Hi there, dudes and dudettes! I know it's been a while – since last year, if you wanna get technical – especially considering that we're now officially four whole days into 2006. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

So we're back with another chapter – the one which the "preview" of Black Magic which was featured at the end of Asylum was taken from. So that means, of course, that there's a bit of a bitch-fight between Robin and Terra, and… well, something else…

To all old hands who have loyally returned to me; Phoenix Skyborne, YamiTai, Daybreak25, Narroch06, Rocky Wolf and Quinn and His Quill – who is now sulking about the fact that I got over 100 reviews for Asylum and refuses to review unless he is "thoroughly impressed"… I love you too, Quinn…

And, um, Timberfox… I'm really glad you like it, but… you would need to read Asylum first…

Everybody get out your air-horns and let's get this party… fight… started!

Whoo-hoo!

Apprentice vs. Apprentice

"Are you afraid, Robin?"

The Boy Wonder blinked and stopped, turning to face Starfire, who was floating along behind him a few inches from the floor. The Tamaranean girl stopped too and gazed at him with her large green eyes.

"Afraid?" He was puzzled and both his voice and expression advertised it. "Afraid of what, Starfire?"

"Slade. And the fact that he wants to kill you, and…" She trailed off and frowned. Robin looked at her for a very long moment, holding eye contact with her.

"No."

His voice caught. He abruptly turned and carried on walking, feeling his cape brushing against the backs of his thighs.

He was afraid; of course he was. Slade was a very dangerous individual, maybe more so than the likes of even the Joker because he was quiet in his means, whereas the Joker was a show-off and deliberately attracted Batman's attention. In a showdown Slade had the upper hand, naturally; he was taller, heavier, older, more experienced in his fighting style and certainly more sadistic. And while he and Slade had established each other as an arch-nemesis' from day one, Slade had never really been out to kill him. Just to have some fun with him, leading him on crazy chases, corrupting him and tricking him and beating him to within an inch of his life and then laying off. Just fun on Slade's behalf.

But the fun was over now. Slade would gain something by killing the Titans' leader, and would invariably go all out to bathe in his blood. That same Titans' leader couldn't allow himself to be killed for the simple reason that when his heart beat its last, the apocalyptic power of the Orb of Azarath was as good as summoned, and not even the remaining Titans would be able to prevent its uprising. He just couldn't let that happen, and he didn't intend to.

But he was still afraid. Slade was so like him in so many ways; the fighting style, the under-handed way of going about things, the stealth, the killer ability with a bo staff, the thought pattern, the intelligence, the speed, the mask… It was like being stalked by himself. Sort of.

That scared him. If Robin himself wanted to kill, he knew he could. Easily. His dream had proved that. And Slade was no different.

But he couldn't tell the Titans that he was afraid. Not because of pride or masculinity or whatever, but because he was supposed to be the leader, the one who always had a victory plan, who never gave up and wouldn't allow anyone else to either. They were all scared for him, terrified that Slade would kill him, but he was the one who had to be strong and tell them to pull themselves together, they were the Teen Titans and Slade wouldn't fulfil his prophecy because they would stop him. If he didn't, then who would? If he cowered and declared that he wasn't going to set foot out of Titans Tower because he was afraid that Slade was going to do him in, then they would be brought down with him, because if they saw him scared then they would invariably be scared too, thinking that there was no hope and that it was inevitable that Slade was going to murder their Boy Wonder.

"I'm not afraid, Starfire," he said firmly over his shoulder, more to convince himself than her. "And you shouldn't be either. We're going to stop him."

"Promise?" Starfire asked, her voice wavering a little. Robin turned to her again, near exasperated. How the hell could he promise such a thing? But Starfire was gazing at him still and her emerald eyes were so sad that he didn't have the heart to tell her he couldn't promise.

