A/N: I am spoiling you guys, another chapter in the same week. What's up with that! Lol. Anyway, I typed this chapter right after watching LOST's episode "One of Us". Awesome, awesome, awesome! The mind games that are happening are crazy but thrilling at the same time. And what would you know; mind games are happening here as well XD I've been trying to think of a way to put in some action, you know balance out things, but we'll see.

Ch. 25 The Beautiful thing called the Heart

-Basement-

Starfire made her way downstairs, staring at the sandwich. She still couldn't believe that Robin would say such a thing. Not fit to be a superhero! What nonsense. She wanted to believe, while her comrades talked behind her, that maybe Batman had said something and forced Robin to blurt out those words, not thinking about what he was saying. Robin was always like that, not thinking before speaking. But a part of her knew, that this new…no…different Robin was careful in his words. Her friends were right to be wary what he spoke and how he acted.

The image of first seeing him handcuffed to the chair flashed in her mind. The first thing she noted was how dangerous this man was and seeing that he wore Slade's outfit, she shot that danger feeling into the red zone. The young man had a cold intelligence and when she felt his gaze zeroing on her with such critical intensity, she felt an all to familiar shudder run down her spine. The only other time she felt such a feeling was when Slade looked down from them on the screen before focusing his attention solely on Robin.

"No, stop. Do not compare Robin with Slade. Robin would die before joining Slade. He did…almost take his sight." Star's whisper choked and she could feel tears rising up in her eyes. Shaking her head, the young woman raised her arm and wiped the tears away. "He's lost, Star. You must be strong for him."

Her purple boots clicking on the floor level, Star stood straight and stared forward. Walking quietly, she made her way to the cell that housed Robin. Staring through the metal bars, she took in Robin's back and how the thin sheet covered his shoulders, allowing her only to see the strands of black hair underneath. Reaching out, she punched in the numbers on a pad next to the cell, opening a secret compartment. Reaching inside she pulled out the small key. Turning to face the lock, Starfire shrieked and jumped backwards the plate shattering on the floor.

Robin stood in front of her, his left arm draped through the bars, the bandaged hand dangling in front of him while his forehead rested on the bars. His eyes were half-lidded and he stared tiredly at the shaking woman. "Star?"

Starfire swallowed and nodded sheepishly, "Yes Robin, it is I. We are in Titans Tower, remember." She eyed Robin with concern as his face narrowed in concentration.

Robin leaned back, his eyes clearing up as he pulled his arm past the bars. "Sorry, Star. I just forgot there for a sec. I didn't mean to scare you." He gazed down at the broken plate. Squatting down, he smiled softly, "Grilled cheese, my favorite. Haven't had it in forever." Stretching his hand out, he grabbed a slice and shook off the broken pieces and brought the food back in the cell. Taking a small bite, he glanced up at the redhead, "It's good."

The woman felt her mouth open slightly, surprise dancing on her face. Seeing their leader squatting behind bars, eating food that was recovered off of the floor snapped something in her mind to focus. The image screamed wrongness. The Robin she knew would not be used to eating scraps, he would not be comfortable with being behind bars. He would not be at terms to be in such a submissive position. As if in a daze, she stepped forward and unlocked the door, her shoes breaking more shreds of the plate and smashing the food.

Robin glanced down at the food before raising an eyebrow at Starfire, "You know…"He rose slowly as the door slide open, "That sandwich was still good. I mean there's the whole ten-second rule. Umph." His arms jerked up as Starfire hugged him once more, burying her face into his chest.

"You do not deserve to be in this prison. It is wrong that you went from one prison to another"

"I don't mind, Star."

Star pushed herself away from Robin's chest and glared at him, her green eyes giving off a soft glow, "See that is the problem, Robin, you don't care! Has Slade truly broken you so far? Do you truly believe that you are no longer a hero?"

"What you want me to say, Starfire? That Slade did break me? Why can't you accept the truth that maybe Slade was only part of a bigger plan, which finally made me snap." Lowering his arms, Robin took another bit of the sandwich. Inside, he mentally frowned, his gaze taking in the remains on the floor. He was looking forward to an actual lunch. He hadn't had time to eat since the meeting with Lex and he was starving. Starfire just had to go and step on the sandwich, oblivious to her actions. It seemed nothing had changed like he had hoped.

"I cannot and will not accept the truth because it is not the truth."

Robin locked his gaze on Starfire, the wheels turning once more in his mind. "It isn't? But is my testimony."

"I do not care! Slade has brainwashed you into believing such notions."

"Star, didn't I teach you better."

