It had been a few weeks since Blackfire's arrest and also since Starfire and Hikaru first kissed.
Their hang outs had become more frequent and also more… romantic often forgetting whatever activity they planned in lieu of making out.
Hikaru hadn't planned on getting into a relationship, at least not this fast. But the floodgates had been opened and he had no intention forcing them shut.
The sky was painted in shades of orange and pink when Hikaru's communicator blared to life, interrupting what had started as a completely innocent "flying lesson" with Starfire over the bay. They'd managed maybe five minutes of actual flying before gravity pulled them together.
"We should—" Starfire pulled back slightly, breathless, her lips still tantalizingly close.
"Yeah," Hikaru agreed, making no move to actually separate.
The communicator chirped again, more insistently.
"They will not stop calling," she said, though her hands remained locked behind his neck.
"Probably not." He kissed her again anyway, brief and sweet, before finally pulling away with reluctance. "Rain check?"
The smile she wore could've powered the city. "I will hold you to this."
Fifteen minutes later, Hikaru touched down behind the Titans' staging point—an abandoned warehouse across from their target. The H.I.V.E. facility squatted in the industrial district like a concrete bunker, all reinforced walls and minimal windows.
"Nice of you two to join us," Wally said, grinning. "Traffic bad?"
"Yeah, ran into a flock slow flying seagulls" Hikaru replied, not hiding his smirk.
Dick didn't look up from the holographic screen on his wrist displaying building schematics. "Thermal imaging shows approximately twenty hostiles, concentrated on the second floor. Likely guarding something important."
"Server room," Vic confirmed, zooming in on the layout. "If they're storing intel anywhere, it's there."
"Then that's our target." Dick collapsed the tablet. "Raven, you and Donna breach from the roof. Wally, Gar—you're on distraction duty, main entrance. Vic, Starfire, and Seraph, you're with me through the west loading bay. Fast and clean—we're in and out before they call reinforcements."
Hikaru flexed his fingers, feeling light gather beneath his skin. Seven bases in as many days, and still no solid lead on the Academy's location. But each raid chipped away at H.I.V.E.'s infrastructure, and eventually, someone would talk.
"Positions," Dick ordered.
The Titans scattered.
The loading bay door exploded inward under Cyborg's sonic cannon, metal shrieking as it crumpled. Hikaru followed Robin and Starfire through the gap into a storage area lined with equipment crates.
"Contact!" Robin's voice cut through their comms half a second before gunfire erupted from the catwalks above.
Hikaru's light shield snapped into existence, photon blasts ricocheting off the golden surface. Four agents in tactical gear fired advanced energy weapons—plasma rifles, by the look of their blue discharge.
"Seraph, high ground!" Robin commanded, already firing an explosive disc toward the support struts.
Hikaru launched skyward, wings spreading as he transformed mid-flight. His light form blazed through the dimness, reforming behind the first agent and slamming a light-construct gauntlet into the man's temple. The agent crumpled.
Starfire's starbolts carved through the air, each impact precise and devastating. Two agents dropped before they could retarget. Below, Robin moved like liquid shadow, his staff a blur as he systematically dismantled anyone stupid enough to get close.
"Second wave incoming!" Vic's warning preceded the pneumatic hiss of doors opening on both sides of the warehouse floor.
A dozen more agents poured in, weapons hot.
"This is the 'easy' one?" Hikaru muttered, conjuring dual light swords and diving back into the fray.
The comms erupted with overlapping chatter—Raven reporting successful roof breach, Beast Boy's elephant trumpet echoing through the building, Kid Flash's laughter as he presumably ran circles around confused guards. Their plan was working, chaos spreading the H.I.V.E. forces thin.
But chaos still required cleanup.
Hikaru's blade severed the barrel of a plasma rifle just before it discharged, the weapon sparking uselessly. He followed through with a spinning kick that sent its owner sprawling. Two more agents rushed him—he phased through their crossfire, reforming behind them with light chains that bound their arms before they could react.
Across the room, Starfire fought with devastating grace. She caught a rifle mid-swing, crushed it one-handed, then used the shocked agent as a projectile to bowl over three more.
"Server room secure," Raven's monotone filtered through. "Twenty seconds."
"Copy," Dick replied, blocking a electrified baton before executing a perfect leg sweep. "Seraph, Starfire—perimeter!"
They moved to the corridor exit just as reinforcements appeared. Hikaru threw up a light barrier that forced them into a bottleneck while Starfire unleashed a concentrated barrage of starbolts. The hallway became an impassable wall of green energy and white light.
"Got it!" Raven announced. "Data's downloaded."
"Everyone out!" Dick ordered. "Now!"
The Titans converged on the exits, their retreat as coordinated as their assault. Hikaru went intangible to pass through a desperate agent's grabbing hands, then shot toward the loading bay.
They burst into open air just as smoke grenades detonated behind them, covering their escape. Cyborg and Robin emerged seconds later through the main entrance, followed by Kid Flash carrying Beast Boy in monkey form on his shoulder. Raven's portal swallowed Donna before depositing them both on the warehouse roof across the street.
"Sound off," Dick commanded.
"Here," came seven responses.
"Clean," Vic added, checking his arm cannon. "No casualties our side."
"Then let's move before JCPD shows up asking questions."
Back at the Tower, the team gathered around the computer as Vic interfaced with the downloaded data. Hikaru leaned against the wall beside Starfire, their shoulders touching in comfortable proximity.
"Shipping manifests, equipment orders, financial transfers..." Vic scrolled through files. "Lots of operational intel, some names we can pass to the League, but—"
"Nothing about the Academy," Dick finished, frustration bleeding into his tone.
"They compartmentalize everything," Raven observed. "The field bases probably don't know where the school is."
"Makes sense," Wally said. "Can't leak what you don't know."
Hikaru frowned, thinking. "We've hit seven bases. Eventually someone higher up the chain has to notice."
"Let them notice," Dick said coldly. "We're sending a message—H.I.V.E. isn't untouchable."
The determination in his voice left no room for argument. They'd keep pushing until something broke.
Vic saved the files. "I'll cross-reference this with previous raids, see if any patterns emerge."
"Do that." Dick straightened. "Good work tonight, everyone. Get some rest."
The team dispersed, exhaustion settling over them like a familiar blanket. Hikaru caught Starfire's eye, saw her small smile.
"Rain check?" she asked quietly.
"Absolutely."
They headed toward the roof together, mission completed but their evening far from over.