[Robin's POV]

It's the third night that I have spent in my Office combing over every single thing we have ever found on Conner. Even his old address, which I have already gone to for my investigation. His parents don't even live there anymore with no forwarding address. It seems that every spot in this investigation has lead me down to another dead end. Out of all my years working with Batman I have no idea what the next step should be, on either case. though the case for Red X seems to be at a dead end since Raven hasn't talked to me about it at all. She hasn't spoken to me about much of anything lately. I can feel through our bond that she still loves me, that she is just hurting. I am too though so I just need to give her space let her work her issues out. At this point it is obvious which person it was. Jason. Though he seems to have vanished from everything. Camera's, school, and even Red X has been radiot silent.

I take a sip of the coffee that I have reheated three times today, it's more bitter for some reason. The files are messily spread across my desk and the computer screen in front of me has more information on it. I look it over for the what feels like the thousandth time today. Nothing new jumps out at me. I need help. I growl to myself and get out my phone dialing the number I have memorized. I hold it up to my ear and let it ring, it rings about five times before it picks up.

"Dick do you have any what time it is?" A gruff voice answers on the other end, I sigh and look at the clock. If I was being honest I didn't have any idea of what time it was, every minute seems to be blurring together.

"I need your help Bruce" I force out, I hate asking him for help, it just shows him I am struggling here and I don't want him to see that. It would just make him feel like he was right, that I can't handle being the leader of this team. I sometimes agree with him too.

"With what?" He asks his voice seems less aggressive, softer.

"I have been looking into a Conner Mendez...he has been trafficking women and we had him and we lost him and I am trying to find him again. I have looked through everything that I could and I don't know where I should be looking next" I admit, I hear shuffling on his end, probably him getting out of bed, I am actually surprised he isn't out trying to catch any robbers in Gotham right now.

"Well how did you catch him the first time? Could you do it again?" Bruce asks me, I put a hand on my forehead and shake my head, mostly for myself than him.

"No...I would not be able to do that" I admit he must have heard the change in my voice because his gets even more soft.

"What happened Dick, why don't you tell me so I can get a better sense of what else needs to happen" he says, for a minute I think of saying no way and hanging up, it would be better than admitting all my failures, as a boyfriend and a leader. I swallow hard and take in a deep breath.

"I sent Raven in undercover, to look like the type of girls that he usually targets. It worked. She got out and we got him on the run but he escaped our cell" I admit I leave out a lot of information but, he doesn't need to know everything.

"So how did Raven get his attention, would you able to program a different look and then send her in again-"

"She won't do that again...I uhh I didn't tell her she was going to be attracting his attention...I just sent her in with the information that he could have been Red X...since that was the original mission. She didn't know until they grabbed her" I admit forcefully releasing a breath, I feel angry for some reason. I don't know if I am mad at myself or mad that Bruce needs all of this information.

"Is she okay?" is all he asks, I pause and look down at my desk looking at the picture I have of Conner that is tucked neatly in his file. "Dick...is she okay?"

"She's fine...she's mad at me. We have barely spoken. She dumped me. I know I should have told her and I don't why I didn't. I just wanted her to be careful I guess" I manage to say. I shock myself with how much emotion drips off my voice as I speak. Bruce stays quiet for a little bit and so do I. I don't know what else I could say.

"I will come to Jump City, I won't mess with your team in any way just do some of my own research. I will need your files and anything else you know...is that okay" He asks I think it over, I need his help and he says he won't be messing with my team so I don't really have any other reason to not accept his help.

"Yeah that's okay...can you do me another favor while you are here?" I ask

"What is it?" He asks

"Take Raven with you...and maybe work in a conversation where you tell her I am not a complete asshole" I say, I feel like I can see him smirk even though he isn't here.

"Will do. Get some sleep Dick" he says he doesn't say anything else, he hangs up and I put the phone down staring down at the paperwork in front of me. I put everything away neatly the way that Batman taught me to. This will speed up the time it takes him to figure anything out. The quicker he can figure it out the quicker I can get this over with. Get Conner behind bars for the longest time possible. Then maybe I could even win back Raven.


[Next Day-Raven's POV]

I stretch out against my sheets, feeling my shoulder pop from laying on it most of the night. It feels good to sleep in my own bed every night to feel my own sheets and to finally be able to mediate whenever I need. I know Conner isn't dumb enough to try to attack me at the tower or when I am with the rest of the Titans for that matter. I knock on my door disturbs me from my morning stretches, I drag myself out of bed and open the door, Beastboy stands in front a shit-eating grin covering his face.

"Cyborg told me to come and get you for breakfast...he made waffles." Beastboy says, I nod run my fingers through my bed head smoothing it out for the most part.

"I will be down soon, thanks kid" I say and turn on my heels. The door closes and I can hear Beastboy walking away from the door. I pull on my uniform and brush through the last few tangles in my hair that I didn't get with my fingers. It doesn't take me long to levitate downstairs, the smell of waffles tickles my nose and I walk by Cyborg piling another one on a plate. I see has once again started my water for my tea.

