Jericho climbed up the steps at the front of the Teen Titan's Tower. It was clear the tower wasn't going to put up defences against him as he had brought his communicator just in case he needed to verify who he was. He was also on the Titans data base as an honorary Titan so he doubted he would be turned upon by the tower's defence systems.

Although he liked Jump City and its seemingly constant bright and sunny exterior he much preferred the quiet stillness of the mountains, in which he had lived since his mother's death. He wouldn't have come to Jump without a reason for it.

When he got to the doors he was unsure of what to do next, there was no doorbell and there was no use in knocking as all the main rooms were on the upper levels. Instead of looking for another way in he just stood there for a few minutes just looking up in wonder at the sheer size of the tower, even though he had been there once before he was still stunned at the size of the tower his friends lived in.

The door opened suddenly causing Jericho to fall backwards in surprise. A green boy with pointy ears and fangs looked down at him, smiling. When they fought alongside one another Beast Boy had disliked Joey's silence and seemingly useless powers but Jericho had proven himself and they had parted as friends.

"Hey Jericho, we saw you were out here but it takes a while to get down here from the top," the green Titan explained apologetically.

Jericho knew this would happen, it was hard for him to communicate with the other titans because as far as he knew Robin was the only one who knew sign language as well as a range of others. To compensate for this he had written the basics on cue cards until he was able to see Robin so that he could communicate with less complications with others.

Hi, it's great to see you again, you can call me Joey since we're not in a battle.

Beast Boy quickly red the card and grinned, "so why'd you drop by, dude? It's a long way away from that mountain of yours."

Sorry if I came at a bad time but I need your help!

He frowned at that, "what do you need our help with, Joey?" then he seemed to remember Joey was on the door mat. "Oh sorry dude, come in."

I need to speak with Robin. He knows sign language. He held up as they walked together to the elevator to the main room.

"Okay, I'll call him to join us, I think him and Starfire are out on a date," Beast Boy giggled.

Twenty minutes later the whole team was sitting on the circular couch facing Jericho. Robin had said he would translate what Joey was saying to the rest of the group. He took a deep breath to calm his shot nerves before he started rambling incoherently.

Hi, you all know me, so just call me joey, but you don't know something about me that I'm truly scared to tell you because I know you won't like me or even hate me for it. I'm sorry in advance but… the man you know as Slade is… Well he's my father.

Robin started to translate this information to the others but when he got to the part about the boy's father he stopped, trying to comprehend what Joey had just said but he finished the sentence and swived to face Jericho.

"Why are you here Jericho? Do you have information for us or are you just here to confess that your father is a sociopath?" Robin's voice was unnecessarily cold, coursing Jericho to step back, tears glistening in his eyes. He had known that he would receive a less that warm welcome from Robin after what happened with the man only a year ago.

Please listen to me Robin! I need your help, I don't know how to fix this.

"Please tell us what courses you sadness Jericho?" Starfire asked stepping up to comfort the boy, aiming a sharp glare at Robin coursing him to murmur an apology to the small blonde boy.

After I went home from fighting with the Titans I got a letter from him. With that he pulled out a folder piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the Boy Wonder to read out loud.

"Dear Joey," Robin begin. "It has come to my attention that you have recently shown your skill level in fighting alongside the Titans. This makes me extremely pleased with your progress as I never saw you as an adequate replacement for Grant but you seem to have proven me wrong. As I regrettably informed of Addie's death it seems I am now your legal guardian, so in one week I will come all collect you from your solitude and start your training as soon as possible. This is not up for debate, Joey, you will train as your brother did. See you soon son, love your father."

Robin stopped reading the letter and started immediately translating Joey's quick, frantic signs.

I don't want to be with him! I hate him! He's the reason I'm like this! Joey pulled down his high necked collar to reveal a jagged scar that ran along his neck like a gruesome second smile.

"Wait, he cut your throat? Dude that is not cool even for Slade, that man is so sick." Cyborg scoffed in surprise.

Jericho shook his head violently, he didn't, a rival assassin did. But he might as well have, he didn't save me in time. The Titans nodded in understanding.

"It's okay, Joseph, we refuse to have another Titan tormented by this masked madman." Raven reassured, feeling his fear as if it were her own.

"Yeah dude, we won't let him get to you like he did with Terra!" Beast Boy said determinedly, jaw set in a hard line at the harsh memory.

"The man probably doesn't even know sigh language," Cyborg laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

That made the boy giggle silently but the laughter was gone almost at once. What if Slade wanted him because he couldn't talk or speak out against him or even call out for help? He expressed his fears to Robin and the Boy Wonder nodded solemnly.

