Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: YAAAAY! Friday! Sorry, this would have been done SO much faster, but it's hot in Sweden right now, so even THINKING makes you sweat… it's just a temporary heat wave, though… supposed to get cooler this weekend…
Now a correction…. kitsunechibiko pointed out to me that the Titanic-necklace was a blue diamond, not a sapphire… I went all "whaaaat?" and checked, and, naturally, kitsunechibiko was right. I bow my head in shame and hope for forgiveness.
Thank you again to everybody who has reviewed and made suggestions! It's so much fun! Surprisingly, many seem to root for Red as the one Robin might end up with… I have yet to take real sides… first I thought this would be a more or les straight (?!) Robin/Slade story with a bit of Red as interest by the side, but the boy is NOT easily disheartened, as you will find out as soon as you start to read:
Innocent Games 5: White
Red looked like he had been given an early Christmas present, and Robin couldn't take it anymore. He snarled something ugly, roughly pushed the thief away from him and was out of the cage in a second. Not really thinking, he just ran. As soon as he was out in the street, he could hear that he was being pursued and instead of running to his bike, instinct took over and he climbed the nearest fire escape up to the roof. He ran over four or five rooftops before coming to his senses and stopping. He just stood there, looking out into the night, over the sparkling city and the bay, where the Tower stood in silent vigilance.
"Such a naughty bird…"
Robin didn't even flinch, he had known, felt, the man behind him.
"Red found out." Robin told the man in an apathetic voice.
"Want him dead?"
"Hey, what the hell? I'm standing right here!" a third voice objected.
Robin turned around, and yes… both of his tormentors stood there, actually managing to look offended that he had left.
"I don't want anybody dead. I want to be left alone."
"No."
"Not gonna happen." Red agreed, but took a step away as Slade turned to him.
"You, thief, will back off." the man said.
"I know his secret too, murderer… If I spill my guts, your little fun will be over as well…"
"You might spill your guts, but not it that sense…" Slade growled.
"Stop it!" Robin stepped in between the two of them, before realizing the absurdity of the situation. "What am I doing? By all means, go ahead… kill each other… that would greatly improve my life…" he added, darkly.
"C'mon, angel, lighten up… let's just have some fun…" Red pleaded.
"I hate to say it, but I agree with the annoying kleptomaniac." Slade said, getting a huff from Red. "This is not the end of the world… at least it doesn't have to be…"
"Shut up, the both of you!" Robin exclaimed. "I know what you look like, and if you even think about telling anyone, you'll be in jail within the hour… and it will mean that the club is discovered and 80 percent of the guests there will join you… do you really want to do jail time with that crowd when they found out it's your fault they were arrested?"
Red paled, but Slade seemed completely unaffected.
"If you were going to do that, you would have done it a long time ago…" the man said.
Robin turned his back on them, staring out over the city again.
"No, damnit…" he said. "I… I went to the club to be myself for a while… to be free… no duties, no expectations… well, you ruined that, so what do I have to lose now?"
"How about your reputation?" Slade suggested.
Robin laughed harshly.
"So what? I'll just move again. A new city… a new name… and if you find me, Slade, I'll just do it all over again. It's not like I haven't done it before…"
"But what will your little friend's say? They do look up to you so…" Slade asked mockingly.
"Well, their image of me is not my concern…" Robin answered quietly. The sight of the city lights started to blur.
"Hey, kid… are you crying?" Red was suddenly next to him, turning him around. His voice sounded like it was laced with real concern.
"So what?" Robin hissed. He wasn't, anyway… he was just angry, and tired, and…. "It's not like you would care… you just want to use me."
Red was harshly pushed aside, almost falling over the ledge, and Robin felt his chin grabbed firmly.
"Listen to me…" Slade growled as he lifted the boy's chin until Robin was almost on his toes and wincing in pain. "This might not be exactly what you want, but it is what you are going to get. Play your cards right and you'll get to keep your little fun and your little friends… I'll even consider letting Red play a bit with you in public, but only to make sure no one else does."
"I don't need your charity, Slade." Red growled, for once sounding really pissed off. "Why don't you let Robin choose?"
