Pieces of the Puzzle

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Eek! Don't attack me! The last chapter might have been a little sad but just bear with me for now. You showed know by now that I do bend my story to your requests at the appropriate times. I'm not as evil as my cousin here, who—I might add—is regretfully back…

Victor: What's that supposed to mean?

Alex: Shut up—I still don't trust you.

Victor: Is that why you're holding your dad's military saber?

Alex: Precisely.

Victor: (Sweat Drop.)

Alex: But let's get on with the story, shall we? I'm still working on Not Again—so don't kill me for that one either. I will try to get it out on by Sunday night. I'm going over to my dad's place, so that means I will have more time to type. Oh yes! I found my notebook! Victor put in the kitchen, one of the few places I'm not allowed to enter due to my luck with accidental fires. But I made supper last night! With the supervision of my older sister…

DISCLAIMER: I just watch the shows and type about them. The Teen Titans and other characters from their show are not mine. Also, the JL will be showing up soon again so I place no claim on them either. Everything else belongs to me.

As always—Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVEN: Growing plans

It took them a while, but Speedy, Aqualad, and Hot Spot arrived at the T-tower sometime in the morning. They tried to call the Teen Titans at least a hundred times, but after finding both Batman and Robin gone, they knew something was bound to happen to the rest of their friends. Too bad they were right…

Door ajar, they let themselves in and started looking around. Aqualad and Hot Spot went up to the upper floors while Speedy made his way to the main room and found next to nothing. The only thing he noticed was that the freezer door to the refrigerator hadn't been properly closed. He pushed it shut and it swung back open. Someone had repackaged the meat into plastic contains that didn't fit…Okay…

He shoved them in and slammed the door closed again. This time it stayed shut and he left to search the basement. It was deadly dark until he switched on the lights. There were rows of filing cabinets, nothing he wouldn't expect. But then there was the scent of blood. It was very faint and he wasn't sure how he noticed it, but it was enough to make him dash down the stairs and take a look around.

He looked under the basement stairs…

What was this?

There were thin plastic bags and the cartons for the meat put in a nice pile in the corner It was literally a bloody mess, but at least now he knew why the meat was repackage upstairs. Someone was collecting the blood.

For a fake death perhaps?

He pulled out his communicator and called up his two friends. "Either of you got anything?"

"Something here." Hot Spot said. "Well, one of the guns is missing from the evidence room and I found a rubber bullet on the ground. Got any idea why that is?"

"I'm on the roof." Aqualad sighed. "And there's a puddle of blood up here. It's pretty cold though, and no one's here."

He was right.

Someone did fake a death.

HW-

It was so unnerving. She didn't look at him, but kept her eyes staring straight ahead. Slade had glanced at her a couple of times with that cold eye, but he kept a longer watch on the KO'd Teen Titans leader. The silence wads driving her nuts, but she kept quiet. Jacob was just as stiff as her and she could only guess why, sitting with an immortal bastard.

This gave her time to think. The one thing haunting her the most was not telling Robin her plan. It was what Robin did before when he became the first Red-X—he deceived his friends to deceive his friends. Besides, there was no way they would have won anyway. If the battle too long, Slade would have probably called on his robots anyway to take them down. Robin was practically dying, Starfire was a nervous wreck, and she was insane. At least on the inside of the villains group she could do some serious damage. She'd free Boy Wonder when the time was right and soon Starfire would show up. She was following them at this very moment, soaked in blood that wasn't her.

HW almost laughed. There was no way she would kill off one of her own friends. Family or not, HW would have to make sure to kill Jacob in his sleep. As long as no one figured her out, she could do as much damage as she wanted.

Then there was Slade…She couldn't hit him if she tried with all her might. That guy was like a disease. The moment you got over the illness, it came back to make you worse. And you weakened even more each time.

She sometimes hated life.

Now the gears in her head began spinning out of control. She had gotten this far, but Slade was a smart one. He knew Robin was Red-X from the start when Boy Wonder tried the deceiving trick, and HW wasn't any better than the kid hero. Robin was good…and she was horrible—an amateur. Slade probably already knew what she was up too or was getting the sense of what was going to happen. She had to give him credit for his quick mind.

"Where exactly are you taking us?" She asked Jacob quietly, referring to herself and Robin. Seeing that there weren't any windows, she had absolutely no idea where they were headed. As long as it wasn't Antarctica…

"Can't tell you." Her cousin replied, Slade's watchful eye on him. "But relax. You just have to meet Wintergreen and then things will take their course."

"Wintergreen?"

Who was he? The man who had been collecting the majority of Slade's pieces?

