A/N: Hi All! Thanks for waiting an extra day! The holiday season has been a little crazy, so your patience is appreciated!
Chapter 7: Study Group
Whispers followed him throughout the day as closely as his shadow, though Robin deliberately ignored them. It felt like his first day at school, but now people weren't speculating about why he was there.
He wished that he didn't have to talk about the nanobots, but he had no other choice. It was less dangerous to announce it to the world rather than try to talk to Cyborg in private. Curiously enough, his communicator stayed silent for the rest of the day. If Slade had heard about Robin's outburst, then he was waiting until Robin came home after Brother Blood's study group.
After going through classes, and spending the time between the end of the school day and the time the study group began to finish some homework, he finally got up and made his way back to Blood's classroom. Brother Blood's study group was made up of a small coterie of students, most of them upperclassmen. Some of them murmured hello when Robin entered the classroom, though Robin didn't respond. He dropped his bag next to a desk and undid his arm guards, which had grown uncomfortable over the course of the day.
"Nice tan, barf-face," Gizmo said.
"Hmm. Forgot to put on sunblock today." Robin touched his face again. It had burnt him a little. "It's gonna leave a tanline, that's for sure."
"Ms. Hyacinth almost barbecued you, and that's all you have to say?"
"I've been through worse. Does she do that often?"
"It's not the first time she's done that," Jinx said. "Attack a student, I mean. It keeps us on our toes."
"Do other teachers attack their students?" Robin asked, thinking of how the upperclassmen had walked around the fire like it wasn't a big deal.
"It's not uncommon," Jinx replied. "You get it more your junior year, though."
"Robin. So glad you could join us." Brother Blood glided over, and Jinx stopped talking. He gestured for Robin to stand up. "Allow me to introduce you to the rest of the group."
Sensing that Brother Blood wanted a chance to speak with him alone, Robin allowed him to take him around the room to introduce him to the other students. Blood introduced him briefly to each of the students, who quickly went back to their work after they spoke. Instead of allowing Robin to go back to his desk, Blood pulled Robin aside.
"You've made the right decision, coming to my extra class," Blood said as soon as they were out of earshot from the other students. "Now that I know the truth, I should have suspected that you would come to me."
"What do you mean by that, Brother?"
"Why, it's obvious: you wish for retribution against Slade, and you are unable to do that unless you study hard."
Out of all of the jeers and snide comments he had heard all day, this one prickled the most even if it wasn't an insult. It was Robin's fault everyone knew, he knew that, and he knew that Blood would eventually comment, but he would have preferred an insult.
"It explains so much," Blood said. "Your history doesn't excuse your grades, of course, but now I understand."
"I'd rather not talk about it, Brother."
"But I do." Blood smiled a mysterious smile. "Why did you admit it?"
"Because it's the truth."
"Deathstroke won't accept that answer, and I won't either."
"And why do you think that?"
"Because you admitted weakness. Have we taught you nothing at this school?"
Robin remembered what Slade had said about Blood's powers. What if Blood had the ability to read minds? Or was he just uncannily good at reading people?
"Anyone can kill Deathstroke and take control of those nanobots," Blood said. "And perhaps someone else wouldn't use them as leverage against you, but they can and will kill off the Titans before finishing with you."
"Are you saying that you will?"
"I'm merely speculating."
"Speculating or plotting?"
Thinking about Slade controlling the nanobots was bad enough. He didn't want to think about any other villains taking them over, and especially not Blood.
"Please, Robin, accept my help. I've realized something today: you want nothing more than to defeat Deathstroke. And you know more than any other student here that experience is the greatest teacher in the world. Training with Deathstroke won't help you break out from the cycle. He's training you to think like him, and because he's teaching you he'll anticipate your every move. And because of that you will never escape."
No one had ever offered to help him escape Slade. But Blood spoke in a tone more patronizing than anything Slade had said. While Slade tried to disguise his patronizing tone, Blood just didn't. He was pretty annoying, actually.
"Really, Brother? What a way to introduce me to the study group. If you really want to help me, then you should do something about Ms. Hyacinth. I'm sure you heard about this morning."
"No." How infuriating. "She was trying to teach you a lesson, and you should be glad that she took the time to do so. Don't reveal any more weaknesses, or else you'll never survive to senior year."
"I don't need your help."
"Then so be it. Enjoy yourself, while you can." Blood took a textbook from his desk and handed it to Robin. "Study hard. You have an exam next week."
Robin sat down and opened the textbook, but he wasn't really reading it. Robin didn't feel like studying, but he had some time to kill before his ride showed up. Students quizzed each other for the exam, some of them asking Brother Blood for clarification. Time passed slowly, and every second that passed was one second closer to confronting Slade.
"Want me to quiz you?" Jinx asked, her voice bringing him out of his reverie.
"Nah, I'm good." Robin shut his textbook. Blood's words, and the day's events, distracted him too much to study. "Besides, my ride's almost here."
"Ah. I see." Jinx paused. "You know, some of us who stay in the dorms go out on the weekends," Jinx said.
