Disclaimer: Maybe someday I'll be rich and famous, and when that happens I'll buy DC comics so I'll own Teen Titans. But now I'm a poor college student and I don't own Teen Titans.

Chapter 2

Robin and Slade walked nonchalantly down the street, appearing to passerby as father and son. If people were nosy enough to ask Slade told them—in a bemused voice as he dangled an arm around Robin's shoulder—that yes, they were indeed father and son. Robin would force a smile on his face and nod, silently thanking the wonderful person who ripped Slade's eye out. The little action figure in his pocket gently tapped his side as he walked. Robin shot a sidelong glance to Slade.

Father.

If he lied enough to himself perhaps he could pretend that Slade really was his father. His thoughts drifted back to the family at the coffee shop. Robin wondered where the father of those boys was—at work, on a military tour, or perhaps he had abandoned them.

Their easy gait betrayed nothing of their plan to bomb GoTech, a weapons manufacturer located on this side of town. Although Slade trusted him enough to allow him some freedom, Robin was still not completely privy to Slade's plans. Oh, he knew the target, but Slade sometimes gave him flimsy reasons for doing this or that. Then again, Robin reasoned, Slade had told him once that trust takes time to build and a moment to destroy.

"The bombs will go off in a series of five seconds apart," Slade said. "You are to go and infiltrate the building. Find Greg Stevens and bring him to me. Unharmed."

"Yes, Master."

Inside Robin's stomach churned. Greg Stevens was the CEO of GoTech. Slade had never asked him to personally handle someone before, let alone kidnap. Most of his missions involved thievery but nothing greater. At first—after his initial aggressiveness subsided—Robin's opinion of Slade went even lower. A criminal mastermind who only stole? Not much of a criminal mastermind. Yet Slade left Robin alone with Wintergreen many times to go on solo missions that Robin knew nothing about.

They walked along main street until they came to a deserted building, the windows boarded up and the rooms dark. Slade opened the door and motioned for Robin to follow him. Sladebots scurried around the building, scuffling in the shadows as they went about their assigned chores.

Slade shrugged off his trenchcoat and pulled out his metal mask. At least, Robin thought as he took of his jacket, Slade trusted him enough to show his face. It was sort of a quid pro quo—Robin revealed his identity in exchange for Slade to reveal his. Not that he really had any choice in the matter. They quietly changed into their respective uniforms.

"Give the Titans no quarter if they show," Slade said. "If they continue to interfere with our plans they will have to be eliminated."

Robin paused in the act of snapping his chest plate armor on. Long ago he learned to hold his tongue when it came to the Titans, but this was the first time since the beginning of his apprenticeship that Slade mentioned eliminating the Titans. Fear flooded through him. Did Slade already know about his encounter with the family? The note to the Titans?

"Do you have something to say?" Slade asked, his tone mocking. "About the Titans?"

"Elimination is not necessary," Robin replied at last. "They are merely misguided. They do not understand the advantages of working with you."

He held his breath. Everything could collapse around him in this single moment. He couldn't bring himself to tell Slade that the Titans should be killed—that would only make him do it. Slade's one eye—a hazy blue—studied him closely. Robin felt as if Clark's x-ray vision was beaming through him, seeing straight through his lie. Although Slade's expression never changed Robin knew that he was displeased with this statement.

"There are still many things I must teach you," Slade replied finally. "We'll talk about this later tonight."

Robin suppressed a shudder as Slade stalked away. He twisted the communicators into his ears and placed a mask upon his face. He followed Slade to an upstairs room, where the criminal mastermind stood in front of a large open window.

"Remember: no quarter," Slade said. "Go now."

Slade lifted a trigger and pressed down on the button with his gloved thumb. For one terrifying moment Robin thought that it was the trigger to the nanobots, but the ear-deafening boom of the bombs whipped him back into reality. Without waiting for Slade's signal Robin leapt out of the open window head first.

He twisted in the air and aimed his grapple hook at a nearby beam. Gray dust billowed in great clouds as the building began to crumble. Civilians shouted in alarm as they ran for cover, some pointing at his flying figure in confusion. The hook wrapped itself securely around the beam, and his arms shook slightly as they took the brunt of his weight. He swung high into the air and let go of the rope, momentarily giddy as he flew unsupported through the air. Robin covered his unprotected face with his arms as he plunged headfirst into a window.

