A/N: Update time! This contains the strangest fight-scene I've ever written, because it's… not really a fight… err… ?

Black Sheep 2: Most Wanted

Chapter Eight (8 = infinity standing up): Panic and Payback

"Metal?" he asked, heart pounding.

"Yeah? The members change sometimes, but it's always the same deal… a martial arts specialist, usually human, an energy user, a magic user, a shape shifter and a robot… except I kinda killed the last one."

"You what?!" Robin's face turned white. Had Flame killed Cyborg? "When?"

"A few months back…" Flame mumbled, and Robin immediately relaxed. Cyborg had only been missing for a few days, after all. It was still a bit disturbing, though, that Flame had actually…

"Had one of those power accidents… but it wasn't like it was sentient or anything! It was just a robot Gizmo had built… Blood got pissed, though, and I got banned from fighting until I have better control of my powers…" the boy glanced at Robin and his eyes and hair turned slightly green, a colour Robin had seen them have in class, and guessed meant concentration or interest. "Why do you sound so shocked anyway? Aren't you an assassin-in-training?"

Robin thought quickly, smiled teasingly and took the boy's arm.

"Yeah, but you know… you are my heroyou aren't supposed to kill people…" he winked, making green turn a pleased red.

When they arrived at the Dojo there was a lot of people there, and Robin looked around.

"What's this? A party?"

"I guess everyone's come to see the new kid get beaten up…" Flame winced.

"That would be me, right?" Robin smirked. "Well, I guess I have to give them a show, then…"

Robin let go of Flame's arm, and looked around, immediately pinned by a very sharp glare. Slade was here.

Robin hurried forward.

"Hello, Master, I thought I wouldn't see you until tonight?"

"I'm just here to watch, Apprentice, don't let me down."

"No, Master." Robin nodded, cringing at how cold Slade had sounded. Was he still pissed about this morning? Damn, that man needed a sense of humour!

Slade was indeed pissed, although it had little to do with the joke. Being called an animal was more praise than insult, he thought. No, that wasn't what was nagging him, but he wasn't completely sure what the real source was. Sure, he had spent the day so far in different meetings, as well as making sure their gear arrived safely to their rooms. He had met with several of the teachers, almost scaring the crap out of Gizmo, which was quite entertaining. It seemed though, that every time he spotted Robin, his irritation spiked. Or maybe it wasn't Robin. Slade's eye drifted to a teen about Robin's age with ridiculous burning hair. That kid always seemed to be around. And the way he was looking at his apprentice… if it had been malice in that look, or lust, Slade wouldn't have been concerned, Robin could defend himself, but did the kid have to look at him like a damn puppy? And the touching… well that just had to stop. Robin had been holding his arm just now, had he any idea how that looked? They would have a long talk about that this evening.

Someone sidled up to him and Slade glanced at the perpetrator, a stunningly beautiful woman. Slade frowned behind his mask. Too beautiful. The woman gave him a calculating look and started to change. Still woman, still beautiful, but more muscled. A small frown then marred the perfect face and the person changed again. Male this time, tall, masculine. Slade waited to see where this would end, and then a young, slim boy stood beside him in the man's stead.

"Are you trying to figure out my preferences?" Slade drawled, making the boy smile.

"Am I getting closer?" the thing asked.

"Oh, you might get there eventually… but right now you are very cold…" the man said as the shape-shifter had changed into a large, hairy man with a pronounced beer-belly.

The man laughed and turned back to a stunning woman with all the right curves and long blond hair.

"I was just teasing you…" she giggled.

"A piece of advice: don't." Slade snorted. "Are you here to fight?"

"I'm a lover, not a fighter…" the woman whispered, making Slade snort again, in amusement this time.

"Is that so?"

"Wanna find out?"

"I'm here to watch my Apprentice, not fuck strangers."

The woman gasped, her cheeks colouring slightly.

