
Robin watched as the orb hardened and changed color. It looked as if it had fogged up from the inside. There as no miniature Starfire now. It looked as innocent and blank as an egg now. Robin felt the deeply sickening feeling that it WAS an egg.
Starfire exhaled loudly and sank to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. Robin reached out to comfort her, but she jerked away from him.
"Starfire, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
She shook her head and looked up at him. "Robin… do you understand… what you have done?" she asked slowly, her voice grave.
"Uh… no. But I'm pretty freaked out right now. Care to explain?"
Starfire stood again and smiled sadly, her head bowed. "Robin, that orb is an undeveloped egg. It contains my genetic makeup. It is, you could say, my unborn child. All it needed to hatch is a father… a male genetic makeup donor. Robin, when you touched the egg… that donor became you."
Robin's face drained of what little color it had left. He stared, aghast. "Y-You m-mean to say that… I-I'm a FATHER!?"
"It is very defenseless. We cannot leave it alone for one moment, or it could die," Starfire explained a few minutes later, sitting on her bed with her egg in her lap.
Robin couldn't believe how big of a mistake he'd made. "You mean they have to KNOW!?" he cried, pacing. "I feel really bad, Star. I mean… I'm not READY to be a dad! I… I just can't imagine what this will do to us and the team. And…"
"Robin," Starfire said, her voice hollow yet icy at the same time. Robin looked at her. He felt like crying.
"Yes, Star?"
"I do not feel you have reason to worry."
Her words stung. Badly.
Robin blinked. Tears welled up in his eyes. He went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened and narrowed her eyes to slits.
"Oh, Star, I am SO sorry. It's just… this is HUGE. I'm scared. But I'll be there for you. I won't abandon you. I promise." What was he saying? He sounded like some wimpy idiot. He mentally scolded himself not just for sounding stupid, but for even coming into her room in the first place.
Starfire looked up at him, tears running down her face.
Robin's mind instantly jumped back on track. He hugged her, being careful not to smash the egg. "I'm SORRY, Star."
She smiled weakly. "You are forgiven, Robin. It was an accident. And…" she paused, looking up at him. "I am sure you will make a wonderful father."
Together, Robin and Starfire walked into the living room. Starfire was still lugging the egg around in her arms and refused to hand it over to Robin.
"Hey, guys!" Beast Boy said happily, bounding over. "Are you ready for –" he stopped, staring at Starfire's egg. Her grip tightened on it. "What's that?" He pointed at it.
Raven and Cyborg came over. They, too, stared at Starfire's egg.
She hugged it even tighter still. Robin tapped her arm and she loosened up, afraid she might break it.
"It is my egg," she said softly, averting her eyes.
"So you're going to eat it, right?" Cyborg asked.
Starfire gasped, mortified, her eyes widening. "No! It is my child!"
Robin, seeing his friends' bewildered expressions, intervened. "In three days this egg will hatch, and Starfire will be a mother."
Everyone stared. Robin got the feeling this all went way over their heads.
"Star laid an egg?" Beast Boy asked stupidly.
Robin sighed. He had known this would be their reaction. "No. The egg…" Robin stopped. The egg what?
"Let me explain," Starfire said suddenly. "Let us sit. This is, as you say, a long story."
Beast Boy gaped. "Dude, that's deep."
"So who touched the egg?" Raven asked, looking, for once, very concerned.
Starfire rubbed the tough shell of the egg and smiled. "Robin."
Beast Boy fell off of his chair.
"That's a shock," Raven said.
"So Robin's going to be your baby's father, right?" Cyborg said.
Starfire nodded. Robin hung his head. "It was an accident," he muttered.
"I wouldn't think you did something this big on purpose," Cyborg replied.
Beast Boy, now back in his seat, scratched his head. "So you came out of an egg too?" he asked Starfire.
Starfire nodded again, cradling the egg in a motherly fashion.
"Duh," Raven said, shaking her head at Beast Boy, who stuck out his tongue back. Cyborg bopped Beast Boy on the head to end the upcoming fight.
"I don't know whether to congratulate you or wish you luck or what," Raven said biting her lip and coming over to Starfire's side of the table.
"Wish us luck," Robin whispered.
