A/N: I just saw the Chinese New Year's Celebration from China, man was it cool! Okay, but moving on, here I am with another installment. I was going to wait until Sunday, but I know all of you are busy, and you probably wait until Sunday to do your homework and so you don't have time for fanfic, so I did you a favor and updated now. I hope everyone's enjoying these first few days of one of my favorite months.

So, read, review, tell all your friends about it, whatever, just have a good time.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time! I love getting feedback, so send me more!

Disclaimer: I own this storyline, nothing else.

Doing the Right Thing

By: Sarah Shima

Chapter 8: A Declaration of Trust

"Ra's Al Ghul," Robin said, rising from the chair with obvious difficulty. He could have feigned ignorance, but really, Ra's had caught him in the Batcave at the Batcomputer, what stupid excuse could he make up for his presence that would actually make sense?

"Ah, so you do know me. How lovely," Ra's said with a smile. "I heard that you went to see your mentor, how is old Brucie?" he smirked.

Robin swallowed his anger, refusing to be baited by Ra's. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I want to know how you got here, how you were planning on getting back, and what you have learned about your colleagues since you arrived."

"If I knew anything about my 'colleagues' I would be with them, not alone in the Cave," Robin responded with a slight smile. Wearing some clothes that belonged to Bruce when he was a teenager, and as such were a bit too long, Dick reached toward his back pocket, where he had stashed his bo staff.

"Alone? Yes, about that… where is your friend, or… I'm sorry, your traveling companion? I must say, I would like to meet the man who made such quick work of two of my top employees," Ra's added in reference to the assassins Slade killed. "Although, I was quite surprised when he saved your life; he must have owed you a favor."

"What do you want with either of us?"

"Well, I'd like to offer him a job, but you… I haven't quite decided yet," he chuckled.

"That's all I needed to know," he responded simply. Throwing the staff upwards, he knocked out the light fixture hanging above them, plunging the room into darkness. Robin knew these caves perfectly, and so quickly ran in the direction of the Slade, and, consequently, the Manor. Jumping around machines, and moving as silently as a cat, he approached Slade from behind.

"Slade," he hissed. The villain, surprised, spun around to face Robin. "Ra's found the Cave, we have to get out of here. Follow me."

Slade nodded and let Robin take the lead, watching as the injured boy turned the lights out and then crawled around in the dark as if it were second-nature to him, which, of course, it was. Slade stumbled a bit when they reached a flight of stairs, and both quietly climbed up them. At the top, Slade heard Robin shoving something out of the way, and then a small crack of light heralded their arrival at the Manor. Slade entered the den through the hidden doorway, and looked around at the once-exquisite trappings. The furniture was covered in sheets and plastic, including a tall grandfather clock that Robin struggled to push back in place. Slade helped him, moving it quite easily.

Without a word, Robin led Slade out of the Manor and onto the grounds. It appeared they were on the run… again.

The four Teen Titans entered STAR labs through the front door, and received not a second glance from those working. Seeing superheroes was a regular occurrence for these people.

Cyborg apprehensively led them through the pristine white hallways of the immense building, he stopped just before an opened door, breathing hard. Starfire rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder and he smiled at her before walking in.

"Dad," he said quietly.

"Victor!" a middle-aged older version of Cyborg spun around from his desk, the white lab coat he wore catching on the corner as he stared at his son. "It's good to see you," he said, a wide grin on his face.

"I'm not here to catch up on old times, I'm here on business," Victor Stone, alias Cyborg said coldly, motioning to the Titans who stood just behind him.

"Ah yes, the Titans," Dr. Stone said abruptly, hiding the smile and assuming a calm composure. "So, what can I do for you?"

"What do you know about inter-dimensional travel?" Victor asked.

Dr. Stone stared quizzically at Victor for a moment. "What do you mean?" he asked, remembering when he gained access to another dimension, unknowingly releasing the thing that would kill his wife and nearly destroy his son's body. He only hoped Victor were not here to rehash that.

Cyborg sighed and told his father everything he knew about Robin's disappearance, and all they had learned from the doctors at the labs.

