Hey peoples! Sorry for the long wait, but I was AMAZED by the response since last chapter: 17 REVIEWS! Special thanks to Theblueswordsman for reading this story and reviewing EVERY CHAPTER!

Shout-outs-

XxPhoenix FlightxX: yeah, Joey! I would've put more of him in there, but I don't know his character very well. Also, not to be judgmental, but could you refrain from swearing in reviews? I know it's not as bad as some words, but my parents sometimes read over my shoulder and I want to make sure they don't see any crude language. Please don't be offended!

Loftcat27: I'm glad you like it! I don't know Jericho's character well, but I wanted to make him more important in this fanfic.

KiSierra: AAAAAHHHH! Don't die! *revives you with magic* sorry this update took so long... and thanks for the ccompliment!

vi: Thank you my friend! I'm sorry this update is so late...

Guest: No problem! Have a chappie! (for some reason that keeps autocorrecting to 'crappy')

Guest(I assume this is a different guest!): Thanks!

wolf-that-is-dark: I am still writing this! Have a chapter, and thanks for reviewing for the first time!

vi(again?): I will try to do better next time... XD

Theblueswordsman (Ch.1): Why thank you!

Theblueswordsman (Ch.2): I'm glad you like it! Yeah, it is kinda brutal...

Theblueswordsman (Ch.3): Thanks! And yeah, I figured Melvin, Timmy, Teether and Bobby didn't need to see that...

vi(I think they're trying to tell me something...): Okay, I get the point! Though I admire your persistence in reviewing the same chapter three times.

Theblueswordsman (Ch.4): Thanks...I might bring Babs in later though.

Theblueswordsman (Ch.5): Thank you! :D

Theblueswordsman (Ch.6): Yeah... Rouge is not the nicest of people.

Theblueswordsman (Ch.7): Who knew Brucie could be so caring... thanks for your faithful reviewing!

And one GIANT shout-out to all you lovely peoples out there who read my story! I would LOVE to hear from you... *blinks innocently and hides list of reviews*

Disclaimer: ...do I have to say it?

Robin: You owe me this much.

Elena: No I don't.

Raven: Oh yes you do. You tortured him for a week, you can claim not to own the Titans.

Starfire: May we do the kicking of the butt to this authoress?

Elena: *laughs nervously and eyes exit* hehe... bye!

Robin: TITANS! GO! *tries to get up and falls over* AFTER HER!

Elena: I DON'T OWN TEEN TITANS OR BATMAN OR JLA! HAPPY?!

Eight

Bruce flinched almost imperceptibly as his name was spoken. So Deathstroke really did know their identities. "You get away from him," he growled.

"I will," Slade replied calmly. "I didn't plan on taking him. The apprenticeship approach failed." He traced the blade along Dick's jugular, laughing. "I could kill him now, but I don't want to. No, I want him to have to wait. I want him to be tortured every waking moment by the knowledge that I'm watching him, waiting for the perfect moment to attack."

Dick moaned quietly as the blade scratched his skin, leaving a tiny red line.

"You'll never get to him. You won't touch him, ever again." Bruce spat the words out. "We'll keep him safe, away from you."

"And what will he think of that, hmm?" Slade murmured, twisting a lock of Dick's black hair around one gloved finger absentmindedly and ignoring the teen's whimper of pain. "You and I both know that Richard here is a free spirit. He won't agree to being protected."

"He has allies in every rank of the Justice League and Titans International," Bruce continued. "You touch him, and you'll have almost every hero in the world at your throat."

"If I get close enough to have that kind of attention, I'll be close enough to take the perfect hostage," Slade murmured. "Either way, his time will come. But as a farewell gift..." He reached into his belt and withdrew a syringe filled with clear liquid. Uncapping it, he injected the substance into Dick's neck. "I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on what this is. It's not fatal, but it'll make the boy's next days absolutely miserable. And before you ask, no, there's no antidote."

"We'll find one," Bruce spat.

Slade shrugged and stood. "Believe what you will. Now, I'm going to leave, and you're going to let me. I'll kill these two before you get halfway across the room, so don't come after me." He backed towards the door. "Goodbye, Robin. I'll be back for you soon."

Then Slade was gone.

As soon as the man was out of sight, Bruce had sprung across the room and to Robin's side. "Did he hurt you?" he asked, examining the boy's bleeding neck.

Robin shook his head painfully, and looked up at Batman, looking completely exhausted. "I-I want to go home."

Bruce nodded, heartbroken at his son's state. "Okay. We'll go. But first, we need to find the others."

"…others? Who...all did you bring?"

Batman lifted the boy gently into his arms, as Jericho stood up nearby. The mute boy followed as Bruce moved towards the door, still cradling Robin in his arms. "Your brothers are here. Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Arrow. And your team."

