Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Still. Really.
Pairing: Slade/Robin
Warning: Nah! Fluffy slash theme? Well… nothing graphic at all…
Background: This is set in the relatively near future after "Terms of Endearment". Those who have read that will hopefully pick up themes from that story… If you haven't read "Touch" or "Terms" you might want to stay away from this, since it totally gives away the ending…

Old Friends

Robin sat on the edge of one of the thousand rooftops of his city. He had leaned back against an adjoining wall, looking very peaceful. She thought he did, anyway. As she cautiously drew closer, he raised his head slightly.

"I know you're there."

She flew slowly into the light, showing herself.

"Hello Starfire. Been a long time."

Robin smiled slightly and she drew a ragged breath. It was him, his eyes, his voice, his smile.

"Robin…" she was suddenly lost for words. There were so many things she had wanted to ask, so many things she wanted to tell him. She studied the boy closer. Yes. He was still her Robin, and yet… so different. He was a bit taller, a bit more toned, though still lithe. The bright colours were gone. The Robin before her was clad in black pants and t-shirt. The clothes could easily be mistaken for regular 'civilian' clothes, but Star knew the materials were different… and the belt pockets didn't contain things found in any normal teenager's pocket, that's for sure. On the t-shirt's chest there was a red design. It reminded her of the red bird on his old favourite t-shirt, the bird Slade copied onto the motorcycle he gave Robin. But, looking closer, the red image now more reminded her of… of a splash of blood.

She met his eyes. He didn't wear his mask anymore. None of them did. She shuddered, thinking of Slade. Starfire glanced around, afraid that he would be close by, lurking in the shadows.

"It's… it's been over a year…" she finally said.

"Over one and a half, actually..." Robin smiled at her again. "Sit down, Star. I can see you have a lot of questions. I won't bite."

She gingerly sat down on the edge. Not too close, though. She must remember that this Robin was dangerous.

He and Slade had come to this city almost a year ago. She had no idea where they had been before then. They had moved in and taken over. Just like that. One of the biggest cities in the world. There had been protests. There had been fights. But the two had fought back. Mercilessly. She remembered an article, from the beginning of their stay in the town. The authorities had sent a team to their base, but they had not even been able to get inside. Over the next week, everyone who was on that team that night, had had a personal visit from the duo. A painful, but not lethal, one. The thing is, when the attacked occurred, everyone was masked. No identifiable signs visible. And yet they had been picked out. The authorities had sent another team. This time the members weren't so lucky. The couple's message was clear: don't mess with us.

Over time the citizens had, somehow, grown pretty fond of the couple. There were even t-shirts sold to the tourists on the streets. Maybe it was because they didn't bother the average man. If you didn't have a contract on your head, if you didn't happen to own something they wanted, they left you alone. There were even rumours that, sometimes, they helped, at least the boy. They had taken up residence in a skyscraper, built to withstand a nuclear blast, but they could be seen day or night all over town. They didn't hide the fact that they were a couple, either. At first the newspapers had been delighted to print photos of the two kissing or just sitting together on a ledge somewhere, but even that got old after a while. It didn't seem to cause any retaliation, though, which made the citizens relax even more. The public knew well that pictures like that, of one of the city's politicians, would make heads roll, but this pair didn't seem to mind. Or care.

The two of them were killers though, and the city treated them with a wary respect and twisted pride, like a town on the foot of a volcano… the mountain may be a symbol of the city, but it could blow up at any moment.

The crime lords also tried to fight back at first, creating an all time low in the crime rate as they were swiftly taken down. The insane ones turned up dead, the smart ones found themselves slightly demoted but thankfully alive. Which they would stay. If they were loyal.

"What are you thinking about?" Robin sounded amused. Star jumped slightly, awaken from her thoughts.

"I… I have been looking for you…"

"I know, Star. Thought you would find me sooner. If you were going to look at all."

"We didn't… for the longest time, we…. we didn't."

"That was the plan."

"What… what do you mean?"

