After Rae and Gar had departed so abruptly, leaving the other three Titans awkwardly standing in the common room, Robin moved first. He smiled wanly at Cyborg and took Starfire's hand to go upstairs but she pulled away. "You go, my love," she said, "I will be up soon." Robin looked at her curiously and saw that she was looking at Cyborg. He nodded and left. Starfire approached Cyborg and tenatively reached out to him.

"Well" Cy said, "time to hit the rack. G'night, Star."

"Victor," she began but he cut her off with a raised hand.

"You know I prefer 'Cyborg'," he said.

"I do not prefer it," she replied firmly. "You are Victor, the good man who is my friend and who happens to be a cyborg." She took his hand and led him to the couch. "Please sit with me."

"We need to get some rest and he's waiting for you..."

"Richard can wait," she replied. "I ask again if you will sit with me?"

He sat on the edge of the couch, his back not touching it at all. "I'm sitting."

"Victor," she said, saying his name clearly and deliberately. "I am filled with worry."

"I'm sure Gar will be fine," he said. "He's acting.. all quiet and stuff but Rae will take care of him."

"And he will care for her." Starfire's voice hardened a little. "You will stop beating the bush around."

He fell back full on the couch and leaned his head on it's back. "Jesus Christ, Star!" he moaned. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to accept that I worry for you and not try to dismiss it!"

"OK, I accept that and I appreciate it. Can I go now?"

She completely ignored him. "I worry for you because you are always alone. Raven and Garfield have each other and often seem to think of little else. Richard and I, too. We have dealt with madness and evil and horror and we can all go to our beds for comfort and healing..."

He stood abruptly. "Well, I can't do that, can I? Just like the clown said, I lack the equipment. Thanks for pointing it out." He began walking out of the room.

"Victor, no, I spoke poorly, I did not mean that, I merely meant..."

"I know what you meant," he said bitterly, stopping but not turning to look at her. "I know I can never have what you and Rob have. I can never have what Gar and Rae have. I just can't. Ever. Nothing will change that. I just have to deal with it."

"We all love you..."

"I know," he said, finally turning back to her. "I never talk about this and I prefer it that way but, you know, before my accident, I dated. A lot. My first time was when I was fifteen. It wasn't the last." Star approached him, her face anguished but he warded her off with one hand. "Then this happened," he said with a gesture at his body, "That part of my life was over."

"Victor," she said tremously.

"No, you wanted to hear it. The weird thing is I don't think about it much any more. I remember what sex was like and how it made me feel but it's just gone. Nothing there but memories. You know, you and Raven are both gorgeous. You're beautiful. I know that," he paused and sighed, "but only aesthetically. Intellectually."

"I didn't mean to speak of this, I meant only to tell you that I wanted to spend more time with you."

He regarded her for a long moment. "Sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have jumped down yout throat."

"I think," Star said tenetively, "that maybe this matter has been on your mind?"

"It's hard sometimes," he admitted. "Seeing it right there, all the time." He chuckled a little, "Rae thinks she's so controlled." Star grinned in understanding. "She has no idea how obviuous she is. Even more then BB. It would mortify her if we told her."

"I believe you are right," Star said, feeling some little hint of optimism. "Her eyes speak and belie her silence." She sat back down.

He nodded. "They do and I like that. A lot." He walked back and sat next to her. "I like the way you get all exuberant and it embarrasses Rob."

"I do it on purpose sometimes," she admitted with a mischevous grim.

"Really?" he replied in obvious saccasm. Starfire laughed a little. "It makes me happy, Star, god knows it does. All of it... but sometimes it is pretty damn hard."

"This is what is important. When you feel that way, you must tell us. You must tell me." She paused and considered her next words. "What is, is. There are things that you must live with; things that you will face with courage, but you must not feel alone."

"I guess you need to get upstairs. Rob will be waiting."

"Victor, do you really need to recharge?" she asked.

"No, I didn't do that much but I still need to sleep," he said, a little confused.

"Stay here with me," she said. He looked a little confused as Star put a cushion in his lap, settled her head comfortably upon it, and pulled a throw around herself. "Tell me stories about yourself until we sleep."

