A/N: Second update in two days. One more to go I think...I think at least...Enjoy...I'm not sure how good it actually is.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, but hey, I think we all knew that already

Trying to Do the Right Thing

Chapter 40: Within the Sight of the Beholder

Slade sat in the depths of his lair, issuing commands to many of his robots to help speed up the evacuation of this base before its location was truly compromised. However, his unflinching gaze was suddenly pulled toward a specific monitor, showing a very specific person zooming up on one of Robin's motorcycles.

"Well this is not entirely unexpected. If anyone was to show up this quickly it would be that one. No matter though. Apprentice!" Robin almost instantly appeared from the shadows, kneeling before Slade.

"Yes master?"

"I believe we will have a guest soon enough... the one that I expected. I have told you everything that you need to know about the opponent and exactly what the weaknesses are. I have a feeling you will have to fight, and I expect you to win...and to kill.

"Without hesitation master." Slade smiled beneath his mask though he knew he would most likely end this threat personally just for the fun of it.

"Good my apprentice. It is only a matter of time." Slade pushed a few buttons on the keyboard in front of him, giving commands to a small number of robots to attack the intruder. There was no point in sending his entire legion to be destroyed for he knew they would be. After all, he trained this failed weapon, and knew exactly what it was capable of. It could defeat his robots, but not his new apprentice...that much he knew. Slade leaned back slightly in his throne, knowing he would truly be entertained with this fight for the first time in a very long time.

--

The sun had risen, a new day was finally getting under way, and Rose knew she was heading toward her new beginning...or her final end. She zoomed to a stop on her stolen bike to exactly the location that Robin had stopped at...nothing but an abandoned warehouse. Rose would have felt the smallest bit of nostalgia as she had spent a few years of her life living in such places but nostalgia was for good memories...not ones best forgotten.

She got off the bike, letting it simply drop to the ground not caring what happened to it. She studied the warehouse for a few seconds before approaching what appeared to just be another wall, though Rose knew better...knew her father better and all his tendencies. Rose felt the wall carefully until she hit a hidden button which opened up a secret door. Rose laughed quietly...so predictable.

She entered into the darkness, descending a bit of ways until she came to an elevator that only went further down into the earth.

"Well I guess I'll let him know I'm hear because I know how much daddy hates surprises." Rose removed some explosives from her belt and tossed them into the elevator, pushing the button to go down as she did so. The doors closed and the elevator began moving down though Rose did not get on it. She pulled out one of her long daggers and with a precise swing, severed the cables holding up the elevator. Instantly, the elevator began a rapid, uncontrollable descent that made Rose smile.

"Boom." The elevator stopped only when it hit the final level, an explosion erupting out with a massive noise. Rose simply took a step to the side as the flames traveled up the elevator shaft and back out on to her level. Rose stood there for a few seconds, hearing a strange sound coming up the shaft which was confirmed to be one of Slade's robots rocketing up, it hovering just in the opening of the shaft, looking at her with mechanical eyes. Rose pulled out her other dagger, gripping it firmly within her had.

"This is really going to be so much fun...hehe...time to die." And with that, Rose attacked.

--

The black form of Raven's soul self finally receded back into the young woman as she landed next to the discarded bike Rose had stolen. She opened up her communicator, quickly trying to get a hold of Cyborg, and she felt an enormous relief when his slightly smiling face was seen on the communicator though she showed absolutely nothing.

"Hey there dark girl...I just managed to turn off the system. Everyone's seems to be okay except for Beast Boy though. I think Rose drugged him or something...little green guy is sound asleep, won't wake up for anything though I think he'll be okay. I'm going to leave him in the infirmary with Speedy, and we're heading to your location as fast as possible...Mas and Menos should be there fairly quickly ahead of us. What's your status?"

"Just arrived...heading inside as we speak...please hurry up Cyborg." Cyborg couldn't help but notice the strange tone in Raven's voice, that it sounded so detached.

"You okay Raven?" Two amethyst eyes peered out from her cloak.

