A/N: Happy B-day Kiratoya (July 20)!

This have a tiny warning for gore/violence, but it's not a dark story, It's freestanding and feels new to me, and I hope you enjoy it!

Remember Me?

Slade shouldn't have survived. They had been in a fight, and, as he had struggled to find some higher ground and by himself some time, Robin had decided to cross a big yard, hoping the man wouldn't catch up to him before he had reached the top of the building on the other side. The grapple hook wouldn't take him that far, though, so the teen hero had landed on the roof of a small, low building, not much more than a shed, and tensed as he had felt it shudder.

But Slade was much closer behind than Robin had thought, and as the hero caught the sound of metal scraping against stone he looked back over his shoulder to see the man about to jump down on the roof as well.

"Slade! No, don't-"

But it was too late. The roof couldn't hold two hundred and twenty five pounds dropping down on it, and collapsed.

It wouldn't normally have been so bad, really. Another day they might have just continued to fight, once they picked themselves up from the floor, but not today. Because the shed was occupied. Robin, seeing a glimpse of the men and a table full of bags of white powder, knew it was bad even before he saw the gun. The men, who must have been warmed by the sound of the teen landing on the roof, were ready, but not looking for a fight. They were already running, trying to grab what they could of their stash first, but they were also not keen on being followed.

The hero fell hard on his side, which probably saved his life, but Slade landed on his feet. There was no time for him to react, the bullet was leaving the barrel as his feet touched the ground, and the next instant his mask seemed to explode in a thousand shards. Robin saw it all from his vantage point on the floor, the way the man stumbled, the spray of blood and grey matter painting the wall behind him. And then it was over. There wasn't a second shot, the man just ran with his friends. The hero lay where he had fallen for several moments, staring in disbelief at the crumpled body on the floor which had once, just minutes ago, been his worst enemy, his nemesis, his… his… his.

He somehow picked himself up, cradling his side where he had at least one broken rib, and he made a call. He must have made a call, because the Titans and the police, as well as an ambulance, were at the scene not long after, but Robin just couldn't really remember. He was on autopilot.

"There's a pulse!" one of the medical crew cried out and Robin's head snapped up.

"What?"

"We have a pulse, but it's weak. Let's get him to the hospital!"

An hour later a taped up Robin, two broken ribs, one fractured, was standing by Slade's hospital bed. Or Slade… he didn't recognize the man under the mask, of course, but there was still something there, something that… spoke to him, in a way.

"Robin?"

"Yes?" the teen turned to the doctor who had just come into the room. "How is he doing?"

"Incredibly, since he should be dead," the man said dryly. The hero and his team knew him, as they, and especially Robin, needed some medical attention regularly. "We have patched him up as best as we could. It was a small caliber gun, but that shouldn't have mattered… he lost part of his brain, but he still has a pulse… we can't quite understand it."

"Could he… could he be a meta-human?" Robin asked, the thought never really occurring to him before now.

"Probably, we have seen some signs of healing-"

"So he will be alright?" the teen asked, wondering at the sense of hope coursing through him.

"Robin… no. I don't want to give you any false hope. He has lost too much grey matter. He has a heartbeat, and he breathes on his own, but that's it. I have proclaimed him brain dead, even though he doesn't need any life-support. There is no reaction to any tests. He will never wake up."

"Oh."

"As he breathes on his own he will be moved to a care facility for the time being. In these cases I'm afraid the body usually deteriorates quite quickly no matter how much care is given… I'll give him a few months maximum."

"Oh," Robin said again.

"Once life-support is needed, I am guessing there will be a judge ruling about whether or not to employ it… would you happen to know if he's an organ donor?" the doctor asked, looking down on the man's chart.

Robin burst out in a strange laugh. "No, I have no idea if Slade is an organ donor. I don't know anything about him… not really…" he answered.

"I see," the doctor said and gave the young man a bit of a puzzled look. "Well, the police, due to his condition, has released him into my care for now, as he poses no threat to anyone… would you like to be informed where he will be moved once that is decided? We haven't been able to find any relatives or even friends, so I put you down as 'next of kin'… not quite by the books, but…" the man shrugged, indicating that when you were dealing with heroes and villains not everything could be done by the books.

"Can I take him to the Tower?" Robin suddenly heard himself asking.

