Kat dared not to push the emergency "help" button on her communicator as she ran through the darkness of the rundown building she was trapped in. She could hear the footsteps behind her as her adversary chased after her. Her heart was racing, and sweat dripped down her face. For the first time in her life that she had her powers, she was actually terrified. One: her opponent was far more skilled than her when it came to fighting hand to hand combat; two: he seemed unaffected by her electric charges. Every time she'd hit him with a bolt, he'd be perfectly fine; he'd be completely unfazed by her power, and three: he knew all her weaknesses. He knew how to take out her board which was completely impossible, well…it's what everyone thought, and he knew exactly every weak point in her body.

Dodging another throwing knife as it stuck into the wall in front of her, she took a left and stopped dead in her tracks. She felt a blade slice through her abdomen as an exact clone of her chaser stood in front of her. There's two of them? She thought while a burning sensation began to emerge from around the wound the knife had created. She heard a pair of feet behind her as her original opponent stopped. She heard the sound of metal scraping metal. Two knives were being sharpened. She ground her teeth together. Kat was not going out that easily.

Her hand wrapped around the knife in her stomach, pulling it from the wound. If they were going fight this dirty, she was just going to have to fight dirty back. She chucked the knife at the clone in front of her with lightning speed before it sliced into his head. Sparks flew from the gash as he fell backwards dead. She let out a gasp…sparks? They weren't human…they were robots. A grin grew on her face. A pair of knives flew at her back, but she quickly ducked forward before spinning on her heels and thrusting her shurikens at the robots head. The first two flew past his head while the other two sliced through the metal forehead of the robot. More sparks elicited from the robot as he as well collapsed.

Her communicator fell out of its holder as she sat up, using the wall as a support. Bending over hurt, but she picked the small, yellow device up anyways. She smiled as she gazed at it. I told you…I didn't need you. Kat walked down the hallway, leaning against the wall as she went.

"My, my, my…even when wounded, you sure know how to take care of yourself. Too bad it'll be a waste…" She spun around to throw another shuriken, but another hand caught hers, the blades just mere centimeters from his masked face; one half black, the other bronze or maybe orange. She could only see one eye, and it seemed to be examining her, not much to her liking. She tried to force the shurikens a little further, but he was stronger than her. A fist connected with her stomach, right on her wound. She let out a yell, the pain spreading throughout her entire body. He released her wrist, and almost immediately, she collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

"What…are…you…going…to…do?" she panted, secretly reaching into her satchels as he turned his back to her. At first, he didn't respond until a set of arms grabbed her from behind. It was another one of those clones. Jeez, how many of you are there? She screamed in her head. Kat couldn't struggle or else risk adding to her pain.

"Nothing big…I'm just going to," he turned again to look at her, "take your powers…" He pulled out some gadget and aimed it right at her, "Don't worry…this is just going to hurt…a lot…" He activated the device as soon as she hit the red button on her communicator.

"Who…are…you?" she asked before the pain ripped through her entire body.

"The name's…Slade…"

Speedy paced back and forth in the living room as they listened to the original Titan's leader talk. Two hours…two hours the spiky haired, boy wonder had lectured them. After the news of Kat's departure reached the other Titans, they wouldn't leave the Titan's East members alone, and it didn't make any of them feel any better. Kat left because of them, and now it was being rubbed right in their faces.

Bumblebee finally couldn't take it anymore as she slammed her fist down on the computer's keyboard, disconnecting the call with Robin. Rubbing her temples with her index fingers, she let out a groan, "How much longer is this going to go on for?"

"It'll never end…" Speedy said blatantly, "…not unless Kat comes back. Even if she did return, I doubt Robin will stop the lectures about teamwork and appreciation and all that shit…" He looked up to look at the girl, "…we shouldn't have let her leave."

The two heard a splash come from the pools as the Atlantean kicked the water in frustration, "I actually agree, but it wasn't like we could've stopped her…she chose to leave. We had to respect her choices…"

"Still…the world out there is too dangerous for her," Speedy explained, plopping himself down on the couch. Bumblebee glared at him.

"She's a Titan! She was trained by Robin, the top fighter here on the Titans team! She has her powers and her weapons…she'll be just fine. Don't doubt that…you got it?" BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Each Titan picked up their communicators, even the twins who had zipped into the room at the last minute.

