ready? I hope so. Thing about the chapter title. It's about the Light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing to do with YJ, my other love. Enjoy!

Dick-16/17 Jason-13 Cass-11/12 Tim-9 Damian-3

Sacrifice

18 – The Light

Dick tried to focus on the plans before him, he really did, but his mind was scattered. It happened after spending some time in the cooler, wet, cold, and with nothing but the darkness around him. He nearly went a month outside one. A month! Well, he was sure it was a month. He had done nineteen heists, occasionally two in one night, and never two nights in a row. And in one instant he had ruined that record. After finally managing to patch himself up after those other times, he was thrown back in, beaten even. He really screwed up that night. And he was still suffering for it. He couldn't concentrate. If master noticed, he would be punished more.

He didn't know how much he could take. How much could take before he exploded and forgot what was really at risk? How long before he cracked and forgot who he really was? Not much longer if he knew right. One more cooler visit and he might just take his own life.

Concentrate!

Before him was a Kord Industries building plans'. He had to get to Theodor's lab and take a special piece of technology being studied. Rumor was, it was alien tech. Dick knew he could probably ID it as one of two alien races' tech, Atlantian, Amazonian, or something made on earth that was just odd, but he wasn't about to tell his master that quite yet. Whatever the piece was, Master wanted it and no amount of security would stop him from having Renegade get it. And this place had good security. Not the same as Bruce's systems in the cave, but close enough.

"Best point of entry would be here." Deathstroke pointed to an air duct on the north side. "Never thought of the Kords being this paranoid, but I'll give him credit for being thorough. If you hack the motion sensors like I taught you, you should be able to come and go as you please. No cameras this time." He narrowed his eye at the teen. "You don't want to fight the Titans, don't get caught. Bad enough the thermal blaster didn't kill the Tamaranian."

Dick suppressed a shiver as he nodded in acknowledgement. His master smirked to himself, pleased. "I have to know, who is Barbara?"

The teen froze before murmuring, "My… ex-girlfriend. They looked alike at a glance."

"Hm. Well-chosen words." Master pointed back to the plans. "Now, this section here—"

An explosion destroyed the table between them, green for a moment before it turned into a fiery yellow. Bye-bye plans. Both leapt away from the flames and looked towards the source of the shot. The teen gaped, wide eyed and terrified as he saw the Titans standing there before them, poised to fight.

"Leave him alone!" Starfire roared over the gears ever in motion around the room.

'What are they doing here?!' He had his mask on, he and his master, which hid exactly how surprised they were to see them. Dick's heart raced at the sight of them, panic and worry eating away at him with every breath. Hadn't they learned anything? They should be the ones leaving him alone!

"I've had just about enough of you Titans…" Slade growled, eye narrowing dangerously.

"Yeah?" Speedy drew back an arrow, glaring daggers at the evil man. "Well we've had it up to here with you!"

"It's about time someone put you down Slade!" Wonder Girl tightened her grip on her lasso, ready to catch the man once and for all.

"You sick creapo! Using kids to do your dirty work!" Cyborg pointed at him, truly disgusted with the guy. "What? Can't get adults to work for you?"

"Bet you're just a big old pedo-bear!" Beast Boy near shouted getting nods from his friends who understood and confused ones from those few who didn't. Dick cringed back at that comment. He knew that wouldn't go over well with the man, especially since he spent days in the back of a U-hall for saying the same thing, alone.

"That's it." Master's cool voice hid the definite snap inside him. The teen hesitated, glancing once at his master for orders though he knew what was coming. The trigger was already in hand and half way down. The Titans were falling over, groaning just as they started coming. "Renegade! Take them out!"

Renegade darted forward, ready to make the first definite strike. He'd make it quick, for everyone's sakes. He was just about to throw the first punch when Cyborg looked up at him, grinning impishly. "Psych!"

'What?' The apprentice jerked to a stop in surprise, eyes wide behind his mask. 'Psych?'

"Titans Go!" Wonder Girl shouted, and all of them got to their feet, running or flying past him to fight Slade. Confused and startled by their sudden energy, Renegade just gaped at them as they pass by him, doing nothing. They weren't buckling over in pain…

"By the way," Speedy came within inches of his ear, grinning impishly, "Jaybird says hi."

"Jay?" Dick jerked his head around at the archer and caught his confident smile. A spark of hope lit inside him. 'Did he say Jaybird?'

"We've got this Dick." Raven stayed with him while the others contended with Slade, their enemy. Her job was to help him as the others fought. "Your family's safe. We know the truth now. About the probes and the threats over our lives. We went to Ray Palmer and got rid of them. Everyone's going to be fine."

