Disclaimer: Hello ladies. Look at Teen Titans—now back to this fic—now back to Teen Titans and back at this fic again: sadly, I don't own Teen Titans or DC Comics.

A/N: How. Is. It. October. Already? Just…whoa. I've been working on this thing for almost four months. Wow.

"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you,

The odds will betray you and I will replace you.

You can't deny the prize it may never fulfill you.

It longs to kill you, are you willing to die?

The coldest blood runs through my veins,

You know my name."

-Chris Cornell, "You Know my Name" (Casino Royale theme)

Chapter 21: Accusations

-R-

3:21pm

Jump City, California

Outskirts

Robin motioned for the other Titans to come quietly forward.

He squinted to look through the glare of the large window looking down into the warehouse where the HIVE kids had taken refuge. He could probably pull a Batman and crash down through the window, but right now Robin didn't want to be reminded of his mentor.

"They're not going to want to talk, you know," Raven remarked quietly.

"It doesn't matter. We have to talk to someone."

Robin wasn't sure if he agreed with Cyborg's theory, but they had to talk to someone just to feign the idea that they were doing something right. The fact that one of the people involved in these attacks was a HIVE graduate was a reason to investigate the HIVE anyway.

Ever since the Titans destroyed the HIVE's old headquarters no one was sure where Brother Blood operated from now. Given the increase in HIVE activity, though, Robin knew that he must be operating from somewhere close by.

"Raven, bring us in." Robin motioned for the others to come closer. "Titans, go!"

Cool air enveloped him as Raven's dark powers covered them all. The plan was to phase silently into the warehouse. Although Robin knew that they were likely to attack them it was still important not to provoke them.

Raven deposited them into the main room, where the three HIVE kids were milling around. Gizmo sat at a desk on a computer, playing some sort of video game. Mammoth was stuffing his face with leftover food from a small refrigerator while Jinx sat at a table looking over some papers. Her mouth dropped open in surprise as the Titans appeared suddenly before them.

"AHHH!" Gizmo exclaimed, falling off of his chair in surprise.

The three HIVE students backed away, obviously surprised by the surprise visit. Jinx raised her communicator to her mouth, but Robin took out a bird-a-rang and flung it towards her. Within seconds the communicator clattered to the floor.

"We don't want to fight. We just want to talk."

The sorceress only narrowed her eyes and flung a spell at him. Using the nimble skills born of his training as an acrobat, Robin dodged it easily as he took out his bo-staff. Well, if they wanted a fight then they would get a fight. He was still in a bad mood from that morning from his fight with Bruce.

It would be a great way to release his pent-up anger.

"Ugh, why are you here, traitor?" Jinx snarled at Cyborg.

Jinx sprung out of Robin's way and charged towards Cyborg. The two began to fight with the ferocity of sparring bucks. Robin found himself battling with Mammoth (who admittedly could fight but had no brains to back up his brawn) with Starfire.

Perhaps it was the fact that everyone was on the edge that made the Titans act quickly and efficiently. Within two minutes the fight was over. As Cyborg punched a nearly unconscious Mammoth into the other two students Raven immediately held them captive with her dark energy. The three HIVE students struggled against Raven's powers as Robin stepped forward.

"We're not going to arrest you," Robin said, "even though that's less than you deserve."

Just like that morning with Mark Wolfman, Robin felt as though he didn't have time for these losers. They were of the same stock as Wolfman: HIVE graduates, young kids, stupid judgment…

"Hmp," Mammoth said, "and what about tin man over there?"

Jinx spat in Cyborg's direction. "We're not talking to that traitor."

"Fine. I'll be doing the talking, then. All we want is information."

"Yeah? And what if we don't talk, snotbrain?" Gizmo sneered.

The eyeholes of Robin's mask narrowed as he looked down at the kid. Gizmo always annoyed him. His quips weren't even that smart. How ironic, given how good the kid was with electronics. Like always, Gizmo's childish threats simply bounced off of him. Robin puffed out his chest and growled in his best imitation of Bruce's harsh voice.

