A/N: Hi again! Yeah, I randomly went on a break from writing for a whole month and didn't tell anyone about it. I sometimes get those weeks where I can't form even a good sentence and all my writing his crap. So that is the reason I haven't updated this fic in a whole month. That, and the fact that I found a great new series in my school's library and couldn't put the books down. And I have rugby practice and had two games in one weekend. Once rugby is over I'm going to cry, but at least I'll have more time to write. But enough of my random ramblings. Here is your chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except for the few characters. Those are mine and you guys can't have them! Ha!
Chapter 23 Part Time Hero
Sleep didn't come too easily to the teen superhero sitting across from Slade. His hands were handcuffed in front of him as he sat in the jet's leather seat. Robin kept his eyes on Slade most of the plane ride there. Slade did the same. The small room of the jet was dead silent the whole way to the checkpoint.
The checkpoint was at some small runway in the middle of Florida. Robin stared out the small window of the jet and saw them pass a wooden building there. The early morning of around three or four was wet and misty. Robin could barely see the building through the thick fog. The only hint he had that something was there was the few lights that twinkled as the aircraft roared past it.
Once the jet came to a steady stop, Slade got up and snapped orders at the boy. "You do not talk," he told Robin sharply. "You keep that blanket on your handcuffs so the person doesn't know what is going on." Robin kept staring out the window with a faraway look on his face. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, Robin," Slade ordered. Robin frowned deeply while giving Slade a mean glare.
"I understand," Robin said venomously to the man. He then looked back to the window and ignored him once again. Slade decided the let the boy sulk and left him alone. He walked over to the door of the jet and pulled it open. A set of stairs rolled up to the door and a lady walked up them and into the aircraft.
The lady started to talk to Slade about the cost for fuel, passports, and other things. Robin didn't dare look their way. He knew that Slade would get the hint of his escape if he even so dared as glanced at the two. And Robin knew that Slade was watching his every move. The boy knew that everything depended on timing.
Robin wasn't really staring out the window of the jet. He was really watching the reflection that played out what Slade and the lady was doing behind him. He could clearly see the open door to the side of him. The cool, humid air was already in the room. Slade finally paid the lady and she was already half way down the stairs when the teen made his daring move.
Throwing the blanket off him, Robin made a mad dash for the open door. His move was so silent and quick, Slade barely had time to react to the bold stunt. One moment the kid was perfectly fine and still, the next he was diving out the door to the jet. But the man was right behind the teen after muttering a curse under his breath.
The stairs had been rolling away from the jet when Robin flung himself out of the door. He landed cumbersomely on the top step and winced as he tumbled down the rest of the stairs. The lady saw him coming down and ran down the rest of the way with a loud scream. She stopped at the end of the stairs and watched as the kid skidded to a stop on his side on the pavement. She watched with a shocked look on her face as the teen cringed through his pain and jumped to his feet.
"Phone!" he yelled sharply at her. He glanced back and saw through the fog Slade jumping out of the door and not even wasting his time on the stairs. The guy simply landed in a crouch on the ground while glaring dangerously at the kid.
It took the lady a second to respond. "You'll have to go to that building," she told him in a voice that sounded unbelieving of what was happening to her at the moment. She pointed to the wooden cabin a few yards away.
"Thanks! Quarter!" Robin said while holding out his handcuffed hands to her. She didn't do anything for another second. "Please!" Robin begged. "I really need a quarter!"
Finally the woman snapped back into reality and pulled out some change from her pocket. Robin snatched the only quarter in her hand and then took off in a sprint toward the building without even a thanks. The fog seemed to engulf the teen as he ran as fast as he could toward the small lights. His bare feet flew over the concrete till he was finally at the building. His eyes lit up with hope when seeing the payphones there. He didn't have much time left.
The teen raced to a payphone and shoved his quarter into the slot while muttering a prayer under his breath. He let the phone hang on its cord while clumsily punching in the numbers to Sam's cell phone with his hands still cuffed together. He then picked up the phone and panicked when no one started to pick up and it just kept ringing.