"No. Either you agree to guard him for me or you'll stay away completely… if not, you'll die."
Red snorted and Robin could hear him walk away angrily.
So much for hoping for a knight in shining armor… Robin thought sarcastically. He didn't blame Red though… he had even less chance against Slade than Robin had. He didn't want the thief dead because of him, especially since there were no real feelings involved.
"So sure I wouldn't pick you?" Robin smirked tightly. Suddenly he remembered that he didn't need to act like Gray anymore, and he grabbed Slade's arm, kicking out with his feet at the same time. The next thing he knew he was slammed down on the rooftop and a knee was placed on his chest.
"None of this acting out, Robin." Slade tutted. "We will go back now, and I'll enjoy your company for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow you'll-"
"It's Sunday tomorrow, I don't work Sundays…" Robin interrupted, his voice trailing off as he realized that the thing he had objected against was the disruption of his schedule. "… I work Wednesday to Saturday…" he added, unable to help himself.
Slade chuckled and got up, pulling Robin to his feet with him.
"I guess my bird needs his beauty sleep, right? All right. I told you this wouldn't be the end of the world, and it won't. After tonight, I will see you here Wednesday. You will perform as usual, since I like watching you, and then we'll have a nice time together… I'll talk to Red X, he may be useful, if he can learn to control himself."
Robin was half numb with shock. What was the man saying? Was he attempting to be reasonable? How dared he?
"You think I will just roll over for you?" he hissed "Why don't you just rape me and get this morbid little fascination of yours out of your system?"
"Don't insult me!" Slade almost spat. "Don't you think I would already if I was that type of man?"
"Tell me, then! Tell me what type of man you are! You are already pressuring me… do you really think I'm so naïve that I don't know how this is going to end?"
Slade smirked, tightening his grip on the boy.
"No, Robin. I don't think you know… I don't think you have the faintest clue… not in your wildest dreams…"
Robin was about to snarl something back when Slade kissed him. It was nothing like Red's. It wasn't playful and tingling; it was brutal and scorching, crashing through Robin's defenses like as if they were made of paper.
Before he knew it he was being dragged away, over the rooftops to the fire escape he climbed up on in the first place.
"Will you climb down on your own, or do I have to throw you over my shoulder?" Slade asked, sounding amused, and Robin came back to his senses, bristling.
"You wouldn't da-"
But Slade did. As humiliating as it was, it was also a dizzying position to be in at this height, and Robin didn't have the courage to struggle, as it might make Slade lose his grip. Instead he grabbed onto the man's shirt, calling him all the nastiest things he could think off.
"You are starting to repeat yourself." Slade said dryly when they were half way down.
"Piss off, you son of a bitch!" was Robin's answer.
"Yes. Heard that one too" Slade nodded.
Robin broke off his tirade and became quiet.
"You are unbelievable." he muttered after a moment.
"That I am…" Slade chuckled.
Five minutes later they were back in the booth, Robin sitting sideways over Slade's lap, leaning back into the corner and, unfortunately, Slade's arm. He was still muttering quietly under his breath now and then, but he felt too emotionally drained to really put up much of a fight. He was disgusted with himself as well as this whole situation. Not to mention the fact that Slade's hand on his inner thigh really felt very, very…
"I wouldn't mind another blow job…" Slade suggested.
"I can feel that you don't..." Robin smirked and wriggled about a bit. "You know I envy you, Slade? Getting to experience something like that? If I was limber enough to comfortably do that to myself, I would never leave my room…"
"You are going to make this very difficult for me, aren't you?" Slade asked, and Robin had a feeling that the man wanted to pout.
"No… no, you misunderstand me, dear…" Robin smiled. "I'm going to make it bloody impossible for you…"
"You just go ahead… I'll enjoy the hunt…" Slade purred. At seeing Robin's questioning expression, he chuckled
"There are many forms of hunting, Robin… make no mistake, you are the prey, but believe me… this is a hunt you will enjoy the end of."
"In your dreams…" Robin snorted. "I'm thirsty, go get me a bottle of water."
"Excuse me?"