"I… yes, that could be arranged… " the doctor blinked. "But… are you sure? This man, wasn't he, I mean, isn't he, a criminal?"

"Yes. But a very special one," Robin said, looking, and feeling, sheepish.

"Very well. If he survives the night we'll have him transferred tomorrow.

Slade did survive the night and soon he was lying on a bed in the Titan's sick bay.

"This is like…surreal…" Beast Boy said, his voice filled with awe.

"Yeah, man… it's like… whenever I have imagined standing in front of an unconscious Slade, I have pictured drawing a mustache and stuff on his mask…" Cyborg said.

"We should not! This is sad!" a teary-eyed Starfire sobbed.

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "It kinda is. The doctor said that he's stable, though… Raven, there's nothing you can-?"

"No," the empath answered at once. "No. Not even if it was one of you. I wouldn't even know where to start… someone's brain… you just can't repair that…"

"It's okay," Robin nodded, having expected the answer as the young woman hadn't offered. "He'll just stay with us, then… for as long as he has."

"It's humbling," Cyborg mumbled. "That it can be over so quickly, even for someone like him…"

The heroes nodded and stood in silence around the bed for a while, but the real world eventually called them back with the sound of a blaring alarm.

Robin, due to his ribs, was off active duty for a few weeks, but he busied himself with surveillance, writing reports and cross-referencing, finally cleaning up their system a bit. It seemed to him that it only got in perfect order when he was grounded. He had also researched Slade himself, and finally, knowing what the man looked like, he had had a breakthrough. He had spent many hours in disbelief over the secret files he had discovered.

Several times every day he found himself standing beside Slade's bed, however, without having made a conscious decision to go there. Mostly he just stood quietly, but sometimes he talked.

"So, believe it or not, but the team actually fought giant tomatoes today…" he told the man. "The whole of downtown is covered in ketchup. Starfire is eagerly expecting attacks of mustard monsters…"

He heard the ding of the elevator and knew what that meant: the daily visit from the nurse who cared for the man's health, as weak as it was. There were a lot of things one had to do to a comatose patient,, though, and Robin had too much respect for Slade to invade his privacy like that, even if he could have learned how to.

The nurse wasn't alone this time, however.

"Hi, Robin, I've just come to check the wounds and change the bandages," the doctor said, his voice indicating that it was just routine and nothing that would really matter.

"I'll leave you to it," the teen nodded and went back to work. Not long after, however, he heard the doctor calling for him. Thinking that Slade's vitals had suddenly failed, Robin felt a stab in his chest as he ran towards the med bay, but what he discovered was a genuinely puzzled and somewhat excited doctor.

"He has healed!"

"He… what?" Robin blinked.

"His skull is completely healed, the skin and hair has grown back, there's not even a scar," the man said and showed the teen first hand.

"What about his internal injuries?"

"There's no way for me to tell, of course, not without a scan… and I still wouldn't hope. He clearly has powerful healing powers, but it's one thing to heal a wound, and another to rebuild brain cells… even if he could do it he might still not wake up, and if he wakes up… well… he might not be able to function."

Robin nodded. He had never had any false hope. That very notion was strange; hoping that his nemesis would bounce back was kind of hard to justify.

A few days went by. Robin, still grounded, was at the man's bedside when Slade's hand suddenly moved. It was just a tiny twitch of the fingers, but it had happened, it was real.

"Slade?" Robin asked softly, not sure quite what to think. "Are you… awake?"

Slowly, slowly, the man's eye opened.

"S-Slade?" Robin couldn't quite believe it, and touched the man's hand like he just had to check if he was there.

The villain's fingers closed over his for a moment. The man's lips stretched in a small smile and then the eye closed and he had slipped away again. Robin stood nailed to the floor. Had Slade just squeezed his hand? And smiled?

It was hours before anything more happened, and his team had both returned from one mission and set out on another, but Robin didn't move from the sick bed at all. Then, suddenly, there was another small movement, more like a shiver through the man's body and he looked up again. While he had been unconscious Robin had secured the man's chest to the bed with a strap; it might not hold him for long if he attacked, but it would hopefully hold him for long enough. Long enough for Robin to give him the shot of sedatives which lay on the bedside table, at least.

