Disclaimer: The Teen Titans belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers Entertainment. This is a work of fan fiction only, and completely non-profitable.

Summary: "Beast Boy to Robin; I'm on my way. Over."

Ever wonder what happened next? Follow the original team of superheroes as they deal with Jump City's newest threat and follow the ex-thief Jinx as she settles down into a life of heroism with the speedster Kid Flash. A tale jam packed with favourite heroes and villains, 'Things Changed' is what I think Season 6 should have looked liked.

AN: I don't know about you guys, but the only thing more upsetting than season four of Teen Titans is the episode "Things Change". The show left so much unanswered, and that really just isn't fair. So I decided to answer it for myself! I don't plan on this being a short story, and I've already got the 'sequel' planned, so I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wanted to keep this slightly closer to the style of the show than my usual stories, so we'll see how it goes :)

Thanks to Espacole for 'beta-ing' this for me!

For those who haven't watched Teen Titans in a while, it might be a good idea to try and watch season 5 of the series before reading this, simply because it is a carry-on. If you don't want to watch the entire season some key episodes to this story are "Lightspeed", "Hide and Seek", and of course "Things Change".

Sorry about having disappeared for so long. Juggling three jobs, a love life and a college course that won't leave me alone. Up until June when I finish updates really will be sparse.

(…)

Episode 'Things Change'

Terra hugged her book to her chest. "Things change, Beast Boy. The girl you want me to be…" she made herself turn to face him, "is just a memory."

The changeling didn't know what to say. It wasn't the reply he'd wanted to hear, but he couldn't exactly deny she was right either. He didn't need to find the words though as his communicator bleeped and he heard Robin's voice.

"Come in, Beast Boy!"

Flipping open his communicator he could see Robin, and in the background Raven, fighting the shape-shifting creature, it's skin a dangerous shade of red.

"We need your help!"

The screen turned to static before he could reply, and he looked up at the blonde in front of him. "Come with me."

She shook her head. "You go. You're the Teen Titan – it's who you are. It's not me. I'm not a hero." She looked away from him again. "I'm not out to save the world. I'm just a girl with a geometry test next period and I haven't studied."

Beast Boy watched her back away as he bell rung and the halls slowly filled with students. He was reluctant to let her leave and torn between chasing her down and helping his teammates, though he didn't move and when he could no longer see her he spoke into his titan's communicator, hoping Robin could hear him.

"Beast Boy to Robin; I'm on my way. Over."

(….)

Now…

Robin dived to the side; a wave of scalding air telling him he'd only just missed the attack. Rolling to his feet the boy wonder threw several freeze disks at the monstrosity. Each weapon hit its target but didn't do any visible damage. As he was preparing himself for another attack his target was encased in a cold blanket of energy as black as tar, holding the creature in place. Robin's eyes found the empath.

"Where's Beast Boy?" Raven asked through gritted teeth as she creature fought against her.

"He said he was on his way," Robin answered.

Raven's shield started to glow red from the intense heat radiating off of the molten steel the creature was currently wearing, Starfire panicking slightly when she noticed, aware the dark energy was as much a part of Raven as her hands from her time wearing her friend's body. The alien took several steps towards Raven before she stopped, not sure how she could help.

"Raven your shield, it's-"

"I can handle the heat," She quickly told her teammate, "But it's strong. I won't be able to keep it still for much longer. Can someone figure out how we're going to keep it from changing shape before we lose it again?"

"Yeah well, does anyone any suggestions because I'm just as stumped on this one as you." Cyborg commented, joining Robin and Starfire as they watched the empath fight to keep the thing contained, unable to do anything else.

"We could find out exactly what it is," Robin said, before ordering, "Cyborg, run a scan."

"What?"

"Earlier Raven told us she couldn't sense it. It's either using magic to shield itself or it isn't alive and never has been," The leader of the group explained, and Cyborg looked to Raven for confirmation.

"Robin's right. Just, whatever you're doing, could you hurry it up?"