"Well? Aren't you supposed to woo me or something? Get me some water… And make sure the bottle is sealed, I'm not stupid enough to drink from anything else in a place like this…"
"It will cost you a kiss…" Slade grinned.
Robin thought about it. He had asked for, or rather demanded, water, just to see what he could get Slade to do. A kiss seemed cheap enough.
"Water first, kiss later." he nodded, and Slade chuckled, moving him aside.
The man caught Robin's pleased expression in the corner of his eye, and grinned to himself as he walked towards the bar. The boy was trying to boss him around. How sweet. He would let him, to an extent, naturally, Slade decided. After all, in the beginning of the hunt, the prey must feel safe or it would run away out of reach of the hunter.
Robin watched Slade walk away, feeling slightly better. Oh, he knew the man was just humoring him, but as long as he did, things might not turn ugly… uglier…
Suddenly someone slipped into the booth with him, leaning back in the opposite couch like he had been invited to.
"You love birds made up?" Red asked, grinning and wriggling his eyebrows.
"Hardly." Robin muttered. "I don't know how to get out of this, though…"
"Why would you want to? The old guy is hot…"
"You think everything on two legs is hot…" Robin snorted
"I'm not like that! I dated a guy in a wheelchair once." Red said, faking hurt.
"All right, so anything alive and human. Please tell me human at least…?" Robin sighed.
"Humanoid…"
"Of course."
"So? Getting better acquainted?"
"I don't want to… especially since he fixed it so he won the auction the other night…" Robin admitted.
"No! Really? Well… have you..?"
"Yes."
"When?!"
"Just before you and I kissed…" Robin smirked, but the reaction wasn't quite what he had hoped for.
"Wicked!" Red only grinned. "So…?"
"So, what?"
"So what was he like? Small? Average? Big? Thick? Long?"
"The last three fits…" Robin mumbled and couldn't help but blush a bit.
"Lucky you."
"Like you would know…" Robin blushed deeper.
"What?" Red looked nonplussed.
"Well… about… bottoming…" Robin wanted to pull a Raven and just melt back into the wall.
"Are you kidding me? I didn't choose Lace for his brains you know..." Red leered. Seeing how Robin gawked at him, he let out a friendly laugh. "Hey kid, topping is great, I love it, but being the bottom… with the right guy… is heaven."
"Didn't I tell you to stay away?"
The teens jumped, looking up at the intimidating shape that was Slade.
"Just telling your boyfriend here about the birds and the bees…" Red grinned.
"Don't listen to him." Slade growled.
"He told me bottoming could be great…" Robin piped up, trying to sound like he wasn't embarrassed at all.
"Hmmm… maybe I should let him continue, then…" Slade chuckled and sat down, handing Robin a bottle of water. "As long as he keeps his distance…"
"How about a demonstration?" Red leered. "Robin tells me you're hung. If he get's to watch he might wanna join?"
Robin, who had just taken a long sip of water, spurted it out over the entire table.
The other two couldn't help but chuckle at his expression.
"Sorry, Red, but I'm monogamous." Slade said. "I'm sure I'm missing out, though."
"You bet." Red nodded. "But don't hesitate to call me… I'd love to help you with your urges…"
"That is Robin's job." Slade smirked.
"No, go ahead." Robin waved, still coughing up water, "If that's my job, I rather be out of work… Red's willing, god knows why, so do him. Don't show OR tell, just go…"
"Was the water good? The part that isn't on the table, that is…?" Slade said, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.
"Right… I forgot…" Robin mumbled and shifted he could lean over towards the man. He ignored a muffled gasp from Red, thinking this might shut the thief up, and it was just fair since Red had embarrassed him like that. Robin moved in with determination this time. He might not have a lot of experience with kissing… his earlier playmates wasn't exactly interested in that if they could have more, but he would learn. He made the kiss as steamy as possible, but kept his mind cool enough to be able to draw back, cutting the kiss short. As Slade tried to pull him closer, Robin smirked.
"It was just a bottle of water, Slade."
"Can I get you anything?" Red asked.
"No." Slade and Robin answered at the same time.
