Well, this is a first story, so bear with it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, nor do I own Phantom of the Opera or anything that could possibly be claimed by anybody else. Thank you.
After nearly a month of no activity, the Titans were just plain bored. Glancing around the Tower's main room one afternoon, Starfire could tell the tedium was taking its toll on everybody.
Cyborg and Beast Boy had even grown tired of their precious GameStation, just lolling on the couch uselessly. Even their bickering over meals seemed half-hearted and tired. At the moment, Cyborg was sprawled on the couch napping, while Beast Boy was just staring blankly at the TV, which wasn't on. Starfire noted with some amusement that there was even some drool escaping his mouth.
Raven had become even more withdrawn, spending most of her time in her room meditating or reading. She hadn't come down here to read in quite a while, and her necessary interactions with other Titans tended to be one-word answers and glares. Starfire sighed. She had so dearly wished for some of "the girl talk" these past few days.
Robin…she could tell he was taking this crime-free time the hardest. He had been planning new, more intense training sessions for every Titan, but had thankfully given them up once he realized nobody could summon the energy to do anything. She wanted to talk to her best friend and understand his thoughts, but he seemed to want to be alone all the time.
This left Starfire nothing to do.
Just as she was about to seek Robin out for the seventh time that day, the alarm went off.
"Wh-What? What's that noise? What does it mean…" asked a semi-conscious Beast Boy.
Cyborg jumped to his feet. "Finally! Bad-guy-butt-kicking time!"
Raven arrived psychically through the wall the same time Robin came running through the double doors and to the main computer.
"All right guys, Red X is in town again! He's after some more synothium-" Robin was cut off by Raven.
"Can we just go now? We know what to do."
"Is it wrong to be so happy about a crime committed in our city?" asked Starfire of Robin as they took the elevator to the roof.
"Of course not! The Teen Titans can handle this!" Eyes sparkling with excitement, Starfire grabbed Robin and flew off for their first mission in what felt like forever.
After easily bypassing all the security measures in the high-tech laboratory, Red X approached the synothium packed in the walls cautiously. He knew the Teen Titans would come soon, but he also didn't want to upset the delicate substances in the room. Just as he was about to close his fingers around a glowing red tube, he heard the anticipated crash. Couldn't they ever just come through a door?
Those kids were no match for Red X. He turned and glanced at his opponents. Robin the Boy Wonder, fearless leader, and neurotic pipsqueak. Flanking him were Cyborg the metal-man and the annoying little green boy. Standing behind the boys was that Gothic chick and hovering above them all, her eyes glowing the most electrifying green he had ever seen, was Starfire. Starfire…
Red X shook his head. No time for these thoughts. "Fancy meeting you here, Titans." He wanted to taunt them, to get Robin mad.
"Well, it's not too much of a surprise to see a criminal stealing, now is it? Titans, go!" With his words, they immediately separated and started launching individual attacks. Red X easily sidestepped Beast Boy's charge as a lion and trapped the shapeshifter in a pile of sticky red gunk.
"Ew, gross! What is this stuff?"
"Blast you out now, talk later!" While Cyborg readied his sonic cannon, Raven chanted her familiar mantra and ripped sheets of metal from the floor to unbalance Red X and crush him.
His acrobatic skills rivaling even Robin's, Red X flipped and threw bombs at his attackers, temporarily stopping them. His attention was then brought to Starfire, as she flew straight at him and flung starbolts into his stomach. Grunting with the pain, Red X barely managed to throw an X at Starfire.
"Hey cutie, you know my offer still stands right?"
Stuck to the drawers of synothium in the walls, all of Starfire's struggling couldn't loosen the X binding her. "I know not which offer you are speaking of!"
Red X couldn't help but run a finger along her cheek. How smooth it felt. "Then let me give you a little reminder—"
Robin's bo staff made a loud THWACK as it connected with Red X's head. His mask cracking, Red X immediately made a move to cover the light brown hair it revealed. Cyborg, Raven, and Robin used this moment of weakness to their advantage, and threw their strongest projectiles at the vulnerable thief.
Crack. The tinkling sound of the synothium tubes breaking was the only warning everybody had of the impending explosion.
"Everybody! Get out of here!" Robin ran for Starfire, but couldn't see through the billowing smoke. Glancing around helplessly, he never saw that falling drawer coming.
Raven, seeing that a green horse carrying Cyborg had already fled into the hall, quickly enveloped herself and an unconscious Robin in a black aura to get them into safety at the last moment possible before the entire laboratory exploded in a haze of red.
Starfire slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself on an unfamiliar beach.
"Where am I? Where are my friends? Where is Robin?" she thought aloud.