"Slade?" the teen asked again, wondering if he would get an answer at all. Maybe it was all emptiness in there. The thought made the knot in his stomach grew bigger. Slade dying was one thing, but Slade living out his days as a drooling vegetable? That thought was horrendous to Robin, because it was one of his own biggest fears. Even losing a leg or an arm he thought he could cope with, but his mind? He studied the man closely and spoke again.

"Slade? Can you hear me?"

"Who are you?" the voice was low, but steady.

"I… I'm Robin."

"Hello Robin."

"You don't recognize me?"

"No. Where am I?"

"You're in the sick bay of Titans Tower, recovering after a gunshot wound to the head," the young hero informed him.

"Where is that?"

"The Tower? Jump City… do you know where that is?" the teen asked, frowning in unease.

"California," Slade answered.

"That's right," the hero nodded, and then asked the big question. "Do you remember who you are?"

The man looked up at him quizzically like he didn't understand the question, and then frowned himself. "No… no. Slade. I recognize that name, but maybe only because you called me that… What… What happened to me?"

"Like I said, you were shot in the head. You healed, so maybe the memory loss is only temporary, you just need a little more time."

The man had brought a hand to his face and discovered the eye patch there.

"Is this from… the accident?"

"No, it's from a previous gunshot, long ago," Robin, who had done his homework, could answer.

"Is getting shot in the head something I do a lot?" the man asked dryly, and the teen couldn't help but chuckle.

"I should hope not," he grinned.

"Good," Slade smiled back. "Or I would have really had to reevaluate my life. Oh… why am I strapped to the bed?"

"We were afraid you would fall out of it," Robin lied smoothly. "I'll take care of it. I need to call your doctor, but do you need anything?"

"Water would be nice, please."

"Right away." Robin hurried to the sink and filled a cup, and, as an afterthought, a second one, for the man who downed them both.

"Thank you. Robin?"

"Yes?"

"I don't mean to sound suspicious… but why are you wearing a mask?"

The teen chuckled a bit again, trying to put himself in Slade's situation; waking up with amnesia and a masked stranger standing over him.

"It's all a bit much to explain at once, but we, the Teen Titans, are heroes. I wear this mask to protect my identity."

"Ah, of course. Sorry."

"I'm… I'm going to call the hospital now, just try to rest a bit, would you?" he said and hurried out of the room. Hearing the man saying words like 'please', 'thank you' and 'sorry' was almost disturbing.

After a full examination and a lot of testing Slade was declared healthy but with a substantial memory loss.

"Now when he's more awake he mostly remembers his childhood," the doctor told Robin, who hadn't been allowed to be present during the tests. "Up to about fifteen or sixteen years of age, in fact. He seems to have joined the army around then?"

"Yeah, he did," Robin confirmed.

"Good, I was afraid it was a delusion. Well, he has, not memories, but almost an instinctive knowledge about certain aspects after that. He knows that he's an adult, for example, not a teen, and he finds that natural. He could answer most of the general knowledge questions apart from current affairs, so most of what he has once learned is still there, but his memory regarding who he is as an individual is gone."

"Will they return?" Robin asked.

"I will never say 'no' regarding this man again, so… possibly. That his healing-powers can create brain cells is amazing in itself, though… but recreating memory? Well, as I said, I won't say it's impossible."

"So… what do we do now?" the teen asked. "Is he a police matter again?"

The doctor sighed and then shrugged. "I don't think it's right to lock up a man who can't remember who he is… and my medical opinion is that if he would be put through a trial in his fragile condition it would be devastating. Should his memories return, however, maybe that changes things."

"I agree."

"Tread lightly, Robin. Tell him little by little about his past, but don't lie. It must be tempting, but if I find out that you have tried to better him, I'm going to have him removed from here. He's under my supervision for at least a month, but he won't need a nurse anymore. He didn't even stumble when I asked him to stand up. Incredible."

"I won't lie to him, doctor," Robin promised.

"Good. I trust you, but I've seen it happen before. Just little things, but it can be devastating if the patient regains his memory. I have told him that you won't tell him everything at once and he understands why, but he must be impatient to know. Don't let him rush you too much."

"I won't," Robin nodded and suddenly understood something staggering; he was responsible for Slade. Not just 'keeping' his body, but for the man himself, his mental health. He wondered if he was in over his head. It sure felt like it.