Aqualad was the first to speak, "Wait…it says the signals coming from-"

"Kat's communicator," the archer interrupted the Atlantean. He looked up at his leader, "so…still think she can take care of herself?" He bolted down the stairs towards the garage before hopping onto his own bike. The others followed, but before they could get in the T-Car, Speedy was already zipping down the road toward the location that was given on his communicator.

Slade listened to the girl's screams as he pulled her powers from her body. It was thrilling to him to watch her squirm in pain. While he enjoyed every bit of the sight, Kat was writhing in complete agony. It felt as if he was ripping her entire insides out from her whole body, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. Her throat was becoming hoarse with each shriek that escaped her mouth. She opened her eyes, but everything she could see was red. Something was dripping down her cheeks, and also out her mouth. Swallowing before continuing her screams, she tasted blood. Finally, her body could no longer take the pain as she finally found it getting harder and harder to stay conscious. The darkness consumed her as soon as the pain climaxed.

When the shouting stopped, the man's interest in the girl faded. There was nothing to enjoy anymore. He looked down at the device before shutting it off. He knew that every ounce of her power was in his hands. He gazed up at his drone.

"Release her…" The robot did so as he loosened his grip on the girl. She fell to the ground unconscious before the drone pulled out a knife, placing it at her neck. He went to slice the skin, but a hand stopped him, "Wait…don't." Slade silenced him. Both of them heard a motorcycle approaching before the sounds of footsteps echoing off the walls filled their ears…well, his ears. "Leave her…we must go…"

Speedy gazed down at his communicator, and then back up as he walked through the halls.

"Why do you think she came into here?" Aqualad questioned aloud as the other members of the team followed the archer.

"I don't know, but I don't think she came in here by choice," the red head responded. The twins zipped in front of all of them before disappearing down the halls.

"Mas…Menos!" Bumblebee called after them, "Get back here!" They didn't listen.

"They know where she is…" Speedy whispered before breaking out into a run, following the twins as best as he could. The building was like a maze to Kat's body. There were so many turns that the five Titans had to take before they got to her.

"We have to take her to a hospital now!" Aqualad exclaimed after checking her. He pressed his fingers to her neck, "There's a pulse, but it's faint…and she's lost too much blood already." Speedy lifted her into his arms; her body still limp.

"You guys take the car…I'll take her to the hospital on my bike." Bumblebee was about to argue with the archer when the Atlantean broke in,

"Good idea…you can get there faster that way." The winged girl shut her mouth, "Go…we'll be there as soon as we can." He nodded. He ran back down the halls he had come from before until he finally couldn't take it. Throwing an energy arrow at a wall, it exploded, creating a new exit for him. Why he didn't do that in the first place was unknown to him. He ran out to his bike before mounting it, starting it, and driving down the road towards the hospital. Not even red lights or stop signs would stop him as he zipped down the streets of Steel City. There would be honking horns and people yelling vulgar language at him, but he didn't care. The lights of the hospital caught his masked eyes making him smile in relief.

Pulling up in front of the building, he dismounted his motorcycle, carrying the brown-headed girl inside where he was met with several doctors.

"What happened?" one of the doctors asked. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but she needs help! Please…you need to do something." They nodded.

"Can we get a gurney over here?" they called. A bed was wheeled up to them, and Speedy laid her down on it. Another doctor began analyzing her, "She's lost too much blood already, and she needs surgery…now." Speedy tried to follow them as they pushed her through a pair of double doors, but two nurses stopped him.

"I'm sorry, sir…but you cannot go in there."

"But she's my friend!" he exclaimed, "I need to be with her…" They still didn't allow him. The others arrived a few minutes later to see the red head sitting in the waiting room, looking about ready to kill someone. They ignored the others in the room who kept staring at them while they sat down next the archer.

"Speedy…what did they do with Kat?" Bumblebee asked.

"They took her into the back…I couldn't go with her though," he explained glumly, "…they said that she needed surgery, so that's probably what they're doing right now."

"¿Qué cree usted que pasó con ella? (What do you think happened to her?)" Mas asked looking up at his three older friends. Speedy and Aqualad looked at him confused before Bumblebee cleared it up.

