Endless Legacy Ch. 33 (DC Comics) (Patreon)

A/N: Decisions are made.

-x-X-x-

“… We don’t have to believe anything you say. Not after finding out you’ve been lying to us all this time. But if you want a chance to prove you mean those words… then fine, you’ll get it.”

In the end, it’s not surprising that it’s Robin who speaks up in the ensuing silence, making a decision for everyone else. However, Lucien is surprised that the Titans Leader is so… accommodating. And he’s not the only one either. While Terra looks shocked but also relieved, Robin’s other teammates are differing levels of surprised too.

In Beast Boy’s case, the shapeshifter jolts in shock, staring at Robin rather hard for a moment before finally nodding after seemingly coming to whatever conclusion Robin came to. In Starfire’s case, she remains silent, though her eyes do widen in surprise. However, for Raven…

“Seriously?”

Looking over at the half-demon young woman, Robin just raises an eyebrow.

“You tell me, Raven. Does Terra mean what she’s saying right now? About being sorry?”

The empath grits her teeth, glancing over at Terra and then curiously at him too. Lucien just cocks his head to the side, causing Raven to tear her gaze away.

“… I don’t know.”

She sounds petulant more than anything, but there’s also hurt in her voice. Clearly, this morning hadn’t been good for Raven’s mental stability nor her self-esteem. She’s second guessing herself and seeing as he doesn’t know what happened this morning, Robin isn’t sure what to make of that.

“You don’t know?”

At having her words parroted back to her as a question, Raven snarls.

“No! Okay! Yes, she’s guilty! Yes, she’s ashamed! And yes, she thinks she’s telling the truth! But all of that is subjective! Emotions can be falsified and manipulated. And sometimes people don’t actually do what their emotions say they’ll do! It’s not a perfect lie detector, Robin!”

Silence falls at the small outburst, while Raven just pants a bit. But then she freezes as Robin’s hand falls upon her shoulder, the Titans Leader suddenly looking her in the eye from less than a foot away.

“Hey… it’s okay, Raven. None of us blame you for anything. You’re doing the best you can. We all are.”

Huh, Lucien had known that there were good reasons Robin was Team Leader. Hell, there had to be good reasons for why the other man and Starfire had gotten together in the previous timeline as well. Robin might have simply been his adversary in a way since Lucien had started hanging out with the Titans, but that didn’t mean Robin wasn’t a good leader. Still, it was one thing to know something had to be true and another entirely to see it in action.

Some but not all of the tension in Raven’s body dissipates as her shoulders droop a little bit and she just hangs her head. Then, to her and everyone else’s surprise, Robin actually pulls her in for a hug. It’s a quick thing to be fair, mostly just a brief tight squeeze as Robin clearly knows better than to push his luck. Still, it’s a hug.

Of course, once it’s over he immediately turns towards Blackfire and puts his foot in his mouth again.

“Are you our enemy, Blackfire?”

Expectedly, Starfire bristles in anger while Blackfire stiffens at the accusatory question. But Robin just holds up a hand, forestalling any response from either of them for a moment.

“I have to ask. I’m sorry Star, but you’d agree with me if you weren’t so close to this. Your sister has tried to kill all of us multiple times at this point. Her memories are back. You might be ready to forgive and forget but…”

For the first time, some of Starfire’s anger seems to defuse. For the first time, she glances over at Blackfire and seems to see her in a certain light. Robin is right after all. It wasn’t just Starfire and Blackfire who had bad blood. Maybe back at the beginning, but at this point there were years of bad interactions between Blackfire and ALL of the Titans, not just her sister.

Lucien had hoped that by showing Blackfire how willing Starfire was to submit, that she could finally quench the overwhelming hatred she had for her younger sister. But admittedly, he hadn’t taken into account the other Titans and the feelings they might be harboring when he’d decided to give the villainess her memories back.

On the plus side, Blackfire hasn’t let go of Starfire’s hand and Starfire hasn’t let go of Blackfire’s. But at the same time, the older Tamaranean Princess sneers at Robin.

“What are you waiting for, exactly? An apology?”

Robin stands there with his arms crossed over his chest, rather stone-faced as he stares Blackfire down.

“It’d be a start.”