"My, aren't you the direct one? Maybe I'll see you later, then…? I wouldn't want to… distract you…"

"No, of course not…" Slade sneered, and turned back to the room.

Robin tried to listen to the instructor, but then he had noticed Shift appearing beside Slade. They seemed to be talking while the H.I.V.E-member constantly shifted between bodies. What the hell was that guy up too? Robin wanted to growl as he realized it. He was flirting. With Slade. His Slade! So okay, maybe Robin flirted a bit with Flame, but that was just… Slade better not respond! Fortunately, he didn't seem to, not even as the shape shifter, for some reason, turned into a rather ugly man. Robin blinked. What was that all about?

Shift glided away soon after, thankfully, because now Robin really had to focus.

"Spectators out or against the walls! If you get hurt, it's your own fault!" the instructor suddenly barked. "Class, two-on-two, this is only an exercise, so low force only! If you are hit with anything that would be damaging or deadly with more force, you're out. Pair up!"

Fifteen minutes and three opponents later, Robin was very grateful for his life as a Titan. He especially remembered his fight with the Master of Games fondly; it had been a challenge fighting him when the creature had taken control of so many different powers.

Here he had opponents whose powers he didn't know about until they used them, and he also had to avoid getting hit, or slip on, anything from the rest of the class.

He tried to watch the others as well as his own opponent as he fought, filing away any information he could gain. He was up against all the elements; fire, wind, water and earth, as well as electricity, magnetism, ice, power-blasts of all kinds, shifters… all in all, it was a comic-writer's wet dream in there. It was staring to become a nightmare for Robin, though.

He mainly used his bo-staff and hand-to-hand combat, as he couldn't very well start throwing blades or bombs around. He had just flipped over the head of a guy who had tried to get him stuck in some icky web-thing, and ended the fight by hitting him between the shoulder blades with just enough force to make it count. To his surprise, no one so far had argued when they got hit, but the instructor kept a close eye on them all and sometimes sounded his whistle when he deemed something to be out of order.

Robin had to wait a few moments for the next winner, his next opponent, and quickly looked around the room. He spotted Flame, who waved. Robin grinned and waved back, only to stop when he noticed Slade looking. He had a feeling he was pushing his luck.

"You free?" a tall young woman with strange markings on her skin asked.

Robin nodded, and the fight was on. It turned out she was incredible fast, but thankfully she wasn't much of a strategist, and Robin managed to take her down without getting too dizzy.

The fights continued. Robin was starting to get tired, he was half out of breath and sweaty, but he was far from beaten. After half an hour, and most of the opponents, Robin was surprised to find himself still standing. When he looked at the three others left, however, he wondered if he might be allowed to call it quits. Dark Matter was there, and he was looking straight at Robin.

Hurrah.

The Titan was seriously freaked by this guy… it would have been easier if he was actually ugly, but he was, in fact, rather beautiful… in a completely freaky way, of course.

Robin glanced over at Flame, who looked worried, and at Slade who looked… well… he had his mask on, but he looked like he was paying more attention now, which was rather worrisome in itself.

Robin faced Matter and nodded. He had made it this far, after all, and maybe this guy only looked scary, many of the other's had, which was one of the reasons Robin was still standing. He might have underestimated how valuable his skills really were. Most of the students seem to rely far too much on their special abilities, but, being human, Robin had had to work much harder, for much longer, and now, providing he could avoid those powers long enough, he had so far been the better fighter.

Matter didn't move until Robin did, and they slowly started circling each other. Robin took out his bo-staff and extended it. He had a strange feeling that he didn't want to actually touch this one with his hands. He wondered when the attack would come. The slender built teen didn't look much like a traditional fighter, but then again, Robin wasn't exactly a heavyweight either.

The circling continued, and Robin started to feel impatient, agitated. Matter seemed calm, though, and very focused, so Robin tried to clamp down on his own feelings, knowing Slade would scold him if they showed. He had no idea why people were cheering and clapping their hands.