Shards of glass cut his face as he rolled to break his fall. He ignored them as he set out immediately for his goal. Sprinklers poured water down on him, causing goosebumps to rise on his exposed flesh. As he ran down the hall guards flooded out. He skidded to a halt, took out a small bomb, and threw it towards them with a loud grunt. He prayed that they would scramble out of the way; he really didn't want any of them to get hurt.

"Careful," Slade's voice said. "I don't want the building to collapse on you."

Robin leapt over the unconscious bodies of those who didn't manage to get out of the way in time, taking out another guard with a well-placed kick in the chest. He lost count of the other guards he disarmed as he worked his way towards the target room—Slade preplanned his entrance and exit. Robin kicked down the door and burst into the room. Greg Stevens' hands shook as he aimed a gun at Robin's head.

"Put down the gun, Stevens," Robin growled. "I don't want to hurt you."

Stevens' glasses began to cloud up as sweat poured down his face. His face twisted into bewilderment.

"R…Robin?"

Robin took the opportunity to disarm Stevens, knocking the gun to the floor and twisting the man's arm behind his back. He tried not to hurt Stevens—in fact he almost wished that the CEO would fight back and defeat him. Robin always wished that someone—even Bruce—would fight back with a vengeance and defeat him. He wanted to prove Slade wrong. He wasn't the perfect apprentice.

"Yeah," Robin snarled, just to please a listening Slade. "My boss would like a word with you."

Bowing his head to avoid falling debris, Robin forced Stevens to run beside him down the hallway. A van driven by a Sladebot was waiting for them on the street. Suddenly his world was covered in blackness. Stevens let out a terrified squeak beside him as they floated in nothingness, but Robin knew immediately what was happening.

Raven.

Sunlight blinded him as Raven brought them outside to the street. She floated a few feet above the ground, her dark blue cloak flapping in the slight breeze. Raven said nothing, just like she always did when he fought the Titans.

Speaking of the Titans, they stood around him in a semi-circle.

"Hey Rob," Cybrog said, his voice sarcastic. "How's your boss these days?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy cut-in, "How come he doesn't come to fight himself?"

"Say nothing," Slade whispered in his ear. "Not a word."

"Titans, go!" Cyborg roared.

They attacked at once. Beast Boy transformed smoothly into a tiger, growling menacingly as he took a swipe at Robin's torso. Robin leapt nimbly out-of-the-way. He barely heard Cyborg's sonic cannon begin to power up before striking the arm with his bo-staff. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Starfire helping Stevens to his feet. At once he ran towards them, pulling out a mirror out of his utility belt to deflect the starbolts she threw at him.

The one good thing Slade was teaching him was how to fight capes—people with superpowers. Slade told him tales of his encounters with the Justice League of America, something that surprised Robin. If Supes was there, Slade might have been beaten, but of course Supes wasn't. By carefully studying his enemies' powers, Slade could figure out how to defeat them. He bragged that he could defeat the League by himself with just his wits and a laser pointer. As Slade explained exactly how to do it, Robin became more and more convinced that Slade could defeat the JLA. Robin was uncomfortably reminded of how he used the exact same techniques when fighting the Titans as Red X.

Starfire cried out in pain from her own starbolt. Robin dashed to Stevens and dragged him towards the van, calling out for the sladebots to help. They came and took the protesting man into the van, driving away before any of the Titans could chase them.

Mission accomplished.

However, Robin continued to fight. Slade wouldn't let him come back unless he defeated the Titans, especially not after that unpleasant conversation about the Titans. Raven glided to him, her mouth open to cry out the familiar incantation.

"Azarath Metri—"

The incantation ended in a painful grunt as Robin kneed her just below the stomach. She dropped to the ground and hunched over, looking like she was going to vomit. As long as she couldn't speak he was no longer a threat. He didn't even dare to murmur "sorry" as he sprinted away, in fear that the communicators would pick it up.

"What did you do to her?" Beast Boy demanded angrily.

Beast Boy morphed into a leopard and began to circle Robin, his tail swishing dangerously from side-to-side. He jumped towards Robin with his claws outstretched and jaws opened wide. Just as Robin expected. His bo-staff rapped Beast Boy hard on the head. The changeling reverted immediately to his human form as he fell unconscious to the ground. To take down Cyborg, now the leader of the Titans, Slade gave Robin something that looked like a cattle prod. Cyborg angrily charged towards him. With one punch Robin would be knocked unconscious with a bad concussion.