Dr. Stone sat with a sigh. "That's a difficult situation, Victor."

"How so?" Cyborg asked.

"There's nothing we can do from here to bring your friend back. And if he really has been sent to a different dimension… let's just say there's no telling where he ended up, or if he has any way to get back."

"That's not the answer I came here looking for," came the harsh reply.

"Your friend… is he resourceful? Can he look after himself?" Dr. Stone asked, pushing aside words his son spoke with such malice.

"Yes. He's pretty smart. Why?"

"If he could locate a similar device in… wherever he is… then getting back here would be simple."

"How so?"

"What I've learned from examining different dimensions is that every being has a specific vibrational frequency hidden in their genetic codes that correlates to the frequency of their dimensional plane. A dimensional travel machine would be able to pick up on that frequency immediately, and correlate it to the correct destination."

The Titans shared the first smiles they had in a long while. All Robin needed to do was find another machine, and if it had been anyone else they may have been worried, but this was Robin. He could do it.

However, the smiles faded in an instant when they realized that Robin would already have been looking for a machine. What if there was not one where he was? What would he do then?

"Thanks Dad. You gave us some hope at least," Cyborg said with a heavy sigh. "Come on team; let's get back to the Tower."

"Wait… Slade… let's stop," Robin choked out the words, his hand clutched over his slashed abdomen. The lush forests surrounding Wayne Manor acted as cover for the two fleeing men. The setting sun cast an orange glow about the area, and nearly blinded Robin as he leaned against a tree, catching his breath. Robin slid to the damp ground, pulling his knees in toward his chest. Slade sat beside him, staring out into the fading day.

"Slade… I have to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth," Robin began, seizing upon his opportunity to talk frankly with his enemy.

"All right," Slade nodded, wondering what was on Robin's mind.

"Why did you save me back in that alley? Was it because you owed me for saving you, or…?"

"Well, that was part of it. I do hate to be in anyone's debt. But…" he paused, choosing his next words carefully. "I would have hated for such talent and promise to go to waste so soon."

"Ah, so you're still holding out on the whole 'apprentice' thing then?" Robin asked, no malice or sarcasm in his voice. He really marveled at how life-or-death situations with Slade had changed how they dealt with each other.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"I mean… it's not like you need me to get out of here either. I'm sure you could figure it out on your own," Robin fumbled.

"Probably," Slade acknowledged, his mouth twisting into a smile. "But we got into this mess together, and we're leaving together." He paused for a moment. "We have been antagonizing each other this whole time. I believe a truce is in order. We need to be able to trust one another if we are to return to our own dimension. So, deal?" Slade asked, sticking his bare hand out at Robin. Robin stared at it, and then into Slade's lone eye, searching for some sort of counter-plan or deviousness. Upon finding none, he grasped Slade's hand, shaking it firmly.

"Deal."

Dick was only aware that he had fallen asleep when he felt rough hands shaking him awake. He opened his eyes to see Slade staring down on him, a look of worry etching lines in his forehead. "What's going on?" Robin whispered.

"Your friend Ra's has us surrounded."

Robin used the tree to balance himself as he stood, and peered into the darkness of the woods, making out ever-moving silhouettes of members of the League of Assassins. "Where can we go?" Slade whispered to Robin, conveying just a hint of how much trouble the pair were in.

"We have to head East. Any other way and we could run into the cliffs."

"Great, happen to have a compass handy?" Slade asked sarcastically. Apparently their deal to stop antagonizing one another was not working out.

"Well why the hell did you let me fall asleep? We should have kept going!" Robin bristled with anger, anger directed at both Slade and himself.

"Shut up, and lead the way," Slade hissed.

Dick put his hand up to silence Slade, and listened hard for the sound of water against the cliffs. It was a wasted effort, and with no compass or sense of direction, Robin just blindly picked a direction and took off at a near-silent run. The Assassins heard and began to chase the pair.