"An old guy with a handlebar mustache. I think he's British."

"What! I thought I killed that jerk!"

Even Slade stared at her when she said this. What a stupid thing to say out loud…

"That was the guy you tried to kill?" Jacob asked, sounding astonished. "You mean you really tried to kill someone?"

Think fast. Think fast. Think fast. Think fast. Slade is still staring—

"He tried to kill me first. I didn't actually stay to make sure he was dead."

Jacob shrugged. "Oh well. One person off the kill list."

She sighed, and slouched her shoulders. "Now it's down to zero…"She murmured.

Jacob didn't hear, but evidently Slade did because his one eye narrowed in suspicion. "Don't you mean one?"

Oh no.

"Aliens don't count." She replied, quite surprised she sounded so calm. "Besides, the way she fights I'd say she's from a warrior race or something. For all I know, it could be a grand honor to die. So, no—my list is back down to zero."

Slade still appeared to be suspicious, but he said no more. His heavy gaze fell on the unconscious Robin sitting next him. That dart really did the trick.

She bit her lower lip. She'd have to be more careful if she wanted to get anything done, but that would be nearly impossible with Slade around. She would have to avoid him in the future unless it couldn't be helped. He would rat her out soon.

This was going to be hard…

RX-

Taking deep breaths, he tried to calm his racing heart. Batman was crazy! Where did he get his piloting license…but did he even earn one? Red-X didn't want to know. As long as they didn't fly anywhere else together, X would live.

They stopped at Wayne manor and Red-X instantly put two and two together. Batman equals Bruce Wayne—Bruce Wayne equals Batman. How could he have been so stupid not to notice it before? After all, there was that little showdown at Wayne's workplace between Batman and the Joker. The instant the bold Bruce Wayne was out of the picture, here comes the bold Batman. How could the city even be fooled with the old trick? Couldn't they put two and two together as well?

He was just glad to be alive and followed Batman inside. He was led into the basement, which really wasn't a basement…it had the dark, dank persona to it, but it was a hideout—no exceptions. The main computer caught his interest, but he stood quietly as Batman contacted the JL about all that had happened so far. Wonder Woman was the one to answer.

"Green Lantern and Flash are both here with us, but their attacker did some serious damage. They were caught off guard at the T-tower, but later we heard they weren't the only ones. The three Titans—Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy—were all sent to the hospital due to severe injuries. The machine kid is just about walking again, and the green changeling is doing okay, but the third is stuck in a coma."

Batman rubbed his chin and started to think. "What about Robin and Starfire?"

"We tried to contact the tower earlier, but we received no answer. Then we heard from Speedy that the Titans East went to investigate. He said there was a false murder or something of the sort. No one was there, but he has reasons to believe that Slade is back and that he could possibly taken Robin prisoner again. The girl, HW, was supposed to be with them, but she's gone too. Wherever they went, their too far away for us to contact them by communicator."

"Any idea where Slade would hide?"

"After the past battle, I doubt it's anywhere near us. Slade's colleges work fast. They could be anywhere."

"Thanks…" He sighed, and the screen blinked off.

"I don't think they left the country." Red-X said, hoping it would help the guy. "They move fast, but I think that's the work of only one or two people. Besides, all we have to do is find the area where most of the trouble is originating from."

The screen blinked on again and Batman typed in his password before X could glance at the key-board. At least a hundred files popped up on screen and Batman seemed to read them all at once.

"If you're right, then he's not to far from here. I know Slade's been taking out anyone who could pose as a threat to him and the majority of hero disappearances are around Gotham."

"You don't think he's using his old hide-out, do you?"

"I doubt he would make it that easy for us. He could have somewhere set up outside the city or one the outskirts of Gotham."

Red-X grinned behind his mask. "Like an old factory?"

Batman grinned too, but only for a moment. He typed in something else and the picture of an old power plant showed up. "There's no many, but we can start checking. Do you feel like playing the hero again, kid?"

Red-X headed toward the stairs leading out of the basement. "I hate playing the hero—but it doesn't mean I don't know how."

St-

Starfire followed them for what seemed like forever. She was getting tired, but she kept fro the hours it took to reach Slade's destination. Keeping her distance from the helicopter, she watched as it landed on the outskirts of what looked like…Gotham? It was a power plant, ruined and old like all of Slade's other hideouts. But why so close to Gotham? Wasn't he afraid of getting caught?

No—she knew exactly what was going on. Everyone knew heroes were disappearing like magic, and what better way to catch a hero than to lure them into a trap? If Slade pretended to be secretive but left his hideout to be obvious enough, Batman and the other JL members would come to take him down. It was so simple it was scary.

