A/N: Again I must thank you for your reviews, I greatly appreciate it and I hope you had a great New Years celebration ... I know I did :). Thanks again and here's the new chapter.

Chapter 18 – The past is revealed

Part 1 – Abnormal behavior

Before leaving Slade's base Beast Boy noticed something rather peculiar that he thought would be of great importance. He saw two file cabinets on the left of a large conveyor belt and decided to check it out. He opened them both and found files that were labeled as "Top Secret". Thinking they will be of good use he asked Rage to help him take them to the T-Sub and show them to Robin.

When Robin saw the files he was very intrigued but at the same time glad that Beast Boy found them. On the way home Starfire sat along side him as Rage sat in her usual place and inspected the files along with Robin. The files contained data about Slade's military and mercenary past. All of the information was classified but Robin still decided to read it as he was most curious about his dead archenemies past. All of Slade's past was reveled in those pages, from the time he had undergone those experiments, to his departure from the army, mercenary activity, family affairs and problems, weaknesses and possible future plans. He also found out that his son Joseph, the one Rage talked about earlier, was no one other than Jericho, one of the honorary titans. There was no doubt about the fact that they had been stolen by Slade in order to hide his past but now Robin could finally rest assure that he was gone and that he now knew everything there was to know about him.

"But if they were stolen how come Rage knew this type of information?" Robin asked himself pondering more and more about his friend.

When they arrived home a new sensation was in the air, respectively the sentiment of relief. As they walked up towards the main room none of them could believe that it was all over. They dreamt of this moment (especially Robin) for such a long time that now it seemed too good to be true, yet none the less they were nothing more then glad that it finally happened.

As they entered the main room Cyborg gladly sighed: "Man it's good to be home".

The titans jumped on the couch and checked the clock; it was 1:00 A.M. They were tired but didn't feel the need to sleep seeing how they've been knocked out for over an hour after their encounter with Slade. Beast Boy picked up the remote ready to turn on the TV set but Robin stopped him.

"Not so fast Beast Boy, we still have one thing to do before this is all over".

Robin took the remote from BB and switched the TV to PC mode and called the head of Jump Cities police force, police chief Edward Ford.

A ringing sound was heard for several seconds and finally the image of Edward Ford working at his desk appeared on screen. Edward Ford slightly reminded Robin of Lieutenant Gordon from Gotham City, an older and balder version of him that is.

"Robin, I'm glad you finally called, where the heck were you guys today? Someone's been bombing the city and we really need your help" he said sounding a bit displeased because of the Titans absence.

"Nice to see you too Ford" Robin replied in a familiar and well disposed tone "I have great news for you, we found out who's behind the bombings"

"Let me guess, Slade?"

"Exactly"

"And you consider this excellent news?" Ford asked sounding rather sarcastic.

"Yeah because we finally got him" Robin replied triumphantly.

"I'm sorry Robin but could you repeat that last sentence, I don't think I've heard well" he asked, surprised of what Boy Wonder just said. In fact he correctly heard what his close ally in crime fighting had said but he though he didn't hear well because of the stress and constant work.

"Just like I said, we finally stopped Slade! He won't be bothering anyone anymore! And we have a couple of interesting files that I think he had stolen from a military data base" replied Robin while holding up the documents that were labeled as Top Secret.

At the sight of this Ford couldn't believe it.

"Robin this is terrific!" he exclaimed "How did you do it?"

"Long story, but I'm willing to talk about it over some tea and biscuits" he replied in a very humoristic manner.

"Ha ha, alright Robin we'll do that sometime, but first you have to bring Slade into custody"

Here's one thing Robin forgot about … killing was still illegal even if he was a superhero. Fortunately for him Ford was an understanding fellow and knew that he would understand his actions even if he had to take matters to the extreme.

"Err, I can't … because … he's not with us" said Robin a bit nervously.

"Eh, no problem, just tell me were to pick him up from and my boys will be taking him for a ride in an instance"

"I don't think you understand, when I said that we stopped him I meant we really stopped him"

"I don't understand Robin, what are you trying to say?"