"Come on… Let's show the old guy how it's done…" Red challenged, pulling Robin his way.
What am I? A Christmas cracker? Well, it will piss Slade off, and frighten Red away…
"Sure baby..." Robin grinned, and leaned in.
"It you value your life, thief…" Slade growled, and Red actually hesitated, before giving Robin a quick peck on the lips and retreating.
"Sorry, Slade, but I can't help myself… And you are not going to be around all the time… What? Afraid of a little healthy competition?"
"Not at all… Just make sure you are willing to lose…" Slade smirked, drawing Robin closer again.
"Pffftt…" Red chuckled "I'll see you around, kid…" He disappeared almost as quickly as he could have with his suit on, but not before winking at Robin one last time.
Suddenly trying to kiss Red in front of Slade, didn't seem like such a good idea.
"You did that to annoy me, didn't you?" Slade said slowly.
"So?" Robin said, crossing his arms.
"So, to me, it means you care… but you don't want any more blood on your hands, do you?"
Robin blinked.
"Any more…? What do you…? Wait! It's not my fault you killed that man!"
"If you hadn't put yourself up for sale like that, I wouldn't have had to get rid of him."
"Don't blame that on me, you bastard!" Robin snarled, standing up. "I'm going home, and I don't want to even catch a glimpse of you before Wednesday, get it?"
"I'll see you Wednesday, then…" Slade smiled lazily, like they had just agreed on a date.
Robin spun around and stomped off. He had only gotten to his changing room, however, when Nick appeared.
"Not having a good day?" his boss asked.
"What do you think?" Robin snarled. "I loathe Slade!"
"Well, sorry Gray, but when you catch the eye of the big boys, you'll have to play by the big boys rules…"
"Maybe I'm through playing…" Robin muttered.
"What was that?" Nick asked.
"Nothing…" Robin replied with a sigh. However bad this looked, he really didn't want to give the club up just yet…
"Well, when you have calmed down, come see me if you want to talk… we'll find some options for you…" Nick said and patted his shoulder.
"Really? Thanks Nick!" Robin smiled. "Just had a bad day… sorry to freak on you…"
"We all need to vent sometimes…" Nick smiled. "Now, I see you Wednesday?"
"Yup." Robin nodded, and went to change.
As he got home he took an even longer shower than the one in the afternoon, finding another small remain of x-goo in his hair.
Why did I have to go and invent something like this? he asked himself, fighting to get it out.
When his head finally hit the pillow it was almost time to get up.
A good thing about dancing, Robin thought, was that it was great exercise… this meant the he could skimp on the training most of the days he worked, and only do some technique-exercises. Naturally he told his team he was training, but in fact he was usually resting, snoozing the morning away. He needed the extra sleep after being up all night, after all. It didn't help him much now, however, as he had promised to spend the Sunday with his friends.
The Titans were in an exceptional good mood that morning, as they were going to relax the day away at the beach. Robin, however, felt like he had mistakenly tumbled-dried his uniform with himself in it, but tried to put on a show for his team.
"Look! We're in the paper! Dude, what's that face about, Cy?" Best Boy laughed.
"Guess I got a whiff of you, squirt…" Cy responded good-naturedly, probably because of the amount of bacon on his plate.
Robin snatched the paper before it became a weapon, and glanced at the first page. He very nearly threw up. There was a large photo of the Titan's in action, but in the corner there was a smaller one. A headshot. The man who had died. Robin recognized him. The name had told him nothing, and Robin had hoped that he might not know the man, but he did…
He's the one who always insists that I call him 'daddy'… he realized, his face as white as a sheet. Did he use to make the kids call him that too?
Robin wasn't dumb, he knew there were men at the club who was attracted to him because he was young, and could, if he wanted to, look younger. He had even used it at times, thinking it was just for fun… what if these men had acted out on their fantasies because of him?
"I… excuse me…" Robin left the table in a hurry.
The other Titan's looked at each other.
"Anyone else think Robin has been acting kinda strange lately?" Cy wanted to know.
