Disclaimer: Titans aren't mine, not one cent gained at all.

A/N: I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and a Happy New Year. I sure have and now it's back to the grinding stone, but writing this story isn't much of a grinding stone. Well, here we're back once again to old Robin and the gang. Enjoy.

Ch. 11: …Go

The plan was simple. Get in, mingle, met their contractor and get out. Dump the girls and Durin provides a distraction. Straightforward, no complications. Well, dumping the girls might be a problem, so maybe manipulating a short lie could work out better. One never knows when one might need a place to stay and having 'friends' outside the villain community would be the best hiding place.

Yet, things never go according to plan. One always needs to be on guard for a change, some little loophole can blossom into disaster. And thanks to the war and Batman and Slade's teachings, Robin eyed the mass crowd, gears turning in his mind, searching for any potential threats. Kumi and him wore black tuxedos, while Shelby wore a spring-like dark blue dress and Jess a dark brown/black dress.

Shelby was standing near Kumi, their arms linked once more. The couple was at the bottom of the stairs, taking in the large ballroom. Next to him, Jess shifted slightly; uncomfortable and knowing she didn't belong here. Robin smiled at her, took her hand and guided her down the stairs, every step cringing inside. Glancing up at Kumi, he watched the conman work his magic on Shelby and other guests. It looked easy but a true conman always had to watch what words slithered out of his mouth.

Turning, Robin smirked at Jess, "The punch bowl and food is over there, if you are hungry."

"I'm good thanks."

Frowning mentally, Robin nodded. This girl was going to be hard to get rid off. Hearing a song, he pulled Jess out to the dance floor and began to dance with her, pulling her close enough to look like a couple but still have a comfortable distance between themselves. Jess kept her gaze over Robin's shoulder and watched other couples on the dance floor. Robin's own masked eyes scanned through the crowd searching for a suspicious person. Kumi had said their contractor would have a blond woman dressed in a chauffer outfit at the ball…his own personal bodyguard. Spotting a clock, he watched as the hand moved upward. One minute till 7 pm.

Stopping, he broke away from Jess, "I think I saw Kumi waving at us. Come on." Leading her to the pair, he watched as Kumi spotted him. Their signal. Kumi broke out into a smile, "I was wondering where you two went. You two gals hungry or thirsty?"

Shelby eyed Jess, "I'm a bit a both."

Robin glanced at Jess, "Well, Jess knows the way."

Shelby beamed at her friend. Jess sighed and nodded towards the bar, "This way, Shelby."

As the girls left, Robin leaned casual towards Kumi, "7 o'clock as she said."

"Good."

The clock struck 7 and the projector that displayed images of the seasons on the wall flashed. A large image of pale head with golden slatted eyes caught everyone's attention. The image smiled, revealing two fangs on the upper and lower jaw. Overall, it reminded Robin of a twisted version of a vampire.

Kumi whispered, "Durin needs to lay off the vampire lore."

A distorted voice boomed through the speakers. "Hello, unsuspecting victims, let me introduce myself. My name is Drekavac. And I am here to haunt your minds forever."

People began to murmur but were silenced when the lights grew brighter. Drekavac laughed, "I have control over your building, if you do not as I say or try to leave this room, then I will have no choice but to blow up my dinner."

Kumi and Robin weaved through the crowd quickly, drawing no attention towards them. A tall, slender blond woman appeared and nodded slightly towards the men's bathroom. As they neared her, Robin paused slightly. A few feet away was a familiar red-head standing next to her father. He could see that Barbara wanted to sneak away but she couldn't take her chance. Her green eyes flickered to the side. Robin followed her gaze and his mind went black. Clark Kent stood nearby with Louis Lane.

"Hey."

The small whisper jolted Robin from his shook. Shaking his head, he followed Kumi into the men's bathroom. Two problems right there, but as long as their attention was directed at Durin, all was fine. The explosion was just a lie, yet the fear of such a thing made people freeze in their steps and superheroes ponder if they should chance leaving in order to change into their costumes. Or they could chance it and change in the ballroom, but with the lights on full exposure, their secret identities would be revealed. When the three apprentices watched their plan unfold, a sense of pride swelled in them. They were truly a dangerous force. One could only imagine how much damage their masters could invoke.