Starfire jerked her head back, blinking in shock at Robin's sudden cold tone. Eyes flinching she saw his face harden before her eyes. "What?"

Closing the gap between them, Robin leaned in, "Didn't I teach you to keep an open mind when entering an interrogation?"

"Yes." Star couldn't believe how her voice sounded so feeble compared to Robin's sternness.

The man in front of her continued, "Then why are you and everyone else tackling this interrogation with the presumption that Slade is to blame for everything that happened to me? I'm not getting a fair interrogation or trail here."

"Because he is!"

"Where's your proof?"

"You wore his outfit."

"Only here in Jump City. Haven't any of you listened to me? Most of the time, I was running away from him. I wasn't under his influence and he wasn't forcing me to do anything." Leaning even further, he let his lips hover over Star's own lips, "So tell me Starfire, when have the Titans become biased…when have they started placing blame on a man whose actually innocent this time of a crime he did not commit?"

Robin watched as those emerald eyes fell in upon themselves. Parting from her personal space, he raised the last bit of the sandwich up to his mouth. But before he could take a bite, a tanned hand slammed against his cheek, the force sending the food flying from his hand and into the toilet. Robin kept his face neutral but inside he felt himself start to seethe as he watched the bread begin to dissolve. Raising his bandaged palm to his mouth, he wiped the corner and flickered his eyes to take in the pink stain.

Starfire was trembling before him, her eyes blazing in rage. "How dare you accuse us? Slade is a bad man, Robin. He is guilty of many crimes. Yes, we have assumptions and we might, especially Batman, be trying to get certain answers from you, but never me Robin. I trust you. I believe that you have not switch sides. Tell me that I am wrong?"

Robin raised his right hand and cupper her cheek, wiping away a few of her tears, calming the alien. "You already know the answer."

"Yes or no, Robin, please."

Licking his lips slightly, Robin leaned towards her ear and whispered in his most honest tone, making Starfire shiver. "No."

Star felt herself blush but closed her eyes in content, "Thank heavens. Oh, Robin I am so happy, now." She felt something warm flutter in her stomach and she knew that she did not want Robin to back away.

The boy in question continued to whisper, "Star?"

"Hm."

"There's something I realized while I was away."

Hope snapped her eyes open. Backing away enough to gaze upon Robin's face, her face beamed with that ever-cheerful smile. "Oh, me too, Robin! You feel something as well?"

"Yes."

"I am so glad!" Hugging him once more, Star laughed, "I shall stand up for you Robin, that way you can get out here faster and become our leader once more. Robot Robin did a wonderful job filling in, but you joining us once more will make us whole again!"

Robin's face hardened and that soft voice was replaced by steel, "Robot Robin?"

The alien princess raised her hands up to her mouth, shock dancing in her eyes. "I-I"

Robin shifted and brought his arm to grab Starfire. He allowed angry surprise to appear in his eyes, "What are you talking about Starfire?"

Glancing around, Starfire squeezed her eyes shut, "Forgive me Robin! I did not wish to tell you so early, none of us did…but…but…Oh Friend Robin, I am so sorry, but I cannot tell you right now!" With that, she pulled herself free and bolted from the cell. Slamming the door shut, she locked the cell and placed the key back in the compartment before sprinting out of the hallway.

Left by himself once again, Robin sighed and trudged over to the toilet. A true look of sadness danced in his eyes as he flushed the toilet. Turning around, he kneeled down on the cement floor and reached out to pick out the very little remains of the sandwich that seemed valuable.

"If Slade or Durin saw this, I would never hear the end of it. Oh, look the great Seir resorted to picking food off the floor in Titans Tower. I got better treatment back in the military camps," muttered Robin's inner voice. "Great job though with Star. She's a bubbling romantic mess now, thinking that I love her. Please, the only thing I feel towards her is annoyance and that is something I did realize when I was gone." Glancing up quickly to the ceiling, he smiled softly

"This little con with Star is for you Kumi. And now that she told me about the robot, I can finally exploit that little bit of information and get the hell out of here." Leaning back, he regarded the five small chunks that were salvable. "And get a big, nice juicy steak…yeah, steak with a baked potato and a root beer. Now, that's a good dinner. Maybe I can manipulate Wintergreen into making it. Nah, that old fella is too good. Maybe bribe him…yeah…that might work." With those thoughts running through his mind, Robin popped in the few pieces of bread into his mouth, the camera watching his every move.

Lex flipped open his cell phone and waited till he heard a click on the other end, "What happened in that cell?"

Slade, on his end, stared at the window that showed Robin kneeling on the ground eating the remains of the sandwich. "Don't worry, I was able to get the video bug to hack into their main camera system. Robin is eating food off of the floor."