"Yeah, he's like zoning out and looks like ha hasn't slept for days… I mean, he went to bed at like eight last night!" BB said, waving a fork full of tofu-egg.
"Is it Slade you think? He seems a bit too focused on that guy…" Cyborg wondered, wiping his chin where some tofu-egg had landed.
"May it be he is sick, perhaps?" Starfire said, worriedly.
"I will try to talk to him." Raven offered.
The others nodded gratefully. Robin was great guy, but trying to pry into his private business could get your nose bitten off. Better leave it to the fearless.
Robin spent thirty minutes kicking the stuffing out of a new sandbag before he felt calm enough to face the day. He forced himself to forget about the man and focus on his team, to make sure that they had a good time even if he couldn't.
"Hey guys! Ready for a swim?" he grinned at his friends as he came back into the kitchen.
"Yeah… where did you go?" BB asked carefully.
"What? Oh… I just forgot something…" Robin waved the question away. "Everything packed? Don't forget your communicators, there could be trouble…"
The rest of the teenagers groaned at the thought, hoping that the police could deal with Jump for the day.
Robin managed to push his dark thoughts aside and actually have a great day. He played beach volley ball with Star against the guys, vent scuba diving with BB, who turned into a dolphin and let Robin tag along, joined Cy as he built an immense sandcastle and then, completely spent, collapsed on a blanket in the shade of a large canopy next to Raven, who was relaxing in a deck-chair, reading.
"I'm beat…" he laughed softly. "This is worse than training day at the bat cave."
"You ok? With everything?" Raven asked carefully.
Robin tensed a bit. So they had noticed… and they were worried, or Raven wouldn't have asked. To pretend everything was fine only led to one thing: more prodding… but he couldn't very well tell the truth either. Robin sighed. Lie it was.
"Not really…It has been crazy for a bit, but it is better now… family problems…"
Family was a great scapegoat. The Titans knew they weren't allowed to snoop when it came to Batman, but they had found out enough to know that the relationship between the two could be stormy at times. Robin hoped that Raven would buy that this was one of these times. She seemed to do so.
"Oh… I have been feeling really strong emotional surges from you for a while, and the last two days have been intense… I have managed to tune you out now, though, for the most time…"
"Sorry… I guess it's the stress here as well as… you know… with him… And sleep has been really off too… actually… would you mind if I took a nap? I hate to be a bore, but…"
Raven smiled one of her small rare smiles.
"If being a 'bore' means I can read in peace, I wish more people on this team was one…"
Robin chuckled, leaned back and closed his eyes. Peace, quiet… well... kind off, since it seemed that Cy was burying BB in the sand at the moment, and warm sand to dig his toes into… and especially, no lovesick criminals around… Robin grinned a bit at the description, trying to picture Slade with flowers and chocolate, before he drifted off to sleep.
Hands were touching him… not as many hands as when he danced in the cage, only two pairs, but they knew what they were doing… Robin couldn't help but push back into the caresses, they felt so good.
"Told you that you would like it, little bird…" Slade's voice, but somehow Robin didn't snap out of the glorious feeling.
"You know it's me you want to play with…" Red interrupted and turned Robin's head to the side for a kiss. Somehow Red's lips then turned into Slade's. Their hands continued to tease and caress, but never went too far… or was that 'never went far enough'…? Robin whimpered in need. He heard Slade chuckle.
"Yes, Red only want's to play… he'll get bored…" the man said.
"Slade will demand more than you want to give… better to just have fun… some innocent fun…" Red whispered.
"I… I don't want… don't want any of you…" Robin tried to object.
"Not true, Robin…" Slade said and finally his hands reached down towards Robin's crotch, and Robin moaned. "You want us both."
Robin sat up with a gasp. It took a millisecond for him to figure out where he was and what was happening, and then he quickly rolled over on his stomach.
"Bad dream?" Raven asked, sounding concerned.
Oh god, don't let her have looked up from her book… Robin begged.
"Uh… yes… I guess."
Robin spotted today's newspaper next to Raven's chair. She had supposedly brought it to get a chance to read it in depth, and now Robin reached for it. He might as well pretend he wanted to read it too.
