A/n: Thank you so much to Aguna and Wolfgal97 for reviewing the new chapters!
Robin simply knelt on the floor, staring directly ahead. What had he gotten himself into? He had known immediately upon capture that Slade would try this whole apprentice thing again. He had known he would be hurt. He had known there would be blackmail. He had known all of that; but never in a million years had he anticipated the sheer terror that engulfed him when he heard the man say, "He will be broken."
Broken.
The tone he had used had terrified Robin. There was no humor. There was no hint of a lie. There was only cold, hard, truth. Slade meant to torture him into submission. Beat him, work him, break him into submission. He had already begun. And it scared the hell out of him.
"Robin?" Raven's voice finally broke into Robin's trance. "Robin, come on." He looked at her.
"What?" he croaked. She gave his arm a small tug.
"Up on the bed. We need to get those wounds taken care of." He allowed her to help him rise, wincing as he did so. She and Cyborg led him to one of the small cots and helped him to lie down on his stomach with a hiss of pain.
"Alright, let's see what we can do," Cyborg said, retrieving the first aid kit from the floor. He knelt beside the cot on the floor, shining his shoulder light on his friend's ravaged back.
It was worse up close. There were areas of angry red welts, and others where the whip had broken the skin entirely. Blood slowly oozed out of the open wounds and bruises had formed over the entire surface of his back.
"Oh my god…" Beast Boy whispered. Robin tensed, visibly uncomfortable. The Titans gaped openly at his back. They had never encountered anything like this before. Injuries, yes. Injuries inflicted out of malice, yes. But this?
"Cyborg," Rave finally said. "We have to clean him up." Cyborg swallowed hard once, nodding and opening the first aid kit. Removing some peroxide and cotton pads, he doused the latter in the liquid and handed it to Raven who carefully laid a hand on Robin's shoulder. He flinched involuntarily.
"This will probably sting. I'm sorry." She could feel the heat radiating from his swollen skin. Taking a deep breath, she slowly and carefully swiped the cotton across one of the open wounds. Robin gritted his teeth together, desperately trying not to pull away from the pain. Cyborg began readying gauze as Raven continued to clean the wounds.
After a few minutes, Robin gasped out, "Stop… just for a minute… I can't…" Beast Boy and Starfire shared a look. Moving at almost the exact same moment, Starfire approached and laid a hand on Robin's head, gently moving her thumb back and forth in soothing motions across his now short hair. Beast Boy came to crouch before Robin, reaching out and forcing his hand into the boy wonder's fist. Robin eyes, squeezed tightly shut, opened briefly, meeting Beast Boy's in gratitude. Beast Boy vaguely noted that they were blue.
Beast Boy nodded at Raven as Robin took a deep breath and closed his eyes, squeezing Beast Boy's hand tightly. Taking this as her cue to continue, Raven reached for a new cotton pad, and resumed her task.
It scared him, seeing Robin like this. Seeing his leader, his idol, his friend beaten, unmasked, hurt. And for what? Beast Boy wasn't the brightest in the bunch, and he would be the first to admit that, but he knew that Robin would never give in easily. Slade must have something on him. When he had dragged Robin out of his cell earlier, taking him to god knows where while he was already so hurt… Slade had had this look in his eye. Beast Boy's animal instincts had gone wild when he saw that look. It was predatory. It was malicious. It was victorious. In Slade's mind he had already won. And when he had brought Robin back, Robin had looked so defeated, so lost. And it had only been one day.
Whatever Slade had, it was good. Robin knew. Either Robin was truly giving up, or he was playing his cards right, and he knew he had a short hand right now.
Beast Boy hoped it was the latter.
Sometimes he forgot Robin was human. He was so fast, so skilled, so smart. It was easy to lose sight of his limitations. Seeing his friend like this made him sick. Even he could admit that Robin was a smart ass on his best days, an annoying spiky haired little punk, but whatever Robin had said or done be damned, this was wrong. Watching Raven clean his cuts as Robin tensed and bit his already bleeding lip, he felt fury rise within him. Slade would pay, that was for sure. As soon as they got out of here. But when would that be?
Whatever Slade was telling Robin when he dragged him away, it was wearing him down, and fast.
His hair was soft, she thought absently as she ran her fingers across his head. She could feel him shaking slightly, and her heart slowly broke. She did not enjoy seeing her friend this way. He was in pain, and she could not stop it, could not help. Of course all of the Titans were somewhat versed in hand-to-hand combat, but Robin was the true fighter. She relied primarily on her powers, as did the others. She was so helpless; looking down at Robin, she realized that in this moment, he was too. Something about that made her feel truly lost.
