A/N: I'm back from New York! I'm so happy! It was a life changing experience for me. I gave up my writing skills to God! So I will be using them for him. I will still be writing fan fictions, but I will also be writing other stuff maybe on Fan Fiction Press if it is possible. But I'm so happy to have my computer back and my own bed! You do not know how happy I am right now! Anywho, on with the chapter you guys have been waiting for!

Disclaimer: You have to ride the short bus if you think I own any part of the Teen Titans.

Chapter 5 Guilt

"Good morning, Slade," Jake said as he woke up in his bed. A cocky expression was planted on his face as he yawned and stretched. He knew Slade would be there by the conversation he had with Raven and Beast Boy last night. And the teen had been right.

"I don't give you enough credit," Slade said from where he stood by the open window of Robin's room. He had his back leaned against the wall with his hands folded in front of him. He had waited for a few minutes for the boy to wake and was greeted before Jake had even seen him.

"Yeah, I know," Jake said while hopping off the bed. He grabbed his black and white mask and put it on before looking to Slade. "I do listen to people even if I don't want to. You said you would keep a close eye on me."

"Why the cheery and annoying mood?" Slade asked him. A small amount of amusement was in his one eye that was pinned on the teen dressing quickly for the day ahead.

"Because," Jake said. He had to stop when he pulled on his shirt. He spiked up his hair once again then went on. "I know how to be Red X and Robin and keep on fooling the Titans. I won't get beat up by you, and Val will stay safe. Things are going smoothly. Thanks for checking up on me, Slade, but I have things all under control." He gave the villain a two finger salute and headed for the door.

"Stop," Slade said right before Jake opened the door. He saw the teen cringe before turning around to face Slade again.

"Need something?" Jake asked him with a small frown. "I'm doing this with no complaining. What more do you want from me? Think that I feel guilty and covering up with the cheery act? Well, I've played the villain numerous times. I don't get guilt."

"I bet that was a mouthful," Slade said from where he still stood by the window. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving Jump City today with Robin and your sister. I'll keep in touch with you by communicator for the time being. After what you just said, I'm very sure you will be able to take care of things without my help. I'll still be watching."

"And Val?" Jake asked him seriously. "How will I get to her after this?"

"Let's just see how you work things out here with the Titans," Slade said evilly. He smiled under his mask as he saw Jake about to protest. The kid caught himself and swore quietly because he could not fight back. He frowned sourly after giving the man a nod that he understood.

"I'm looking forward to see your little plan," Slade said while pulling out a round communicator from his belt. It was the color black with two orange stripes going down the middle. "I want to hear from you afterwards." He threw the thing to Jake and the teen caught it with one hand. He looked at it then shook it as if he did not know what it was. "Careful with that," Slade said with annoyance.

Jake walked over to the bed side table and put the communicator in one of the cabinets. "I have breakfast," he said while walking over to the door.

"One more thing," Slade said while walking up to the boy. "You better not be getting guilty. I had no doubt about you. When you get guilty you start thinking about the victim. If I hear any plan to rescue Robin from you then I'll cut your sister open and spill all her guts over my hideout as a good reminder to your big mistake."

"I was just telling you that many thieves don't get guilty while stealing or afterwards," Jake said quickly with fear in his big blue eyes.

"There are mainly two kinds of thieves in this world," Slade said while standing over the teen with a dangerous distance between the two. Jake gulped down a bit of fear. "The first kind of thief steals for only themselves, and greed is the only word in their dictionary. The second kind of thief only steals what he can't afford. That means he does not want to steal and would get guilty if they did something they think is wrong. Question: what kind of thief are you?"

"Second," Jake said with a stiff nod. "I only steal what I can't afford, which is everything."

"Don't be getting guilty," Slade said with his tone ominous. "Or you will only be stealing for yourself."

- Beast Boy -

He had gotten up early even though he was extremely tiered from staying up late playing that game with Robin till two in the morning. It would have ended great if Raven had not come in like that.

Seriously, Beast Boy did not think he knew Robin at all. The two were almost complete opposites. He also did not know Raven much. What Beast Boy did know was that the two most serious members on his team were fighting. And he knew that those two were very good friends from that whole "end of the world" thing. They would never make up with each other because both were stubborn and had big pride issues. Maybe he could figure out what they were so upset over and try to get the other to see the other person's side of it. Plus, he was bored and needed something to do. This could get entertaining.