Wait…?

They weren't! Not the ones he saw in the corner of his eye, anyway … he whipped his head around to stare at the people on the other side of the room, but they didn't appear to be cheering either… still he heard it… and music… and it smelled… not the stale smell of old sweat, but the sweet, buttery smell of… popcorn? Candy… horse dung…

Sawdust!

Robin grew cold as his eyes found Matter again. The young man appeared to be smiling faintly, but he was somehow harder to see. There were so many colours, so many people under the huge canopy.

No! No, this isn't real!

He was at the circus, it was still half transparent, but more authentic than even his nightmares had ever been. Sounds and smells he no longer consciously remembered surrounded him, as well as faces from his childhood, and there, walking out into the ring; his parents.

He has made a lot of people cry.

It hadn't been a joke, or a fun way of saying that he had kicked some ass. It was literal.

Dark Matter was a bit like Scarecrow, Robin figured, but instead of drug-induced irrational fear, this was real memories. He was aware, deep down, that this wasn't actually happening, but…

It felt real.

It looked real.

It sounded real.

It smelled real.

The peculiar smell of the canvas itself assaulted his nose, and Robin felt himself take a step back, but, at the same time, he didn't seem to move at all.

He couldn't. He couldn't see this again. It was too much. It would break him. Last time he had been a child, he hadn't understood fully, he hadn't known

Maybe he could stop it? But he couldn't move anymore. He was eight years old, he was scared and he was helpless.

"Robin!"

Richard Grayson turned his head and looked out over the part of the audience he could see from his hiding place. He grinned as he spotted a teenager with funny coloured hair. He looked worried. There was a man there, too, only a shadow, but he looked a bit scary.

Slade. Flame.

Richard shook his head slowly and looked ahead again. His parents were climbing the ladder to the platform high above. It was time soon.

Wasn't there someone in front of me?

Focus.

Focus on me.

Slade had said that.

Self absorbed bastard…

There was suddenly a thin shadow in front of him.

Richard narrowed his eyes.

Robin frowned.

The colours faded slightly.

There was a roar from the audience. His parents had just done their first trick.

Richard wanted to look.

Robin didn't.

He wanted to fight.

His grip tightened on the bo-staff he wasn't aware he was holding. Hell, part of him didn't know what it was.

Suddenly there was a startled cry from the spectators, but Robin knew what his opponent looked like now. Black eyes, cold smile. He threw himself forward, crying out as he spun around, his staff connecting with something, unseen, with a crack, which almost, but only almost, drowned out a louder, duller, thud.

The world his mind had created shattered, and Robin found himself standing above the magic-user who looked to have been hit hard, but was still conscious.

Robin, even now, had the sound echoing in his mind. He bent down and grabbed his opponent by the front of his uniform, pulling him up so they were face to face.

"Never, ever mess with my memories again. I. Will. Kill. You." It wasn't acting. Right then, Robin meant every word. He slammed the teen back into the floor again and stood up.

"Who's next?" he barked. He spun around to try to find the winner of the other pair, but the one left raised his hands and backed away. "No one?" Robin growled, his blood thirst very obvious.

"I'll fight you."

Robin turned around and grinned coldly.

Kim.

Sweet.

The Asian teen's step seemed to falter for a second when he met Robin's eyes, but there was no backing out now. Robin wouldn't let him.

"You are not even in this class!" Robin heard Flame object, and they both looked over to a blue haired teen who seemed to be almost shaking with worry.

"Aren't you banned from here, looser?" Kim sneered. "Why don't you go blow up some bathroom?"

"Why don't you quit stalling?" Robin smirked at the group leader.

"Hand to hand, no weapons, no armour." Kim suggested, trying to gain some advantage.

"Gladly." Robin grinned and undid his belt and metal protection with ease.

"Boots too." Kim said.

