Greetings once more, gentle reader. I would to thank all those who have reviewed from the bottom of my heart-it is good to know my writing has been good enough to stir a response. I have been trying to portray Rose as a sympathetic, even tragic figure, while also trying not to deviate from Slade's character too greatly. As we saw many times in the series, he is not someone who does anything without having some other, self-serving motive. But I think it makes for an interesting dynamic to imply that somewhere in whatever shriveled husk he has for a heart that there may actually be a small part of him that actually cares for his daughter. I hope you will enjoy the remainder of this story. Read on!

Chapter 4

"We did what you told us to, so when do we get paid?" Gizmo whined at Slade over the monitor screen. Slade seemed to be in an even fouler mood than when they had visited his lair to take the job.
"There won't be any payment." Slade replied coolly.
"WHAT?" Gizmo shrieked, his voice becoming shrill as the other members of the Hive Five gathered around him and started to voice their own protests.
"I hired you to bring the girl to me, and you couldn't even fend off the Teen Titans. I had to acquire her myself. You failed, so no payment." He said, and with that the image blinked off, leaving Gizmo and his partners stammering.
"Snot-munching bar-brain!" Gizmo snarled as he tried to get Slade back on the monitor. But it was useless-all communication cut off.
"What a raw deal!" Mammoth sulked as he rested his elbows on his knees, his fists against his cheeks.
"After all of that" Billy Numerous sulked as he paced the room, "and we don't even get a pizza out of it!" his clone muttered as they crossed paths.
"Better luck next time I guess." See-More shrugged as he plopped down and picked up the television remote. He pointed it at the box when Gizmo thrust himself in front, blocking the remote's path.
"No way!" Gizmo snapped, grabbing the remote from his partners hand. "We won't stand for this! If Slade wants that kid so bad, next time he's gonna' have to pay double!"
"What next time?" Mammoth said, perking up at the notion of more mayhem.
"Right now!" Gizmo said, his mouth spreading in a troublesome smile.

