"Joker," he hissed in anger. "Why are you here?"

"Why Robin, can't I come and say good-bye to another of the Bat-Brats?" Joker asked, laughing maniacally.

"Not when you are the one who helped put him here," Raven snapped.

A curiously subdued Beast Boy added, "You shouldn't be here."

Starfire's eyes flashed deep green, and only Robin's calming touch kept her back. "You are a... a... a grimwaag!" she yelled at the figure Robin's mentor and Gotham City's vigilante, Batman, had tried so hard to defeat, so many times.

"Why, Starfire, I'm hurt," Joker answered with an insane smile.

Cyborg, looking very much out of place in a somber suit that covered his more robotic parts, stepped forward. "I think," he said slowly, over enunciating every word, "you should go."

"I can see I am not wanted." With a final laugh, Joker melted into the shadows.

The five Titans watched him go, then turned their attention back to the last rites for Tim Drake's funeral.

"You will be avenged," Robin whispered. "I promise." His gloved hands tightened and clenched as he thought about what he would do to the bastard who had done this to his adopted little brother.

A tall figure stepped beside him and clasped a hand onto Robin's shoulder. "Dick," Bruce began. "It wasn't your fault, and it wasn't mine. Don't blame yourself. I know you thought of him as a little brother, just as I thought of the both of you as surrogate sons, and I know that you want to kill Joker for doing this... but not yet. Bide your time. His punishment will come." Wayne's eyes narrowed and the shadow thrown across his face receded a little, showing the mask of hatred he wore.

"At my hands."

"So Batman says he's gonna kill the Joker for killing Tim. Then why are we goin' after him?!" Cyborg argued with his leader.

"Because, Cy," Robin answered in a cold, soft voice. "Joker killed my brother. He has to pay. I have to do this. If you don't want to, you don't have to come." Robin straightened slightly, bringing himself to his full height, which was quite a lot due to a growth spurt. His hair fell into his face, shading his eyes even more than his mask already did; since Tim's death, which was hardly more than fortnight past, Robin hadn't bothered trimming his fast-growing hair, nor had he gelled it since that time. Starfire privately thought that he was looking more and more like his future counterpart, Nightwing – the change didn't really bother her too much.

"I'm comin' with! I just don't see why you have to do it yourself. Can't you just trust Bruce to handle it?"

"The last time Bruce was gonna handle things," Robin replied, "my entire family ended up dead at the hands of Two-Face. I got to help him bring Two-Face down then. I'm bringing Joker down now." With that, Robin strode out of the room, leaving a confused teammate in his wake.

Outside Titans Tower, Raven was fighting the obstacle course. Her eyes flashed with each punch thrown, and a grim frown creased her mouth. Beast Boy watched her from where he was controlling the course, eyes mournful. He could see that she was clearly both enraged and saddened; ever since that little trip into her mind, he could see what mood she was in since he was now able to distinguish the little nuances of expression that Raven allowed through her mask. The last robot fell, and Raven knelt, trying to overcome the intense fatigue washing over her. Beast Boy went to her and helped her to stand. She smiled weakly at him as he supported her to the Tower.

In the Tower, Starfire winced as she tried to choke down more Pudding of Sadness. She had offered some to Beast Boy and Raven, but they had each declined in favor of tofu and herbal tea, respectively. It hurt her to see Robin in such pain over Tim's death, even though she knew that she, too, would surely mourn such a close friend just as much. Starfire swallowed the last of the Pudding down hard, and shivered as its terrible taste washed through her. She floated to the sink, placing her now-empty bowl inside, and then floated to their indoor training room. She knew that she would find Robin there.

"Robin?" she called timidly.

"I'm here, Star," he replied, grunting as he continued throwing punches at a well-battered bag hanging before him.

"Robin, will you not reconsider tonight's mission?"

"I can't, Star. I'm sorry, but Joker has to pay. And so does Slade." Contempt filled the young champion's voice at the thought of his nemesis.

"But Slade is gone, is he not?" Starfire asked, puzzled.

"No, Star. When someone is that evil, I don't think even death can stop them." He stilled the bag with one hand and turned away from the alien girl standing before him. He took a deep breath and asked her something.

"Do you remember," he asked softly, "when Slade made me his apprentice for, what was it, a week?"

"Yes, but..."

"Slade's mask fell off for half a second that night, Star. I saw who was beneath it. That face has haunted me in my dreams. Don't pretend that you can't hear me screaming at night." Robin turned to face Starfire. "The Joker was under that mask. Or rather, a sane version of the Joker. I guess there are two sides to everyone. It just so happens that the Joker's alter ego isn't good, he's sane." Robin's fists tightened.

"And knowing who he is, yet knowing that I still can't even touch him... it's making me crazier than he is." A grim smile crossed his face, but was gone within an eyeblink. "And that's saying something."

Later that night, Robin held a soft pencil in his hand and gently shaded one more side of a sketch he was working on laboriously. He'd spent enough time quizzing Starfire over it; it ought to be right this time. He pulled slightly away from his drawing and looked at it critically. A smirk flashed on his face and he muttered, "Perfect." He took a lightweight yet sturdy fabric from beside him and quickly cut a pattern from it. He fitted opaque white eye panels into the eyeholes and looked at the mask he now had before him. It was sleeker, leaner, more angular and a bit narrower than his old one.

Grayson slowly reached up and pulled his old mask off. He stood in front of the full-length mirror on the back of his bathroom door and stared at his reflection.

"Blue eyes," he whispered to himself. "I'd almost forgotten that I have blue eyes." His piercing blue eyes glared back at themselves, and Richard smirked bleakly. He then stared at the new mask in front of him before finally lifting it and fitting it to his face; it melded to his features almost instantly. He shook back the hair that had fallen into his eyes before striding purposefully out of his room, the door slicking shut behind him.

"I will find you, Joker. That's a promise," Robin whispered to himself. He looked up at his teammates and said snappishly, "Let's roll."

Author Notes

Hey guys. First fic, but don't be gentle. I need comments as to if this should be ongoing or not. If no one comments, it's a one-shot; if someone comments that they want it kept going, it'll keep going.

Leave comments, or I'll sic my trained rabbit on you!

PS - flames welcome.