"Or else my mentor's going to stop by and give you a real smack-down."

It was a lie, of course. Bruce wasn't going to come. He was nowhere near Jump City. But Gizmo didn't need to know that. None of them did.

"You're lying," Gizmo replied automatically, although he sounded unsure of himself. "The Bat's not coming to Jump!"

"You wanna bet?" Robin asked, bending down to snarl in Gizmo's face. "Flash stopped by to kick your butts. What's to stop Batman from coming?"

Even Mammoth looked uneasy at the prospect of fighting Batman. Well, who wouldn't be? Even Robin sometimes felt afraid of Batman, but in a lot more ways than everyone else. He wasn't afraid of being beaten to a pulp. He was afraid of Batman losing respect for him. He was afraid of being rejected like he had been that morning. The others shot him curious glances, but said nothing. After glaring at her teammates Jinx spoke in a defeated voice.

"What do you want from us?"

That was more like it.

"You worked for Slade."

As he expected, confusion fluttered across their faces. Everyone was confused whenever he brought up the subject.

"That creep hired us to defeat you…" Jinx said.

"But isn't he dead?" Mammoth asked. "I thought you guys killed him."

"Terra killed him," Beast Boy cut-in.

Robin held out a hand to Beast Boy, signaling him not to speak any further about Terra. The changeling shot a glare towards Robin, but held his tongue. Even though Robin knew that he was emotionally vulnerable himself, he couldn't afford to have everyone flip out.

"What do you want to know?" Jinx asked.

"Your previous Headmistress," Robin said, flinging a picture towards her, "she was the one who arranged for you to work for Slade."

Jinx caught it and looked at the picture.

"So?"

Robin's mouth thinned. Cyborg mentioned that Brother Blood controlled people…which was how Blood probably usurped the Headmistress. Suddenly Robin was aware that if these kids were still under Brother Blood's control, then it was likely that everything they said would be conveyed to Blood almost instantly. He had to be careful about what he said.

"How did Slade contact you?" Cyborg cut-in.

"We're one of the HIVE's top graduates," Jinx said, her voice almost a sneer. "All of the top villains around wanted to hire us."

"So why Slade?" Robin demanded.

"He was the biggest villain around. I mean, who hasn't heard of Deathstroke in the criminal underground? No one messed with him. No one refused to acquiesce to his requests."

"Refused to acqeeze what?" Mammoth asked, thoroughly confused.

"Acquiesce, you dolt," Jinx snapped. "That means he was so bad no one dared to refuse his requests."

Gizmo said nothing as he glowered to the side. That little snot-ball wasn't going to talk and Robin knew it.

"He was an assassin. A good one too," Robin mused.

"Wait, Slade was an assassin?" Beast Boy piped up.

"A mercenary, to be exact." Robin found himself smiling. "He could have taken out the HIVE headmistress without much effort."

He allowed the others to trail into silence. The others wouldn't dare talk about his time with Slade in front of the HIVE kids. But yes, Slade tried so hard to train Robin into an assassin. That was why the man was so cold. Deathstroke was a hitman's name. Slade…well, the name Slade held a more debonair connotation.

"Yeah…well…that's why Brother Blood took over," Mammoth said. "Headmistress was failing."

"What happened after you failed to defeat us?" Robin asked.

"Why do you keep talking to this snot-brain birdie?" Gizmo snapped. "And why do you keep talking about Slade?"

Anger surged within him again, although Robin didn't want to give another lecture about Gotham all over again. It would be wasted on these guys. The only thing he could count on was the fact that he had—even for the briefest time—become a villain. Even the other criminal masterminds knew nothing about him and his brief employment with a madman. Unlike the others—even Cyborg (who went to their friggin' school)—Robin understood things better now from a villain's perspective.

"Because he screws everyone over, so long as he gets paid well." Some of his anger deflated. It wasn't the kid's fault that he inadvertently helped Slade blackmail Robin. "And even though he's dead someone may have stolen information about us after he died. But you don't have to know why we're after the information, so why don't you just answer my question?"