He gaped at the empath slack jawed for a long moment before collapsing to his knees, struggling to breathe. All the stress, all the darkness, the worry and panic, everything that tortured his waking thoughts since that day in the warehouse, fell off of him in waves, quickly being replaced by relief and joy. The Titans hadn't reacted to the probe detonator. Roy knew who he was. He said Jason was alright (indirectly). Raven confirmed. They were there, saving him.

They were safe. They were all safe.

He was free.

Weak kneed and shaking he just looked at the ground and air before him, everything that had happened flying through his head at the same time knowing it was over. These thoughts consumed him as he sat there for a few minutes, ignoring the battle going on behind him. His master's shouts to get up and fight were completely ignored. He didn't have to obey him anymore. He wasn't his master. The cries of the Titans as they battled Slade as a team were lost to his ears. He didn't have to fight them anymore. Raven telling him over and over again to get up and get out of there meant nothing to him. He was free to make his own choices again. But when he heard heavy familiar footsteps racing in one direction, shouts and exclamations coming from the team behind him in surprise and frustration at his running, a new thought consumed him.

The nightmare wasn't over, yet.

"Get out."

"What?" Raven's voice was filled with confusion while his gained strength. Anger was building inside him with every word he spoke.

"The haunt is rigged to explode." Memories of everything that had happened to him, of what that man made him do, of what that man did to him, of the lives that man hung over his head, of the people he hurt, killed, filled him with one emotion far too strong for the empath to ignore or smother. Purest rage consumed him. "He's not going to get away!"

"Dick!"

The acrobat shot a line above him to the catwalks above them while the others started to scatter and run, throwing Raven back in surprise. Speedy and Kid Flash gaped after him, ready to go after the guy and stop him from running to who knows where, but gears were falling at their heads. Even the flyers couldn't go after him because of the debris coming from everywhere. The person they were trying to save was gone.

Dick made it to the rafters and catwalks, a part of the building that wouldn't explode for a few minutes, and the exit strategy his master had set up weeks ago. Never hurt to be prepared. And knowing this beforehand made it very easy to corner the guy before he made it out of the building.

And sure enough within a few seconds the injured assassin, with his mask half off, was running around the corner. Seeing the man surprised for the first time was a rare treat. "Renegade…"

Dick was perched on the catwalk's railing, seemingly expressionless. Like he had been the entire time he was obedient to his 'master'. It made the man drop his guard a little. "See you've chosen sides wisely. Let's get out of here."

"No." The teen's voice dropped to dangerous levels, despite the explosions around and underneath them.

"What was that?" The anger in the man's voice normally would have scared the kid, but this time it only added fuel to the fire burning within him.

"I'm not going with you. I just thought you deserved to hear a secret." Twisting and snapping the rail he was on out of place, he lunged at the man who terrorized him for so long. Slade was not expecting a vicious attack from him, at least not then and there. He barely managed to block the makeshift staff from cracking his skull open.

"Oh?" Deathstroke managed to keep his voice level, despite having to twist and toss the attack to the side as they talked. He barely dodged another blow as he leapt back a step, taking out his own staff. "And what would that be apprentice?"

"I didn't learn how to fight from you." Dick bounced from rail to rail, diving at the man again, poising his staff into a thrust. It was sidestepped, boy and all.

"I already know that." He aimed an elbow at the boy's back as he passed, but he twisted at the last moment, throwing a powder from his belt into the man's eye, effectively blinding him. He bit back his pain as they continued fighting, the acrobat rolling back to his feet to lunge again. "How about something significant?"

"Did you ever ask where I learned? Why I learned?" Anger boiled within him, but he kept his voice level. Alfred would be proud. It kept his opponent guessing. He swung his staff against him, each blow parried and turned away as they danced in their fight.

"From Wayne's tutors no doubt," Slade managed between blows. "For your protection."

"Wrong." Taking advantage of the guy's momentary surprise, Dick crashed his poll into the guy's hand, smashing his fingers and forcing him to let go of his staff. A quick punch with the man's other hand forced him to retreat for a moment, flipping backwards. "Bruce taught me everything."

"Oh? So that man isn't entirely useless." The assassin lunged forward, swiping his staff at him with one hand. Not near as effective but managed to push the kid closer to the edge. The catwalk shook from the explosions around them, forcing both of them to readjust their balance before throwing any more punches.

"He did it to channel my anger after Zucco killed my parents." Dick leapt upwards, swinging his staff towards the man's shoulder to incapacitate him, but Slade stepped out of the way a second too soon. Didn't stop him from japing the poll into his abs just after landing. "Didn't work."

