Part 2 - Overview
After having breakfast the titans went over to the couch to watch some TV. They sat down, clicked around the channels and talked about Robin and Starfire's future child. As they were relaxing Rage cleaned the table, washed the dishes and cutlery, putting them in their designated place and cleaned the stove of any uncooked or burnt pancake mix. When he was done the others were paying attention to a program on TV so he decided not to disturb them. After all, they went through a lot and needed some time off.
He decided to go to the training room and work out instead. As he walked to the door, he thought it wouldn't hurt if he told his friends where to find him.
"Excuse me, I'm going to be in the gym if anyone needs me, just shout if you need any help or something" he said as he walked off.
The titans didn't seem to have heard Rage but Robin heard him clearly. A thought came into his mind and thought he should have a small talk with his friend. He excused himself and left the room trying to catch up with Rage. Fortunately for him he didn't have to walk to far as Rage was just on his way towards the stairs.
"Rage, wait a second" Robin called out.
"Yes Robin, may I be of assistance in any form?" he asked
"No, I just wanted to thank you for not telling the others about our little scrap earlier, I'm really grateful for that".
"Not to worry, it was in the interest of all the team to keep quiet about that ... including me too"
"I suppose, but I also want to apologize personally for starting that fight and for thinking you were hitting on Starfire and -"
"That will not be necessary either" Rage interrupted "I have already forgiven you, don't worry about it".
"You have? How come?"
"How come what?"
"How come you forgave me so quickly? I don't mean to sound annoying or ungrateful but you didn't act like this before".
"How come you came to apologize to me personally when you already did that at the table?" Rage asked rhetorically while chuckling "I just did, I understand what you went through and I considered I didn't have any reason to be mad at you. It's for the best after all".
"Yeah, you're right, it's just that with all of that work and the threat Slade gave me ... all of it just made me go nuts and stopped me from thinking clearly"
"I see you have an obsession with this Slade character, the others told me about your problems with him in the past"
"Well I guess you can call it an obsession, he was the only villain I never got rid of, and even when I thought he was gone, he came back. He's like a thorn in my spine. I don't think if you know how it is, but this thing can make you rot from the inside out".
"So I have noticed" Rage replied "And to be honest I have a similar obsession with one individual, but coming back to what you said, you must realize one thing, this Slade guy is as treacherous as a fox, he prepares his moves wisely and plans his attack with great precision. I do not want to seem like I am supporting him, but he appears to be a good tactician, a real good one in fact".
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Robin asked baffled, not understanding where Rage wanted to go with this.
"Come on! It is as obvious as light during the day ... wait, you have no idea what I'm talking about right?".
"I understand a bit, but not completely".
"Well, seeing how you encountered him in the past I guess you might have noticed how he sometimes postpones his attack, just like he's doing now".
"Yeah I noticed that, and your point is?".
"My point is that he knows you are at some level obsessed with him and he uses this to his advantage. He doesn't attack yet because he knows that you will search for him if he acts out, he knows you won't stop searching for him, and most of all, he knows you will blame yourself and eventually have a break down thus starting to separate yourself from the team ... and you did do that these last weeks ... and finally split up. Divide and conquer, this is what strategy he uses. And take into notice that if it wasn't for Starfire and Raven, maybe his plan might have worked".
"Hmmm, interesting conclusion" said Robin while rubbing his chin "But how do you know this? How can you be sure that this is what he was planning?"
"I was in the army, remember? This is one of the things they taught me, find out what my enemies plan of action is and use it to my advantage, but I am not 100 sure that this is what he was thinking. For all we know he could also be dead or maybe he lacks the necessary fire and man power, but if this not the case I am pretty sure that the scenario I thought about earlier is highly plausible".
"Could be, but if that's the case what do we do now?"
"We have to stay focused, that is all we can do for now. Remember, he plans on dividing the team and taking us out one by one, but when he will notice that this plan does not work he will try and lure us out or take the fight directly to us".
"I got it, and when he'll see his plan didn't work he'll slip up and then we come in and take him down" replied Robin while grinning and slamming his fist into his palm.
"That is correct, but until then we have to stay focused. It is his move now, let us wait and see what he does".
"I can't wait for him to slip up. After I'm done with him I'll make sure that he never rears his ugly face ever again"
"I just want to make him pay for his injustice ... and also for those two teeth I am missing. By the way, do you have any data on him I could look over?"
"Any?" Robin asked and slightly chuckled "I have everything you need to know about Slade, why do you ask?"
"I would like to read some more about him, get to know his past, his character and the way he used to fight".
"I don't have that much data about his past, and I don't know if I could lend you to much info, I still have some research to do ..."
"Oh no!" Rage interrupted "I know what you are going to say and I do not think it is a good idea. You should try and rehabilitate your situation with the team and think more about Starfire and your future child, not start over with that workaholic habit of yours. I do not mean to sound bossy but you should stop researching for a while, you know. But it is your choice, I do not want to seem like I'm interfering too much, so I will let you decide".
"But I'm so close to a brake through, I don't think I should stop right now when I'm so close".
"You mean the research should not stop. I think you could use a brake. You could enlist someone else to search for answers for you".
"Who? The only ones capable of not losing their temper would be Raven and Cyborg, but Raven is busy with Beast Boy and Cyborg should work on preparing defensive technology for the tower. Do you know anyone else?" Robin asked a bit disrespectful thinking that Rage didn't have so much faith in him.
"Well I always just train and read books, I guess I could help. After all, I do not have a busy schedule and I don't mind taking over researching for you".
"Are you sure? It's a lot of work and you wouldn't do much during the day then just read".
"It does not bother me, I want to catch him myself just as much as you do" said Rage who seemed to be getting restless for some reason.
Robin thought about Rage's proposal and agreed with him. He would take some time off and Rage would take over his work. At first he didn't like the idea but he considered that he had to be closer to Starfire during her pregnancy.
After giving Rage every file, map and info he got on Slade he directed him and pointed out where he should start his search from. Rage promised Robin that he would keep him up to date with anything that he might find.
Rage seemed very helpful after all, but knowing what happened with Terra Robin decided not to trust him 100. He decided instead to keep a close eye on him and see if he notices anything suspicious. He didn't like this seeing how he could be wrong about him, but doubt was in his nature and sometimes his nature was right!