The relief and joy wore off as the night moved in; Robin was exhausted, his limbs shaky and his insides feeling hollow. The others were tired as well after their celebrations. The Game Station controllers lay tangled on the floor and couch, and the dirty dishes in the sink and scattered over the table were ignored as the Titans drifted one by one to their respective rooms.

-Save Robin, who did not retreat to bed, no matter how tired he felt. The back of his mind was still full of the events of his apprenticeship, and he didn't dare go to sleep with them occupying his thoughts. And the thought of closing his eyes leaving himself vulnerable, despite the security systems that guarded the tower from outsiders, drove him instead to his work room where he could busy himself and stay awake.

Almost immediately he regretted stepping inside; the walls were covered with newspaper clippings from the past year, most focused on Slade-related activities. Robin staunchly avoided the bold block letters of the man's name, or his chosen name-he still knew nothing more about Slade than when he had first allowed himself to go down the dark well of the man's world and nearly lost everything scrabbling back out. He went to his computer station, sat down and kept his back to the papers, as if they, like his memories, could be simply ignored. Yet all he wanted to do now was move on, and forget the nightmare he'd undergone the past week.

You'll never be able to forget, a niggling thought said as he checked his messages. Especially since Slade got away. Again. He's still out there, and as long as he's at large you'll never be able to rest again.

No, Robin told himself, reigning in the insidious thought. Slade's on the run. He's the one who's huddled up, worrying.

He wasn't so sure, though.

"Another day, Robin." That was what Slade had promised him. Another day-for what? For Slade to capture and abuse him all over again, or for revenge? Or for some twisted third option he couldn't yet imagine? How could he ever be at peace again, with those words waiting to be fulfilled?

"No," he repeated out loud. "They're only words." Slade was the one who was sent running. It was an empty threat to assuage his ego.

He turned his attention back to the computer, and focused on his correspondence. His mood dipped even further when he saw an e-mail from the last person he wanted to talk to. The terse message said: " Been away for a few days. Business. Just got back. Saw footage of you at Wayne Tech. Call me."

The last thing Robin wanted was to call Bruce. It would mean admitting too much; failure, for one thing. And how stupid he'd been, how he'd endangered himself and everyone else along with him. Bruce would be quick to lecture him on all of his shortcomings and mistakes.

Heart hammering almost as badly as it had when Slade had been standing right next to him, gloating, Robin entered Bruce's number. The secure one. The computer sent out the call. While it connected, Robin drummed his fingers hard against the top of his desk.

It took a few seconds, but eventually Bruce picked up. "Good to hear from you," his voice said. It was totally devoid of relief-had Robin not known Bruce personally, he would have wondered if the man really was glad to hear from him again.

"I was held up for a bit," Robin said shortly. He could play the stoic, too. "Got everything sorted out."

"Alfred says you robbed Wayne Tech."

That was Bruce. He didn't dance around the subject, and he didn't tread softly around people's feelings. Robin usually admired his business-like attitude and his determination to get things done, but the last thing he wanted right now was to get to the point of this call. Bruce had to know on some level that he'd been compromised, but Robin really didn't want to admit to him out loud; he definitely didn't want to go into detail about what twisted deal he had allowed himself to get into.

"You stole a secret piece of tech we were developing," Bruce continued. "Care to tell me why?"

"It was..." Robin bit off the words and tried again to articulate what he wanted to say. He couldn't find any way to phrase things lightly. "It wasn't like I had a choice. I got caught up in something."

"Caught up in what?"

"The bad guy got the upper hand. If I hadn't done it, people would've died."

"The security camera found you fighting the police-and your team. The cops didn't recognize you, but I assume they did. Care to tell me about that?"

Robin leaned over the table, and dropped his head into his hands. "No, I don't. It's my problem. It got worked it out."

"Worked out? So where's the property you stole from me?"

Robin clenched his fist against his temple. "Probably destroyed now, I guess. The bad guy's base is trashed. Honestly it was the furthest thing from my mind at the time."

"Was the bad guy apprehended?" Bruce asked.

Robin paused. "No."

"Is he dead?" Here Bruce's voice got a little tighter.

"No," Robin ground out. "He's...on the run."

"On the run? Where to?"

"I'm not sure yet," Robin said. He added quickly, "I'll find him. We've got the upper hand now."

"You should find him quickly," Bruce said. "Don't lose whatever advantage you have; give him no leeway and don't underestimate him. Not again."