If anything, Robin's little monologue simply confused the HIVE kids even more. Now that Gizmo pointed out the fact that Robin talked constantly about Slade Mammoth and Jinx gave Robin odd looks too. But they were in no position to argue.

"Headmistress punished us for failing," Mammoth grunted.

"You see?" Cyborg said. "That's why you shouldn't be in with the villains."

"Oh shut up, Stone," Jinx snapped. "You're a hypocrite. At least I wouldn't turn my back on my friends."

Oh yes you would, Robin thought. That's what villains did all the time. Pity Jinx had such a good moral code. The superhero community could really use someone like her.

"Did Slade ever contact the HIVE again?" Robin asked.

"Not that we know of."

Even if Brother Blood contacted Slade or vice versa, it was still an unlikely possibility. Both men strived for power, but in two different ways. With Brother Blood being so open about his plans to take over the world it was unlikely that he would trust someone as sneaky as Slade.

"And what about Brother Blood?" Robin asked.

"We don't know what the Headmaster is planning or what he's been doing since taking over," Jinx said. "And I'm sure he doesn't want you to know."

Robin stood over them with his arms crossed over his chest. He couldn't be sure whether Brother Blood was behind this or not, but the evidence here neither suggested nor denied the claim that Blood triggered the dust. With Blood controlling so many people it was likely that he could be behind this. In lieu of Robin's silence Cyborg took charge.

"Tell Brother Blood," Cyborg said, "that Stone wants to know what he's up to."

Suddenly, expressions of anxiety crossed their faces. Raven let them go and they broke apart. Robin knew that expression. They were the expressions of those who had to submit to a higher, crueler authority.

Jinx shuddered. "Blood is going to beat us for talking to you."

Although Robin knew that he should feel pity, he simply couldn't. Just like most people they had a choice. These kids chose the life of villainy for the thrills and perks. There were so many people in the world who didn't have a choice in their life. Every day people died in wars they didn't approve of. Sure, a lot of them probably had unpleasant childhoods like he had. But the majority of the kids at the HIVE Academy never grew up in the dark allyways of Crime Ally.

At least in this country people had the freedom of choice. Being with Slade made Robin realize just how good Bruce was. Being Slade's apprentice made him more aware of the choices he made and the choices he would make. If they wanted to ally themselves with a master who would hurt them and verbally abuse them for failure then that was their fault.

So they had nothing to complain about.

"Then I suggest that you join the right side," Robin said, shooting his grapple hook towards the ceiling so that he could leave through the window. "At least you have a choice in the matter."

-BW-

6:56pm

Gotham City

Batcave

Bats flew above him as they roused themselves from their daytime slumber, their leathery wings echoing in the empty caverns of the Batcave. In a few short minutes the sun would set below the horizon and bring Gotham City into civil twilight. Another half hour after that the light dregs of sunlight would fade into the velvety blackness of the night. That would be the time that Batman began to go on the prowl for Clayface.

He awoke ten minutes ago from his four-hour nap, which did him some good after staying up all night. His crystal blue eyes stared at the computer screen as his mind buzzed with theories. One of the three computer screens was tuned into the evening news. There was so much on his mind tonight.

Bruce didn't bother turning his head as Alfred entered the Batcave, holding a tray laden with dinner and a cup of strong coffee.

"Thanks, Alfred."

"Master Bruce, have you considered what I said this morning?"

"Um…" Bruce mumbled, sipping his coffee. "Not particularly."

He knew what Alfred wanted to talk about. As he told the butler that afternoon, it wasn't as if Bruce didn't want to talk about Dick. He wanted to. Bruce also couldn't deny that he had duties aside from being Batman. But because of that thin line between hero and civilian Bruce felt it more important to deal with Clayface. Dick would understand.

"Perhaps you should consider calling for backup," Alfred said, "so that you may attend to the Titans."

