Hello all! I hauled butt and got my homework done in time to update...aren't you just the luckiest bunch? Hmm...before I forget, the song Stand Up, by Trapt could very much be considered the theme song for this story...go listen to the words and I think you'll see why.

Mystyre: LOL honestly, it was entirely unintentional. It's all the paranoia talking. Yeah...I think she was too embarrassed to enjoy it properly however. Yes, I planned on him finding it...it's important, as you will soon see.

jambey: Hey! I'll have you remember that Cyborg was very nice in All In The Game and Even In Death, so ha! Ah yes, love is cruel. I'm not a prat, prat. Lol.

AriesFalcon: LOL yeah it's ok. Glad you like her.

R of the N676: Nope...I'm afraid I'll be leaving that until Robin sees her, for reasons that I could but won't explain. :P

Mina: Yes, I dedicated it to you because that whole section was inspired by our emails and the things we've discussed in them. I'm so glad, I wanted the beginning to be very emotional but I was worried that people were thinking, "Ok, when is this going to get good?" I just want to inspire some feelings and thoughts before I get into the plot, and it's all tying in besides. I'm sorry everything's so busy right now for you, and I understand, so don't beat yourself up about it. I love to hear from you, but I don't want to distract from what's important. I hoped that it would be in a helpful way...I didn't mean for it to be depressing. :D You have no idea how excited or how grateful or how shocked I am that you would do that for me! -hugs-

CDT: Spiftily? Ah, I love you. I should hire you to come up with all my quirky new words. You just never know...somebody said Broken was a SladeXRobin so I suppose you can never be too careful. Good luck with Spanish!

psychicflower: Yes, it is very wrong. People can be twisted though. LOL I specialize in deep stuff, this is true. Sorry about your cold.

Thank you to everyone else who reviewed, time limits don't allow me to reply to all. ON WITH THE STORY!


The next morning dawned, whether he wanted it to or not.

Have you ever been going along fine, your mind focused on the task at hand, feeling content and happy just because the sun was out and your heart was beating? You never looked back farther than what you ate for lunch, never looked ahead farther than where you would put your foot next, and tricked yourself into believing that all was right with the world. You didn't see the lightning until it pierced your heart.

Robin stared straight ahead to see the remains of a metal frame resting in the shadows beneath his bed. His body was stiff from sleeping on the floor and cold from the sweat that had dried in the minutes since he woke up. Lying completely still and trying not to think, he felt his eyes burn again, the built-in dam shuddering with the force of the onslaught. Everything he'd done...all the progress he'd made...was it all for nothing? Did any of it really matter now? Raven was his only reason for doing it in the first place...what happened when his reason was--

Boy Wonder brought the thought process to a screeching hault as he leapt to his feet, fighting until he had cleared his face of all emotion. True, he hadn't quite achieved the smooth surface of a lake; more the unforgiving face of a sheer cliff wall, but it was improvement all the same.

His morning routine was so ingrained that he was showered and dressed before he had consciously decided to get up.

Robin's battered suitcase lay beside the bed where he had dropped it last night. It was old and abused, held together with a good nine years of duct tape, super glue, rope, and, in some places, chewing gum. That had been a last-stitch effort, and it just never came off after that. Bruce cringed ever time he saw the thing, but Robin loved it. The front still had their trade mark on it: three overlapping G's surrounded by a curvy circle. The emblem was faded, but still visible against the red background.

He might as well unpack.

The suitcase had been packed haphazardly; both dirty and clean clothes were thrown here and there (he had become so accustomed to wearing normal clothes that he forgot he wouldn't need them here), the new utility belt that Batman had given him, and, at the very bottom, a simple cardboard box. Knowing full well the affect this would have on him, Robin lifted the lid.

Immediately the memories flooded through him, every uncovered photo or paper bringing image after image and emtion after emotion.

A day at the park.

Beating Cyborg's high score.

Sunrise on the roof.

Raven's fifteenth birthday.

Beast Boy's moped.

Starfire's discovery of the mall's photo booth.

The closer he came to the bottom, the more recent the memories, which meant that any minute now... And there he was.

Slade.

Volleyball with Terra.

Slade.

Forced movie night.

Slade.

Starfire.

Slade.

Beast Boy.

Slade.

Cyborg.

Slade.

Raven.

Slade.

Slade.

SLADE.

With a roar that was half anger and half pain, Robin threw the box with as much force as he could muster and watched it crash into the wall, its contents tumbling out and fluttering to the ground. One article in particular flew half-way across the room, and Robin's eyes followed it as it came to rest barely an inch from his heaving form. A single gray eye glared up at him.

"SHIT!"

Robin jerked a hand forward and tore the article to shreds, destroying the eye...only to find that thousands more were still fixed on him from all sides. He moved from the article as his feet to the ones taped to the walls, ripping down each and every one and tearing the eye apart until no one could possibly reconstruct it. Robin did not rest until every last image was in ruined pieces on the ground, covering the carpet until it was hardly visible. Slade was gone...

If only.