"I promise," he replied softly, wanting more than anything to keep it. Starfire smiled and floated a few feet over to him, landing softly and glancing around. They were in a long tunnel that stretched almost as long one way as the other, and it was carved out of ragged rock and dirt and dust. The Jump City diamond mine in all it's splendour.

And I bet they haven't ever found a single diamond, either, Robin mused bitterly as he looked around with her.

When they had arrived there had been no sign of activity, and Robin had ordered them to split up and search the tunnels. Beast Boy was with Raven, Cyborg had ventured alone and Robin himself had teamed up with Starfire. Now the Earth boy and Tamaranean girl were traipsing along the tunnel – it felt like it was miles long – pretty much in silence. Robin actually doubted that they were going to find anything; Slade and the prophecy and the orb and the Avenger and all that jazz, they were all hot topics in Titans Tower and everyone had kind of had it on the brain for the past week. They were probably all overreacting.

"Do you think we will find anything?" Starfire inquired, as though reading his mind. Robin shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe," he replied evasively. "But I wouldn't bet on it."

"You cannot bet, Robin," Starfire said, surprised. "You are too young."

Robin sighed.

"Figure of speech, Star," he muttered. "Just forget I said it."

Sometimes Starfire's lack of understanding American slang was a pain in the ever-loving ass.

Suddenly there was an almighty rumble; it sounded like… like a rockslide. A minor one, but still… In the middle of a makeshift diamond mine, even a minor rockslide could be dangerous.

Robin and Starfire both froze.

"Hear that?" Robin asked, feeling Starfire bump against him as they came back to back.

"Yes," Starfire answered, her hands glowing green with her alien power. They both stood still, waiting, listening.

Nothing.

"Did we… imagine it?" Starfire questioned uneasily.

"No," Robin replied quietly. "No, it was real alright…"

He felt Starfire's weight shift from his back and looked over his shoulder to see the alien girl cautiously wandering a little way down the tunnel, her hands glowing with luminous green orbs.

"Star, be careful!" Robin called after her. He whipped his staff from his belt and started after her, looking around at the walls of the tunnel for telltale cracks or loose rocks.

He had just about caught up to her when a tremendous explosion of rocks and dust erupted from the left side of the tunnel. A huge boulder burst loose in the torrent of dirt and broken rock and smashed into Starfire seconds before Robin reached her, catching her full on. She screamed as she was knocked sideways right across the narrow tunnel and the boulder crunched right through the far wall of rocks in another explosion of dust.

"STARFIRE!" Robin yelled, fighting through the cloud of dust and debris to the right side of the tunnel. The boulder had smashed a gaping hole into the wall and had broken through into a dark chamber, again carved from rock and held up by thick wooden support beams. Robin scrambled over the chunks of rock and hitched himself over the boulder, landing on the other side of it heavily.

He found Starfire lying sprawled out partly on her side, partly on her back. Her long red hair fanned out in all directions, she was covered in dust and dirt and she had some nasty cuts where her gold-tinted body was bare. Her emerald eyes were closed but she was breathing and he found a pulse with no trouble at all. She was just unconscious.

Someone wanted her out of the way, not dead.

And he could guess who.

"Star, wake up!" He said desperately, pulling her up and supporting her head on his lap. He flicked her round the face but she didn't respond. "C'mon, Starfire, I need you…"

He shook her a little, then harder as he started to panic. If that had been him that boulder had hit, he would have been killed. Maybe it was an accident that it had hit Starfire instead. Being Tamaranean, Starfire's alien physiology gave her a certain degree of super strength and made her body very durable to explosions and boulders and such like. She probably wouldn't even be concussed from this little run-in.

"Starfire!" He wailed. "Star, you have to wake up! Come on!"

She still didn't awaken and Robin went to his belt for his communicator. He couldn't get Starfire out of here by himself, not with this boulder in his way, and now he was certain that Slade was behind this.

Flying boulders? Terra. Duh…

He needed back-up. Really badly.

