AN: Second chapter up! Robin has a bit of sass in this!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Titans, the characters, or the setting!
Much to Robin's surprise, Slade didn't send him out for a mission that night. Instead, Slade decided to torture Robin in a newer way. Robin sat at the table uncomfortably staring down at the food in front of him. Slade, himself, was sitting across from Robin staring. Robin could probably take a knife to the thick tension in the air. Robin wasn't sure if the food had any hidden poisons or sedatives in them, but he wouldn't put it past Slade to do it. The food itself smelt great. Slade had briefly introduced him into Wintergreen, who was the apparent cook and maid of the house. Robin's stomach growled, and he deduced it had obviously been a while since he'd eaten anything. Now thinking about it, Robin couldn't recall his last meal.
Robin knew if anything was in the food, it would not be enough to kill him, at the same time, he couldn't push his pride aside to take a bite. So instead, he glared down at the awkward situation Slade was forcing him into. Slade hadn't taken off his mask, and so no food was in front of him. When Robin had pointed that out, he'd gotten a stern reply not to test Slade, and so the boy fell quiet once again.
"You have to eat something." Slade said coolly still staring at the defiant boy.
"I'm not hungry." Robin muttered a lie not looking up. Of course even if Slade had believed his awful lie, his stomach wouldn't allow him to believe it for too long. It rang out in the dead silence of the room, and Robin glared even harsher down at the plate.
"It's not poisoned." Slade replied ignoring Robin.
"Prove it. You take a bite first." Robin sassed. Slade chuckled and Robin was actually relieved that Slade had found his sass amusing rather than hitting him for it.
"Robin, what purpose would I have in poisoning you?" Slade asked honestly. When Robin didn't answer, Slade continued. "You will not leave the table until you've at least eaten your vegetables." Robin looked up, not sure if the man was teasing him or serious.
"What is this? Pre-k? I'm not a kid, Slade." Robin spat back.
"You're not yet an adult either." Slade pointed out. Robin clenched his fists at his side but tried to keep his cool.
"What's it matter to you whether or not I eat?" Robin asked frustrated.
"Do not use that tone with me." Slade warned in an icy tone. Robin flinched a little at the warning and took a moment to breath and calm down. "Eat, Robin." Slade commanded.
"I'm not hungry." Robin said again defiantly. Slade seemed to glare at his tone and after a few moments stood up.
"Fine." He heard Slade said in almost a devious way. Robin's masked eyes held some fear at the tone as he watched Slade. "Then follow." Slade commanded before turning from Robin and walking away. Robin stared in shock a moment and wondered what was in store for him as he numbly got up from the table and followed quickly behind Slade.
Robin was lead down a bunch of twists and turns. Robin tried to keep up with the path in his head so he could find his way back if he needed but after a few moments, even Robin had lost his way. There were no marking on the walls to tell whether Slade was leading him in circles or was really just leading him through a maze. Either way, Robin followed silently. Finally, they arrived at their destination and Slade opened a door with a key card ushering Robin in. Robin entered the room with a firm scowl on his face.
The room that Slade had led Robin to was a gym, Robin realized. It was a spacious room with a treadmill, weights, a sparing mat, and other various work out items. Robin paused allowing Slade to past him and explain what he wanted.
Slade motioned for Robin to get on the treadmill. Robin sighed and did so. Slade clicked some numbers into the treadmill, and Robin was at a good paced jog. He looked down at the numbers and dully noted Slade had hit for two miles. Slade stepped back with his hands behind his back. Was he really going to stand there the entire jog?
Robin looked back down at the controls of the treadmill. He could jog two miles at this pace without much of a problem. Training with Batman and then with the Titans had given him endurance of an athlete. Robin didn't feel like this was enough of a challenge. Slade usually challenged him, so why was he holding back on him now? Robin looked up at Slade to see he was unmoved and then looked back to the controls. Robin tried to work out why Slade was going easy on him, but he couldn't figure out any motive.
Now Robin was not dumb, just sometimes he had dumb ideas. And the idea that struck him then was definitely a dumb idea. He figured that since he was going to have to run two miles regardless of what he did, why not make the time go by faster and challenge himself. Robin again stared at the controls. He wanted to hurry through whatever work out Slade wanted him to do, so maybe if he just increased the speed, he'd still be running the two miles, but just with less time involved. After confirming this was a good idea in his head, Robin reached in front of him and, feeling cocky of his skills, clicked the notch up, not one, but three speeds.
Slade barely managed to hold back a dark chuckle as the speed of the treadmill almost threw the boy off. Robin's feet pounded furiously against the running belt to keep up. Okay! He thought, maybe three speeds wasn't a good idea. He moved to turn it back down a speed or so, but as he clicked on the turn down button, Robin noticed the distance he was set to run increased to two and a half miles. Panicked Robin clicked the button again, but the same thing happened and now it showed three miles. Robin was already breaking into a sweat at the new speed of the treadmill and tried clicking on the number pad to see if he could calm the speed down with that, but that only made things worse as it flashed 'access denied' on the screen and again increased the distance to now three and half miles. Robin cursed under his breath at this and finally left the controls alone. He should've taken the pace Slade had given him. Robin realized that now, but there was no going back.
Slade was greatly amused as Robin looked up. Robin could see a spark in the man's sole eye. Robin decided right then and there that he would not give Slade the satisfaction of getting under his skin or the satisfaction of him quitting because he'd screwed up the controls. He'd run the damn three and half miles at this speed, whether it killed him or not.