Back to the wall, Robin slid to the ground and drew up his knees. The last three years of his life had revolved completely around Slade. At first, he had been determined to defeat him physically. When that failed, he threw himself into digging up dirt to weaken him emotionally. When that failed as well, he put all his energy into wishing that Slade would just go away. That had obviously gotten him nowhere.

Robin stared down at the photo in his hand, an overwhelming sense of loneliness bringing a hollow ache. The picture was a good three years old, judging by his stature (or lack thereof). Raven was standing next to him, arms folded across her chest and a small smirk on her lips, while he looked slightly confused. Starfire had pounced on them, insisting that she must "take a picture of this momentous occasion". Only after the photo shoot had they realized what that occasion was exactly: they had gotten through an entire day without arguing.

Who could have predicted all that would happen to them in the years to come? Who could have guessed at everything they would survive together?

The photo was it in a nutshell; Raven was what got him through every new level of hell Slade conjured up. Raven had been there for him when the dust nearly took his life. She supported him when everyone else thought he was insane or worse. When he felt like giving in, she did everything she could to change his mind. Raven was the only reason he wasn't dead today, whether by his own hand or Slade's.

Imagining the outcome without her was like watching a leaf dropped into a raging inferno--hopeless. When he was with Batman, he encouraged himself in the knowledge that every day brought him closer to coming back, closer to seeing Raven. He had never--not even once--questioned the fact that she would be here when that day came. Where was she...?

Shock...a hand pressed roughly against his mouth...the taste of copper on his tongue... Help, had to get help..."Robin, when...?" Robin. Help. Help me, Robin... Robin!

Robin gasped, shaken by how real the supposed memory felt. This was the dream he had about Raven, the one from the night before he recieved the email from Mina. He strained his mind for more details, but that was all...the rest was black.

Biting his lip furiously, he glared into empty space, analyzing the information for anything he may have overlooked. Shock...the attacker must have come from behind, giving Raven no chance to react. Copper, something shoved against the mouth...chloroform? He remembered seeing one typed sentence, standing out where everything else was blurred. "Robin, when...?" When... Of course! The last line in the email! "Robin, when are you coming home?" Raven had just finished the email when she was attacked; she was still facing the screen, even. The attack occurred in this very room. Blackness would indicate that she had passed out, or at least serverred the mental link (if it was indeed a mental link).

Robin leapt to his feet, running until he was about a foot away from the computer desk. Here he stopped, dropped to his knees, and began the tedious chore of picking up and tossing aside each individual piece of paper (trust me, there were many). When he was halfway under the desk and beginning to lose hope, he saw a piece that was considerably larger than the rest. On closer inspection, the Boy Wonder found that it was a plain white paper, perfectly folded and entirely unmarked by dirt or smudge.

He fought to steady his hands as he sat back on his heels and unfolded the stiff white paper.

We have a score to settle, you and I.

You know where to find me.

-S-

He shook wildly, his mouth as dry as dust and as gritty as sand, his brow beaded with cold sweat as the message echoed over and over in his mind. "We have a score to settle, you and I." Slade had sworn to kill him for breaking the oath he had been blackmailed into taking; this fact changed everything. As horrible as it had been before, he was blessed in the fact that Slade never intended to actually destroy him. Now that he was facing the man's wrath in its entirety...

"He's not the only one who's improved."

Up to this point, Robin had hoped that Slade would eventually leave, like the school bully that finally got sick of teasing without reation, and maybe this hope had kept him from really getting furious with the entire situation. But now...now it was a death match. A death match for Raven, no less.

A fire was burning away behind the mask; tiny windows opened into the dormant (for now) volcano within. He was cordially invited; the note said it plainly. A grin that held more rage and pain than ever before stretched the muscles taut on his face, his chest heaving as adrenaline pumped through his veins. "I know where to find you...

"I just hope you're ready for me."


Batman looked up from the mug of black coffee as his cell phone rang, breaking the silence of early morning. Flipping it open, he muttered a slightly gruff, "Yes?"

"Good morning, sir. I imagine you got there in one piece then?"

Batman smiled, relaxing at the familiar British accent. "More or less. I trust everything's fine there?"

There was a pause, slight static the only sound on the other end. Growing uneasy, Batman broke the silence. "...What?"
Alfred spoke at last, a hint of worry in his tone. "Now that you mention it, Master Wayne...there's been a spot of bother at Wayne Enterprises."

"What?" Batman repeated, his voice considerably darker this time.

"I'm afraid there was...a break in. An unidentified thief stole some plans, apparently, for a new project...?"

Batman's mouth went dry. "What project? What project was it, Alfred? What did they take?"

"A project x something or other. Is that a codename, sir?"

The Dark Knight's eyes widened, a whispered curse escaping his lips as he dropped the phone and ran flat-out, praying he wasn't too late to stop Robin... Why hadn't he seen it!

"Master Wayne? ...Bruce?"


Booya! There it is, the third chapter. It may have seemed boring but this chap was actually quite important to the story...the next one should be kicking into the main plot, so be ready for that. Reviews are like Frooties...if you don't know what Frooties are, well...Reviews are good. -Dusty