Call for backup? Bruce didn't need backup, especially not the kind that Alfred was suggesting. The League was already bothering him enough as it was. And Barbara shouldn't get involved with Clayface. Unlike Dick, Barbara was not Bruce's ward and had limitations on what he could teach her without raising Jim's suspicions. Since Dick lived with him, Bruce had all the time in the world to train him. Babs was talented, yes, but Bruce wasn't at the end of his rope just yet. He could do this without her help.

"It's going to get done tonight."

"Sir, that's what you said three weeks ago."

"I know for sure, Alfred. Tonight Clayface has to meet up with one of Black Mask's men. Quinn is too scared to come to Gotham himself…so Clayface is posing for him again."

"How do you know?"

"Tonight is the night Quinn is supposed to sell to some guys from Metropolis. Black Mask is paying Clayface too much for him to back out of this one. They're going to meet somewhere in Crime Ally."

"You sound unsure, Sir."

Of course he did. That's what made Bruce so edgy in the first place. He hated the fact that he didn't know what the hell was going on anywhere. That's why he was going to go out and find out. Only when he personally put Clayface behind bars, checked into Arkham, and flew out to California to see Dick would Bruce's mind be at ease.

"What with all of this drama going on in Jump City, I haven't been able to keep my mind on Clayface."

"This 'drama' isn't Dick's fault," Alfred said, his tone testy. "Master Bruce, you have been acting rather odd lately."

"I'm sorry, Alfred. I'm just frustrated, that's all."

And worried that the Joker is involved in this mess, he thought. Bruce sipped his coffee to stop himself from saying more. Like Robin and the rest of the League he tried to figure out which villain was stupid enough to mess with the Titans. Since Robin was the first victim, Bruce had good reason to believe that someone was messing with Dick to get to Bruce. He mentioned that once to Dick, but the kid didn't think that was the case since the other Titans got attacked as well.

He had to see the Joker.

Bruce slipped off his bathrobe and headed towards the other side of the Batcave, where his uniform awaited. He often found that he worked better on cases like these while in the cape and cowl. It helped him differentiate between Bruce Wayne and Batman.

"At least call Miss Gordon," Alfred said, "you cannot do everything alone."

Bruce pulled the cowl over his head and looked down at Alfred. As much as Bruce was a mentor to Dick, so Alfred was a mentor to him. As usual Alfred was right (it irritated Bruce that he still hadn't apprehended Clayface), but sometimes he worried too much.

Everyone accused him of acting like the lone vigilante. The papers. The police. They accused him of being a nutcase. But what a lot of people didn't know was that Batman had a strict code of rules that he followed. Sure, he could act like a complete nutcase, but sometimes that was the only way he could deal with nutcases armed with acid and machine guns.

"I've beaten Clayface before," he said, "and I can certainly do it again."

Before Alfred could say another word Batman leapt into the Batmobile. While he considered Alfred's advice valuable, he just couldn't afford to take his time with anything now. Yes, his business with Dick was urgent, but he had to quench that insatiable curiosity about the Joker. His hands gripped the wheel tightly as he pushed down on the gas pedal.

The Joker? No, he had to go after Clayface first. Batman shook his head. Clayface…or the Joker…or Dick. The Batmobile shot out of the Batcave and into the twilight. A few straggling Bats flew out with him, their dark forms scintillating against the red-and-purple sky. As Batman came to a fork in the road he found himself at a standstill. Should he go one way to Arkham Asylum or the other way towards Gotham?

Even with the sun still peeking over the horizon it was dark enough for the Bat-signal to be seen against the clouds. The Batmobile came closer and closer to the fork in the road. He had to make a decision. Conflicting issues and theories raged inside of his mind as Batman made a decision. Even as he twitched the steering wheel towards his destination he had some second doubts. How could he be sure that he was making the right decision?

He thought about this as he drove off into the gathering darkness.

-BB-

5:49pm

Jump City, California

Titans Tower

The tension in the Tower was almost palpable.

In the whole day they had achieved nothing. At least with Starfire they had a hint about what was going to happen…but not with Raven. The empath did not seem to care, although like everyone else she put in as much effort as she could to locating the perpetrator.

