Chapter 35 'Busted'
"Starfire, how long has he been in here?" Cyborg asked as he and their other two teammates stared between the boy wonder and the alien princess.
"I think the better question is why didn't you call us to let us know you found him?" Raven asked in her monotone as she narrowed her eyes at her friend.
"Oh, well that is a funny story I…um…"
"I asked her to help me," Robin replied giving his team a stern look. "I needed some help getting my memories of Slade back and Starfire offered to help me after I ran into her."
"So, you broke out of the medical bay all by yourself?" Cyborg asked.
The masked teen shrugged. "There are some things I don't forget, like all of the security codes for example."
At this comment the original group of titans looked at him in shock.
"From what I remember about Slade and our past history he was probably hoping to use that information to infiltrate headquarters once he got an army together," Robin stated.
"Whoa, he even sounds like Robin again!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Dude, did you finally get your memory back?"
"Not entirely, but I remember most of the important things. I'm assuming the little things will follow as time passes and Slade's contagion wears off," Robin said as he stood up from his seat and took a step towards his team.
"If you don't mind me asking…how exactly do you remember all of this stuff again?" Cyborg asked clearly skeptical.
"We have been playing the real or not real. Robin will ask questions and I will reply either the real or not real to answer him!" Starfire exclaimed smiling brightly at her friends.
"Oh, let me try!" Beast Boy responded. "Alright Robin ask me a question!"
"Not now Beast Boy," Robin snapped. "We need to figure out our next move. From everything I remember about Slade we need to move fast. If we wait he's just going to become more powerful. I'm sure he's expecting us to come to him, you said yourself he doesn't know where we're located right?" The boy wonder asked looking at the cybertronic teen.
"There's no way he could know unless he followed you guys," Cyborg said with a shrug.
"Jinx had said you were in the clear," Raven added. "And she destroyed the ship you guys stole so there's no way he could find us that way."
"So we're in the clear, I…Starfire what's wrong?" Robin asked looking at the red-haired beauty in confusion.
She was staring at him open mouthed as if something had just now registered in her mind.
"You okay Star?" Beast Boy asked tilting his head to the side.
"The devices of tracking that Slade had done the placing on us before the games, what if he had-."
Robin's mask seemed to widen at this comment. "You don't think…"
The rest of the titan's stood there absolutely horror stricken at what Starfire had just thought of. Of course Slade could have easily slipped a tracker on Robin, he was unaware of anything that had been going on directly after the games.
As if Robin had been hit in the gut with a fastball he quickly doubled over in pain as memories much more recent flashed into his mind.
The IV bags hanging from his bed in Slade's lair.
Slade tucking his communicator away while he discussed all of the awful things the titans had done.
And then he fastened something to the underside of the masked leader's cape. "I know you'll help me with this Robin."
Robin flung himself onto the ground breathing heavily as he reached back into his cape and ripped the tiny device out from under where the collar and the cape connected.
"No way," Beast Boy breathed as all four pairs of eyes stared at the small rounded object on the ground.
Robin let out a frustrated yelp as he pounded his fist to the ground. "Did no one think to check for a tracker when I got here?" He snapped.
"Well at least we know he has his normal attitude back right?" Beast Boy whispered to the empath who in return sent him a small glare.
"Please, what does this mean?" Starfire asked in a worried tone.
"It means we need to think of a plan and fast," Robin replied boosting himself off the ground and turning to his team with a look of determination crossing his features.
"Yeah, but Robin do you really think Slade would be one to track us down?" Cyborg asked. "In the past he's always waited for us to come to him."
"I don't think he's going to use a direct approach, however he could easily find us and use something he learns from tracking us to his advantage. Think about it, he did it all throughout the games, what's stopping him now?" Robin asked.
The horror displayed on the changeling's face was clear. Raven on the other hand had never been one to display emotion so she was having a much easier time masking her discomfort. Slade could have easily seen them outside of headquarters if he knew where all of the titans were hiding. In fact there was a very good chance that he had done just that. Both teens knew this was bad, very bad.
"Then we'll just have to not give him anything to look for," Cyborg suggested. "How much could have happened in the last two days anyway?"
"Eh heh, yeah, Cy's right, Slade's not gonna find anything anyway. Put a fork in him, he's done…so not gonna happen," Beast Boy stuttered with a small chuckle.
The metal man looked down at his green friend with a raised brow. "You okay there BB?"
