'bout done here.
Edit: Thank God, I'm tired.
–
Slade typed in a command on one of his computers. Almost immediately, most of the Bots he had sent for reconnaissance of the Titans, specifically, Robin, and later, BeastBoy, returned. A new set, only two this time, had already been dispatched to the Tower. They had already deftly hidden themselves in the Boy Wonder's and BeastBoy's rooms.
After about four hours, all of the little machines that had returned were inactive, sitting on a clear, glass table. They were aligned by person and content. In all, there were seven of the original 9. Slade wouldn't bother with Cyborg's or Raven's. He only looked at the first few gigabytes of Starfire's file. In the other two boys', however, he spent a lot of time examining, taking notes, and plotting. Although Robin had given in last time, he was still too uncontrollable. He wanted to control the little brat and put him in his place. Such an inconvenient thing, free will.
Tirelessly, like the machine he knew he was, Slade combed through every minute he'd missed of his study, most of which had occurred the week before last in the Galapagos. Although he'd been able to keep some tabs, the information had not been complete. The information he had now, though, was very pleasing to him.
He stood. He locked all of his files away. He picked up his notebook, reading through his most recent information, and reviewing the plot it had inspired in his mind.
Slade left his hideaway, and set off to begin the preparations.
Robin stirred. The tower was quiet. Raven and Starfire had gone out again. They had been spending a lot of time together since the breakup, and even moreso lately. Cyborg had gone to meet BumbleBee for a date in Johnston, a city midway of Titans East and Titans West. He looked at green hair, and felt Garfield Logan's stomach gently moving as he breathed. He decided he could lay on the couch a little longer, and stared up at the TV screen. The movie had returned to the Main Menu screen.
Careful not to wake Gar up, he maneuvered ever-so-cleverly to get at his mini-computer. It wasn't a netbook, it was more like a smartphone, really.
In the past nine months, almost nothing had come up from Slade. Not a single blip. No one was working for him. Actually, crime had dropped dramatically. It was like everyone was on vacation. Sure, about once a month they'd get a little busy, but otherwise... It had been better. Crime low, it was always better. But still, it bothered Robin. Slade usually had something to say or scheme every four months, at least. This nine, going on ten month hiatus was... Really out of character.
However, for the rest of his team, he took it as a small blessing. As he absently sorted through some old files, checked his email (spam and nothing flaggable as good intel), he thought about the last few months. As he had promised himself, before Speedy's crazy mission, he had taken the Titans on a one-week vacation in Gotham. That had been in February. They'd stayed from the 12th to the 18th, while Bee – and Cyborg, actually – had watched over Jump City. Cyborg had considered it a better vacation if he could have his car, his 'boo', and unlimited TV time. Gizmo, Jinxy, and Mammoth had actually stepped up, too, but they worked their own way. But, Gar, the girls, and himself had enjoyed staying with The Batman for a week.
He slid some files around into a better arrangement. No Slade, so little work. Just intel from sources, and there was none. He was able to find Slade right now as he was able to find a needle in a haystack.
It was getting close to fall again. Absently, he stroked his boyfriend's – he had gotten kind of used to the term, now – hair. It felt good under his fingers. He opened up a game on his phone. In the last months, he'd begun to be less intense. Sometimes he still stayed up late, obsessed with what Slade was doing, and he still trained vigorously. However, he'd taken advantage of the calm in the whirlwind of being a hero. He had gone on dates – he didn't call them that, neither did Gar, but that is what they were – without worrying. He'd left the city for a week, and would admit that he had gone on a 'real date' on Valentine's day. He had spent time with his teammates, he'd learned from his mentor, he'd... Actually gotten a lot of things done without Slade torturing him.
The red bird exploded on the screen, and he grinned. He was good at that game. He got an extra ten thousand points for the birds he hadn't used.
It had been almost a year since he and Garfield had spent their week together. From day they had come back, they had slept in the same bed. They did everything else separately, but they slept together every night. They hadn't done anything but sleep in the bed. Well. Okay. They kissed. Sometimes they kissed a lot. But it hadn't gone farther than that, and Robin knew they were both comfortable that way. He had, of course, being nearly 19, thought about it. A lot. Neither of them had talked about it. They had, however, talked about the scars.
Robin frowned, and BeastBoy moved a little. He'd missed his mark completely.
Garfield had stopped doing that.
When he wore a short-sleeved shirt when they went to go see a movie a few weeks ago, people had looked at him curiously. The 17 year old wasn't embarrassed of it. They were marks of feeling. The stripes were a part of him, really, he had said, as he and Robin sat alone in his room one night. He was only wearing a pair of boxers, and Robin had been wearing his favorite pajama pants.
He remembered the twist he'd felt in his stomach, the dull snapping of faith in his heart. He remembered his speechlessness, and the straight line his mouth had firmly in place, and he remembered the wetness on his face as Garfield had explained himself. He hadn't been ashamed to cry then, and although no one but Gar knew, he wasn't ashamed of it today, either.
The green pig exploded. No extra points.
The stripes were a memory of when it had been bad. All the things that had happened. All the ideas he had had. All the fallacies and delusions he'd had, consummated from a mental to physical apparition. It was a memory that was wrong.
There was something to hold onto, now, for the both of them. The mental ploys and personal retribution for what he was born with, and the tormentor that caused him sleepless nights and betrayal of his beliefs and friends. They could shed those old things. They had what they needed, even if they hadn't known; that was exactly what they needed.
Robin exploded all the pigs on the next puzzle with a single bird, and moments later, a green Labrador was licking his face.
–
My god, the world is spinning. I feel like I'm going to fall into the computer.
Also... How does a short fic about their week in Gotham sound? I may do that – and/or something else before I -/shot
Edit: No you won't. And didn't. Probably won't. You're lazy.