He flinched again. She was being as careful as she could, but the wounds were so sensitive, there was little she could do to stop his pain. Her powers were difficult to control. They cost her much time, much energy. But in this moment, she would give anything to be able to use them to heal her friend.
Powers or no, she could read him easily. He was afraid. He was tired. He was hurting. And there was nothing she could do to help him.
"Alright, man. Can you sit up?" Cyborg asked.
"Yeah…" Robin replied, slowly doing so. Cyborg began carefully wrapping gauze around Robin's torso.
When he was finished they took in his appearance. He still looked like hell. Bruises marred his pale skin, and his eyes, now unmasked were dull with pain and fatigue.
"Thank you," he said, not quite meeting any of their eyes. "I suppose you have some questions?" he looked up at this, glancing at each Titan. Beast Boy spoke first.
"What does he have?" Robin looked at him in confusion. "What's his blackmail? How is he-"
"Not that," Robin said quietly, but firmly. Starfire opened her mouth to question him. "Please just… trust me. I can't tell you." Cyborg spoke next.
"Richard, huh?" he said lightly, trying to remove some of the tension. Robin gave him a small smile.
"Yeah… not exactly how I would have hoped you would find out but… yeah. Richard… Richard Grayson." He looked at Raven and she nodded slightly. She had known for some time now, due to their bond. Beast Boy's eyes widened.
"Richard Grayson, like… Bruce Wayne's kid, Richard Grayson?" Robin had a brief moment of panic at hearing Bruce's name, but at this point, what did it matter? He trusted his friends. It was Slade he worried about, but Slade already knew… the connection had already been made.
"Ward," he replied. "We never finalized an adoption."
"You're freaking rich!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Robin let out a small laugh.
"Bruce is, yeah." Starfire's brow knitted in confusion.
"Robin, please, what happened to your birth parents?" she asked quietly. What little mirth was on Robin's face left it immediately.
"They uh-they were murdered, Star," he said, clearing his throat.
"Oh, Robin, I am sorry, I do not mean to pry! That is- that is horrible." She looked close to tears.
"It's ok, Star. Batman helped me take down the people who did it."
"Master Bruce, please. It is far past time for you to rest. I am sure he is alright. You must keep up your strength to search efficiently." Alfred said, taking away yet another empty coffee cup from the desktop on which Bruce was working. Newspaper clippings, video clips, police reports, and anything else that could provide a lead covered every surface. Alfred gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come, Master Bruce, to bed. Dick can handle himself. I am sure he is alright. We will resume searching tomorrow." Bruce ran a hand tiredly over his eyes with a sigh.
"Alright… alright, Alfred. It's just…" he looked at the old butler imploringly.
"I know," he replied. "You'll find him." Bruce paused a moment.
"I have to."
Robin had long since fallen asleep. Exhaustion had finally caught up with him, and his friends had implored him to lie down and rest. Unable to refuse, he had thanked them once more, and drifted into a light sleep. The rest of the Titans followed soon after.
Slade arrived in their quarters early the next morning. The Titans awoke to the sound of the door opening. They each moved slightly closer to Robin's still sleeping form protectively.
"Touching," Slade droned. "Robin." Robin stirred slightly. "Robin, get up. Now." His voice hardened drastically, and Robin's eyes opened quickly in sudden acknowledgement of Slade's presence. "Come." Robin tiredly stood and followed Slade out of the room.
Slade circled him slowly, a vulture eyeing its prey. Robin swallowed harshly and followed Slade with his eyes, losing sight of him only when he went behind him, and praying Slade wouldn't do anything to harm his already injured back. Suddenly he heard Slade's voice by his left ear, and startled, he stumbled forward a step, whirling around to face Slade once more.
"I believe I told you not to move," Slade snarled. Robin's eyes locked on Slade's and he nodded. Slade stepped forward until he towered over Robin. "Do you fear me, boy?"
"No," Robin answered immediately.
"Let us try this again. Do you fear me, boy?" Slade repeated.
"No," Robin replied a little more forcefully.
"Lying does not become you, Robin." Slade grabbed his chin and repeated once more, in a deadly whisper, "Do you fear me, boy?" Robin paused.
"No," he finally answered. To his surprise, Slade laughed darkly.
"I will change that." And as Slade patted his head roughly, Robin knew deep down that it was only a matter of time.
