Chapter 30

Robin had told the Titans to get some rest. It was, after all, nearing sunrise and they'd been up all night. Bee, Flash, and Beast Boy, who had Silkie on his chest, had taken to sleep on some of the camping cots. Cyborg had decided to doze on the sofa, plugged into one of his portable batteries. Raven was meditating in a dark corner of the room, chanting her mantra every now and then. Robin, after introducing the Titans and Batgirl to each other, - minus Flash who has met her before as both Batgirl and Barbara Gordon - had decided that they wouldn't benefit from doing anything until they were all well rested. They needed to be on top form if they came into contact with Starfire before they were ready. Plus, Batgirl needed updating on the entire situation. She and Robin sat at the table, Robin quietly detailing all of the events that had transpired since they last spoke.

"He gave us 48 hours to decide whether we would willingly disband the network or not. But we didn't know that in that 48 hour window, Starfire had started picking off Titans one by one. The deadline came and Slade had told Starfire to cause havoc at the Watchtower, to get the Justice League to back off. He'd also sent her to Kidnap Jason, to make sure Bruce would stay out of it. Slade's obviously managed to get into our system, so we had to shut it down. You were my last resort." He shot her a small smile. "No offense."

Batgirl looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You could have called me earlier than this. Should have. I might have been able to help."

"Babs…" Robin shook his head at her, sighing.

"No. Don't you 'Babs' me. You should have contacted me. I know we still need to talk about what happened before you left Gotham the first time, but you've called me every time you've needed me before. I'm your friend. You know I'd be there for you in a heartbeat, whenever you called."

"I know. I just…" He glanced at his hands before balling them into fists. "Starfire is scary powerful and her reflexes are incredible. I didn't want to bring anyone else into it. Too many people meant there was more of a chance someone would get hurt."

"Pffft." She scoffed at him. "I'm a big tough girl."

Robin looked at her and ran a hand down his face. The humour in her voice didn't sit well with him. "You don't know what we're up against." His tone took the smirk off of her face. "Slade isn't taking any chances with Starfire. He's been telling her to hold back, even then it took her less than an hour to take my team out. She caught Flash first and look at how fast he is. That was after having to find us all separately throughout the tower. I watched her snap Jason's arm like a twig, without a second thought. Anything he tells her to do, she will do it. If Slade told Starfire to kill you, she would, and you wouldn't have seen her move." Robin turned thoughtful. "If Starfire kills someone, I'd never forgive myself. Aside from losing a life, Starfire would be devastated. She wouldn't come back from it. I didn't want to bring anyone else in to try and lower the risk. But since Slade is holding half the network hostage, I need all the help I can get. We need to avoid any deaths, because I think Slade is counting on one."

Batgirl stared at him, unsure whether she felt unsettled by what Robin had told her, or because of the tone he had said it in. "Well, you should have at least gotten help well before Starfire was taken. The minute Slade escaped."

"I thought we had it handled. After we got Starfire back the first time I thought it would just be a case of getting her powers back to normal. You know, getting her flying again so I knew she was happy. If then, on the off chance Slade did get free, we'd be ready. But he's always ahead of us. Even with Batman and Superman's help, he always knew what we were doing. Starfire is more powerful now than anything we've ever faced before. Slade has enhanced her energy beyond anything I've known. Her power paired with a mind like his… it's scary."

"Dick…" She whispered, and he looked up to meet her gaze as her gentle hand found his. "We can do this. We've faced…"

"Worse?" Robin interrupted her, his brow furrowing. "Sure. Worse. We've faced murderers and psychopaths and monsters. The worst creatures in the known world. But those… Those are easy to face. You don't have to worry about hurting them. You don't really care if they end up with broken bones, or if they get shot. If they're littered with cuts and bruises. You could wrap your staff around their faces without a second thought of the damage you'd be doing to them." He sighed deeply. "But we're not facing a monster or a psychopath, are we? We're facing a friend. A friend who doesn't know what she's doing or why. She has no idea who she is, she's just doing as she's told. That is harder to deal with than any criminal I've ever faced."

Batgirl squeezed his hand. "We've faced friends gone bad before, we can do it again."