Robin ran blindly and without direction. His mind reeled with the massive amount of trouble they were in. Even if by some miracle they were running toward the East, Robin was in no shape for an extensive chase. They would catch up to him eventually. Getting to the nearest city would prove little cover as well. His only hope probably lay in Gotham with Ray Palmer, but now he was miles away. Robin saw Slade's back as he passed the teen vigilante, and felt a rise of anger.

"Hurry!" Slade shouted back at Robin, whose own response was a garbled mess of obscenities. It seemed it was every man for himself now.

Slade shook his head in fury at Robin's reaction to his order. The kid was not thinking correctly. Grouped too close together, they were sitting ducks. By putting some distance between them, it only increased their odds. And by Slade moving faster, the assassins were bound to follow him. Normally, Robin would have known that. It must have been the pain or fatigue. He knew letting Robin sleep was not the best idea, but he had little choice, in his state, Robin could never have been up for a long chase. And regardless of how much of a head-start they got, it was bound to result in this. Slade grimaced as he realized they would almost definitely be captured.

Robin stumbled over a tree root and fell face-first onto the ground. His nostrils filled with the scent of damp grass as he struggled to put his feet back underneath him. However, he heard a low chuckle, and spun in time to see a black-clad assassin approaching him where he lay. He fumbled for a weapon as the assassin reached into his own belt. However, Robin was saved the trouble as a bo staff crashed onto the man's neck with a painful crack. The man fell over sideways, gasping for air, and a strong hand reached down to help Robin up.

"Slade?" Robin asked, in total disbelief.

"Come on, if we are about to be captured, I would like to give them a chase they will remember." He pulled Robin to his feet, and then both spun around and began to run once more. As the clearing turned into a field, Robin suddenly realized they had made a grievous mistake. "No!" he shouted. Slade turned his head to the teen. "The cliffs! We're heading to the cliffs!" Slade turned his attention behind Robin and saw six assassins gaining ground on the pair. Ignoring Robin's protest, he continued to run at break-neck speeds.

Soon the cliffs manifested themselves, and Slade saw that he was running out of ground. He could hear the assassins coming closer, and Robin's haggard steps beside him. A foot from the edge, Slade suddenly jumped to the ground, pulling Robin down with him. The two assassins in front passed the pair in their momentum, and, their attention on Robin and Slade as they slowed did not notice their own impending doom. As they fought to slow down, the two plummeted over the cliffs, their bodies crashing into the water below.

Slade smiled, and looked up to see a circle of assassins around them. "Hello boys," Slade greeted. Each pulled out a gun and took aim. Slade looked down the barrel of the one closest and laughed. Robin looked at him as if Slade had lost his mind. Then two of their enemies pulled the triggers, releasing darts at Slade and Robin. "Tranquilizers? Well, why didn't you just shoot us earlier, then?" Slade asked, satisfied at their confused expressions as darkness overtook him.

Ra's Al Ghul spoke in confidence to his right-hand man. "Robin will not be a problem, his injuries are too extensive for him to pose much of a threat. His companion is another story. But now that I have discovered his identity, I should be able to solve this problem without severing his head," he smiled.

Slade woke up first. Keeping his eye closed, he assessed his situation as well as he could. He could tell he was in a small, enclosed space. The floor and walls were hard, probably brick of stone block. His hands were restrained in front of him, from his wrist to his lower arm. There was one other occupant in the room, breathing heavily, as if asleep. Other than that person, he was alone.

He opened his eye and took a look around the place. Not surprised, he took in the small dark cell. Two vents near the ceiling supplied the room with air. Slade checked the vents – immovable.

He turned to see Robin sprawled out face down on the floor next to him. A crimson stain had formed on his shirt, his wounds had opened again.

Dammit.

Getting out of here will be hard enough without that. As soon as the thought formed in his mind it gave Slade pause. Somehow, over the past few days, he had stopped regarding Robin as an adversary, an annoyance, a liability, and replaced that with something quite different. It disturbed Slade to think of, even as he realized that some part of him had always wanted it, a part of him that once said, I may even become like a father to you.

Crap.

