Author's Note: This is just a comment of personal interest that I just figured out. Usually, I hate it when chapters give away what happens in it. It spoils the surprise you know? But I also found out that each chapter title I give either foreshadows something about the next chapter, or it gives a tiny hint about what's to come. So, before you read this chapter, I challenge you to think about what lie this chapter refers to. Because yes, it has been mentioned before. Many times before actually. Good luck! REVIEW!

Chapter 44: It Wasn't a Lie

Oriole

10:20 pm

Wayne Enterprises

Oriole threw the gun at Slade's face to distract him. Slade put up an arm to block it and as he did so, flames flew from her body in a wall of fire. Robin ran to Bruce and threw his cape over himself and Bruce's face. But her green shield protected them from the fire.

It's about time. Sara thought to herself. She finally figured out how to use her powers to her full potential and keep them under control. Robin looked up at her and smiled. Take him down, Sair.

My pleasure. Sara winked at him, then sprinted into the shadows to find the man who killed her parents. Changing into a wolf, she tried to sniff him out. But it was as if he'd just disappeared. She transformed back into a human and yelled, "Slade! Come out and face me, you coward!"

Suddenly the neon WAYNE on top of the tower flickered on, almost blinding her. Slade came from behind her and caught her in a chokehold. "You never learn, do you?"

Vaguely, she sensed Robin wondering why her eyes were still glowing if she wasn't using her powers. A small smile twitched on her lips. If Robin hadn't figured it out, then maybe Slade hadn't either.

She flipped Slade over her head and onto his back. She laughed tauntingly and said, "Think you can keep up, old man?" Sara sprinted and leaped over to the adjacent building, rolling on the rooftop to break her fall. It wasn't as tall as Wayne Enterprises, but she had to lead him away from Bruce and Dick.

Unfortunately, Slade was more focused on Robin and the now conscious Batman. Changing into an oriole, she flew back to the boys. Batman was awake, but injured. He wouldn't be able to fight very well. Robin supported Batman and tried to get him over to the ledge. But neither of them noticed Slade creeping behind them.

Sara tweeted loudly to warn them and tackled Slade to the ground as a tigress. As a human, she called to Dick, "Get outta here! I'll hold him off."

"Will you now?" Slade growled. Hot wires coiled around her torso and neck, pulling her away from Slade.

"Lemme go!" She demanded. Then the wires tightened around her neck. She made an odd coughing noise, no longer able to speak.

"Sara!" Dick shouted in fear. Out of nowhere he slammed into Slade's side, distracting him long enough for Sara to wriggle free.

Slade backhanded Robin across the face and punched him in the stomach. Sara flipped over Robin, taking a smoke pellet out of his belt as she went. When she landed, she threw a smoke pellet at Slade's feet. She led Robin over to Batman and ordered, "Stay here. I have a plan."

She could sense it. It was close. Very close. With a wry smile, she leaped into the cloud of smoke surrounding Slade. His back was to her. Good. She pounced and pushed his face into the far wall. Finally, the small sphere of copper floated into her hand. Turning Slade to face her, Sara presented it to him with vengeance in her eyes. Slade's eye widened in shock, then narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"You so sure of that?"

Robin

10:30 pm

Wayne Enterprises

"You so sure of that?" A brilliant light of green and copper emanated from Sara and Slade. It was blindingly bright. Robin shielded his eyes.

"NO!" Slade screamed. Then both Slade and Sara screamed in agony, the light gleaming brighter (if possible). Suddenly, the sound cut off.

Finally, the light faded and Robin stopped seeing spots. A thick smoke covered half of the building. "Sara?" He called.

Sara stumbled out of the smoke, weak but smiling triumphantly. Robin moved to help her, but a groan and hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned and opened his mouth to say something, but Bruce pressed a finger to his own lips to silence him. Bruce pointed past Sara. The faintest hint of copper glinted in the smoke.

Robin nodded in understanding and circled around behind the cloud of smoke. It was beginning to clear. He could distinctly make out Slade's shadow, standing right behind Sara. Sara struggled to her feet. At first she was a little wobbly. Slade stooped down to pick something up; Robin heard the safety click off of a gun. Sara froze. She turned, faster than she was ready for, and fell to her knees. She looked up into the barrel of gun.

"You little bitch," Slade growled. "Give them to me."

Her eyes narrowed. "Never. I'll die before I let you have them."

Before Slade could pull the trigger, Robin raced at him and shoved him to the ground. "Sara, run! Run!"

But of course, she didn't listen. She pulled Robin to his feet. "Come on!" She urged, pulling on his arm. She led him away from the Wayne Enterprises building, back towards the Tower. "You brought backup right?"

"They'll be taking care of Bruce by now."

"Good, he'll nee- Look out!" Sara dodged behind an air conditioner just in time to hear a bullet ricochet off of the cement. Slade jumped down to the building they were hiding on.

"We have to get moving." Robin whispered to her.

