A/n: I'm going to reply to reviews again! Beware!

In other news, since this story seems to have a pretty good following thus far, what would you guys think about me starting a yahoo group for it? There would be polls, questions, discussion threads, etc. Let me know!

Captain Planet: I am glad that you are enjoying Wintergreen and thank you for reminding me to add the page breaks! I can't believe I forgot! As far as the violence goes, I tried to explain the mentality behind the brutality (no pun intended), but if you would like a more in depth explanation, PM me at any time.

OfeliaWolf: Hahaha I know, the JLA is a bit out of it right now, but just you wait. And I'm glad you like it!

SladeRaveFan: I have heard from quite a few people that it could have been happier, and I agree, but for now, Robin (Dick) needs to be depressed… you'll see!

Sky the white dragon: I know! Superman! Can you stand it?

The Amethyst Eyes: Haha I am glad that you are liking the story, and I feel like I owe it to you guys to update faster now! Glad it's so "page turning" and we have the same favorite characters!

Rae: I don't mean for the Robin/Raven to sound romantic, I may need to go through and revamp those parts… I meant for it to be more of a close friends deal.

Thaliag.2: Thank you as always, love. I've been reading some of your stuff lately, and my goodness you are great! Thanks again for finding info for me!

Ultimate Anime Fan: No, the honorary Titans won't really be in here much. Sorry.

"He's a constant mystery, Will." Slade informed his friend as they settled down to their drinks.

It was a ritual that dated back to their first days out of the army. It had been a silent night the day they were dishonorably discharged for insubordination. Will had sat, nursing his wounds, and after a good while, Slade had simply poured the man a drink. Every time they were together since, they shared a small drink.

"He speaks of Wayne very little, and only when pushed. He speaks so highly of the man, and clearly thinks along the same lines, but it's almost as though he hates him."

"That could prove useful," Will replied, swirling his tumbler absently. "But be careful. You saw what happened when you pushed him earlier." Slade nodded. "What has the he said of Wayne thus far?"

"At first he seemed convinced that the Bat would come swooping in to save his precious brat, but I quickly dissuaded him of that notion. And then today he compared me with the man, saying that Bruce would never hit him."

Will nodded thoughtfully. "I can see how he would draw the conclusion that the two of you are similar. Slade raised his eyebrow; he had long since removed his mask. "Wayne saw the boy's potential, taught him how to utilize it," the man said, very nearly quoting what his friend had said to the boy not hours before. "You are both, from hear-say, determined to no end, feared by heroes and criminals alike, and, from the boy's perspective, you are trying to replace his father." He met Slade's eye. "You should take his words to heart. Ease up on the lad. Smacking him around every time he bats an eye will get you nowhere. You should have called me sooner. The damage you inflicted on that boy, over back talk, Slade? Really, it was unnecessary. Was your goal to make him hate you even more? Or was fear your objective?" Slade's eye narrowed as he took another sip of his drink. "Ah, of course. Fear precedes awe, hmm?"

"I have worked with the boy before, Will. I know what he responds to," he hissed. "You think I would purposefully destroy any chance I had of molding him?"

"Very well. Just be careful. From this point on, every move is crucial. You are starting to gain his trust." Slade scoffed. "Yes, you are. It is small but it is there. The boy has accepted that, for the time being at least, he is here, and that you hold the cards. He has chosen to allow himself to be Richard, just as we had been hoping. At the moment, you have, essentially, a clean slate to work with, though I doubt hitting him earlier helped you there. Nor did goading him about Wayne."

"My methods, though unconventional, have worked thus far."

"Be that as it may, I suggest you lighten up on the talk of Wayne. It will only remind the boy of his past, and we care little for that. It is his future, that we wish to mold. Separate him from Wayne, but always have him in your back pocket."

Slade nodded, and finished his drink. Will did the same, and the two went their separate ways, Will to prepare dinner, and Slade to work.


The Watchtower felt colder than usual as the Justice League assembled. Batman stood at the head of the curved table, tense and intimidating as ever.