"Oh, I know I can do it. I've already done it. She handed my ass to me. Nearly killed me, actually. But the hardest thing was pushing down the feeling of how much I really didn't want to hurt her. I've faced friends gone bad before, sure. But Starfire isn't just my friend." Robin let out a sad laugh through his nose. "Bruce would be so disappointed in me, letting my emotions get the better of me like this, but I'm not Batman."

"You love her." Batgirl was staring at him but Robin couldn't quite decipher the look on her face. He met her gaze with his own.

"I do." He said it so quietly she almost missed it. "Sure, she's my girlfriend, but she's so much more than that to all of us. Starfire is like the glue that keeps this team together. She understands all of us more than we understand ourselves. She has managed to bring us all out of our darkest places, despite the fact that she's the one who's been…" He caught himself before he spoke too much. "Starfire has the darkest past out of the five of us and all she wants is for the people around her to be happy. I think it probably stems from her own need to feel happiness because of what she's been through, but it works. We need her and I'm not going to let Slade take her away from us."

Batgirl pulled her hand away from him, she had a small smile on her face. "She sounds amazing."

"She is."

"Well then…" Batgirl slapped her hands against her thighs before standing and dragging Robin to his feet next to her. "We best get her back then. Besides, you're an absolute nightmare when you mope." She shot him a playful wink and he laughed at her. "Oh.." She put on a pout, pet lip visible. "Actually, do you know what's super disappointing?"

"What?" Robin raised his eyebrow at her, wondering why she was pulling such a face.

"We're on our first mission together in forever, but you're attached! I can't flirt with you to watch you get all bothered and squirm."

He let out a genuine laugh and threw his arm around her shoulder, her own arm coming up behind him to settle on his waist. "Don't worry, when we get Star back you can both do it together."

"She wouldn't mind?"

"She can get jealous, but she'll like you. I've told her about you and she can't wait to spend some time to get to know you properly. She also loves watching me get all flustered. You should see how she reacts when the waitress at the pizza place flirts with me. I expected her to go full warrior mode, but she didn't. She actually giggled and asked me if I wanted her to leave so I could be with my true love. Honestly, Starfire's grasp on the English language is so much better than we give her credit for. Anyway, the point is, you two will get along just fine. Flirt away."

Robin could feel himself relaxing, it was nice to see Babs again actually. The last time he had seen her, or even spoken to her, was when she had gone with him to the cemetery in Gotham. Right in the middle of all of his trouble with Starfire. He hadn't exactly given Babs a good farewell that day, stalking off in a sulk like he did, and he certainly hadn't given her a good farewell when he first left Gotham. He hadn't even told her he was leaving. It was definitely something they needed to talk about when this was all over.

Their hug was interrupted by Cyborg who's arm console started beeping. He sat up groggily and rubbed his face before checking what the noise was for. A frown crossed his features and he sighed. Robin pulled his arm from Batgirl's shoulders as he moved over to Cyborg.

"Cy?"

"News articles." Cyborg didn't look away from his arm as he spoke. "A few have popped up reporting Titans Tower going dark." He looked at Robin, a frown on his face. "They're also saying there's been a few people claiming to see a green light moving through the windows. They're wondering if it's Starfire."

"She's looking for us." Robin realised that he could feel himself wanting to go to Starfire. The safe house they were in wasn't that far from the tower. It was unfair to have her so close but being unable to go to her. It was at this moment that Robin realised how much he missed her. How much he just wanted to give his girlfriend a hug and feel her fingers run through his hair. So close, yet so far. "We need to speak to Jericho as soon as possible."

"I'll go get him." Raven dropped her feet to the floor and walked over to them. "Give me the coordinates. It's only the next city over, I can get in and out without either of us being seen. Only problem is that I don't know sign language."

"Oh, I do." Batgirl stepped forward.

Robin shook his head. "Thanks, but Jericho can be a bit skittish, doesn't like strangers. He won't respond well to you if you go just the two of you. He's good friends with Beast Boy though and he does know sign language." Robin turned to Raven. "You, me, and Beast Boy will go get Jericho. We can warn him about Batgirl. Depending on the information he gives us, we might not need to bring him here at all, but somehow I doubt that. We find out what he's got to do with Slade and see where we go from there. Okay?"

