A/N: Got a little bit more graphic with this chapter, plus wrote for longer. Not too confident with it, since it's more of a transition chapter, but I think it has some nice moments. Going to take some time off to fully figure out what happens from here. Hope you enjoy today's installment!

Robin was bleeding. Wet patches of red bloomed underneath his costume as he was held down and punched, hard, directly in the chest. Slade must've reopened an old scar. His hands were held directly above him, twisted harshly as Robin was forced to his feet. Metal sounded against the floor as something was kicked aside.

"Who were you working with."

"No one was involved, I never-" He winced as Slade stamped onto his foot and a bright pain flashed through his leg.

"My patience is wearing rather thin, Richard, and I recommend you cooperate." A chill went through him at the use of his first name, but Robin steeled himself and stared Slade straight in the eye, trying to keep his nerves under control as best as possible. "If you insist that you were not operating with this intruder, despite you willingly siding with him, then I will give you one chance to explain yourself."

Robin raced to piece together his story, not giving himself enough time to think through what he should or shouldn't say.

"All I remember is the laboratory." Robin had to slightly cough out the words, out of breath and in pain. "I was trapped, and I lost consciousness. Then I woke up here." Slade narrowed his eye.

"I don't know this person. Never seen them before." He added, the grip on his hands tightening dangerously.

"He was in your mind, apprentice. Why didn't you attempt to shut him out? Were you communicating during your possession?"

"N-Nothing! Nothing was happening!" Robin braced himself for another hit, before Slade tossed him onto the floor and Robin let out a small grunt as he hit pavement. Slade let him go? Wouldn't he be worried that Robin would start attacking again?

Robin's questions were answered when Slade backed away from him, turning to walk up to a limp body being handled by a Sladebot, head lolled to the side. Dark hair obscured their face, matted together with wet blood that dripped onto the floor beneath

them.

"Trying to kill a ghost is a useless endeavor," He began, picking up the forgotten lever that had been carelessly strewn to the side. The hero's eyes narrowed at the change in topic. Slade's gloved hands traced the tip, where shards of sharp rusted iron poked out from where Robin had broken it off the machine. Robin scowled at the fact that he could have possibly stabbed Slade when he had it, before his brain lurched at the thought and he watched in horror as the unconscious boy's head was tilted up and the sharp end was put against his throat. "Whereas humans are an entirely different matter."

The blood that was previously running off the kid's face was now pooling underneath his right eye and dripping onto his chin, originating from a sizable open wound on the forehead.

His mouth dropped open as it suddenly dawned on Robin that this was ghost kid. But now he was stripped of his ethereal glow, and as evidenced by the scratches and cuts everywhere, completely mortal.

"This boy could be useful. I'd hate to dispose of him for childish reasons." The bar was removed, and Robin let out a sigh of relief he didn't even know he was holding. The message was delivered loud and clear: attempt to fight back and the boy would suffer. Slade held the kid's head back by his hair now, studying the features.

"Daniel Fenton. The son of a family of researchers I've been looking into ever since their move to Jump." Of course Slade knew what, who, this person was. Infuriated couldn't even begin to describe what Robin was feeling, and it took everything for him not to yell at Slade to get his filthy hands off of the ghost. Secret identities were sacred, but the villain ran around picking at masks like old scabs until their life threatening secrets came apart in his hands. And it only made his blood boil more when he squared it with the fact that the bastard had unmasked an amateur, a kid with no safety nets. Slade released Daniel, allowing his head to hang over the metal arm of the robot again. "To be more specific, a family specializing in the research and extermination of ghosts."

His eyes widened under his mask, but his disbelief was short-lived. Robin lived (used to live) with a whole group of bizarre people. Ghosts weren't anything out of the ordinary, and Slade only confirmed what he'd suspected from the beginning. What worried him more was the fact that Slade had listed extermination as one of the specialties of Daniel's family. Was Daniel safe at his home?

Though the real question was why Slade was researching the paranormal in the first place. Robin doubted that he had just gained a new found appreciation for horror movies. The villain must've read his mind, because he answered the unspoken question.

"I doubt you were aware, but during your little absence a barrage of ghosts descended upon the city. Of course, your former team failed to defend the city they claim to love so much. Until a certain someone managed to take them all down in one go." His gaze fell to Daniel. "I knew I had to have something on me to… control the situation, should those same ghosts decide to give me problems. And lo and behold, they did. Thankfully, a colleague of mine was kind enough to offer me what I needed."

The boy wonder's eyes narrowed at the information, immediately trying to sort through all the news he'd received in the past month to see if he'd heard anything about ghosts haunting Jump, but it wasn't of any use. Robin had been isolated from the real world for way too long. News of what was happening in his city wasn't reaching his ears anymore, just what Slade wanted him to hear. And the asshole had been frustratingly tight lipped. Trying to find out who this "colleague" was would probably also be a dead end. Subsequently, he had no information on these 'ghost hunters' either. Though he doubted that they were of any real use, since apparently it was their son, one of the ghosts, that had stopped the attacks. So then what did Slade want with them?