There was a pause as Cyborg stared at the creature, his robotic eye flashing with a red light before he nodded. "Alright. Whatever makes this thing tick, it isn't flesh. I say we-"

The empath's shields burst.

Raven was thrown back through the air as the dark energy recoiled back to its source, the titans forced to cover their faces as the burning wave of air reached them. Starfire was the first to recover – used to flying close to solar flares, her body built to endure the extreme conditions of space – and she bombarded the creature with a flurry of star-bolts, each bullet of energy sinking harmlessly into the orange and red mass.

Realising her attack wasn't having any effect she changed targets, aiming for the circular red eyes that had remained the same throughout all of its different forms. The star-bolt just missed its target, hitting slightly too low, and by the time the second bolt had reached the robot it had raised its arms to protect its eyes.

"It learns quickly!" Starfire observed.

"Like it needs any more of an advantage." Robin muttered, lowering his arm before throwing another freeze disk, the cocktail of chemicals doing no more damage than they had the first few times.

The attack grabbed the creature's attention though, the android turned its red eyes towards the boy wonder. Robin released two more disks before his target moved, heading towards him with frightening speed. Starfire screamed out a warning while Cyborg tried to take aim with his sonic cannon. He got off one shot and then Robin was too close for him to risk it – too close for them to do anything. The last few seconds seemed to stretch out into an eternity as Robin threw himself into a back flip, knowing he'd moved too slowly, his expression hardening as he waiting for the inferno to collide with him…

But it didn't.

He landed on his feet and straightened up, lifting his eyes off the ground to find a blue cloak two steps in front of him, the fiery android another three steps away. An acidic burning spell pierced the air. Confused and panicked, Robin ran to Raven's side, ignoring the intense heat as he discovered the empath had one arm buried elbow deep into the body of molten steel and the other lying flat against its chest for leverage as she pushed against it, sweat dripping down her brow.

"Get back!" She warned Robin irritably when she noticed him beside her, and when he didn't move a flash of black hit in, the force making him stumble back several steps.

For an instant a shield appeared against the creature's torso but it flickered out as the sleeve of her leotard caught fire, the fibres combusting not from the molten metal itself but the intense heat of the surrounding air. Doing her best to ignore the flames Raven got the shield back in place before she quickly removed her hands from the burning mass and patted out the fire eating at her arms, refusing to look at the damage. She couldn't feel her arms or the pain that should have been there and it worried her, but the threat of another attack worried her more. While Raven could still fight now, she feared the pain would kick in and she would crumble if she saw her arms.

Using the shield of dark energy she'd conjured, Raven managed to force the android back several steps before it retaliated, her eyes widening as it reached round the shield and extended its arms to grab her. She heard the sound of Cyborg's sonic cannon before she saw the blue beam, but something about it was different. Her eardrums hurt as though they were being stabbed by hundred of needles. Alarmed, Raven covered her ears with her hands, the feelings of agitation and shock she received from her teammates assuring her that she wasn't alone in her discomfort. The girl watched as the beam of blue energy found its target – the android's face – and the burning red of its skin flickered to show the smooth white it had been when they'd first encountered it, the force of the attack sending it stumbling away from Raven. Cyborg's attack stopped and for a second the thing just stood there, stunned, before it ran.

"Don't lose sight of it!" Robin yelled in alarm as they all ran after the robot, Raven quickly constructing several barricades, all of which it managed to avoid before it was out of the building and racing across the tarmac. It hit a brick wall of the neighbouring building and disappeared.

"Damn it!" Cyborg cursed. "We almost had it!"

"Please, Cyborg but what did you do to make that horrible noise?" Starfire asked as the group came to a stop.

"I reconfigured my sonic cannon in the hopes of taking out its electrical circuits, kind of like what Punk Rocket almost did to me that time."

"But everyone's okay?" Raven asked.

"We're not the ones who decided to arm wrestle with molten steel," Robin said in reply, walking over as the empath finally let herself look at her arms.

