Endless Legacy Ch. 16 (DC Comics) (Patreon)

A/N: Lucien and Starfire spend the day together~

-x-X-x-

“Sooo… you and Robin, huh?”

The trick, Lucien decided, was to come across as a bit of a good-natured bumbling fool, at least initially. He was supposed to be a stranger here, after all. A well-meaning one at that. So it was perfectly reasonable for him to stick his foot in his mouth a little bit, right?

“… What?”

Starfire looks at him, half-confused and half-dreading his response. But of course, Lucien isn’t ‘looking’ at her. He’s looking down at the storefront and ‘missing’ the slight warning in her tone.

“You and Robin… you’re dating, right? How long has that been going on?”

There’s a long pause, during which Lucien allows himself to finally glance over at Starfire and see the look on her face. A look that makes it abundantly clear even to an idiot like he’s currently portraying that he’s completely misread the situation. Waiting just the right amount of time, he goes to open his mouth to try and take it back, only for Starfire to cut him off.

“No… n-no, we’re not dating. We’re not a couple…”

Turning back to the storefront, the gorgeous alien princess crosses her arms over her chest as silence falls between them. While pretending to contemplate the proverbial landmine he’s stepped on, Lucien actually contemplates the woman in front of him. He only knows the broad strokes from his previous life. He knows, for instance, that Starfire and Robin were definitely a couple at certain points in time. Very publicly at that, because even a sickly shut-in like him had heard about them.

However, he didn’t know if it had ever gone anywhere or really been a permanent affair. And frankly… if Robin didn’t recognize what a great catch Starfire was, maybe he didn’t deserve her in the first place. Sure, Lucien’s intentions weren’t entirely pure… but he was going to find a way to thread the needle here. He was going to find a way to give Blackfire what she wanted, while also making sure Starfire came out the other end… intact.

That said, he’s waited for the appropriate amount of time to be embarrassed and decide to change the subject, so without further ado, that’s exactly what he does.

“Err… so… alien princess, huh? What’s that like? I’ve never been off planet or anything like that so I guess I’m just curious.”

Continuing to play up the ignorant, bumbling, but hopefully endearing persona, he watches as Starfire tenses for a moment… before slumping her shoulders. Lucien can see the moment in real time that the Tamaranean decides not to bite his head off for being curious. It’s obvious she can tell that he’s only asking to try and take her mind off of Kitten and Robin and whatever the hell they’re getting up to in the store down below.

Cracking a half-smile, Starfire glances over at him with slightly warm green eyes and shrugs.

“Honestly? It’s alright. Not all it’s cracked up to be though. Especially when you aren’t the firstborn, but everyone decides you’re going to be heir anyways. And then your older sister decides to try and take your life for actions completely outside of your control.”

As much of a downer as that particular line of conversation promises to be, Lucien kind of wants to know more about Starfire and Blackfire’s relationship. And something about Starfire’s tone makes him think she wants to talk about it, despite her downcast expression. However, before he can ask for her to elaborate, the doors to the shop down below spring open and Kitten and Robin come out.

“Come on, Robby-baby! This is only our first stop!”

Kitten carries a single small bag from the store, while Robin is loaded down with so many bags it’s wonder he even knows where he’s going. Lucien and Starfire watch in silence as the Titan Leader stuffs the bags into Kitten’s trunk, only to then himself be stuffed back into the car, which peels off down the street again at breakneck speeds.

Wordlessly, Starfire rises off the rooftop and flies off to follow them, forcing Lucien to follow after her. Soon enough, they’ve arrived at their next destination and taken up position on a brand new rooftop. This time however, the storefront is fully glass… allowing them to see precisely what’s going on in this particular shop. Namely, Kitten trying on dresses for a visibly tense, reluctant Robin.

Even with how much Robin clearly didn’t want to be there, it was obvious to Lucien that watching him watch another girl try on clothes was a very, VERY large pain point for Starfire. Obvious… because Lucien could literally hear Starfire’s teeth grinding as they stood on the roof together. Wanting to save her poor teeth from being ground down to nubs, and also still undeniably curious, Lucien clears his throat after a moment.

“You were saying something about your sister wanting you dead? That must be rough…”

For a moment, Starfire just scowls harder down at the storefront. Then, mercifully, she pulls her gaze away and looks over at him for a moment before slowly nodding.