"I'll gladly fight you naked." Robin snorted, and pulled them off. He heard some snickers in reply across the room, as well as some encouraging whistles. They didn't sound malicious, though, and Robin had a feeling that Kim wasn't well liked. It didn't matter. He could be the most popular kid in school; Robin would still happily kick his ass.

"Want to make it interesting?" Kim sneered.

"Yes, please, because right now I'm pretty bored," Robin said and stretched. He wasn't tired anymore; his adrenaline had pushed him through that wall.

"What about full contact?"

A hiss went through the room, but Robin only threw back his head and laughed.

"Please! I live in the real world. Out there, you either kill or get killed… and full contact is supposed to scare me? Pssshh… Bring it on." Robin turned his head towards the instructor. "With your permission, of course, Sir?"

The man nodded. "Just use your judgement."

Kim charged immediately. At first the fight was rather rough and messy, but soon the rest of the class, as well as the curious crowd, got to see a surprisingly beautiful demonstration of a wide range of fighting styles, as the combatants switched between them seamlessly.

Kim was fast and even stronger than he looked, making Robin misjudge the force behind a roundhouse kick, getting his arm and side hurt as he blocked it too sloppily. Helearned, though, and he learned fast. He had the advantage of being more agile than his opponent, and as soon as he had felt him out, he started playing with him. The crowed cheered as it realized what Robin was doing, and Kim snarled as he was hit once more with just enough force to hurt.

"This is full contact, you wuss!" he screamed. "Scared? I've bet you never as much as hurt anyone before!"

Robin knew the teen was trying to get him off balance, and would have none of it.

"Oh, I've killed," he hissed. "Using a gun, I admit, but I'm sure I can do it with my bare hands as well. Wanna find out?"

"Was that what Matter made you remember? Your worst memory? You looked like you would cry!" his opponent sneered.

"Are you trying to make me angry? How stupid are you?" Robin wondered. "But it's funny you should mention your creepy friend, because you know what?"

"What?" Kim growled.

"From now on, if he ever uses his powers on youyou will remember this."

A foot, to Kim seemingly out of nowhere, crashed into his right hip, followed quickly by an open hand blow to his right collar-bone. Then his assailant seemed to back away, and Kim saw the second kick coming. He saw it, but his right arm and leg seemed strangely numb, and he couldn't block it. The kick crashed into the side of his head, making him spin around with the force of it and fall heavily to the floor.

A cheer erupted, but Robin merely snorted, making a mock bow to his opponent before walking off to the side where the instructor was.

"Was a kick to the head to use your judgement, young man?" the instructor asked sternly.

"Yes. If I hadn't, his head would have ended up hitting someone. Might have caused a concussion… and more clean-up." Robin answered with a blank face. He had known exactly what he was doing… it didn't mean he hadn't wanted to kick a little harder, though…

"Very well…" the instructor still looked stern, but there was just a shadow of a smile in his eyes. "Class!" he added in a louder voice. "We still have almost an hour to go, find a partner, grab some pads and practice the kick you just saw. Get to it!"

Robin turned around to find a partner of his own, but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Your Master seems to want a word, and I have a feeling no one will want to practise with you right now. Most of them want their heads where they are."

"Yes, sir." Robin nodded and walked across the room to Slade.

"The instructor said you wanted to see me, Master?"

"You did well, Apprentice." Slade said, but then someone pushed between them.

Robin found himself being hugged hard.

"What the hell happened, Robin? That looked really scary!" Flame complained.

"With Matter or with Kim?" Robin asked with a smile, somewhat distracted form having his arms full of a worried, cute guy.

"Both!" the teen exclaimed and his eyes burned with a strange blue-green colour.

"Enough." Flame was suddenly pulled out of Robin's personal space by his arm and was pushed away roughly enough to hit the wall with a thump.

"Master!" Robin was glad he had the presence enough to use the man's title, but his glare didn't match. To his horror, Flame seemed to bounce back, now sporting hair and eyes so light blue that they were almost white.

