Author's Note: My thanks to all the people who reviewed!
Maroonedpirate11—I'm updating.
Infamous One—How can it be anticlimactic? I'm not even done yet!
KaliAnn—Nope, buddy, it's not the end yet, and I understand why you said the ending felt flat to you. Who knows what Slade is planning?
Blaze-firestorm—I'm updating.
J752572( )—Glad you like it.
Chapter 25
It had been three days since Slade's capture. He was being kept heavily sedated by Batman in one of the rooms of the boarding house. Randall, in order to keep Haven from losing its mind over its missing member and protégé, had called them and told them what had happened. They had swooped down on the boarding house, determined to have Slade handed over to the authorities, but Batman had refused to allow it. He had custody of Slade now and wasn't going to relinquish it. The rest of the boarding house admitted when they were asked that they'd had a suspicion that Randall was involved in something top secret, but they had decided that it was none of their business and agreed to keep the whole incident a secret.
Robin spent all of those three days feeling as if he were walking on extremely fragile eggshells. Slade was tied up and sedated, but that didn't mean that he was powerless. He had more contingencies and fallbacks than the US military, and those backup plans meant that he was never taken by surprise for long. He shuddered to think what the guy would do when he woke up in Arkham.
The other Titans didn't seem worried. They had their leader back, and Slade was on his way to a high-security residential treatment facility. Things couldn't get any better. They celebrated almost every night with hot cocoa and movie night, and the residents of the boarding house took everything in good stride. After all, they knew what it was like to be young, and some of them were still young. It was when two oldsters began debating if the Titans had natural energy or they only thought they had it that the parties abated. No one liked being the subject of a philosophical discussion, and the Titans were no exception.
On the next afternoon, the Titans and Batman were getting ready to go. Jerry and Mike had dropped by to say goodbye, and Mike crept upstairs to get a peek at the infamous Slade. Robin was finishing packing what little he had when he heard screaming coming from Slade's room. He ran up, Batman only five steps behind him, and burst in the door. Slade was awake (how was he awake, he'd seen Batman drug him himself!), untied, and he looked ready to kill in mask and body armor. He had Mike by the throat, and Karlton stood by the open window. Robin swore, ready to kill that sleazy butler. He was altogether too dangerous to leave on his own, he had come after Slade and freed him somehow! Batman leapt forward, keeping himself between Slade and Robin.
"Let the boy go," Batman said, staring Slade down.
"Gladly," Slade snarled.
Robin didn't realize what Slade had planned until after he'd done it. Slade picked Mike up and threw him at Batman, distracting him. Almost faster than the eye could see, Slade was past Batman and had grabbed Robin, clamping a hand over his mouth so he couldn't scream for help. Robin fought, using every trick he knew, but Slade held him to well for anything he tried to be effective. They were outside and getting into a running car—how had Karlton gotten outside so fast?—before Slade let go of him. Robin sprang for the nearest door as the car started speeding away. The doors were locked, and he couldn't break the glass.
"Relax," Slade said, leaning back in his seat. "Don't waste your energy, Robin. You won't get out that way."
Robin lost what little cool he had and tried to attack Slade. A few seconds later, he was facedown on the backseat with Slade sitting on him.
"I'll let you up as long as you do not do that again, Robin," Slade said, sounding a little bored. "I'm in no mood to quell a teenager's hysterics continuously."
It took a few minutes to get the words out, but Robin promised not to attack him again. He was sitting up, trying to come to terms with what had happened when he realized that Batman and the other Titans would be on their way to rescue him! They couldn't be far behind! He settled back to wait, positive the help was on its way.
A few hours later, Robin had to admit to himself that no help was coming. It was dark now, and they were driving across a lonely moor, and the only set of headlights that Robin could see was the one belonging to the car. It was as if they were the only people in the entire world.
Another hour saw them arriving at an unholy mating of ancient house/castle. The place was ugly, gloomy, and downright depressing, and Robin didn't doubt that this was another of Slade's many homes. Once they were inside, Karlton announced that dinner would be ready in a moment, and showed them into a dining room. Robin sat there by himself (Slade had apparently gone to change) and Robin wondered exactly where the camera was hidden. Slade wouldn't leave him alone if he couldn't be sure that he wasn't going to run away.
Slade came back and took his place at the head of the table. Karlton began to serve dinner, and Robin fought off a migraine. He should have known that his freedom from Slade wouldn't have lasted long.
"Well, you're probably wondering why your friends didn't swoop down like avenging angels to save you," Slade remarked, sipping some wine. He looked as he had at the other house, and Robin found himself hating that visage more with each moment that passed.
"Another one of your ingenious plans prevented them, I take it?" Robin said as sardonically as he could.
"Acutally, yes," Slade admitted as Karlton served soup. He kept Robin waiting a moment or two as he sampled the consommé and announced it satisfactory. Robin tasted it, but to him, it tasted like water that an overboiled hunk of beef had sat in for a few minutes. He couldn't believe that people actually ate this stuff and called it refined. It proved to him once again that Slade's taste was considerably questionable. Alfred's consommé was far tastier and it could actually be called soup.
"I have to admit that this was one of my better ideas," Slade said, toying with his napkin. "Karlton played a large part. He came up, freed me, administered an antidote I developed,and climbed outside to set the back porch on fire. The only people who knew of your capture and my escape would have had to wait before telling anyone since the house was then burning nicely and they had to make sure that everyone was out."
"It won't take them long to find me again," Robin said, remembering Randall's extended knowledge of Slade and his many hideaways. It would only be a matter of time; that was all.
"Don't fool yourself, child," Slade said as Karlton took the soup away and replaced the bowls with salads. He took a bite, chewed, and swallowed before continuing. "I have you again, and I intend to keep you, and part of keeping you includes their not knowing where you are."
"Please," Robin muttered, poking at his salad. What had Karlton used to make this, moss? That was what it tasted like. "There are only so many old houses in England that you could hide me in."
"Who says you're going to remain here?" Slade asked. "I've found quite a nice little place to keep you, Robin, and there will be no chance of your escape, I've already made sure of that." Slade finished his salad and Karlton served the next course.
Robin toyed with his March hare and red potatoes, his appetite gone completely. What sort of place was Slade talking about?
"We'll go there tomorrow," Slade said, swallowing some more wine. "I can't say that you'll like it, but they've promised to take good care of you."
That was when Robin began to worry.
