Agh, sorry, I am soooooo slow at updating this fic...

Which is odd, since I finished writing it all well over a month ago... O.o

Terra

"I knew it. I knew it! We never should have trusted her." – Raven; Betrayal

She'd drifted into their lives, hair and eyes ablaze with gold; there was an alluring and mesmerizing grace about her, which drew them all in. And it was a strange grace, since she was hardly a curvaceous supermodel with the perfect slink and strut to her stride. On the contrary, she was too skinny, rather awkward and certainly clumsy.

But there was an innocence about her cornflower-blue eyes; and a tentativeness about her smile. The blonde, blonde hair didn't exactly deplete her any points either – and they were struck by her.

A reluctant hero, and an even more reluctant Titan. She hadn't particularly wanted to stay with them that first night, hadn't particularly wanted to run their assault course, and hadn't particularly wanted to hang around after returning home from the fiasco (and her secret meeting with Slade) in the diamond mines.

They'd offered her the place on the team; she had accepted until she had gotten it into her head that Beast Boy had told Robin about her "secret"; she'd run off, only to return to them, suddenly more confident, with new control over her powers and new clothes; like idiots, they'd trusted her, let her back onto the team with no questions asked, and then…

…this.

"I guess this is the thanks we get," Raven said flatly, approaching Robin from behind; he was standing in silence at the window, looking out over the sunrise-kissed bay. The broom under the authority of her powers continued to sweep up dust and debris from the floor of the Operations Center. "Our home torn to pieces."

She watched the black material of his torn cape move under the influence of his back muscles as he shrugged.

"We're lucky we weren't torn to pieces," he replied, his voice passionless.

Raven was surprised by his behavior, to say the least. She and the others had expected him to be boiling over with rage, since Slade had, in all truth, been the one behind this. But on the contrary, he seemed rather lackadaisical about it all; trailing listlessly around helping to clear the mess.

He hadn't really said a thing at all. Perhaps the calm before the storm, but even so, it was strange to see their fiery leader behaving this way.

"Will you… be alright?" Raven asked him quietly.

"I expect so." Robin looked at the empath over his shoulder. "I'd be more concerned about Beast Boy, if I were you."

Raven took down her hood.

"I am, but… Beast Boy is doing what is right. He is expressing the pain he feels, and while you may scorn his tears, it is good for him… to cry over her. I think he may have loved her, after all."

"That has nothing to do with me."

"Yes. That is what worries me." She paused as he flashed another glance at her. "Well, I thought… that you would be angry, but you… haven't really said a thing…"

There was a long bout of silence between them.

"I am angry," he said finally, the gold light of dawn throwing a brilliant glow across his face and body. "The girl we trusted betrayed us to our nemesis; we've spent half the night fighting off robot minions, and the other half clearing up the mess they left. I'm exhausted, hungry, bruised in places that I didn't know I had, and god, Raven… you wouldn't believe how stupid I feel. Yes, I'm angry. I'm fucking furious."

But he still said it in a tired, expressionless voice.

"Stupid?" Raven repeated.

Robin massaged his aching temples.

"I'm team leader. Ultimately, it was my decision whether or not to allow her onto the team. And I guess that means, ultimately, it's my fault that she—"

"Don't you start taking the blame for what that little traitor did to us!" Raven snapped. "It was a decision we all came together; and regardless, we are not stupid for what we did. How were we supposed to know she would throw everything we've ever given her back in our faces?"

"I can't help feeling responsible for… well, all of it," Robin sighed.

"Well, start helping it," Raven replied. "And get that brush over there. Azar knows this place isn't going to clean itself…"

More's the pity.

"Just so you know, this isn't avoidance… It's acceptance." – Dick; Nightwing: Year One (Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon)

There have been ups and downs in the chronicles of the Teen Titans thus far, but this is the first time he has ever felt like a failure.

Maybe this is a just punishment for him getting perhaps a little too high and mighty; yes, of course he is proud to be the leader of the Teen Titans. They've been a successful team right from day one, when they had fought side by side against the Gordanians without even knowing each others' names.

And it makes it all the sweeter, since he always feels as though Batman is just waiting for him to trip and fall.

Perhaps this is that trip-and-fall for which Bruce has been so patiently waiting.

The girl they had trusted, out hunting them down; hating them for a reason none of them even know.

The communication system is down; but Robin puts out of his mind the reasons why it might be. He cannot bear to think that he is the only one left, that Terra has…

Starfire saved his life, undoubtedly, by pushing him aside. The boulder hit her, sending her over the edge of the cliff, but he is confident that she will survive such an assault. He's seen what she can do, after all.

Regardless, he can't find her down there, and he can't hook up with her comm., and he can't get hold of anyone else.

Which leaves him ultimately, on his own; to rally and stand against the girl who was once their friend.

Would Bruce laugh at this? Would he be pleased that Robin has failed? Would he suggest, in mock pity and understanding, that Robin return to Gotham City to take his place beneath him again?

No. He clenches his fists angrily. He cannot go back to that. He refuses.

Titans or no Titans, he has to take Terra down. It's a matter of principle, and a matter of pride – for the good of Jump City, and for the good of himself.

So secure is he, as a Teen Titan, that he will now no more bow to Batman than he will to Slade.

Something which Terra is about to find out.

