Chapter 5

"You're not leaving this building!" Robin commanded Aria.

"What! He's not going to seriously come after me. Plus, you guys will be there. I can't just stay cooped up inside all day!"

"I'm doing this for your own safety! Slade is a tricky guy. If you don't stay inside this tower he'll find a way to get you even if we are there! I don't want you to get hurt." Robin rested his hand on Aria's shoulder and wiped away some pizza sauce from her face. She looked down at the ground. Aria couldn't stand being inside all day. She had to be out in the open air.

"I know it's for my own safety but I need to be outside. I can't stay inside all day. It's like prison."

"Look, you can go outside on the roof if one of us goes with you. How about that?"

"Ok I guess. Maybe we should start cleaning up a little from the fight." All the Titans looked around. The mess was bigger then they thought. They began to pick up the food and clean it off the walls. It took them well over an hour to get all the food picked up. As soon as they were done they drew straws for first shower. Aria won and got to go first. As soon as she got in, Robin called a team meeting.

"We all need to keep a close eye on Aria. Slade wants for some reason. She doesn't have any powers so she's pretty vulnerable to Slade. We need to make sure that there's someone with her at all times. There's also something else, she seems to be shut off. She's scared to get close to people. Something's gone on in her past and we need to find out what."

"How do we do that?" asked Starfire.

"We be her friends. She may open up eventually," concluded Raven.

Beast Boy butted in, "Maybe if we get her a moped. She might open up then, I know I would."

"She's not you!" exclaimed Cyborg, "She'll open up on her own time. I don't think we can rush this thing." Just then Aria came out of the bathroom and sat down on the couch.

"So, I guess I'll stay here while you guys go to the movies," she said.

"Yes, we were looking forward to seeing the Creature From The Black Lagoon, but it would be no fun if you didn't go."

"It's ok. You can go, I don't mind staying here."

"No, me and Cyborg will go rent a movie. Let's go Cyborg."

"Coming." Cyborg and Beast Boy left to go get the movie. Nothing really happened while they were gone. They talked a little but everyone was too scared to bring up questions on Aria's past. Then Beast Boy and Cyborg came barging through the door.

"Alright," said Beast Boy, "We rented Clash of the Planets…"

"And," cut in Cyborg, "we got pizza!" All the Titans sat down and got ready to watch the movie. They weren't even an hour into it when Aria was asleep. By the end of the movie, everyone but Robin had fallen asleep. Robin went to turn off the TV when Aria began to talk in her sleep.

"No, no, don't, please!" She began to toss and turn, "Leave us alone! Don't hurt her!" She kept tossing and began to cry. Robin gently shook her.

"Wake up, it's a bad dream," he told her. Aria woke up and looked around. She saw that it really was a dream and relaxed.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. It's just the whole Slade thing reminded me of something. Nothing big."

"You know, you shouldn't keep feelings hidden. They'll eat you up inside. I can see what it's doing to you. You need to tell someone. I'll let you do it on your own time but the longer you wait, the harder it'll be. You can trust us."

"I've learned many things in my life. One is that you can't trust anyone. They'll let you down when you need them most."

"That's not true! I don't know what went on in your life but not everyone's like the people that hurt you. None of us would ever hurt you. Never!" Aria got up and began to walk to her room.

"I'm going to bed now, Robin. Goodnight."

"Your scared. You're scared because you know I'm right. If you ever want to talk, just pull one of us aside. We'll always be there for you."

"Goodnight," replied Aria softly and she went to her room.

The next two weeks were a bore for Aria. She couldn't go anywhere because of the threat form Slade. Aria desperately tried to go home. She was scared of Robin. She was scared that she would let him get close and then hurt her. She was scared that all the Titans would hurt her emotionally. She was still friends with them. She just wouldn't let them get near her heart. One day, Aria was sick of being inside all the time and took a chance and seeing if she could go outside.

"Robin, can I please go outside? We could all go get pizza or something. I'm just so sick of being inside all the time."

"No, you could get hurt."

"But we haven't heard from Slade in 2 weeks! It's been so long and I need to do something. Just 10 minutes. That's all." Aria gave Robin a pleading look.

"Please!" Aria got on her knees and begged.

"She's right you know. I wouldn't be able to be inside all day. Let's go get pizza or something for 10 minutes. She'll be fine," agreed Beast Boy. Robin looked at Aria. She really wanted to go outside. Robin was still unsure but gave in.

"Ok. We're going for pizza. That's it." Aria hopped up and gave him a hug.

"Thank you! Yes!" All the Titans went to the pizza place. They sat at a table with a white and red umbrella. Aria loved the freedom of being outside. They were all laughing and enjoying their pizza.

"See, you're so uptight Robin. There's nothing wrong and we're almost done with our pizza," jeered Cyborg.

"Maybe your right. I guess I am too uptight sometimes."

"Seriously dude, I'm glad you are no longer in denial," teased Beast Boy. They were all laughing when they heard footsteps. The steps grew closer. They looked down the street in the direction of the steps. Everyone was shocked. Marching up the street were Slade's robots!

"Titans, you fight them off! I'm going to make a run for it with Aria to the Tower!" ordered Robin. The Titans sprung into action. Robin hopped on his motorcycle.

"Get on the back and hold on tight!" he ordered Aria. She did as she was told. Robin took off towards the Tower. He was heading down the street when more robots cut him off from the front. Robin turned down a side road. More robots! Robin used the hood of a car as a jump and jumped over the line of robots. Robin and Aria continued to speed toward the Tower when a army of Slade's robots cut them off again. The robots herded them into an ally. Robin hopped off.

"Aria, stay behind me! I'll try to fight them off."

"There's too many! I can help you!"

"No! You'll only get hurt!"

"You trained me! I can do this! I don't want to go down without a fight! Trust me!" Robin looked at her. She looked so sure. He gave in. Robin pulled out his Bo-staff. He went after a robot and struck it hard in the head. He jumped over another hitting it in the head, spinning and hitting another in the abdomen. Aria took off too. She jumped on one's shoulders and twisted off its head. She then threw the robots head at another robot, hitting it in the arm and taking it off. Robin was a little shocked at what she had learned. Aria was fighting fiercely. She was delivering punches left and right. She wasn't near Robin status yet, but was still a good fighter. Robin and Aria looked like they had everything under control when a hand came out of a manhole. The hand grabbed Aria by the ankle and pulled her underneath.

"Aria!" Robin noticed she was missing and looked around.

"Aria!" The robots retreated. Robin went after a robot and took it down.

"Where is she! Where did you take her!" He shouted as he kicked and punched it. Robin, defeated, went back to Titan Tower. He went into the main room and saw all the Titans were already back. They all looked up at him. They saw Aria was not among him.

"Our friend?" trembled Starfire.

"Slade got her," Robin mumbled. He had been defeated. He had failed. He let Aria down. He said she could trust him and he had let her down.

Cyborg slammed his fist on the table. "We will get her back!" he said, determined, "We will find her!" Robin didn't even look up. He leaned on the table, staring at the ground.

"She doesn't have a communicator. We have no way of tracking her. She's gone."