Inside the bathroom, Robin stood off to the side, diagonally from where the blond bodyguard stood. The two eyed each other, measuring their postures. Kumi stood in the middle and watched as a tall, broad shouldered bald man adjusted his tie.

"Quite the distraction you provided. A bit overdramatic for my taste, though."

Kumi smiled, and for the first time, revealing his dark glee, "Well, what would you expect from a hacker. They're a bit anti-social and constantly seek attention."

"Well, I hope for your sake this does not mean more money," Steel blue eyes shifted and locked on Kumi.

"No it will not, Mr. Luthor. These men owe me a favor."

"Good."

"We don't have much time, sir."

Lex Luthor turned and faced Kumi. His eyes narrowed slightly. "There is a document I want that is making its way to Jump City."

"Jump City?"

"Yes, with only Robin running the city, it will be easy for you to con and hack your way into the system. The document is sealed in a blue pouch with a serpent seal on it. All I ask is that you retrieve it. The document is in a tiny safe, about to be transported down to Jump in a black, Well-Fargo's bank truck. If you even dare to read the document, I shall have to kill you."

Kumi closed his eyes and bowed slightly, "No need to explain, Mr. Luthor. Where would you like the document to be sent?"

"Luthor industries amongst the junk mail."

A nod.

Luthor raised his eyebrow and nodded slightly, "Then our meeting is done." Turning around, the criminal worked on straightening out his jacket.

Kumi turned towards Robin and motioned for them to leave. Robin trailed behind Kumi. Hearing the door slide closed behind them, Robin heard Kumi sigh. Durin was still on the wall, babbling on about some elaborate stories of what other hack jobs he did. Clearly, the youngester wanted to make his first appearance memorable.

Making their way to the bar, Robin spotted Jess sipping on water. She glanced at his way. In some strange way, Jess was an attractive woman and Robin allowed himself to think for a moment of her as more than just a pawn. Robin was free now as Seir and he could have relationships with anyone he wanted. Right?

"Besides, being away from a woman for so long..."

He smirked for her once more, intenstly watching the tiny blush dance on her cheeks. Little did he notice another figure approaching them with a determined step. Kumi saw the man and froze confusion on his face. The young conman watched in a daze as time slowed, revealing the man pulling out a gun and shooting him point-blank range in the chest.

Robin knew he would hear the sound of gunshot in his new profession. Yet, he never imagined it would be this early or in a ballroom of all places. He watched as people fell to the ground, screaming. Barbara twirled towards the sound, her bat-training kicking in gear. Clark too jerked his head, fear in his eyes at the thought of an innocent being getting killed. Robin's own body crouched down low, ready to strike at any moment. He was prepared to fight and kill if necessary, though he wasn't prepared to catch his dying friend.

Falling on his knees, cradling Kumi, Robin watched as blood spread from his friend's chest. Raising his left hand, Robin touched the dying heart, feeling the bullet hole. His heart ached to save Kumi. His mind though ceased any actions, for it had already concluded from the many times he had to perform surgery during the war that the wound was fatal and Kumi would be dead in a couple minutes. His numb soul that had purged itself of emotions felt the growing heat of an all too familiar emotion.

Kumi coughed, blood splattering on Robin's white shirt and trickling down his ebony skin. A sparkle akin to amusement shone in his eyes, "I knew that bloody bugger would get back at me." With one more chocked laugh, his head rolled to the left and stared blankly Robin's chest.

The click of the gun's trigger turned Robin's head to the side. Black eyes looked up and studied the assassin. The man's pale skin, green eyes and blond hair brought a familiar image to Robin's mind. The dark tunics also added to which organization the man belonged to, no signs of working for Kumi's old master. Kumi died with the wrong person in mind. But, Robin knew…oh he knew all right.

The assassin sniffed and aimed the gun at Robin's head. "The message: You're getting too slow."

As he pressed down on the trigger, Robin sprung into action, anger burning away the paralysis his body had found itself in. Lying Kumi's body to the ground with reverence, he tackled the assassin. The gun fired off into the air as Robin grabbed his arm and snapped it out of the socket. Raising his right fist to punch the man in the face, Robin felt himself being lifted off of the assassin.