"No, really? I was just gonna wait for him to start shooting." Sara rolled her eyes. She circled back behind the air conditioner slowly, so that Slade wouldn't see her, and jumped down to the alley below.

Robin followed her down to the alley. Sara, meanwhile, pulled something black out of her pocket. It was her mask. "Where did you get that?" He asked, knowing he hadn't given it to her, nor had it when the Titans brought her to the Tower.

Sara took his hand and led him around the building to the streets. They disappeared down another alley, adjacent to the building Slade stood on."I've had it ever since I went with Slade." Robin stared at her in shock, but Sara pretended not to notice She peered up at the rooftops, then went over to the garbage cans and found a beer bottle. She broke the end off of it and felt the tip. "We need to get his attention. If he-"

"If you didn't remember, then why did you keep your mask?"

She shrugged. "Is that really relevant right now? Look, Ro, I promise I'll tell you everything once this is all over. But we need to protect B."

"Why? He's with the Titans."

"They won't stand a chance when he's like this. I've seen people like this before. Ricky was almost killed by one just a few years before I left the assassins and they were good buddies. People on a blood-lusting rampage become demons. It's scary. And with Slade, it'll be worse."

He sensed there was something she wasn't saying. They'd both seen people with blood lust, so why did she think that she knew more? And why did she think that Slade would be worse? "What do you mean?"

"Ro, I just took Slade's powers. When I did, I read his mind. His entire life story…it's bad. Really bad. Believe me when I say we haven't even seen Slade's full potential. And he's about to unleash all of it on Bruce. But if we keep him occupied, he'll come after us. Specifically me. I took his powers. I'm the one he's pissed at."

"So what's the plan?"

A fireball ignited in her palm. "Attract his attention and run like hell."

"Good plan."

"Got a better one?" She snapped. When Robin said nothing, she added, "Didn't think so. You ready?"

Robin considered this. The safest way to distract Slade, while being shot at, would be the roofs. That would mean climbing back up. "Gimme a head start. You're faster."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Head east. Ten…nine…eight…seven…" Caught off guard, he started scrambling to get to the fire escape ladder. He couldn't reach it. Sara giggled. "Six…"Robin climbed up the opposite wall, jumped and grabbed onto the fire escape ladder. "Two…one…" Robin shot a bird-a-rang up to the top just as Sara shot flames into the sky like a flare. He zipped to the top and turned east. Sprinting as fast as he could, he leaped to the next building. He looked over his shoulder.

Strange. Where's Sara? "Move!" Out of nowhere Sara slammed into him, shoving him to the ground, just as a bullet whizzed over their heads. She yanked him over to the stairway and ducked down behind it. "Alright, when I say move, get up and head that way." She pointed to her left.

"But that's out in the open!" He protested.

"Don't worry. I have a plan."

"You know, you said that earlier and now look where we are."

"That was different. I hadn't thought of taking his powers then. I have this all planned out."

"Just let me plan, okay? If we're gonna distract, we better be convincing and that's my area of expertise."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You can't lie or act worth shit." He replied bluntly.

Sara nodded. "That sounds about right. Fine. You lead. Just try not to get us killed."

Oriole

11:00 pm

Rooftops of Jump City

"That's a good plan and all, but-"

"But?"

"But…I don't know. I just don't like it."

"Scared Slade is better at running than you?" Without another word, he sprinted forward and leaped over to the next building.

Growling in frustration, Sara waited a moment before racing, southbound, to the rendezvous point. Bullets ricocheted off of the roof behind her.

Oriole ran faster, hearing Slade's breathing behind her. If he reached out and grabbed her, it was all over. Desperately she looked around for another way out, another route. With the skill of a practiced runner, she caught sight of a pipeline that went all the way up to the top of a building to her immediate right. Though they were trying to not lose him, that didn't much register when he had a gun and she was still weakened from taking his powers so she couldn't heal.

She veered right and almost ran right into him, but he dodged out of the way, as she knew he would. Curling into a tight ball in midair, Sara launched onto the pipe and gripped onto it, nails biting into the cold steel. She scrambled up to the top, not stopping to take a breath at the top. She turned the corner to her left and then took another right. Then she froze and skidded to a halt. She knew this rooftop. Her dream! The vision about Robin taking a bullet for her…oh no. Glancing over her shoulder, she checked for Slade.

No sign of him. Maybe she'd lost him. Maybe that's all that vision was: a dream. Oh God, she hoped so. When she turned forward again, Sara stared into the barrel of a gun. It was aimed right at her head, the only part of her body that she wouldn't be able to heal if wounded. She froze and sucked in a short breath, hardly daring to breathe at all. It wasn't a lie. That vision was never fabricated, never a nightmare. It was real.

"Slade, wait." She said.

"Give them to me." Slade hissed in a low growl, his eye gleaming with pure hate.

Her eyes narrowed. "The answer is still no." This hadn't happened in her vision. Maybe it would be different. "Slade, please, you've seen my visions. Stop before it's too late."