If anything, this whole business with the dust pissed everybody off.

Beast Boy slinked through the Tower with his hands deep in his pocket. Despite his high hopes that they would solve this mystery, he knew that if something good didn't happen soon then someone was going to snap.

A few days ago, when Wolfman vandalized Terra's tomb, Beast Boy felt sure that he was going to snap himself. It was surprising that no one had had a mental breakdown yet. Like everyone else, Beast Boy hated all of this uncertainty. It only made the things Steve said about the Titans true: that they were amateurs who couldn't do their job right.

As the other Titans worked Beast Boy once again found himself without a job to do. That bothered him. So, he went into Cyborg's room. Cyborg was on his computer, working diligently on some project.

"Hey Cy, what's that?" Beast Boy asked.

"My dad just sent me updated anti-malware software from S.T.A.R Labs," he said, still not looking at Beast Boy. "I told him about what happened last night."

Cyborg…had a dad? Beast Boy opened his mouth as though to say something, but then thought better of it. No one on the team really talked about their past or their families—except maybe Starfire, but that was more along the lines of sharing her crazy Tamaranean culture.

"What did he say?"

"He's glad that I'm safe."

"Well, that's good."

"Yeah," Cyborg said, his eyes drifting away from the computer. "Better than Batman's talkdown, I'm sure."

Batman seemed to be on everyone's mind. It seemed as though whatever affected Robin affected everyone else on the team. His bad mood seemed to be spreading among them like a creeping cancer.

"I wonder what Batman's problem is," Beast Boy said.

"We all do. I want to know, but I don't think it would be a good idea to get involved. The only thing I'm annoyed about is how much Robin complains about the guy."

Now that Cyborg said it, Beast Boy realized that that bothered him too. Usually, Robin never mentioned Batman, but when he did it was always a tirade about the guy.

Cyborg logged off of his computer and placed his head in his hands. Beast Boy said nothing as he watched his friend sigh heavily. At least Beast Boy wasn't attacked so personally. The closest he had ever come was that time he—like the other Titans—was infected with the nanoscopic probes.

"You know," Cyborg mused, "I was so sure that the perpetrator would attack my dad…or the handicapped kids…or even my high school football team."

"You played football?"

Standing up, Cyborg went over to his dresser and picked up a baseball. "I played a lot of sports in high school. Baseball…football…I liked playing football the best. I was built for it."

"You still are."

"Nah…it was just a dream…becoming a professional football or baseball player." Cyborg set the baseball back down on its stand. "I'm a Titan now. And although I sometimes wish that I could still be normal I'm glad I met you and everyone else."

Beast Boy smiled, but inside he felt a little sympathy for his friend. To have your dreams crushed like that because of a single accident must have crushed his self-esteem.

The door to Cyborg's room slid open. Raven poked her head inside of the room and gestured for them to follow her.

"Team meeting," Raven said.

Beast Boy groaned. Another team meeting? He knew that they were important, but he felt like they were wasting time. He, Raven, and Cyborg went to the common room where the other two were waiting for them. This time no one waited for a lengthy preamble. Cyborg went right into his theories about the perpetrator.

"Look, I think it's Brother Blood. Call me crazy if you will, but it has to be Blood. He's not stupid. Slade worked with the Headmistress, right? Of course she would contact information about him and stuff. Blood might have usurped the Headmistress and stole all of her information."

"The only problem with your theory is that there's no evidence to prove it," Robin said.

"How can we be sure about anything?"

Cyborg looked miffed. If anything, the Boy Wonder was too clouded by his personal feelings to properly use the detective skills Batman taught him. After the events of the last few days Beast Boy couldn't be sure if he trusted Robin's detective skills anymore.

"I still think one of the Bat-villains is behind this," Robin said. "Brother Blood is a cult leader, not a chess master. We should investigate him further before we-"

"You just want to believe what you want to believe!" Cyborg snapped.

Oh no, Beast Boy thought, not again.