"You got to be freaking kidding me!" Robin yelled into the receiver when he heard Sam's voice saying to leave a message. He had no time! "This is Robin, Sam! Slade left right when he figured out our plan. I'm in…" the boy paused to look for any sign saying where the heck he was. He spotted a map through a foggy window next to the booth and quickly said, "I'm in Florida! Just meet me in…"
Suddenly the whole phone booth blew up into his face from some gadget of Slade's. Robin gave a sharp yell of surprise while covering up his face with his arms. The force knocked him to his butt. He coughed as thick smoke filled his lungs. Once the boy was able to regain his senses, he tried to scramble to his feet. He didn't get very far, though, because Slade had other ideas.
A foot came out of the fog and nailed Robin in the chin. The teen winced while biting down on his tongue and drawing blood. He landed on his elbows and knees while spitting out blood onto the moist ground. The kid jumped to his feet and tried to run away again, but Slade was not going to be fooled by the same trick twice.
The man lunged forward and roughly tacked the boy to the ground. Robin landed on his shoulder and managed to rip some skin off it from the harsh landing. More blood was added to the ground from his new wound. Slade handled the poor boy like a drunk would to a bad puppy that had peed on the couch. He had a fist of Robin's raven-black hair in one hand and was getting out something from his belt with the other hand.
"No!" Robin protested loudly while struggling to get Slade off him. His only response was having his forehead roughly scratched against the cement ground till it drew blood. The boy still didn't stop, though. He struggled to get his bound hands and arms out from under him so he could get out of the hold Slade had on him.
"You've been one hell of a nuisance, Robin," Slade whispered harshly into the boy's ear. He yanked the kid's head up by his hair and smiled evilly when seeing him wince in pain. "Maybe some rest will do you some good," Slade told him while placing the syringe on Robin's neck. He smiled more when seeing how much the boy squirmed when realizing what he was doing.
"No!" Robin yelled loudly when feeling the needle pierce through his neck. He could feel the effects of the sedative take over his body right away. Very quickly he wasn't able to move him limbs and had trouble focusing. His vision started to darken till he finally gave way to whatever was now in his system.
Slade got off the boy once he blacked out. He quickly took off Robin's handcuffs and put them in one of his belt's pockets right as the lady and two police guards approached him from through the fog. He carefully picked Robin up like a father would and said smoothly to the police and lady, "My son has a few problems. That is why I only travel alone. Sorry if he scared you, miss."
It would have been easy for the man to kill the three, but Slade didn't want to attract too much attention. It was better for him to just to do it the slow and steady way. An hour later, both Slade and a waking Robin were back in the jet and heading to their final destination.
"Good morning, my little apprentice," Slade greeted the boy once he stirred in his seat across from him. "I can now safely tell you our destination." Robin only stared at him with a look of despair on his face while staying silent. "We're heading home," Slade said while leaning back in his seat in a relaxed manner. "So enjoy the ride."
"We're going back to Jump City?" Robin asked the man. He tried not to show the hope overflowing in him as he thought of his team. "Why?" he finally asked Slade.
"Well, to visit a few funerals," Slade said with wickedness in his voice. Robin glared at him once he added, "First you have to see them die, though. But don't worry, Robin. You friends' lives will not matter to you in a few years."
-James-
"Hold still, Abe!" James reprimanded his kid with a small chuckle. He tapped his boy's ankle lightly to get Abe's attention. The man knew it worked when Abe cried out in pain and tried to pull his leg away out of reflex. James held the kid's leg while frowning at his son.
"That hurt!" Abe wined. "I was just trying to get some food. Slade doesn't know how to feed his prisoners."
"You always complain about food," Sam muttered over to him while still throwing her brother a breakfast bar. James swiftly caught it before Abe could and put it down next to the medical box beside him. The man then went back to work with wrapping his son's broken ankle.
"If you hold still for a few more minutes, Abe, I'll give it to you," James said. "What did you do to this poor ankle anyways? You were sitting in a room for almost two whole days and you seemed to have made it worse than before!"
Abe winced before answering. "I'll just say that Slade isn't really gentle," he said.