"Keep your hands off me!" he growled at Slade.

"Keep your hands off my apprentice." Slade answered in the same tone.

"He's not your damn property! You can't treat him like that."

"That's exactly what he is, and so yes, I can," Slade told the young meta-human in a voice so cold it made Robin shiver.

"Flame, it's okay, Master Slade is right…" Robin tried.

"It's not okay, he's just using you!" Flame hissed and looked like he wanted to stomp his foot. "He doesn't care about you, not like-" the teen stopped himself and looked miserable.

"Flame, you should go… I see you later, okay?" Robin begged quietly. "You calling out to me helped me break Matter's magic… you are my hero for real now…" he added with a small smile. The boy's hair turned slightly darker, a purple hue, but his anger and worry was far from gone.

"Do as my apprentice says and leave this instant, or I will have you kicked out of this school," Slade threatened.

Robin heard restrained energy sparkle and hiss from the boy and was suddenly afraid he would blow them all up.

"Please? Flame?" he whispered.

Flame nodded.

"This isn't over!" he hissed at Slade before marching away.

"I had no idea that sweet boy was so brave…" an amused voice to Robin's side said.

Rose had showed up.

"I heard there was an amazing fight going on, I thought you would be involved, Slade, not your apprentice," she continued, with a smile, carefully avoiding any familiarity.

Robin snorted. She hadn't been careful the first time; anyone might have walked into that classroom. Besides, hiding that she was Slade's daughter was something that grated on Robin's nerves. It was like she was ashamed of him. He got a grip on his feelings. He knew that shame wasn't the reason, but his logical mind somehow refused to cooperate when it came to Rose. He wasn't jealous, he told himself, not really. Not because she was Slade's daughter, it was just… his feelings for her… for his sons… for that Addie… The bitch had shot him, damnit! Robin hadn't heard the same kind of emotion in the man's voice when he had mentioned Rose's mother; that probably had just been an affair, but the fact that… Robin swallowed. He had grown to accept that Slade was a certain way. That he wasn't emotional, didn't let people in, didn't love. But he had. The man was capable, and still…

He doesn't love ME…

That was the height of unfairness, in Robin's mind. Why wasn't he worthy of that love as well? He didn't care if Slade loved the whole fucking world, just as long as he was included!

"You look really grumpy for a winner, kid…" a hand landed on his shoulder and Robin was brought back to reality in a flash.

"Don't touch me!" he hissed, and slapped Rose's hand away. He had had enough and turned around to leave.

"Apprentice, stay." Slade ordered him like some dog.

Robin guessed he was a dog to the man. A pet. Slade had bought him, after all… He still froze and turned around, lifting his head enough to stare at the man's chest.

"Permission to leave, sir?" he asked stiffly.

"Denied. You will apologize to Miss Worth and return to class."

Robin found it hard to breathe. Didn't Slade see how much he hurt right now? Didn't he care?! Obviously not.

"Yes, Master." He turned towards Rose who looked like she rather would have been left out of this whole thing. "I apologize, Miss Worth. I was lost in thought and you… caught me off guard. It was disrespectful of me."

"It's… it's fine, Robin, don't worry about it." she hurriedly said, and the teen managed a sneer posing as a smile.

"Thank you, Miss. Permission to return to class, Master?"

Slade nodded and Robin stalked away.

There was not much time left, and the coach had him help some of his classmates with their techniques for the remainder of class. The spectators, knowing the show was over, had long since gone and, Robin discovered as he looked up, so had Slade and Rose.

He was shown to the gym by some of the students, who seemed to have decided that they wanted to be on his good side, although not too close. The gym-instructor had him go through an entire evaluation test before having him focus on abs, chest and arms for this lesson. It was plenty of time for him to work through all of his aggressions, and, as he dragged himself out of the gym, he felt strangely empty. Not necessarily in a bad way, though. His stomach groaned, telling him that that was empty as well.

