The weeks passed by without much trouble, so the Titans had a lot of time to themselves. Raven and Robin had been on six dates, Starfire was starting to show a side the Titans had never seen, and Cyborg and Beast Boy had managed to secure dates with the girls they had met at the club. Abel's hormones were calming down, so it was safe to bring the two girls over without them drooling over him and Starfire throwing them out in a fit of jealousy. The two were coming over today, so Cyborg was rushing to straighten up the living room. Surprisingly, Beast Boy was helping. The other four Titans watched with amused looks on their faces. Robin had reasonable control of his newly achieved powers and would use them to knock things over as Cyborg and Beast Boy dashed around trying to make the place relatively presentable. The two were too absorbed in their work to notice that they had picked up the fake bush that they inexplicably owned twelve times. Robin was about to knock it over again when the doorbell rang.
"I'll see who it is," Abel said as he got up to look at the computer screen. In front of the camera there were two girls; a blonde and a brunette, the blonde was staring into the camera and using it as a mirror. Abel grinned wickedly. He decided he would make a bad first impression. He greeted them, but in a voice that the others could not copy. He had a way of making his voice deep and rumbling. It scared Beast Boy the first time he did it. "Who goes there?" he rumbled. The blonde girl jumped back from the camera.
"Uh… do we have the right place?" This made Abel laugh. He replied in his normal voice.
"How many giant T's are there in this city?"
"Uh…"
"Never mind. Come on in… at your own risk" he said as he pushed he button that opened the door. "To your left is the elevator. Four floors up; door right across the way." He turned from the computer and found Beast Boy and Cyborg glaring at him murderously. Beast Boy was the first to speak, his voice high.
"Dude!"
"You should have stopped me," he said with a grin. The bell of the elevator rang. Abel's grin widened and he pointed at the door. It opened and the two girls walked in cautiously.
"See what you did," Cyborg whispered threateningly.
"You should have stopped me"
"Ladies," Beast Boy said as he walked up to the girls, "welcome to Titans Tower!" he indicated the living room.
"Hi Beast Boy," the blonde said with a smile. Beast Boy was about to kiss her hand, speaking in a ridiculous French accent, when she pulled the brunette girl away and whispered a little loudly to her.
"Oh my god! It's Abel and Robin!" she said in a high pitched voice.
"And Beast Boy and Cyborg," the brunette replied sternly. "Besides look at the way Robin's holding Raven. And Abel's probably with Starfire or something!"
"I know… but it's Abel and Robin!"
"But we came here for Cyborg and Beast Boy"
Having heard all of this Abel and Robin looked at each other and grinned. Raven tweaked Robin's ear and Starfire slapped Abel on the back of the head. Cyborg and Beast Boy couldn't believe what they were hearing. At least the brunette seemed to have her head in the right place.
"So, introduce us to your friends," Abel said, rubbing the back of his head. Cyborg glared at him, but did so anyway.
"That's Charity," he said pointing to the blonde, "and that's Stephanie," he indicated the brunette. He took Stephanie's hand. "Shall we?" As the four teens left though the front door, Charity looked over her shoulder and winked at Abel.
"I thought the hormone thing was over"
"Maybe she just thinks you're cute," Raven said, "although I can't imagine why." Abel glared at her, but Starfire stepped in.
"I can," she said and kissed him. Robin looked at Raven and smiled, they got up and teleported to Raven's room. Abel and Starfire were alone in the living room.
"Perhaps we could follow suit?" Starfire asked. Abel smiled.
"Why not stay here?"
"That is acceptable," she leaned forward and kissed him again, she broke the kiss and led him to the couch. Abel sat down and Starfire sat on top of him and their lips met again. Starfire deepened the kiss, running her tongue over Abel's lips. He opened his mouth, allowing her access and moved so that she was on lying on her back on the couch and he was on top of her. Starfire decided to gain control and rolled over, but the couch was too small and they fell to the floor; Abel taking the worst of it. He groaned from the impact and Starfire broke the kiss, realizing they were no longer on the couch. "Are you injured?"
"I'm fine, the ground broke my fall," he said.
"Thank you for cushioning mine," she said with a smile.
"Anytime"
"I love this planet"
"I'm pretty fond of it myself"
"I love you, as well." Abel didn't say anything; Starfire took this as a bad sign and moved to stand. Abel garbed her arm and kissed her again. This kiss felt different to Starfire; it was warm and caring, not heated and passionate like the one they had just shared. This kiss was a loving kiss.
"I'm pretty fond of you myself,"
TT
This time Raven had her room sound-proofed with her own powers. She sashayed to where Robin lay on her bed. She sat on top of him and kissed him.
"What did you have in mind this time, Wonder Boy?" In response he kissed her.
"Why don't we start with that and move on from there"
"Sounds good to me," she replied as she kissed him again. The kiss started out soft, but gradually increased in ferocity. Robin sat up with Raven still on top of him without breaking the kiss. They separated for air and stared at each other.
"I love your eyes," Robin said as he leaned his forehead against hers.
"I would love to love yours." Robin nodded and took her hands in his; he lifted them up to his mask.
"For your eyes only." With that he placed her hands on his mask and let go. She peeled the mask away and looked into his stunning blue eyes. She smiled and kissed him again.
TT
"Now, Jinx," Slade ordered. He had sent Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth out as a lure. They would bring the Titans to him, and he would have his prizes; Robin and Abel. He watched as the three H.I.V.E. students moved to the streets of Jump City and began their task; simply making a lot of noise and destroying things. Hopefully they wouldn't screw up too badly. Soon enough the Titans showed up, but there were only four; Cyborg and Beast Boy were not present. No matter. They were not needed. The four key pieces to his plan were arriving to save the day. Nothing could go wrong.