Valentine, who was sitting off to the side this whole time, finally piped up with a sharp laugh. Everyone looked her way as she said with a sly smile, "Let's also say that Abe, here, doesn't like being cramped up and wasn't sitting still that whole time. I think jumping out a window was part of that not sitting still process."
James' eyes went wide as he looked back to his blushing son. Sam rolled her eyes because she could have predicted her brother doing just that. Abe quickly had to cover for himself. "I was trying to escape! It would have worked if I hadn't been pushed out of the window by a robot. What did Slade program into those robots of his anyways? Be psycho freaks till I say not to?"
"You might not be too far from the truth," James said while smiling down at his son. He was so thankful that his family was safe and with him again. He almost lost one of them. The thought of it made James look down with a somber look on his usual happy-go-lucky face.
"Thinking about Robin?" Abe asked his father with his smile fading. He had seen James' sudden change in expression and wondered what would make his dad look that sad. "That teen has a knack for getting caught up in trouble. Yet he somehow gets out of it every time. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"I'm not worried about the boy too much," James said with a faint smile. "Guilt is a different story, though. But it wasn't him I was just thinking about. Abe, I'm sorry for acting so selfishly up on that building a few nights ago. I…"
Abe cut him off while saying quietly, "You did the right thing." He then forced a smile before saying, "Plus, being alive is sure better than being dead." There was a long pause between the two as they both couldn't meet the other's eyes. Abe then narrowed his eyes because of the frustration with himself as he shook his head. "I was in my stupid, smart ass mode, dad," he finally told James with a bitter sigh. "I was being stubborn and foolish. It was a good thing that you were up there to keep my head level. Don't beat yourself up for it."
"There are ups and downs from having genius kids," James said with a genuine smile on his lips. "They can be so mature and still act their age while doing it. How old are you again?" As he said this, the father ruffled his boy's hair.
"Are you finished?" Abe asked while nodding his head to his ankle his dad was wrapping up, "Because I would really like that breakfast bar now!"
James rolled his eyes with a nod. He then gave his kid the food and smiled at him as Abe destroyed the wrapping with his teeth and downed the thing in only three bites. Abe then finished off his snack by licking his fingers for any traces of the substance that had managed to stick to them. James then focused his attention to Sam and asked, "We should start tracking poor captured Boy Wonder now, shouldn't we?"
Sam was sitting at her laptop and was typing profusely on the keyboard with puzzlement on her face. Val was sitting next to her and just shrugged her shoulders to James. The man and Abe shared a confused look before James helped his boy over to where Sam and her computer were on the roof they were still hiding out on.
"It's just that, dad," Sam finally spoke. Her eyes never left the laptop's screen as she continued. "I can't locate him. The tracker only works in a 50 mile radius." The girl gave a heavy sigh while taking off her glasses and rubbing her sore eyes. She then concluded desolately, "Robin isn't in Peru anymore." The three behind her all gave each other worried glances. They were pushed back to the defensive side again. The question now was; where was Slade heading?
-Raven-
Slowly Raven came out of her healing coma. As her eyes flickered open, her body floated down to the bed under her. Her body landed lightly on the white sheets in the Tower's infirmary. With a quiet gasp, the Goth girl fully awoke. She sat up in her hospital-like bed and looked around at all her friends in their own beds.
The girl quickly dropped to the cold metal floor of the room with her eyes wide in fright for her friends. Slowly, the girl came to each of her friend's bed side to see why they were in their unconscious state. They were pretty banged up, but after a few minutes of studying the three Titans, Raven concluded that they would be fine. She silently stitched up a few deep cuts here and there and used a small bowl of water and an old rag to clean others. It only took her a half an hour to fix her friends all up.
After Raven was done checking up on her friends, she realized that she hadn't been the one to put them in the Tower's infirmary. A look of confusion clouded her usual intelligent eyes. A thought came to her, and the only way to prove it was to leave the room. The Goth girl's blue cape flapped lazily behind her as Raven absentmindedly levitated in the air and flew out of the infirmary and to the living room. That was where she found him.
Raven silently landed at the doorway to the living room. She surveyed the young man raiding the Titans' fridge, and also noticed the giant computer screen telling her that it was finishing up a long search for information only the lonely young man would know at this moment. Raven decided to let Jake figure out she was there on his own as she smiled slightly in his direction.