Robin came down the stairs looking a bit upset with that sour frown on his face. Beast Boy guessed that he still remembered that small conversation with Raven last night. The teen saw that nobody was there in the kitchen that morning except for the changeling, and he smiled slightly.

"Good morning, early riser!" Beast Boy said cheerfully to Robin. "I made you breakfast!" This was just all part of his "brilliant" plan to get one of the two to spill the beans with him. He had to know why the two were acting like enemies.

Robin stared at Beast Boy with surprise written on his serious face. "Oh," he finally said while sitting down on a bar stool and waited for the food. "Thanks, BB!"

"No problem," Beast Boy said with a wicked smile coming to his face. He set the plate down on the table and saw the leader smile as the wonderful smell of the pancakes hit his nose. "Do you want syrup with that?" the changeling asked while raising the bottle of sticky substance in his hands and a wide grin on his face.

"Um…Beast Boy," Robin said with some hesitation in his voice. "I don't want to sound rude, but, why all this for me?"

"What?" Beast Boy asked him with that same pleasant voice. He tried to keep the smile. Robin was catching on.

"You don't make pancakes for me too often," Robin said with a sly smile. "What do you want?"

Beast Boy deflated and his Elf like ears dropped as if he had given up on the nice act. "Why are you and Raven fighting?" he asked Robin after a sigh of defeat.

"We aren't fighting," Robin said while shifting in his seat and avoiding eye contact. He picked up a fork and was about to cut into his pancakes, but Beast Boy pulled them away with that wicked smile coming back to his face again. "Fine. You win. I just don't want her to take down Red X. She needs to stay out of my life."

"I'll live with that for now, Boy Wonder," Beast Boy said while slowly putting the plate back in front of Robin.

"Whatever," Robin said while slowly taking a bite from his breakfast. Beast Boy went back to making more pancakes for the rest of the team while he was at it. He kept stealing glances to Robin and started to worry again. The teen was not eating much and he had a look of guilt all over his face like he had from last night when they were playing the game station. But why would Robin be guilty?

The thought quickly vanished when the alarm went off. The sudden sound made Beast Boy scream from surprise. Robin looked up at him then ran over to the computer screen. By now the other members were there in the room.

"It's Mumbo," Robin said with some hesitation for some reason. "He…um…escaped jail." He turned to his team and the strong and confident leader came back in an instant. "Titans, go!" he yelled and they all went into action.

- ? -

How come Slade always seemed to know how to get the right people to do the dirty work for him and be his pawns? She had been an afterthought and very easy to find. Really, she was from the same school that pest, Jake, belonged to. While Slade had been looking up the kid he had found her by mistake and was surprised that she wanted to help him with capturing Robin and switching Jake with the leader of the Teen Titans. She had her own reasons that she did not mention to Slade. He had a few theories that she was just insane, but at least she was doing her job with no complaints. Funny thing was that she enjoyed doing her job.

Right now she stood next to Robin's sleeping body with her hard, blue eyes pinned on only him. He would wake soon to throw up once again. Slade had gone off to talk to Jake. She had been extremely surprised when she first heard from Slade that her boyfriend's best friend had been the city's greatest thief. When this was done she could not wait to tell the whole school. So she was a gossip queen. Isn't all girls?

Yesterday Robin had slept all day long and only woke to eat then throw it back up again. He stopped eating after the second try. He kept vomiting though. Slade said that Robin had to sleep to gain energy, but some of it was fake. Robin would pretend to be asleep to figure out what Slade was doing and how he was getting away with capturing him. But the stuff in his system would wear off soon. That was where she would come in handy.

Robin was having a nightmare at the moment, and she was curious to what was going through that mind of his as she watched him. He was sweating profusely and mumbling something under his breath incoherently. She held a small gloved hand out to touch the boy to maybe wake him up to another nightmare in its own.

Suddenly Robin woke up and grabbed her wrist before she could blink. She gave a small gasp of fright as he stared at her for a few seconds with his glare deadly. There was an ominous silence as the two watched each other. Robin did not have time to react much to seeing someone new. He leaned over the table and vomited once again before saying anything. That was the reason he could not be tied down. He threw up so often even if he had nothing in his stomach.