"Call me if you have any questions, day or night," the doctor said and left.

"Are you sure he's not faking it?" Cyborg asked once the team was back and Robin had filled them in on the big news.

"I'm as sure as I can be, and so was the doctor," their leader said.

"He's still Slade, though," Raven pointed out.

"Yeah, if anyone could fake it…" Beast Boy agreed.

"I'll let you judge when you see him. Especially you, Raven. It might not be a good idea to prod his mind right now, but you are very good at reading people, so…?" Robin suggested.

"Of course," the empath nodded.

Robin, as he didn't want to overwhelm the man, entered the room first.

"The team is here, are you feeling up to seeing them?" he asked.

"Of course," Slade nodded. He was sitting up in the bed now, dressed in fresh scrubs.

The other teens filed into the room, mumbling hi, except for Starfire who flew up to the man.

"I am very glad that you are not dead!" she exclaimed. "May I give you the hug?"

"He-he, sure," Slade chuckled and groaned in the next instant. "You're strong. What's your name?"

"Starfire! And this is Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg!" she introduced the rest of the group who were still staring dumbly, not recovered from what had just happened.

"Hello. I'm sorry I can't remember you," Slade said. "No need to be shy, though, do I look that scary?" he grinned and then his eye landed on Beast Boy. "Are you aware that you are green?"

That broke some of the tension and soon Slade knew more or less everything about each teen and their powers.

"And what kind of power do you have?" he asked Robin.

"I don't have one," the teen smiled.

The man's eye seemed to look at him again, reevaluate him. "Impressive."

A warm feeling exploded in Robin's chest, but he put a lid on it, and turned the conversation around to his team again.

"So why am I part of a team of young heroes, I'm hardly a teen," Slade suddenly asked and the room turned deadly quiet. "What?" the man added.

"Um… you're not a Titan," Robin finally answered.

"Oh? You said 'we' and I assumed that included me. So why am I here then… am I… related to any of you?"

"No, you're not," Robin said shaking his head and trying making it stop spin at the idea.

"Good, I was afraid I was your father," the man smirked.

"Wha-?" Robin gaped and his team burst out laughing. Their leader, a little forcedly, joined them. "And what would have been so bad about that?"

"Well, it would have been horrible to not recognize your own son," the man shrugged. "For starters…" he added with another smirk.

"Um… yeah… Well, I'm sorry, but the thing the doctor told you… about taking things slow? This is part of it, so we'll let you more later, alright?"

"Alright. I guess I have to be patient," the man nodded. "The doctor said I could eat, though, and that's something I'd really like to do."

"You want pizza?" Beast Boy asked immediately.

"I think he needs something healthier," Robin said, shaking his head, "We have chicken, don't we? Chicken, rice and a salad, does that sound good?"

"Can't say I remember otherwise," Slade deadpanned.

"You should be the one, Robin," Raven said. They were talking, of course, about their house guest and what was to be done about him.

"Yeah, you brought him home, so you take care of him," Beast Boy grinned.

"Quiet, BB, " Raven snapped. "I mean it. We can't all be telling him things, because then it might get too much for him… if we are to control the flow of information, we need to make sure only one of us provides it. And I think it should be Robin."

The others, not used to quite as long sentences from the empath, just stared at her for a moment and then hurriedly nodded. Raven didn't give speeches unless she had thought things through, and, when she did, she was usually right.

"Okay," Robin agreed. "Good plan, Rae, but that doesn't mean you can't spend time with him. He needs to interact with people or he'll get cabin fever or something."

"I will take him to do the shopping!" Starfire volunteered.

"He does need clothes, but I think I'll go with you," Robin said. "We all have to remember that his memory could, potentially, come back at any time, and when that happens… well, it might be dangerous."

"So, what do I usually wear?" Slade asked, looking around the men's department store. Despite her claim for the position of shopping assistant, Starfire had long since been distracted by other things in the mall and was nowhere to be seen.

"I… don't know," Robin admitted.

"What, you usually only see me naked?" the man smirked and arched en eyebrow at him.

Robin felt his face heat up and pretended to be interested in a rack of ties.

"No, but… Just, I don't know what you wear beside your uniform."

