Number 48

Cyborg slowly became aware of his surroundings. Blinking his human eye to try and focus on his vision, his robotic eye came back online. He was in a dark room, one filled with old mechanical parts, and it reminded him of Fix-It. However, Cyborg knew he wasn't there; for one thing, Fix-It had finally come back above ground, and another was that he and the others weren't in Jump at the moment.

Which led to his "oh, crap" moment.

He was alone, in an unidentified location, without his team, and no recollection of how he got there. Counting back from ten, Cyborg ran through the top five things that they had drilled into their heads.

First, keep calm. You weren't any help, to yourself or others, if you were panicking. Robin used to say that worriers made mistakes, thinkers avoided them.

Second, don't give them any information they can work with. Answer with a question and avoid saying names, places, or any other relevant information.

Third, look around for weapons or tools. The first thing any kidnapper did was take away all assets on your person; stay ahead by making your own.

Fourth, play along. If the kidnapper thinks your complying it will be easier to take them by surprise. Criminals are at their sloppiest when they feel comfortable.

Fifth, the team will always find you.

Cyborg wasn't sure if they were here with him, or if they were on their way now, but he wasn't concerned. His friends would get here, and then some serious butt-whooping would happen.

He didn't have to wait long before the villain of the day appeared. He wasn't very tall, peppered with gray hair, and sporting a large gun on his hip. The glasses on his face, and the gold chain around his neck, were clearly meant to intimidate him. Cyborg resisted the urge to snort.

"Ah, looks like our guest is finally awake," Sleaze ball said. Cyborg rolled his shoulders and noticed the shackles around his arms. Great, he was officially in a bad cop movie. Beast Boy would going to get a kick out of this.

"Well, the host could introduce himself," Cyborg replied. Sleaze ball frowned.

"Not likely, in fact, you could do us a favor and answer some questions for me," He said and snapped his fingers. The door opened and a henchman, with a ski mask covering his face, brought in a chair. Sleaze ball sat down and grinned at Cyborg.

"Sorry, not in my contract to talk to strangers," Cyborg apologized. His sensors buzzed, alerting him to some very familiar heat signatures.

"I would advise you to rethink that," He countered, "My men can be very impatient, as can I."

Cyborg laughed.

"Ya, about that, I tend not to. See, that is also not in my job description."

Sleaze ball frowned and looked down as his phone buzzed. His face paled slightly as he looked at the screen.

"Everything ok? No burning kitchen or panic over too few napkins?" Cyborg teased. Sleaze ball grit his teeth.

"A minor set-back," He waved away. "Now, getting back to-"

A loud crash, and some distinct yelps were heard. Cyborg grinned as he heard some large animal roar in the background.

"See, that minor set-back, happens to be my team," Cyborg told him nonchalantly. "And they aren't very happy at the moment. Which is bad news for you, since most days they would be willing to negotiate terms."

"Would they now?" Sleaze ball asked with a slight tremor to his voice. Cyborg laughed.

"Yes, but you broke the cardinal rule," Cyborg shrugged. Sleaze ball swallowed.

"And what would that be?"

The door flew open and a band of dark energy threw him to the wall. Instantly Raven stalked in. She looked over at him.

"The others will be along shortly," Raven said to Cyborg as she unlocked the cuffs. "There was a very trigger happy man that seemed to find it fun to aim at passing Titans. I think he's getting acquainted with Starfire."

Raven smirked as she faced Sleaze ball.

"Now," Raven hissed. "We are going to have words."

Maybe this time the message to avoid kidnapping Titans would stick.

Beast Boy was pretty sure the back of his head was bleeding, these jerks had put a collar on him, and the cuffs on his wrists was preventing him from shifting. His situation sucked, and looking around the room where he was didn't offer many options for him.

Trying to get out of the cuffs, Beast Boy thought of his situation. A simple scouting mission that went completely wrong. And worse, his communicator was gone. Super. Noticing the camera in the corner, and thinking back to some of those times back with the Doom Patrol, Beast Boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You know, a kidnapping usually requires a kidnapper, in case you forgot," Beast Boy said to the camera. The red light blinked.

Biting back a curse, Beast Boy focused again on the cuffs. The door slammed open.

"I would watch your tongue, if I were you," announced a stocky man, sporting a ratty jacket, as he stalked into the room. Beast Boy rolled his eyes.

"Ya, tried that once, didn't like it," He said dryly. The man glared.

"It will be fun, taking you apart," The man hissed. Great, he was back in every Doom Patrol mission.

"Good, don't you people even try to be different?" Beast Boy muttered. A backhand sent him sprawling to the left. A well-aimed kick to the knee sent the man swearing to the floor. Beast Boy wiped his mouth, full of blood, now, thanks, on his shoulder.

"You are going to regret that," The man yelled. Beast Boy caught sight of the gun on his waist band. Great, Robin was going to flip when he saw that, he hated guns.

"I'm stuck in a room with your unoriginal ass," Beast Boy swore, "Trust me, there isn't much else I'm regretting."

"I will show you," He said as he stood up. Based on the way he was standing, Beast Boy was willing to bet he broke something.

The guy was trying to be scary, not working, get in line, by waving the gun in his face and jabbing it into his rib cage. A loud bang made the man jump.

"What the hell?"

Beast Boy grinned.

"Looks like my ride is here," Beast Boy told him. The man hit him again. He was going to have a wonderful bruise in the morning.

The door was flung in by a green blast. A well-aimed ninja star knocked the gun out of the man's hands and into the corner.

"I'd let him go if I were you," Robin said lowly. The man swallowed.

"I'm not scared of you," He said with sweat pooling on his forehead. Robin grinned.

"You should be."

A tendril of black magic wrapped around him and turned him to face the girls.

"We have a policy," Raven said. "As long as our teammate is unharmed, you get to go to jail without issue. However, you hurt him, which means your trip is going to be delayed."

Starfire leaned around him.

"We shall meet you at the T-Ship, we have a matter to discuss," Starfire said sweetly. The man began to beg and in a flash he was gone.

"I don't suppose you can get this off," Beast Boy asked. Robin swore and then smiled.

"You know, I think this is something the girls should know," Robin told him as he led him back to the ship.

As Cyborg looked him over, he could faintly hear the sound of the man getting chewed out by the girls.

Robin was annoyed.

His staff was broken, he was being held up by his ankles, his cape was ripped, and he could hear his team above him but thanks to the gag he could say anything.

"Don't let them get through!" Someone yelled from beyond the door frame. A shriek followed and soon his girlfriend was walking through the door.

A kiss was pressed to his nose, and she carefully let him down. She took the gag out and then kissed him firmly on the lips.

"Are you harmed?" She asked.

"No, just some bruising," Robin assured her. Starfire nodded and led him out of the room. A quick blast to her left kept the would be kidnappers down.

"Shall we go see the others?" Starfire asked. At the end of the hall Cyborg was staring down the ring leader, who was sporting a large bruise to his eye. Beast Boy was glaring at another henchman, who was trembling.

"See, he's fine, don't eat us!" He begged. Beast Boy rolled his eyes.

"Ask nicely and I'll consider it," He said dully. Raven scanned him over.

"Slightly bruising, should be gone within the week," Raven told him. She turned to Starfire.

"You start heading back, we've got this covered."

Laughing as he was lead out, Robin wondered if the criminals would ever get the hint not to kidnap any of them.