Outside the gym someone was waiting for him, and Robin smiled and rolled his eyes.

"You are not easily discouraged, are you?" he teased his biggest fan.

"Nah, I'm a hero you know… we don't do discouraged…" Flame grinned back.

"I'm going to have to remember that…" Robin sighed. "Which way to the showers? I can't eat soaked like this…" he said, gesturing to himself. "On the other hand, I don't have a change of clothes or even a towel, so…" he muttered, deciding to head back to the room instead.

"That's not a problem, didn't anyone show you?" Flame said eagerly, and dragged him into the closest locker room. "There are towels in here; you just need to use your key-card." He explained, pointing to a row of small lockers lining the walls. Robin chose a closed one and opened it, finding not only two towels but shampoo and soap as well.

"Handy… " he grinned. "Although I really wish someone rethought this honey-theme…"

"Yeah, many bring their own stuff…" Flame grinned. "This way you don't have to carry around a gym-bag, though, and that's great!"

"I don't have a bag at all…" Robin realized. He had seen some people taking notes during Law, but Flame hadn't, so Robin thought it wasn't mandatory.

"The classes provide most of the stuff, and we really don't get much homework… on the other hand, we work pretty much around the clock, so…" The teen shrugged. "Oh, let me show you the washing-system! This is really great!" Flame took him to a machine which looked like an over-sized microwave oven. "Just throw everything in there; it can do all kinds of material at once, even metal! Press this button and everything is clean in three minutes!"

"Wow, cool!" Robin said, actually impressed. "How does it work?"

"Arrrgghh… particle-something-or-other… Gizmo explained it, but he lost me pretty quickly…" The teen scratched his pale yellow hair.

"I have to ask him… I need one of these…" Robin chuckled, thinking about the Tower.

"What, he makes you do laundry too?" Flame's hair had turned a dark blue.

"Sometimes…" Robin said, remembering the cave. He then grinned and shrugged. "He isn't that bad, really! I know it must seem strange from the outside, but…"

"It doesn't seem, it is!" Flame pouted.

"I know, I know…" Robin sighed and walked over to the locker. "Just forget it for now, okay? I'm hungry as hell, by the way, what's for dinner?"

"There are always a few dishes to choose from. Vegetarian, fish, chicken and red meat. The food is the second greatest thing about this place…"

Robin was busy removing his top.

"Really? And what is the best, then?" he asked, turning around.

Flame was there.

Very, very close.

"You are…" the teen whispered and leaned forward.

A second later he was heading for the door.

"I'll wait for you outside, okay?" he smiled, and Robin slowly blinked and nodded.

He had just been kissed.

By a boy he liked.

On the cheek.

When the door closed, Robin's face split into a silly grin as he touched said cheek gently. He had kind of expected to be slammed into the lockers and ravaged, but… this was nice too…

Maybe I've been hanging out with the wrong people… even Jamie was a predator compared to this… he thought dryly.

Damn, I wanted to find out what his hair looked like in the shower… another part of his mind grumbled, leaving a naughty grin on his face which lasted all through dinner.

To be continued…

A/N: AAARRGHH! Help me to break up with Flame! The shy, charming bastard has taken things MUCH further than I had planned! Only Slade can mess around with me like that! And Red X… Robin is usually rather manageable, actually, unless riled up by Slade or Red… Bad company, you know… -grin-

Maybe I let Flame get away with too much because I'm a bit pissed as Slade right now… which I shouldn't be, since I'm the author and actually has a faint idea what's going on in that thick head of his… right now, though, I'm gonna drive him insane, pretending that Robin/Flame is a good idea… what do you think? You should hate Flame and want him dead, since he is an OC… do you? Should I let Slade pack him in a very small crate and send him to Antarctica? Should I let him elope with Robin? –lol- Damn, I wish I had made him more like Red X… more flirty and self assured… I don't wanna hurt sweet guys…. –cries-