"Swipe" by Ed Alger a.k.a. "SecondLevelWriter"

Author's Notes: All previous disclaimers, you guessed it, still apply here! We are now on the night of "Betrayal", but without the pie and amusement park. :P (Which, of course, adds a shiny "slightly AU" tag to the story.) Also, I revamped this chapter a little bit, since the beginning of "All In" seemed to fit better for ending this chapter instead.

Chapter 15
A Friend, Indeed

Nightmares filled Swipe's head as he regained consciousness. Visions of Jinx being pulled into an endless, black void, screaming his name desperately. More faces and voices filtered through his mind, both from memories and from what his ears were picking up.

"He could kill you if you ever crossed him..."

"Join me, and the girl remains unharmed..."

"... not life-threatening..."

"You don't know me..."

"... friend Swipe, please awaken soon..."

"... back to the academy..."

"Don't do it, Swipe. Please, don't do it..."

"I'm only sorry that I'll have to kill you..."

"When is he gonna wake up...?"

"You're the best bo-- um, friend..."

At last, Swipe jolted awake, wide-eyed with panic and fear. He sat upright, glancing around his new environment. It looked like he was in some sort of high-tech hospital room, leading him to believe that someone did answer his call.

"Finally," a thin, raspy voice spoke at his side, making the rogue nearly jump out of his skin. "We were beginning to wonder if you'd ever wake up."

"Hi, Raven. I'm fine, thanks for asking," Swipe retorted sarcastically, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to get up. He was intercepted by one of the Titan's hands gently pushing him backwards.

"Your injuries haven't healed completely yet," she advised him. "Give yourself a couple more days of rest before you decide to go on the warpath for Slade."

"How do you know what I'm gonna do? I might just be goin' for a little snack."

"I know because I can feel your anxiety. You're worried about Jinx, I can understand that. But, you'll get yourself killed if you go out there now."

Swipe gave Raven an incredulous look, "How the heck d'you know about us!"

"Let's just say that Starfire loves to share her 'glorious news' with the rest of us." The cloaked Titan allowed herself a little smirk and added, "Besides, you kept mumbling her name in your sleep."

Swipe's face flushed a little bit, "I just... don't wanna have her get hurt. She's my friend, after all."

"I think she's more than that now. Otherwise, you wouldn't be blushing right now."

He turned his head away out of embarrassment, "You really like makin' people squirm, don'cha?"

"Mainly Beast Boy, to be honest. I like the reactions I can get out of him," she chuckled quietly to herself and sat on a stool next to Swipe's bed. "Seriously, if it's any consolation, we'll try to help you find her again. Did Slade kidnap her?"

The thief shook his head, "He did at first, but I wasn't about to let him get away that easily. I was so close to gettin' Jinxie back when some regal-lookin' fella shows up, scrambles my brains with some weird power, an' takes off with her! He had a little pipsqueak in a green bodysuit with him, what's-his-name..."

"Gizmo."

"Yeah, that's what Jinx called him. You know that kid, too?"

"Unfortunately. He was one of the students attending the Hive Academy, along with Mammoth and Jinx, until all three of them got expelled after we defeated them."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard that story already. Skip to the end; Where does this white-robed guy with the gold chestplate an' mind-baking psionic powers fit in?" Swipe asked with an air of impatience.

"I haven't heard of anyone like that appearing in the city. I'll have to ask Robin later. He's the one to ask when it comes to villains."

"Why am I not surprised..."

A sudden blast shook the room, followed by the sounds of heavy blaster fire. Both Raven and Swipe noticed the security status screen lighting up with several red blips covering the tower's outline.

"This can't be..." she gasped.

Swipe sat back up, "It's Slade... and his new apprentice."

Raven looked back at the rogue as she slipped her cowl over her head, "Apprentice? But I thought you were -"

"He offerred me that job, too," he tried to quickly explain before another loud boom rocked the tower. "Look, I'll tell you later. Let's just go and see what's happening down there."

"I'll go down there. You stay here and save your strength."

Not even willing to stick around for the counterpoint, she quickly opened the door and flew off to help her friends. Swipe's mouth hung open in silent protest for a minute before he flopped back onto the bed and sulked. Just as the door slid shut, the thief noticed his weapons and equipment on the nearby table.

Raven made her way back to the main hallway, and immediately found herself in a crossfire of red laser beams, starbolts, and sonic blasts. She ducked back into the corridor she had come from before spying a few of the droids attempting to make off with some of her books.

"They've been in my room..." she stated to herself, while anger started to build in her voice. "Nobody goes in my room!"

The telepath unleashed her power upon the would-be robbers, flattening them with huge chunks of the nearby wall and then smashing them through the floor. However, she also managed to catch Cyborg in her attacks, causing him to tumble into the gym with the droids. She was about to call out an apology when she suddenly sensed another robot coming up behind her with its blaster raised.

Out of nowhere, a knife burst through the droid's chest and slashed upwards, cleaving the upper body in half. The machine toppled over, revealing that Swipe, now sporting a huge grin on his face, had dealt it the fatal blow.