At hearing this Robin didn't know how to lay it on him so he just mimicked putting a gun to his head and shooting.

"You mean you … "

"We had no other choice. It was either us or him and I had to do it"

"Ugh, well I guess it had to happen sooner or later" Edward Ford replied shrugging and still looking amazed "Well Robin I have to admit that I would have done the same thing if I were you, good job lad"

"Yeah, but there's still one more thing you know …"

"You're referring to Slade's unexplainable suicide, right?" said Ford blinking sheepishly at Robin, a sign that meant that he will conduct the investigation in such a manner that Robin won't be involved in anything.

"Right, thanks loads Ford, I owe you one, and I'll send you those coordinates first thing tomorrow morning along with the files".

"Sure thing Robin, no problem at all … Oh and by the way, I've been hearing rumors that you and Starfire have been doing the wild thing and that you're expecting a kid in a few months. Good for you lad, congratulations and send Starfire my best regards"

"Will do, Robin out!" he said as he ended their conversation.

He turned around towards his friends and sighed with relief for the first time since they have arrived at the tower. With this being done it only meant one thing … Slade was gone, they were safe, Robin wasn't going to face prosecution and Starfire could now have the baby without the fear of some maniac threatening her … life was finally starting to get back to normal.

"So that's it huh?" Cyborg asked.

"I guess so … Man who would ever have thought that killing Slade would feel so great" replied Robin triumphantly.

"The sentiment of greatness is pleasure full only because of the fact that you have accomplished your final goal and because you have overcome your greatest challenge yet" said Starfire addressing her loved one.

"And not only that princess" replied Robin walking towards her and kneeling down "It also feels great because we're all here safe and sound and because you and our child are safe"

"Talk about peace and tranquility ey Rachel?" said Beast Boy who slightly nudged his girlfriend with his elbow but noticed that she was actually depressed. "Rachel what's wrong?" he asked while taking her into his arms.

"Please don't believe what Slade said about me Gar, please don't" she replied with a voice that sounded as though she was asking him for forgiveness and was also ready to cry.

"Hey, hey, it's okay! I don't care about what that sicko said; he's gone now" Beast Boy said gently while caressing he fair facial features "And I don't care if we can't have a child … well actually I do, but as long as we have each other it's going to be alright".

"No, that's what I've been trying to tell you, I can have children" she replied all to Beast Boy's and the to others satisfaction "Yes, I am a spawn of demon and human, but after I liberated myself from my fathers spell I became free and his demonic seed is no longer present inside my genetic make up. I always avoided a conversation about having a baby because we're still too young and not ready for one".

"You could've just said so you know" said Beast Boy.

"Yeah but I didn't know how you would react" Raven replied.

"Well I know now, and I'm not reacting in an unpleasant way am I?"

"No…"

"See, it's okay to tell me anything, no matter how bad it is, that's why I'm here Rachel"

Things were going just as they have hoped. All problems have been cleared and the two couples in the tower now valued liberty and understood how important it was to spend a lot of time together.

"Well I guess that leaves just the two of us now huh buddy?" said Cyborg addressing Rage "Two guys with a love for body building, what more could anyone … hey where did he go?"

No one noticed it but when the titans entered the main room Rage didn't come inside with the rest of them, but who could blame them? They were so glad to be rid of such a pest as Slade that they didn't even want to focus on anything.

"Where is friend Rage? Why is he not aside us in this moment of great joy?" Starfire asked curiously.

"Dude that guy is totally weird, where did he go all of the sudden?" said Beast Boy who also intrigued by his friend's strange behavior.

"Something tells me that he's up on the roof again" replied Raven.

"I think he's there too. What could he be doing up there all this time? Did you ever notice that he likes that place a lot? He says that he loves the view and just smokes but it's hard to believe'em man" said Cyborg.

"Actually I have noticed that, and the only way to find out what he's doing is to go up to up there by our selves and find out. Let's go" replied Robin who wanted to find Rage and ask him a couple of unanswered questions. Rage's peculiar behavior has always intrigued him and he was more than eager to find out what his team mate was up to.