That makes the elder alien scowl even harder, while Starfire looks more and more worried. But before things can blow up in all of their faces…

“She does feel sorry.”

Raven’s voice cuts through the tension, not like a single knife, but like a hail of bullets if the way Blackfire, Starfire, and Robin all jerk and jolt at her words is any indication. Standing there off to the side, the half-demon is frowning.

“She’ll never admit it out loud. And it’s not much. But she IS feeling guilty. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt that from her too, even through all of our fights, even through all of her schemes.”

Raven doesn’t look like she knows how to feel about her own words. On the one hand, she’s pretty much blowing up Blackfire’s spot, revealing uncomfortable truths that by Raven’s own words, Blackfire would not want voiced out loud under any circumstances. On the other hand, she’s all but confirming that her initial concerns about Blackfire were wrong and that her row with Starfire earlier that morning was unnecessary.

Indeed, at hearing Raven’s words, Starfire actually looks thrilled for a moment. Hopeful, even. Of course, Blackfire on the other hand…

“I’m leaving.”

Abruptly, Blackfire rises to her feet, pulling her hand from her sister’s grasp. Starfire’s eyes widen and she immediately darts to her feet as well.

“T-Then I’ll go with you!”

The hurt that flashes across the faces of the other three Titans goes unnoticed by Starfire, who only has eyes for Blackfire in this moment. Not by Lucien though. Blackfire, meanwhile, scoffs.

“And who says I’d want you to come with me?”

Starfire jolts back as if physically struck and there’s actually a flash of regret on Blackfire’s face before she quickly smooths over her features. Lucien though, decides that it’s about time he stepped in and said something. Rising to his feet as well, he draws Blackfire’s attention. His tone is relatively calm and soothing, even as he gives her a meaningful look.

“I doubt you really mean that, Blackfire. But it’s equally obvious you need some breathing room. Why don’t I go with you instead?”

He then looks to Robin with a slightly sardonic grin.

“After all, I doubt that I’m to be included in whatever plans you all develop to deal with Deathstroke.”

The relief that flashes through Robin’s posture makes it clear Lucien has hit the nail on the head. Perhaps he should have been more involved. Perhaps he should have joined up with the Titans properly. But the fact of the matter was, he wasn’t an official member. And things had gone a bit beyond what the ‘friends and family’ could be involved in.

Stepping up, Lucien places a hand on Starfire’s arm, giving it a comforting squeeze and her a comforting smile.

“Your friends need your help, Kori. And you would never forgive yourself if something happened to them and you could have helped. Let me look after Blackfire, alright? That is, if she’s willing to have me.”

Lucien gives Blackfire another meaningful look, causing the Tamaranean Princess to scowl angrily and cross her arms over her chest before finally averting her gaze.

“Fine.”

He doesn’t think it’s entirely an act either. She’s probably not going to be too happy with him once they finally get some alone time, but Lucien isn’t that worried. He can handle Blackfire pretty easily at this point, especially with all of his power ups.

Starfire, meanwhile, looks between the two of them for a long moment, still fretting. But then her eyes drift over to her team and Lucien can see that she realizes he’s right. There’s no helping it… the Titans need her.

“V-Very well… but before you go…”

That doesn’t stop her from grabbing him by the face and kissing him deeply, however. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucien sees Robin stiffening, still not over the alien young woman even slightly. But if Starfire cares about Robin’s opinion, she doesn’t show it. Pulling away from Lucien’s lips, she turns and grabs Blackfire by the hands, causing the older alien to stiffen.

“Please sister, let us speak soon. I swear I am willing to put the past behind us if you wish to do the same. I want us to be family again.”

Blackfire doesn’t seem to know how to answer that. In the end, she just lets out a ‘tch’ and tears away from Starfire so she can turn and stomp out of the room. Lucien gives Starfire an apologetic smile and the rest of the Titans a nod before turning and following her. His eyes do linger on Terra for a moment. She looks too shell-shocked to really realize he’s going. But then, they’d only had a night together. Perhaps it didn’t mean much to the blonde geokinetic, ultimately.

Either way, he leaves the Titans to figure out their next steps and follows his original partner in crime out of the Tower and across the city.

-x-X-x-

SLAM!