Starfire shot him a warning glance and leaned back so that Raven could get a better look at the egg. Raven rubbed the egg and studied it. She smiled the tiniest of smiles and kneeled so that her head was even with the egg.
"It's kind of cute," she said thoughtfully.
Starfire laughed.
Beast Boy pushed Raven aside and peered closely at the egg as well. After a moment he stood up straight and raised a hand as if voting. "I bet you anything it will be even cuter when it hatches."
Cyborg couldn't stand being left out any longer. He came over and looked at the egg too.
Robin and Starfire exchanged glances.
Stared at their friends.
Then back at each other.
And laughed.
The day went quietly. No villains tried to pull anything. Beast Boy and Cyborg made the best out of the situation and swore not to eat eggs – whether they were made out of tofu or not – until the baby hatched and then they helped Robin take his mind off of his horrible mistake. Raven and Starfire, suddenly feeling very girly, sat and talked nonstop about what they would do when the baby hatched. If it was a girl, they planned to fill it's entire room with pink and purple, and if it was a boy they'd fill it's entire room with orange and red. What they would feed it, what kind of clothes they would get… it went on and on. Finally Starfire came up to Robin and asked him if Raven could be the baby's godmother. Robin fell off of his chair.
His response: "Yeah, sure, whatever. Uh… congats, Raven."
And Raven had hugged him. Then hugged Starfire, then kissed the egg. Robin felt he was going to be sick if they kept it up for much longer. It was… just… too… CUTE! Cuddly, touching, emotional. It wasn't his thing! ARGH! He was going insane inside his own blunder. Even though he knew that he was getting what he deserved, he felt the sudden urge to jump off of the top of the tower.
But after a while he, too, began to accept his fate, and tried to make the better out of it. All went well for two days, and then Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx woke up.
It was silent the next day. Beast Boy slept almost all day, and his snores could be heard when you passed by his room, Cyborg was busy recharging and improving his parts, and Raven was meditating. Robin and Starfire sat alone on the roof with the egg in between them. They didn't speak. They just sat there and let the silence wash over them. Finally Robin decided to break the hush.
"Starfire…"
"Yes, Robin?" she asked, tilting her head to looked at him.
Robin bit his lip, not looking at her. "I'm sorry."
"We have been through this, yes?" Starfire said, reaching out and touching his hand. (He felt a foreign warmth creep up his face. Was he BLUSHING?) "I forgive you. It was an accident."
"Yeah but I feel so stupid. I just wish I could reverse it… do something to fix up this mess. And it's all my fault too…"
"Accidents like this happen quite commonly on our planet, actually," Starfire said, gazing up at the sky. "Best friends of male and female are just chatting and the male trips or does something foolish. Genetic makeup is exchanged. It is irreversible."
"Starfire… why did you have that egg in your room anyway?"
"Because…" she paused, then smiled. "Inwardly, I was hoping you'd touch it."
"What!? You WANTED this to happen!?"
"A 'guilty pleasure' is how Raven would put it," Starfire said, smiling sadly at Robin, who stared back in disbelief.
"Well… uhm… well, t-that's a shocker…" Robin said, looking down at the egg, which stared blankly up at him. He ran a hand over its hard surface. "You wanted… you wanted a child?"
"Not quite…" Starfire said, looking down at the egg as well and grabbing Robin's hand again. "I just wanted a future."
"You wanted me." Putting two-and-two together, Robin figured it out. When Kitten had forced him into a date, Starfire had been so upset. When Robin had been forced to be Slade's apprentice, Starfire had laid her life out for him – she would have died for him. When Robin was feeling bad, it was always Starfire who singled him out and asked him what was wrong…
Starfire nodded, letting go of his hand and hiding her face in her knees.
Robin stood up and looked down at her. "Wow, Starfire… I..."
"Robin… do you feel the same way? At all?" she asked, her voice muffled.
"I… I don't know," he whispered after a long silence. He couldn't decide right now… his brain was fried. This was just… too much… too fast… too HARD. Without thinking, Robin turned and ran for his room.
The last day that the egg would be an egg, and all anyone could do was sit and talk feverishly about how tomorrow would bring an entirely new world to their tower. Robin and Starfire avoided each other's gaze, and Raven and Beast Boy and Cyborg tried their best to ignore the tension building up in the room.
The Hive came suddenly and out of nowhere. They crashed through the roof, laughing.