Robin turned in her direction, now straddling the ledge instead, looking at her with a serious expression on his face.

"I knew Slade would kill you if I didn't go with him… and if I went and you followed… you would still be dead."

"So…" Star's broken heart fluttered with hope "The thing's you said… you didn't mean them?"

Robin could hear she was choosing her words carefully. He suddenly got a feeling that this was the way she had spoken since that last day. The day he had shouted at her that she was nothing but a dumb alien who couldn't even talk properly.
"I admit I was angry at you. Extremely angry that you didn't believe me, and I did speak the truth most of the time, but I did it to alienate you, to make you turn away."

Star started to sob quietly again. She suddenly threw herself at Robin, catching him in a firm embrace.

"Oh, Robin! Robin, I'm so sorry, we should have known! I-"

"Star, it's fine… oufff… let me breathe here, ok?"

"It's NOT ok! We left you with that monster! We…"

"Careful, Star, that's my beloved you are talking about…" his voice had turned slightly cold. Starfire released him, backing away.

"What?"

"I told you I didn't lie. I do love him. Even more, now."

"But? I thought…won't you come back…?"

"I'm a killer and a thief, now. Not very good Titan credentials, are they?"

"But you could… if you were forced…?"

Robin laughed. It wasn't an evil laugh; Star could see his eyes glittering with amusement, but it scared her nonetheless.

"Star, do you see a leash on me? I can go anywhere, do anything. If I wanted to go back to the Titans, I would."

"But why don't you want to?"

"Because as a Titan, I can't go anywhere and do anything…" he smiled again, shrugging his shoulders, "and without Slade by my side… life would be so much duller."

"I'm glad I'm an entertainment." Slade stepped out of the shadows and Starfire gasped in fright.

"Don't worry, Star, he won't hurt you." Robin said.

"Don't make promises for me, boy. She might be trying to take you away." Slade growled. "She asked." Robin shrugged. Stars eyes grew bigger as Robin moved slightly, making room for Slade who sat down behind him, wrapping his arms around Robin's waist possessively. She thought she could hear a pleased sigh from the boy as he leaned back against his former enemy. They seemed so relaxed. In fact she had never seen Robin this calm… this balanced.

"Star, how is the team?" Robin asked suddenly.

"They… we… we are fine…" Starfire had edged a bit farther away.

"You are still keeping together, still fighting?"

"Yes." Star's voice had something defiant in it and Robin smiled reassuringly.

"That's good to know. Any new members?"

"Speedy joined us from Titans East."

"That's excellent. Tell Raven and Cyborg that they should try to find someone else too, someone with hand-to-hand combat skills … you need more people who can fight up close."

Star nodded, perplexed as her former leader gave her advice. Even more puzzling was that Slade didn't seem to mind.

"How is Raven and Cyborg doing? I know I told Raven that I wanted those two to take over, but I wasn't sure how it would work out."

"They are doing fine. It was tough in the beginning, but… they have found their roles…" she noted something he said. "You planned to leave us… leave with Slade… even then?"

Robin shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe subconsciously. I planned to leave the Titans, though. Go solo."

"You never told me that." Slade cut in.

"So? Like I tell you everything?" Robin smirked, bending his head back to look up at the man.

"Seems someone would like to sleep on the floor tonight…" Slade grinned back.

Robin seemed to pout, frowning slightly.

"No, thank you… it just hadn't crossed my mind, that's all… I never told you that I slipped in the bath then I was seven, either, did I?"

"That might be of slightly less importance."

"What? I almost drowned! And I have avoided rubber ducks ever since…"

"Why?"

"That was what I slipped on."

"Oh."

"Never give me a rubber duck."

"I'll remember." Slade chuckled and kissed the boy.

Starfire looked from one to the other. They seemed to have forgotten all about her, having their little word-sparring-session. Maybe… maybe they really did love each other? She didn't want that to be true. She wanted to see that leash, to reveal the reason for blackmail that must, surely, be behind Robin's behaviour!