He’s not that surprised when Blackfire doesn’t take them to his apartment, but instead to an abandoned warehouse. Nor is he surprised when she slams him into a wall the moment they’re out of sight. Glaring at him angrily, the Tamaranean Princess narrows her eyes.

“You waited an awful long time to give me my memories back.”

Unbothered, Lucien just shrugs.

“We never discussed an exact time frame, Blackfire. And frankly, I’m starting to wonder if I gave your memories back too early.”

Blackfire bristles at that, one of her hands curling into a fist that she rears back as it glows with purple energy. Lucien still doesn’t flinch.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

Scoffing, Lucien has no problem speaking truth to power in this moment. Possibly because his own power is even greater.

“It means you blew your cover the moment I restored your memories. You couldn’t keep your emotions in check for even a minute, Blackfire. It means that we were right to go with the amnesia plan. A plan which I might add has produced fantastic results. Your younger sister doesn’t just love you; she adores you. She devotes herself to you. She submits to your every whim.”

Leaning forward, Lucien gets nice and close.

“You own her, Blackfire. Now tell me… why does that fact frighten you so much?”

Blackfire stiffens and in the face of his provocation, finally throws a punch. But Lucien’s hand is there to catch it, purple energy and all. His fingers wrap around her fist, his palm taking the impact of the energy blast point blank… and Lucien barely even flinches. Blackfire jolts, trying to pull her fist back… but Lucien holds her fast.

“You… you got stronger.”

“I did.”

Blackfire snarls.

“Were you just using me then? To get closer to my sister’s bratty friends?”

Lucien rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“Rewriting history already, Komandr? Remember that I was already in with the Titans before I suggested we bring you in with amnesia. I didn’t need you to get closer to them… I don’t need you at all.”

She hides her flinch at that, but Lucien is already following up by seizing her by the hair with his free hand and dragging her into a rather rough, tongue-filled kiss. At first, she begins to relax into the kiss, especially since he’s using every tool in his toolbox to make it one of the most intense, pleasurable kisses she’s ever had.

But in the end, she manages to fight off her arousal and pull away, and Lucien lets her immediately of course. He has no desire nor need to force himself on her. As she stares at him with wide eyes, panting, Lucien just smirks.

“I do want you though. And I want to help you. Like I said before… we succeeded. Starfire doesn’t want to lose you again. If we’d pushed for it, she would have left the Titans right then and there and come with us, you know.”

That thought seems to startle Blackfire, her eyes widening before narrowing again as she frowns.

“… Why didn’t you push for it then?”

Lucien chuckles.

“Two reasons, really. Number One, it would have made the other Titans far too suspicious. Raven already confided in me that she can’t read my emotions. But Starfire choosing us over them would have taken me from idle curiosity to enemy with the drop of a hat. By pushing for Starfire to stay with them, I’ve made myself look all the more reasonable in their eyes.”

Blackfire chews on those words for a moment before finally grunting her acknowledgment.

“And Number Two?”

Lucien’s smirk becomes a full grin at that.

“Number Two? Because it was obvious you didn’t want to destroy Starfire’s relationships with her friends. Despite your stated goals, you don’t want to ruin your younger sister’s life. You don’t want to break her. Not anymore.”

And just like that, Blackfire stiffens all over again. She’s not the kind of woman who likes being confronted with uncomfortable truths. Unfortunately for her, Lucien feels like it has to be said. When she opens her mouth to try and deny it, he interrupts and overrides her.

“You know Starfire is right. There are people in this universe who deserve your hatred for what was done to you. But she isn’t one of them. She isn’t to blame for the injustice you experienced. Your time as an amnesiac has made that abundantly clear, even if you don’t want to admit it. The fact is, the only one standing between you and happiness at this point… is you, Blackfire.”

Silence falls as Blackfire processes his words. She takes a step back and he releases her fist as she stands there, mulling over everything he’s just said. Lucien watches her quietly and waits for her reaction. He’s done everything he possibly can to mend the broken bonds between the two sisters. Starfire would give everything if she could spend the rest of her life at Blackfire’s feet, so on that side of things he’s succeeded entirely.

But now it’s up to Blackfire to decide whether she wants to hold onto old hatreds or let go of the past and look towards the future.