HIS FEAR (Robin and Starfire)

FEAR ITSELF

A peaceful night. Sometimes it's all that every super hero wishes for. Just a simple rest, a break. It was truly a golden age in Jump City lately. All of the most dangerous criminals locked up. Even Slade. It was too good to be real, yet there it was. No more metahuman or crazy ninja assassin criminals. At least for now. The Titans finally had some time for themselves. Then again, there was one little bird that couldn't accept the absence of everlasting crime fighting. His head was always in the game. He was patrolling the city carefully every night. By day all that he was doing was his paperwork. All of this didn't escape the notice of his concerned alien friend. Robin was in a lot of hurry lately, but Starfire wasn't going to give up.

She came up to his door and knocked gently a couple of times. No answer. Typical of Boy Wonder.

She was about to knock again when suddenly Robin came out and went down the hallway. He didn't even notice Starfire because he was looking at some old files about Slade. The girl went after him.

"Robin, wait!" She exclaimed to get the boy's attention. He didn't stop or even peek out of the file he held.

"Wha-? Oh, Starfire. Can this wait, I'm kina busy right now." He did it again. Robin's been brushing Starfire off like that for days, but today was enough. She pulled him by his arm into the air causing the files to fall and then yelled with all her power.

"No! Right now you will listen to me!" When she faced Boy Wonder and saw the shock in his eyes, Starfire realized what she just did. Her anger flew away as she put the boy back on the ground.

"Alright, I'm listening." Robin answered unsurely. He never saw Starfire like this before. Boy Wonder was extremely tired because of the lack of sleep. The alien teenager took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes.

"Robin... what you are doing to yourself... I cannot accept it anymore. You need to get some rest. I am worried about you. Please Robin, I do not want you to hurt yourself." Her voice was breaking a little even though she was trying to remain calm. Starfire cared very much about Robin and it hurt her seeing him like this. The boy immediately noticed it and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"You're right. You always are. I'm sorry about my attitude Star... I'm just... Y'know what? I'm gonna sleep at least 6 hours per night from now on... for you." Robin assured his worried friend. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Okay." She answered quietly. It was late already so Starfire walked Robin back to his room to be sure he's keeping his promise. And so he did.

Midnight. Everyone asleep. Suddenly Starfire woke up because of some weird noise coming from the hallway. It wasn't long until she realized the noise was coming from behind a wall. From Robin's room. Starfire's and Robin's rooms were situated really close to each other and away enough from the others, so that only she was able to hear the noise.

"He promised..." Some single tears fought their way out through alien's emerald eyes as she sobbed. Starfire decided to confront him and get all out on the table. She was just about to burst into his room and catch him in the act but a sudden scream stopped her. Robin was screaming her name. Starfire numbed with fear for a second but then quickly opened the door to his room. To her surprise, all she saw was Boy Wonder struggling and screaming in his sleep. She quickly came up to his bed to wake him up. When she did, Boy Wonder sat on his bed with one last scream. He couldn't take a breath. He was literally choking.

"Calm down, Robin. It is just me."

"Sta-... Starfire? Wha-... What are you... Oh God." He took of his mask. You could see the fear in his eyes. Something unusual for a fearless leader he was. Then happened something even more unusual. A few tears rolled down the boy's cheeks.