"This meeting of the Justice League has been called due to…" Batman paused, taking a deep breath. "Matters of the utmost importance to me." The Leaguers looked perplexed, brows furrowed in confusion, until Diana spoke up.

"D-Robin?" she breathed in horror. Batman's eyes simply narrowed in confirmation. Superman stepped in, continuing where Batman had left off.

"It will become national news tomorrow morning that the Teen Titans… are missing." The Leaguers murmured worriedly until Superman raised a hand, asking for silence to continue. "I, myself have just received news of this," he said with a pointed look towards the Dark Knight.

"But," Barry said, ever the voice of reason. "If we are just hearing about this, shouldn't we give them a grace period? Don't they tend to run off for a few weeks at a time every now and then? Perhaps we should give them some time before we—"

"It's been almost a month," Batman interjected. "Twenty-seven days." Barry's eyes widened. "I've been up and down Jump several times. Whoever has them is good." Walking to the mainframe, Batman's fingers flew across the keyboard for a few moments, pulling up security footage from the last known sighting of the Titans.

The date on the bottom of the screen read November 18. Diana sighed sadly, and the other Leaguers felt pangs of sympathy at the significance of the day. They watched as the Titans walked onto the roof of what seemed to be a restaurant, seating themselves at a round table and picking up menus. The cybernetic teen started arguing with the green boy animatedly, clearly fighting in jest. The dark girl said something to the two as she lowered her hood. The Tamaranean joined in after a few minutes, laughing happily at her friends' antics, but none of the League had eyes for any of them but Robin. He held himself strangely, not the usual posture of the abundantly confident teen they all knew. He was slouched slightly, arms crossed on the table, attention clearly somewhere else.

The cybernetic teen spoke to the boy wonder, who responded shortly. A few minutes later, things clearly became too much for the boy, and he rose quickly and excused himself, bumping fists with the cyborg and leaving through the door they had come through.

Batman's hands returned to the keyboard, bringing up feed from another camera, inside the door Robin had just exited. They watched as he closed the door before letting his small smile fall and leaning heavily against it. Then, as they anticipated, he broke into a sprint, and was gone. Again, Batman brought up the footage from the rooftop camera.

The Titans were just about to begin eating their pizza when all of them simultaneously pulled out their communicators. Worry appeared on their faces as they immediately rose and left quickly.

"That is the last time the Titans were seen." Batman said, turning from the now dark screen. "The criminal underground knows nothing. I have found no clues as to their location. The only lead I have is this." He began typing yet again. "In searching the mainframe in Titan's tower, almost all of the villains documented showed no sign of perpetrating anything like this, save for one."

A data folder appeared on the screen, a picture staring at them all coldly from the left hand side. "Robin was targeted once before by a man who wished to make him his apprentice, train him in the ways of a criminal. He injected his friends with nanoscopic probes and threatened their lives unless Robin do as he say. The Titans know his as Slade. We know him as Deathstroke the Terminator."

"And therefore this has become a critical situation," Superman interjected. "Top priority: to find these kids—to find Robin—and bring them home."


Diana remained long after the others had dispersed, deep in thought. Deathstroke was a notorious assassin and mastermind, known for his manipulation skills as well as his seemingly infinite lives. The man, by all accounts should be dead forty times over by now, and yet, it would seem he had Dick. Bruce entered the room.

Glancing around quickly, and noting that no one else was present, she called out softly, "We'll find him, Bruce. We'll bring him home safe." Bruce turned to face her.

"We have to," he said, though there was something weary in his voice that she didn't like. He turned sharply, and his cape billowed behind him as he stalked back to the zeta beams.


Raven knew that many of the things Rob—Dick had told her, he had told her in confidence, and those things she kept to herself, but she also knew that the time had come. She would have to tell the others what Slade had made him do.

Knocking on each of their doors and gathering them in their commons area, she quietly told them what Dick had told her.

"Kill?" Starfire squeaked. "But Robin cannot—"

"He doesn't really have a choice, Star," Cyborg said darkly. His eyes met Raven's.

"This means—" he said, trailing off, not wanting Slade to hear, and knowing she would fill in the blanks. She nodded, turning to face Beast Boy.