"Couldn't tell." Sarcasm dripped from the man's lips as he aimed a kick at the boy's ribs. The kid arched backwards in time with it, only receiving a slight scrape from the man's boot. His own boots managed to knock his armor out of place, enough to make it uncomfortable. He knew the man already had a bruise there from an earlier blow. "You seemed so content in Gotham."

"That was because of the real secret. My secret." The acrobat glared death upon the man as he lunged at him again, landing a kick into his chest, his head, and falling to the ground for a swipe kick so fast it could only be called a single move. "Batman didn't take down Tony Zucco eight years ago!"

Slade fell backwards, landing poorly and dislocating his shoulder as he knocked against the railing then the ground. Dick propelled himself into the air with his staff and landed on the man's chest, purest rage on his face at last. "I did!"

The teen pointed the staff straight at his captor's face, making his point clear. Everything was seeping into the man's brain at long last. Dick's big secret. "I was the one who tracked him down and beat him senseless! I chased after him! I made him fear God! He had a heart attack and died because of me!"

'I killed him.' The unspoken words passed through their minds, their eyes linked for that one moment. Dick's big secret, the one thing he didn't want getting out, even if it was only an eight year old's logic taken too far.

"You have no idea how I felt after that." He swiped the poll across the man's head, knocking him unconscious. Dick glared at his captor, remembering his feelings back then and his feelings now. There was no one he hated more than those two men at that moment. They had caused him so much pain… tore him away from his family… killed solely for profit… One had never faced justice properly. He could end this one so easily right then and there. But a slight screech rang in his ears, reminding him who he was.

Gritting his teeth, the teen boy let go of his staff and ripped the metal 'S' off his shirt, throwing it next to the guy's ear angrily. He grudgingly pulled the knocked out man to his feet, half carrying him, half dragging him, over to the secret exit he was originally headed to. "You're only alive because I never want to feel that again."

Around them the building exploded and everything fell to pieces.

"Where is he?!" The Teen Titans were safely outside the building's total collapse, but their main reason for being there wasn't. Neither was Slade. A crowd was starting to form, mostly interested warehouse workers and a couple squad cars, but nothing big yet. Wonder Girl and Cyborg were working the cops while the rest searched the rubble for a sign of their targets.

So far not a single sign of either of them.

"You do not think…" Starfire worried as she flew over each and every angle of the place, some parts larger than others. It was a fairly big building.

"He has to be alive!" Kid Flash fretted about, looking everywhere he could. Beast Boy ran around as a hound dog, sniffing for clues while Speedy and Aqualad ran around the rest of the lot. Maybe they were fighting outside somewhere when they weren't looking. Raven was meditating, trying to find them her way. "His dad'll kill me if he isn't! And my uncle!"

"Calm down!" Speedy insisted, knowing he was right and could add quite a few more names to the list of would-be murderers. After hearing the truth from KF, he was even more determined to get to the bottom of this. He was going to save his friend. "He's here somewhere! Gothamites are resourceful! If I know anything about this guy he'll-!"

About twenty feet away from where the front door used to be, they saw the top of a metal plate shift. They watched with baited breath as it lifted and upturned itself, revealing an exhausted and dirty Renegade. They all tried to converge on his position, wanting to call out to him, but all the debris made it difficult to get there. And what name would they use? He leaned down and picked up the man who had kidnapped him ages ago and wreaked havoc on the city for so long, carrying and dragging him out of the rubble.

The teenaged heroes nearly gaped at him, trying to run interference, as he took the villain through the debris field and walked straight over to the policeman closest to them. He dropped the man at the officer's feet before any of them could reach him, breathing out slowly before reaching to his face. The Titans jerked forward, wanting to stop him, but none were fast enough to prevent him from taking off his mask.

Eyes and face revealed, Dick looked at the officer, expressionless. The man in blue honestly did not know what to do when the kid put his hands in front of him, towards the officer. Only two words escaped his mouth.

"I surrender."

A/N: YAY! Dick beat up Slade! I honestly think bats have the advantage over Slade on catwalks. Especially the oldest bird. and that would be Dick's big secret, the one that'd scare those who opposed him. To think an 8 year old took down a mob boss on his own. Sure Zucco had a bad heart and Dick didn't really kill him, but the fact that at 8 he did that without batting an eye should scare any villain witless. And it's been how many years since then? *evil grin*

Then there's Dick's personality. He was planning originally to kill Slade then turn himself in, but since his family is safe, there's no reason to kill him! The screech he heard was a bat's, obviously, and that was all he needed to move forward. Dick turning himself in will bring new factors in but they're worth it. Legal ramifications are going to be fun to deal with.

Oh and on a last note, the titans don't know everything yet. That's for the last chapter. Enjoy!