He finished dialling Cyborg's number and held the pager in shaking hands as it started to bleep and upload…

A rock flew from the darkness and knocked his communicator out of his hand, sending it bouncing halfway across the chamber.

"As much as I'd like a team reunion, Rob, I think we'll keep this meeting to just me and you."

"Terra," Robin spat, recognising the blonde earth-mover's voice as he stood up, still gripping his staff tightly.

"Robin." Terra stepped out the shadows, a lazy smile on her pretty face. "Long time no see, huh?"

"Well, every now and then life throws something good your way, right?" Robin replied icily.

"I guess," Terra agreed airily. "Sorry I had to knock out Star, but she's such a pain in the butt sometimes…"

Robin didn't answer, but glanced quickly at the alien girl; she was still completely out of it. And with his communicator halfway across the chamber…

"Where's Slade?" He asked coldly.

"Well, you know how it is," Terra replied breezily. "He's a busy guy."

"I'm sure he is," Robin agreed with a smirk. "So he sent you to kill me instead."

Terra's lazy expression flickered ever so slightly at this.

"Yeah," she confirmed eventually.

"Mmm. An apprentice showdown, huh?"

Terra frowned.

"You were never Slade's apprentice."

Robin smiled oddly.

"Yes I was. Not by choice, though. Not like you, Terra."

"And what happened? Did he kick you out?"

Terra came a little closer to him and he gripped his staff all the more tightly.

"Yeah, something like that…"

Terra smirked.

"So you weren't good enough."

"No, Slade just won't stand for disobedience. I'm sure you know that…"

She did know that, and she had suffered for it, but she wasn't about to admit it to this full-of-himself jerk.

She came closer still to him and brushed a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"I have to kill you, Robin," she said matter-of-factly. "The prophecy-"

"Yeah, I know all about the prophecy, thanks, Terra," Robin interrupted coolly.

Though I doubt you do. I doubt you know everything

Terra smiled wryly at him and her pale blue eyes suddenly glowed like the sun, a golden yellow as she summoned her powers. The ground shook beneath the Boy Wonder's feet and he saw rocks working themselves loose from the uneven walls. Terra extended her hand towards him and the rocks shot at him like bullets; he dived into a roll, avoiding them scantly as they smashed into the ground dangerously near Starfire. He straightened up, his fists clenched, his staff still in one of his green-gloved hands.

"Don't hurt Starfire!" He snapped. "I'm the one you want!"

Terra smirked.

"Still undyingly in love with the alien, huh, Rob?" She taunted. "Some things never change…"

She twisted her hand over and a rock that he had missed crunched into his side, sending him sprawling across the chamber. He dragged himself to his knees, clutching at his ribs and experiencing severe déjà vu.

First Batman, then Slade, now Terra…

Oh yeah; Terra was right. Some things never changed. Him getting beaten up was one of them.

Terra ripped a lump of rock out of the ground and floated over to him on it, then arranged more like steps as she descended and stood in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"Slade was right," she patronised him, looking down at him. "You are pathetic."

Fast as lighting the Boy Wonder was on his feet, and before Terra even realised what had happened he had dealt her a powerful uppercut. He followed through with a dragonfly kick that threw Terra against the far wall. He landed lightly and slid into a battle stance.

Terra struggled to her feet and wiped her mouth, which was bleeding freely.

"Prick," she muttered darkly as she advanced on him again; he couldn't help but be amused by the insult. After all, she was the one who was trying to kill him. He was merely defending himself.

She made the mistake of getting too close and he caught her with a roundhouse, sending her to the floor. Instead of getting up again she merely propped herself up on her elbows and her eyes glowed yellow.

Something – a rock, more than likely – smacked into the backs of his knees, sending him off-balance. Terra realised her second mistake as he landed heavily on top of her. They wrestled on the ground in the dirt, Terra having the upper hand by shooting rock chips at his face to try and blind him. She pitched him onto his back and straddled his stomach, sitting on him contently with her knees on either side of his chest. He struggled underneath her but couldn't get her off. She smiled sweetly at him and moulded herself a pointed taper of rock, sharp like a stake. She held it in her right hand and raised it over his heart; she was going to stick it to him like he was a vampire or something.