"Yes Joe that's probably what makes you so appealing to him, you're his son but you can't argue like I did. You wouldn't be able to defy him with words," Robin smiled ruthfully. "So defy him with will."

"But we will never let that happen friend Jericho! I am sure Slade will not show you mercy because you are blood, he will never be your K'nothka! " Starfire said definitely.

Joey didn't even try and ask what K'nothka meant, he didn't know how to sign the word.

He was extremely happy that his friends were more than willing to help him even knowing his lineage.

"Hey Joey, why didn't you just call us about it from your… place, we could have come to pick you up from there? Don't you still have a communicator?" Cyborg asked trying in vain to lighten the boy's mood.

I do but the screen broke and there was no use calling you as I couldn't tell you anything so I didn't even try. Joey signed matter-of-factly.

"Oh dude, you should have said something, here I'll make you a new and improved one," and with that he was off down to his Tec lab to improve Joey's old communicator.

By then Robin had pulled out two files still leaking in size. "These are files containing all the information we have collected over the past two years on Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke and his known associate Major William Wintergreen. We have a bit on each but I was hoping you could fill in the blanks cause you know…" he trailed off.

Will is a family friend, he's like my uncle. He was in the army with my dad and was put on a suicide mission but dad disobeyed orders to go save him. Will is trying to repay this debt with loyalty. He stayed with my family and helped take care of my brother and I when dad was too sick to look after us himself or when he was just out in secret murdering people.

"Why was Slade sick?" Robin inquired coldly almost happy that the man had suffered to some extent.

Slade offered to take part in military experiments that gave him the super human strength, speed, and agility. He is also able to use 90% of his brain capacity making him a master tactician. It made him very sick for months when I was really young that's why the military discharged him.

"So, who's this 'Addie' in the letter?"

She is… was my mum. She hated it when he called her Addie after she shot his eye out and-

"Wait what? Your mum shot Slade's eye out? I love this woman ready! She sounds amazing!" Beast Boy cried looking in awe at Jericho making him squirm in discomfort.

Yes, she was. I know parents aren't supposed to have favourites when it comes to their own children but Slade would never hang out with me. I guess we didn't really have that much in common with one another but he would always be with my brother teaching him how to fight or to shot a gun. I didn't want to learn but mum was always there to listen to me, back in the day I could play guitar and piano and I could sing, he never came to listen to me play.

Suddenly Cyborg walked in and yelled 'boo ya!' and handed Joey a communicator that looked a lot like he previous one.

"Brand new screen so you can FaceTime us, you can text emergency messages and if you press this button," he pointed to a small yellow button with an E printed on it, "patches you straight to Robin, even if his is off it will force it to turn on and vice versa. Told you it would be new and improved."

Thanks, Joey sighed awkwardly still holding the device.

"No problem, I gave Robin's the same upgrade after you know…" he too trailed off not wanting to finish.

"When was the letter sent? Joe." Robin asked firmly wanting to get down to business and change the subject.

Six days ago. It took me a long time to get here I was scared I wouldn't make it in time. He probably knows that I left the mountains, he's probably been watching me. Oh God I thought I'd be safe!

Raven could feel his anxiety rise to an unhealthy level as she guided him to a chair before his knees gave out from under him. She almost feared he would have a stroke, the last time she had seen someone in this state it had been Robin and he had been controlled by the Dust. There was no Dust this time, causing her to wonder what could make such a placid boy so petrified.

If mum was here she'd stop him. He's only doing it now because no one is stopping him from doing it!

"You're wrong, we are here to do the stopping friend Joey," Star smiled at him making him like warm and fuzzy inside.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Robin inquired firmly.

"We could shut him in the room we created for Raven?" Beast Boy offered.

"I guess we could, but we might not have to go to that extreme. I upgraded since Terra was here, Slade won't be able to get in even with an army of robots and it sounds he's only now showing interest in you is because you fought with us and he doesn't like it," Cyborg stated, even though it was true it still cut him deep to hear that his father only wanted him for selfish reasons.

"It's settled then, you can stay here as long as you want and when you feel safe to go home you can, but I still want you to beef up the security even more Cy, make sure there are no hidden cameras in the building and cut off any unauthorised visuals that Slade might send to coheres Joey into joining him. Also send out messages to all honorary Titans to stay low and safe, we don't want any blackmail." Finally Robin turned to Jericho, "I will do everything in my power to prevent this but I cant always stop terrible things from happening. If you do get captured stay strong and remember that we will save you from Slade! We will not let him win! Okay?"

