A/N YAY ANOTHER CHAPTER! Woohoo! I have nothing else to say so yep.

Chapter Fourteen: Wake Up

"Robin?" Was Batman's reply when Race turned around, grinning a feral grin.

"Nope. God, why does everybody think I'm Robin?" Race threw a hand up to his forehead and sighed dramatically, noting with delight how Batman seemed a bit taken aback.

"You are Robin. I'd know that acrobatic talent anywhere." With a set look on his face, the vigilante took a step forward and Race back flipped away. There was no way the young man was letting the seasoned veteran get close.

"Anyone can take gymnastics, you know." Race back-talked, watching Batman grow angry.

"Robin! Stop this this instant!" The hero lashed out with his foot but the younger of the two simply flipped away again, cackling madly.

"My name is Race!" The teen ran and tried to slide-tackle Batman but he dodged the yellow-eyed boy just in time.

"Race? The Titans told me about a new villain named Race..." The young man looked on with interest as he could practically see the wheels turning in the detective's mind.

"And if the Teen Titans didn't think I was Robin, then I'm obviously not Robin." Race was a little taken aback at the next attack that came his way, Batman still had the speed he'd always possessed, and had nearly knocked the teen out.

"But you are Robin! What has Slade done to you?" This was the final straw for Race. The yellow-eyed boy didn't love the villain, but he shared a body with someone that did, and that gave him a sense of possessiveness.

"Slade has done nothing to me!" The smaller body roared in rage before launching himself at the hero. Batman seem a little stunned at the sudden anger and Race's fist actually hit it's mark: Batman's gut. The masked man stumbled backwards and Race followed. "On the contrary I've done everything to him!"

Batman's style slowly changed from offensive to defensive as he listened to the teen's words. "What are you talking about, Robin? He made you a killer!"

"I'M NOT ROBIN!" The next kick that hit Batman made him actually fall off the roof, seeing as Race had backed him up all the way to the edge. The hero used his grappling hook to swing back up but it was too late, the teen was gone.

"Get back here and fight!" Batman yelled out, loosing his oh-so perfect self-control. "ROBIN!"

"My name is Race, and Batman made me a killer." Was the only thing the Batman heard before the villain, and the briefcase, were gone.

By the time the teen had made it back to Slade's lair Robin had come back into full-conscienceness and was feeling pretty beat up. "Race!" Slade exclaimed as soon as he heard the door open, but upon seeing the young man he hesitated. "Robin?"

"Ya, its me. Here's your briefcase." Robin threw the silver item at the man before turning to trudge to their room, in desperate need of a shower.

"Robin..." Slade's deep voice caused the teen to pause for a second, but he didn't look back. "What happened?

"Batman was there." Slade could tell that Robin had just been through hell by the tight tone of his voice.

"And?"

"I got away, didn't I?" The ex-hero snarled, suddenly turning around. "I got you your briefcase, didn't I?" With that Robin stormed away, leaving Slade more than a little confused.

Once in the shower, the teen let it all out. Tears slipped from his eyes and silent sobs racked his body. Seeing Batman again, hearing the disappointment and anger in his voice, had made Robin feel like a child again. Even though Race had taken care of the face-to-face stuff, Robin had still been present, he had still been watching from behind his alter ego.

And what hurt the teen the most was that both Batman and Race had been wrong. Slade hadn't turned him into a murderer, and neither had Batman. Robin had turned himself into a killer really. He was a killer. The young man thought that he would be able to get over that fact, to move on with his life, but everywhere he went it lingered in his mind. Whether he was at home with Slade, stealing, fighting the Titans; it didn't matter. He was a cold-blooded killer.

Robin weakly hit his fist against the cool tile of the shower wall. His life was screwed up to the extreme and all he wanted was some form of normalcy. All he wanted was for something to go right! The teen was about to turn off the hot water when he heard the bathroom door open and a second later Slade's body was behind his. Robin had been too busy wallowing in self-pity to even wash so the man took it upon himself lather up the teens hair and get all of the yellow out of it. He then slowly took the time to condition it and after that washed Robin's body. The whole time not a word was said and when Slade was done the younger of the two turned around and pressed his face into the other man's chest.

Just to be around another human and yet not have anything said was too much for Robin, and he clawed the man's body closer to him, leaving angry red marks on Slade's back the healed instantly only to be replaced a moment later. Neither of the two were sure how long they had stayed like that, but it didn't matter much.

After a while the water began to run cold and Slade reached around the boy to turn it off. They both stiffly got out of the shower and dried themselves off. Once there was no water left on their bodies, the two of them made their way to the bed. Ever since Robin had gotten home and had yelled at Slade it had been silent, not a word said. And now, as the man pulled the teen closer to his body, that silence was broken.

"I never told you who I was speaking with on the phone, did I?" Robin, whose eyes had been shut, kept them closed and shook his head no. "It was an old friend of mine named Wintergreen. We served in the military together a long time ago. I didn't tell you because I was embarrassed, I had been asking advice from him. Advice on what to do about you, about us. I told him that I loved you, and that I was scared. The last person I loved was my wife, Addie. That was a long time ago, but I loved her with all of my heart. When I became an assassin, bad things started happening to my family. To my sons, to be exact, and Addie grew tired of it. As soon as she figured out about my new 'job', she took a bullet to my head. Luckily, she missed but she got my eye. The point of the story is, I loved her and I lost her, that's why I was so afraid to love you at first. But now I know I can never lose you, and you'll find out why soon enough." Slade ended his monologue and glanced down at his little bird, who was completely still on his chest. The man understood it was a lot to take in, so he decided to change the subject. "How would you like to go on a vacation? I have a hunting lodge in Africa. You could meet Wintergreen."

"I'd like that." Was Robin's soft reply. A feeling of complete content washed through the pair and they slowly drifted into sleep, excited about tomorrow, although for different reasons.

A/N I hope everyone caught the foreshadowing there! Omg I'm so smart! I know what's going to happen next and you don't! And don't worry all will be explained! So review!