Author's Note

Hmm… Another songfic from me. Err, based loosely around the song Mosaic Roll (which I love, but makes me sad). I don't know, the lyrics remind me of Sladin… Whatever. Warning for implied character death. u.u

I wrote this whilst writing Stranger than Fiction WHICH IS WHY YOU GET TWO FICS! HOORAY!

Certain words have piercing strength; it seems one or two stabbed at you
As you laid down in pain, a liquid flowed; watching your fresh wound bleed, we figured we could call it love

'Robin,' Slade said, practically smirking behind his metal mask, making the teen hero frown.

'What do you want?' Robin hissed, his bo staff in his hand in an instant and he heard the man chuckle.

'You,' he said simply, 'it's always been about you, after all…'

'Shut up,' the youth hissed, rushing towards the man who didn't move until the teen was close enough, easily countering and disarming the hero.

'Letting your emotions control you? Foolish child,' the mercenary said, sounding disappointed and Robin snarled.

'You're not my master anymore, Slade,' he spat, charging towards the man once more, only to find himself on the ground an instant later, his head pulsing with pain, and the cement feeling wet and sticky with what Robin supposed was blood. He swore he saw Slade's eye widen a little in something… worry? No, it couldn't be worry…

'We're done for now,' the man said simply, turning away and disappearing into the shadows only moments before Robin's team mates found him.

A lack of sympathy, deficiency; getting together, but just physically
Although I'm stuck with you, we, us two, are perhaps more alike than I once knew
"But even still, I love..." Me? Ha!

Things got stranger and stranger between Robin and Slade.

Well, that's what Robin thought, anyway. They still fought, but it seemed the man was holding back, if only a little, making the youth curious. Why would he hold back? They were enemies, weren't they? Still, Robin had noticed the man appearing more often, not to fight, only… to watch. To monitor him, as it were. Be it during a fight, or simply when the Titans were relaxing in Jump city.

Why?

Robin knew Slade well enough to know he wouldn't make himself known unless he wanted to. The youth decided it was time to confront him.

'Slade,' he snarled, calling the man out as he stood atop one of the buildings he'd seen the man on during the day. He doubted Slade was at that exact location, but the man was watching him, wasn't he?

'Robin,' came the calm reply, and the teen whipped around.

'Why have you been following me?' Robin asked, frowning at the man. Honestly, having a personal stalker was something the youth had never thought he'd ever have, especially not one as dangerous as Slade.

'I don't want to see my precious bird get hurt,' the mercenary replied innocently, though the youth could hear the smirk behind it.

'I'm not yours,' Robin hissed, turning away and leaving.

Despite having Slade now permanently watching him, Robin was becoming more and more at ease. Maybe he had, subconsciously, accepted that nothing too bad would happen to him if the mercenary was watching out for him.

This realisation sprang to life one day as, during a fight with Red X, Robin stumbled from the top of a building. The thief had disappeared swiftly after managing to incapacitate most of the Titans, leaving just Robin. He'd been so close to grabbing the thief's cape when Red X had disappeared, leaving the teen to slip on the red goo left behind, causing him to fall. Expecting his death, the teen had let out a small sob, only to find himself snatched up into the arms of Slade before hitting the pavement.

'Y-you saved me?' he asked, bewildered, unable to read the expression in the man's eye.

'I told you I didn't want to see you get hurt,' the man replied before turning around to leave. Robin reached out, gently grabbing Slade's arm, not wanting to see him go. The man had saved his life, after all… But the man couldn't care about him that much, could he?

Isn't it fine to say that we are loved?
To be bound, so the world may never but touch
Isn't this, too, just fate, and nothing more?
Fade away, fade away, I say to a love...

Things, lately, had gone a bit… further, however. More and more often, the Titan would arrive "home" in the morning, and he was beginning to wonder where he preferred. His friends were great, and he loved them, but… He'd spent so much time trying to figure out who Slade was, and now that he had, he didn't want to give that up.