"Uniform, huh? Am I still in the military? It doesn't quite feel right."

"No, but… later?"

"Yes. Later. I am trying to be patient, Robin, but I will need answers." The voice the man used now was so much like his old one, that the teen shivered. Slade didn't sound malevolent, though, just serious. Deadly serious.

"Yes, of course," the teen nodded. "So… jeans and a shirt, maybe?"

"What's in the box?" Slade asked as Robin came into the Titan's living room, where the man was relaxing in front of the news channel.

"This…" Robin said and drew a deep breath. "This is your uniform, Slade." The teen had been arguing with himself about whether or not to show it to the man, but had decided that it was time for the truth. "Your mask broke when you were shot, but I have pieced it together."

"Broke?" Slade asked and curiously opened the box. A little while later they had it all laid out on the floor. "This was… unexpected," the mercenary muttered.

"You don't remember it?"

"No. Not at all." The man sounded frustrated and a little bit angry, not really his usual aloof self, but how could he be? "Why was I wearing this? If I wasn't a Titan, was I an independent hero? A vigilante, perhaps?"

"No, Slade… take a seat. We need to talk," Robin sighed.

"So we were enemies?" Slade was staring at the young man in front of him in disbelief.

"Well… yes, we were on opposing sides," Robin nodded. He had told the man what he knew, but only in very general terms, no gruesome details.

"But you took me in? You cared for me for weeks and now…?" the man threw his hands out and then froze. "Did you shoot me? Is this because of guilt?"

"No! No, I didn't shoot you, a drug dealer did. But I was there. We were fighting and fell through a roof…"

"Sounds like a lovely night out," the man muttered sarcastically. "So I was fighting the whole team? I'm a bit impressed with myself."

"No," Robin laughed, "Only me."

"Now I feel like a coward," the man snorted.

"What? Why?"

"Come on, you're only human, and, let's be honest, how much of a chance would you have against me? You're not exactly in my weight class."

"Hey!" Robin exclaimed. "I can hold my own against you, Deathstroke!"

"Excuse me, what? Deathstroke?"

"Deathstroke the Terminator."

Slade threw his head back and laughed. "Okay, so I know that one was a joke. Very funny."

"No, that's what you called yourself as a mercenary," Robin shrugged.

"Sounds like I was a bit full of myself."

"Well, some things apparently don't change," the teen huffed, still pouting about the weight class comment.

"True, true… feels kind of good, actually…" the man admitted with a grin. "So… I'd like to fight you."

"What?"

"We should fight. Just spar, of course, but if I go through the motions that might trigger something-" the man suddenly hesitated and seemed to think things through. "If the memories return, though… you can't really want that, right?"

"To be perfectly honest, Slade, I… I don't know."

"Is there a reason to think that I would pose a danger to you if my memory returns?" the man asked.

"Pft, every reason," Robin snorted, but then caught the look in the man's eye. "Well… I don't know. You will remember what happened since you woke up too, after all, and despite everything else… you had a code of conduct, Slade. A sense of honor, of sorts… so…"

"Good. Then I promise that I will just leave," the man nodded. "Because, no matter how bloody my past might be… I need it back."

"I know, we'll get it back," Robin smiled bravely. "Especially if I can kick your ass doing it…"

"Amazing!" Robin exclaimed in the gym a while later.

"Why, thank you," Slade smirked.

"Oh, shut it, it's just that… I recognize your moves. They are still there. Are you sure you don't remember?"

"My body does, but not me," the man shrugged. "So when does it start?"

"What do you mean?"

"Weren't you going to kick my ass?"

"Oh, just you wait…" Robin muttered.

"I've been waiting for thirty five minutes," the man grinned. "One more time?"

"You bet."

After that round Slade called it quits, though.

"I need a shower," the man claimed and pulled his sweaty new-bought t-shirt over his head. Robin felt like he was suddenly in the girl's locker-room: part excitement, part cold dread.

"Yeah, you go… do that…" he said numbly.

"What, you don't need one? The showers are in here, right?" Slade said and gestured to the locker room door.

"Sure, I'm just… going to stretch, first," the teen hero claimed.

"Good idea. I actually think I'm a bit out of practice," the man complained and stretched his arms out behind him before rubbing a shoulder which apparently ached.