"You're supposed to be resting," Raven flatly informed him.

"An' miss out on all the fun?" the rogue retorted while slicing through another pair of oncoming drones. "You guys're nice enough to help me out, so I'm repaying the debt. Besides, they don't look so tough to me." A couple of red laser bolts barely missed his head as he spoke, "Okay, so maybe looks aren't everything... Sweetcheeks, look out!"

Swipe had spotted another robot stalking up behind Starfire, who was busy fending off four of its comrades. The thief flung a single knife at the attacker half a second after his warning shout and struck it squarely in the side of the head. Before Raven could try insisting that he quit while he's ahead (and where the heck that name came from), the rogue leapt into a mob of the droids and proceeded to cut through them like a scythe through wheat. The others barely had time to watch Swipe in action when he sped off through the halls of the tower to engage more targets, easily outrunning the strafing blaster fire while felling several more robots with well-placed knives.

"Step up! I'll take you ALL on!" the frenzied rogue bellowed during his rampage.

He soon lost track of his friends as his focus turned solely to eliminating Slade's drones. Knives were flying in all directions, skewering heads and chests alike. Swipe even started getting fancy with his attacks, using jumpkicks and his iron-knuckle augmented fists to disable the front ranks while following up with his daggers and decapitating the backups. He barely noticed his vision beginning to blur when the robots' ranks were all but wiped out.

Once the Titans had finally caught up with him, they saw him standing amid a huge pile of dissected and twitching robot limbs. Needless to say, four jaws simultaneously dropped through the floor.

Swipe was panting heavily, now feeling a bit dizzy due to the adrenaline wearing off, "I know who did this, you guys... It was... It was her... Blondie..."

Robin blinked, "Terra? Are you sure?"

"I saw it, Robs... Saw her with my own eyes... She's... working for Slade..." With those last words, he slumped over right where he stood and passed out again.

Raven clenched her fist, "I knew it... I knew there was something."

"I can't believe it. Terra, a traitor?" Cyborg said in disbelief. "After everything we did for her?"

There was another moment of stunned silence. Starfire looked around and was the first to speak up, "Where is Beast Boy? I do not recall seeing him during the battle."

As if to answer her question, the green shapeshifter burst through the doors of the main control room. His angered yet defeated expression said it all. The remaining Titans quietly greeted their friend with understanding nods, before turning back to the near-unconscious rogue.

"Let's get him back to bed," Raven said at last. "He needs his rest, and so do we."

With a nod, Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire helped lift Swipe from the scrap pile and carefully carried him back to the infirmary. The rest of the night went by in somber silence, with Beast Boy curling up on Terra's old bed with the heart-shaped box he had gotten for her, while the remaining four Titans retired to their rooms in the hopes of getting some sleep.

After almost a full day's worth of sleeping, Swipe eventually rose from his bed once more in the infirmary and opened the curtain to the nearby window to see what time it was. Upon seeing a view of the city that combined Picasso with Hanna-Barbera, he groaned once and slunk back to the bed for another nap. After another few hours went by, Raven returned to the infirmary with her right hand placed to her forehead.

"Hey, Sunshine," the drowsy rogue sat up halfway and greeted her. "Just to let you know, I think ya gave me too much painkiller this morning. I was havin' some weird hallucinations today."

The shadow mage fixed a quizzical look on him, "I didn't give you anything this morning. You've been out cold since the attack."

Swipe blinked, "So... what the hell was I lookin' at?"

"You don't want to know. Trust me." she answered plainly. The rogue just shrugged and rolled back over, muttering something incoherent before dozing off again.

During the next day, Swipe awoke to the usual sight of Raven double-checking his vital signs. He opened his mouth wide and let out a mighty yawn to let her know that he was awake.

"You know, I only blacked out because I pushed myself too hard," he said quietly. "I think it's safe to say I'll be fine in another day or so."

"You let me be the judge of that," she shot back. "While we appreciate what you did for us, none of us want you to risk yourself like that again."

Swipe rolled his eyes and stretched his arms over his head, "Dammit, nobody's any fun around here..."

The intercom crackled with Robin's voice, "Raven, we need you up here. Cinderblock, Overload, and Plasmus are attacking different parts of the city."

Before Raven could say anything to her patient, the rogue spoke for her, "I'll stay here an' rest. You go find out what's up."

The Titan merely shook her head and opened the door, "You're free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I'm sure you're hungry after your long nap."

"Be careful out there, and by that I mean all five of you."

"Thanks, Swipe," she replied quietly before exiting the infirmary. Swipe sighed to himself before settling onto his side, staring out the window. He knew Jinx was out there somewhere, but it was a matter of where to start looking. His eyes closed again, while he clutched the gold chain of Jinx's bracelet to his chest.

End of Chapter 15

In Chapter 16 - Swipe fully recovers from his overexertion, just in time to find out he could be a Teen Titan by default when Slade conquers Jump City with Terra's assistance. Fortunately, he's got the entire tower to himself...