Raven nodded at him before turning to look at the map. She found it interesting that Jericho seemed to be located in a top floor apartment of an inner city complex. Hiding in plain sight seemed to be the initiative Jericho had gone for when picking out his safe house. "Okay, I know where I'm going."

Cyborg had moved over to the cots and gently lifted a snoring Silkie from Beast Boy and gently laid him down beside Flash. He shook Beast Boy's shoulder a couple of times, rousing him from his sleep. "BB… Come on dude."

"Waaah?" Beast Boy mumbled a little before batting Cyborg's arm away. "Five more minutes Rita."

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg got a little louder and shook a little harder.

"What!?" Beast Boy's eyes flew open and he stared at Cyborg as his eyes tried to focus on him. "Dude, Cy, what gives?" He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he yawned.

"Work time, dude. You need to go with Robin and Raven to speak to Jericho." Cyborg moved away, satisfied that his friend wasn't going to go back to sleep.

"Oh.." Beast Boy hopped down from the cot. "Okay. Be right back." He hopped out of the room towards where the bathroom was located.

Cyborg chuckled as he went before turning back to Robin. "It's coming up to nine, when you guys go, I'll start making some breakfast. Wake the other two. Batgirl, you any good at cooking?"

She looked at him dead in the eye, her face serious. "Not at all."

Cyborg laughed at her. "Alright, you can wake Flash and Bee, I'll cook. Rob, give me a shout when y'all are back." Cyborg moved off to go through the door to the kitchen area, which came stocked with preserved food. Not the best, but it would keep them from going hungry for now.

Beast Boy bounded back into the room, feeling better than he did when he had woken up. "Alright dudes, lets go." He moved over to Raven who was ready and waiting for Robin.

"Right, we shouldn't be too long. Batgirl…" Robin turned to her and she smiled at him. "Keep an eye on those articles, we need to know if she's going to be moving through the city."

She nodded silently at him and he moved closer to Raven. Her eyes flashed white and in a screech of black the three of them were gone. Batgirl stared with wide eyes for a moment before blinking and moving off to go and see what Cyborg had decided to make for breakfast.

XXXXX

It was safe to say, in Robin's opinion, that Jericho was not expecting visitors to appear in his living room. Said boy was sitting on his very comfy looking sofa, gently strumming away at his guitar. As the three intruders appeared very suddenly in front of him, he snapped his head up and gripped his guitar tightly with one hand before making a reach for the empty mug on his coffee table with the other.

"Woah! Jericho!" Robin raised his hands up, halting Jericho who was about to throw the mug. "It's just us!"

Jericho recognised the three people stood before him and slowly lowered the mug. Raven could feel the relief that came from Jericho, but she was curious as to why she could also feel some small residual panic from him that wasn't fading. Jericho smiled at them before turning to Beast Boy and signing to him.

"He says, 'hello, what are you guys doing here? I wasn't expecting anyone'." Beast Boy signed back a 'Hello', just to be polite. Jericho could hear perfectly fine, but Beast Boy knew that he appreciated greetings when people took the time to sign them.

"Sorry to drop in on you like this. We obviously couldn't contact you any other way due to the Network being shut down at the moment." Robin ran a stressed hand through his hair.

Jericho shook his head, before looking to Beast Boy again. "Don't worry, says he was just startled is all." Jericho carried on. "He wants to know if our visit has by any chance, got anything to do with…" Beast Boy hesitated before booking at Jericho with wide eyes. "Slade?"

Robin narrowed his eyes slightly. Okay, so Jericho does know something. This could either be really helpful, or really bad. "Jericho, Slade has taken half of the Titan Network hostage. He's managed to get Starfire under his control somehow. If you know anything that could help us, we need to know. Lives are on the line." True to form, Robin was in no mood to skirt around people's feelings. He saw as Jericho's gaze dropped to the floor, a look of what seemed to be shame etched on his face. "He's taken someone I know who isn't part of the Network. This person managed to point you out as a person of interest. I need to know any information you may have. Why would he point you out?"