"You're just saying that because I got three points in a row," Robin claimed.

"Two and a half."

"A half?"

"I was… distracted."

"Sure you were. By what?" the teen snorted.

"Never you mind," the man smirked, making Robin suspect he would mind quite a bit, had he known. Suddenly, though, the look on the man's face changed. "Robin, I need to ask you something, and this time I want the whole truth."

"Okay?" the teen agreed reluctantly.

"Do I like you?"

Robin's felt his face change color, but he wasn't sure if it was to red or white. "W-what?"

"Just answer the question. Is there something between us?"

"N-no!"

"Liar."

"No! No, I… there's… I… What gave you THAT idea?" Robin exploded in the end.

"Well, the night I got shot… you told me it was just you and I on that roof, and then you called the Titans… I found that a bit strange, since you are a team. You brought me, someone on the other team, so to speak, into your home. Then, from the moment I first woke up, I… well. And you are clearly the one 'in charge' of me, don't deny that. And… this might be a dream or just a distorted memory, but did you talk to me while I was in a coma? I remember something about giant tomatoes…?" Slade had a 'don't judge me' look on his face as he uttered the last part, but that soon changed to determination again. "There is something there, Robin. Don't tell me I'm making that up."

"I… I don't know, it's not like we actually talked!" the teen objected.

"I never spoke to you?"

"Well… yes… sometimes, but…"

"Did I ever make you feel… special? Singled out?"

Robin looked away with a huff and then, in a very low voice, muttered "Yeah. Kind of."

"I might not remember much of my adult life, but I don't think I'm the kind of man who brings someone flowers," Slade smiled. "But we never…?"

"No!"

With a few steps the man was right in front of him, tilting the teen's chin up.

"Want to change that?"

Robin couldn't make a sound and just closed his eyes as the man leaned in. Then, suddenly, something occurred to him and he, with a shout, pushed the man away.

"I can't! We can't!"

"And why not?" the mercenary asked in confusion.

"I don't know if you're gay!"

"Excuse me?"

"What if you're straight, or worse, a homophobe? If I let you kiss me… Slade' you'll KILL me!"

"Me?" the man actually sounded scandalized. "Where would you get that idea?"

Robin wanted to say something like 'well, you have tried to before', but he didn't want to. Besides, he wasn't completely sure it was true. Sure, their fights were always brutal, but had Slade ever been after his life? He didn't know, not for sure… but maybe that was just hopeful thinking.

"I just… well, let's say BB lost his memory and we tricked him into eating meat! He'd hate us and even himself!"

"Well… talking about meat…" Slade smirked and came closer again.

"Can't you just listen? What if-?"

"I'll take my chances," the man decided and swooped down.

Robin's objections, all of them, were instantly forgotten even as Slade undressed him and they made out in the shower, rubbing and touching each other until they both came, shuddering, the proof washing off their bodies almost instantly.

It the teen had expected it to be awkward afterwards, he was surprised, because the man seemed so at ease that it transferred to Robin.

"Um… don't take this the wrong way, but we shouldn't tell the Titans. Not yet," the hero said as they left the gym wearing towels as none of them had brought a change of clothes.

"The situation is a bit delicate, perhaps," the man agreed with a shrug. "But I better put some clothes on, then, so you won't jump me in the hallway."

"Yeah, right…" Robin grinned but was silently contemplating how to steal the man's towel.

"I have a tight grip on it," Slade, who could apparently read minds, or just follow a hungry look, smirked and walked away.

The rest of the day was spent steeling glances and a few kisses. Slade have been given a guest room as soon as he had gotten the all clear from the doctor and when night came Robin couldn't stop himself from visiting.

"Hi, I just wanted to see if you wanted to go for a run tomorrow morning?" he asked airily.

"Nice excuse. Get in the bed," the man, who was already in it, reading, smirked, lifting the covers.

"I was just-"

"Yes, cute. Now get to it, because the offer won't last much longer."

Robin blushed and snorted, but closed the door behind him nonetheless and was about to climb in when the man stopped him.

"Not so fast. Bed-rules. No clothes."

"You…" Robin muttered but didn't finish it, instead he quickly slipped out of his t-shirt and pajama pants and joined the man under the covers.

"There you go. Perfect," the man smirked.