"You would think that a superhero team with three male teens in it would have more food in their fridge," Jake was muttering to himself as he picked through all the food in the cool box. He finally gave up on food because his stomach was too twisted with apprehension now. The teen grabbed a Dr. Pepper and came back up from his long search.
"Holy crap!" the teen yelled in surprise as he spotted Raven standing by the door. It was just then that he had been popping open the can. Light brown fizz exploded from the can and splashed around the kitchen. A colorful string of words came from Jake as the fizz on the floor made him trip and land on his butt. When he looked up, he was staring into the deep violet eyes of his worried watcher. Jake smiled sheepishly up at her.
"I didn't mean to scare you," Raven said to him emotionlessly. She handed the boy a towel and they both started to clean up the sticky substance that had seemed to cover the whole mini kitchen in the big living room. Silence filled the room as they both wiped the floor and counters clean. The awkward stillness between the two continued even once they finished cleaning the floor and just stood there like fools.
"I…um…" Jake started hesitantly. Raven raised one of her eyebrows and waited for him to continue. Jake nervously scratched the back of his neck with his cheeks turning slightly pink from embarrassment. "I thought you guys needed some help, so I guess I came back."
"It looks like it," Raven said after a long pause. She looked the battered teen up and down before adding, "It doesn't look like you came in one piece, though."
Jake gave her a grim smile before explaining. "My state is what you get from a battle with a stupid, crazy person with body moving powers. I guess it would also be from my wonderful crappy luck that likes to switch sides randomly on me. I never got around to tending to myself, huh?"
"So where is Jessica now?" Raven asked him quietly.
"Dead," Jake answered with his voice emotionless. "I shot her." The teen took a long sip from his Dr. Pepper and sat down on the counter while muttering, "It was her stupidity that killed her, really." He looked up to Raven and frowned slightly when seeing her stare distastefully at him. "You can take me to jail for murder after we save this city, Raven," he told her. "It was actually for self defense, but who was there to witness everything?"
"Why are you here, Jake?" Raven snapped at him. "Don't give some dumb answer, either. I'm sick of it."
Jake scowled at her and took another sip from his soda. The boy then gave a long sigh before saying angrily to the girl across from him, "Jump City isn't just the Titan's. It's my city too! I was born and raised here. I have friends at Jump City High School that feel the same about this place." Jake took another sip while looking to the ceiling for the right words that were jumbled up in his head.
"Millions of people live in Jump City," Jake continued. "I'm just one of the many in the crowd. Most of the time, I don't give a crap for others and I really don't like playing hero. But it's like what I told your leader, Robin, that big fact doesn't mean I can't play the hero. I might seem selfish and uncaring because I steal from the city I love and the people I love, but when it comes down to them getting blown up by a madman that wants to take over my city, I have to put my foot down. I have to play hero once again because I just can't stand around and nothing! Understand now, Raven?"
Raven by then was sitting on the counter across from him with a glass of water in her hands. She stared intently into her glass as she pondered over what the teen had just said to her. She hated to admit that she fully agreed with the thief. If she had been in his shoes, she knew that she would come back to help the city. The Goth girl was just having trouble trusting the teen. He was still a thief in her eyes.
"Okay," Raven finally said. "You're on our side…for now. But my trust level is pretty low right now because of you, Jake. If you do anything that is too suspicious, you will be in jail in seconds."
Jake smiled slyly while saying, "But after we save this piece of crap city, I'm back to stealing from it and being my favorite identity yet, Red X. But for now I'll be a snot nosed superhero like you…even though I'm most liking creating a gravestone for myself this way." Jake finished his drink and put out his hand while asking, "Do we have a deal, Rae?"
Raven let herself express something like a wicked smile. Jake was like a wild card. He could randomly be the bad guy, good guy, or just be on his own side. He was so risky to have on their side now, but Raven somehow trusted him enough to let him. Maybe it was just how he talked, or it could be his very addictive smile that he was now giving her. Whatever it was, it made Raven make the deal with him.