Rose sniffled with a nose that was getting numb from the cold. She looked down at the ground between her feet, her mind replaying the events of the last few hours over and over. She knew that she shouldn't have felt any remorse over turning down the villain who had nearly destroyed the entire city multiple times, but she still felt a profound sense of loss.
My father… she thought to herself. She had dreamt for so long of what it would be like to meet her father one day, to hug him and feel safe with him. All those dreams had been shattered now, and it left her feeling empty. She felt as if her life truly had no purpose now, and that now all she could look forward to was wandering with no particular reason to exist.
"Rose? Rose, is that you?" a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see none other than Robin running over to the bench she was seated on. Seeing a friendly face gave her some comfort, and she quickly wiped away her tears and tried to compose herself.
"Robin, hi." She said as she got to her feet.
"I found her guys. We're at the park, hurry over." Robin said into his communicator and then took a moment to look Rose over, making sure she wasn't hurt. "Where were you? We've been searching for you for hours."
"You were…looking for me?" Rose said, actually surprised to hear it.
"Of course. We were worried sick about you."
"But…why?" she asked him.
"Because we're friends. Friends help each other." Robin said and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She smiled warmly and placed her hand over his, surprising him.
"That's good to know" she said softly.
"Are you okay? You look like you've been crying." He said as he searched the pockets of his utility belt for a tissue to hand her.
"Oh, I just got scared during the fight and ran off. I'm sorry I worried you guys."
"That doesn't sound like you" Robin said as he handed her the tissue. "You sure that's all it is? It's what we talked about before, about your parents, then…"
"No!" she said with surprising urgency. She took a step back, her eyes wide, as if she had not meant to say it. She gulped and then spoke again, sounding as if she were trying to cover her tracks. "No, it's not that. I guess I just kind of…realized some things. I'm okay now."
"Not for long she's not!" an all too familiar voice broke in, followed by a high-pitched shrieking sound. Robin recognized the voice and the noise and quickly pushed Rose out of the way just before Gizmo's jet powered boomerangs flew past them. "I worked double-hard on this set Boy Blunder!" Gizmo cackled as he directed them around for another sweep.
Robin leapt up to face his enemy when a pair of Billy Numerous' grabbed his arms, restraining him so that the charging Mammoth could level him with a knock out punch. At least, that was the plan until Robin performed a backflip, yanking the two Billy's into Mammoth's path, sending them colliding into each other.
Robin steadied himself and glanced around, looking for what was coming next, completely unaware of Kid Wykkyd materializing behind him. The silent villain raised his arms, ready to strike when a green energy-bolt blew him away, interrupting his attack. All eyes spun to see the other Titan's gathered, ready to help their friends.
"Didn't learn your lesson, huh?" Cyborg quipped.
"This time we're gonna' school you!" Gizmo shouted in response as the mechanical pack on his back extended into a pair of wings. He soared into the air and let loose a series of laser shots, sending the Titans scrambling.
Rose backed away from the action, actually wanting to run away this time, the fight drained from her by the night's events. A tap on her shoulder spun her around, staring right into See-More's hypnotic eye.
"Nighty night!" See-More chuckled triumphantly.
"Not this time!" Rose said quickly and jabbed her thumb into the spinning sphere. See-More yelped and then jumped around blindly, clutching his face. He was knocked flat to his back when a garbage can, surrounded by a black glow, rolled under his legs. Rose glanced over to see Raven smiling, and flashed her a smile in response.
Starfire hovered a few feet off the ground, searching for her opponent when a sudden tug on her hair yanked her head back. She gasped as Kid Wykkyd pulled hard, trying to yank her down to the pavement. He smiled sadistically as Starfire loosed a series of green eye-beams into the air, unable to turn her head to get a clear shot at him. His smile vanished when the red-colored bola's wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides. He struggled to free himself till Robin slammed into his side with a kick that sent him face-first to the ground.
With a great bellow Mammoth charged at Beast Boy, but was stopped dead in his tracks when a green monkey leapt up and latched onto his face. He stumbled about for a moment, flailing his large arms comically, then reached up and yanked the shape-changer off his face. He snarled at Beast Boy, only to scream a moment later when the young-hero turned into a porcupine, his green quills prickling into Mammoth's oversized palm.
Mammoth tossed the porcupine aside, shouting and clutching his pierced hand. He whimpered as he yanked a couple of quills out of his finger, then turned with rage in his eyes, glaring at Beast Boy, who had assumed his natural shape and was smiling smartly at him. Mammoth snarled and charged again, only to slip on a trail of octopus-ink that had been squirted onto the ground. He skid across the pavement and crashed into a pile of trash-cans across the street, one of them being tossed into the air only to land directly over his head.
Cyborg, meanwhile, tried his best to get a good shot from his arm-cannon off at the evading Gizmo. He dodged as Gizmo fired off several more shots and then ducked at the attempted dive that as intended to take his head off. He took advantage of Gizmo's back being turned to get off a single, well aimed shot that grazed Gizmo's pack, causing the pint-sized villain to lose control of his flight-device, sending him careening through the air this way and that.
"Hey, that was my guidance system!" Gizmo shouted as he struggled to regain control of himself toward Rose, who only had time to emit a horrified gasp as it darted straight for her.
"Rose, get lookout!" Robin shouted and dove, managing to push her out of the just as the boomerang shrieked past her. Rose stumbled to recover from Robin's push, so distracted that she did not have time to dive away when the other boomerang came zooming at her as well.
All Robin heard was a horrible thud. He looked up just in time to see Rose collapse, her body going completely limp. For him it seemed to go in slow motion, taking an eternity for her fall to end with her sprawled, unmoving on the pavement. Robin's jaw dangled, his face washing white. A snap-second later it turned red, his teeth clenched as he emitted a snarl of fury.
He leap to his feet and threw a birdarang, smashing one of the boomerangs out of the air. He then tossed another with a cord attached at the second one, snagging it, and with a great yank sent it streaking toward Gizmo, how as still struggling to regain control of his flight-pack.
Gizmo saw his own weapon coming toward him and shouted at the top of his tiny lungs, quickly undoing the straps of his pack. He slid from it and tumbled through the air only seconds before the boomerang crashed into the flight pack, causing a small explosion in the air above. He screamed as he fell, only to be caught the second before he hit the ground by a smiling Cyborg, who dangled the squirming and protesting villain away from his body.
"Man, that was too easy." Beast Boy gloated, smiling at Gizmo's struggles.
"Everyone okay?" Cyborg asked as he glanced at his teammates.
"I'm fine." Raven replied.
"I am also unharmed. And you, Robin?" Starfire asked, but her voice trailed off when she saw Robin crouch over the prone body of Rose Wilson. Quickly she and the others joined him. "Is she…?" Starfire asked softly, almost unable to speak.
"She's alive, but we have to get her to a hospital, fast!" Robin said as he reached down and placed a hand on Rose's shoulder. He turned her over onto her back and recoiled at what he saw before him, barely registering the horrified gasps of his teammates behind him as his own throat tightened, leaving him barely able to whisper "No…"

