A/N I know it's been a little longer than usual from my last update but classes are out! I am free! A least for a while... Anyways here's the next chapter! Enjoy and review my lovelies! (Anybody else find that creepy? Cause I did *shudders*)

P.S. Here's a picture that is currently my screensaver. I do not own! I simply drool over it :)

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Chapter Seven: Guilty Filthy Soul

Fighting with Slade again almost felt normal to Race. They took the enemy down, one by one, in perfect sync with each other. When one punched, the other kicked; when one ducked, the other flipped. The pair spent the majority of the time back to back, slowly taking out the mass of thugs that flooded the place. At first they had started off fighting upstairs, but after Slade threw someone into the innocent desk-smashing it along with the laptop-Race had moved it down into the actual warehouse in a fury. Slade chuckled to himself. This new Race kid was really protective of his stuff, considering it was stolen. Occasionally the blue-eyed boy would snarl out something like "stupid criminals" and Slade would feel a glimmer of hope that Robin was coming back. The hope would be shattered, however, a moment later when the teen laughed darkly as he punched someone a little too hard.

All too soon the fight was over and Race and Slade were left standing sided by side, trying not to breathe heavily. The mob-boss had taken off the second he saw that he wasn't going to win, something that greatly angered Race. He couldn't stand it when people ran from a fight. Slade stared at the teen for a while, not sure what to think. His lithe form was trembling with rage and he seemed unaware that some of his moves had ended up lethal during the fight. All around them was a sea of bodies; most unconscious, some dead. The man sighed. Robin was not supposed to turn out like this. He was supposed to become a killer through training and planning under Slade's watchful eye. That way he didn't snap. But the black-haired boy had snapped. Robin had killed someone out of hatred and darkness, and then Race came along. Something that Slade wasn't too pleased about.

"Get your things." The assassin barked out in a rough voice once the high of the fight had faded from them both. Race glance up at him, not believing his ears.

"I'm not going with you, Slade." The teen crossed his arms over his chest and Slade folded his limbs behind his back like he normally did.

"You can't stay here..."

"Of course not!" Race snarled out. "I'm going to torch this place. Then I'll simply find another warehouse or abandoned building." The smaller of the two stared up defiantly at the other, feeling his anger welling up. At this point in time Robin would had taken a deep breath and tried to calm down, but Race let the burning feeling surge through him.

"You can't keep running away, Robin. It's cowardly." Race scowled and opened his mouth to object but Slade continued. "Don't deny it. What are you going to do? Stay here in Gotham? Continue stealing for the rest of your life? How long until Batman becomes involved? How long until you have to move to another city, one you don't know?"

The teen stilled as the mercenary's words registered in his anger-fueled brain. "I can't go back." He choked out, sounding broken. Slade felt that warmth in his stomach again, the same feeling from that fateful night when all of this had started. The man knew that Robin didn't mean just going back to Jump, but back to his old life. He couldn't go back to being the leader of the Teen Titans.

"I didn't say that, now did I?" Slade closed the distance between the two and grabbed the teen's shoulders in a firm but comforting grip. Robin ducked his head, thoroughly confused. The man rubbed his arms, then lifted his chin so that they met eyes. "You have bright blue eyes." He said softly.

"You have bright white hair." Robin breathed out in reply, feeling his brain shutting down as all he could focus on was the man in front of him. Slowly all of his doubts faded into the background as he stared into the eye of his old enemy.

"Come to Jump with me." Slade purred, purposely leaving out the "back" part. They would be returning to the city, but it would still be a new life for the teen. A new life with the mercenary.

"What is this, Slade?" Robin asked cautiously, not wanting to get hurt. With all of the drama going on in his life he really didn't need to add "being used" onto the list. His wide blue eyes stared imploringly at the man and Slade sighed.

"It's the start of something. I can't make any promises, but it feels like it will last a long time." The teen nodded, happy with the answer and ducked into the large arms, turning it into a big hug.

"I'll go with you." It was silent for a moment as the two stood embraced. Slade's chin rested on top of Robin's head and they both breathed in deeply. Then a noise was heard behind the black-haired boy as one of the thugs tried to push himself up off the ground. On instinct, the teen pulled himself away from the assassin and back-flipped through the air, landing neatly on the man's back. "What do we do with this mess?" Robin asked, not bothering to get off of the now-groaning thug's back.

"I believe torching the place was your idea." Slade replied calmly, wondering what Robin's reaction would be to Race's original plan.

"Then we'd have to drag all of these unconscious guys out." The teen frowned, still not moving.

"Some of them are dead." The mercenary said in a careful voice.

"Slade!"

"It wasn't me, it was you." Robin stilled, his blue eyes going wide. He had killed again!

"I-I...I didn't mean to I just, just meant to...and then I..." He trailed off, looking wildly around, noticing some guys with broken necks and life-less eyes staring off into space.

"It wasn't you really. It was Race." Slade felt an internal shock ripple through him when those wild blue eyes whipped back to lock onto him. The teen took a shaky step off of the thug, who wisely stayed on the ground, and tried to calm himself.

"Race, right."

"Please don't get rid of him completely." Slade grinned evilly at the teen, a plan formulating in his mind. "I may need him later." Robin shook his head but decided to drop the subject.

"Back on topic. I oppose Race's idea, do you have one?"

"Tie the alive men up, tip off the police anonymously, and have them blame all the robberies on their boss." The man shrugged as he surveyed the room. "It'll be as if you never took a vacation to Gotham at all."

Robin found himself nodding in agreement. It was a great plan. "How do you know they'll blame their boss so easily?" Slade just grinned and unsheathed a large knife. The thug that the teen had landed on gave a quiet gasp before laying completely still. The assassin pointed to glittering weapon at him and his grin became a smile.

"You there, who stole all of this stuff?"

"My boss, sir." The guy rasped out, flinching and squeezing his eyes shut. Robin gave an amused laugh.

"Good boy. Robin, grab that rope."

The blue-eyed boy straddled Slade's motorcycle, a couple blocks away from the warehouse but still at an angle where he could see it. It was dark out, sometime around 4 am and it was silent. Gotham was dead, in between night crime and morning commutes. Robin sighed and slouched over the handle bars. The bike was a beauty, a lot like his R-cycle but it was a civilian model with out the weapons and such. The insignia read Ducati and the teen ran a loving hand over it. He vowed right then and there to make Slade get him one too.

Speaking of the devil, the teen heard footsteps approaching and looked to see the man drawing near, his mask back on. As he came closer he pulled something out of his pocket. It was small and black. Robin assumed that it was a type of cell phone that they would use to give the anonymous tip. He smiled at the mercenary, but that smile slid slowly off his face as the man flipped open the device and pushed a single red button. As if in slow-motion, Robin's wide eyes left the detonator and landed on the warehouse a second before it blew up.

"What-?"

"We referred to each other by name without our masks on." Slade said calmly before sliding onto the bike in front of the stunned teen. "That and the camera's had seen you."

"But..."

"It would be terribly irresponsible if you got Bruce and Alfred in trouble by running around and stealing things, Richard." Robin gasped at his real name and Slade smirked over his shoulder and started up the motorcycle. "Yes, I know. I've known for a while. Now be quiet, we have a long ride ahead of us."

A/N What do you think? There were some cute moments in there! I'll update really soon hopefully! Review and tell me things! Any type of things! Doesn't matter to me, I just like it when the email on my phone goes off and it says review alert. I squeal, just for you guys :)