"Hey there, princess, I see you've finally woken up."
She would recognize that suave, confident voice anywhere. Red X.
"What is it you are doing here? And why am I here as well?"
"Curious little thing, aren't you? Well, since your boyfriend couldn't save you, I did," was her reply.
Starfire stared at the shadow that was Red X wonderingly. He had saved her? She became more and more uncomfortable as she felt his gaze on her. "I give you my deepest thanks. But why?"
"Couldn't let such a pretty face go to waste. Anyway, it was my fault you couldn't fly away in the first place. I couldn't live with you on my conscience." The alien blushed. Nobody had complimented her like that before. Of course there were the crazy fanboys, but this felt so much more personal. Not even Robin…
"Again, I thank you. I now know that you are not just a criminal, but also a good person. I shall be in your debt, Red X." Starfire then lifted off in the direction of the Tower, glancing behind once to see her rescuer watching her hover in the air.
"Starfire, wait!"
"Yes, Red X?"
"Will you, um, stay here with me for a little bit?" He sounded actually…shy.
Starfire hesitated. He had shown nothing but good intentions since he rescued her. She could hear the sincerity in his voice once he lost his cocky attitude. "For what reason do you wish me to stay?"
"I thought we could maybe just talk a little bit?" Red X held his breath. Please let her say yes…
"All right then," Starfire said, slowly landing and sitting on the sand near the rock Red X was perched on. "What do you wish to talk about?"
I will not blow this chance with her. "Tell me how you came to Earth." His voice was gentle; he didn't want to seem nosy.
"Oh! Of course! However, the story is long and full of the boredom. Are you sure you wish to hear it?"
"I'm all ears, Princess."
The two chatted for almost half an hour on that rock, Starfire completely forgetting the boy in front of her was a criminal.
Robin was pacing in the main room of the Titans Tower. How could he have left her behind? Who knows what had happened to her! Sure Starfire was Tamaranian and stronger than a human, but that was a huge room filled with synothium!
He was the leader; he couldn't let this happen to anybody. And especially to Starfire…If she had…and without knowing what he felt…No. He couldn't think along those lines.
"Robin just stop pacing. You're going to wear a groove in the floor, and you're already wearing on my nerves," snapped Raven from her corner.
"Yeah man, just chill already. We'll have her locator signal in a bit, but for now just don't kill yourself," Cyborg said as he busily worked the computer.
"Remind me again why we just don't go look for her," Raven drawled in her usual bored voice.
"She could be anywhere! She could have…NO! Cyborg's right, she's fine, and we'll get her signal soon. Yeah, she's fine." Robin was having a hard time convincing himself of his own words, but the others seemed unconcerned.
Beast Boy was still cleaning the red stuff from his skin. When he tried morphing into a cat and licking it from his fur, his skin turned even greener if that was possible.
"Gross! That stuff tastes even worse than it looks! Blegh!"
"Dude, you can eat tofu but not some red goo? What is wrong with you? Hey that rhymed!"
Raven could only shake her head at her teammates' stupidity.
Robin, however, couldn't take it anymore.
"REALLY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM AND NORMAL WHEN STARFIRE'S MISSING! SHE MIGHT BE HURT, SHE MIGHT EVEN BE DEAD! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES?"
Dead silence followed his outburst.
Just as Beast Boy was about to crack an awkward and inappropriate joke, the metal double doors slid open.
"Friends, I have returned!"
Starfire was then engulfed in a massive group hug that even Raven partook in.
"Starfire…I thought I'd lost you…"
"You're OK!"
"Hey shorty! Good to see ya!
"Welcome back."
After greetings and a few tears had been shed, Robin finally asked her where she had been.
"Oh, nowhere! I just freed myself and flew away! It just took me a while to come home, that is all!" Starfire flashed a brilliant smile and redirected the conversation to more mundane things.
"So, friends, I believe we should partake in 'the movie night' to celebrate all of our returning safe! May we make the popped corn and unhealthy but delicious golden substances to pour on top? Ooh and may I choose the movie? I have wanted to see…" Starfire kept chattering away.
Raven tuned her out and focused on the brittleness of Starfire's normally genuine smile and caught a hint of uncertainty and confusion in her mind.
So what has she really been up to? And why wouldn't she want to tell the others?
Raven smiled internally. It was time to break out the big guns.
Girl talk.
A/N: Well I hope that was OK for my first fanfic chapter! Tell me what you think! I'm doing this around 1:30 in the morning so it may be a bit…off…but hope you enjoy! I love that I'm mixing two of my favorite things, Phantom of the Opera and Teen Titans! Yay!