“… Rough doesn’t really begin to cover it, to be honest. Though… I don’t think she always wanted to kill me. I think at first she just hated me. Maybe just wanted to outshine me. But it wasn’t until we were both older that she wanted me dead. Otherwise she could have just smothered me in my crib, I suppose.”

Lucien blinks at that particularly morbid thought.

“But… she’s your sister. Why would she hate you in the first place?”

Letting out a sigh, Starfire shakes her head.

“As I said, for things outside of my control. Because our people… our people could be cruel. And idiotic. On the day that my sister came into this world, Tamaran’s enemies blew up an entire city to ‘celebrate’ her birth.”

Lucien’s eyes widen at that, and the reaction is all the more genuine because it’s completely honest. Holy shit, he hadn’t known that. But Starfire isn’t done explaining.

“As a result, my sister was deemed ‘cursed’ by practically everyone except for me and my brother. Even our parents were not immune to this… societal pressure. Despite being nothing but a newborn baby when the attack happened, they all blamed Blackfire for the attack. They treated her like she would bring nothing but doom upon our people. And by doing so, they created a self-fulfilling prophecy. Blackfire was indeed our people’s doom after they handed her birthright to me and exiled her for trying to murder me. She returned with a vengeance at the head of our enemy’s armies, conquering our planet… and taking me as her slave.”

Lucien had… sort of heard about that. He didn’t know the exact details of Starfire and Blackfire’s history anymore than he did Starfire and Robin’s, but he’d heard slavery mentioned on like… a superhero discussion forum or something. Either way, he reaches out and places a hand on Starfire’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze that causes her to jolt in surprise.

“I’m sorry that you went through that. Being enslaved by your own homicidal sister… that must have been rough.”

And now he had to figure out how to seduce Starfire on said homicidal sister’s behalf without going full Dark Side and leaving the orange-skinned alien broken and a husk of her former self as Blackfire wanted.

“… It actually wasn’t as bad as you might think.”

Wait, what? Lucien gives Starfire a somewhat confused, somewhat scandalized look, prompting her to blush and let out a soft self-deprecating laugh.

“Don’t judge, okay? But really… it wasn’t terrible until the very end. Sure, Blackfire forced me to fight in gladiator pits. And she had me doing all sorts of menial labor. She treated me like her personal maid, using me to clean up her messes and sometimes having me scrubbing floors well into the morning most days. But… it wasn’t so terrible. She could have killed me. She didn’t. And she could have been much worse to me… she wasn’t.”

She wasn’t? But then… Lucien didn’t get how things had turned out the way they did. Fortunately, Starfire was deep enough in her memories that she was willing to continue explaining without him having to prod her.

“In the end, problems didn’t arise until… well, what you have to understand was that even after conquering our people, Blackfire had her own masters to answer to. You humans have a saying… selling your soul to the devil. That’s what Blackfire did, metaphorically speaking. And those masters… her superiors decided they wanted me. For their own sick and twisted purposes. For their own designs.”

Lucien’s eyes widen at that. Wait, surely Starfire wasn’t suggesting…

“She refused to turn you over?”

Blinking, Starfire glances over at him… and then lets out a little laugh.

“Oh. No, sorry. She resisted their commands for a little while, but in the end she was forced to give me to them lest she incur their wrath. And once I was out of her hands and in theirs… once I found out what they intended for me, I broke free. I killed… I killed one of them and I escaped.”

It’s strange. If Lucien didn’t know any better, he would say Starfire ENJOYED being her sister’s slave. That she had a submissive streak, or some sort of internalized guilt and loathing that made her want to make things up to Blackfire for how the older Tamaranean’s life turned out. But that couldn’t be right… could it?

“Of course, they blamed Blackfire for my escape. They turned on her, captured her… and experimented on her from what I’ve gathered. She didn’t break free nearly as quickly as I did, but eventually she did manage to get away…”

Frowning, Starfire shakes her head.

“At this point, I don’t know if Blackfire hopes to recapture me to turn me over to them and regain her place as their favored pet, or if she just wants to destroy me for the perceived crime of ruining her life, despite the fact that I’ve had absolutely no control over the things that have befallen her.”

Shoulders slumped, Starfire stares at the ground in quiet contemplation. Lucien, meanwhile, reaches out again and gives Starfire’s shoulder another comforting squeeze, once again taking her by surprise. However, he notices she also leans into his touch this time, even as she gives him a soft smile that he returns.