"Fine...heading inside...please hurry up..." And with the same exact tone of voice from Raven, the communication ended. Raven turned back toward the path of destruction Rose had left for her, and headed inside to face the future.

-

Rose viciously kicked a robot threw a doorway minus its head, the robotic body slamming with a dull thud as sparks continued to shoot from the broken carcass. Rose could simply not get the smile off her face, the adrenalin pumping through her veins was just such an incredible feeling...even better than sex she mused. Another robot came out of nowhere only to be slashed in to pieces with lightening quick attacks by Rose who knew the robot was coming before it even did. Rose reached down and picked up a piece of the robot, and threw it at a nearby camera, knocking it out just as she had done with all the others she had encountered.

She moved deeper into the complex, finding no more resistance as she came to a room which she knew would be her father's control room. His bases always had some type of similar lay out to them to those that knew the man. She kicked up the metal doors with ease, stepping into the relative darkness of the room. She could see the wall of televisions, most of them showing nothing but static, a result of her handiwork with the cameras though on a few she could see herself.

"Smile for the camera...hehe...oh father...where are you?" Her answer was the sound of a few heavy footsteps and the smooth, calm voice of Slade.

"Really now you shouldn't call me that. I don't want any claim of having sired something as pathetic as you" Rose growled.

"Still an asshole I see..where's your little boy toy apprentice...send him out so he can die." Slade's laugh echoed in the darkness.

"Really now...why is it that you want to kill him so bad. I thought it was me you wanted to kill."

"Oh I'll kill you...but first, I'm going to break your precious apprentice. I'm going to prove to you that I am the one who is truly skilled...am the one who is truly strong...prove to you that you made a mistake throwing me away like nothing but garbage...treating like nothing but a lab experiment...like a nothing...I will prove it here and now by killing him." Slade laughed in sheer amusement.

"Now this is truly pathetic. A cold-blooded killer looking for revenge I understand but you...you are nothing but a scared little girl looking for approval and acceptance from a father who wants absolutely nothing to do with her. In all the years, you are still useless and flawed, and the only reason I'm acknowledging the fact you exist is because you've come uninvited in to my home. You are beyond nothing girl and always will be. Apprentice...exterminate this vermin."

Robin stepped out of the shadows, bo staff already in hand, eyeing up his target...Slade's daughter. He could see her body quivering ever so slightly from Slade's verbal assault but knew not to underestimate anyone trained by Slade himself...even if Slade said she would be no challenge.

"I'll kill you...I swear I will...swear it!" The white-haired girl became nothing but a blur as she charged forward at Robin expectantly, raising his bo staff to block, the first sparks flying of their battle.

Robin was surprised by the strength of Rose's blow, which forced him to duck the next slash she sent at him. She had already proven strong and fast, and Robin was ready to test her defenses. With a spin of his staff, he swung at her midsection which was blocked as he expected, but immediately reversed from the impact aiming a sweep at her feet which Rose jumped over with ease as if she knew it was coming...which of course she did.

Rose stepped back in neither an offensive or defensive stance, smiling at Robin.

"A bo staff? What do you really expect to do with a weapon that's not meant for lethal attacks? How do you really expect to kill me with that you moron?"

"I have my ways. Do not think to doubt my skills."

"Blah blah blah...back to fighting." Rose attacked forward, a whirl of blades that Robin found difficult to keep back. The sound of metal meeting metal echoed everywhere, as Robin did his best to defend. Robin wanted to reach for some freeze discs at his belt, but every time he tried, Rose would attack fiercely again to prevent him from getting a free hand. Robin was already cursing her damn precognitive abilities as he couldn't do anything without her knowing it before hand. It was an absolutely perfect defense. Again Robin reached for his belt, only this time was not fast enough to get his defense back and Rose slashed his arm, drawing first blood.

"This is just too easy...bleeding already." Rose stared at the blood on her dagger with an almost sadistic smile on her face.

