Ok… You all seem to be up in arms about the last chapter. No, not about the content; about the lack of content!

Gosh… oO

That just… I don't know, I'm just surprised. I mean, I guess you're right, because the fight scene and the RobinSlade make-out slashy bit was all really detailed and all, but I honestly didn't think you'd all condemn me because I didn't do any detail to the actual rape; instead ending it… um, poetically…

But I can tell you the reason (and it is a lame excuse, really…); in truth, Asylum is already written. So is Part 2, Black Magic. I am currently working on Part 3 of this trilogy, Remember the Titans. I was writing Asylum this time last year; I was fifteen at the time, and not very well versed in writing slash/lemons, etc. Actually, the slash bit is updated – that used to have practically no detail at all either – because I added stuff before I posted it to make it more "interesting". However… if there's one thing I'm paranoid about, it's getting banned. So I didn't add anything to the rape bit, because I know is kinda strict about that sort of stuff; I thought it was much safer to just leave it the way it was.

I know it's a lame excuse. But… for any of you reading Small Print (which I am actually writing currently), I have very generously been given some plot bunnies by Narroch06 and Rocky Wolf and I am going to try my hand at some more detailed RobinSlade action… - I feel confident enough to be able to attempt it now, so be on the lookout for an update on that…

Anyway… onto my ritual throwing-myself-at-your-feet-in-gratitude-for-reviewing… So, to Rocky Wolf (my new returning reader/reviewer! Yay! I love you! And glad you're enjoying Small Print – it's especially for you – even if the "swallowing thing" didn't exactly do much for you…); and to YamiTai (weirdness is a virtue, is it not? And I attempted to read your Digimon fic; alas, I cannot understand one word of German! Argh!); to Quinn (I keep telling you not to read Small Print, witch-hunter! (He thinks I'm a witch, everyone! How wrong he is!) And no, no-one told the Titans they weren't involved, because they are! They're the freakin' mortal gods!); to Yami no Kaiba (my answer to you is actually that whole lot above; and about Slade translating the prophecy by another means?… Well, there is a bit coming up about that, but it is a complicated factor, isn't it?…); to Alexnandru Van Gordon (thanks for the wonderful standing ovation! And don't worry; there's no more RobinSlade slash stuff in this trilogy, although there will of course be references to what just happened. With such a coincidental name, I guess I can understand your worry…) and to Narroch06 (always you amuse me with your title for things; Robin "Beast"; Slade "Dark horny monster"… Tee hee, how easily amused I am… And thankyou, thankyou, THANKYOU for your plot idea for Small Print! Gonna get writing it ASAP! And everyone read Abyss! It's great!) and to Phoenix Skyborne (yay! You're back! I can't believe you took algebra… Still, it looks as though you don't "waste" your lessons… Still reading Changes: Nine Months More but I'm almost there! Oh, and lame excuse for lack of detail in last chapter is above for you, too…).

Haultan… you are so busted…

Teen Titans now! Yes, really, Quinn!

A Net of His Own Making

Starfire made her way quietly downstairs, one hand trailing along the banister and the other raised in front of her face, a green orb of energy issuing from her palm to light her way with a dull, eerie green glow. She was, for some reason, uneasy in her sleep, finding it difficult to get comfortable in the accumulating sticky heat. She had often heard Cyborg and Beast Boy speak of "midnight snacks", and thought that maybe she would try it to discover what the thrill was.

She slid back the double panels to the front room and entered, taking to the air and floating across the room towards the kitchen. Her natural night-light still lit her way and the green glinted across something, catching her eye. She landed softly next to it, finding herself next to the coffee table. She expanded her starbolt slightly, giving herself more light, and cast the luminous glow across the coffee table and semi-circular couch. She blinked as she saw the glinting object to be a round, familiar sight; a Titan communicator. Puzzled, she picked it up with her free hand, feeling its cold dead weight in her palm. Strange; she didn't remember any of her friends leaving their communicator down here. Robin had been the last to retire to bed, but…

She blinked again as her green light fell on something else shiny. She lowered her hand a little and saw another two small objects lying on the table. She put the pager down and picked up her new finds, examining them but not for the life of her acknowledging what they were. One was a silver, oddly-shaped piece of metal, the other two spikes of metal set into a black plastic square, a single button adoring the case. She was about to touch the button when her eyes fell on a third object. Her heart skipped a beat as she discarded the unidentified objects and picked up the single sheet of paper. On it was simply written "I'm sorry" and she recognised Robin's neat printing. She gasped.

"Robin…"

She looked back at the communicator. Obviously Robin's. The other objects were obviously from his belt. It could only mean one thing.

The piece of paper fluttered from her hand as she rose into the air and soared out of the front room, back up the staircase and right up to the top floor as fast as she could. She landed heavily outside Robin's bedroom door and pounded on the metal panel.

"Robin!" She cried desperately. "Robin! If you are in there, please wake up!"