"We have to get out of here… soon," she said pointedly. Beast Boy's ears dropped momentarily in confusion, before his eyebrows rose and he nodded slightly.

"Very soon," Starfire said, keeping up the ruse they had established. "Oh," she said, also looking at Beast Boy, "if only there were someone to help us."


Beast Boy wasn't the brightest in the bunch, and he'd be the first to tell you so, but he knew what he had to do. He had to find a way out.

He was the only Titan who could use their powers right now, so it all came down to him. He had found a small vent a few days ago underneath the bookshelf in their commons area. Powers or not, he still had his animal senses and instincts. He had heard a slight rattling, and, once he had identified the source of the sound, had sought out its location.

He knew that they were being watched, so he had walked to the bookshelf and picked up a book, studying it before "accidentally" dropping it. Crouching down to retrieve it, he had caught a glimpse of the vent, and now he had his escape plan.

He had to get out. He had to find Batman. He had to help his friends.


Dick dried his hair roughly with a towel as he stepped back into his room. He was still puzzled by the last few days events. Slade was being so… different.

He almost laughed at the thought of using the word nice to refer to Slade. Yeah right, he thought bitterly. Slade being nice would be weirder than Beast Boy eating meat.

He let out a little snort of a laugh. Beast Boy had eaten meat, once, so he supposed miracles could happen. He snorted again. Yeah, maybe if Slade's genetic code changed too…

He dropped the towel, hair dripping down his neck, as realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Code Ham and Eggs.

The only time Beast Boy had ever eaten meat was when he had stolen his breakfast when his genetic code changed. The chemicals had interfered with his genetic makeup, and his genes had adapted accordingly. They must have done the same in response to whatever Slade was putting in their food.

His eyes widened and he started slightly as an alarm started ringing throughout the building. They widened further when he realized the implications.

No.

He ran to his door, throwing it open and sprinting towards the Titans' rooms. If Beast Boy made it out, he wouldn't make it far alive.


Beast Boy waited half an hour after their talk in the commons area to take action. Slade wanted Robin to kill, and he knew he couldn't let it get that far. He didn't know what Slade had on Robin, but it was bad. If he could get out, get help, maybe they all stood a chance.

He got off of his bed and transformed. It felt so good after such a long time of not using his powers. He felt at peace with the world again, even as he changed into a spider and crept through the crack between the door and the floor. He scuttled as quickly as he could towards the vent, even as he heard the doors open and sladebots enter with food for the Titans.

He made it just as his door opened, they realized he wasn't there, and sounded the alarm.

Transforming again, this time into a mouse, he ran.


Dick ran faster than he had in a long time. Turning sharply, he nearly fell in his panic, scraping his hands on the concrete floor, but he pushed himself up and kept running. Rounding another corner, he stopped short and barely kept himself from slamming right into Slade.

Panting he looked at the man in a panic. "Slade…"

"Find him," was all the man said before walking past Dick and around the corner he had just rounded himself. Dick didn't need any more word than that. He started running again until he came to a fork in the paths.

He forced himself to breath through his nose quietly as he listened. Closing his eyes, he waited, his own heartbeat blocking out all other sounds, until finally, he heard it. The pitter patter of tiny feet above him.

Jumping high and tucking his arms into himself, he sent his feet straight through the metal grate covering the vent. Quickly flipping himself, he landed in his feet in the narrow crawl space provided by the ventilation system. A green mouse sat before him.

"Dude—" Beast Boy said. "Tell me what to do."

"Go back to your room," Dick bit out. "You don't know what—"

"Then tell me so I can—"

"I can't!" Dick whispered, the sound echoing throughout the small space.

"Dude, I'm going. I'll come back for you all. I promise."

"No, Beast Boy, really… if—"

"Hey, man, everything is gonna be ok, you just have to tr—"

"If you leave this building you are going to die, Beast Boy!" Dick hissed.

"And if I don't, who else is gonna die, Robin?" Dick blinked at him, before bowing his head and breathing out slowly, closing his eyes. Beast Boy was his only hope.

"Be careful," he whispered lowly. When he opened his eyes, Beast Boy was gone.