He knew even before Robin opened his mouth that another fight was brewing. Why couldn't any of them get along? Beast Boy knew that in the end they would come back together and act like friends, but this was getting out of hand. There was no reason for anyone to act like a jerk.

"You know what? It's not my fault that Batman's been acting like a prick, all right?"

"Robin, you keep complaining about Batman, but he has nothing to do with the dust!"

"I know that!" Flush crept up the side of Robin's neck as he fumed. "I'm just sick of him right now, and the dust only reopened those wounds. It pisses me off that I can't solve this mystery."

Something snapped within Beast Boy. Having to hear Robin complain was one thing, but having him act like he was the only one in the group who had issues was something completely different.

"Hey!" Beast Boy butted-in. "You're not the only one with problems, man!"

Why was everything centered around Robin? Everyone else who got attacked was hurt just as much as he had been.

Everything that happened next became a blur. Soon everyone was in on the conversation, their voices blending together in a cacophony of angry shouts and insults. Even Starfire, who normally tried to act as a peacemaker came into the conversation. From what Beast Boy could tell she was angry that they were fighting again. He found himself yelling hoarsely at the others, especially at Robin and Cyborg. They yelled and screamed at each other for so long that he later couldn't remember what they had been fighting about.

The only one who wasn't involved was, of course, Raven. She stood a little ways away, rubbing her aching temple as her eye twitched. Oh, Beast Boy knew that she must be mad too, but she hadn't been attacked yet.

"Stop fighting!" Raven snapped.

What to do? What to do? Everything seemed to fall apart around them as they argued and argued about what to do next. He supposed that Robin had the right idea by calling Batman. No one here knew what was going on. They needed outside help, although now Batman wasn't going to come. The Doom Patrol wouldn't come. Not even the Tamaranean troops would come to help.

Everyone wanted to do something different. Everyone had their own problems and no one trusted one another enough to talk their problems out like civilized people. When the Titans formed everyone agreed to the fact that they wouldn't tell each other their personal history. Now, thanks to whoever triggered the dust, it was eating them from the inside out like a corrosive acid.

"Good evening, Titans."

Everyone stopped shouting to look at the speaker. Superman's face appeared on the giant television screen in the common room. From what Beast Boy could tell Superman was calling from the JLA Watchtower. He suppressed a fanboyish squeal as Superman looked around the room. Robin's face was beet-red. Beast Boy could almost hear Robin's thoughts whirl through his head. How long did Superman watch?

"Superman," Robin said immediately, "uh…why are you…we were just…"

"It looks like I called at a bad time, but I have to talk to all of you."

Beast Boy didn't like Superman's tone. It wasn't exactly patronizing, but he sounded genuinely concerned. Quite a contrast to the Dark Knight's gruff lectures. Robin strode towards the screen while the others simply looked at Superman without speaking. Here was a giant even bigger than Batman, the Man of Steel who protected the sprawling city of Metropolis. It was only natural that Robin should talk to the man.

"It doesn't matter. What's happened?"

"Yesterday I came up with a theory that the attacks on you may be the beginning of attacks on all of us."

"You mean…an attack on the League?"

"Yes. Batman and I agreed that someone may have stolen information from Deathstroke's lair after his death. Since he knew your identity that puts almost all of our identities at risk."

Robin's face fell slightly. Beast Boy knew that Robin beat himself up every day for allowing himself to fall into Slade's clutches. He had no idea what it would be like to have everyone—not just the Titans—at risk.

"Slade never mentioned that he knew your secret identity," Robin said in a low voice. "And he never asked me or…."

He trailed off. His silence spoke more than words. Come to think of it, Beast Boy realized that Robin never said how Slade knew his secret identity. Robin never said that Slade knew beforehand or if he made Robin tell him or…or if Slade tortured it out of him. Beast Boy's ears drooped at the thought. What if…what if in that video message Slade so kindly left on the main computer was footage of Slade torturing Robin to find out his identity?

It was a scary thought.

"We all know that he knew Batman's identity," Superman said, "and that fact alone is enough to incriminate us all. Let's just assume that he did know, Robin."