"Deal," Raven said while shaking his hand. "You now have the title of superhero. It ends the second you do something wrong or when this city is saved." She smiled slightly before saying emotionlessly, "Congratulations."
"Well, thank you, Rae," Jake said with a laugh at her actions. Seeing her acting out of character was rare, but he would sometimes strive to catch that glimpse from the Goth girl. He opened his mouth to say something else, but suddenly the computer beeped to tell him that his search was complete. They both looked up toward the computer with surprise.
"Let's get to work," Jake said to Raven with a nod toward the computer. He did a back flip off the counter he was on and landed next to the couch. Raven flew after him with wonder in her eyes. She observed him silently as he typed in a few keys and filtered through a few things on the screen before them.
"What were you searching for?" Raven asked him finally. "And how did you know how to do one of these kinds of searches? Only a few places in Jump City have this kind of computer to do big searches."
Jake blushed a little with a timid smile coming to his lips before he explained. "Lots of police cars have computers with search stations like this one," Jake said as he turned his attention back to the screen. "I've kind of…um…used them to do some research about the place I'm about to steal from. I don't know why other thieves don't do the same. It's quite simple, really. The hardest part is distracting a police officer from his car and guessing a password. And of course there is that small time limit. A police officer will only leave his car for a short while. Timing is everything."
Raven at first rolled her eyes at the boy's stupid story. But at the end she couldn't believe how smart Jake was. He was truly one of the greatest thieves in Jump City and maybe even better. Raven found herself wishing that Jake would change his ways and actually turn good, but the teen had the thrill bug from being a thief for so many years. And even though he would make a perfect superhero, Raven knew all too well that Jake would hate being the good guy all the time. She would have to deal with him just being neutral in the eyes of the Titans.
"Well, I was searching for anything odd happening somewhere outside of the US," Jake said after a pause. "Slade took Robin to Italy for some unknown reason. But I don't think he meant to stay there too long. So that is why I widened my search. Sooner than latter, we'll get something."
"Stop!" Raven suddenly shouted as she pointed to one of the headlines of a newspaper article from Peru. Jake spotted what she wanted and clicked on it then told the computer to translate the Spanish into English for the both of them. They both smiled.
"Robot holds up small airport in Peru," Jake read the small article out loud. "It held a teenaged American boy at gunpoint and then was shot by another adult American. The two Americans then fled the airport. And the rest is crap. They even have a pretty picture."
The two studied the picture with Robin and a blonde haired adult getting onto a motorcycle next to the airport. Jake smiled and said, "Looks like he found a friend. Good for him."
"I'm just thankful he's still alive," Raven muttered. "But why did you want to know where Robin is when you know Slade wants to blow up the city? Shouldn't you be out there trying to take out the bombs?"
"Like I said before," Jake said with a nod, "Timing is everything. Since this article was written only around four days ago, then I'm guessing that Slade has already gotten his prize back, killed the poor friend, and is heading back to Jump City to finish us off. Give or take a day or two. But what I'm getting at is that we don't have much time left. We need a plan formed fast and we need more people to help us out, or this city is going up in flames in only a few hours."
"But these are only guesses, Jake," Raven sighed with frustration. "I say we just take out the bombs."
"It's not that simple," Jake told her. "One, I have no clue where these bombs are, and two, Slade isn't stupid enough to just plant some bomb where everyone can see them. Sorry, but those are the facts. We don't have much time or enough people. We need more than just the Titans to foil Slade's plan. Have any friends?"
"I could call for Titans East's help," Raven said with a shrug.
"Do that," Jake told her with a nod. "While you do so, I'm going to go someplace quiet and call Slade." Raven looked up from the computer with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to shout a protest, but Jake easily got there first and said, "I'll bring a tape recorder so I'll play the conversation back to you. But I need to see where everything is with Slade. I just hope that he didn't try to call Jessica. If he did, then Val might be gone by now."
A/N: I'll be wrapping up this fic pretty soon. I can't believe it went this far! I'm going to really miss it once I'm finished. And thanks for the many reviews so far! I'm still pondering the next chapter, so it might come out a little latter than usual. But please give a review! Thanks!