Cooling blobs of metal hung to her skin and as the adrenaline pumping through her body began to fade the pain hit her.

"It's nothing," She muttered as she brushed her hand down her arm in an attempt to remove the substance eating away at her flesh, the motion slightly too rigid.

"Yo! Hang on Rae; I know it hurts be we could use that!" The robotic teenager quickly stopped her, flinching away from the look the empath gave him before saying, "It could help us figure out what that thing's made of."

"Then hurry up and take a sample," Raven told him, her jaw clenched tight in pain.

"I can't touch it – it'll melt through me."

"Then tough luck." She wiped one of her arms clean before Cyborg could stop her, revealing a patchwork of pink and red skin, blisters having already formed and burst in some places.

Cyborg grabbed both her arms before she could wipe the other clean and Starfire and Robin both cringed, making more noise than Raven did as she tensed, silently watching Cyborg before carefully muttering, "Ow."

"If we know what it's made from, we can find a way to stop it next time it appears and possibly find the idiot who built it."

The empath's eyes were beginning to water, her cheeks wet. "Cyborg, let go of my arms."

Hesitantly – afraid Raven was going to ignore him – he did as she'd asked. The girl instantly recoiled away from her teammate as she struggled to keep on top of her pain, too proud and too worried about losing control of her powers to give in. "If this doesn't help us catch or destroy this thing next time we see it, I will personally give you an all-exclusive tour of hell. Are we clear?"

"I hate it when I can't tell if you're joking or not," Cyborg replied.

"Oh, I'm not joking."

"They we're clear as crystal."

Moving closer to his teammate, Robin carefully studied Raven's arms and what was left of her sleeves, the fabric burnt and smouldering where it hadn't melted all together. "You've never mentioned you're fire-proof."

She shrugged as she admitted, "I wasn't sure."

"You what?!" All three titans simultaneously exclaimed, horrified.

"Well, being able to hold your hand on a lit stove or in a fireplace isn't the same as submerging yourself in molten metal is it?"

"Idiot," Robin muttered, his brass tone making Raven smile for a moment.

"My 'idiocy' saved your life. There was more chance of me surviving it than you."

"I know."

"Now, can we return to the tower? You might not have noticed, but I'm still being eaten away at."

"And Beast Boy?" Starfire frowned. "He said he was one his way."

Robin's face darkened slightly and none of them envied Beast Boy and the talk they knew he was going to get. "He'll find us."

(…)

Raven had been sat in the infirmary for close to half an hour when Beast Boy finally arrived, checking the tower's personal micro-hospital after finding the rest of the tower was empty.

"What happened? Did we catch it? When I got to the recycling plant no one was-" Catching sight of Raven, one of her arms already treated and bandaged but the other on show he cut off, quickly asking, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"She was injured because you weren't there to help," Robin replied harshly from where he was sat on a free cot.

Raven frowned slightly as she considered disagreeing, unable to see how Beast Boy could have helped keep the android from melting their leader but decided to remain silent, no more happier than anyone else about the changeling's disappearing act.

"What?" Beast Boy asked, his ears flattening in distress, almost like a cat's.

Cyborg looked up from Raven's arm to scowl at Robin. "The thing mimicked molten steel. All of grass stain's forms would have had about as much fun approaching that thing as we would have."

"Wait? Molten steel?" Beast Boy asked, eyes going back to Raven's arm before he weakly joked, "You sure it wasn't molten tin? I mean it was a recycling plant."

They all decided to ignore him and Cyborg answered the boy's original question. "Rae got herself elbow deep in the thing trying to keep it away from Robin. I doubt you could have made a difference, but you still should have been there, man."

While Beast Boy felt guilt, the news of how Raven had sustained her injuries took up most of his attention and he quickly moved over to his teammate's side, leaning around Cyborg to get a better look at the empath's arm. "Woah! You're melt-proof? How come you never mentioned it before?"

Raven sighed irritably, already fed up with people asking the same question. "After seeing what environment my Father thrives in, is it really all that surprising? Not that it means I plan on doing it again any time in this life."

