Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, otherwise I would have put everything in my head down on paper, make a billion bucks, then buy my own island near Tahiti. Since this isn't the case, I give complete rights to the people who created the Teen Titans, and to Warner Brothers and all those good people who put it up on the WB and CN.

Author's Note: This is my first ever Teen Titans fic, but not my first FIC. I always loved Batman and the whole entire Batman franchise, and as soon as I saw it, Teen Titans captured my heart. I was inducted into the TT fandom by watching the first Apprentice episode and let me tell you, I was absolutely astounded. I LOVED IT, so much so that I began having fan fiction ideas spinning through my head faster than you can say "Holy Batarangs Batman!" and the biggest, MOST HORRIBLE NAGGING in the back of my head to write these things down. Anyway, thanks do a certain someone who shall remain nameless (coughcoughcoughGHENEcoughcoughcough) I am now also a slight Slade/Robin Slash fan (thanks a lot..... lol) So there is some slight bits of that in here... or will be in later chapters lol! I am also loving the RobRae, RobStar, RaeBB, BBTerra, Cy/Jinx pairings, and there might be a few in here if I can add them... This is mainly a Robin story folks, one that I hope you'll like too, but don't hesitate to give me advice or constructive criticism, but no flames please!

Oh, also, the title of this story is "Sinking Into Slade". Me, being the "Dictionary with Smarts", had heard the name used as a noun before, and for those of you who don't realize it, the word 'slade' means "The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.", or "the bottom of a valley" (thank you to for the def. lol). A great play on Slade I think lol! Anyway, on with the show (sorry if I bored you!) This fic takes place after Aftershock I and II, sometime months afterward......

Obsession was always a relative term, one he didn't really associate with his current situation. He called it justice: thinking a step ahead of the game and capitalizing upon it, searching out the best possible way to defeat an enemy methodically, painstakingly, with cunning. The problem was Slade was always one step ahead of him, always. How can someone gain the upper hand when their enemy refused to relinquish it?

Scribbling down the newest encounters with the masked man, Robin paced around his newspaper clippings, staring, going over the event again and again in his head, contemplating, his eyes narrowing behind his black mask. Things weren't making much sense to him lately, with this newer incident as puzzling to him as the ones before, maybe even more so. But was it because of the way Slade was carrying out his plans, or something much more than that? Maybe... it was something on his own mind that was making it harder...

He'd been fine in the beginning, before he heard the name Slade. A good leader, righteous, walking a straight and narrow line. Then he happened; mask glaring into him, through him, taunting him, always one step ahead, something that continually infuriated him to no end. The biggest disadvantage was to never see the opponent's face, never seeing what he was planning, where he was going, what his next move truly was. With him in the mix, the lines between hero and villain were beginning to blur. Was Slade taunting him or training him? What was his angle, what was his motive? What was his game, and why was Robin the only one who seemed like a worthy adversary, the only one to have a chance at keeping him in line?

Thoughts whirled around in his head as Robin read the newspaper article again, shaking his head in befuddlement. Lately, friends were enemies, foes were friends, even... aspects of himself seemed muddled, unrecognizable in the mirror; and he couldn't figure out exactly why. It was one of those times where you saw yourself, you see every aspect of what makes you the person that you are, but the reflection gazing back at you was a complete stranger.

Even now, Robin was afraid of what he had the potential to become, and maybe that's why his uneasiness distracted him. It wasn't a feeling he was comfortable with, although the aspect of fear was something familiar. As a younger kid, he'd been afraid of many things: the dark, monsters under the bed, heights. In a way, it seemed ironic now that he liked the night, the monsters he faced were actually real, and he could plunge off a building into the great beyond in the blink of an eye. But since his nightmares had become real or falsified by trial and error, others took their place. Now it wasn't the outside factors causing the intense cold in his heart, or a wariness he never had before in every move he made. No, he had no fear of anything in the outside world.