"Only a few drops so far...soon enough it will be pints flowing freely across the ground. You will die cutey...oh yes you will." Rose kissed at Robin with the same twisted smile, though all Robin did was set his feet.

"Sorry...I'm not going to lose to some crazy bitch." Rose's eye went wide with fury.

"Don't call me crazy!" She flew forward, again becoming a whirling blur of blades, Robin finding himself being nicked every so often by the relentless attacks, though some of them were on purpose as he looked for an opening.

"Would you rather I lie to you, you psycho." Rose screamed in rage, swinging recklessly to decapitate Robin who inwardly smiled as he ducked the attack, and kicked her squarely in the chest, knocking her a few feet back.. Slade had told him about Rose's special power, but also had told him that it was unstable...that she was always worthless because she was too emotional, and the more emotional she became, the less she could draw on her powers. She could not master her skill because she couldn't control herself. This was how to beat her seemingly perfect defense...attack the weak mind of the insecure little girl in front of him.

"Just shut up...shut up...I'm going to rip you apart." Another attack though this one was more controlled, Rose spinning with one blade low and the other high, Robin doing his best to block both. However, at the last second, the spinning Rose kicked forward, a blade popping from the toe of her boot, slashing at an angle Robin could not block, a deep slash cutting him across the abdomen. Rose stopped to regain her balance, smiling again.

"More blood...more blood...dripping to the ground...do you see father...I am the strongest, not your 'chosen'...your daughter...me...me!" Slade only shook his head as he stepped out of the shadows, saying absolutely nothing. Robin took the few seconds to regain himself, feeling no pain whatsoever as he readied himself.

"You are absolutely pathetic Rose. Oh so sad, daddy doesn't love you...daddy doesn't want you. Boo-hoo, cry some more little baby."

"Shut up you bastard...shut up."

"I mean I barely know you, but I can already see that you have nothing to offer anyone...maybe whoring yourself out, but then, who would want some white-haired, one-eyed psychopath who did I mention, spits when she talks. What...was suicide not an option?"

Rose screamed in an almost animalistic manner with blinding rage in her eye, as Robin met her attack with his staff. She attacked harder and harder each time as if she was simply trying to break the staff in half, Robin simply holding her back waiting for the exact moment. Then it came...Rose slammed her one blade down again, Robin taking the moment to grab a special explosive disk from his belt unseen to Rose. She stabbed forward, her blade going into Robin's side, though the successful hit allowed Robin to land a blow on Rose's side, knocking her back.

"You can't beat me little apprentice...you've barely touched me, and you're already bleeding from half a dozen wounds. This is over." Robin stood tall, a large smile forming on his face.

"What are you smiling at!" Robin raised his hand, and pointed down at the ground which caused Rose to look down at her feet, Robin diving out of the way as fast as he could as Rose's eye settled on a blinking disk somehow Robin had set without her knowing during the last series of attacks. Robin had no chance to react as the disk blew, only instead of an explosive explosion, this disk was meant to fire a great deal of sharp, deadly shrapnel out from impact. It worked absolutely perfect as Robin intended, the sharp metal projectiles piercing into Rose's legs shredding them on impact.

Rose screamed out in pain as she collapsed to the ground, blood already beginning to leak from the savage wounds all up her legs. Robin gathered himself to his feet, having just barely avoided his own attack though he was certain a piece had hit him in the shoulder. He was not phased at all. He approached his bleeding target, as Rose dragged herself away from him until she got to a wall, and in an act of either sheer stupidity or sheer strength of will, used the wall to help support herself back to her feet even though it caused pain beyond comprehension to do so.

"Ahhhh...I won't let you beat me...won't...I'm not weak...not a nothing!" Rose leaned heavily against the wall, breathing harshly as she watched Robin approach who seemed hesitant to do so despite his words.

"You've lost Rose...just as you were supposed to...this is over." Rose who only had one dagger in her hand, held in front of her body in a defensive manner, but with a single swing, the blade was knocked out of her weak grip and across the room, making her wounded and defenseless, though still defiant as she stared with sheer hatred at Robin though it was Slade who took command of the situation.