“Starfire… neither you nor your sister deserve the hardships you’ve had to suffer. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”

The best part is, he really means every word of it. And if he can… if he can somehow bring Starfire and Blackfire together, if he can somehow reconcile the two alien women… he’ll damn well try.

Her soft smile growing into something appreciative and grateful, Starfire reaches up and places her hand on his for a moment before giving him a simple nod.

“Thank you, Remedy. I appreciate that.”

Of course, before they can speak further, the door to the shop opens down below again, and Robin and Kitten come bolting out to the car once more. Soon enough, they’re flying after Kitten’s car, following it to the third destination…

-x-X-x-

Hours and hours later, night has fallen and Senior Prom has begun. Lucien had initially been worried when they first showed up that he would have to remove his costume in order to go ‘undercover’ at the Prom… but Starfire hadn’t even asked him to. In the end, they’d just stuck him in a Tuxedo over the top of his costume, leaving him masked up as Remedy.

A couple people had come up to him and Starfire looking for autographs or even just wondering who the new hero was, but mostly they were somehow seeming to fly right under the radar. He would have expected to be the center of attention… but no. The spotlight was thoroughly reserved for the stars of the evening. Kitten and Robin.

As much as the Boy Wonder CLEARLY did not want to be there, Kitten’s exuberance, excitement, and general overwhelming energy was enough for the both of them. Robin’s mask and identity as a superhero were doing the rest. The pair were constantly being swarmed by curious people, leaving Lucien and Starfire to keep an eye on things from afar.

Meanwhile…

“We’ve located Killer Moth’s Lab. It was hidden under Kitten’s house, just as expected. But the security is tough… tougher than any of us are really equipped to handle. If we still had Cyborg with us… but no, we’re just going to have to rely on the tech he left behind. We’ll keep you posted, but we’re not ready to put a stop to Killer Moth’s army, not quite yet.”

Starfire was kind enough to put her communicator up to both of their ears so they could listen to Beast Boy’s latest message together. As it comes to an end and they pull apart however, it’s obvious that the alien princess is NOT happy with what she just heard. Her teeth are grinding again, and she’s breathing out through flaring nostrils, practically huffing like a bull about to go on a rampage.

Lucien remembers the Cyborg fellow that Beast Boy name dropped. An original member of the Titans back when they’d still been the TEEN Titans, Cyborg had ultimately gone on to join the Justice League itself as they all got older. But at least it sounded like Cyborg had left them with something they could use. They just needed a bit more time.

“Don’t worry, Starfire. They’ll get it soon enough."

Lucien’s smooth, comforting tones wash over the trembling alien princess, who looks at him and slowly relaxes, giving him an appreciative smile and a nod. The two of them have talked all day long at this point, and Lucien feels like he can safely say that he’s been not just a shoulder for Starfire to lean on and an ear for her to talk to, but also a voice of reason in HER ear in response.

Letting out one last breath, Starfire tucks the communicator away again in her dress and then turns back to where Robin and Kitten are still being mobbed. Only to then freeze up in place, her entire body going ramrod still as her eyes widen in disbelief.

Confused, Lucien follows her gaze over to the reluctant Titan Leader and his ‘date’ for the evening… and finds himself just as surprised. Robin’s hands are currently on Kitten’s waist, anchoring her in place as the young hero stands frozen… while Kitten herself is on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing the ever-living daylights out of him for all to see.

But most importantly of all, she’s kissing Robin… right in front of Starfire. Oh, this might actually be bad. Starfire might actually kill the girl if he doesn’t-

Just as Lucien is worried that Starfire is about to explode in a fit of rage and jealousy and tear apart this entire Senior Prom in an attempt to kill Kitten, the alien princess does something ELSE instead. She grabs Lucien by the shoulders, spins him around… and plants a kiss on HIS lips to mirror Kitten’s kiss on Robin. It’s relatively inexperienced and very obvious that Starfire is just doing this to ‘get back’ at the other ‘couple’, but it’s a kiss all the same, and one that’s deepening by the moment, purely of Starfire’s own volition.

Lucien’s hands go down to Starfire’s waist after a moment, and he finds himself kissing her back… but also considering his options. Was this really the right time for this to happen? What was the play here? Go all in? Play hard to get? Or strike a middle ground? One thing was certain… Lucien was standing at a precipice and it was time to make a choice.