He brought his knees up behind her and smashed her in the back, throwing her off his body head-first. Her "stake" got lost in the process and he rolled over and got to his knees as she did the same. Their eyes met and for a few seconds it was almost as though they were play-fighting.

But they weren't, and they both knew it.

They both stood, and Terra rose higher still on another platform of rock, raised her hand and more rocks flew like ravenous birds at him. He parried them off with his staff, but then the metal weapon snapped as a bigger rock came at him. It hit him in the stomach and sent him staggering backwards against the first boulder that had taken out Starfire. He crumpled and discarded the staff, desperately went to his belt, pulled out a pair of birdarangs and sent them arcing at her. She shrieked and shielded her face with her arm, and they ripped the black fabric of her long-sleeved top, baring bloody skin beneath. They clattered to the floor and Terra looked down at them in disgust; her head jerked up again as she heard Robin utter a high-pitched battle cry and too late she found him in front of her, swinging his elbow at her face. She ducked and instead he caught her by the front of her top, grasped her by the waist and threw her across the rocky chamber. The earth-mover tumbled to a halt and scrabbled to her feet, rubbing the back of her neck under the sheet of corn-coloured hair. She straightened up just as Robin threw himself into her, slamming her against the wall. Her face pressed against the sharp wall of the chamber as he twisted her arm behind her back, his mouth centimetres from her ear.

"Tell Slade to cram it," Robin whispered lethally, feeling strands of her long blonde hair tickling his face. He felt Terra struggle against him and pressed harder against her twisted arm. She shrieked and swore at him, calling him things much worse than "prick".

"Taught you how to curse too, has he?" Robin asked, grimly amused.

"I'll kill you," Terra spat.

A sour smile played across Robin's pale, handsome face.

"Not if I can help it, Terra."

He let go of her arm and knee-hauled her in the back. She screamed as she felt the blow from between his knee and the wall. He stepped back onto both feet and she crumpled. He thought he heard her swear at him again under her breath, but he didn't have time to contemplate it as something large and solid suddenly enclosed around his body from behind, pinning his arms to his sides. He was lifted from the ground at least two feet into the air, where he struggled and kicked against whatever was holding him.

Terra got to her feet and brushed her hair back from her face, smirking at her captive.

"Got you, Rob," she murmured. She showed him her palm, then closed it slowly and deliberately to show him what was holding him; a giant hand crafted entirely from rock. He looked down and could see the large thick fingers around his chest and arms.

"I can crush you," Terra whispered. "Force the air from your lungs, break your bones, snap your spine…"

"Terra, no," Robin said desperately, still kicking thin air in vain. He tried to pull his arms loose but they were jammed against his sides. "You can't… you can't do this… you mustn't listen to Slade, Terra, he's evil…"

"He helped me. I owe him," Terra deadpanned.

"He's brainwashed you!" Robin snapped. "For Pete's sake, Terra-"

"Shut up," Terra interrupted. "What do you know about it, Robin? You're not cursed with this kind of power. Look at you; you're normal…"

The fingers loosened and Robin slipped from their grasp, falling back to the ground and landing on his back. He sat up and shook his head, wondering why Terra had suddenly let him go. He stood and Terra looked him up and down very slowly and purposefully. It was like she was checking him out, but he knew there was nothing sexual there; it was an odd thought, but Terra was jealous of him. Jealous of the fact that he was normal. He didn't know why; he would gladly have swapped. It was a pain in the ass not having any powers, especially in situations like this.

"You're so… normal…" Terra said again, her expression mournful. "You don't know what it's like, you just take it for granted… you wouldn't want this kind of curse, Robin. Even if you don't want to believe me, you could just ask Raven and she'd tell you…"

"Do you realise how lame it is being the only one on the team without any powers?" Robin countered.