"Thank you" I say, he nods and slides me a plate with two waffles piled on it. "I see you are cooking again, that mean everything worked it's way through with Bee?"

"Yeah, she and I talked...I apologized even though you know she was the one who...you know what never mind the issue was resolved. We are back in business so if you don't mind me saying..booyah" He says pumping a fist.

"I am so glad" I say dumping a tea bag into my mug. The kettle whistles shortly after. I give it a little stir and I set the mug on the breakfast bar behind me. I grab the plate of Waffles over as well and slide them over walking around the breakfast bar and taking my seat. Beastboy hastily shovels in his tofu bacon and expelling a loud burp. Cyborg laughs and high fives him. I roll my eyes and turn back to my waffles. Beastboy and Cyborg have burping competitions as I eat, usually I would be annoyed but I enjoy the feeling of normalcy I get from this.

Robin shuffles out of his office, he has dark circles under his eyes and his hair is slanted off to one side. Cyborg grabs a mug and pours some coffee into it sliding it over to Robin, he doesn't say anything just drinks. He releases a deep exhale.

"Good morning" he says finally putting the cup down on the counter, I only look at him for a few seconds before drifting my vision back to my waffles. I can feel his eyes fall onto me though, I have been doing pretty good at ignoring his stares, the bond however is a different story I can feel his pain whenever he is around me, I used to be able to feel it no matter where I am, our bond was that strong but, I have shut it off for the most part.

"Rae, I have some news on the case and I wanted to bring it up with you, do you mind if we talk?" He asks. I look up from my plate

"Is there a reason everyone can't listen" I ask

"Just want to compare notes with you" He replies, I nod and take in the last bite of my waffles and wash it down with a bit more of my tea. Cyborg grabs my plate from me and puts it in the sink on top of the batter bowl. Instead of going to his office we head upstairs, no doubt to his bedroom. I feel a bit of uneasiness forming in the pit of my stomach, not that Robin is going to hurt me but, being in his room after everything that has happened just doesn't sit right with me. We enter his room and he reaches for a file on his nightstand his opens it looking it over and hands it to me.

"I wanted to tell you I am sorry." He says, it takes me off guard, I almost step back but I remain grounded.

"For?" I ask, I can almost feel my hands shaking from anxiety but I center myself and remain neutral. If he notices my uneasiness he doesn't show it.

"Everything, I shouldn't have sent you in without telling you the real mission. I shouldn't have blamed you for what happened. regardless of what I think you didn't deserve to be treated like that" He replies.

"What do you mean regardless of what you think?" I ask he thinks for a second, probably gathering his words.

"I mean even if I think you could have done something to prevent it, I shouldn't have treated you like that. You didn't deserve it and I was being an asshole so I wanted to clear the air between us since it is starting to affect how we work together as a team" he answers. I nod if only to myself as I finally understand.

"So you are apologizing to me, because it's affecting the team, Not because you are actually sorry" I repeat, he furrows his brow and puts a hand on the back of his neck nervously.

"I mean I guess, but as long as I am doing it" He answers, I give him the files back and turn on my heels heading out of the room.

"I am not holding the team back Robin, You just can't seem to stop letting outside issues affect our missions and that is more of a problem than our issues" I say before leaving the room. I take a deep breath as soon as the door closes behind me heading for my own room. I need to meditate or read or something to get my mind off the anger I actually feel going through my body right now. I don't make it to my room before the alarms start to go off around me, red lights flashing and a loud blaring horn to grab all of our attention. I make a bolt for the stairs heading down to the Comm rooms, Robin is already there clicking through footage on the screen.

"Red X is grabbing art from a museum. Titans GO!"

We get there sooner than Red X probably would have liked, he freezes as see's us slowly putting an artifact in a duffel bag.

"Give us the Vase X" Robin commands, I levitate above everyone else looking for anything to use to my advantage, before I know it an X is flying at me, I barely dodge it letting it hit the wall behind me. I shoot at Red X but he dodges as he leaps through. Beastboy lunges at him as a gorilla grabbing him only momentarily before Red X slams an X on his back with explodes into this sticky gooey stuff. He tries to turn into a Cheetah, then money, then t-rex but nothing helps him get out of his trap. I throw another dark ball at him hoping to slow him down but he moves out of the way just in time to get clipped by a sonic hit from Cyborg. I fly down to grab him while he's stunned but he slaps Cyborg with an X and sparks fly out from all directions.

"Cy!" Robin yells as he extends his bo staff, I look back to see Red X landing in front of him, I turn back to Cyborg helping him to the ground to make sure he doesn't break any parts. He's heavy. Starfire yells as she throws a couple starbolts at Red X, he evades all but one which hits him in the back. He grunts but from his mask it just sounds like a growl.