It was what was inside his own soul that scared him the most. Killer. Thief. A dark Robin waiting in the wings to unleash a joy of living above the law. He tasted that freedom once, and enjoyed it, something that still sickened his heart even now. Although blackmailed, the feeling of being Slade's apprentice didn't disappear; the feelings he had felt under Slade's guidance hadn't lifted as he tried hardto get rid of them. Thoughts were constantly disturbed, tearing down any semblance of sleep as the thoughts resurfaced over and over in his subconscious. He only had one wish clinging to his heroic nature, one thing he constantly reminded himself: he didn't want to end up like Terra. Alone, lost within, turning to the first open hand in submission while everything about the situation cried with misery and treachery, this was the way of the apprentice, and he knew exactly where it led to. He'd been down that path before. And his friends... they relied on him so much. If he could fall once again, after barely hanging on to the last shred of heroism the last time, could he do it again? Did he have that strength to face it all again?

Terra. An image of her appeared in his mind, and a flash of pain crossed his heart, not for himself, but for Beast Boy. Of all the Titans in the tower, Beast Boy had the most time, the strongest bond, to the traitor, a girl he had loved once and been betrayed by. Old wounds such as this cut the changeling deep, even now, months afterward. Robin couldn't help but be worried for his friend, if not just for his benefit, but also for her performance in situations such as the one they had last night. To put it mildly, Beast Boy just wasn't the same as he was after she had died, buried by her own gift, her own curse. His jokes weren't as funny, his sassy remarks not quite as biting as they used to be.

If Terra could do that to Beast Boy, what would a second betrayal do to him too?

A few flutters of the newspaper clippings taped up in his room stirred him, and he closed his eyes, expectant, "Yes, Starfire?"

The young Tamaranian's brilliant green eyes gazed at him form beyond his open door, and he could picture her blushing shyly, "I am sorry to disturb you, Friend Robin, but Cyborg has directed me to ask you your preference towards the midday meal." Childishly, she giggled, "Friend Beast Boy has offered to prepare a bowl of tofu to satisfy our appetites, however, Friend Cyborg replied that further nourishment--"

She droned on for a bit, something she tended to do from time to time when she was really, especially nervous about something. All he could do was smile a bit, amused, "Yeah, alright Starfire. I'll be in there and tell them myself."

Somehow, things had been weird between the two of them, whether it was due to Slade's reappearance and his intensifying obsession, or it was just something that had happened, he wasn't too sure. All he knew was what once was comfortable, harmless discussion became long awkward silences, something both of them weren't accustomed to, didn't exactly like too much.

The Boy Wonder breached the subject with her just then, after a moment or two of pause, "Starfire?"

"Yes, Friend Robin?"

Her innocence really struck him then, thinking again how rare it was to have such a characteristic in a person, "Is there something else you would like to tell me?"

She shook her head, noticing that he still wasn't facing her, "No, at least, I do not think I have anything of importance to tell. If I did, I would tell you."

"Star..." Glancing over his shoulder, he sighed heavily, "Look, I know that Slade has come back, and the rest of you guys think I'm going nuts again. But you guys just don't get it! Slade, he... when I was his apprentice, something... happened to me. I don't know what it was exactly, but he did something to me, something inside my head, and my thoughts... It's complicated. Until I understand what happened, until I bring him in, I know I have to bring him down at all costs. Mainly," he clenched a green gloved fist, "because I have to know."

Starfire looked at him, slightly disappointed, "I do not understand you, Friend Robin. You are Robin, and the only Robin I have ever known is you. However, as of late, there is something different about you. You are distant, and alone, and we cannot reach you most times. You act as if you are alone, making it seem as if you prefer it that way." Gaze looking away, she started walking out the door, "Your obsessions are your biggest faults, Friend Robin, and your behavior regarding Slade is very strange. I fear one day, you will know this too late, becoming something unlike yourself and realizing you cannot go back."

I already do, thought Robin, taking it upon himself to get back to work, studying the article in front of him yet again, more than you will ever know Starfire... I already do...

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