TT
Cyborg and Beast boy were not back from their dates yet. This left Robin, Raven, Abel, and Starfire alone in the Tower. Robin had issued a challenge on the Gamestation to Abel, who accepted after some thought. Currently, Robin was having his butt served to him by the boy who was as new to video games as Starfire was. Robin stared in disbelief as his car tumbled off of the track and exploded into a ball of pixilated flames.
"No way," he sighed.
"You went boom. Does that mean I won?" Abel asked with mock innocence. Robin glared at him with one of Raven's 'end-of-days' glares. The resemblance and Robin's annoyance made Abel laugh. Robin was about to start again when the alarm went off. His communicator followed. He answered it and was met by Cyborg's face.
"We'll be right there!"
"No. you and Beast Boy stay there. We'll handle it."
"You sure, dude?"
"We've got the power of three demons and two Tamaranians, I'm pretty sure we can handle it. Besides it's the H.I.V.E., how hard could it be?"
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Rob, and give Gizmo a good kick in the ass for me. Cyborg, out"
"Titans, Go!"
TT
They exited the portal created by Abel and stepped forward. They were greeted by an annoyingly high pitched voice.
"Glad you could join us, Losers! Where's tinman and the grass stain?" Gizmo shouted at them as they stopped smashing stuff. Jinx and Mammoth fell in behind him.
"Who's the new guy?" Jinx asked.
"I would like you to meet Abel, my brother," Raven replied coolly.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said, his eyes glowing. 'Can we beat them into the sidewalk now, Boy Wonder?' he projected.
'Knock yourself out,' he replied. Abel launched a barrage of star bolts at the three villains. Starfire followed suit, adding her barrage of green to his of silver.
"If you were related wouldn't he have the same powers?" Mammoth asked no one in particular, but Abel responded anyway.
"Ask, and you shall receive," he said as he surrounded two streetlamps with his aura and berated the behemoth with them both; eventually he managed to beat him into unconsciousness. The other two H.I.V.E students were stunned at his show of power, but did not hesitate long. Jinx moved to engage Raven as Robin and Abel went to Gizmo.
"You still fight like a boy"
"I try"
"You know, he's kinda cute"
"I really hadn't noticed"
"I'd like to get my hands on him"
"He is taken," was Starfire's shout as she blasted the pink-haired girl and rammed into her with her shoulder. Jinx was sent flying into the nearby building, "by me!" As jinx recovered from the blow, she froze Raven and Starfire with a wave of her hand.
"Now, Gizmo!" she shouted. The short boy in the jumpsuit hit one of many buttons on his arm and a gun-like gadget shot out of his backpack. It aimed at the four teens individually and fired. The darts each hit their mark and the Titans soon succumbed to the sedative. Abel was the last to go down, firing one last star bolt at Gizmo as he hit the ground. He heard a dull thud and nothing more as darkness engulfed him.
TT
"Yo! We're home!" Cyborg shouted as he barged through the door. He stopped at the sight that greeted him.
"Where is everybody?" Beast Boy asked as he walked into the half robot. "Dude, what's-" he stopped when he saw Raven and Starfire unconscious on the couch. Cyborg shook them awake; they sat up dazed.
"What happened?" Beast Boy asked.
"Where's Robin?" Raven shouted as she realized where they were, "and Abel. Where's my brother?"
"Calm down, Rea. We just found you like this. We have no idea where they are," Cyborg said. Starfire sat up and looked around; she was still groggy from the sedatives and stood up, ready to fight. "Whoa, calm down Star! You were hit with a sedative, so you may be a little groggy." Starfire groaned and sat down, holding her head.
"Oh… my head…"
"Here," Beast Boy said, offering her a bottle of Aspirin and a glass of water, "take two." She took them and opened the bottle; dumping two pills into her hand. She put them in her mouth and drank the water. As her head stopped swimming and her vision cleared she noticed something were she had been lying. She picked it up and stared at it.
"What is it, Starfire," Cyborg asked. She turned around and held up the black and orange badge; the "S" in the center taunted the others as they stared in disbelief.
"Slade"
TT
Abel struggled to his hands and knees, his brain thrashing around in his head. He waited a minute before standing and when he did he saw he was in the same room he had been in a month ago. He looked around and saw Robin sitting on the cot, glaring at the wall. Abel shakily stood up.
"Ow"
"You all right?"
"Yeah of course, I just said "ow" because it was the first thing that popped into my head"
"Whatever. Any idea where we are?"
"Slade." At that moment the door opened and Slade entered, as if on cue. "Well, speak of the Devil."
"I'm glad you have finally awakened," Slade said, ignoring the remark, "We have much work to do.
"What do you want with us?"
Well, isn't it obvious, Robin? I want you, both of you, as my apprentices"
"What makes you think we'll work for you?" without a word, Slade turned and left, waving at the boys to follow him. They did so cautiously, arriving at the room Slade entered. Abel found it to be the room he was in when he was thrown out of the hellish domain. "Well, this explains it all."
'Shut it, Abel'
'Get out of my head. Wait, don't use your powers. Slade might not know about them'
'He might. I used them when we were in the room'
'Oh well. Don't use them, just in case'
'Duh'
"I have implanted the same nano-probes I usedbefore, Robin. If you do not work for me, I will kill them," Slade said indicating two screens. They showed Raven and Starfire unconscious on the couch of the Titan's living room.
"What about Cyborg and Beast Boy?"
"I will kill them too, but I only need these two. I know I will have a stronger grip on you if I take them."
'We have no choice. We have to work for him,' Robin projected.
'I know. Bastard! My sister and my girlfriend!'
'Calm down. We'll break free eventually. I did it once, I can do it again'
'I hope so'
"So, boys; what's it going to be? Will you work for me? Or watch them die?"
"We'll do whatever you say…"
"Good"