"You shouldn't need to," Cyborg informed her as he applied a salve to the burnt flesh before dressing it with a bandage. "We've got a sample of whatever the android was made from and it should have cooled down enough for me to work on it. If we can figure out the components we can question local manufacturers and shippers and hopefully find an address to whoever created it."

"'Created it'?" Beast Boy butted in. "'Android'? You mean it's not a shape-shifter?"

"Oh it's a shape-shifter all right – a shape-shifting robot. Of the non-organic variety," Cyborg joked at his own expense. "It's pretty advance to be able to mimic substances so well. The good news is that it limits the number of possible suspects. The bad news is that we're dealin' with someone who's very, very good at their trade."

"A robot…" Beast Boy frowned, before jumping back and hastily exclaiming, "A robot! Slade! I saw Slade! Well, it wasn't Slade exactly but one of his robots. You know, the talking, ass kicking kind? He knows Terra's alive! I think he might try to go after her!"

"Slade?" Robin frowned. "Beast Boy, are you sure?"

"Positive! He said… well it doesn't matter what he said. It was at the old theme-park on the edge of town. The robot should still be there. I mean I totally trashed it – it's not like it could have crawled off."

"… Well, let's deal with one thing at a time," Robin said, unconvinced. "We need to figure out how to take down this shapeshifting robot first, before it completely destroys the city."

"But Terra! If Slade gets hold of her again she-"

"I'll go with Beast Boy," Raven spoke up, interrupting her teammate's protests. "We'll look for this robot of Slade's, and while we're out I can take a look at Terra's tomb. I might be able to figure out what restored her."

"You shouldn't be going anywhere," Cyborg frowned. "You can withstand higher temperatures than the rest of us but that doesn't mean you weren't badly burnt. At the moment you really run the risk of gaining an infection." He crossed his arms in front of the metal plates that made up his chest, taking a stand. "If you were a human with burns like that you'd be in a burns unit looking at several weeks of bed-bound treatment. I'm declaring you off duty. I don't want you going anywhere until I've given you medical clearance."

Raven's anger rose swiftly, fuelled by irritation and pride. "For the hundredth time, I do not get infections. Treating me like a human patient is both pointless and ridiculous. I am not human, nor do I need to rely on my arms or hands to get things done, or had you forgotten my telekinesis?"

"You're half human and I don't have training in the field of medical practice for demons, so it's the best you're going to get. Human or not you won't heal any faster if you don't rest."

"There is no medical practice for demons because we don't need it."

"Don't need it my ass – your lower arms are nothing but two open wounds!" Cyborg argued.

Aware he was one word away from two teammates going A.W.O.L Robin quickly stepped forward, raising his voice. "Enough! We can't fight this robot when we're fighting each other. Cyborg, Raven's right – she isn't human and the only one qualified in dealing with her is herself, which means trusting her judgement-" seeing Cyborg was about of protest he quickly and loudly said, "BUT as our head first-aider Cyborg has every right to declare any one of us unfit for duty, and as leader of the team I agree with his decision." The empath adopted a look of contempt but Robin warned her against arguing with a glare. "Raven, until further notice you have been declared unfit for duty and will be stopped from responding to alerts." Raven's expression softened as Robin's use of words sank in and she smiled slightly. "Make sure Starfire goes with you. Cyborg and I will stay here and run tests on the sample. Call if you run into any trouble and disengage from any fight or I will consider it a direct breach of given orders, understood?"

Raven nodded, but Cyborg wasn't as happy and he tried to protest. "Robin, Rae really shouldn't be-"

"Enough. What Raven does with her down time is no concern of ours so long as it doesn't breach her orders." He looked at the empath. "Just be careful."

(…)

Beast Boy led the two girls through the rusted gates of the old theme park and up to the newer metal fence someone had erected to keep people out. He didn't bother trying to find a way through it, morphing into a small finch and flitting up and over, Raven and Starfire easily following.