Jericho heaved a sigh before turning to Beast Boy and signing to him. Beast Boy watched and then smiled at him. "Sure thing, dude." He turned to Robin. "He's asked if he can use me to speak. Makes it easier." Beast Boy went and sat next to Jericho on the sofa, bringing one leg up onto it so he could sit facing him. Jericho twisted to look at Beast Boy's face. As their eyes met, Jericho's eyes turned black for a moment before it faded and the inky black appeared within Beast Boy's eyes. Beast Boy let out a small sigh before turning and looking at Robin with Jericho's eyes.

"Now we may talk." Jericho smiled, and Raven noted how strange it was to hear Beast Boy's voice sounding so unlike himself.

"Jericho, why would Slade have pointed you out enough for the person I know to feel it needed mentioning to me?" Robin steadied himself. His reaction depended entirely on what Jericho was about to say, and it could be anything.

Heaving another sigh, Jericho looked at the floor before looking back at Robin. "Before I tell you, I would like to remind you that most of us as Titans have pasts that we are not proud of, but those pasts do not necessarily define who we are now. I had hoped I would never have to let anyone know this information, but it seems the fates are against me. Please, don't think badly of me."

Raven could feel sadness and pain ripple from Jericho as he mulled over what he was going to say. Whatever it was, Jericho was completely ashamed of. "It's alright Jericho." She reassured him. "We've all got secrets. Sometimes though those secrets come back to haunt us. We've all been through it. We understand." It was true, Raven really did understand how he was feeling.

"My name…" He hesitated. "My real name. Is Joseph Wilson." Looking at Robin, Jericho locked eyes with him. "Slade is my father."

Robin's eye twitched as the room went quiet. Raven brought a hand to her mouth in shock. She knew he'd had something to tell them, but definitely wasn't expecting that. Jericho looked down, away from the stares of his friends. He needed to explain, needed to make them understand.

"I understand this might come as a shock to you, but you must understand that I don't have, nor do I wish to have anything to do with Slade. He is the reason my brother is dead, the reason my sister is missing, and the reason why I can't speak. Everything bad that has ever happened to me is a result of him and I would like nothing more than to erase him from my life completely. He is the reason I was born with abilities, useful though they may be, I didn't ask for them. Please, if there is anything I can do to help stop my father's reign of terror, I am more than happy to help."

Robin was watching Jericho skeptically as he spoke. Unfortunately, Robin's distrust of Slade was finding its way to the front of his mind and Jericho was more than aware that Robin would be difficult to convince that he was not on his father's side. Turning to look at Raven, Robin cocked his head at her.

"He's telling the truth." Raven droned.

Oh yeah, Raven could sense lies… That would help Jericho's case.

Robin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. Slade's haunted me for years, the distrust runs deep. But, I suppose, if you were going to be helping him, he'd have found more of the Titans by now. I'm sorry to have to drag this all up for you, since it seems that you've worked so hard to detach yourself from him."

"It was bound to come up. I owe you an apology. I should have come to you before now with this information. I just never found the courage."

"Don't worry. We all have secrets, some worse than others. But if you'd be willing, we might be able to use your presence to help us get the upper hand over Slade." Robin turned thoughtful. "Jericho, can you use other people's powers when you possess them? Could you change Beast Boy into another animal?"

Jericho blinked. "Yes. I Don't like to do it very often, I'd rather have the person's permission to do so."

"But you could do it?"

"Yes…" Jericho and Raven could both see that Robin was using this information to form a plan in his head.

"And can you possess people and still let them be in control?"

"No. Once I enter a body, I have control of it. If the person in that body were to gain any sort of control back from me I'd be removed from it."

"Okay, so it'd have to be two…" Robin mumbled to himself before silently rubbing his chin. "I think I have an idea, but we'll need to head back. Jericho I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to let the others know what you told me."

"I assumed that would be the case… If you wouldn't mind I think I would like to tell them."

"Of course, whatever you feel is best. I do have to warn you though, currently we have Flash, Bumblebee, and Batgirl with us."

Jericho's mouth twitched, but he gave a small smile. "I suppose it would have come out eventually, and I would rather explain myself about my past rather than have information misconstrued."

"I understand. Right, we need to get moving. Jericho we have a safehouse that's not under Blue Bird protocol. Pack for a week, if you need more supplies after that then Raven can bring you back here."

"Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Starfire okay?"

Robin hesitated, moving his gaze away from Jericho. His shoulders dropped a little as he clenched one of his fists. "I don't know."