"Why? Are you inviting me?"
"Fine. Be that way."
"You won't be able to get close to Slade through me." Robin stuffed his books back into his bag. "After today there's no way I'll be able to go, even if he would let me go."
"I'd be angry too."
Robin turned towards her. "Hm?"
"If someone did that to me, to Gizmo or Mammoth, I'd be mad too." Jinx put her hands on her hips. "Not everything I ask is gonna be about Slade. Just saying I get you."
"Glad someone else thinks that way." Robin shrugged. "Still can't hang out on the weekends."
"There's always Homecoming. Tell him it's a special field trip."
Robin laughed. He needed something to laugh at today. "It's been a long time since I've been to one of those." His communicator buzzed. His ride was here. "Gotta go. See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Bring the secret cookie recipe. You forgot it today."
"I'll be sure to." The little knot in his stomach unknotted itself. Jinx wasn't so bad to talk to, sometimes. "Gotta steal it first. It's top secret."
Robin returned to the Haunt rather late. After not getting any homework done at the study group he would have to either stay up late or get up early to finish. That would be fun to explain to Slade.
It was dark and quiet in the main room. He walked past the giant television screens back to his room. He felt along the wall, trying to remember where the light switches were. He always forgot.
"You never fail to disappoint me," Slade said through the darkness.
Robin blinked as a single light turned on. Slade sat on the chair facing the screens. As he stood up the television screens turned on, flooding the room with a soft white light.
"Why do you sit in the dark, Slade?" Robin asked, shielding his eyes from the sudden light. "I've never understood that."
"Come here."
Robin glanced at the hallway. He had gotten so close. Not like it mattered. Slade would have just talked about it in the morning. He walked back towards the center of the room, mentally preparing himself for a lecture, or worse. Slade's chair was centered on a dais, so Robin had to look up at him.
"That was quite the speech," Slade said. "Announcing the nanobots to the entire school."
"It was part of the class discussion," Robin replied. "It wasn't in front of the school."
"It doesn't matter. You shouldn't have said that."
"Why? Wasn't exactly in our contract."
"You didn't have permission to discuss our situation."
"If I didn't then you should have told me." Robin looked at Slade. "Why not? You want me to lie?"
"No one needs to know."
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I undermining you? Sorry I told the truth because I was trying to engage in a class discussion."
Honestly, Slade hadn't explicitly told him not to talk about it except to the Titans. Slade wanted to appear that Robin had joined him of his own free will. Well, mostly, anyway. It made his forceful personality a lot stronger if he could convince everyone that Robin had joined him.
"I don't care if it was part of a class discussion. Don't talk about it again," Slade said. "The nanobots are only between you and me. The only person from the HIVE Academy who should know is the Headmistress. Now I have to deal with teachers asking me about the nanobots."
Despite almost being turned into barbecue, Robin felt that it had been worth it. He had to keep pushing his limits, because if he didn't do anything everything would be worse. Cyborg, if he had made it back to the Tower tonight, would pass along the message. And now the whole school could talk of nothing else but Slade's nanobots, so it wouldn't look suspicious if Stone asked about them. And even if Cyborg didn't talk about it, the other students and teachers would. Eventually the word would get out to the Titans, and it was this that probably angered Slade the most.
"I'm not sorry."
"It seems that you have forgotten what's at stake," Slade said. "You'll be sorry soon enough."
"I haven't forgotten."
Slade pressed a button, and the television screens flickered on.
"I thought you'd guard your secrets more carefully, but maybe I was wrong. I thought you wanted to protect the Titans. Telling the whole world won't help you."
"Like you care about helping me protect them."
"I do care about your reputation. Revealing the nanobots and your emotional connection to them shows weakness. Your teachers will exploit it if they haven't already."
"Only Ms. Hyacinth. What's she got against me anyway?" Robin asked angrily. "I only said the truth. And what do I care? I already have you blackmailing me."
He raised his fists as Slade walked down the dais towards him. Robin stood still, his muscles tightening as he prepared for a fight. Slade grabbed Robin's fists and forced them down.
"It doesn't matter. Don't give her anymore reasons to attack you. Is that clear?"
The slight burns on his face prickled. After a moment Robin relaxed. It was a miracle that Slade hadn't struck him yet. Better not give him a reason to. "So what do you want me to say when I go back tomorrow?"
"You're not going back until next week. You need to catch up on your real training, and we need to go over what you've brought back."
"Can't it wait until the next break?" Robin immediately wished he hadn't spoken. Slade was pissed enough as it was.
"I've already notified the staff that you will be leaving for the rest of the week. Don't argue with me."
Yeah, right, like Slade had planned to do that. Staying here was his punishment, as Slade knew that he'd rather be at the Academy. At least there, even without Cyborg, Robin had other kids to talk to. Going back to isolation at the Haunt was worse than a day at the HIVE.
"You will stay here and train with me until next Monday. Is that clear?"
No use arguing with him now. At least he hadn't found out about Cyborg. "Yes, Sir."