"Are you absolutely SURE you won't regret this?" Robin asked worriedly.

"I'm a man. How can I regret a night of incredible sex, no matter who it's with?"

"Incredible?" Robin grinned.

"Well, I'm involved aren't I?" the man leered.

"Yes, but how do you even know that you're any good?" Robin leered back, making the man's smile slip.

"That's a horrible thing to say to a man in bed," he growled.

"Yeah, sorry," Robin chuckled.

"Good thing you'll make it up to me," the man shrugged, put his hand on top of Robin's head and pushed him down under the covers.

"I'm not saying it doesn't suit you, but are you aware that you've been walking around grinning like an idiot for the last few days?" Cyborg asked Robin.

"Um… I… am happy my ribs are almost healed?" the teen tried.

"Uh-huh?" his friend replied, clearly unconvinced. "Never seen you that happy even when you took the cast off your broken arm…"

"Um, yeah, I… need to go…" Robin said, as it was bedtime and Slade had said that he'd meet him in Robin's room right about now.

When he entered the room, however, Slade was already there. Standing by his desk. Reading a thick folder. A folder marked 'Slade J. Wilson'".

"Why am I not in jail?" the man asked darkly.

"I-"

"If this is me, if I have done these things… killed these people… and to you? Kidnapped you? Almost murdered your friends? How the HELL can you sleep with me?" the man threw the folder down on the desk with a loud thud. "How the hell can you even consider taking me in? Putting yourself in danger like that? And the team as well!"

"I-"

"You should have told me."

"I did! I… I was… little by little, remember? I…"

"I understand the wary looks now," Slade said and sank down on the bed. "You should have sent me away. You should have left me in some institution to rot."

"I guess I'm just insane, then," Robin mumbled and sat down next to the man, their arms brushing. "I hesitated, of course I did, but… I don't know…"

"Was this why you didn't want to kiss me at first?" the man asked and gestured to the folder.

"No, I really thought you might be livid if you weren't gay."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Duh! You did."

"So what do you think will happen now? If I remember everything in say… five minutes, what would happen?"

"I trust you, Slade. I really trust you now. Maybe you'd remember some reason to be annoyed at me for spoiling some plan of yours or other, but, really, I think that you'd see reason and just continue kissing me."

"Contin-?" Slade said, but he suddenly had a Robin straddling his lap, pressing their lips together.

"I see," the man said as they parted, a smile threatening to break free on his lips, but he turned serious again. "Prove that you trust me."

"How?"

"Remove your mask."

Robin tensed. "I... it's protecting more people than me…"

"I know. That's why it's the ultimate proof… but I don't blame you if you won't do-"

But the teen had already ripped it off his face, revealing blue eyes that were vulnerable but also brimming with trust.

"Now will you make love to me you big cry baby?" the teen asked half teasing, half exasperated.

It turned out Slade didn't have any more objections.

The next morning Robin woke up with a lazy smile, like he had for a few days now, but the spot next to him was empty. He sat up, thinking the man must have sneaked away so they wouldn't be caught, but then he noticed that the folder was gone, and a note lay on the desk in its place. Feeling cold dread fill his stomach, the hero began to read.

'Robin. I thought finding out what I have done would help, mo matter how disturbing it was, but I realized this morning that knowing is not enough. I have left. Don't try to find me. Know, though, that I'm not leaving you, I'm merely searching for myself. I have to find out who I am, my bird, or rather; who I can be. I won't go as far as promising that I can be a good man, but I have to find out. I owe it to you. If I can't… I don't deserve you. I refuse to hurt you again. Slade'

Robin let the letter fall from his fingers and leaned heavily against the wall, unable to stand on his own.

"Not hurt me, huh…?" he mumbled, pain like he never had felt before ripping his heart to shreds.

The End

A/N: *glances up from under bangs* Ummm… so… what did you think? It was kind of hard to figure out how to write Slade without his memories, but I decided that he wouldn't be TOTALLY OOC even with memory loss. The ending was wished for and I'm kinda glad it was, or it would have just ended with "happily ever after" as they tend to do, and no, Slade never got his memory back, at least not a long as this story lasts, so if you thought he was tricking Robin you were wrong… .;) And I never know if something is sad or cheesy so if you felt a twinge in your chest, or not, I'd like to know, please?