All the small mute boy could do was nod. Robin's jaw was set in determination, his speech had done well to lift the quiet boy's spirits but he still had a pit of worry in his stomach weighing him down.

It was late morning and the sun shone relentlessly though the large window looking over Jump City. It was so beautiful Joey just had to stand and stare. He had heard stories from Beast Boy and other honorary Titans about Robin's apprenticeship, and it had chilled him to the core to know what his father had done to the boy, he had been only fourteen when it had happened. The one thing that really got him was that the place was a prison. There were no windows to know if it was day or night, Joey couldn't live like that, he lived on a mountain for Pete's sake! He was closest to the sky he was ever going to be.

"Hey Joe, you want us to make you some lunch man? I was just gonna cook the mince for a hamburger, you in?" Cy called over.

"No dude, he might be a vegetarian! You can have a veggie burger if you want Joey." BB countered

Then the war started.

"He eats meat!"

"He's a vegetarian!"

"You're the only one that wants to eat that stuff!"

"No I'm not, he'll like it too!"

The boy sighed and walked over to grab a pad and pen off the counter and stared writing an answer.

Please don't yell, I hate it when people get mad because of me. Can I have a veggie burger please? Im not a vegetarian I just feel like one today. Is that okay with you guys?

"Yeah of cause Joey. Sorry about that, it happens a bit," BB reassured giggling uncomfortably.

Joey sat at the kitchen table looking though the file on his father. One article was about how a mercenary known as Deathstroke had taken over the city's underbelly and at this the crime rate had tripled. Another was about the HIVE Academy's top students were supposedly being hired by Slade and another about the disappearance of Robin and the link to Slade as well as a break in at Wayne Tec Enterprises. Article after article about how Jump was no longer safe because Slade and a girl named Terra had taken over the city by force.

It was disturbing to think that Jericho, the silent pansophist was related to this man, they were like night and day.

"Here you go dude, straight off the grill," the green skinned bot said, spinning the plate so that it slid across the table and stop in front of the sulking boy. "Hey, it'll be okay, you don't have to worry about your dad, we'll stop him together, we have before, ya know."

The blonde boy just nodded and started to eat the burger.

Another hour or two past and Raven appeared at the door of the main room. The two boys were playing video games, they had offered a controller to Joey but he had declined the offer, he was still far too stressed out to enjoy playing games. Raven had felt his anguish as she meditated in her room, it was hard for her to concentrate with such loud emotions raging in the back of her mind.

"Do you with to meditate with me Joseph? It would calm your emotions and quell your stresses." The witch girl offered kindly. "I also feel it would be best for you to move to a more secluded atmosphere," she smiled looking over at the boys fighting over who had cheated to win.

Joey smiled weakly and followed her down a few halls and into her room. He knew at once that this was a place that was rarely open to the public and he felt honoured that she had decided to allow him into her sacred place.

The large room had deep rich purple walls, usually this would make a room dark and depressing but it simply felt warm and safe with the strong sent of incense wafting in the background. The two sat cross legged on the thick purple rug that covered most of the room and closed their eyes.

"I am one of the few who will understand your grief, Joseph, my father is, as you know, the evil demon Trigon. Right from birth my people said that I was born to do my father's bidding, but I proved them all wrong and with the help of my friends I defeated him and sent him back to his own dimension. Together we can do the same with Slade, as long as the Titans stand Slade will never have you!" And with that the boy began to glow with confidence and hope as Raven gently flowed a few centimetres off the ground whispering her incantations.

It didn't feel like long at all before there was a knock at the door, Robin poked his head into the gloomy room.

"Hey Joe, I thought you'd be in here, I can in here a lot after… you know. Anyway, we always go out for pizza on a Sunday you, coming Rae or will Cy have to drag you there?"

"You have broken my concentration so I might as well." She relied frowning jokingly.

At that Raven engulfed herself in a black force and was nowhere to be seen.

At Jericho's Questioning look Robin laughed and explained that she had teleported to the pizza restaurant as she hated being stuck in a car with BB and Cy for any length of time.

Soon they were in the T-car and Joey understand why Raven hadn't wanted to join them.

They all sat down and started chattering away loudly, they had been here so often then none of them needed to even pick a menu so Joey was left to silently decide.

"Hey Titans, what's up?" Their waitress asked, a notepad and pen in hand.

"Hi Maddie, the usual for everyone," Robin said, smiling up at her.