Robin took out the device and slammed it into Cyborg's chest. Cyborg's scream of pain was almost too much for him to bear as Robin flipped over the Titan's head. As Cyborg fell to the ground Robin stood alone amid the unconscious bodies of his friends.

Alone.

"Good work," Slade said, his voice pleased. "Come back at on—"

Slade's voice fizzled out of existence as something hard hit Robin in the back. Before he realized what was happening electric currents rushed through his body, causing him to collapse to his knees. He fought to stay conscious as he gazed up at the person who shot him.

"Hiya Robin," said a redheaded teen standing on top of a truck. "Glad to finally meet you."

This newcomer wore a mask similar to Robin's, red shirt and yellow boots, and held a bow-and-arrow. The teen had an arrow nocked, the tip sizzling with electricity. The communicators in his ears were totally dead, but Robin wondered if Slade could still see what was going on.

He probably could.

"Just thought I'd come visit the Titans," said the teen, pulling back the bow. "Ask them why you turned."

The arrow flew. Robin scrambled to his feet to avoid the volley of arrows raining down on him. What was Speedy doing in Jump? Back when he was forming the Titans he remembered asking Ollie if Roy wanted to join the Titans. Roy said no.

With Slade gone Robin just wanted to get out of there. His friends were beginning to come to, and if Slade didn't know what was happening then he just wanted to get out. No one had to get hurt. Robin ran as fast as he could down the road towards the rendezvous. He couldn't waste any time, not with the Titans at risk.

"What, you chicken now?" Speedy asked, his arm a blur as he continued to fire. "Come on, fight!"

One of the arrows was loaded with a bomb. Robin stumbled back just in time as it exploded. He clenched his teeth as he backed away. Had the Titans replaced him with Speedy? It had been a year after all. He wouldn't blame them if they had replaced him. But all the same, it hurt Robin to watch his friends lose their faith in their former leader.

"I don't want to fight you," Robin said. "Back off, Speedy!"

"Why? So you can go back to Slade? I don't think so."

Something cold wrapped around his waist. Looking down, he saw Raven's dark power wrapping itself around him. He did not resist as she turned him so that they gazed at each other in the eyes. Robin had nothing in his utility belt to cut through her demon-like magic.

"Hold him, Raven," Speedy said. " So I can blow this traitor to—"

"No," she snapped.

"Raven," Robin said, "please let me go. Now."

She seemed to have caught his urgent tone. At any moment Slade could come and wipe them all out. He had to get away. Yet Raven closed her eyes and slowly opened them, chanting in a low voice.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

At once memories passed through his eyes as Raven entered his mind. He was flying through the air, laughing as his mother caught him by the arms. She smiled and called him her little robin…

He was in the Batcave, taking the oath to fight crime and for justice as Batman watched.

He was with the Titans, arguing over what kind of pizza they would order. He grinned as Beast Boy and Cyborg held their customary debate over vegetarian versus the meat-lover's delight.

Then there was Slade. Raven lingered longer in this part of his memories, searching for answers to puzzling questions.

"I can annihilate them, Robin, and I'll make you watch—"

"If the Titans are so distracting, maybe I should just get rid of them."

"So, do we have a deal?"

"This deal can't last forever—"

"It can, and it will."

Suddenly he was flung back to reality as Raven withdrew herself from his mind, her eyes wide with shock. He knew she hadn't seen everything, didn't understand everything, but she understood enough. She lowered him gently to the ground while Speedy gaped.

"You're letting him go?" He spluttered angrily. "Raven you—"

With a wave of her hand she silenced Speedy, her thin lips turned down in a puzzled frown. He wondered briefly if she would tell the Titans, but something told her she wouldn't. At least, not yet.

"Go, Robin."

He did.

Author's note: Mmm...this is okay. I feel as though I could have done better, so I'll probably edit this chapter as I post more chapters. The plot might change, since I'm basically making this up as I go along. I must also admit that I stole a lot from Deathstroke's (Slade's) fight scene against the JLA from the DC comic book Identity Crisis. Slade really did beat the crap out of the Justice League with only his wits and a laser pointer. But I reasoned that if Slade is training Robin he would be teaching Robin how to fight capes.

I also considered having KidFlash or Aqualad take Speedy's place, but I guess since I've been reading Identity Crisis I like Green Arrow. So Speedy it was. Reviews are much appreciated, tell me what you think!