"Who, me, never better!" Beast Boy replied pulling at his collar nervously. "Is it hot in here or what?" He asked looking around.
"Is there something you should tell us Beast Boy?" Robin asked in confusion.
"What? No, I…I just need some air…from the hallway!" He exclaimed before quickly bolting from the room.
"Is friend Beast Boy going to be alright?" Starfire asked.
Raven let out a small sigh before rolling her eyes at her friends. "I'll go check on him."
"Are you sure that's a good idea Rae, I mean-."
"Positive," the half demon snapped cutting Cyborg off as she made her way out the door and down the hallway towards the shapeshifter's temporary room. "Beast Boy open up."
The door took less than five seconds to come springing open. "Dude, how'd you know I was in here?"
"I could sense your discomfort practically a mile away," Raven droned. "Way to be obvious back there."
"I know, agh, I acted like an idiot. I'm sorry Rae I just panicked. I mean what if Slade was out there? What if he saw everything and-."
"There's a good chance he did," Raven answered cutting him off.
"Uh…aren't you supposed to say something encouraging here?" Beast Boy asked with a raised brow as he watched the dark girl make her way inside the room.
"Lying to you about it won't help us defeat him," Raven stated. "We need to be prepared for whatever he's going to throw our way."
"If he so much as thinks of hurting you I'll-."
"Beast Boy, threatening him is not going to help in this situation. If you really want to help me you need to prepare for the worst. The games are over but whatever Slade has up his sleeve makes me think that this is nowhere near the end," Raven said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm going to want to protect you as well during this battle but we must keep in mind that we're heroes. Our job is to protect the city, and if I have to sacrifice myself in order to do so then-."
"Raven," Beast Boy spoke up in a weak voice. "I…You can't just…I won't let you do that."
The empath glanced away from the changeling's shimmering emerald eyes trying to avoid contact with his gaze. "Just because we are together does not give you the right to decide that. How many times do I need to tell you that if something happens to you because of me I will never forgive myself for it?"
"And how many times do you need to hear that I couldn't forgive myself for not trying to prevent something from happening to you if I could?" Beast Boy snapped back.
Raven's eyes snapped up to meet his own, violet against emerald, both pairs of eyes glaring at each other.
"Um…are we missing something here?" The voice of the half man half machine questioned from the doorway.
Raven's eyes seemed to grow twice in size as she glanced up at their friends standing in the doorway. All three of them were staring back at her and the changeling in confusion.
"Please friends, you are doing the act of dating now?" Starfire asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah, what gives, did Rae just say that ya'll are together as in…together?" Cyborg asked. "When did I miss this?"
"Look guys, um, it's not exactly like…I mean…uh," Beast Boy stuttered, unsure of himself.
Raven rolled her eyes at these last comments. "You've got to be kidding me," she mumbled. "Not that it's any of your business what we do with our personal lives, if you must know, yes we are together," Raven snapped.
Cyborg's jaw hit the floor at the same time the Tameranian floated at least five feet off the ground and squealed with delight. The boy wonder simply stood there with a knowing smile plastered on his lips.
"Honestly, I don't see why you're so interested in-."
"Oh come on Raven, we're not going to tease you and BB…that much," Cyborg snickered.
"Look, you three cannot tell anyone under any circumstances that we are together now," Raven hissed.
"Well I get that you'd be embarrassed about dating the green bean but isn't that kind of harsh?" Cyborg joked.
"Yes, friend Cyborg is right, you should profess your love and-."
"Dudes, you don't understand," Beast Boy began with a weak smile. "When Rae told me about her liking me we were kinda…outside of headquarters. And if Robin's tracking device thingy was on Slade totally could have…I mean there's a chance that-."
"That he was watching the whole thing," Robin finished. "And you're afraid he's going to use what he knows against you two."
"Well he didn't exactly spare you and Starfire much," Raven replied in her monotone.
"Friend Raven is right," Starfire added. "Slade will surely use his knowledge of their relationship to do the taking of us down."
"Uh Guys," Beast Boy piped in. "As much as I hate hearing Robin obsess over Slade…I think now's the time he needs to come up with some type of plan."
Well they certainly blew that secret didn't they? And in the spirit of the holiday season I decided that the titans should not be blind about Slade tracking them. So who wants to know what's going to happen next?! Review if you do! …alright back to studying for me now.
Ps. Thank you guys so, so much for your feedback!
Xoxo-Megz