"Wanna swap?" Terra mocked.

"Yeah, ok…"

Terra looked at him again for a very long time.

"You have no idea what you're saying," she told him eventually. "You might want powers… I just want to be like you. Normal, Robin. That might sound incredible, but I'd give anything to just be a normal kid."

"There's nothing to stop you-" Robin started.

"Yes there is!" Terra cried. She brandished her gloved palms at him. "This is! This curse!"

"If you stay with Slade, then it will be a curse forevermore," Robin said coldly. "You were a Titan, Terra. You had the chance to use your "curse" to help those who needed it, but you threw it away. I just don't understand."

"How could you?" Terra mused with a bitter smile. She turned away from him.

"Beast Boy doesn't understand either."

Terra gasped and whipped around to face him again, speechless.

"He thought he knew you best," Robin went on icily, seeing he had touched a nerve. "He thought he could trust you; we all did, but he… he loved you, Terra. I think he still does, despite everything. Despite the fact that you betrayed us to Slade. But I guess Raven was right…"

"SHUT UP!" Terra suddenly screamed. The huge hand clenched into a fist and Terra's eyes glowed gold. Before Robin could even block the massive fist punched him full on, the blow throwing him across the room. He smacked against the far wall and crumpled, fighting blackness. He moaned and shook his head to clear it, then hauled himself shakily to his feet, his palms flat against the wall behind him for support.

"Don't you start lecturing me about all that crap, Rob," Terra said dangerously as she very slowly approached him. "You don't know the half of it… you were too busy snooping around with Raven…" She forced a laugh. "Jeez, is it any wonder I betrayed you when you all didn't trust me in the first place!"

"Beast Boy did," Robin reminded her.

"Beast Boy, Beast Boy, BEAST BOY!" Terra shrieked. "What are you, a broken record?"

She came to a halt right in front of him and looked down at him, for she was a little bit taller than him. Then she slowly reached out and grasped hold of his wrists, squeezing them tightly beneath her long gloved fingers. He tried to break her grip and she smiled at him and suddenly wrenched them upwards, bringing up both his arms to above his head. She slapped his wrists against the wall and her eyes glowed once more and suddenly snakes of rock burst from the wall, looped over his wrists and plunged back into where they had come from. She let go of him and he tried to move his wrists away from the wall and realised in horror that he was now shackled, unable to move his arms.

"What do you know about Beast Boy, really?" Terra went on as though nothing had happened, even though he wasn't really listening anymore as he was too occupied with trying to pull away from the wall. "You guys all think he's some kind of joke because he doesn't take anything seriously."

"He took you seriously, Terra," Robin said softly, surprising her. "You don't realise what your betrayal did to him."

Terra bit her lip and said nothing.

Robin stopped trying to escape and watched her intently.

"Why did you do it?" He questioned. "We took you in, we offered you friendship and a membership in the Titans… Wasn't that all you ever wanted? Acceptance and friendship?"

"There's more to it than that," Terra said eventually. "You just don't get it."

"No, I don't," Robin agreed. "None of us do, not even B.B, and he thought you had told him everything."

"I did at first, and he blabbed," Terra said bitterly. "I told him I couldn't control my powers and he promised not to tell but he did; he told you."

"No he didn't," Robin said, exasperated. "I worked it out on my own; it wasn't too hard to figure out, really…"

Terra flushed red.

"Shut up!" She snapped. "What would you know about it!"

"More than you'd think. I figured you were up to something when you made your sudden reappearance, and so did Raven."

"Raven never liked me anyway."

"Well, she might have done if you hadn't sold us to Slade," Robin said, irritated. Terra glared at him, her blue eyes boring into his own concealed beneath his mask; both his and hers were blue, but they were so different. Terra's were a pale forget-me-not hue, while Robin's own were a very deep fused azure-lagoon-sapphire colour.