"We aren't all Boy wonders Rob, that's why I have a notepad," she said, rolling her eyes and waved the pad dramatically.

"Okay I get it, one large meat lovers supreme, one large vegetarian, one small sweet and sour chicken and two house specials one with mustard, oh Joey what do you want?" Robin recalled, ticking them off on his gloved fingers as he did so, stopping when he remembered the small blonde boy.

A special please but hold the ham.

Robin gave his order and Cyborg cried out loud; "hold the ham! Man that's the best part!"

Joey could only shrug, he didn't really want to share the reason for not having ham, he normally loved ham, but he just didn't feel like it today.

"Okay then. I think I got that, with a soda for all I guess? Hi Joey, watch yourself, those guys get savage when it's pizza time,' the girl grinned wickedly at him pointing at the two across the table who were fighting over meat or tofu.

He smiled back and signed her a thanks.

"He's staying at the tower for a while, family issues," Robin supplied.

"Oh, an honorary Titan, I've heard of those. What are your powers?" Maddie asked excitedly.

Jericho had no way to describe how his powers worked without a lot of hand jesters so he just pointed to his vivid green eyes.

"He can take over your motor functions and control you just by eye contact." Robin explained simply. Joey didn't like how he explain it, the way he said it the powers sounded scary and evil when they could be used for good.

"Cool, different, I like it, anyway, I have to get back to work, bye guys," and with that she was gone.

Fifteen minutes later they were presented with their pizzas, Raven nibbled at her spicy chicken pizza, Robin and Starfire giggled and mysteriously picked blue paint out of their hair and the remaining Titans chowed down as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. As he ate his pizza he regretted asking for no ham. It just stung him too close to home. When he was little and they were one, big, seemingly happy his father had never let them have pizza. He was all about healthy foods, but every once in a while Grant would be so instant on junk food that their father would give up and buy them pizza. They would all have extra ham and cheese just because they could. Joey just didn't want to relive any of those prefect memories with his new family.

Once they had all finished, Robin gave a check to Maddie and they all headed back to the tower.

Joey was content to look out over the city at night as it glowed with a whole spectrum of colours painting the deep blue clouded sky rainbow as cars and people went on with their more carefree lives. At a tap on his shoulder he spun around in an almost defensive stance. Without commenting on his over sensitive movement, Robin handed him a guitar.

"Hope you know how to play a base cause that's all I have, it needs a little tuning but I'm sure it still sounds good. Haven't really had time to play it lately and I know how much you love music, you can use it if you want." He said almost shyly.

The blond boy thanked him and took the guitar, he quickly began to strum the cords and twisting the nobs to find the best sound, after about three minutes he had it tuned perfectly and had started to play a song that he had learnt before he become an honorary Titan.

He felt a little self-conscious as Robin settled down on the couch to hear him play, and then all of a sudden everyone was there to listen to him play, all silently entranced in his sweet music as he moved from song to song effortlessly only wishing he could sing the lyrics that went with them.

After a long time he stopped with no more melodies to play and looked up. Raven was gently floating, meditating to his music, the boys quietly clapped and whooped at his performance and Starfire and Robin were snuggled up to one another gazing softly over the bay to the city they protect.

I would like to go to bed now, he signed, elbows resting on the bass.

"Yes, Star wanted to show you to your room, she's spent all afternoon on it." The Boy Wonder smiled knowingly, nudging Star awake from her dose.

"Oh yes, come Joey, I have a surprise for you!" she cried leaping into the air and grabbing the boy's hand and dragging him down a few halls, the guitar trailing behind them.

Only when they came to a door marked 'Jericho's Room' did they stop and he put his feet back on the ground tentatively, he pushed open the door flicked on the light and gasped; the carpet was a thick emerald colour that resembled and small field of grass. The walls were painted a pale blue resembling the clear mountain skies, the room was also littered with vases of flowers making the air sweet and homely.

Joey had left his pad and pen in the kitchen so he pointed to her then the room then himself trying ti ask if she had done all for him.

She giggled at his awe of the simple room. "Yes. The carpet was already in here but I and Robin painted it for you." He hugged her tightly in thanks, ecstatic about a room of his own. "We made one like this for Terra when she joined us," She said sadly. "Do not be fearful Joey, even if Slade does capture you, we will not give up hope that you are lost so neither must you. I once feared that Robin had turned against us- against me- but never again shall I think such foolish things for that is when Slade wins."

The boy just nodded in bleak understanding. He was too tried to play shards with her tonight so he simply waved goodbye and closed the door.

8