"Robin! Would you come do the swimming with me?" Starfire asked from behind them. As much as cold water would be a good thing, Robin, naturally, couldn't get up.
"I… not right now, Star… in a few minutes? I… just want to read this…"
"Yes, Robin." Starfire said, slightly disappointed.
Robin spent several minutes silently cursing himself and his body, but mostly Red and Slade, before the result of the dream started to die away. He then decided to read the article after all and quickly folded the paper so he didn't have to look at the photo of Jacobs, and began.
By the end he frowned slightly. The kids had already been housed temporarily in an unused office building, but the orphanage had been run completely on charity. Even if they could stay in the building, there simply were no funds to renovate the place and turn it into a proper living space. Robin had a feeling he knew where the savings had gone. 'Not' was an expensive place. He almost wished he hadn't told the police what he had known about the insurance fraud, but it would have been discovered in the investigation, anyway. Arson was actually one of the hardest crimes to get away with, since it was so difficult to fake. The article also hinted at the man's other crimes that were under investigation. Robin shuddered. He felt incredibly guilty for the children's fate and decided, then and there, that he would make it up to them…. He would raise the money somehow… The Titan's own budget didn't allow for costs like that, and calling Bruce would mean getting the "money –talk" so that was out. There would be fundraises and charity events, Robin was sure, but maybe the possible molesting issue would scare people away… he knew that companies were pretty cold when it came to donations, always choosing the ones that would look best for them… and maybe no one wanted their name anywhere close to these poor kids?
Of course he had another option. The auction. He felt his stomach clench at the thought, but maybe it was just right… maybe these kids hadn't suffered if it wasn't for him, teasing their caretaker at the club and agreeing to that stupid auction. Besides, Slade would with no doubt win, and although the man was a handful, he really didn't think Slade would actually hurt him. Robin let his thoughts backtrack a bit and blushed. That could have been interpreted in several ways… But letting Slade 'win' that easily? It went against his instincts… and, thinking back, he suspected that Slade had foreseen this development. The man hadn't seemed to think that Robin would hold out on him, after all… Robin growled quietly in frustration. He was getting nowhere!
The good thing about this was that he had no physical recollection of that damn dream anymore, and, getting up from the blanket, he called to Starfire that he was ready for that swim. Maybe the water would clear his thoughts…?
Monday morning found the Titans fighting something big and nasty. No surprise there. It seemed to be a giant robot-mutant mix, no surprise their either, really. Robin could just smell Gizmos involvement in this one.
Whoever gave that little shit his first toolbox deserves to be flogged… Robin thought darkly as he attacked once again. Their opponent seemed to be set on steeling videogames and snacks, and, for some reason, chocolate, which also pointed to the H.I.V.E. So far their endeavour to stop the creature had been rather fruitless, but they had managed to slow him down a bit. Robin ducked as a car came flying over him, but a few seconds later he found himself flying helplessly through the air, into the nearest alley. Instead of landing painfully on the ground or in some stinky garbage, he was caught.
"You shouldn't try that without wings, love." Robin heard Slade say and looked up into the masked face, quiet stunned. It was one thing to see him in civilian clothes, but now, especially since having that bloody sword pointed at him, the man's uniform freaked him out. The endearment freaked him out more, though.
"Don't call me that! Let go!" Robin snarled. Surprisingly enough Slade put him down on his feet quite carefully, but didn't let him go altogether. Instead the man removed his metal mask and kissed him. Robin stamped down on the man's foot, but didn't even make a dent it the reinforcing metal. After a moment he had trouble seeing the point of fighting, though.
Damn, Slade is good…
Robin, his pride being hurt terribly by a small moan, tried to at least summon a glare for Slade as soon as the man let him go. He might have his mask on, but Robin hoped Slade would get the message anyway.
"What are you doing here?" Robin tried not to shout, in case one of the Titans heard him.
"Just keeping my eye on you."
"Keep it on someone else."
Slade chuckled.
"If you hadn't decided to land on me, you wouldn't have known I was here." The man said simply, like it was okay to stalk someone as long as the person vas oblivious. Slade put his mask back on and glanced out into the street. "Tough enemy?"