Cyborg and Beast Boy walked down the hospital hallway, seeing Robin as they turned the corner. Starfire and Raven stood nearby, leaning against a wall, both wearing expressions of concern. Robin sat with his head in his hands, staring at the floor. He had not changed that position since the doctors had carried Rose's unconscious body into the room behind him.
"How is he?" Beast Boy whispered to Starfire, who looked on the verge of tears herself.
"He has not moved since we arrived. He just sits there and says 'all my fault' over and over." The Titans exchanged worried glances and then slowly approached him.
"Hey man, we went down to the coffee shop. We got you something." Cyborg said and reached his hand from behind his back to hold a banana-split sundae out in front of Robin, who did not even raise his eyes to look at it. Cyborg sighed regretfully and tossed the ice-cream treat into a garbage can.
"Please Robin, do not do this to yourself." Starfire said as she sat down next to him placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It was my fault" Robin said, not even raising his eyes to meet hers. "I pushed her right in front of it."
"You were pushing her away from the other one. You were trying to protect her. It was an accident." Raven urged.
"Any one of us could have done the same thing." Beast Boy added in.
"Yeah, she'll understand. I'm sure she will." Cyborg said. Robin finally raised his head to look at his friends and forced himself to smile, at least for them. But the relief was interrupted when he scrambled to his feet to address a doctor who came down the hall.
"Doctor, is she going to be okay?" Robin urged, tugging on the man's lab-coat urgently. The doctor checked the chart in his hand and then addressed the gathered super-heroes.
"She's going to be just fine. She's needs rest after the shock she took, but she should recover fine." He said. All of the Titan's breathed a collective sigh of relief at this. The doctor examined his chart again and then absently added "I'm afraid she's going to lose that eye though."
"Lose her…" Robin said, his voice trailing off as his face went the color of unflavored yogurt.
"Yes. I'm afraid the damage was just too extensive to repair. She'll never see out of her left eye again." The doctor said. Robin's head sagged, and the other Titans took a step forward, uncertain if they should try to comfort him or not. He looked back up at the doctor and quietly asked "Can…can I see her?"
"Well, she's still unconscious…" he said, but when he saw the look of urgency on their faces he relented, "But I suppose it couldn't do any harm. But just for a minute." He cautioned as he lead them to Rose's room.
"She will be fine Robin, please do not blame yourself" Starfire urged as they made their way down the hall.
"That's right, young man." The doctor added as he pushed the door open for them, "She can still lead a very happy and fulfilling life. Why, lots of people…"
"So uh…where is she?" Beast Boy interrupted. The doctor started and shoved past them to see the empty bed, the covers undone.
"That's impossible!" the doctor stammered.
"Did she maybe get up to go to the bathroom, or get something to eat?" Raven asked.
"She couldn't have, she was completely unconscious. I'm calling security!" the doctor said as he scrambled past them and out of the room.
"Maybe the Hive Five came back for her" Cyborg suggested.
"We just beat them, they're all in jail!" Beast Boy replied, starting to grow frantic.
"So then…where did she go?" Cyborg asked. Everyone fell silent, unable to find an answer.

Slade shook his head as he watched the news-footage about the Titans latest battle with the Hive Five. He pressed a button on the arm of his chair and the screen blinked off. It was then that he saw the tiny figure silhouetted in the doorway behind him. He straightened and turned his chair to face the intruder.
The tiny figure stepped forward, revealing the flimsy hospital gown, the trembling limbs, and the single eye that started out from beneath the bandages that covered the top of her head and the side of her face.
"Look what they did to me!" Rose said weakly, but with a harsh determination.
"I tried to warn you, Rose." Slade said with a shake of his head. He turned his chair away, as if dismissing her, but continued to speak. "Why come to me? There's nothing I can do to fix it."
"I want them dead!" Rose shouted, her voice echoing through Slade's lair. "I want them all dead!" she added when he did not respond.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Slade turned his chair back around to face her. He sat completely still, as a statue, and looked at her seriously.
"Do you mean that? Truly mean that? Are you prepared to do whatever it takes?" he asked, his voice completely flat and neutral. There was a long silence, interrupted only by Rose's trembling breathing, till she spoke again.
"Teach me. Everything."
"That's my girl." Slade said as he rose to his feet, his voice taking on a note of pride. He stepped down to stand in front of her, his single-eye meeting hers as they gazed into each other. "Welcome home" he said and placed a hand on the back of her head, pulling her forward to rest her head on his chest.
Rose made no move to return the gesture or embrace him in return. She kept her hands at her sides and simply stared into the darkness of Slade's lair, feeling that darkness surrounding and engulfing her.

THE END

Well dear reader, I am afraid that is all for this story. As I said earlier, it was intended to be a short introduction of Rose into the animated series continuity. Sufficed to say, if these events had taken place in the series, from this point on Rose would become Ravager, and Slade's new apprentice. I would like to point out that in the comic books the story of how Rose lost her eye was much different, but I felt this alteration of her origin made her more relevant to the animated story, and it made her relationship with the Titans, Robin in particular, all the more complex and dynamic. I hope you all enjoyed this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it, and hope to be seeing you all again soon. Don't stop believing!