Again

Alexnandru Van Gordon

I'm alone today…so I'm just going to cut to the chase for once.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Titans or anything connected to them through the DC comic universe. That includes all heroes, villains, and past profiles of the characters, though there may be modifications.

CHAPTER TWELVE: Him…

After shooting the green boy, Wintergreen had to admit to himself that he felt a little bad for doing such a thing. Maybe he should have held his temper—Robin was coming with him one way or another. But time…Time was of the essence and they had very little of it. Slade was going to be there soon.

The younger Slade.

The Slade he knew couldn't be there for certain purposes, and that was why it was Wintergreen's job to deliver the child and instructions on what to do in the near future to make his plans of corrupting the world easier. It had taken a while, but over the phone Wintergreen somehow convinced his old—or young—friend that he was right. Slade understood after a series of tests to prove he wasn't lying, but the details to those were boring. He was only lucky Slade was looking for an apprentice as early as this. He actually seemed interested in Robin when Wintergreen spoke to him about the boy and he promised to take good care of him…

Tied with his hands behind his back, Robin sat in the back of another stolen car. He was squirming around, trying to free his wrists from the rope. The attempt was in vain, but still he tried.

"I hate you."

Wintergreen sighed. He had the car parked along the side of the deserted road. Not many people were out and that made his job all the more easier. "I already know that." He answered as he propped his elbow up against the steering wheel to support his chin with his fist. "You've made that quite clear by now."

"I don't see why you have to tie me up. This car has a child lock on the door."

"Oh, I'm not afraid of you escaping, little one—I just don't want you to grab me so you can bit me again."

"You deserved that…" Robin muttered, reminding Wintergreen of the pain. The little kid made his mark on the man's left hand, the bleeding stopping only a short while ago. It earned the boy a sharp slap across the face, but, surprisingly, he didn't cry.

He was already trying to harden himself.

"Why can't you just let me go?"

"I'm evil."

"What did I ever do to you?"

"You bit me."

"Before that."

"You ticked Slade off."

"When?"

"You…well, your future self did—but won't now that you're going to meet Slade's younger self."

"You're enslaving me."

"…Must you make it sound like a death sentence?"

The boy smacked the back of his head against the car seat in fury and muttered something under his breath. "Death sounds nice right about now…"

Wintergreen just rolled his eyes. The deed was as good as done and as soon as Slade showed up he could shove his conscience aside again. Even though he was trying to act hard, he still felt sorry for the little kid. No one should have to go through something like this at such a young age…

The little fellow didn't deserve it.

"Kid, in this life you win some and you lose something. Just give in and make it easier on yourself. You might even gain from this."

"How is losing my heart a gain?"

"Quit acting like a smart guy."

"Quit it? Really? I thought that was one of the acquirements to get yourself into this position…"

He rolled his eyes a second time. "You're damned kid—get used to it. I'm not going to let you go and Slade sure as hell isn't. Get it?"

"Language." The boy tisked, trying to mock Wintergreen while he still had the chance. "I thought adults didn't swear in front of kids."

"You're a kid? Could have fooled me. You're more of a demon than anything else."

This little argument was giving him a migraine and he hoped Robin would cut it out already. Much to his surprise…he did.

-LR-

I wish I was dead. I wish I was dead. I wish I was dead. I wish I was dead. I wish I was—

What was he kidding himself? Things were just going to go from bad to worse on him and that meant he had to be alive. If there was anyone listening to his prayers, they sure as heck weren't going to let him die. No. For some strange reason he was doomed to suffer a horrible life, to adjust to killing and learning under the burning eye of some guy he never heard of before. Slade was a nightmare with legs and a heartbeat—probably the most dangerous thing on the planet second to Armageddon.

I wish I was somewhere else.

At least that wish was more realistic. He hated being alone—especially with only one of his captors to talk to. He annoyed the hell out of the guy to make himself feel a little better, but now he had given up on trying to rid his gut of the twisting feeling. He couldn't help but imagine what horrors awaited him and what horrors he had already seen. Visions of his parents' death kept popping back inside his mind and it almost brought him to the brink of tears. He choked, successfully holding them back, but Wintergreen heard the small sound and half-glanced over his shoulder at Robin.