"Don't tell me you are behind-"
The man shook his head.
"I got better things to do." he said, sounding somewhat insulted.
"Like watching me?" Robin asked sarcastically.
"Hmmm… yes…" Slade purred, and Robin's heart beat a few extra times at the sound. "You are doing well. You have, naturally, noticed that the creature seems a bit overprotective of his left side? I guess the power source or some other vulnerable part is located there, don't you think?"
Robin blinked. He hadn't noticed. He did notice that Slade tried to be diplomatic, though.
"It's not like I have been standing on the sidelines, observing…" he said. "I've been busy ducking cars."
"Well, maybe you should have been… look before you leap, love."
"Stop calling me that! I'm not-" A loud crash cut Robin off. "Oh god, was that a bus? I gotta go."
As he entered the battlefield once more, Cy waved at him.
"Started to get worried, man! What happened?"
"I… got stuck on something…" Robin improvised, all kinds of bad, bad images appearing in his mind as he did. He shrugged them away and pointed to the creature. "Titans! Left side! Go!"
Slade had been right. Although they didn't hit the spot immediately, once they did, all the energy seemed to drain out of the thing. Not before something, maybe a fuel line of some sort, burst and showered Beast Boy and Raven with a black-purple mess. Robin tried to hide a grin as he watched Raven practically steam… he wanted to say something about not getting away this time, but he also wanted to keep his teeth.
Cyborg hurried forward and scanned the substance to check if it was dangerous.
"You won't believe this, guys… its blueberry soup!"
"You have a virus, buddy…" BB snorted, then sniffed himself. "It is! Wow… that's weird…"
Starfire, ever curious about earth food, swiped some off the ground and popped it in her mouth. She, surprisingly, spluttered.
"This is a truly disgusting food-stuff!" she spit.
"What? It's blueberries…?" BB said, licking his lips. "Tastes like it usually does…?"
"Horrible!" Starfire seemed genuinely chocked at finding something she didn't like. So were the others.
"Well…" Beast Boy rubbed his hands together. "Now when that's taken care off, how about some pizza?"
"Again you are covered by something sticky and again you want pizza?" Raven said.
"Hey, I don't care what I'm covered with, I'll always want pizza." Beast Boy declared.
"Somehow I believe you." Raven said tiredly.
Robin watched the whole conversation, feeling pretty detached. As the police pulled up, the danger was over, after all, he pulled himself together and resumed his duties as the leader.
"Go to the pizza-parlour at the next block before BB starves to death…" he said, waving them off "I'll just report what happened."
Robin finished with the cops as quickly as he could and headed off towards the restaurant, actually hungry himself by now.
Halfway there he was dragged into another alley.
"What the hell, Sl- Red?"
"Missed me?" the other teen grinned. He was actually in civilian clothes and they even looked pretty normal. Surprise...
"Incredibly." Robin said dryly. "Look, I'm a little bit tired of being jumped in alleys today, so if you don't mind-"
"Slade did something? What?" Red's eyes flashed, and Robin sighed.
Great… is RED getting jealous now as well?
"He kissed me, if you need to know."
"I do. I have to keep score." Red nodded.
"Yes, certainly…" Robin muttered darkly.
"And, lucky you, I have figured out how to tip them in my favour…" the thief smirked.
"There are no scores, Red, and no matter what you do- what are you DOING!?"
Robin had to admit that the thief was both quick and nimble, not bad things to be when you were a criminal… he really didn't expect him to use his abilities for this, though… Red had gotten on his knees in front of Robin, in a second the hero's belt was off and his tights pulled down just enough. Red didn't waste any time and Robin's knees almost buckled as he felt himself being surrounded by wet warmth.
"Ahhh... Red… what…?" Robin managed to grab hold of a narrow decorative ledge that jutted out from the wall a little bit over his head, to keep himself from collapsing.
"Just… giving you something… Slade hasn't…" Red smirked up at him between mouthfuls.