She waited, hoping against hope that the panel would slide back and he would be standing there, his hair messy and his demeanour irritated from being woken up at this time, but standing there all the same. But she didn't receive any answer and her stomach clenched. She pressed the button outside the door and the metal panel slid back with a click, allowing her access into the dark room beyond. She entered nervously, still hoping that he would be curled up under the covers and hadn't heard her.

But she knew. She knew without even looking that she wouldn't find him. He was a light sleeper, he would have heard her. And as much as she loved him and overlooked the bad in him, she knew, deep down, that this was just like him.

Her starbolt was on a vast circumference now as she moved into Robin's bedroom. She very scarcely came in here, having little reason to. The last two times, though… she smiled a little despite her worry. She had been rewarded well for chasing after him when he wasn't in the best of moods. He had only kissed her once the first time, but the last time… well, they had ended up asleep together on top of his covers, still fully-clothed. But there were bad memories, too. She had discovered that he was Red X after coming in here and finding the evidence on his desk. Looking around now it depressed her; the walls were plastered with newspaper cuttings, but underneath they were bare grey. His desk and the surrounding floor were a mess, but otherwise the floor too was plain grey. Robin was actually the most colourful thing in his room.

Or rather, he would have been if he was actually in it.

Starfire cast the light further along the room, illuminating it with that creepy, hollow glow, and saw Robin's bed was made, the covers immaculate. She sighed; she had known he wouldn't be in it, but…

She was starting to panic now. He was gone; that much was obvious. But where had he gone? She rose into the air a little, both hands now glowing to give herself more light. The entire Tower was silent, as though it knew where he was but was keeping it a secret.

Damn Robin and his secrets. It was times like this when she could think of some pretty fitting Tamaranean words and insults for him.

It was possible he was somewhere else in the Tower. She hadn't exactly looked for him before jumping to conclusions. But, somehow, she already knew that he was gone.

But it might be worth checking, before she woke the others up. She turned to leave and something else caught her eye, lying discarded on the floor. She floated down next to it and picked it up. It was a crumpled up piece of paper and it was lying two feet away from Robin's wastepaper basket.

That immediately struck her as odd. She wasn't much of a detective, unlike Robin, but she figured that he had obviously thrown this at the bin, meaning to get it in, but had missed. But that was the thing; Robin didn't miss. He had an excellent sense of aim hammered into him by Batman. He could hit a bulls-eye with a birdarang from over 100ft; he could get a piece of trash into the bin from right across the kitchen with little to no effort at all. She had seen him do it time and time again, and he never missed. But here he had missed, which to her only meant one thing; he had been distracted by something. Something, maybe frustration or irritation, had screwed with his aim and had made him miss a mere 5ft gap from his desk to his bin.

Frowning, she uncrumpled the sheet of paper and smoothed it out. She always found it harder to read Earth-language than to understand it vocally, but she could decipher most of it and her green eyes widened in horror at what she could understand. It seemed like a perfectly ordinary note from Batman to Robin, telling him to come to Arkham Asylum at midnight.

But across it, in tainted red ink, Robin had written; I don't know who you are, but you're not Batman.

And then, piecing together the evidence, he had angrily crumpled it up and thrown it at the bin, but had missed in his irritated state.

She looked back at Robin's desk. Amid the mess there was a polished wooden picture frame, about A5 size, giving pride of place to a newspaper cut-out. She had seen it before; Robin had shown it to her the day after she had returned home from hospital, and she had been able to tell he was pleased that Bruce had gone to the trouble of giving it to him. It was of Bruce, with his arms around a much younger Robin, who was recognisable even without his mask, and who looked truly happy and completely care-free. She and the other Titans had never seen Robin like that. But that aside, it was something else that stuck out most prominently about the picture at that particular moment in time. Bruce had signed it, and in his neat blocky writing across the bottom of the picture read; Love you always. Starfire for one loved little sentimental things like that, but now she concentrated on the actual writing rather than the heart-felt message. Even she could see, compared with the note she held in her hand, that the scribes were completely different. Robin was indeed right; Batman hadn't written this letter.

But if he hadn't, then who had?

Worry and panic invaded her, overrode her senses. Robin had gone to Gotham in the middle of the night at the demand of someone pretending to be Batman, an obvious ploy to gain his trust. She doubted very much that this Batman-wannabe wanted Robin to be his new best friend.

Which meant that this mysterious perpetrator was going to do something terrible to him.

She could feel fear gripping her chest like a vice. She had often stated that one day Robin would be killed for the simple reason that he wouldn't let his friends help him. What if… what if today was that day? What if he was being beaten up right this second, forced at the mercy of whoever had lured him to Arkham Asylum? What if… she could hardly bear to think it… what if he was already dead?...

She shot over to the window and tried to force it open, the only thought going through her head a desperate urge to just fly off to Arkham Asylum as fast as she could, to find him and help him…

But the window was jammed shut, locked by Cyborg's electronic system. She could shoot a starbolt through it, but…

No.

She whipped back around and soared out of Robin's open bedroom door. She had to be sensible, wake up the others and tell them, and they could all go together, as a team…

Raven's bedroom was next in line, next to the bathroom, and the frightened Tamaranean hammered on it for all she was worth, shrieking her telekinetic friend's name.

