Chapter Three

"DUDE! That's my spot!" Beast Boy groaned, glaring at where Speedy had taken his seat next to Raven.

"Well...I didn't see your name on it..." He said, looking around as if to check for the note.

"Asshole." Beast Boy muttered, "No one even likes you here anyways..." He added.

"Just sit down, Beast Boy – this will only take a few minutes." Robin told him.

"What's this about, Robin?" Raven asked, shifting away from Speedy leaning on her. "We don't have meetings anymore." She said, motioning to the table that had been smashed from the last attempt.

"This is different." Robin told them, rubbing his head, "Its Slade, he's back."

The room went silent as they stared at him, it continued for several seconds before Speedy spoke, breaking the spell.

"WHAT? The guy was in a volcano last time you saw him – what is he? Fucking immortal?" He ranted, throwing his hands up in the air.

"No, he's just extremely lucky, and smart." Robin said, his eyes narrowing. "He's not here in Jump; he's across...in Gotham..." He explained.

Pulling up a map of the destruction he'd caused from the satellite images, they popped up one after another and got progressively worse.

"Isn't that Batman's turf?" Cyborg asked, rubbing his head as he tried to figure out how someone could survive what Slade had.

"It was." Robin said, pulling up another image of a city called Port, "He had to move to control a bigger area...the Joker and Harley Quinn thought it was a good idea to go on a killing spree over there..." He explained.

"So Slade is there messing things up while the Big-Man's gone." Speedy stated, looking at Robin for clarification.

"He thinks he can do what he wants because Batman's gone and we're here." Robin nodded, "I need your advice." He told them.

"You can't split the team." Raven told him, reading his mind, "Taking two of us with you to Gotham won't be enough to control their usual crime rates and Slade – and if you take anymore then there's either just one person to protect all of Jump City which runs the risk of ambush, or there's no one at all." She told him in her bored monotonous voice.

"That I've already thought of." Robin said, "I–" She cut him off.

"–And as helpful as Titans East is – they can't cope with an area this size without knowing the landscape and the usual data." She added, giving her own information.

"So...what is there to do?" Robin asked. He was a little annoyed at Raven's butting in, but otherwise ignored it.

"Leave one of use behind with Titans East – we all know the area and we have the know-how." Speedy said, looking around the room at his friends who glared at him – no one wanted to stay here. "Leave me here then, I know them as well as I know you and it's not like I'll be much use in Gotham." He encouraged.

"Why not?" Cyborg asked, not sure why Speedy would pass up a chance to fight Slade – he'd always tried to get in on a fight in their younger teenage years.

"Gotham holds memories for Speedy." Robin explained for him, nodding in understanding to his newest member of the team. "Are you sure that this is the right thing?" He asked him.

"Yes, there'll be five of us here, and four of you in Gotham." He said, looking around them, "You're the most competent heroes – on a par with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman...all the big-shots – if anyone can handle Gotham while Batman's away...it's you guys." He said, prepping them for their change to a much larger city.

"Have you spoken to Batman about this?" Beast Boy asked, a little overwhelmed at the information – and the thought of being in the same city that Batman had once been in.

"Yes, and though he's not happy – he knows that Gotham needs someone." Robin sighed, "I just hoped it wasn't you guys."

"Why not?" Cyborg asked with a grin, "We've been kicking Slade's butt ever since we turned thirteen – he's just got older and slower whereas we've got faster and stronger..." He chuckled.

"You really think brawn has anything to do with it?" Raven asked with a roll of her eyes, "Slade likes to play mind games; I doubt we've ever come into contact with the real him – he used androids all the time."

"And?" Beast Boy queried.

"What's to say this is the real Slade? Anyone can pick up a remote." She explained.

"You really think that?" Robin asked, not sure why she would come up with this when he hadn't.

"It's a theory." Raven nodded, "But the only way we're going to figure this out is to get to Gotham and start searching."

"You're really...ready for this, Raven." Beast Boy observed.

Raven turned to face him, her eyes burning with fake sincerity as she answered his stupid remark, her tone blunt and to the point.

"There's a homicidal maniac let loose in a city with two and a half million people living there, he's not killing them for any reason and we have no idea how he's alive. I'd say that's a cause for haste." She snapped.

Beast Boy nodded mutely and turned to face Robin as they discussed the moving plans further.

As Robin spoke, Raven wondered off into her own head – she'd learned to do this with her eyes open and it came in handy whenever Beast Boy decided he wanted to tell her a three hour joke.

On her travels through her subconscious she found thoughts of the last time that the Titans had gone to Gotham and why they'd gone.

"She can't stay with us!" Robin yelled at Raven, pointing roughly at the mentally damaged Tamaranean blowing off steam in the containment unit, "She's a loose cannon, and what's to say she won't shoot another child, Raven?" He screamed at her.

"It was an accident, Robin, everybody has them." Raven argued, pulling her hood down. "Do you really think she's capable of doing it again?"

Robin glared at the half-demon and paced towards the unit and back – trying to alleviate some of the stress that had built since the battle with Slade had occurred.

"She did it the first time! We never thought she'd do that!" Robin snapped.