"You… don't... have to… oh god!" Robin bucked as Red started sucking instead of licking. He furiously tried to tell the thief to stop, that this wouldn't change anything, couldn't change anything, damnit, but whatever words coming out that actually made any sense, Red just shrugged off. The older teen quickened his movements until Robin couldn't hold back his release any longer. He bucked hard and bit his lip as he came, somehow not forgetting that they were practically in the street. Robin didn't have much time to regain his breath before a pair of lips met his. As he had already been swept away too far, he let himself go further, kissing back, stroking, groping…
Robin could taste himself on Red's tongue, but that only made the experience even more erotic. When he felt himself getting hard again, however, he pushed Red away, more gently then he had intended, perhaps.
"Red… we can't…"
"Oh, there's a lot we can do…"
"No! No, Red… do you really have such a strong death wish? And even if Slade wasn't in the picture… This is just wrong!"
"But like they say, two wrongs can make a right…?" Red grinned.
"They do not say that…" Robin frowned, feverishly trying to make himself decent again.
"Well, they should!" Red pouted slightly. He gave Robin a quick kiss on the lips and laughed at the hero's expression. "See you around, kid!" he then quickly rounded the corner and disappeared.
Robin walked into the pizzeria a few minutes later, not knowing how to really handle the situation. Cyborg didn't make it better.
"Hey, Rob! We've been waiting… did you get stuck on something again?"
Robin quickly sat down and hid the blush from hell behind the menu.
"Something like that…" he croaked.
Another two missions filled the day and Robin soon thought he would crack. As soon as he even got near an ally or a corner, he was yanked in and thoroughly kissed by either Red or Slade, who both also offered advice about the ongoing fight. As they had a run-in with Plasmus, Red stuck something in Robin's hands.
"Here. A freeze-bomb."
Robin, really getting tired of this fight and wanting to get off the streets before he would go insane, used it as soon as possible. It worked very well. The big lump of jelly was definitely easier to deal with in solid form.
"Wow, where did you get that?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
Raven picked up some shrapnel from the bomb and frowned.
"Robin? Why does this have Red X's symbol on it?"
The Titan's turned towards him as one.
God, get OVER it already! Robin internally groaned.
"I made it for the original suit… I just never used it and I packed it thinking it would be a waste not to…" he shrugged, finding it disturbingly easy to lie to his team now.
"Oh, it was most brilliant! Make more, please?" Starfire beamed, and the rest of the team nodded.
"I will." Robin grinned …as soon as I find out where Red got them from…
"Yeah, how about setting one off at the roof! We can have a snowball fight!" Beast Boy beamed, but got the back of his head slapped by Raven's magic.
"Good thinking, playing with the weapons…Tofu-brain." she muttered.
Robin zoned out the rest of the following discussion. He just wanted to be home, safely in his room where he would not get molested by hormone driven criminals. Was that too much to ask? He didn't think so.
To be continued…
A/N: None of you have remarked on it, but I thought I would address it anyway: this story is not true to the cartoons storyline… because in the cartoon, the apprentice episodes has happened long before Red X shows up (as Red X, not Robin in disguise). As you might suspect, nothing like the apprentices has happened in this story… Robin is/was in the 'who's Slade-stage', and Slade himself haven't done much 'harm'… Just thought I mention it…
Oh, another thing… I have been thinking about this for a while, and, again, no one has mentioned it, but… not being either British, nor American, it is mostly impossible for me to know what is/isn't a British or an American expression… same with spelling… I DO love British expressions (?I think they are?) like snogging, shagging, and git for example, and I will continue to use them… I like slang in general, so if you have any favourite expressions, feel free to share them with me! No, it doesn't have to be naughty ones! –lol!- It would be fun to find out what kinds of expressions is popular among your friends at the moment… educate a foreigner today! ;o)
Blueberry soup reference: In Sweden, every year in March, Vasaloppet takes place. Vasaloppet is the oldest, the longest, and the biggest cross-country ski race in the world. It's an international competition over 90 km (over 56 miles) in classic style open to both men and women. The traditional beverage served to the skiers (over 14 000 of them) is: blueberry soup. So naturally, if you were going to build some machine, it would be a great fuel? Right? –grin-