"What were you even doing here?" Raven asked as she landed on the cracked concrete on the other side of the fence.

The changeling morphed back into his human form, landing on the ground in a crouch. "Terra brought me here once. It was one of her favourite places, so it just kinda made sense, you know?" He shrugged, before quietly telling them, "She said she doesn't remember any of it – Slade, the team, Titans Tower, or… How can you not remember something like that?"

"It would explain why she did not seek us out after awakening," Starfire pointed out softly. "Perhaps when she turned to stone her mind was damaged?"

"I doubt that," The empath shook her head. "It was her own power that entombed her in rock, and last I checked she wasn't psychic. Maybe she just saw the chance to like a normal life and took it?"

Raven's words reminded Beast Boy of what the Sladebot had said to him, and it's words rang though his head. 'Perhaps she doesn't want to remember you.'

"That's not true!" He shouted, taking an aggressive step towards the young woman.

Raven frowned at him and, forgetting about her injuries stubbornly crossed her arms until the pain forced her to drop them by her sides again, a small wince tugging at the corner of her lips. "Has she told you otherwise?"

"She told me she doesn't remember." He reminded her forcefully.

"I'm just trying to cover all the bases. I'm sorry Beast Boy, but it is possible she remembers it all and is trying to forget – and I don't blame her."

Beast Boy attempted to stare the woman down for a moment but it wasn't long before he dropped his gaze. It wasn't Raven he was angry with, and he couldn't pretend otherwise. "But why? She had friends; a home!"

"And she had guilt. A lot of it. She tried to kill us, and almost destroyed the city. Believe me when I say I know what that feels like. Yes, in the end she saved the city and redeemed herself but what seems like enough for someone else isn't always enough for yourself. I know I've had moments where I wish I could have traded everything for a chance to be someone else. If it's what she wants why should we try and stop her?"

The changeling's expression hardened again and he turned around and continued walking, muttering, "no one asked what you think."

Starfire looked at Raven and shrugged, her concern for Beast Boy easy to read in her large green eyes. They followed him towards the back of the park, having to climb over the remains of an old Ferris wheel as the boy led them to a specific spot.

Having definite memories of the large ride standing last time the team and driven past the old park Raven commented dryly, "When you said you 'totally trashed' the robot, you forgot to mention you also destroyed everything else in the process."

"I got angry," Beast Boy replied, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

Raven's mouth opened to respond, a snarky comment on the tip of her tongue, before she stopped herself. It wasn't often the green teen felt the true flames of rage, but when he did… "Did the Beast..?"

"No," he quickly shook his head, glancing back. "No, it was definitely a T-Rex."

"You are most fortunate that your opponent wasn't Slade at all, but a robot," Starfire commented as she studied the debris they carefully moved round. "Slade is most elusive and resilient but I doubt even he would have survived such an attack."

"If it had been Slade, Beast Boy wouldn't have gotten the chance to ram him into the Ferris wheel at all," Raven pointed out before quickly adding, "Not that I'm doubting your fighting skills Beast Boy, Slade is just…"

"Slade?" He offered, managing a small smile. "Looking back I should have known it wasn't actually him. Ignoring the time you went badass on him under the library he's always managed to get away. If all five of us can't take him down together, I can't do it on my own. But I wasn't thinking." The changeling started to slow down as his green eyes searched the debris. "The robot should be here somewhere in the same outfit as Slade's."

The two girls joined him in searching the area, spreading out as they picked their way through the fallen scaffolding and broken support beams. Starfire searched round an old carriage, the metal mesh encasing the seats twisted and broken.

"I do not see anything," The alien spoke up, looking back at the changeling.

"It's here somewhere!" Beast Boy urged, Raven able to feel his mounting frustration and stress. "You have to believe me!"

Raven paused in her search as something caught her eye and moved forward, crouching down to remove a small scrap of black material from a piece of rebar it had gotten caught on.