The warm emotion was now a blazing forest fire of rage. "Let me GO!"

Robin struggled wildly but the man's grasp was of steel.

"Calm down, son. Killing this man will not bring back your friend." The calm voice of Clark Kent pierced through Robin's mind.

With a brief flicker, he eyed the superhero. Clark—who somehow changed into his costume—stood behind him, arms wrapped around his waist, light blue eyes studying him with grief written all over them. Frowning, Robin jerked his head to the front, his body shivering in rage, locking his gaze on the assassin. The General had made the first move. And in his act of flirting, of getting distracted, he had lost his friend. The assassin'locked eyes with Robin, opening his jacket to reveal the bomb strapped to his chest.

"The war is not over until one of you is dead."

Robin clawed at Superman's arms, wanting to break free to stop the man, but Superman bolted away, pushing people away from the blast radius. However, the explosion was small, powerful enough only to destroy the body of the assassin and Kumi. After the dust settled, Robin forced his body to become limp and play the role of a shocked victim. Rising any superstition from the Man of Steel would do no good for him in the future. Superman gently carried him outside and sat him down on a bench, covering his shoulders with a blanket.

"Son, I am sorry for your lost. Just do not seek revenge, we will find out who is behind this ok." With a pat, Superman leapt into the air and took off.

Robin watched him go with narrowed eyes. He could imagine the conversation taking place already between Superman and the Justice League, trying to get any leads on who the assassin was and Durin's connection to the whole ordeal. Scowling, he knew it would take months for the team to find out who was behind the attack. At least that was the good news out of all the mayhem. The cranking of wheels signaled arrival of the cart. Robin gazed as the medics hosted the black body bag that housed the remains of Kumi's body into the ambulance.

Glancing down, he started at the pink stains on his shirt and left hand caked in dried blood. Durin was going to be heartbroken; the child had lost the only thing that was close to being his older brother. He heard soft footsteps stop next to him. Lifting his head, Robin found Jess watching him, eyes brimmed with tears, yet none fell. The woman was strong and a tiny flicker of his old self was grateful that she wasn't an emotional wreck. Stretching out her hand, Jess offered him a damp tissue.

"I'm sorry."

Her voice cared sadness. Robin took her tissue and began to wipe his hand clean, "Don't be."

If his voice was harsh, he didn't care. The raging fire still scorched his veins. He needed to stay focus and control his emotions. He couldn't do that while pretending to be someone he wasn't. He had thought foolishly that maybe he could, but it wasn't meant to be and now he was paying for his mistakes. How many times had Slade told him that in this life, he couldn't afford to make mistakes? "Too many," hissed a dark voice.

Jess sighed and turned to leave, her soft voice muttering but Robin's ears picked it up. He watched as she disappeared into the crowd then gazed back at the ground.

"Where are the superheroes when you need them the most?"

What she meant was vague, for Superman was around. Then again, he did 'arrive' late. Robin's mind shook like the ground during an earthquake. Jess had struck a cord and his calm composure started crackling. Instances of where her question applied raced through his mind: hsi parents' deathes, Trigon, the war...Superheroes were never around when hell manifested itself on Earth. And even if they were around, they didn't try to prevent it. They just stood by and waited for an incident to occur, meaning that most of the time the damage was done and nothing they did could restore what was lost. Heck, Superman just stood by and watched Kumi get murder. Justice and order would have allowed Robin to kill the assassin, thus preventing him from triggering the bomb; killing, injuring and scaring even more people.

But no. Superman held him back and allowed the chaos to take place. Feeling a gaze on him, Robin looked up and found the blond bodyguard of Lex Luthor standing across from on the street. Her body posture spoke the unvoiced question. Do we still have deal?

Robin rose on his feet, the blanket falling of his shoulders and pooled at his feet. His stern, emotionless mask fell into place and a familiar void filled him. With a jerk on his head, he turned the opposite direction and walked down the street towards his hotel room. The female bodyguard watched the young man leave and felt a bit better to know that she had good news to report to Lex. The mission was still a go.

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A/N: I hope none of you guys were too attached to Kumi. If so, I'm sorry, but I thought someone had to go. Robin was drifting a bit and he needed to be reminded.