After the first mile, Robin was regretting his decision and a small part of his mind kept arguing for him just to ask Slade to turn down the speed. Robin denied this and tried not to make it so obvious he was struggling to breathe. After the second mile, Robin's mind and body were begging him to stop. Slade stood as unmoved as ever just watching the struggle. Robin's breath came out hard and fast. His lungs burned with every breath he took. 'Please! Bargain with him!' Some part of his mind screamed. 'Let him add an extra mile if he will turn it down just a little!' It screamed. Robin again denied himself such luxury. He knew Slade would not turn down the controls even if Robin asked. He would say something along the lines of how it was Robin's fault and for him to keep going.
Robin could feel tears in his eyes as he approached the third mile. He'd nearly fallen off the treadmill twice now. He had endurance, but he'd never pushed himself like this. Robin mind pleaded for him to stop, but he knew he couldn't. He argued with himself. 'Just another five minutes and I promise I will never make you run again!' He knew that was a lie, but he was trying to motivate himself to keep going. He could feel his body giving out from fatigue. He didn't know how much longer he could actually withstand before he did fall off the treadmill. Would Slade make him start over, or would he allow him to rest for a few moments? Robin was almost tempted to make it look like an accident and fall off the treadmill if it met a moment of peace. But he couldn't. He'd swore to himself he'd make it through this and so he pushed himself, using pure will power, to keep him going.
Finally, the treadmill stopped and Robin all but collapsed to his hands and knees gasping for air. Slade hadn't spoken a word throughout the run. He was sure that Slade was secretly very amused with Robin's weakness. Robin took his time to recover, but of course Slade didn't allow him too much time. After a minute, Slade cleared his throat to remind him he was still in the room. Robin looked up and Slade was gesturing to the bench press. Robin closed his eyes trying to think of what to say. His mind demanded him just to stay still, but his pride made him move. He wouldn't let Slade's little work out break him so easily. The controls had been Robin's fault, but he'd just let Slade take the control of the rest of the work out. He wouldn't be cocky anymore and just accept what the man asked of him.
Robin laid on his back as Slade added weights to the already 45lbs bar. Robin watched him still trying to catch his breath. Slade only added 50lbs to each side making the whole thing 145lbs. He then set a stop watch down on the small table beside Robin that was counting down from twenty minutes. Robin reached for the bar. No matter how tired he was, he was going to get through this. He wasn't going to complain, he wasn't going to cry, he wasn't even going to talk to the man. He was just going to take the training in silence.
The weights didn't hurt his arms at first, but after ten minutes of hold 145lbs on his arms pushing it towards then away from his body, he was starting to feel the burn. His legs were still tingling from the run and though his breathing had calmed down a bit, it was still elevated. His heart pounded painfully pulsing with the pain of his arms. Robin gritted his teeth but forced himself to keep going. After twenty minutes was up and the timer went off, Robin set the bar down. As he sat up, a jump rope was thrown at him. Robin groaned a bit out loud without meaning to. Just how long was this work out going to be?
Already fatigued, Robin clumsily got up to the mat where he could do the jump rope. Slade seemed to want to torture him, and set it for a very long 30 minutes. Robin was only barely able to hold out until the end. He again collapsed on the floor as the timer rang out. He was in agonizing pain and he was starting to feel like he was going to black out from lack of oxygen. But again, Slade only allowed him a few moments to recover before he bent down and held Robin's feet together and down and told him to do 100 sit ups. Robin didn't make it through them all before he cracked. He laid on his back panting once he'd hit about 38.
"Keep going." Slade told him cruelly. Robin tried. He got up to 50 before he again laid on his back trying not to cry. "Is there a problem?" Slade asked him. Robin gritted his teeth. Of course there was a problem! Could Slade not see Robin was done?! Robin was almost too tired to even make a snappy remark⦠almost.
"I'm done, Slade." Robin snapped.
"Done?" Slade repeated amused. "Is it too much, Robin?" Robin wanted to punch him, but he had no fight left in him. He just wanted to recover in peace. The running is what had killed him. If he wouldn't have tried messing with the controls, he wouldn't be half as tired as he was. But the fact was, he'd yet to catch his breath from the running part, and so he just couldn't do anymore. Slade watched interested as Robin ignored his question. He'd been very impressed the boy had made it so far without caving in, but he hadn't expected him to be able to complete the training with such harsh conditions. "Is it too much, apprentice?" Slade asked looking for a rise out of him.
Robin moved to kick him, but Slade's strong hands didn't allow anything to happen since he still was holding Robin's legs down for the sit ups. Robin growled in frustration but gave in going back to recovering his breath. Robin wasn't going to admit it was too much, out loud. Slade could very well see it was. Robin wasn't going to humor him anymore than he already was to watch him near tears.
Slade stood up towering over the boy. "And what have we learned?" He asked as if he was a school teacher. Robin knew better than to keep ignoring Slade. He was in no condition to fight him and so he knew he had to answer him.
"Not to mess with the controls when you set them." Robin replied angrily. That was not the lesson Slade was actually trying to teach, but he figured close enough. He turned from the boy and went over to a cooler and then tossed him a bottle of water.
Without thinking Robin tore into the water. His mouth had been so dry and the cool liquid was very refreshing to him and gave him back some strength he'd lost from dehydration. It only occurred to him after he'd already downed about a third of it that Slade could've laced it with some kind of poison or sedative. Furthermore, and more pressing to Robin, was that he'd just accepted something Slade had offered to him. Robin stopped drinking immediately capping the bottle and setting it down defiantly. Slade had to resist rolling his eye. The boy had much to learn, but gratitude was at the very top.
Thanks for reading! I love Robin's thoughts in this. I don't know about any of you, but I know when I'm working out, I have almost the exact same thoughts. 'If I run this last five seconds I'll never run again!' Hahaha. Had to add the humor in there. Slade was actually punishing Robin for not eating his vegetables for those who didn't catch on, but of course he wasn't going to say that out loud! Hahaha. Hope you enjoyed!