"Slade is gone for only a while," she said quietly as she smoothed her long blonde hair down. "He told me to watch you."

As quick as a snake, Robin swung his foot over at the mystery girl with a small battle yell. He did not care who worked with Slade. All he wanted was escape. Slade had no blackmail, so he had no need to stay.

"Stop!" the girl shouted right before Robin's foot violently collided with the side of her head. Her blue eyes glowed as well as Robin's frozen body. All the boy could move was his eyes. Finally she relaxed her powers and Robin's foot dropped.

"Figures," Robin muttered to himself as he rubbed his forehead with a black gloved hand. A headache was pounding away and not going to stop any time soon. He then quickly struck again with no warning at all. This time the girl was not fast enough to use her powers and was only able to duck. That was all Robin needed.

The girl looked over the table with wide eyes of surprise and saw the boy sprinting to the door of the hideout. Slade had been right. Robin had been faking his slowness for a long time. She gritted her teeth together and stuck a gray gloved hand out at Robin as her powers took over.

This move would take more focus. With a small battle cry, she opened her hand out so her palm was facing Robin. Her eyes glowed a dazzling blue as did Robin's body once again. He gave a sharp yell of alarm as he was forced to stop by an invisible hand. He was suddenly flying backwards till his back slammed into the metal table.

"It worked!" the girl squealed in delight as she jumped into the air with a smile. She then quickly ran around the table to where Robin sat in a daze. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at the teen with a wicked smile on her face. She loved to use her power. She loved the feeling of control.

Robin winced while holding his spinning head. He looked up at the girl with a hopeless expression on his face. She had long beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes with an evil gleam in them. She looked to be maybe around his age. She wore baggy jeans and a black top. Gray gloves came up past her elbows. It looked like she did not want people to see or touch her skin.

"Trying to run away?" she asked him sweetly while bending down to his eye level. "Can't have any of that." He swung his fist at her and she only had to look at it to stop him. "You can't do any hitting with me around, Robin."

"How do you do that?" Robin asked her with shock. His right arm was frozen in mid-air and he could not move it no matter what.

"Anything with blood in it I can control," she said. She let his arm go and suddenly Robin could move it to his own liking again. "For another example," she said while putting her palm out at Robin again. He right away could not feel anything as he glowed a light blue. He was forced to stand up. He then hovered in the air.

"How 'bout some fun?" she asked him as she started to slowly curl her hand into a fist. She kept her eyes on her poor victim as that wicked smile widened with pure enjoyment. Robin felt like he was being crushed from all around. He suddenly could not breathe. He panicked. He could do nothing!

"How much would you pay for air right now, Robin?" she asked him with a giggle. Robin closed his eyes as he counted the seconds without being able to breathe. The average person can hold their breath for around 45 seconds. Robin got to a minute before his lungs screamed for air. He would not make it any longer. The thought of death came to his mind only a second before he was rescued.

"Drop him," someone said from the doorway.

The girl stopped right away when her eyes moved away from Robin. The teen fell to the ground on his hands and knees gasping for long awaited sweet air. He winced a few times because his sides still felt like they were being crushed. He glanced up to see Slade standing at the door of the hideout with his hands behind his back. His one good eye was watching him closely as if observing his every mood and peeking into his thoughts. It made a shiver go down Robin's spine.

"Just some fun," the mysterious girl said to Slade with some seriousness in her voice. "I was not going to kill him, Master."

"I know," Slade said with a quick glace to her. "But you do tend to get carried away." The girl bowed her head as she waited for Slade to say more. Robin was still on his hands and knees only this time he was throwing up once again. Slade watched the boy until he was done.

With a slight nod from Slade, the girl forced Robin to his feet again by using her powers. She sat Robin down on the table and stepped in the shadows of the room to wait for another command from her master. Those cold blue eyes were always on Robin, never wavering and always alert. She was starting to give Robin the creeps. Only a few in this world could do that to him.

Defeat was starting to cloud Robin's head. If he even so dared to touch Slade, that girl would freeze him. He was at the man's mercy, which Slade had none. He felt weak and vulnerable. It was a feeling that he hated with so much passion. Only with Slade he could feel that way.

Robin looked to the dirt floor of the room as he sat silently on the metal table. He waited for Slade to say something to him. He could do nothing but that.