'What're you thinking about?' Slade asked, kissing Robin's shoulder softly as he pulled his young lover closer. Normally he wasn't so cuddly, but when the Titan was distracted like this, the man knew it was the only way to coax him into speaking his mind.

'I want… I want to stay here,' he whispered, looking at Slade seriously. The man chuckled softly, 'because you don't already?'

'Slade,' Robin said, a little louder now, frowning at the man, 'I mean it. I want to stay with you.'

By the time the end has come, I'm so bored of you, fed up too
Is it for love or wants? We just can't say, and yet still you release; what should be done?

Looking back two years ago, they would have seen Robin in another city, engaged in a life of crime. Though not as dangerous as Slade, the teen had to admit there was a certain adrenalin rush that came from being a thief. Now he knew why Red X did it back in Jump.

One year ago, maybe someone would have noticed something between the two lovers. Maybe.Something had changed. They had grown distant, though out of what was unknown, even to the criminal pair.

Now, though… Robin knew there was something. He hated to admit it, but he was getting sick of everything, and he could tell Slade was getting sick of things too.

'What will we do?'

A lack of sympathy, deficiency; getting together, but just physically
Although I'm stuck with you, we, us two, are perhaps more alike than I once knew
But even still, it's fine, and so...

As of late, sex was the only thing holding the pair together. Things had gone back to the way they had begun. And yet… Robin didn't want them to.

'Can we go back to how things were?' he asked one night, making Slade groan.

'Do we really have to have this talk now?' the mercenary asked and Robin frowned at him.

'Yes. Now,' he said, but deep down he didn't want to have this talk either…

Maybe it was because they were too similar that they didn't mesh well.

This situation, would you call it love?
Clinging tight, struggling on, toward yet unknown goals...
Isn't it fine to kill those things for good?
If it's me that you hate with all of your being...

Robin's hate for Slade had returned. It had been a year. A whole year since they had decided to split, and the hate had returned, though it was for a very different reason. He hated Slade for making him like this.

What "this" was, Robin wasn't exactly sure. But he felt… empty. Like there was something missing. He knew what, who, it was, and he wondered how he'd lived before Slade before realising he hadn't, really. He'd been obsessed with the man before, hadn't he? And now he was gone.

Not gone gone, of course; the man couldn't die. Not easily.

Still, Robin continued on, becoming… Well, he wasn't too sure. He lived under two aliases now, and who Richard was he didn't quite remember. When he wasn't a thief, he was a hero, helping the same people he'd stolen from. It kept him busy, kept his mind off of things.

Very dark things.

Isn't it fine to say that we are loved?
To be bound, so the world may never but touch
Isn't this, too, just fate, and nothing more?
Fade away, fade away, I say to our love...

Slade had watched from the distance as Robin worked himself into a spiral of depression. He knew it was partly his fault, of course, and that only made him feel worse.

'Robin,' he greeted the young man before him. His handsome, precious little bird.

'Slade,' came the emotionless reply, but the mercenary could see the pain in those beautiful, blue eyes. 'Please. Do it.'

And Slade did, granting his precious Robin one last request.

They'd agreed to it, as much as they both hated it, similar to how they had broken up. But this… This would stay permanent. They both knew it as they heard the gun shot that seemed to echo in the small alleyway.

A small tear, that had vanished before anyone could say it had existed, rolled down Slade's cheek as he carried his precious, red Robin home, wondering if now the youth's splintered heart looked how it had felt for so long.

P.S.

Eurgh. Back to dicking about and trying to find a job.

Also, having a mosquito bite above your eye is really annoying. Even more so than having one on your knuckle or palm.

If anyone looked back to three years ago, they would have seen the Titans fighting the villains of Jump, with Robin, their fierce leader, always at the front. Always leading them on to victory.

Between the pair, a strange form of camaraderie had blossomed. Robin found himself out when he should be sleeping more and more often, meeting Slade out in the dark and accompanying him back to his lair. They had a truce, of sorts; Robin would not reveal the man's lair and Slade would leave them be for the most part.