"I did not mean to do wrong! I was only proving my worthiness!" Raven could hear from the unit, Starfire must have been shouting rather loudly for it to get through the walls of such a prison. "I am sorry; my apologies to the little girl are high and genuine!" She pleaded.

"BE QUIET STARFIRE!" Robin screamed through the door, Raven flinched when she saw the anger in him.

He leant against the door, panting for a few minutes before Raven made her way over to him quietly.

"You can't just send her away, she won't understand." She told him.

"Then we must make her understand, she can't shoot little girl's – several of them – in a fit of anger and then expect to still be a Teen Titan!" He argued with her, punching the wall and bruising his hand – but he didn't care. "She was meant to love everything, meant to be gentle and she snapped! She's damaged beyond repair, both mentally and physically, Raven!"

"It's not her fault she had that accident, it was Slade's. She can go into rehabilitation, more physiotherapy..." Raven said, trying to pull him away from damaging himself further.

"She's emotionally involved; I've told her to not make ties!" He snarled, "I've told her to remain detached for her own good and look what happened!" He pointed at the Tamaranean smashing around the room, "Starfire can't control her powers anymore, she can't control her emotions – she's too dangerous to have on the team. If we leave her in Jump, she'll just keep coming back!"

"Right now, she needs to be told that everything is alright, Robin...not sent away because of her mistakes, ones that she couldn't control." She tried to reason with him.

"She's dangerous, Raven; I can't have someone dangerous on my team, or in my city." He told her, sighing.

"Do you really believe Starfire is dangerous?" Raven asked.

"Yes, she won't listen to reason and stay in the infirmary for the rest of her life – she'll break out again and end up killing more people." He said, turning away from her and leaving the room.

"Somebody please speak to me!" Raven could hear faintly from the cell.

She peeked up to see Starfire hunched over herself and a tear streaming down her face, her aura was so sorrowful that she was unable to even sit properly, and she fell to the floor on her face.

"I'm sorry, Starfire." Raven sighed, a single tear leaking out of the corner of her eye as she watched Robin deploy the sub headed for Gotham, to be taken care of by Batman.

"We're going to go with the pod, but then...then, we have to go." Beast Boy told Raven, putting an arm around her.

She didn't fight him like she would have usually and just let him support her as she tried to control her emotions, and with that, her magic.

"What happens when she tries to come back? She'll try, and you know she will – harder than anyone else would." Cyborg asked, knowing that Starfire wouldn't give up without a fight, especially when she didn't think she'd done anything wrong.

"We tell her that we don't want her," Robin said, coming through the door after setting the sub to autopilot, "We sever all ties and warn her never to come back to Jump City again, never to contact us again, and never to use her powers again." He ordered them with narrowed eyes, "She'll understand then."

"This is Starfire, Robin!" Beast Boy yelled, "You dick, she's full of rainbows and sunshine – not nuclear bombs!" He screeched, heading to punch the Boy Wonder.

Cyborg caught the little green boy and held him back as he tried to turn into tens of different animals to get at Robin – but eventually he gave up.

"I fucking hate you!" He snarled, "None of us will ever forgive you! You said you'd care for her! You said she'd be safe here on Earth – not betrayed!" He ranted, fighting venomously again.

Even though Raven was there and could read every thought in Robin brain, every feeling in his heart – she never could tell what his feeling were like about sending Starfire away. He'd definitely sent her to Gotham so she could be dealt with by Batman, who would be able to...end her...in a heartbeat – because he couldn't do it himself, but that's what she'd figured out.

They weren't allowed to speak of her anymore, Robin would brood for days without speaking or eating whenever someone blamed him for her flying off the handle – going off the rails. The most common thing to blame on him was her need to prove herself to him.

Beast Boy would never forgive Robin for as long as he lived, and Cyborg wouldn't look him in the eye – or mask – for months...but where did that leave Raven? With the masses or with what was best – apparently – for the city and the team?

She always told herself that she missed her friend and that she believed her to be safe – but there was always a nagging feeling that the Tamaranean spirit within her, the same that was inside Blackfire – and had consumed her – was ready to pounce at any moment, if Batman hadn't killed her already.

Raven would often think about what Starfire was living like now, was she happy? Did she remember what had happened? Had Batman been kind and erased her memory for her? Did she use her powers in secret? Did Batman check up on her often? Was she even on Earth anymore? Did they do the right thing? Was she still alive?

It's all come out now...dun, dun, DUUUUUN! Robin, you bitch!

"Let's kick him!"

No, evil side of my subconscious.

"But I want to, you want to!"

Like that makes it acceptable, try and contain your urges.

"What? Like when you're around hot guys?"

Say one more word and we're NOT writing anymore FanFiction.

"But what else will you do with your time? You've destroyed your social life, AND your academic life it one."

I...erm...see your point...

"Exactly, now kick him!"

NO!

"Please rate and review, or I'll let the evil side of my subconscious write evil things in my FanFiction story, yeah, that's right, all the '666' and 'worship Satan' shit will be in there! AND WE WON'T KICK ROBIN!"

Ahem, I apologize, my subconscious came back again, but I'm fine now.

"MOTHERFU–"

Jade.