Then he started hiccupping. It always happened whenever he prevented himself from crying and the high-pitch sound of it drove him nuts. It made him seem tinier than what he was trying to present himself as. He learned soon that even using larger words didn't work to make him seem older—people just thought it was cute and that was far from the impression he was trying to achieve.

Taking deep, silent breaths, the hiccups left him and he could relax again. It wasn't until he saw a dark silhouette crossing the street ahead of them that his stomach twisted again. He was afraid again…only feeling that way twice before. The first was when he fell for the first time as an acrobat and the second was when his parents died and he was suddenly kidnapped by Slade.

The car off, Robin watched as Wintergreen opened the door and stepped outside. Slamming it behind him, the older man crossed the street and met with a man in front of a closed shop. They stood there for a long time before Wintergreen handed him a few sheets of paper. The man—as Robin knew as the Slade of this time—read them over and over again as they waited silently in the cold evening air. Finally, Slade nodded to Wintergreen and watched as the old man walked around the corner out of sight.

Honestly, Robin would have preferred to have been stuck inside the car with Wintergreen for another three hours. He really didn't want to go through with this…

The man, taking his time, crossed the street and made his way toward the car. Robin held his breath and kept quiet as the front driver side door was opened so the man could slide in. He sat down and closed the door, looking over the papers once more before looking at by the rear-view mirror with his one cold eye. He wore a coat over his costume like Slade had when he came to the circus, but Robin noticed his mask was made of cloth rather than metal.

"The second prize." Slade whispered, but Robin heard, still stiff with fear. He frowned worriedly, but made no witty come-back to out-speak Slade. For some reason, this younger version seemed scarier. "And Robin is your name?"

He shook his head slowly and this interested the villain.

Turning around to glance over his shoulder, Slade eyed the boy with a small laugh. "Then what, exactly is your real name?"

"Richard…Grayson."

"The acrobat?" He placed a gloved hand to his chin and stroked it in thought. "Then it won't be that hard to teach you…From what I heard, you can do quite a bit." There was a considerably long pause after that statement as Slade pondered on something else. "Robin will suit you better now. To put it plainly, boy—Richard Grayson is dead."

He wanted to shout no—he wanted to bolt from the car and run until his feet began to bleed. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between him and Slade, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Slade was going to make sure that didn't happen and Robin was too small to stop him. This was his punishment for a crime he never committed. This was the hell he would endure before he'd die.

And boy was he in for a long ride.

Looking out the window, he sat back and tried to sleep as the car started forward. Maybe he'd discover a way to escape…Maybe someway he'd find a better life. This couldn't be the end, after all—he was still just a kid. There were many years left for him to live.

And he suddenly had the growing fear that he'd spend the rest of it with Him.

-R-

The bone was broken and that was why he was sent into the emergency room. The operation happened immediately and it happened so quickly, Robin could barely remember coming to the hospital. Now that he thought about it, he'd been forgetting a lot of things lately. It wasn't like him to be this way…

Something was wrong.

When the operation was finished and he began to wake, he found himself as weak as ever and shaky all over. His body protested against movement and his eyes refused to stay opened for long. Sleep was due to come again soon, but he had to see someone. He had to find out what was happening.

And suddenly he was scared. Light-headed and dizzy, he tried to think of the date or what city he was in, but everything was scrambled. He was panicking, and by the time Jaze came in his human form Robin was shouting for help.

"What is it—Robin! Calm down! What is it?" Jaze was holding onto his shoulders, pressing him back down onto the bed gently to lie as he tried to stand—despite his state of weakness.

"Something—I don't know." His eyelids felt heavy again. "Richard…Richard…"

"What are you talking about? Robin?...Robin!"

He couldn't stay awake. It felt as though he was walking in a dream and that was why he relaxed. Sleep claimed him and he didn't fight it. Something was so wrong…but what was it? What was he thinking? Why was…

It all started to fade…

-A-

Want to find out what happens next? Well, stay tuned for the thirteenth chapter. There's a lot more for me to go through so don't go thinking it's over—I'm having too much fun with this. As for snow…I really do hate it sometimes.

Well, for once I'm tired (which is pretty odd for me) and so I'm going to let that claim me too. And to think, it's only eleven…that's a record for me for the earliest time I went to bed. I hope you guys get good sleep so—tttt (ta ta til then)

Until Again

Alexnandru Van Gordon