"How many of them are left?"

"Those who were frozen have been freed. None of your team were captured," Bruce reassured, seeing Robin's worried expression.

"...Can't wait to see Little D... Still as sarcastic as ever, I assume?"

Bruce smirked. "You know Damian."

"Have a feeling...he and Raven hit it off."

"You'd be surprised."

Dick snuggled a little closer to his father's chest, clearly struggling to keep his eyes open. "Can I..." he trailed off, blushing, and Bruce nodded. "You can sleep. You've done well, Dick."

And before the boy could think of another problem, Bruce cradled him closer, and Dick finally slept.

********line break********

In the main room of the Brotherhood's lair, the fight was going surprisingly well for the Titans and their allies. The prisoners had been freed, and most of them had joined the fight. Of course, all of them noticed a different voice calling out the Titans' battle cry; the absence of a certain brightly colored uniform; the hard, determined expressions on the faces of their rescuers. But there was no time to consider it at the moment.

Raven was the first person to see Batman entering the room. She quickly dispatched Kyd Wykkyd, then levitated herself to the Dark Knight's side. What she saw in the man's arms horrified her; Robin was curled up, eyes closed, his face deathly pale.

"Is he..." she began, fear creeping into her voice.

"He's alive. Just exhausted," Batman replied shortly.

Beast Boy morphed into his human form and ran over. "Oh my gosh," he murmured at the sight of Robin. "Is he okay?"

"No," the vigilante answered. "We need to get out of here. Beast Boy, tell Superman it's time to wrap it up."

The changeling raced off and Raven glanced at Batman. "You want to join the fight. You feel as though it's your job to avenge Robin's treatment." The words were stated bluntly, typical of the empath, and Batman turned his eyes to her solemnly.

"I do…. But if there's anything this experience has taught me, it's to keep Robin close. I owe him safety, at least."

Raven simply nodded. "I understand. I can keep an eye on him for you. Jericho can help as well."

The Dark Knight glanced from her to Robin, then nodded. "Fine."

Raven easily levitated the unconscious Boy Wonder into the air and nodded to Batman. "Go. We'll take care of him."

Then the man was gone, vanished into the throng of fighting metahumans.

********line break********

Bruce instantly made his way to where Madame Rouge and Monsieur Mallah were fighting off the original Titans. Allowing his anger to act as fuel for his attack, he lunged towards the shapeshifter, landing a solid, devastating blow on Rouge's jaw. The woman cried out and stumbled backwards, surprised, before turning and facing him.

"Ah, ze Dark Knight," she greeted. "I must say, I never expected ze Titans to summon you. Ze degradation of zeir leader must have hit zem harder zan ve imagined."

"There's a lesson you and all your Brotherhood allies need to learn, Rouge," Bruce growled. He knocked her to the ground with a devastating kick, and lunged forward, seizing her by the collar. "Don't ever touch Robin again. The heroes of the Justice League and Titans International protect their own. You go after one, you face all of them." With that, he tossed her towards Chang's freeze ray, which was already powering up thanks to the Spanish twins - Mas and Menos, was it? The shapeshifter was frozen solid, defeated at last.

Mallah was being taken down by Superman and Beast Boy. Once the villain was restrained, Batman moved forward. "Freeze him," he orders shortly, and Clark knocked the defeated ape towards the freeze ray.

"Where's Robin?" the Man of Steel inquired.

"Safe," Batman replied. "But we ran into Deathstroke."

Clark frowned. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later," Bruce promised. "Where's the Brain?"

"Right here," Beast Boy replied, holding up the Brain's jar. "Can I freeze 'im?"

"By all means," Clark answered.

The young changeling dashed away, placing the supervillain on the conveyor belt under the freeze ray. Then, grinning, he nodded to Mas and Menos.

Once the steam cleared, the Brain was revealed, completely encased in ice. Beast Boy paused, then his eyes widened and he turned to the watching heroes. "Hey, guys!" he shouted, waving his arms over his head. "BRAIN FREEZE!"

Every individual in the room simultaneously groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Batman!" Raven suddenly called, drawing the attention of all the heroes. She was cradling Robin's unconscious form, and a look of fear twisted her pale features.

Within seconds Bruce was at her side. "What happened?" he asked, taking Robin into his own arms. The boy looked even paler than before, if that was possible. But something else had changed….

"He's not breathing," Raven whispered.

Did I just...KILL ROBIN?! Find out next time!

I am thinking of writing a sequel to this soon, would you all like that? One condition though... I want to have 60 reviews total on this story in order to do a sequel! There's about 40 right now... do you think you can do it? All it takes is a few seconds to write a review... please?

Byeeee!