For all his genius, he was acting like an insane person. Was he sad that he missed out on his sons' lives? Yes. Did he wish he had another chance? Yes. Did he always want a partner in his business, one that was not just a business partner, but a family member? Yes. Was that always in the back of his mind when he encountered Robin? Yes. Barring any physical similarities, were it his personality, his drive, his passion that reminded Slade of himself? Is that why he had pursued Robin? Was he trying to replace the empty space in his life ever since Adeline forbade him to see his boys, Grant and Joseph again?

Slade thought back to when Robin and he fought the assassins. When Slade was looking down the end of the blade, an obvious harbinger of death, Robin's quick and fluid movements caught his eye as he arced through the air between them in perfect grace and balance, offering up himself to be butchered and saving Slade. It was what Slade always wanted, the perfect partner, someone who would work with honed instinct, someone he could count on fully. Robin met all of those requirements, even when it was Slade, his supposed archenemy who was in trouble. He had proved that he and Slade together would be an even more dynamic team than Batman and Robin.

And there lay his problem; Batman.

Did Robin fall in step with him so easily because he felt the similarities, or because working with a partner was so natural, even with Slade? Could it have been because of so many years of working with Batman?

A low moan of pain dragged Slade from his thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Robin stirring, and clutching at his injury.

"Hey," Robin said sleepily as his mind worked to cast off the effects of the tranquilizer. "Looks like I just can't get rid of you, huh? I guess all the single cells were taken," he laughed. Slade stared at him strangely. Had Robin just made a joke about them being captured by an egomaniac and locked up an inescapable cell?

"You're still under the effects of the tranquilizer," Slade said simply. Robin furrowed his eyebrows, his blue eyes intense with concentration.

"All right, I think I'm okay now," Robin said. "So, did you check out our new digs yet? Any escape routes?"

"None," Slade responded simply. "It seems we are at the mercy of our captors."

Robin snorted. "Then I should have written my will before we got to this dimension."

"Going to leave it all to Wayne?" Slade asked.

"Yeah right! I was going to leave everything to Alfred. With my trust fund he could go to Tahiti to retire. I can just picture him on a beach, talking to the vacationers: "Excuse me, sir, but that is not the way a gentleman applies his sunblock." Yeah, he'd be real popular," Robin laughed again.

"Did they happen to put nitrous oxide in your dart?" Slade asked.

"Sorry, when I get nervous I make jokes," Robin said, shrugging helplessly.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a long while. During that time, Robin closed his eyes and seemed to meditate. However, he soon spoke again.

"Slade, do you have any kids?" he asked a he pressed a hand against the wound on his abdomen.

"Yes, I do. Two sons and a daughter," Slade calmly informed him. It made no difference to him if Robin knew; it was not as if Robin would threaten his children to hurt him. That was the plus-side to heroes.

"Then why didn't you want one of them to be your 'apprentice,' why me?"

"I have not seen my sons since they were quite young. I made a mistake that hurt one of them, and my wife at the time made it clear that she never wanted me near them."

"What did you do?" Robin asked, turning to him with an inquisitive glance.

"I let my pride get in the way of protecting my family, and as a result, my youngest son's throat was cut. He can no longer speak."

"Wow, I'm sorry," Robin responded, his tone apologetic. Robin paused for a moment, and then spoke again. "Hey, thanks for what you did back there, knocking out that assassin. I have to say, I was surprised. How indebted to you am I now anyway?"

"Well, without you we wouldn't even know where to go to escape – so, if we somehow return to our dimension, then we'll call it even."

Robin nodded. They were silent for a while longer, and Robin closed his eyes as if he were about to doze off.

Finally, his eyes snapped open and he turned to Slade with fear, "Slade, do you feel a little lightheaded?" he asked, his words slow.

"Yes," Slade responded, and then his eye grew wide. He looked up to the vents, and a steady hissing announced that some form of drug was being filtered into the cell.

"Never thought it would end like this," Robin sighed, believing that Ra's Al Ghul was using the cell like a gas chamber, and that they would soon die.

"Thought you'd have a little bit more time?"