What should she do now? She had to find Batman, that's what, and he lived on the other side of town at the manor. Maybe after she rested a little.

Watching as they landed, she herself landed a good distance away in a tree along the road, and sat staring on a large branch. Leaning against the trunk of the tree, she took a couple of deep breaths and continued to watch…what the heck. It wouldn't kill anyone if she rested for just a second. She just had to take a short nap…

She yawned and there was no use resisting. She had been flying almost all day and it was now well into the afternoon. Soon it would be night and then she could fly freely over the city without anyone noticing. If Slade had anyone watching out for heroes, spotting her would be the worst thing that could happen. Slade would know HW didn't really kill her and then the poor girl would be as good as dead. Starfire had to be seriously careful for the sake of her two captured friends.

Robin…She though of him fro a brief moment. She hadn't seen him smile in such a long time, it felt like ages. He really wasn't the type of person who had too much luck. He even cut Slade up—and even that didn't work. Maybe Slade was right. Maybe Robin wasn't meant to be on their side. Maybe he was meant to be Slade's apprentice…

She couldn't think like that. That's how Slade always won—he got into your mind and worked his way outwards. She just had to keep him out of her head and se would be fine, but how long would that last. They were walking on eggshells. If anything went wrong, one of them would be dead in a heartbeat.

"I hope your plan works, friend H and W." She whispered before dozing off into an uneasy sleep.

Starfire only dreamt of nightmares…

R-

He woke up sitting in the corner of a small room, his hands tied behind his back and a gag fit tightly into his moth. His head was still dizzy from the serum, but he knew holding still would help it to wear off quicker. His vision was returning already.

At first he thought he was alone—but then he saw HW sitting on the floor in the other corner. She was staring at him with an unreadable face and it annoyed him.

She stood and came over to him, pulling the gag out of his mouth. "You sleep pretty hard." She said before returning to her seat.

He thought before answering. He had plenty of time to think as he slept, but there was something he just began to put together.

"I'm glad to see you're okay." He whispered.

She appeared shocked, but then she grinned. "So you know…"

He nodded. "You and Star are pretty noisy. I heard you going through the freezer when I was trying to sleep on the couch. I had no idea why you came back later with the meat in plastic container and blood on your hands. I guess it slipped my mind when you shot Star."

"Damn you're smart!" She laughed, leaning her head back against the wall to stare at the ceiling. "You are amazing, Robin—you know that? No wonder and absolutely evil maniac wants to train you. You could be deadly."

"I am deadly—I just don't act it."

"I see." Then her gaze returned to him. "So, is there anything you want to know?"

Yes.

"Where's Slade? I thought I'd end up waking to one of his lectures."

She chuckled. "He's actually resting right now. He was dead just yesterday, so you can't really blame him. He needs energy to lecture someone as stubborn as you."

He was stubborn and he liked being that way. It drove Batman nuts sometimes, but it helped him get his job done as a hero. He just didn't know when to give up.

But still, he knew he was in for a beating once Slade was ready. They would argue verbally and then one of them would lose their temper and attack the other. That would lead to yet another battle and Robin knew who would lose. Even though Slade was weak, Robin was in no fighting condition either.

"And what about you?" He asked. "What do you plan to do?"

She grinned. "Find out Slade's plan for our dear world and work off that. I plan to take a few people down, but I doubt I'll last long. I'm just here to damage the inside to make it easier for the allies on the outside, if you get my drift?"

"You really are insane."

Her grin faded and she looked very serious. "Why do you think that?"

"I think I subconsciously heard you talk to that guy on the roof. I might have been rendered motionless, but I awake—and you guys were yelling pretty loud. I just couldn't move until later on."

"Then…" He mouth hung open. "Then…you know everything."

"Not everything, but enough to know I can trust you."

She fell silent and he left her to her peace. She would need to think things over before she tried anything on Slade or she would bring upon he own demise. HW was walking in between tight spaces. If she moved a little too slow, she'd be crushed.

A-

Ah yes—the end of another chapter. Told you not to have a heart attack yet, but a Titan or two will die in the future. I still have a lot to write for this chapter and I need to Q on the death scenes. I just couldn't kill Starfire right now—not when she's barely served her purpose. But I would like to congratulate Jean-Wachunas for figuring the whole thing out before I submitted the chapter. I received a letter from her of what she thought, and she was wrong in absolutely no way. And congrats to the rest of you who were pretty close! Keep reading and keep guessing!

Goodbye for now,

Alexnandru Van Gordon