The Titans were completely unprepared. They all sat huddled on the couch, mouths agape. Beast Boy screamed and flipped off of the back of the couch.
Robin jumped up. Starfire almost got up but, remembering her egg, sat back down and curled up in a tight ball.
"Titans! GO!" Robin shouted, and charged.
Gizmo was the first to realize Starfire was not among her friends in the evil-fighting frenzy. He made his way past Cyborg and Robin and over to Starfire, who didn't see him. She had her eyes squeezed shut, her egg tucked tightly under her arm. Gizmo made to grab the egg out of her hand, but suddenly Robin was on him.
"HEY! HOW'D YOU GET HERE!?" Gizmo screeched, thrashing wildly to get Robin off. "SNOT!"
Robin wrestled Gizmo off of his contraption and onto the ground. The mechanical legs Gizmo had been part off fell to the floor, useless without their owner. Jinx fired a starbolt-like object right over Starfire's head.
Starfire jumped, her eyes snapping open, and the egg rolled out of her arms. She screamed as it hit the ground and rolled to where Beast Boy and Mammoth were fighting. It came to a halt by Beast Boy's foot, and Beast Boy was about to step back…
"BEAST BOY!" Starfire screamed, eyes wide. He was going to step on the egg!
Beast Boy grunted and lunged forward, shoving Mammoth off of him. He turned and picked up the egg. Before he could get it back to Starfire, Mammoth rammed him from behind. Beast Boy lurched forward, letting go of the egg in surprise. It was plunging down, about to hit the floor and break…
Robin came from out of nowhere and snatched the egg from a sure end. He slid along on his stomach, the egg in his hands. He scrambled back to his feet and grinned. He wove his way back to Starfire and gently set the egg in her arms. "I believe this is yours," he said, stepping back. They smiled at each other. Then Robin turned and continued to fight.
Starfire, sensing this wasn't the best place for her to be, tried to leave.
But Gizmo was there, and he snatched the egg right out of her hands. He studied it, turning it every which way. "What's this?" he asked.
"MY BABY!" Starfire screamed. She lunged to steal it, but he side-stepped out of her way.
"Really?" he said, sounding interested. "I think I'll take this." He tucked it under his arm, giving Starfire a toothy grin.
Starfire blinked, hot tears stinging her eyes. "NO!"
There was a crack. The small sound sliced through the noise of battle like a knife through warm butter. Everyone halted, including the Hive. Gizmo held out the egg in front of him, eyes wide.
There was silence. Everyone stared. Crrrack. A small crack appeared on the egg's side, running downwards.
Starfire gasped. Robin, very slowly, made his way up behind her.
CRACK. Another crack appeared.
"W-What's it doing!?" Gizmo cried.
"It's hatching," Robin said in awe.
"Well, what do I do!?"
"Give it to it's mother," Robin said firmly. "Now."
Gizmo, clearly in a state of panic, threw it at Starfire, who caught it and held it to her chest tightly, weeping. She sank to her knees and set it out in front of her. Raven floated over, closely followed by Beast Boy and Cyborg. Mammoth and Jinx sidled up, curious.
Starfire rubbed the egg, smiling. There were several more cracks, and then the egg broke completely. Robin's eyes widened.
There was a collective sigh throughout the entire group of teenagers.
"It's cute," Mammoth said, raising his bushy eyebrows.
"It's tiny," added Cyborg.
"It's… uh… cute," Beast Boy said, throwing a glance at Mammoth with a look of guilt on his face.
Starfire grinned and picked up the baby. It was chubby, adorable. It's skin was orange, like it's mother's, and it's hair was black, like Robin's. Starfire stood and looked around at everyone, and they all stared right back. She sighed, cradled the baby in her arms, and sobbed.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I must go and take care of this in privacy." Silently, she backed away and went up to her room.
Jinx tugged on Mammoth's sleeve. "I think it is time we take our leave."
Mammoth nodded, grabbing Gizmo, and the three friends escaped.
The Titans stared at each other in silence.
"Well, that was fun," Raven said, brushing herself off and standing.
"Who's up for pizza?" Beast Boy asked.
"I WANNA ORDER WITH YOU! I'M NOT EATING VEGGIE TOPPINGS AGAIN, YOU HEAR!" Cyborg shouted, followed Beast Boy out of the room.