"I wouldn't get too cocky, Rob," Terra taunted. "You're kinda stuck at the moment…"

"Just what I was going to say," Robin replied with a smirk. Terra looked puzzled… until he suddenly kicked his legs up and wrapped them around her waist, exerting his weight on his shackled arms. He pulled her right into him, crushing her thin frame to his. He dug one of his metal heels into the small of her back and she shrieked with pain, her fingers digging painfully into his thighs as she tried to get free. Her eyes glowed amber and suddenly a rock jutted out of the wall and smacked him on the back of the head, almost knocking him senseless. He released her and she fell to the floor in a heap.

"Good one, Robin," she complimented him breathlessly. "Too good…"

Too late he realised she had shackled his ankles as well, making him completely immobile. A familiar feeling of panic began an invasion of his senses as his mind cast him back to midnight in a darkened asylum, where he found himself pinned by his wrists and ankles, naked and terrified and knowing what was inevitably going to happen to him…

She watched him struggle desperately and smiled.

"Jeez, Rob, what's got into you?" She asked softly. "You aren't scared of your old friend Terra, are you?..."

She ventured close to him again and pressed her ear to his chest; she could hear his heart thundering, feel it slamming against his ribcage. She placed her hand gently over his "R" badge.

"Your poor heart, it's working overtime… maybe I should put it out of it's misery…"

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back as Terra summoned another pointed stake of rock from the wall. It pierced into his flesh a little way then stopped. It stung like hell and he could feel blood dripping from the wound down his back. It was directly beneath his heart.

Terra smiled and drummed her fingers lightly on his badge.

"Does that hurt, Rob?" She mocked him. "Shall I push it deeper?"

She did so and he moaned in agony. He took deep breaths to combat it but he couldn't block the pain.

"Terra, don't do this…" he groaned. "Don't listen to Slade… don't let him… turn you into a murderer…"

Terra put her finger to his lips.

"Be quiet, it'll be over soon… Slade can fulfil his precious prophecy…"

"He'll go to any lengths…" Robin agreed breathlessly before giving way to another groan. "Terra… please… oh, god… you don't understand… you don't understand what he's done…"

The stake forced its way into him a little further again and Terra toyed with his fringe as he fought not to scream.

"Scream if you want to, Robin," she invited him. "Go on, let it out. Scream this whole mine down…"

Terra was killing him and all the while Starfire was just lying there, not realising that the boy she loved was moments from death…

He gave in and screamed as Terra pushed it in another few millimetres. It was absolute torture and he didn't know how far it was from his heart.

"Terra, stop…" he pleaded. "Please, stop…"

Terra seemed to have given up taunting him.

"I can't," she whispered. "I have to kill you... The prophecy…"

"Have you read the prophecy!" Robin shrieked. "Do you realise what he did to me… in aid of his freaking prophecy?"

Terra frowned.

"No, he said I just have to kill you, and the mortal gods-"

Robin's head jerked up.

"He raped me, Terra!" He yelled at her. "Do you realise that! Did he tell you that? Or is he keeping it a secret?"

Terra stared at him, utterly speechless.

"You're lying, " she said eventually.

"Yeah?" Robin forced a pained smirk. "Go read the translation of the prophecy, and then you'll see if I'm lying or not."

"He wouldn't…"

"He would. And he did."

"No he didn't! You're lying, Robin, to get me to let you go! Well, it's not working!"

"Terra, you can't kill me… you can't give him what he wants…"

"Yes I can…"

"Terra… oh, god… Terra, you can't, you can't…"

He drew another gasping breath, his head bowed and his eyes squeezed shut behind his mask.

"You don't realise… what will happen if I die… there'll be no-one to stop him… he'll destroy the world… Terra, you can't help him succeed that…"

"I have to. I haven't got a choice…"

She sounded close to tears now.