"Well, I at least assumed that I would die in my own dimension. If we die now, no one will ever know what happened to us. I feel badly about that…. I feel badly about a lot of things…"

"We're not going to die," Slade said sharply, fighting fatigue as his mind slowed. "It would be illogical. Why capture us just to kill us?"

"Do I look like Ra's Al Ghul's secretary? I don't know. The guy's insane."

"No he is not. Everything he has done – or so I've heard, has been strategically planned out carefully. A crazy person would not be capable of that."

"I don't know, The Joker's pretty crazy, and you should see some of the plans he's made; some of the things he's done. Not everyone's a calculated sociopath like you," Robin added with a lopsided smile.

"Oh please, tell me how you really feel," Slade responded sarcastically. They shared a laugh, and then suddenly both broke off, turning away from the other uncomfortably.

"Slade, we're getting out of here together, right?" Robin asked feebly.

"That's the plan."

Robin opened his mouth to speak again, but was silenced by Slade.

"Shh, hear that?" Slade asked, gesturing to the hall. Robin fought to keep his head up and not collapse, while straining his ears. Then he heard it; footsteps and voices.

Metal scraped against metal as the door opened. Three men wearing gas masks stared down at the nearly immobile pair. One man stepped into the room and grasped Robin by one arm, dragging him to his feet. Robin put up little fight, the severity of his pain, coupled with the dreamy state the drugs put him in made him weak. Slade watched helplessly as Robin shot one nervous glance at him, and then was dragged from the room.

"Where is he being taken?" Slade asked, feeling strangely protective of his one-time enemy.

The man in the hall pulled his gas mask off and spoke to Slade. "That is none of your concern. You are to come with us. The master would like to speak with you personally."

"Oh wonderful," Slade snorted as they pulled him to his feet.

Breathing fresh air in the halls helped the gas wind its way out of his system. By the time they reached the 'throne room,' Slade had his mobility under control, and his mind moved much faster. The room was large, and decorated in red silks and ornate golden carvings. Slade saw Ra's Al Ghul standing in the center, a long trench coat pulled around him. His black and white hair was slicked back, and he wore an inscrutable expression on his face. He lazily took a drag of the cigarette in his hand, and then smiled as he caught sight of Slade.

He gestured to the shadows behind him, and three people stepped forward. Slade stared in shock at the figures. The first one was a woman, wearing a uniform similar to his; a copper and black mask that extended over her eyes and nose, stopping before her mouth, a black bodysuit, copper gloves and shoes, and a gun belt around her waist. A tangle of brown curls surrounded her face. On her left side, there stood a man slightly shorter than Slade. He wore a bodysuit of shades of blue, a mask covering the top of his head and his eyes. A Mexican gun belt slung across his chest, and a utility belt adorned his waist. On the woman's right, was a younger man dressed similarly, although he stood in a less domineering way than his companions.

What struck Slade the most was the looks of shock exchanged by the threesome as they looked at Slade.

"I would like you to meet Siren, The Ravager, and Jericho," Ra's said, gesturing to the woman, then the man, followed by the younger man.

Slade's eye widened as he stared at Siren, Slade would recognize that hair, and that body anywhere – it was his wife, Adeline.

The youngest of them all, Jericho, looked at Slade with confusion. "D...Dad?" he asked.

"Unmask," Ra's commanded. Looking a little apprehensive, the group pulled their masks off and Slade could hardly believe his eyes. There they were; his family.

The Ravager looked so much like his son Grant, and Jericho had to be Joey; a Joey who was not mute; a Joey with a voice. Slade turned his attention then to Adeline who stood so close and lovingly beside her boys.

"What…" Slade finally spoke. "How…? Why did you bring me here?" he asked of Ra's Al Ghul.

"I brought you here to offer you a position in the League of Assassins," Henri Ducard responded, enjoying the look of utter shock and confusion passing over Slade's face. "So tell me, when given the choice, who would you choose, your family, or Robin?"

A/N: All right, so that's a wrap on chapter eight. It was a pretty action-packed chapter, and there's still more to come. But we are winding down to the end now. I hope everyone enjoyed it! Leave me a review!

Sarah Shima