"Let me introduce you to my new helper, Robin," Slade finally said. Robin glanced up at him and then looked to the girl in the shadows of the room. "Her name is Jessica Hunter. With her powers I can do whatever I wish with you. But I'm sure I will need more than just her powers." He nodded to one of his robots while saying, "Bring her in."

Robin watched with silent dread as a young girl was dragged into the room. She was only a kid! Her long brown hair whipped around as she struggled to get free from the strong grasp of the robot. A gag was preventing her from saying anything, but her screams could still be heard. Her wrists were bound together by a thick rope, and Robin could see that they were so tight it was making her bleed.

His heart started to beat faster when the poor girl was shoved into Slade's arms. Robin could see the fear in her bright, green eyes. She still had some fight in her as she tried to kick the mad man. She stopped when she started to glow blue to indicate that the Jessica girl was using her powers on her.

"Don't hurt her!" Robin said quickly. He knew that there was a chance that the girl was really working for Slade and he was just being tricked once again. But he followed his gut feeling that this girl was for real. He had already figured out (or should I say guessed) that Slade had gotten someone to play as Robin and that was why his friends were not looking for him. This girl could easily be blackmail for the poser dude in his place.

"I wont if you do exactly what I say, Robin," Slade said while walking up to the boy. He pulled the girl with him and she made little protest now. She kept shaking her head at Robin as if to tell him to not give into Slade. He so badly wanted to do what she was telling him, but he really had no choice.

"Fine," Robin said after a long silence. It pained him to say that one word because that meant he was defeated. He could imagine Slade smiling in triumph under his mask at his victory.

"We are leaving," Slade said while grabbing Robin's shoulder and shoving him to the door. Robin lost his balance but quickly gained it back before he slammed into the wall. "Hurry. The plane takes off in six hours. It will take us at least five to get there," Slade said while walking to the exit with the girl beside him with a puzzled look in her wide eyes. Robin was just as confused.

"What is going on?" he asked as he was pushed roughly up the stairs by Jessica. He shot her a nasty look but kept right behind Slade. "No evil plot to take over Jump City? This is too out of character for you, Slade."

"I'm going to keep you guessing," Slade said down to him. "You better be on your toes. I'm not finished with this city or your friends yet. Once we get out of the country my plan will just be getting started."

They came out next to the warehouse and a car was there waiting for them. A robot was in the driver's seat. Jessica opened the back seat for the others. Slade made the kid go in first and he sat in the middle. Robin was pulled in by Slade when he hesitated. Jessica slammed the door shut and got into the passenger seat. The car then started and drove into the city.

There was a scary silence in the car for the first ten minutes. The car stopped when a whole bunch of people started to run away from something. Robin looked out his darkened window to see what was going on. Suddenly Mumbo ran past the car. Robin's hand grabbed the door handle.

It was then that he realized where he was. He looked over to Slade. The man was not doing anything about it. Jessica was watching him closely as always. Her eyes narrowed on him as Robin's mind spun with different options.

Suddenly there was a big bang as the car shook. They all looked ahead with surprise to see… Robin! But it really wasn't the real Robin. There really was someone posing as Robin! The real leader gave a short gasp as reality hit him. When the other one turned his head around it was stunning to see someone who looked just like him. It was like they were twins. Freaky!

The other Robin paused when he saw who was in the car he had landed on in the middle of a fight with Mumbo. As Jake would say, it was just his crappy luck doing its magic on him once again. What were the chances that he would land on the car Slade was in?

Robin saw his other self look to the girl next to Slade and saw the agony on his face. He was only there for a few seconds, but to Robin it felt like a lifetime. It looked like the other Robin did not want to be playing him as much as Robin did not want to be Slade's apprentice. When Slade narrowed his eyes at the other Robin the guy finally jumped to a different car. The other Titans were rushing past them without noticing that the real Robin was in one of these cars.

The girl next to Slade suddenly freaked. She thrashed around in her binds while screaming loudly into her gag. Jessica had to use her powers on her to calm the girl down. Robin used this to his own advantage. He grabbed the door handle and flung the door open for a quick escape. Jessica was too busy to stop him.

"Robin!" Slade yelled with anger slipping into his voice. Robin tried to jump out of the car as quickly as possible with panic on his face. Slade grabbed his ankle at the last second and yanked the teen back into the car with no pity in his attack.