"Raven! Raven, please wake up! Raven, RAVEN!"

By the time Raven slid back her panel there were tears streaming down Starfire's face, an advertisement of her worked-up state. Raven blinked and pulled down her hood, taking in her friend as she stood in her matching purple tank top and shorts pyjamas, decorated with silver stars, tears in her large green eyes and a piece of crumpled paper clutched grim-death in her hand.

"Starfire, are you alright?" Raven asked, knowing perfectly well that the alien girl was far from alright just by looking at her. Starfire erupted into a stream of fluent, panicky Tamaranean, and the only words Raven could understand were "Robin", "Batman" and "Arkham Asylum".

"Starfire, calm down," Raven commanded, taking Starfire by the shoulders and shaking her slightly. "You're not speaking English."

Starfire stopped and took several deep, gasping breaths.

"Try again," Raven prompted. Starfire nodded weakly and thrust the piece of paper into Raven's hand.

"I went downstairs to get a drink of water," Starfire started to explain as Raven read down the piece of paper, "and there were all these things on the coffee table and there was a note from Robin saying he was sorry and his pager was there too so I went upstairs into his room and he was not there and then I found this beside his bin because he had missed and I picked it up and read it and it said it was from Batman but Robin knew it was not and there is also a picture on Robin's desk of Bruce and Robin and it is signed and the writing is not the same and now Robin has gone to Gotham City in the middle of the night at the demand of someone pretending to be Batman but who is not really and I am worried about him because he did not tell any of us and he could be hurt and in need of our help and he is gone!"

Starfire caught her breath after this incredibly long sentence, then burst into tears. Raven looked at her hopelessly, but decided against trying to console her; there was nothing to say. This was very serious. Starfire was right; Robin could be hurt, or worse. All her anger at him melted away and was replaced by fear. She couldn't help but be a little ticked at him, though; how damn typical of him to run off by himself and worry them all half to death. He was so selfish it was unbelievable.

At that moment both Cyborg and Beast Boy's panels slid back and the two boys charged out of their rooms, Beast Boy dressed in blue boxer shorts and an over-sized white T-shirt once Cyborg's – pre-Cyborg – with Harlem Globetrotters USA Tour inscribed on it, Cyborg still with a charger plugged into his circuit-box.

"Jeez, Raven, what did you do to her?" Beast Boy inquired incredulously, scratching his sleep-tousled green hair and stifling a yawn.

"Read this," Raven said simply, ignoring Beast Boy and forcing the letter into Cyborg's large metal hand. Cyborg quickly scanned down it as Beast Boy wriggled under his arm to read it too.

Cyborg looked up.

"He didn't… he didn't actually go, did he?"

Raven looked at him sceptically as she reached up and put her arms around Starfire in an attempt to soothe her.

"Dumb question, Cy," Beast Boy answered for her as he finished reading the note. "This is Robin we're talking about. Scarlet Pimpernel, eat your heart out."

Cyborg sighed. As second-in-command, it was up to him to stand in for Robin whenever the Boy Wonder decided to pull one of his frequent disappearing acts. At this rate he was going to end up as full-time leader.

"Guess we better get our act together, Titans," he said, taking charge in Robin's subsequent absence. He nodded at each of them, all being in their pyjamas, and thumbed at the charger at his back.

"You lot get dressed and be in the garage in five minutes," he ordered. "I'll get this thing out of my system and start the car. Five minutes, y'hear? We haven't got time to waste."

He frowned at Starfire, who was still sobbing uncontrollably. He reached out and put his large metal hand on her shoulder.

"Chin up, Star," he tried to comfort her. "It'll be ok, we promise."

Starfire sniffled and smiled weakly, her tears subsiding.

"You ok?" Raven asked softly as Beast Boy and Cyborg went back to their rooms to get ready. Her pale hands were on Starfire's shoulders, the shades of flesh contrasting; Starfire's deep, gold Tamaranean tan against Raven's near-grey skin.

Starfire sniffed and wiped her emerald eyes.

"Yes, thankyou, Raven," she answered. "I just hope that he is alright."

Raven squeezed the alien girl's shoulders slightly in assurance, then released her.

"So do I."

Starfire smiled and went off down the corridor back to her room to get changed and Raven gazed after her, leaning against her doorframe. Not even a month ago she had hated Starfire's guts because Robin had kissed her. Well, more than kissed her; from what she had seen they had been doing a bit more than simply kissing. But still, now watching the alien girl, seeing how upset and worried she was, she couldn't see why she could possibly have hated someone so nice.

Because maybe she is capable of giving more love than me…

But she was worried about him too, so much that she almost felt sick. And even now in her head she could hear herself repeating her statement to her alien friend.

So do I…

Only a little chapter there. Never mind, I've put up the next one too…

And Yami no Kaiba; your thing about "if he leaves the note out the others will find it"… you were right!

Tally ho on to the next chapter and all…