A few minutes later, Robin was coming down the stairs to see what was keeping Star. He saw her on the couch, her head in Cyborg's lap, whose deep voice spoke quietly. For a moment he felt a flair of jealousy but it passed quickly. He smiled ruefully and went to bed.

Thye next morning, Raven as usual woke first. Gar didn't stir at all as she rose to use the bathroom. She quietly dressed and went down for her tea, finding that she was looking forward to their planned outing. She was surprised to see Cy and Star asleep on the couch but moved quietly as possible past them into the kitchen. The effort failed and Star's eyes opened. She sat up with a quick glance at the gently snoring Cyborg and followed Raven into the kitchen. "Good morning," she said. "How is Garfields wound healing?"

Rae, as had been discussed, probably thought her expression was opaque but the way she smiled a little as she spoke told Star all she could want to know. "He seems fine."

"I am glad," Star said. She retreived her cereal from the cupboard while Raven cut up a piece of fruit. "Do you and Gar have any plans today?"

"Actually, yes," Raven said as she began perparing her drink and filling a cup with the automatically brewed coffee for Gar. "We're going out for lunch and to do something fun."

Star looked curious. "What kind of fun?"

"Something silly. He wants to play minature golf or race go carts. Something normal like that."

"I believe this is wise," Star nodded. "Could we perhaps all go?"

Raven looked a little pained. "I'm pretty sure he was thinking of it being the two of us when he suggested it."

"If that is what you want, I understand," Star said, unable to keep dissapointment out of her voice. "I had been hoping that we could all be together today."

Raven regarded her for a moment. "Does this have anything to do with why you were sleeping with Cy on the couch?" Starfire nodded and implored Raven with her eyes. Raven thought for a moment. "Is he OK?"

"He... will be. I think it would help our friend if he felt our love and support today."

"A group outing it is."

Gar was awake when Raven came back into their room. She put his coffee on his nightstand, the tea on her side and lay down with her bowl of fruit. Gar immediatly reached over and grabbed a piece, grandly ignoring her swatting at his hand and saying no. "So, lunch and going out to play today?"

Gar nodded, "Yep."

"I was talking to Star and it's going to be all of us."

He glanced over with raised eyebrows. "So you decided that we were having a team thing rather then a date?" He emphasized the words "you" and "we". She nodded, pointedly not looking at him. "Oh. OK." he said.

"Yes." she said, still not looking at him.

"You decided?"

She looked over at him. "Is this going to be a thing?"

He grinned and said. "I am terribly upset that you have treated me in this dismissive and inconsiderate manner."

Raven sighed. "Really?"

"I think you should do something nice for me."

"Like what?" she asked suspiciously. He wiggled his eyebrows. She glared at him for a moment. "Being serious now. When I went down, Star and Cy were asleep on the couch."

Gar's expression completely changed from relaxed and amused to concerned. "That's weird."

"Star thinks Cy needs his people around him today."

"Oh," Gar said, his tone making it clear that he considered the matter satisfactorily closed, "OK." He again reached for her bowl and she handed him a piece to keep him from pawing at the rest. They lay in companionable silence for a while. After stealing a third and, from her warning glance, final morsel from her he said, "I was being weird last night after everything." She shrugged. "As usual I made you deal with my stuff and ignored yours. Sorry."

"In case you haven't noticed, while it is true that you do tend to do that, you also do this. You apologize, you are more contrite then you need to be, and you put the focus all on me."

"I do?"

"Yes. Every time. It's our... method," her voice was calm and completely matter of fact, "and I like it. It works."

"Can I ask one thing?" She looked at him expectantly. "What does 'contrite' mean?"

She smiled. "Look it up. It'll be good for you."

"So, how are you?"

"He didn't beat us," she said. "We fought the Joker, Gar. Up close and personel. We faced depraved inhumanity and kept our humanity. No matter what he did or how much pain he caused, when push came to shove, we didn't let him destroy who we are. We proved we are better then him. So, how am I?" She shook her head with an expression even Gar couldn't quite place. "I'm going to be just fine, in a while, and so are you."