{(Chapter 5- Negotiating)}

When Sayuri got back to Slade's "secret lair", she found that he had woken up Starfire. The teenage girl was tied up with -really thick- ropes, and Slade was sitting down next to her; trying his best at interrogation.

"But… he really doesn't have any battle weakness? At all?"

Sayuri smirked when she saw Starfire. The girl looked calm, quiet, and stubborn. Every inch the frustrating captive.

"No." she replied, quite coolly. "And even if he did, you would not be able to beat him."

Slade fumed for a moment. "I don't want to beat him! I could do that without your help. I need to know his weaknesses so I can improve him once he's my apprentice."

Starfire smiled sweetly at him. "Slade, I may not yet be entirely familiar with this planet's customs, but I do know what a lie is."

"But I'm not lying!"

Neither Slade nor Starfire noticed Sayuri come in, until they heard her loud laughter from the room's entryway.

Slade turned to glare at her. "And where have you been? You've been gone for hours!"

Sayuri walked further into the room, and kneeled down on the floor next to Starfire. She got over her laughs, and turned to face Slade; shooting him a sharp stare. "I'm so sorry… I didn't know I had a curfew."

"I never said you had a curfew. It's just that if I'm going to PAY someone for their services, I expect them to let me know what they're DOING every once in a while."

"That's not your problem. Your problem is that you're too used to being in charge of EVERYTHING. If you keep up this bossy behavior, I'm going to have to demand a bonus."

"A bonus?!" Slade nearly yelled. "You'll be lucky if you're paid at all!"

"What the heck does that mean? If you don't pay me, I will KILL you, Slade!"

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise!"

"A promise? A little money possessive, aren't yo-"

Starfire interrupted him, frowning. "Excuse me, but I do not normally like listening to people quarrel, and listening to you two even converse normally does not interest me in the least. Isn't there something else you could be doing?"

Sayuri relented. She turned to look at Starfire. "You have a point." She turned back to Slade. "So, are you done questioning her?"

The masked man shook his head in frustration. "No. She won't tell me anything I don't already know."

Sayuri shrugged. "I didn't really think she would... So, Starfire… do you have any questions for us, since we're done questioning you? It's really, only fair. And, I think it'd be rather fun to answer your questions. I mean, you have NO way of telling Robin or the others… it won't do us any harm. So… got any questions?"

Starfire nodded. "Yes!"

"Well…?"

"I've noticed that everyone in this room has a name starting with S… is that just a… coincidence?"

Slade thought about that for a minute. "Slade… Sayuri… Starfire… you're right."

Sayuri stared at Slade, then burst out laughing.

Starfire looked over at Sayuri, confused. "Why are you laughing so hard? Surely this name coincidence is not that funny."

Sayuri shook her head, trying to stop herself from laughing. "It's… just… that…" she paused for a minute, calming herself. "I've never seen Slade look so clueless."

Slade glared at her. "Oh, yeah? … er… Well, I've never seen anyone look so… ugly!"

Starfire raised her eyebrows. "You do not act at all like this when you are around us."

Slade turned to look at her and frowned. "Well, unlike this intolerable redhead here, you children don't stress me out enough to make me snap… even though Robin is continuing to escape my grasp…"

"That reminds me of my second question. If it is Robin you want, why have you kidnapped me?"

Sayuri scratched her head for a minute, and then nodded. "Alright. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell."

She promptly launched into an explanation of her plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the Titan Tower…

Robin had never really thought of himself as a religious person… but now he found himself praying constantly.

"Please… just let Star be alright…" the prayers went… or, "I'll do anything you want, just bring her back safe!"

Cyborg was equally worried, but was not praying. Instead, he and Beast Boy were using their frustrated energy to try and help Raven recover. But- she still hadn't woken up, despite all of their efforts.

Beast Boy, of course, was more stressed then any of them. One of his friends had been kidnapped, and his girlfriend was in a coma of some sort. Things weren't looking up at all for him.

"Raven… Raven, please…" he whispered to her, as he poured a sip of water into her mouth. "You have to wake up… we have to find Star, you know? And we can't do it… without you."

Beast Boy stopped talking when he heard Robin walk into the room. He turned around to face his friend.

"Is she awake yet?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy shook his head.

"Beast Boy…" Robin started, his voice soft with regret. "I have to go and rescue Starfire soon, and I can't do it alone. I know you don't want to leave Raven, but-"

Beast Boy cut him off with a sharp shake of the head. "I'm not going to leave her."