"You'll say hi to them for me?" Starfire's head snapped up, she had been too busy thinking, to notice that Robin's attention had returned to her.

"Robin… yes… I'll…" she couldn't understand how he could act so casual. She decided to be brave, and try to rattle him.
"What if I tell Batman and the Justice League where you are?"

The pair laughed. Even their laughter sounded the same. Robin shook his head at her, making her feel like a little girl who had said something extremely childish.

"They already know where we are." Robin explained. "Batman even came to visit a few months ago…"

"Yes, and wasn't that nice…" Slade muttered darkly.

"But how come… how come they haven't…?"

"Tried to stop us? Star, we know all their secrets! We know their names, their relatives, their friends. All their weaknesses… and we have made it very clear that we will use our knowledge, or sell it to the highest bidder, if they try to interfere. They would have to kill us both at the same time to stop us, and since they are heroes…" Robin made a slightly disdainful face.

"You told him!? You TOLD SLADE?!" Star was furious now, jumping to her feet.

Robin got up, too, agile and deadly like a panther.

"Of course. Let me remind you that we, also, know everything about the Titans…"

"Robin?!"

"Star…"

They stared at each other for a while in silence.

"I… thought you could be saved." Star's voice was low and sad.

Robin shook his head.

"I don't need that. Don't want that. But Star? I appreciate the try… You are all still special to me. You are a part of my past, an important element of my life. I learned so much from you. How to lead, how to share, how to take responsibility…"

"And what did you learn from him?!"

Robin smiled a little.

"How to follow, how to take, how to be carefree."

"How to steal and kill?"

Robin shrugged.

"I read somewhere that all crimes are thefts. We steal objects, lives, innocence… and we are the best. I like being the best."

"We… we must stop you…"

"No, Star. Don't fight us. Go back to Jump. Protect its people. If the Titans attack us I won't be able to save your lives this time." he looked back at Slade. "I have too much to loose." As his gaze returned to Star, he startled at seeing tears running down her face.

She spoke again, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Was it… Was it our fault? Was it something we did, to make you… make you…?"

"No! No, Star, don't ever think that!" in a flash he stood before her, grabbing her shoulders gently. He had been so fast she didn't even have time to get scared. "My path has always been inside me. I always wanted to be better. Always close to anger, to revenge. I wanted to kill the man responsible for my parent's death. I was nine, then. Nine, then I first realised that I was capable to kill. Willing to kill. Slade released that trait in me. You didn't. If anything, you held me back."

"Why do you sound like that was a bad thing?"

Robin looked her deep in the eyes and stroked her cheek gently.

"To me it was. I can't allow myself to be held back. I can't, I wont, limit myself."

"But without limits… don't we become feral?"

"No, Star. Without limits, we become free."

He leaned towards her and kissed her forehead.

"Go home, Star. Go home to your honour and duties. To your responsibilities and your limits. They are not mine anymore. But enjoy them, my friend. Maybe those are the things that make you happy."

He let her go and she floated slowly into the air. Looking at him one last time, before turning and soaring off into the night sky.

Slade came up behind him.

"You knew someone would come for you sooner or later…." he said.

"Yes." Robin sighed. "I just… somehow I kind of hoped it would be Raven."

THE END

A/N: Sooo… don't like future-fics much usually… I like everything to be as it SHOULD at the beginning of a story… but I couldn't help myself… I wanted to explore Robin's decisions, his choices, a bit more… trying to understand… Oh, I know I sound whiny, and I'm the damn WRITER… I COULD have made "Terms..." end happily with Robin defeating Slade and going back the Titans… tra-la-la-la-la… happy-happy! But I just think that he IS happy now… or maybe he has tricked me too… I don't know… I don't know who the most skilled mind-bender is, Slade or Robin… I'm going out to buy a rubber duck RIGHT NOW.

Curious about something? Want to know more about something specific related to this story (or "Touch" or "Terms…" or any other I might have written?) Let me know what and it might become a drabble in the future… Ideas are always welcome!