"It's my fault. I'm the one who got us into trouble." –Robin; Calling All Titans

You'd think I would have learned from the last time.

Terra? She was just a warm-up. She was one girl, working for one villain. Tough at the time, but we pulled through it and went on to fight many more days.

We've gone from strength to strength since then. Expanded our horizons, furthered our reach. First the Titans East team over in Steel City, then the slow-but-sure building up of the ranks of Honorary Titans right across the globe.

This isn't three non-powered guys in costumes and an English guy. Or, well… two guys and girl. This isn't even a team, really.

This is an army.

Unfortunately, our enemy this time is as well-versed in commanding an army. In fact, and I hate to admit it, he's better. He's better than me. Sure, he's a brain in a jar, and to be honest, I really could just walk over there and kick him off the ledge we're standing on.

The gorilla would save him though, I would wager. Mallah; yeah. Mallah would save him, put him down, then come over here and rearrange my face. They've got these cuffs on me, like the ones those aliens put on Starfire when she first came to Earth. Not like I'm going to be opening a barrage of starbolts on them, but whatever. The point is that I'm at their mercy. If the gorilla takes it into his head to come over here and start tossing me around, there's not really much I can do to stop him. The cuffs are so heavy I'd probably, and physics on the fly here, fall over if I tried to gain any momentum to kick him with.

I'm in a position to jump off the ledge, but I'll just wind up hitting the floor, since I can't get to my grapple. The floor is stone, and if I was lucky enough not to end up completely splattered, I'd break both my legs, no question.

Why am I here? "Madam Rouge" is the short answer. "Madam Rouge tricked me into giving her my communicator, gave it to the Brain, enabling the Brotherhood of Evil to follow our every move all across the globe and therefore initiate a devastating chain reaction of attacks to pick us all off, then came back, slapped me around and brought me here so the Brain could taunt me" is the long answer.

I cut off the communication system right before she took me. I don't know who's alive and who's dead. They don't seem very interested in killing us, as such – more into capturing us and freezing us to keep us as trophies – but that doesn't mean a thing. Accidents happen.

Although who is to say they would be accidents? We might be just teenagers, but if being Batman's sidekick taught me anything, it's that this isn't child's play. The villain isn't going to go easy on you just because you don't shave yet. I know that better than anyone, and I learned it pretty quickly.

Slade perhaps likes to credit himself with teaching me these things – the idea that there is the good and the bad and the grey; that and the fact that he's not going to lay off just because I'm a Teen Titan.

But honestly, he didn't teach me a thing.

Before Terra showed up – the girl in the grey area – I knew about the ugly side to what we do. Sounds glamorous, all this protecting the innocent, swinging from rooftop to rooftop at three in the morning. It has its perks, but the newspapers don't tell it right. It's not easy. I know, because I've swerved into the grey area myself. Once, definitely, as Red X; but maybe more than that.

People like Terra don't understand those things until they are thrust upon them.

I shake my head. My thought train is running off by itself; although anything is better than listening to the Brain drone on in the background. He's talking to me, I think. I've heard my name a few times, spoken with a mechanical hiss and crackle. Almost as bad as when Slade says it.

But I can't listen to him. I'm too angry to listen to him, and too tired. It's not something I'm going to say out loud, but I'm tired of being stabbed in the back. Really, seriously sick of it. First Terra, then Rouge. Okay, so Rouge was never on our side, but I thought she was Hot-Spot, so I handed it over without a second thought.

You can't go around handing out communicators to just anyone, I've learned. Bit late for that lesson, I guess; yeah, way too late, now that I've given everyone one. God, thinking back on it, I even gave Gizmo one once, after the Tournament of Heroes.

I wonder morbidly who else, if we manage to pull through this, will turn on us and use the communicators against us. Sounds awful to be suspecting people are supposed to be our friends – but then, Terra was supposed to be our friend, and look what she did to us…

Kole, maybe? Pantha? Jericho – I admit there's something weird about that kid.

And let's not forget our own. Cyborg had us going for a while there, infiltrating the HIVE Headquarters under the "Stone" alias. Then of course there was Raven, inadvertently ending the world; and subsequently us too. And me. Blackmail though it may have been, I've betrayed the Teen Titans too.

I'd say we were safer by ourselves, as the original five, but evidently, that's not true at all.

I guess the only conclusion I can come to, as I stand up here as the Brain's little trophy and watch them turn Speedy into a popsicle, is that, while the communicators may be the real cause of our downfall, this all started with Terra.

She was a mistake; a mistake we all vowed collectively, and I vowed privately, would never happen again.

Because, as I once said to Raven, ultimately it was my decision to let her in. And no matter Raven's reassurance, I'll always feel partially responsible for what she did because of it. She needed our trust in order to destroy us – and she could only get that by being on the team.

But even after Terra, I was still stupid enough to go handing communicators around to everyone. That's why I'm here. That's why we're all here.

"…The elimination of an entire generation of heroes," I hear the Brain say to my back; his tone is expressionless, of course, but I still get the feeling that he's pleased with himself for having me on my knees in front of him. The king, as he called me. "And we owe it all to you, Robin."

Yes, Brain; I guess you do. And I can't turn to him; only grit my teeth in cold, silent fury. Although maybe you should be thanking Terra too…