Disclaimer: I don't own teen-titans, but I do own this story line
Summary: Something happened to Robin while he was Slade's apprentice. Something he will never speak of. Something that will haunt him forever. And no, its not sex. XD
Warning: Angst, Robin in pain and a hell of a lot of dialog.
Robin blinked hard before opening his eyes slowly and groaning at his headache. Sitting half-way up slowly, he rubbed his head, messing up his already tousled black hair. Satisfied that there was no bleeding and his head was in tact from whatever had happened to him, his hand drifted to his face and he breathed a sigh of relief when he felt his mask was still on his face.
Robin took a deep breath as he sat up fully and instantly regretted it when a sudden sharp pain shot though his left side. He wrapped his arm round his stomach, taking short breaths till the pain subsided. Wincing, he stood up carefully and turned to face his full length mirror, one of the only things in the small, metal room that Slade had given him. The only other things being a small bed, a few drawers full of uniforms and a door that was almost always shut.
Robin bit his lip as he slowly removed the top half of his black and orange uniform. It made a clanging sound when the metal part met the metal floor, Robin barely registered this as he inspected the lower part of his left side. It was all red and extremely tender, Robin whimpered when he poked it. It was going to kill him tomorrow in training. Despite the pain, Robin smirked. Slade had found it.
Several years ago, when he first became Robin after meeting and being taken in my Batman, he had done something that no-one would have expected of the 'Boy-wonder'. While patrolling a bad side of his old town, Robin had stumbled across a tattoo-parlour; one that didn't care for the age limits. Knowing that that would be his only chance, Robin had seized the moment and gotten a tattoo. A small Batman sign on his left side, almost on his hip. It was Robin's way of signing the dotted line and dedicating his life to super-heroing.
As soon as Slade had forced him to become his apprentice, Robin knew it was only a matter of time before Slade discovered it. He also knew that Slade would not be happy about it. And like Robin had guessed; Slade had obviously tried to remove it. But the tattoo was still there, as black as the day Robin had gotten it, incredibly bold against Robin's ivory skin-tone.
Robin grinned widely as he started doing light stretches, biting his lip whenever he felt the pain start up. Rolling his neck, Robin stopped suddenly. Water filled his eyes as a pain shot down his spine and he groaned loudly. His hand shook as he lifted it to touch the back of his neck. Feeling a bandage there, Robin gently pulled at it till it dropped to the floor.
Turning on his heal, Robin looked over his shoulder - clenching his teeth at the stinging pain. For a second, Robin saw nothing and couldn't understand the pain. Then he caught a glimpse of a black mark out of the corner of his eye. Yanking the hair that had fallen down his neck up, Robin twisted his head painfully to get a better look. What he saw made him gasp.
There was a chuckle behind him and Robin swirled around to glare at Slade who had sneaked in and was now leaning casually in the door way. While Slade looked calm as always - not fair, in Robin's opinion, Slade always had the upper hand because of his full-face mask - while Robin was sweating, pale, panting slightly and fists curled up in rage. Slade stood up straight and took a step into Robin's room.
"Judging by your reaction," Slade started, his voice full of humour. "I take it you don't approve or my… gift."
Robin's whole body was trembling now. "'Gift'?" He repeated, swallowing hard. "This isn't funny Slade! You've tainted my body!" Slade just let out another chuckle, pushing Robin's patience over the limit. "Stop laughing, damn it! This is serious!"
Slade's one eye just blinked at him, taunting the furious boy.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You cant do this!"
Finally, Slade spoke again. "I believe I already have. And don't get any ideas on how to remove it." He warned, "Special formula, home-made, the only way you could get rid of that is by taking off your skin."
Robin took a daring step forwards. "I'd rather do that than have that mark on me." Slade said nothing, but watched Robin carefully. His silence just annoyed Robin further. "Is this how you get off!?" He yelled. "By making me suffer? By degrading me? By.. By marking me?"
Suddenly, a smirk made its way onto Robin face and Slade tensed, surprised. "Or…" Now Robin was the one with humour in his voice and, if Slade could have seen them, Robin's eyes gleamed wickedly. "Or were you just that pissed off?" Robin turned slightly, showing off his left side. He saw Slade's fist curl. "I take it you finally saw this then? Didn't you like it?"
Slade made a noise. Robin should have taken that as a warning but he was too far gone to care about the consequences of his actions. "This is 'special ink' too, Slade. And I got this one willingly. This is a sign, a life-long contract, showing that no matter how much you try and brake me, no matter how much you threaten me, I will always be on the good side." Robin gave a humourless chuckle. "And that means that one day, when you let your guard down, I'll be ready."
There was silence and, for a second, Robin actually thought he had won for once. He actually expected Slade to turn around and stalk out of the room. Robin registered what was happening a moment too late. Within seconds, Slade had Robin pinned to the cold, metal wall with his arm bent at an awkward and painful angle. Robin let out a yell, Slade was putting pressure on the back of his neck and his side, sending shocking waves of pain though the young boy's body.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Robin." Slade's voice hissed in his ear, "But your wrong, your no longer a hero but a villain. And a good one at that. Your no longer the ex-side-kick of Batman nor the leader of the Teen Titans but my apprentice. I'd praise you for that as well, but you've been acting up."
Robin kicked backwards, not necessarily trying to hurt Slade but just to stop him from talking. He missed and found more pressure being added to his tender spots. He bit his lip to stop him self from whimpering.
"Whether you wanted it or not, you have it." Slade spoke harshly. "And it will always be a part of you, as will the things you do for me. Heroes don't commit crimes, Robin."
Robin let out a moan. "No, no, no! I'm not listening!"
Slade laughed. "Heroes don't steal, heroes don't hurt people, heroes don't work for villains." Slade paused and then lowered his voice. "Heroes don't betray their friends."
"No!" Robin yelled and thrashed against Slade wildly, who let go of his apprentice and allowed him to slip to the floor, breathing heavily and sobbing loudly. Slade watched him for a moment; every few seconds Robin would mumble 'no'. Turning, Slade walked towards the door but stopped just outside it to look back at the shaking boy.
"Training in an hour. Be ready." With that, the door hissed closed. Leaving Robin alone in his metal room, crouched by the wall with his head bowed, a few tears falling. The dim light shone on the back of his neck showing a symbol that was printed on Robin's uniform, a spiky 'S' symbol that would haunt him forever.
AN: This is actually written for a friend on Deviantart, I did a picture of Robin those two tattoo's and she requested a fic to go with it. If you wish to see the picture then youll have to ask for the address cos it wont show up on here for some reason. Sorry for this sucky fic but I thought 'well I have it on my computer, I might as well post it' lol
Reviews are encouraged, Advice is welcome, Flames are ignored.