"Stop my apprentice and step aside...I will handle this from now on." Robin turned with slight confusion on his face, though obeyed quickly stepping a few feet to the side, as Slade approached to within about fifteen feet of the wounded Rose.

"That was truly a pathetic display, so easily being baited into an emotional, irrational beast...just like usual. You are still exactly as you were which means you were doomed to defeat from the very beginning. Tragic almost...well if you actually mattered to anyone it might be tragic. No one cares if I dispose of some garbage I think." Rose growled, her movement only causing her to nearly fall over, though she refused to give her father that satisfaction by doing so his presence.

"I could very easily allow my apprentice to end your life, but his first kill should not be wasted on something like you. In the end, it was I who created you, so it is only fitting that I finally destroy you." Slade pulled out a gun which had somehow been hidden on his form, Robin slightly shocked by seeing the man go to such a crude, deadly weapon. It was truly the first time he had ever seen Slade use such a weapon.

"Over time I've given up the use of firearms, but this is only fitting for the situation. You see, this is the gun that killed your mother, when she tried to stop me from starting your brother's training. I think you were only a baby at the time...should have killed you then." Rose whimpered in the very slightest, though nothing else.

"It is also the gun that killed your oldest brother when I decided he would never have the power to live up to my legacy. Finally, it was the gun that killed Jericho, when he refused to prove his strength and kill you...he always was too soft when it came to you...you are the reason he had to die, but lets be honest, I think they would all rather be dead than have to live to see you as this pathetic mess." Tears came from Rose's one eye even as she snarled in anger at Slade, reaching out her arm in futility toward Slade who wasn't even close to her.

"Hate you! Hate you...why won't you just die...die you bastard! Die...die..."

"I don't think I'll be doing that, but I do see it in your future." Slade cocked the gun.

"You were a complete accident Rose. I never wanted you and never loved you in any way. I just thought you should no that before you die. Good bye." The gun was fired.

--

Raven floated down the hallway, hearing the sound of metal meeting metal off in the distance, sensing three people she was rather familiar with. She stuck to an almost incorporeal form as she moved, not wanting to be noticed at all. Of course she knew no one would really think that she was here for one would imagine if a Titan arrived, they would make their presence obvious in this type of situation. She had no intention of doing that. The vision of the future she had seen replayed over and over in her mind, knowing it would be within the next few moments her chance would come. Her body just wanted to freeze up completely but she wouldn't allow it. She came to the doorway, could hear Robin and Rose talking to each other, cringing at some of the things being said, but instead went about going into a meditative state, reaching into the bond that just barely still existed between her and Robin.

She could feel Robin...could feel the overpowering darkness driving him forward, but she could also feel his hesitance, his desire to just stop though it was becoming weaker with each attack.

She slipped a very small part of herself into his mind along the bond, the smallest bit she could, barely noticeable to the darkness overwhelming Robin.

Raven's real senses could hear Slade beginning some type of villainous gloating but while he was doing this, an entirely different conversation was going on in Robin's head between Robin and Raven. Raven had fought through the shrouds of darkness, though the layers of mind corrupted by Slade and dark magic, and had found the Robin that she sought. Within his mindscape, she found the Robin she remembered, maskless with two blue eyes, staring out at an endless ocean with absolutely nothing around him. She knew he was lost and confused, and she had come to give him direction once again.

"Robin..." The name traveled on the unseen winds, easily getting Robin's attention who spun around looking for something that wasn't really there.

"Raven?" Again he was answered by a voice from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

"Yes Robin, it is me. I've come to hel...I've come to ask a favor from you Robin. I need you to do something for me...please."

"Raven...I don't know if I can help you. Everything is so blurred and confused...so much pain. I can't control myself Raven...it hurts just too much. It burns deep inside, and it never stops. I'm now strong enough...I'm sorry..."