"Then…if your theory is true, then we'll have to figure out who would be attacked first."

An attack on the Justice League. It was unthinkable. Not impossible, though. Villains attacked the League all of the time…but never before had anyone thought of attacking the Titans or any previous sidekick before to get to the League.

"Like I said, Robin, it's just a theory. The most important thing for us to do now is to make sure that your team is safe."

Robin leaned against the counter and looked up at Superman. Just like Beast Boy had to deal with the Doom Patrol, Robin had to submit to a higher authority: Batman and the League. But unlike Batman, Superman treated Robin with more respect to him and to the Titans.

"I know you only want advice, but we know you asked Batman for help."

"Everyone knows now."

"Look, just give us a heads up on what's going on over there."

"All we know is that the signal that triggered the mask came from outside Titans Tower," Cyborg said. "But since it was stolen, how can you help us?"

"We're coming to Jump City. As many of us as we can spare."

A surge of hope enveloped Beast Boy at the sound of this. With the Justice League's help there was no way anyone else could be attacked. The perpetrator wouldn't dare…especially not with the Man of Steel around. And Beast Boy would also fulfill his lifelong dream of meeting Superman—possibly the other JLA members as well.

"When are you coming?" Robin asked.

"Late tonight."

"Have you told…is…Batman coming with you?" Robin asked.

Superman looked at Robin steadily. It wasn't exactly a pitying expression, but more of a sorrowful one. The last time Superman called Robin left the room, supposedly to have a private conversation with him. Why didn't Robin trust them enough to talk to Superman in front of them?

"We're going to talk to him before coming out to Jump. He acted out of line and shouldn't have talked down to you like that."

"Yeah…well…he sort of talks to everyone like that." Robin sounded bitter. "And I'd love to hear his excuse for being a prick."

For some reason, Beast Boy felt as though he was glimpsing into the inner workings of a tightly-knit family. Long before Robin formed the Titans he lived and worked with Batman and the rest of the Justice League. Of course, Robin never mentioned that he knew Superman personally. It was just…Beast Boy hoped that one day Robin would trust him and the other Titans enough for them to join this larger family of superheroes.

"We know. We're going to talk to him about it. Everything will be fine. Just…try to stay safe. All of you."

"Thanks, Superman. Call me before you come."

"Will do."

As soon as Superman's face disappeared from the screen Robin turned his back to them all. Silently, he began to walk out of the room and down the hallway.

"Dude, where are you going?" Beast Boy asked.

He better not be doing what Beast Boy thought he was going to do. The last thing that guy needed to do was lock himself in his room and swamp himself with work. The Boy Wonder paused and turned around to face them.

"It's just…I can't just wait for Superman and the others to come. I need to do something."

"You don't need to do anything," Cyborg said.

"You know what? The only reason they're coming is because I couldn't do anything. We couldn't do anything."

"So you're going to beat yourself up…again," Raven said.

"No…I…" Robin trailed off. "I'm really tired. I had a bad day. I need some sleep if we're going to work through the night with the League."

Without another word Robin disappeared down the hallway. The other Titans watched him go, as though wondering whether he would actually follow up on his words. Only after watching the light go off through the cracks in his bedroom door did everyone calm down.

Everyone had had a rough week. While Beast Boy had to admit that Robin was probably more worn emotionally thin than the others (and for good reason) everyone else was too. Perhaps it was because Beast Boy himself wasn't used to being the target of the villains' attacks. Robin was probably used to it by now, having worked with Batman and all that jazz.

"You know," Raven said, "that's the most sensible thing I've heard him say all week."

A/N:

I LOVE the theme song from the James Bond film "Casino Royale." I don't need an excuse to quote it because it's just pure awesome, and especially concerning the next few chapters ahead… well…my thoughts on the next chapter: SKDLKSLKDAJDFKSLK

It's cryptic. Like my philosophy textbook. Go back and find some hinty-hints in previous chapters while waiting for the next chapter.

Spice up my test/essay filled-week with reviews. They make me happy.