Every bird must leave the nest
The training went well, oddly enough. No one seemed to complain. They were all relaxing now, eating pizza as a reward for all their hard work "yum! It's good today." Robin said as he ate happily. There were murmurs of agreement. As if it was just to ruin their great moods, the mini alarms on their communicators screamed. "Titans! GO!" they ran off all in the same direction.
Slade laughed, watching the little red dots on his screen "like moths to the flame, come, my little bird, return to your cage!" he laughed louder.
Slade bots came from every direction "it's a trap! Spread out!" they got their weapons ready, but the black and orange robots stopped right where they were "uh… robin? I got a bad feeling about this." Cyborg mumbled as smoke billowed out of the robots chest cavities. "It's sleeping gas! Hold your breaths!" robin covered his own mouth.
The thick clouds surrounded them, choking the air out of the entire area. Starfire tried to fly out, but a smoke-covered bot snuck up on her, unseen and hit her back to the ground. One by one, they fell, coughing and gagging "well, well, well." Slade taunted, coming up to them as the air cleared "Sleep well, robin." He picked him up and disappeared with him, in the middle of the winter day, and no one would see it. When the rest of the titans came too, it was night "ro..." raven coughed "robin?" she croaked looking around. "Oh god… no!" she jumped to her feet. "I said bacon!" Cy said, sitting up "wait… what happened?" he shook his sleep fogged head back and forth "It was Slade. He's got Robin!" they all headed to the tower to regroup and find a battle plan.
"Hello, robin" Slade purred as the hero lifted himself to his elbows and kneed "Where am I?" Slade grabbed his chin "Your home, my boy." He lifted him to his feet, almost affectionately "I've been keeping a special eye on you." He muttered softly, an amused tone tinted his voice when robin jerked away and took on a fighting stance before falling back down, face first on the cold, hard ground. "I gave you a sedative while you slept. You are basically drunk right now, you can't fight me, so let's talk." He laid him on a mattress "you really have been pissing me off, robin." He scolded mockingly "How?" robin retorted, pulling further away from him "let us start with last week. That Red X… he seems… interested, doesn't he?" Robin snorted "so? A gay villain took a fancy to a hero, big deal!" Slade's eye flared in anger, yet his voice was calm "robin, you are mine, do you understand that? You are my enemy, my apprentice, MY work of art! I even own your THOUGHTS!" robin blinked, and then looked away "The only time I think about you, it's with hate, Slade. I don't belong to anyone. Even if I did, I'd sooner be Red's then yours!" Slade snarled and stood so fast and violently that the chair he'd been sitting on slammed to the ground "is that why you let him go?" he grabbed his chin "are you as you seem, then? A mere teenager, determined, but still run on hormones. Pathetic for a hero!" robin glared "I'm NOT interested. Not in Red X, Not in you. Not in ANYONE!" Slade rolled his eye and sat on the bed, calming down and ran a surprisingly gentle hand down his cheek, training it to the back of his head, lifting him slightly. "Oh? What about Batman?" Robin choked on air. And looked away
"Please, Richard, wake up, please!" Bruce's voice pleaded. Richard's eyes slowly opened "Bruce?" he groaned "Ouch." He suddenly gasped and sat up "THE JOKER!" he winced and clutched the left side of his bandaged chest "No, lay back down." Bruce gently coaxed him back onto the bed "Thank god you're alright. The Joker's been apprehended, and taken back to prison." He said, soothingly "I… was shot?" robin blinked "yes, and had the bullet been just a little more to the right… it would have hit your heart… if it had been a perfect shot… you would be dead." Robin looked up "Oh." Bruce glared "is that all your life is to you, Richard? An 'oh'?" Richard laughed softly "yeah, I guess so." He smiled softly at a very upset Bruce "look… You asked me something, Richard, right before we heard the joker, do you remember what that was?" Richard blinked and though "I asked… why you didn't let me die…" Bruce nodded "I asked myself the same thing, while a friend of mine took the bullet out of your chest, 'why does this boy mean so much to me? Why do I take care of him, instead of letting someone else do it?' and I think I found out why." Richard blinked "oh?" Bruce nodded "Alfred told me, that, since you've been here, you celebrate your time with me, every second I focus on you, you adore, like it's special… like its treasured time." Richard blushed "he... he said that?" Bruce nodded "that made me think. Normal children, especially if they had seen what you, unfortunately, had seen, they would be traumatized, and would have sought more attention with me, had I taken them in. Every time it stormed, you never once came to ask to sleep in my room, like a normal kid. You never complained about what foods you disliked, or watched T.V all the time. I made you do this, I created 'Robin'" Richard blinked "I don't get it..?" "Damn, Richard… do you… do you feel… there's no other way to put this.., Richard, do you think you love me?" Richard flushed red "No, I don't think I love you!" Bruce sighed "goo-" Richard interrupted him "I KNOW I love you," Bruce closed his eyes "i.. see… Robin cant exist anymore." Richard blinked "what?!" "I said, you have to stop fighting crime. You'r working to hard… I almost lost you once tonight, I cant let your attention-seeking distract you again."
That night, robin left Wayne manor. He ran away, never to return.