The back of Robin's head slammed into the side door on the girl's side and he gave a wince. Stars danced across his vision. He looked up to see the girl looking at him with those wide eyes with tears in them. He felt awful for almost taking off without this poor kid. How could he be so selfish? He would never go anywhere without her for now on. Her small life would come first.

"That was a bad move on your part, Robin," Slade said. The anger was still in his voice. He grabbed Robin by the front of his shirt and pulled him up so the two were face to face. Robin struggled in the strong grip. "Don't try any stunt like that again. Understand?"

Robin did not answer and only gave Slade a frown just to tick the guy off. Sometimes he could be so stubborn! This always seemed to make Slade angry. It was the only way Robin could fight back at the moment.

His reward for being his stubborn self, Robin got a knee slammed into his stomach. The air was knocked out of him and a knot of pain formed in the pit of his stomach. There were a few seconds when he could not breathe at all and shock of the attack made him numb. He then gasped for precious air through winces.

Slade pulled Robin up by his hair then shoved him into his seat as the car started to move again. The teen took in small gasps for breath as he gained his senses. The girl watched Robin with sadness in her eyes. She was curled up in her seat in a useless attempt to get away from Slade.

"I asked you if you understood my command, Robin," Slade said while seating himself between the two captives. "As my apprentice you have to answer right away. Do you understand?"

"I'm not your stupid apprentice," Robin said weakly. He gave Slade a dirty glare as he got ready for another attack. This time he would fight back.

Slade grabbed Robin's wrist and pulled the boy over to him for another punishment greater than the last. "Lesion one, understanding that you're mine," Slade whispered to him. Robin gave a small battle cry as he brought his leg up. He would have gotten Slade if he hadn't forgotten about Jessica. To his dismay, his leg froze at the last second. He could not fight back!

To Robin's surprise, the girl being held captive attacked for him. She slammed her heel into Slade's back with a small battle yell. This made Slade and Robin knock into the side window. She was pretty strong for a girl her age.

"I can't hold both of them down for the whole car trip!" Jessica yelled as she stuck her palm out at the girl to hold her back. Robin's back was on the floor of the car with Slade pinning him there. He shoved his foot into the man's chest to get free. He was still weak and was not strong enough to get Slade off him. He was stuck with nowhere to go at this point.

"Can't you knock one of them out?" Jessica asked Slade. She narrowed her eyes at the captive girl because the girl had a strong mind and was harder to control. "She is a hard one just like Robin." Both girls were glowing a vibrant blue that was getting brighter. This was getting difficult.

"Good idea," Slade said as he reached into his belt for something.

"Don't touch her!" Robin yelled as he tried to prevent Slade from doing anything to the poor girl. He would blame himself if anything serious happened to her. It was his job as a superhero to protect her. He had to be willing to give up his own life to protect the innocent. It was his oath.

"It's not her I'm going to knock out," Slade said. He quickly took out a cloth from his belt and shoved it up against Robin's nose and mouth. Robin smelt the chloroform and held his breath. Slade pressed down on Robin's stomach and this made Robin gasp a little. He made a little moan while struggling under the mad man's grasp. His vision clouded as his body started to slip away. He was quickly out cold.

Slade lifted Robin's body up into his seat and it only looked like the teen was asleep. The captive girl settled down and relaxed in Jessica's powers. Jessica finally stopped using her powers on the girl when she felt like it was safe. She slid down in her seat to try and get some rest. She had been watching Robin nonstop for the whole day and night. She needed sleep.

The trip in the car took around five hours with no restroom breaks. Jessica slept the whole time. Robin was out like a light through the whole car trip. The captive girl slept off and on. Most of the time she stared out of the window with a sad and worried expression on her face. She was leaving Jump City and her brother. This could not be good. If she died her brother would never know.

Slade stayed awake the whole trip. He played his plan out a few times in his head. Sooner than later the Titans would discover Jake. By that time Robin would be long gone. He would not be the Robin they used to know. He would be a killer and loving it. In only the matter of weeks Robin would be standing by his side with a smile on his face.

A/N: Here is a good cliffhanger for you people. I need to read and give reviews to fan fictions I have not been able to read for two weeks. And I also want to read more in my Full Metal Alchemist book. Very cool show and books! But if you want detail about trip just e-mail me. But please give a review. Thanks!