Chapter Two

"Follow me, dear boy. I will bring you to her," Slade said.

Robin got a sick feeling in his stomach. Slade knew how much he cared about his friends, and that knowledge had made things horrible for Robin. Slade had once gotten Robin to be his apprentice by threatening to kill the rest of the Titans, but after his friends bravely stepped forward to help him out anyway, Robin and the others had promised that they wouldn't give in to blackmail like that again. Not even if their friends' lives hung in the balance. They were to find a flaw in their enemy's plan and contact the others immediately, regardless off the risk.

But if Slade were to find out about the crush he'd had on a fellow teammate for quite some time now, Robin didn't know if he'd be strong enough to stick to his word. "Who- who is it?" he asked, his voice sounding hoarse.

"Come see."

"No. I asked you who it was."

"You already know, Robin."

Robin shook his head slowly and backed up a bit. "Who is it?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper, though Slade was right; he knew who it was.

"Starfire."

Robin growled and launched himself at Slade. Only after he had thrown several punches and kicks did he realize that he had just given Slade everything he needed to take him down.

Robin jabbed his bo-staff at Slade, but he jumped out of the way at the last second and spun around to punch Robin in the gut. Robin couldn't help but remember the time when he had been Slade's apprentice, how helpless he had felt with his friend's lives in his worst enemy's hands. He couldn't just go along with whatever Slade said; he wasn't a thief. But when he fought Slade, he didn't actually want to hurt or even anger him. With the push of a button Slade could have killed his best friends. He almost did.

It was the same way now. He was afraid to win, because Slade no doubt had some failsafe to kill Star if he actually lost. Knowing he could never win doing it his way and trying to just cut to the end battle, Robin stepped back. "Take me to her."

Slade smiled cruelly and held out his hand. Robin sighed. Fine. He would go willingly, he would do whatever Slade wanted, for now. As soon as Star was safe in his arms, he would find a way out. Robin reached into his pocket and took out his communicator, but before he handed it to Slade he pressed the record button (a new feature Cyborg had added), faked a fall on the slippery ground beneath his feet, and said, "I'm fine." Then he saved the recording and sent it to the Titans as he got up. "Here," Robin said, giving it to Slade.

Slade snapped the T-phone in half, threw the pieces to the ground, and stomped on them. Then he moved quickly behind Robin, and before the Boy Wonder had any time to react, something hit the back of his head, hard, and he slumped to the ground.