Before going up the titans agreed to first see if he was in his room. After knocking on the door a couple of times they received no answer. Thinking that he could also be asleep Raven used her powers to penetrate the walls and try to sense any brain activity but to no avail, he wasn't there.

There was only one thing left to do: go up to the roof top, the place where Rage would spend his time if he wasn't cleaning, reading or working out. As they walked up the stairs they could see ahead of them that the door was wide open. They silently approached to catch Rage off guard but found him kneeling down near the edge of the tower, facing the moon and holding something in his hands while talking in his native language. Also he took off his shirt and now the scars on his back were clearly visible to all of them.

"What's he doing?" asked Cyborg who was amazed by what he saw.

"I believe he is, how you say, praying …" replied Starfire confirming what some of them thought.

"Can you translate what he's saying?" asked Robin.

"Yes I can" she said and started translating what Rage was saying:

"… While the innocent souls of all these victims shall go to Heaven and eternally rest on the right side of Your son and our savior Jesus Christ, his soul shall go to hell. He not only killed my comrades but also killed hard working and faithful citizens of this city and caused much suffering to my friends and others. I ask of you Father only to judge him righteously and offer him the destiny that suits his actions. Also Father please forgive Robin for what he has done today for he did it with good intention and in part his mistake is in fact mine. If it is in anyway possible I am ready and willing to take his sin upon my person, anything just for You to forgive my good friend Robin …"

"He's praying for me?!" Robin said to himself feeling flattered and at the same time ashamed for suspecting Rage of being weird and for every bad thing he said about him.

"… And last, I would like to send a message to my comrades: Your memory has been avenged, you're killer has been eliminated and shall suffer for his sins according to how our Father decides to. Rest in peace, you shall never be forgotten. God rest their souls! In the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen".

This prayer made everyone realize just what kind of guy Rage really was. He appeared to be very spiritual and this fact seemed strange to them seeing how in battle he was always merciless. After making the cross sign he stood up straight, facing the moon and saluting. He began singing something that the others didn't understand but recognized it as probably being an anthem because of the heroic tone of the song.

"What's he doing now?" asked Raven

"He is singing a heroic song of sorts" Starfire replied seeming unsure of her answer

"Translation?" BB demanded, after which Starfire started translating what Rage was singing.

"Our enemy is approaching, he is armed and ready
With much anger in his pagan heart.
He wishes to destroy our lands and kill our folk
And set alight our ancient roots

Arise, arise warriors of our nation
Can you not hear your peoples call?
Can you not hear your land crying?
Arise, arise warriors, it's time for war

Valleys shall be filled with blood
And our corpses shall be scattered on the plains
But still our golden hearts hold 7 lives,
Our enemies shall never prevail!

For Church, for land, for history
We are brothers, let us all unite
And on the battlefield let's face all dangers
And fight with courage all as one

Death does not frighten us
All warriors are immortal
Death is sweet and we all crave it
For our memory shall be forever crowned

Our elders watch upon us now
Tonight we shall sit aside them in Heaven
We'd rather die in battle with full glory
Then be again slaves on our eternal lands"

After he was finished the Titans were indeed amazed by the sheer heroic beauty of his song. They now saw him differently than they did before but Robin still needed answers.

Rage pulled out his gun and loaded it using a new cartridge. At seeing this BB thought that he's going to shoot himself but Robin and Cyborg told him to calm down. Rage pointed his gun towards the stars and shot 17 successive rounds into the air after which he let his gun drop and fell to his knees again.

"What's he doing now?" Cyborg asked

"I do not know, he is not saying anything" Starfire replied

"He's feeling … down" replied Raven who used her telekinetic powers to sense Rage's emotions "He's sad and he's forcing himself not to cry … and man is he doing a good job!"

Rage depressed? That just didn't sound right. They knew Rage as being the psycho kid of the team that would snap at any provocation and would surely beat the hell out of you if you were his opponent. Rage feeling down just didn't add up, he was always either angry or well disposed and this new feeling didn't seem natural for him.

"Follow me" Robin instructed as he walked forward towards his friend.