"He's not the enemy," Raven said.

Robin scoffed. "No, he's just myenemy, apparently."

"All right, fine!" Cyborg said, throwing his hands up into the air. "Hate him if you want. I don't care. But we need him to take Malchus down, Robin. Don't forget that when you're on the brink of attacking him like you were back outside the Tower. We don't need to trust him or make him a Titan. We just need his help. Maybe it would be easier to get that if you didn't . . ." Cyborg rolled his eyes and went to sit down on the couch.

"So now I'm the bad guy?" Robin asked.

None of the Titans would look at him, and Robin stormed out of the room and went to train. For the next twenty minutes, sweat poured down his body as he viciously attacked a punching bag in the corner of the room. Panting and wiping his forehead, Robin sat down on the ground and took a drink of water. Why had Slade decided to help them defeat Malchus? Was he trying to gain their trust so he could attack them when their guard was down? What was his plan? Was he tricking them into allowing him inside the Tower so that he could disable their defense systems, turn the Tower itself against them, and strike them down?

Or were the Titans right? Should he really attempt to ally himself with Slade until the threat of Malchus was over? Should he really . . . trust that Slade was really going to assist them in their fight? Not trust him completely, but just enough to take down their seemingly common enemy? It was a purple moon to think that he'd ever get along with Slade even in the slightest, but perhaps if he tried really hard, he might be able to accept the fact that Slade willingly chose to help them.

No! What was wrong with him? He could never trust the madman; he could never let his guard down. If he did, his world would collapse as it had so many times before. All they needed to do was work together for a specific amount of time, then things would be back to the way they were. The Titans being heroes. Slade being the enemy.

But why was he allying himself with the side of good, even temporarily? What was his goal?

Robin's thoughts were broken as he heard the door behind him open. "Cy," he said tiredly, "I'm busy. I don't—" Robin's body and mind both stiffened as he saw that it was not Cyborg, but Slade standing in the doorway. "Why are you here?" he asked, getting up instantly and brushing himself off.

Slade's gaze swept across the room, and Robin saw the man's eye narrow in a sneer. "Training."

Robin opened his mouth to refuse Slade's joining but closed it when he realized how much of an infant it would've made him sound. He shrugged and turned back to his punching bag. After a moment, he heard Slade training with an identical punching bag on the other side of the room, and Robin couldn't stop himself from turning and staring over at the man. "Why are you doing this?"

Slade said nothing.

"Why are you helping us?" Robin asked, stepping forward.

"Will such unanswered questions prevent you from sleeping, Robin?" Slade asked with a glance over his shoulder, causing Robin to blush.

"You've never helped us before," Robin said. "Why are you deciding to now?"

"Patience, Robin. My reasons are my own," Slade said, leaping and giving twelve kicks to the punching bag before landing on the ground.

Adrenaline fueled Robin's tired body into action. Angry at both Slade for not telling him and himself for not being able to figure it out, Robin threw a batarang in Slade's direction. At the last moment, Slade turned and redirected the batarang into a wall using his wrist armor.

The pair stared each other down for a few moments before Robin, not caring anymore if they were allies or not, took out his bow staff and rushed Slade. He didn't know if the two of them were technically fighting or training, but whatever it was, it made him feel good. This was natural. Usual. Their bow staffs clashed as they matched each other blow for blow, and Robin felt his anger decrease with every moment they fought. In a sense, it was almost therapeutic. Battling the one person he was being forced to get along with made him remember just how good Slade really was. Though he still didn't like the thought of it, perhaps having Slade temporarily on their side would help in their defeat of Malchus. Robin didn't trust the man, and he probably never would, at least not that much, but he had to admit that —

"Hey, Robin?"

Robin ceased his attacks, surprised that he hadn't heard his friends' approach. "W-what?" he panted.

"We were gonna eat dinner," Cyborg said. "Want to join us?"

Robin glanced at Slade, then nodded. "Sure. I'll take some pizza." Robin thought he heard Slade chuckle behind him, but when he looked over his shoulder, he found that Slade had returned to his own training as though his battle with Robin hadn't exhausted him in the slightest. He turned to the Titans and walked out of the room, but right before the five left, Starfire spoke.

"Are you hungry?" Starfire asked.

Slightly annoyed that she would ask Slade that question, Robin was glad when Slade continued his training and didn't answer.

The team exited the training room and sat down in the dining room around several pizza boxes. Robin picked up a slice and was about to bite into it when he saw that all the Titans were looking at him. Cyborg's expression was the worst of all, and Robin knew he wouldn't be able to eat in these conditions. He sighed and looked down at the floor. Though he still didn't like the idea of working alongside Slade, his brief battle with the man had released much of his pent-up anger. Since they were busy trusting Slade, they wanted him to do the same. "All right," he said at last. "I'll try it."

"Good to see you've come to your senses," Cyborg said.

"Finally, dude," Beast Boy said.

"Joyous of joys!" Starfire said, picking up a slice of pizza in celebration.

At that moment, Robin heard the Tower's living room door open. He stiffened as Slade entered, and Robin felt that the entire Team was now looking at him. Robin watched Slade for several moments, but Slade said nothing to the Titans. He simply walked over to the kitchen, retrieved a bottle of water from the counter, and was about to leave the room when Beast Boy nudged Robin. Robin saw that all the Titans were waiting for him to say something, and he knew what he had to do. ". . . are you hungry?" Robin forced out.

Slade paused, then turned to face the Titans. "I have brought my own sustenance."

"What is it?" Cyborg asked.

Robin turned to his slice of pizza, trying to act uninterested, but he still glanced toward Slade in curiosity. Slade reached into a pouch on his utility belt, causing Robin to tense until Slade pulled out a small, white cube the size of a marble and held it between two fingers.

"You eat that?" Beast Boy asked. "Looks like bird food."

"What's it made of?" Raven asked.

Slade blinked. "It is a chemically engineered protein supplement."

"Well, this is manufacturally engineered fake meat," Beast Boy said, holding up a slice of pizza and having the point flop down. "Sure you don't want some?"

Slade, not responding, turned and left the room. Robin breathed out a sigh once he'd left and finally took a bite of his pizza.

"When are we going to make plans to take Malchus down?" Raven asked.

Robin, finished eating, stretched and yawned. "Not tonight. Tomorrow at noon."

'Then you'd better tell everyone," Cyborg said, glancing over toward the door to the hallway.

"I did, what . . ." Robin blinked, then sighed. Not having enough energy to put up a fight,

Robin got up and trudged to the room they'd given to Slade. He was just about to knock when

the door slid open and Slade stood there, looking down at him. Robin considered. He greatly wanted to order Slade to be at their meeting tomorrow, but he knew from quite a lot of experience that Slade did not respond well to orders. But what did that make Slade? He wasn't part of the team, so technically Robin wasn't his leader. If he thought about it, it made more sense for Robin to consider himself Slade's inferior, but he was too proud for that. Did that make them equals? Something completely different? "We're going to plan on how to defeat Malchus tomorrow at noon," he said.

Slade nodded, then the door closed in Robin's face.

Robin sighed and returned to the Titans, feeling his anger drop to a simmer by the time he sat

down in front of the television. Everything was usual. Starfire fed Silkie; Raven read another spell book; Beast Boy and Cyborg played their video game.