"Yes you are Robin. You are the strongest person I've ever known. I have and always will have faith in the man that I love, and not even what has happened will ever change that."

"I don't know Raven...I can feel myself losing...losing to the darkness. It keeps taking more and more control every time I disobey him. It just hurts so much." Raven wrapped her warmest emotions gently around the breaking Robin, doing her best to sooth his battered soul.

"I know Robin...I know, but I promise, the pain will all go away soon enough if you do what I ask. I need you to be strong and determined...I need you to defy Slade and become the hero that I know you are. Please my love...fight against it all for just a little longer...fight as hard as you can." The Robin within the mindscape latched on the bright, burning emotions that were coming from Raven, and smiled a quiet, peaceful smile.

"What do I need to do Raven?"

--

Raven pulled back within herself, this time feeling less rejection from her intrusion because of the strength of Robin's will...and his love all toward her. However, all she could do was look sadly at the ground as she knew the scene that would play out now though Rose would not meet her end this time as the vision had told her it would. Raven had manipulated the future and now, things would never be the same.

Raven heard Slade tell his daughter good bye, and at that exact moment, all Raven could do was close her eyes, hearing only the sound of a gunshot that would forever echo within her mind.

Slade pulled the trigger with an arrogant smile on his face, though the smile lasted only as long as it took him to finish squeezing the trigger, for as soon as the bullet left the barrel, his victorious apprentice stepped in the path between the bullet and its wounded target.

Slade rarely ever found himself shocked in his life, but this was one of those occasions where all he could do was stare at the sight before him as the bullet pierced into Robin who had moved to protect his worthless daughter...had moved to sacrifice himself for Rose just as Raven had asked him to...to be a hero again. Of course Slade's worthless daughter also saw the opportunity that had been presented to her, a hidden dagger now flying from her hand as she finally allowed herself to collapse to the ground, the dagger flying with perfect precision over the head of the falling Robin.

Slade had been shocked by Robin's sudden sacrifice, though he was ultimately far more shocked at the blade that suddenly came out of nowhere coming right at his eye. In only an instant, Slade moved with his nearly flawless reflexes, shifting his head out of the line of the blade, only to find the blade encased in the smallest hint of familiar black energy, changing its trajectory to coincide with his movement. The words of denial never made it out of Slade's mouth for the blade pierced directly through the cold gray eye that had haunted so many people for so very long, the blade's tip finally ending is journey several inches into Slade's malevolent brain. Slade collapsed with a metal thud, his life finally ended at the hands of this worthless daughter...and Raven.

"Go to hell you bastard." Rose's words came fiercely off her smiling lips as she sat painfully on the ground, leaning against the wall, her shredded legs continuing to bleed though the pain was no longer felt. She had killed Slade...killed her father, and the only purpose she had for so very long had been fulfilled...her real family avenged. She was happy...so very happy even if she had not done everything she had desired to do.

It not hard for Rose to notice the sudden appearance of the floating cloaked figure of Raven who finally emerged from the shadows, gliding silently across the room toward her and Robin.

"I saw what you did Rae-Rae, and I really didn't think you had it in you. Cold blooded...just like me...hehe. Thank you Raven...I really do mean that...thank you. You've done everyone a favor I think." Raven did not answer Rose, did not make any motion or action toward the smiling girl, but instead went directly over to Robin, whose shallow breathing lessened more and more with each passing second, his blood continuing to emerge from the wound in his chest.

Raven kneeled by his side, pulling down her hood to reveal her sad yet determined face. Robin slowly reached up his hand toward her though Raven did not take it which confused the nearby Rose.

"Hey Ravey, shouldn't you be using some of that healing magic. I mean your boyfriend is bleeding to death on the ground." Raven again said nothing, only watched the hurt expression on Robin's face as she refused to take his hand, watching with a single tear in her eye as it slowly fell back to his side, feeling her heart wrench as his last word was 'why', before his breathing finally stopped. Robin was dead and all Raven did was watch him die.