First off, sorry for the wait. It's been hell week at school. Hell week= Midterm week without the half-day-midterm-week, so instead of one test and then going home and relaxing/studying/typing, you have 3 tests, other classes, and go home normal time and do homework/cramming. Fun times. Thank god it's over.

So, some issues:

Ok, so I keep saying that I'm using an arc from the comics for the big reveal, which starts this chapter, and then I do some research… and I find out that it isn't actually from the comics. It's from TV apparently… I think. The wiki was vague, and then I couldn't find it when I looked, and and and… *bangs head on wall*. Whatever, I know it happened, 'cause I've read about it in fanfics and the wiki did have a summary, I just can't find what and where it is. Oh well. Help?

This is the beginning of the end for the Robin secret, people. Next chapter is the end, probably. Then, we go to the rescue. This story's reaching the climax.

Umm... we get some Slade POV this chapter, which I honestly don't have enough of.

...any more issues? No? Then enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, as evidenced by getting comic events mixed up with TV events. *Hides in SHAME*

On his way back to the base, Slade let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. He had to admit, he hadn't expected Batman and Superman to be so close. Last he checked, they had still been searching the opposite side of the country. Something had happened, something he wasn't aware of, to narrow the search range for them. They would be closing in quickly now; he hadn't expected them to find that warehouse for weeks, although he had taken the opportunity presented to him to intimidate the competition a little. Plus, you never knew; they might have unwittingly let something slip, although unfortunately that hope hadn't born fruit. All he knew now was that Renegade definitely had a close relationship to the League somehow. He started thinking about whether it was time to move bases, but pushed the thought to the corner of his mind for now. They weren't that close.

Let the game continue indeed.

He reached for his communicator- the one in his belt, not the ear one- and called Renegade. Slade had told him that he was leaving, of course, but hadn't told him why or where he was going. The call in the warehouse had been faked. Why give them a chance at tracing the call when they weren't going to talk to Renegade anyway? He was debating how much to tell Renegade when the young man answered.

"What's up?" Renegade said cheerfully. Slade raised an eyebrow. "You sound happy." He noted. A laugh floated through over the communicator. "I've been in the acrobatics room the whole time. Seriously, if someone wants me to work for them, they should just bribe me with equipment like this and some cookies. Or a trapeze."

"Hmm." Slade hummed while making a mental note to get a trapeze. "I'll be back soon, and I want to talk to you about something that happened today. Perhaps you should freshen up."

"Sure." Renegade agreed. "What happened?"

Slade hesitated. "I'll tell you when I get back." He hung up.

Leaning back again, Slade let his mind wander- this time, to Renegade, his sort-of apprentice. He said sort-of because although Renegade was staying with him and learning from him, Renegade hadn't actually taken the role of his apprentice. Hopefully, at some point soon, Renegade would declare his loyalty to him, and that would make taking care of the heroes so much easier, because there was another part to their agreements that Renegade hadn't told the heroes or Red-X about.

They had agreed, that should Slade either relinquish his claim to Nightwing or should Nightwing declare his loyalty to Slade, all bets were off. The deals they made would be null and void, and Slade would be free to do whatever he wanted to in order to get the heroes out of his hair. Both had agreed to that not really expecting either to happen, but now… now, it was looking like it just might. This time, there was a real possibility that Slade would win.

That made him very happy, which may or may not have contributed to the fact that he hadn't actually tried to fight the heroes. Why risk ruining things, getting captured, when everything was going his way?

The young man behind Nightwing's mask was getting ever closer to giving up his life as a hero for one as a villain. Everything was going right, for once.

It was another half hour before Slade was back in his hideout. Renegade was waiting for him in the kitchen, munching on some chips. Slade frowned at the junk food and Renegade gave him a cheeky grin. He felt that he was entitled to some junk, thank you. He hadn't had any pizza or anything for weeks, something akin to sacrilege in Titans' , Slade agreed, or else just didn't want to bother arguing, as he let the issue go without a word. In fact, he sat down across from Renegade and stole a few chips. Renegade protested halfheartedly for a moment before giving up and asking about what had happened that day.

"I ran into Batman and Superman at one of my warehouses." Slade answered. He didn't fail to notice Renegade's widening eyes and the hint of concern in his voice when he inquired further. He relaxed, however, as Slade continued with the story and it became apparent that no one had gotten hurt. However, he tensed again when Slade asked him about his relationship with the League. He tried to avoid the issue, but Slade wouldn't let him wiggle his way out of it again.

"You've avoided me whenever I asked you before." He said firmly. "I would like a straight answer."

"There isn't really one." Renegade hesitated. "My relationship with them- with nearly every hero, actually- is complex and completely a part of my life before I became Nightwing. Technically, Nightwing doesn't know any of them. Back then, yes, I was close with many of them. Do we have to do this now? You'll find out eventually, especially if I stay with you for much longer, but I would like to keep it a secret for as long as possible. It's personal, and there's a lot of issues attached to it that were only sorted out recently, so…"

"Fine." Slade said tersely. This was really starting to irritate him. He was used to being in charge of everything, and this could throw off all of his plans if he didn't make provisions for whatever it was. He needed to know, but he would wait. He'd find out eventually.

Patience is a virtue, but being a manipulative evil mastermind was better than that.

Another week went by without much excitement, other than more attempts to find out about Renegade's past. Renegade, however, deftly managed to avoid all questions. He cited repeated efforts by the Titans for his skill at talking around the question.

A week from the warehouse incident, everything changed, and Renegade would finally give up his secret.

Despite the fact that he had been kidnapped, Renegade was still keeping up with the news outside, both because of the communicator he'd hidden from Slade (although the only thing he could get from that were updates about the search) and through what Slade told him. Apparently, an apprentice wasn't useful unless he was kept up to date about the politics outside. Go figure.

However, even that was a learning experience. As Slade was, obviously, a villain, he heard the news from the villain standpoint. Since he started his career as a hero, Renegade had only really heard the hero side, but apparently the villains had a gossip vine as well. Slade would tell him and Wintergreen about the newest gossip over dinner, when he was there. Usually, there wasn't much interesting.

Usually.

That day, Slade had come in, late as usual, with a slight smirk. "Well, it seems that Batman may be out of our hair for a while." He announced. Renegade stiffened and tried not to choke on the bite he'd just taken of his dinner. "Why? Did something happen to him?" He tried to ask casually, but his worry seeped through.

Slade shook his head. "Not to Batman, no. To Robin." He said, sitting down and pulling his plate towards him. Renegade's fork paused halfway to his mouth. "What happened?" He asked, abandoning all attempts at being casual.

Slade shrugged. "Joker kidnapped him." He answered. "Apparently, he's a bit ticked off at Batman for ignoring him, and he's gotten jealous of how all the villains seem to be passing on their legacies through protégées and apprentices… he wants his own, and decided to kill two birds with one stone."

Renegade dropped his fork.

Yup, I'm going the Joker Junior route :) It actually probably won't get that bad, but... as a warning, the concept will be used as a backround for these events, there will be little to know cannon relating to it. I just needed an idea as to why Renegade would give up his secret.

So, next time, we get Slade finally cluing in and Renegade kicking Joker into next year.

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