"He owns me, Robin. I vowed I would serve him, I pledged my allegiance to him… you don't understand, I can't betray him. He told me to kill you and I have to do as he says…"

"But Terra…" He moaned again, gritting his teeth. "Terra, this isn't just about my death… he's told you, he must have… about the prophecy… about the Avenger… about the power he'll harness. You can't let him have it. You're not evil, Terra… Beast Boy says you aren't and I believe him… you have to do what's right… you can't kill me…"

"And he raped you."

Even through the tearful break in her voice she sounded sceptical.

Robin forced himself to look up at her. She didn't understand what it cost him to admit that to her, when he couldn't even bring himself to talk about it with his friends. But Terra was Slade's apprentice; in a way she had a right to know. If Slade could bring himself to rape Robin, his similarly-gendered arch-nemesis, then it would surely be simpler for him to rape Terra too, if the thought ever crossed his mind. Terra was female, she was pretty, and he was in constant contact with her; what was to say he hadn't had his way with her already?...

"Yes." Robin heaved another ragged breath. "He might not… admit it to you, but he did…"

Their eyes met, Robin's conveying a silent warning to her that Slade might have developed a taste for rape, and that if he had, she was the one he would victimise.

Terra touched his sweaty face.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. Her eyes glowed and he closed his eyes again, expecting the bloody stake to come bursting through his "R" badge in a shower of crimson rain. Instead he felt the pointed rock withdraw from his body and merge back into the wall. Then he suddenly collapsed to the floor as the shackles released him.

"I'm not going to kill you," Terra stated softly, as though her actions needed an explanation. He grunted in pain and staggered to his feet; his shirt was stuck to his back, soaked in blood, but he'd survive as long as he found Raven before he collapsed from blood loss.

"What are you… gonna do?" He asked, seeing her fists were clenched. Terra sighed.

"I don't know…"

"Come back… with me," he said. "Come and be a Titan again…"

Terra turned away.

"Robin, I can't," she said, tears evident in her voice. "We both know that… I can't ever go back. I've wrecked it."

"Show us… we can trust you, and we will…"

Terra shook her blonde-maned head violently.

"No, Robin… I just can't… I'm sorry. I guess I was just never meant to be a Titan…"

She started to walk away back to the boulder with which she had made her entrance. With some difficultly Robin caught up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Where will you go?" He asked quietly.

"Back to Slade," Terra answered after a moment's hesitation.

"Terra, no…"

"You don't understand, Robin. I can't leave him. He owns me…"

Robin slid his hand off her shoulder. He couldn't see how anyone could allow themselves to be owned by Slade; he certainly hadn't.

Terra started to walk away again, then stopped suddenly. Puzzled, Robin went after her again and came to a halt behind her.

"Robin? Would you… do something for me?..." Terra asked softly, not turning around to face him.

"Depends what it is," Robin replied coolly, quirking an eyebrow. Terra laughed slightly, almost shyly.

"Nothing much, just…"

She didn't finish her sentence, just let it hang in the air as she slowly turned around to face him. Her eyes were glowing and he immediately clenched his fists.

Suddenly his height increased by a couple of inches as Terra rose the ground beneath him. His lips brushed hers accidentally and before he could pull away she wrapped her arms tightly around him and pulled him into a full-on passionate kiss. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and she was clinging to him as if she would never let him go. He simply stood there locked in her grip, rigid with shock.

Terra's grip on him loosened and she pulled away from him; she looked extremely upset.

"Respond, idiot!" She wailed in frustration, tears in her large blue eyes. She shook him slightly and he just stared at her, his masked eyes wide.

"For Pete's sake, kiss back!" Terra snapped. "You must know how!"

Robin blinked, then tried to push her away. Once upon a time kissing had been one of his favourite past-times, but now just the thought of it reminded him of…

Anyway, what the hell was Terra doing kissing him?

"Look, Terra, when you asked for a favour, I really didn't think-"

"Just do it!" Terra shrieked. "I don't care… shut your eyes and pretend I'm Starfire… whatever, just kiss back!"