Time seemed to go slow-motion. She heard the trigger being pulled as a shout from beside her screamed, "NO!" Out of nowhere, Robin jumped in between the bullet and Oriole. He'd been shot in the throat.

Blood splattered Sara's face. She screamed and caught him as he fell, his blood soaking her fingers. "Robin!"

Slade froze above them, his eye wide in shock. Some part of her, a very small part, realized that Slade had lowered the gun just enough to shoot Robin in the neck rather than blow his brains out. She ignored that very small voice and screamed, "Monster! I warned you!"

Eyes glowing green, a wall of fire blocked Slade from Oriole and Robin. "Go away!" Slade tried to get through the flames. In response, they burned hotter than ever before. "Leave us alone!"

And just like that, Slade was gone.

Oriole lowered Robin to the ground gently. Robin gagged and coughed in rasps. "Ro, stay with me." Her eyes flashed as she tried to heal him. Tried. Failed. Realizing nothing was happening, she shouted, "No! Work dammit!"

"-ara… Sara…" She ignored him and kept trying to heal him. She had to. He did so much for her. Now she had to return the favor. "Sara!" Robin rasped as loudly as he possibly could, his hand catching her cheek weakly.

"What?" Tears stung her eyes as she listened to how small and meek his voice was now. He could hardly talk.

"Slade's wrong…he's…he's wrong about you. You're not a killer."

Sara took his hand in hers. "Ro, you shouldn't be trying to talk."

Robin smiled. "I shouldn't be saying that at least…I should be saying something like Disney World, right?" He tried to laugh, but it caught in his throat and blood gurgled in his mouth. Coughs racked his body.

Sara laughed quietly. "You're such a dork. Now shut up and let me work."

Desperately, she tried healing him. She tried everything, but Robin's breath grew weaker with each second. It was too late. He was going to die. No! She couldn't let this happen! It couldn't be happening!

"Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't give up. No matter what happens to me…" He coughed, blood gurgling in his throat.

Sara petted his hair. "Don't talk like that. You hear me? I'm not gonna let this happen."

He smiled, "Just humor me." Suddenly, the smile disappeared, his hand tightened on hers and his body trembled violently. Hacking coughs splattered blood everywhere around them.

"Robin!" She cried, fearing that this was the end. Panic ceased her heart. "HELP! Somebody help!" The coughs stopped, but his chest still heaved like he was coughing. "No, please! Robin, no!"

Her eyes flashed again and again, trying to heal him, relieve pain at very least. Again, nothing happened. Because she was too weak to do anything.

"HELP ME! Somebody, please!"

"Robin!" Sara looked up and spotted Starfire flying towards them.

"Star, go get Raven! She can help!" Sara called.

Starfire landed next to Robin and pressed her palm to his cheek. "I cannot leave him in this condition."

"Star, I know that you care about him but now is not the time for stubbornness. Please, go find Raven. She's his only chance."

"I wouldn't…say only chance…" Robin rasped.

"What part of don't try to talk don't you get?" Sara snapped impatiently. "Star, just go get Raven. Please."

Starfire glared at her, glanced down at Robin, then back up at Sara.

"I'll…I'll be okay... Just…hurts a little." Robin smiled and weakly raised his hand up to Star's and squeezed. Sara sensed that he was lying. He knew he wouldn't be alright, and obviously he was hurting more than a little.

A very conflicted Starfire finally sighed and leaned down, kissing him on the cheek. "I will return soon." With that, Starfire left.

As soon as she was out of sight, Robin grimaced in pain. Sara shook her head, "Lying doesn't become you."

Robin's chest heaved, face twisted in agony. Then, oddly, his muscles loosened and his breath eased. He wasn't breathing. Oh God, he wasn't breathing! Sara peeled back his mask. His eyes were wide open. "Robin?" No response. "Robin! NO!" Sara strained to pull the last of her strength to heal him, but she just wasn't strong enough. "HELP ME!" She started trying CPR. Thank God Robin convinced her to learn how to do it. "1, 2, 3, 4…"

When she got around to 15, she heard someone calling her name. "Sara?"

She knew that voice. "Bruce! Bruce, help me!"

Bruce turned the corner and ran to her side. Then he froze, sucking in a quick breath.

"22, 23, 24…"

"Let me take over." Bruce ordered. Sara slid out of his way immediately.

An agonizing minute went by with more of the same, Bruce giving CPR to Robin and Sara desperately trying to heal him with her powers. Finally, Bruce leaned back on his heels, hanging his head in defeat. He looked down at Sara. Her eyes widened. "No…please, don't say it."

"He's dead."

Author's Note: NOOOOOOOO! If this was an actual episode, I'd be punching the TV and yelling, "THAT CAN'T BE THE END!" But se la vie, it is the end of this chapter. So, as has been pointed out, the lie referred to in the chapter title is the vision that she thought was imagined by Slade. Well, needless to say, it wasn't a lie.

Comments welcome. See you next week!