Raven shook her head and turned around to look at Robin. "Robin, wh –"
But he was gone.
Robin crept up silently to Starfire's room. He pressed his ear against the door, listening.
There was singing. Muffled because of the door, but clear as a bell. Starfire was singing a song, her angelic voice floated into Robin's ears. This wasn't her usual Tamaranian folk song; this was a beautiful song, one that made Robin sigh with pleasure. He shuddered, closing his eyes and leaning away from the door. The words made no sense, but somehow he knew this was a birth song of sorts. Starfire's voice was so beautiful… so clear and soft… Finally Robin shook his head and stopped his daydreaming. Very gently, he reached up and knocked.
The singing stopped instantly. It made Robin feel sad, as if all the warmth had been suddenly washed out of his stomach by a gallon of ice water.
"Who is there?" she squeaked. There was a tiny squeal, one that Robin was sure came from the baby.
"It's Robin," he said, keeping his voice gentle and placid.
"You can come in," she said.
Robin nodded and opened the door. He turned and shut the door behind him.
"Lock it," Starfire commanded.
Robin obeyed. He turned around, and was hit by a train of surprises. The room smelled different… a very thick, vanilla-like aroma was in the air, making it slightly more difficult to breathe. Starfire was dressed differently; she wore almost nothing but a long skirt made out of sparkling fabric, and a mussed vest. There was a table in the center of the room, with the thick cushion that had once held the egg sat on top of it. Now, instead of an egg, was a baby. She had simply draped the baby in a nearly see-through cloth and tied it in the back.
"Wow," Robin coughed.
Starfire smiled and scooped up the baby in her arms. It turned and buried its face in her chest. She ran her fingers through its thick black hair, rumpling it and making it even messier. Her smile widened into a grin as she rocked the baby back and forth. She looked at Robin and motioned for him to come over with her head.
Robin slid up to her side and smiled as well. "It's precious."
"It is a boy," she whispered, tilting the baby just so that they could see its face.
"Really?"
She nodded, toying with a strand of his hair. She sat on the bed and Robin followed suit. The both just watched the baby, observing it's every move, letting the silence grow thicker and thicker.
"Robin?"
"Hmm?"
"The baby… he has hazel eyes," she said softly, avoiding Robin's gaze. "I do not think that came from me."
Robin blinked. "Oh." He sighed, shaking his head. "You're right, Star. Those are mine."
She looked at him with interest. "So…"
Robin nodded, and turned away. When he turned back, he held his mask in his hands and was watching her through deep hazel eyes. Starfire gasped. They were the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen before. They had flecks of green and gold, and seemed to go on forever.
"Robin…"
"Yeah, I know," he said, closing his eyes and looking away.
The baby gurgled.
Starfire instantly snapped back to attention and looked at the baby, who smiled toothlessly and lolled his head slightly.
"Babies this young shouldn't be able to move like that yet," Robin told her, leaning closer.
"Tamaranians such as I grow quickly," she said. "We are able to walk within three months of birth at most."
"Yes," Robin said, inching just a little closer. She could feel his warm breath on his neck, and she shuddered. "But that's not just your baby, is it?"
"Robin?"
"Hmm?" Robin twiddled a strand of her hair between two fingers.
"What are we to name him?"
Robin blinked. "How about I let you decide?" he suggested. They were now very close, and Robin was stroking the baby's cheek. "I have faith in you."
She smiled and kissed the baby on the nose. "Moonfire."
"Hmm," Robin said thoughtfully. "I like that." He took the baby for himself and cuddled it to his chest. The baby grinned toothlessly again. "Moonfire it is."
Starfire giggled.
Moonfire looked very tired. His eyelids drooped and he sucked on his lower lip. Robin gave him back up to Starfire, who tucked the baby into a cradle hidden away in the corner.
They stepped back and stood there a long time in silence.
"Robin?"
"Yes?"
"Does this mean that you… accept this role as a father?"
"Yes, Starfire," he said, glancing over at Moonfire, who was fast asleep. "It does."
Author's notes: Okay, that's about all for now. If you think I should make a sequel, as in what Moonfire's new existence will do to the tower let me know. I feel up to the job. I really enjoyed writing this… UBER fluffiness! So yeah. Uhm… PLEASE review!
That is all.