"I do believe you," Raven told him, holding up the scrap of cloth for them both to see. "Someone cleaned up the mess, and I want to know who."

"You are certain there was just the one robot, Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, worried.

"That I saw," The Tameranean's thought was infectious, and Beast Boy found he suddenly doubted himself. Would he have noticed any others?

"Well, it proves someone knew you were here," Raven muttered and seeing Beast Boy was about to protest continued, "We can't confirm it was Slade, not just yet. He hasn't been near the city since the defeat of Trigon. Who knows who could have stumbled across one of his old hideouts? He probably had dozens we're unaware of filled with these robots."

"You mean it was some dude's idea of a practical joke?" Beast Boy asked sceptically, and Raven frowned at him. "Come on Rae, it was his voice! And who else would know what to say in order to get at me like that? It was Slade, Raven. I know it was."

"Alright," She threw her bandaged hands up in defeat. "Fine. It was Slade. I'm not going to stand around arguing with you, just keep an open mind. Is there anything else we need to look at or can we move on?"

"Where did this robot come from?" Starfire quickly asked when she realised the empath wasn't going to.

Beast Boy shrugged. "I don't know. It appeared while I was in the house of mirrors. It could have been waiting in there for all I know."

"And the house if mirrors is?" Raven asked, looking around them.

"Over there," The changeling cringed, pointing towards a derelict building, the front wall a pile of rubble and the ceiling caved in.

"… Of course," she muttered, before shaking her head. "At least you saved the city half a job. Maybe they'll tear this down next, instead of another completely fine building."

"And that old creepy library of yours has been standing empty for how long?" Beast Boy pointed out.

"That's not the same. There are strong wards set up to protect the building. Unless the Church of Blood where involved in its destruction I doubt it'll ever get demolished."

"The who?"

"They are the order that worship Trigon the Terrible," Starfire answered, and Raven frowned at her.

"I wouldn't call them an order so much as a cult." Looking at Beast Boy, she asked, "When was the last time you visited Terra, ignoring yesterday?"

"Some time before we learnt about Trigon. I mean between dealing with Slade, building that room for you, helping the Doom Patrol and fighting the Brotherhood of Evil I didn't really have chance. Why?"

"You said she'd lost her memory – that she can't remember us, her powers, Slade… When we first met her, her control was unstable but that had been years of work. If she's forgotten how to control her powers, I think we would have noticed."

"Maybe she doesn't have her powers anymore? Maybe they've become dormant or something?" Beast Boy pointed out.

"While I won't rule it out, I've never heard of it happening to someone before, not with someone as powerful as Terra."

"It does make sense, friend," Starfire added.

The changeling didn't reply as he considered that, years of trusting Raven's judgement telling him she was probably right with this too, but not wanting to believe it. He eventually shrugged.

"There's nothing else to see here."

"Then let's go to Terra's cave," Raven said. "With some luck I'll be able to determine what or who released her."

(…..)

The 'cave' Terra's stone body had resided in was, in fact, not a cave but the remains of one of Slade's many subterranean hideouts that had become encrusted with rock after the former Titan had accidently triggered an old volcano. The lava had killed their arch nemesis and destroyed the base but before it could reach the city Terra had solidified it, along with herself. Walking through the tunnel, the walls still retaining the shapes of the rolling, molten river Raven and Starfire both experienced a feeling of melancholy as they were forced to relive that horrifying experience. It wasn't a feeling shared by Beast Boy, who was almost bursting with excitement as he waited to round the corner than would reveal an empty space where Terra once stood and prove to his friends he hadn't been imagining it all.

Starfire was the first to round the bend, letting out a small squeal of surprise. She rushed forward as though Terra might be hidden behind some sort of veil and proximity would reveal her.

"See," Beast Boy grinned as the alien rushed back over to her friends, a smile of true joy on her face as she all but strangled the changeling with a hug.

"She is truly back!"

Raven frowned at the space the geomancer should have occupied before moving forward and kneeling in front of the plaque on the floor that read,

TERRA.