"He asked what we think happened…and I really have no idea…" she said, "Who would want to hurt her, and why wasn't she able to fight them off?" No one spoke. They were all clueless. Kat was very powerful, and yet she still ended up in a hospital with a serious injury. Speedy let out a groan. He was getting sick and tired of waiting. Then again, he wouldn't have to be waiting if they never let Kat leave. If she never left, she wouldn't have been attacked, and if she wasn't attacked, she wouldn't be in a hospital, and if she wasn't in a hospital, they wouldn't be waiting. It all added up. If he had tried harder to keep her, she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Bumblebee looked over at the archer, seeing the sorrow on his face. She didn't need to see his eyes because she already knew he was upset and what it was about. She lightly touched his shoulder, "Hey…everything's going to be okay, and it's not your fault that she's here."

"Maybe not…but I was somewhat responsible-"

"We were all somewhat responsible…" corrected the Atlantean.

"Yeah, but I was actually the one who was trying to stop her…and I failed…"

"We weren't even trying to get her to stay. We weren't doing anything. We feel exactly the same as you do…" Speedy glared at him.

"You don't feel as bad as I do…you never can. I don't even know why I'm saying anything right now to you, you wouldn't understand…"

"Are you serious?" Aqualad exclaimed, "You seriously think that? Because you're absolutely wrong! We understand just the same as you…we feel the same as you do! You're not the only one here who's hurting. Kat was our friend too, not just yours."

"Why don't you just shut up?" The two boys glared at one another, just about to rip each other's throats out, but Bumblebee shoved them away from each other.

"Hey, cool it!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" the archer screamed at her. The twins watched as their friends argued, heads moving back and forth between them as each one spoke.

"¡Alto! ¿No ves lo que estás haciendo? Esto es exactamente lo que Kat hablando. ¡Nunca le gusto cuando sostuvo! (Stop! Don't you see what you are doing? This is exactly what Kat talked about. She never liked it when you argued!)" Mas and Menos exclaimed together, "¿No te recuerdas? Esa fue una de las razones que se fue. (Don't you remember? That was one of the reasons she left.)" Speedy and Aqualad looked to Bumblebee who sighed.

"You're right…"

"Right? Right about what?" Speedy asked.

"Our arguing…it was one of the reasons Kat gave up on our team. Remember? She told us right before she packed to leave…" The two boys muttered under their breaths that they recalled it. "We need to stop…I mean, we are a team. Sparky got us to work like one, and we stopped fighting for awhile, but it didn't last. We seriously need to end all this squabbling…" They nodded their heads in agreement.

"I think you're right…" Aqualad said before elbowing Speedy in the stomach who, at first, glared at him but relaxed soon after.

"Yeah… I guess so. Let's make a pact right now…we shall never fight with each other from this point on…everyone agreed?" They concurred. Mas and Menos walked up to Speedy, their arms held out to him. He smiled before lifting them onto his lap. It was getting late, and they were all tired, especially the twins who were beginning to fall asleep in the archer's lap. Hours went by, and still no word from the doctors came. Speedy's eyes began to droop under his mask. He was the last one of the group to fall asleep, mostly because he refused to let himself doze off.

"Umm…excuse me. Are you the friends of the girl who was rushed in here with the knife wound in her abdomen?" Speedy opened his eyes to see a man in a white coat. He gently hit the others awake before acknowledging the doctor.

"Um…yes sir, we are," he replied, "If I may ask, is she alright?" The doctor smiled.

"She's fine…for now. The surgery was a success. We stopped the bleeding, and we stitched her back up. You were lucky it was a knife wound. The blade was small, so it didn't protrude that far into her body, meaning no major organs were severely damaged." The five let out a sigh of relief.

"Do you think we can see her?" Bumblebee asked.

"Sorry, no…she's still under the effects of our anesthesia, so she won't be awake for a few more hours…I'd suggest you go home and come back in the morning. She should be ready to see you then…" Speedy didn't want to leave, but when Aqualad touched his arm, he knew he had to.

"Yes sir," Bumblebee said, "Come on guys…let's head back to the tower." She turned to look at the doctor, "We'll be back in the morning…"