"Not again." Hearing that hurt. But Bruce was right. He shouldn't have underestimated his opponent. Slade was a genius, and a dedicated lone operator for whatever grand plan he was aiming toward. He had led them around in circles, making them move where he wanted them, and led them astray all without their knowledge; he had schemes within schemes and everything he said was a lie coated with just enough truth to steer them into his next trap, and time and time again they'd fallen into them. Robin shouldn't have needed Bruce to tell him that Slade was beyond the usual criminal element; but his mind and his body had been twisted enough in the last twenty-four hours to make sure he would never underestimate Slade again.

"We'll get him," Robin repeated. He believed it because he forced himself to; they had no other options but to stop Slade before he re-oriented himself and went back to his work. "It's only a matter of time, Bruce."

"I'm sure you will get him," Bruce said. "I trained you. I know what you're capable of."

It was probably as warm a compliment as Robin had ever heard from him, since he'd grown older and Bruce had come to expect more from him. Robin decided to take it; they didn't come easily.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "Anything else?"

"Just one thing: tell me exactly what happened."

There was no getting around it. Robin fell back in his chair and ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. He didn't even know where to begin. The past year felt like an eternity. Everything had been about Slade and stopping Slade. He barely remembered a time before that.

"I guess not long after we established our team here," Robin started slowly. "We were attacked by some HIVE kids who'd been hired by him-we didn't even know who he was at the time. Then Slade kept doing random things against the city. It made no sense. He didn't seem to want anything or he wanted everything. Finally I tracked him down, and he held the Titans hostage. He injected them with something that could kill them. I had to follow his instructions until I could get out of the situation."

Saying the words, it all sounded so simple, even just procedure. Another side-effect of dealing with the criminal element.

"And what did he want you to do?" Bruce asked. "Just steal from Wayne Tech?"

Robin didn't want to say, "He wanted to take me on as his apprentice. You know, like you did? His plan was to make me exactly like him; he even suggested he could be a father to me. What he wanted was to own me, Bruce." It was too sick to say. Robin was determined to never say it, and never let Bruce know.

"He wanted me to work for him," Robin decided on. "As one of his agents."

"That's why you were wearing that uniform in the security footage?"

"Yeah."

Bruce didn't press the issue further. Robin was grateful. They both knew he could have. There were so many questions Bruce had to be thinking. No doubt he would continue to question what really happened. All Robin could hope for was that Bruce would trust him to handle things on his own.

"Anything else I should know?" Bruce finally asked.

"No. I'm fine."

"I doubt that," Bruce said. "But you will be. We all have that one case...or several cases. If you're lucky this will be the only real tough one you have to deal with, but I doubt it. Sometimes all you can be grateful for is that you got yourself and the people you care about out alive."

"I know," Robin said.

"Get some sleep. I'll t-" Bruce's voice distorted briefly with static. A thin peel of feedback came from the speakers "-with Alfred and let him-"

"What?"

"I'm-here," Bruce said. "Can you hear me?"

"Now I can."

"What was that?" Bruce asked. His voice had sharpened.

"I'm not sure." Only he and Bruce had access to this channel. "I'll have Cyborg look it over," Robin said . "Maybe it's a bug."

"Maybe," Bruce said.

"It's fine," Robin said. Already, Bruce was being paranoid. Acting like Robin was in danger without him around. "The Tower is completely safe."

"Check everything to make sure."

"All right-"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Robin said, but Bruce had already disconnected.

Robin sighed. Bruce was still micro-managing his life, even after all this time.

He got up to alert Cyborg.

. . .

He hadn't really expected the hack to last-not with the inferior equipment he'd had to use. But it was worth it.

Slade leaned back in his chair, displeased with how stiff and uncomfortable it felt and how he'd have to break it in. His back-up base was barely put together when it came to his usual aesthetics, but at least he'd been forward-thinking enough to install it with decent. It hadn't taken long to re-establish his monitoring of the Tower, all things considered.

While Slade couldn't sneak his cameras into the tower, he could tap into their security system and their computer networks as well. Even after Cyborg had increased the firewalls since he'd hacked their video phone a week ago, the new measures hadn't held up for long.

Slade had no real goal this time. He just wanted to see how his apprentice was doing. But a few hours of waiting had paid off unexpectedly when Robin's call was placed. He was actually surprised to see the call connect with Gotham.

It was the kind of lucky break one never hoped for when spying.

Bruce, he thought with an incredulous smile. Wayne Enterprises. Of course. Why didn't I connect the pieces before?

He decided not to do anything about this discovery yet. It was still too fresh, and he had a lot more pressing things to do in the next few weeks. He also wanted to see what new secrets he could mine with this information. That would take time, too. One did not fire all of their bullets at once.

Someday, he thought. When the time is right. Perhaps it would be years; but Slade was good at waiting. He loved to hold back until just the right moment.

Whatever came of this, it was something to look forward to.

-END-