His blood ran cold when he realized just how much power Slade had now over this kid. Robin's first guess was that he would be held for ransom, in exchange for… what? Tech? If Slade, of all people, was interested in this family, they likely wouldn't take it sitting down. Maybe he would dangle the superhero's identity over Daniel, force him to hand over anything he would need for his evil schemes, maybe even—

It wouldn't come to that. Slade better be expecting a hell of a fight from Robin if he even tried getting out a uniform for Daniel.

He was broken out of his thoughts soon enough. Something small and yellow clattered onto the ground in front of the boy wonder. The black and orange copper mask was now in front of his face, the solitary eye inhabiting the socket gleaming with an unseen grin. Robin, taking the silence as approval to investigate, slowly leaned down and ran his fingers over the device. Spotting the design on the front of it, his face went pale as the implications became clear.

It was a Titans communicator. And judging by the circumstances, Daniel's communicator.

"Quite the social butterfly, aren't you." A hand grabbed Robin by his throat, and his feet left the ground once again. He flailed in Slade's grip, struggling for air.

"I di-didn't k-know the Titans were i-involved in this! I've—"

"Seen enough." Robin coughed, the edge of his vision blurring dangerously. "You have allowed yourself to be compromised by them! Allowed a Titan to infiltrate our base and possibly expose beyond valuable information. Not to mention that you chose to ally yourself with him against me. You should know better than anyone, apprentice, that now that he has witnessed this he is too much of a liability to set free." Robin was released, knees painfully hitting the floor again as he took deep gulps, rubbing the area around his throat where he was held in a superhuman vice grip. "It strikes me that your former friends are too stupid to know when to quit. If they will not back off then I will force them to."

The trigger was pulled out, rough gloves forcing Robin's head up to stare at black leather brushing against the surface of the button.

"Do you know how it feels like to be physically torn apart from the inside out? Every cell being meticulously torn apart until there is nothing left but a husk of a person. But I don't have to resort to that to kill them. I can do it slow and steady, activate short bursts where their bodies are eaten away in the most brutal, painful fashion. How long do you think they could withstand before your team makes the decision to end their wretched suffering themselves?" Robin groaned, trying his best to ignore the visual images popping up in his mind, nightmares that would haunt him in his sleep.

"Maybe your team would be too cowardly to go through with it. Maybe I'll incapacitate them in the middle of a fight and let their enemies tear them to shreds."

"You wouldn't let that happen, master. You'd lose your leash on me." He growled, tone colored with anger as he counted to ten in his head, resisting the urge to launch himself at the man and clock him out.

"Would I? Because I don't think you're in the position to call my bluff." The gloved hand left his face, and Robin leaned back to put as much distance as he could manage between them. "How insolent."

The screens in the lair flickered, switching to the nauseating image that gave Robin constant nightmares. The blood streams of his friends, their vitals, their heartbeat, everything. And of course, the nanobots. But something new popped up alongside the monitors; on an adjacent panel was a video feed of the living room of Titan's Tower. Cyborg and Beast Boy were leaning onto the monitors, watching live video of the city as they scoured through endless footage, looking for something. Robin's heart stopped in its place, and he couldn't pinpoint whether what he was feeling was anger or pure unbridled fear.

"I'll make you watch them suffer."

"Leave him… leave him alone."

Both heads turned to see Daniel, now lifting himself up with his arm on the steel limb holding his body. "Stay away or I'll… "

Slade marched over to him and Daniel physically winced, but then stared him straight in the face. Robin was immediately struck by Daniel's eye color. Sparkling blue was framed by black messy hair, and it felt like looking into a twisted mirror. A single thought wormed its way into his brain that shoved its way to the forefront before he could squash it.

They've already replaced you.

"Daniel Fenton. How nice of you to join us." The boy went as white as a sheet at the mention of his name, his arm almost giving out under him.

"How did you-"

"A magician never reveals his secrets." Daniel paused and glanced down at himself, taking in his appearance as best as he could. A morbidly funny thought passed through Robin's head. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Jazz is going to kill me," He whispered, now visibly shaking. Daniel didn't look like he meant to say that, and it hit Robin just how downright terrified this kid must be, in the clutches of a maniac who held every aspect of your life in their palm. Robin was already convinced that Slade was a piece of shit, but if he wasn't before then that would have sealed it. Daniel had now composed himself, taking shaky breaths as he tried threats. "You'll regret this. Let me go or-"

"Or what? By all means, I invite you to try escaping." Daniel did just that, weakly scraping his fingernails on the metal trapping him as he tried to twist himself free. Robin caught him furrowing his brow as he concentrated on something, and Robin surmised that he was trying to activate his powers. But then Robin's eyes fell on the collar now nestled on Daniel's neck, a new addition that hadn't been noticed before.

An inhibitor collar.

Slade laughed, a low chilling tone that somehow managed to fill the room, overpowering the groans of machinery and the sound of Daniel's struggling.

"Now that we've evened out the playing field, let's discuss what happens next."