He tried to step back but her arms were still around him and she pulled him back into her and got him into another lip-lock. Her eyes slid closed but this time she didn't cling to him grim-death; she started to run her hands over his body instead. He struggled but his strength was gone due to his wound; his own eyes closed and he imagined her as Slade instead and put his hands on her shoulders, tried to push her off but didn't succeed. He really, really didn't want this… every movement of her fingers over his tight clothing, he hated it; in his mind he was in Arkham and succumbing to that desire that wasn't his… He wanted her to stop… oh, how badly he wanted her to stop

He didn't realise he was kissing back until he felt Terra tilt her head more to the side and thrust her tongue into his. He opened his eyes but hers were still shut and he saw her… and stopped thinking she was Slade. He didn't need to pretend she was Starfire, or Raven, or Poison Ivy…

But he still didn't know why she was so desperate to kiss him, or why she considered this a favour.

He stopped being so rigid and loosened up and touched her, felt her silky soft blonde hair brushing on his arms where they were bare as he caressed her back, squeezed her shoulders. He shouldn't have been doing this; Beast Boy loved Terra, and Robin himself could get Starfire anytime he wanted and could probably seduce Raven too if he felt like it, and if he was ever really desperate he could always stalk Kitten… he didn't need this, and he didn't deserve it, and he was being greedy, he knew that… Terra had started it and now he was only obliged to finish it, he couldn't stop himself and that old Robert Palmer song, Addicted to Love, one of Bruce's favourites, came to mind…

Oh, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff

Oh yeah…

It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough

You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love…

And there was a line; Your will is not your own…

Terra slid her hands up his back, avoiding the wound she had created, into his hair. She teased the spikes and stroked her fingers over his hairline and down the side of his face and he kissed more deeply at the touch. Terra returned the favour and her fingertips touched his ears; her eyes opened and she stopped and released him, breathing heavily. She smiled weakly at him as he watched her intently, his eyebrows knitted together. His chest was heaving with every breath, taxed by both the ravenous kissing and the wound in his back. He slowly and deliberately wiped his mouth on the wrist of his green glove, not taking his eyes off her.

"Robin…" Terra looked at the floor, then looked up again, her expression desperate. "That kiss… it wasn't for you…"

Robin blinked.

"Sorry?"

"It wasn't for you…" She smiled apologetically; then it faded. "It was for Beast Boy… the night I left the Titans, B.B and I spent the evening at the fairground and we almost kissed but… we didn't…"

"That was the favour?" Robin asked weakly. He scowled. "I am not passing that on!"

I've had enough of homosexual "indulgence" to last a lifetime, thanks…

"I'm not asking you to… I just…" She looked at him, then averted her eyes again. "Just tell him for me… tell him I kissed you and that it was for him…"

And get my head bitten off. Literally.

Robin sighed.

"Ok, I'll tell him…"

Terra smiled.

"Thankyou, Robin… and thankyou for kissing back…"

She turned away and walked off, effortlessly moving the boulder aside.

"And it wasn't for you," she reminded him, looking briefly at him before vanishing into the tunnel beyond.

Yeah, I know…

He retrieved his pager and walked back to the still-unconscious Starfire, plonking himself down beside her. He could only imagine the fireworks if she had come round in the middle of his little rendezvous with Terra…

He sent a signal to the others, feeling a knot of guilt in the pit of his belly as he signalled Beast Boy and sent him the coordinates.

Then he realised. He touched his left ear with his fingertips. It was curved, normal… Terra had broken off the kiss after she had felt that.

The kiss had been for Beast Boy.

It had never occurred to the Boy Wonder that Terra had been pretending he was Beast Boy…


Yeah, B.B is not gonna be best pleased with Wonder Boy now… When he finds out. Which will be pretty soon.

So poor Robin gets himself into more trouble…

It's all fun, really…

R&R and I'll get the next chapter, Heart of Stone, up sooner than I did this one!

Happy New Year to all!

- RobinRocks x