"But you have to! What about Star?!"

Beast Boy hesitated. "… You can rescue her on your own."

"You really think I can take on Slade AND that new girl, all on my own?"

"Well… no, I guess n-"

He was interrupted by a loud beep, from Robin's communication radio.

"Robin…" The radio beeped and crackled. "Robin, are you listening? You'd better be…"

Beast Boy stared at the small radio.

"Who's that, Robin? It sounds like a girl, but… the voice doesn't sound familiar."

"I think that's Slade's new employee… Sayuri."

"Well, answer it!"

Robin nodded, and pushed the talk button on his radio.

"What is it?" he asked into the radio, unclipping it from his utility belt and holding it up. "What do you want from me?"

"Oh, good. You're there." Sayuri said, her voice crackling over the transmission. "I'm going to give the radio to Slade now. He needs to be the one to talk to you, since I'll be holding a gun to your girlfriend's head. Incase any of the negotiations go wrong."

Robin gulped, and turned to look at Beast Boy. They both exchanged a significant glance.

It was obvious who had the upper hand here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in Slade's lair…

Sayuri was now sitting down next to Starfire, who was still tied up.  Sayuri didn't seem to notice that Starfire was slowly working off the ropes binding her hands.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Slade was holding up Starfire's communication radio. His voice was it's usual cold, taunting drawl, as he spoke into it.

"So, Robin… It's nice to talk to you again. Are you missing your girlfriend yet?"

Starfire suddenly forgot about her struggle with the ropes. She looked up at Slade. "Girlfriend? That is what they refer to their mates as, here on earth, I think."

Sayuri gave her a nod. "Pretty much."

Starfire glanced back at Sayuri, and saw a look of hurt in the other girl's eyes. "What is wrong? Did I say something to upset you?"

Sayuri shook her head. "No. It's just that…" she stopped herself. "Know what? You shouldn't care if you upset me! You're supposed to hate me."

Starfire just shrugged. "Hate is not a feeling we share often on Tamaran. I do not yet know you, so I do not think I can hate you just yet."

Sayuri looked at her in disbelief. "But… I kidnapped you. If I wanted to, I could kill you right now."

Again, Starfire shrugged. But before she had time to answer, Robin's voice crackled on over the radio. His voice was hurt and angry.

"You'd better not have harmed a hair on her head."

Starfire glanced over at Sayuri, and saw that the girl's face had softened into that same look of hurt. 'I have to find out more about this girl. I do not think she's anything like Slade… there might be a way out of here… if I can only figure out the secret behind this… Sayuri.'

She shoved her thoughts aside as she heard Slade's cold chuckle echo from across the room.

"I haven't done anything to harm her… yet."

Robin's voice was more furious then ever. "If you hurt her in any way, I won't let you live to regret it, Slade."

"If you don't want her hurt, you have to follow my instructions… and be precise with every last detail of them. If you don't, I'll be forced to kill your little girlfriend."

For a moment, the radio was silent. Starfire was afraid that she wouldn't be worth it to Robin. But, then he finally responded, his voice strained and reluctant to be obeying Slade's commands.

"Fine. I'll do whatever you want."

"Good, good. Now, listen carefully. My hideout is in the same place it was the last time you were there. You do remember don't you? Now, I want you to come here tomorrow, at noon. No one else may come with you. The second I find out you brought a friend, I'll shoot the girl. Is that clear?"

"… Yes. What do you want me to do when I get to your lair?"

"You'll see. Just be there, or the girl will be the one to pay."

"… Fine."

The radio went dead.

(A/N- Yes. This chapter sucked. I know. Don't complain too much, alright? I know what my plot line's going to be… I'm having a really difficult time expressing my ideas, though. . My writer's block usually doesn't last long… hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! Please review! ^^

Oh… and I guess I should respond to some of my reviews…

Archaon666- Zacharias? That's a neat character name. I'll have to check out your fic sometime. And, yes… I really don't like Robin/Raven fics. I have no clue where people got the idea that they like each other… at least with Starfire and Robin; they have chemistry on the show, ne?

Cheerful Oblivious- Thank you very much! I greatly appreciate the help!

Shimmersea- Thanks for all the help and reviews! ^^; Though, I'm sorry you still think my character's a Mary-Sue. I guess… I'm just an uncreative author… ne? Oh, well…

Thanks again for all the reviews, you guys! Please keep them coming!!!)