A TEEN TITAN. A FRIEND

She brushed aside the skeletons of long dead flowers and touched her un-bandaged fingers to the smooth rock, hoping to feel the small sting of residue magic and feeling nothing.

Her frown deepened until it was almost a scowl. "It wasn't any of my spells, nor was it someone else's magic."

"Then what?" Starfire asked.

"Maybe the effects just wore off?" Beast Boy suggested.

Raven got to her feet, unconvinced. "Maybe."

"Does it really matter how she came back?" The changeling asked, and Raven shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps. I'll see if I can convince Robin into organising some sort of surveillance for Terra just in case Slade is interested in her, but also to give us a better idea on what we're dealing with. If she has lost her memory and her powers are still unstable she's a danger to the city – a danger we'd have to address."

"It's been three years and you still can't believe she's a good person?!"

Raven didn't raise her voice or scowl and she looked at the Beast Boy. "I don't have experience in training people, but our abilities being similar I'm sure my help would suffice to form the building blocks for her to work from."

"…I knew you were going to say that," Beast Boy muttered sheepishly.

"But how would we survey her?" Starfire asked as Raven rolled her eyes at her green teammate.

"One of us would have to watch her," Raven answered, turning to the alien. "We need to find her first, considering we don't have any idea on where in the city she's living."

"Murakami High School!" Beast Boy piped up. "She's attending the high school. I nominate myself; I can go there and keep an eye on her."

"We need your help to catch this robot," Raven frowned. "Robin and Cyborg are going to keep me from fighting until I've healed so I might as well put myself forward."

The shape shifter started to argue, before changing his mind and offering the empath a smile instead. "Thanks Rae."

"Don't mention it."

(….)

"I don't believe it!"

Cyborg looked away from the screen and rubbed his human eye before taking another look at the diagnosis he was reading, half convinced the time he'd spent looking at the computer had begun to addle his brain.

"What is it?" Robin asked, walking over.

"Seriously advanced tech, that's what. I mean, the amount of programming it must have taken to let it adapt and camouflage like it does and then to get them to all work together… Man, the sheer number there must be to even make up the head-"

"Cyborg," Robin interrupted impatiently, "That's great, but what is it?"

"We're not dealing with just one robot," Cyborg told him, turning round to look at his leader. "We're dealing with thousands. Hundreds of thousands, on the nano-scale!"

"You mean the entire thing is made up of nano-bots?" Robin asked in disbelief.

He nodded. "Uh-huh. It explains how it was able to mimic water as well as it did, though, doesn't it? I'd hazard a guess that its eyes are the only thing bigger than a single cell. They never changed during any of its forms and when Starfire tried to attack its eyes it got real defensive. Somethin's telling me that's its main control point is – that's where I'd put it anyway."

"Main control point?"

"Programming that many robots individually isn't some fall feat and would probably crash most hard drives from all the memory-usage, so you send the instructions to a single device which in turn sends it out on a small range frequency to the nano-bots."

"So how do we take it out? By attacking its eyes?" Robin asked.

"That would be my first guess. If I could find out what frequency it's running on I could also try and disrupt it to shut it down but it won't be easy, and it would be dangerous. The last thing we need is that thing malfunctioning."

Robin nodded, before noting, "That kind of technology isn't cheap, and then looking at who has the know-how to build it… it narrows down our list of suspects, perhaps a little too much."

The common room doors slid open, the 'hiss' of the air-locks attracting the boys attention and they both looked round to watch Raven enter the room, closely followed by Starfire and Beast Boy.

"Did you find anything?" Robin asked as they walked over.

Raven didn't reply, her expression stormy as she silently passed her leader the scrap of cloth she'd found at the amusement park. He studied it for a moment before looking up at her and Raven nodded, no words needed.

"Are you sure?" He asked, though he sounded resigned.

"The robot is gone. All of it apart from that. Someone cleaned up – someone who knew where it had been and didn't want anyone else finding it. Beast Boy's convinced it was Slade's voice he heard from the robot and I believe him."