"Come on bird brain is that all you got?" Red X teases, Robin clenches his jaw and throws a kick and a punch, I teleport behind Red X, I grab him in my soul self throwing him to the side, he hits a case that was showing old tiaras. He shoots out another X but it misses me and hits Starfire drawing her backwards and onto the wall. She struggles but can't seem to find her way out of it.

"Come on Sunshine, show me what else you got" He muses, I throw a broken piece of wood at him, it hits his mask and breaks. Robin extends his bo staff once again and gets into a fighting stance. Red X just casually throws another X at him, it hits robin in the chest electrocuting him on impact. He drops to the floor. I look back at Red X as he almost bounces up to the next floor, I teleport there, he see's me and continues his run going through a door that says "Roof Access." I follow him expecting him to be gone but he isn't. He stands against an AC unit looking out at the city.

"What the hell was that?" I ask he turns to me and takes off his mask. His hair is messy and some of it sticks to his forehead with sweat.

"Don't worry about him, he will be fine. Cyborg too, he will take a slight nap but he should be fine. Robin will have a nasty burn though" He replies, I shake my head and exhale deeply.

"Why didn't you X me?" I ask

"I needed to get you alone, talk to you" He says I nod and look up at the sky letting my hood fall down. I meet his eyes and wait for him to start.

"Well?" I urge

"Oh um sorry. I just wanted to say I am sorry for how I spoke to you. I was umm...You have an affect on me. You calm me, make me less angry and it was making me act and think differently and it scared me. I didn't know you would leave right away and I never wanted to just leave things like that. I had to apologize to you" He says

"I am an empath, I have that affect around people I guess." I reply he nods and moves his hand through his hair.

"Well it is...addicting to say the least. You umm...helped with my nightmares. I hadn't felt like I slept correctly in a long time. Anyway, I will let you get back to the team I just needed to let you know how sorry I am for yelling at you, you don't deserve to be talked to like that. I also didn't want you to feel like I just wanted to sleep with you since...You know" he says. I nod and look down to the ground where the gravel on the rood crunch under my boots.

"I appreciate you saying that Jay" I reply, it is true when I feel his emotions right now, he's genuine. Another deep contrast between him and Robin. Something that does not go unnoticed.

"You know...no one has ever called me Jay before" He adds while pulling his mask back over his head.

"Do you want me to stop?" I ask

"Nah, you are the only allowed to call me that though Sunshine, so don't go around telling anyone" He says before leaping off the side of the building, I run to the side and see him vanish into thin air. I laugh to myself and turn on my heels heading back to the door. I open it but am hit by a moving body and it knocks me down. Robin stands looking around the roof frantically, the team behind him. I grunt and get up from the ground dusting small rocks and dirt from my hands.

"Where is he?" He demands

"Gone, I was looking if he dropped anything else like he did last time" I lie

"You let him go?" He grounds out, I huff and move past him bumping into his shoulder.

"Just fuck off" I mutter heading inside.


[Next Day]

Having the Batman here seems to be nerve wrecking for Robin, while everyone else is basically so excited they are shaking. We sit around the Comm room as Batman takes us through everything he has been researching on the Topic, apparently Robin has recruited him for his help on this case. It would make sense to why, we haven't been able to get any more information on him and everyday we don't stop him is another day another girl could be being sold to some pervert. I look between the team trying to read everyone's emotions. Robin sits up straighter than I have ever seen him sit his eyes glued to the screen. He must be worried about images at this point. The last time he spoke to Batman was about him leaving, and now I know why. Which makes me feel a little bit more resentful towards him. I look back to the screen where Batman is going through the evidence has found. A picture of another warehouse comes onto the screen and Batman points to it.

"This is where I think he might have moved his business. However I cannot be completely sure and I need to check it out." He says, I nod in understanding leaning back into the couch. My hood is pulled up mostly to keep any emotion I might be displaying far from the view of Robin and his mentor. No doubt Robin has already told Batman about everything and something about this man knowing what almost happened to me makes me uneasy.

"So uhh what do you wanna do it about?" Beastboy chimes in,his voice comes out squeaky and slightly shaky. He is intimidated by the Bat. Batman moves his gaze to him and then back to Robin taking a step back. Robin gets to his feet, his body language is different than anything I have ever seen.

"Well, Batman is going to go look into it, however he is taking Raven with him for stealth and so she can point out if she sees anyone she recognizes." Robin says, I scoff and scoot my legs underneath me putting me in the lotus position. Robin narrows his eyes at me.

"Is there a problem with that" He grounds out, I can tell he is trying too hard to impress the Bat, I look to him and try to read him but his face is unreadable.

"No, it's fine I am just surprised you told me this time" I spit, he doesn't say anything just looks to the ground but quickly regains his composure.

"So it's settled, Raven here is with me. You all can do whatever you can from here but be on call in case we need you" Batman says, Robin nods and goes back to his seat I can feel his glares.

I guess I am going back to find Conner with the worlds best Detective.