"I'd really started to believe we'd seen the last of him," Robin admitted unhappily.

"And Terra?" Cyborg asked.

"Awake, though I can't tell you how. It wasn't magic, mine or anyone else's. A spell that powerful would have left its scars in the surrounding area. She could have been walking around for a decade and there still would have been residue magic left to feel."

"Any ideas if her memory is intact?" Robin queried.

Starfire looked at raven and when she received a nod told Robin, "We believe that if she had lost her memory she would have too forgotten how to control her powers, and that we would have noticed."

The changeling didn't argue but Raven could feel his hostility, and keeping to her word told Robin, "It might be a good idea to survey Terra, just in case. If Slade is back and knows she's awake he could try and get revenge, or even attempt to use her again. Or, if she has lost her memory and her geokinetic abilities are still active she'll need training."

Robin's face quickly adopted a look of protest. "And who would you send to do that? We can't afford to spare anyone, not until we've dealt with this android."

"I would send myself. Until my arms have healed you and Cyborg will work to keep me from attending alerts and this is more productive than sitting around the tower."

The leader of the Titans didn't look happy, but he thought about it, which was always a good start. "And when you've healed?"

"A few days should be long enough for me to determine her condition, and if the android hasn't been caught – or destroyed – by that point, well, Terra is many things but incapable isn't one of them."

There was a moment of silence before he slowly nodded. "Alright, but only until your burns have healed. We need you fighting with us."

Beast Boy caught Raven's eye and offered her a smile of gratitude as he stepped closer to the computer and asked the two boys, "So did you find out what this thing's made of?"

"Nano-bots," Cyborg nodded. "Really advance nano-bots. We were talking about how to fight it and the suspect list just before you got back. Figuring out how to fight it is the easy bit. If the was designed using standard logic, it's 'eyes' are the part we want to target. We take them out, and it should shut it down."

"That is easier said than done," Starfire frowned. "I attempted to attack its face and eyes with my starbolts during the last fight and it seemed to have no effect."

"Yeah, well theoretically all the nano-bots will be working on the same frequency so I'm gonna look at the possibility of disrupting that frequency – maybe with my sonic cannon if I can adjust the settings – and shut it down that way. It's just finding the right frequency that's the problem. It might just have to be a matter of trial and error."

"It's not the first time someone's played with nano-technology," Raven noted unhappily and Robin frowned at her. "I'm thinking during the first few months after we started as a team, only these nano-bots were implanted inside us."

A look of contempt crossed his face. "You think Slade is behind this too?"

"I think we'd be foolish to rule out the possibility."

"Makes sense," Cyborg shrugged. "We were away for quite a long time dealing with the Brotherhood of Evil. Maybe he thought he could set up shop while we were away."

"I am not convinced. Slade's creations and destruction usually have a purpose. What could he gain from this robot attacking as randomly as it has?" Starfire asked.

"I'm not sure, but if he is back, I'm more than willing to be he's involved," Robin replied.

"So you believe me then?" The changeling spoke up and the boy wonder nodded.

"Alright, so let's say he's involved. Did we ever learn if he built his own robots?" Cyborg asked. "Slade's an intelligent guy in that psychopathic kinda way, there's no doubting that, but nano-tech? That's a whole different league."

Robin frowned. "Where are you going with this?"

"Even if I can track the components used in these samples to Jump City it might not lead us to Slade. He's worked with people before, who's to say he wouldn't again. And if that happens we have no way of pinning this on him – no evidence he was involved."

"Not to burst anyone's bubble but what happens if this android was built outside the city limits?"

"Then we'd have a lot of ground to cover." Robin replied unhappily.

(…)

AN: All reviews are welcome (and wanted. Even the 'flames', though do try and keep them critical.) As usual they all will get a reply via PM, even if it's just a 'thanks'. Sorry about any typos. This has been sat on my computer for a while, and I wanted to get an update out to you guys more than I wanted to proof read it.