The bald-headed criminal smirked, "A poor, innocently accused hero eating off of the floor like a beggar. They will eat that image like candy. But, do you understand what your apprentice is trying to do with Starfire. He told her that he is still on their side."

The purring voice sharpened itself into a blade, "The alien has always had a crush on the boy. It would be expected that he is only exploiting that opening and planting lies to help him gain the necessary information."

"I hope so," scoffed Lex. "For if anything I've learned is that love tends to overcome and convert people back to the light side. Take Darth Vader for example."

"Didn't take you for a Star Wars man."

"No, but the ideas those movies touch on are universal and one can learn a thing or two from them. Palatine is quite the inspiration."

"Whatever. How much longer does this need to continue?"

"Till I discover the ultimate jewel."

"And when will that happened?"

"Depends on how fast your apprentice can get it."

"Well, if it deals with the Batman, it will take awhile and the longer he stays there, the more his chances of getting discovered and put in jail will increase," stated Slade.

Lex couldn't help but keep the mockery in his reply, "Is Deathstroke the Terminator worried about his little Reaper?"

"Don't," hissed Slade. All he heard was laughter before Lex's cold voice returned back to normal, "Of course, Deathstroke. If I were in your shoes, I would do the same for I would not want to bother hearing the endless whining from the boy…which I assume he still does whine occasionally."

Slade kept his mouth shut. Actually, Robin had improved. He rarely whined or complained and when he did it was because he was angry with himself or a situation or just bored. Something Slade caught himself doing time to time when he was alone. Typing a command, another window popped up as he sent commands for the little video bug to tap into the main room of Titan Tower's camera. There he saw the rest of the Titans talk as Batman stood off to the side, making himself a small cup of coffee. Sending a live image to Lex's computer, he waited.

"Got it. Oh, look how wonderful, a little group meeting. Green Arrow and Black Canary are gone, assuming they went back to work or gathering information. Stay on standby for I have a hunch things are going to heat up." With that Slade heard a click signaling their conversation had ended. Focusing his single eye on both screens, Slade propped his elbows and folded his hands before his face. "What will you do, Robin? And the same goes with you too Batman?"

Starfire watched as the door slide open and she stepped out to rejoin the Titans. "Friends, I have glorious news!" Everyone turned to face her at the bubbling Starfire.

Cyborg eyed Star with anticipation, "Well?"

The redheaded beamed, her hands in front of her and floated into the room, "Robin has told me that he has not switched sides."

"And you believe him?" snapped Cyborg, a little harsher than he intended.

"Of course I do! Cyborg, Friend Robin is only confused but he would never lie to me," argued Star.

Beastboy ran up to Star, "Did he say anything else? Acted strange?"

"Why?"

"Because Terra did something similar, she made me believe that she cared for me and turned around and broke it," spat Beastboy.

Star reached out to Beastboy and placed her hand on his shoulder, "But in the end, did not Terra save us from Slade? Did she not care for you then?"

Beastboy's mouth opened then snapped shut. He knew Star was right but part of him still wanted to fight with her not to believe Robin. "You didn't answer my question?"

"Yes, Robin said something's that were questionable, but that is because he is lost."

Batman placed his cup on the counter, stepped forward and fixed Star with a cold gaze, "What did he say?"

Star swallowed but her lips formed a firm line. She would not bow down to Batman, so he could hurt Robin. "He said that we have not been giving him a fair interrogation and I agree with him. This whole time, you have all been trying to find a way to make his words fit your theory that he is working for Slade." Body straightening and eyes lit with an inner flame of righteousness, Starfire faced the other Titans, "Friends, has not Robin taught us better? Has he not taught us to look into a case without bias?"

Cyborg nodded, "But Star, we're dealing with Slade here."

"I understand and I do question Robin's stance to protect the man-"

"You mean his twisted relationship with Slade," remarked Raven.

"Yes," replied Star, her gaze flickering at Raven, "But I believe that he will not turn on us. But there is something else you must know…"

"What?" Cyborg placed his hands on his hips and glared at the young woman.

Star swallowed, "I accidentally mentioned the robot."

The room went quiet and Starfire could feel the tension and harsh glares directed at her. A soft groan escaped Batman's throat. "You are blinded by your love for Robin, Starfire."

Star glared at Batman, her eyes glowing but Batman ignored her. Falling back into command, the Dark Knight pointed at Beastboy, "Never mind the break, go and get Robin ready to enter the interrogation room. Cyborg, you set up the video, we're going to make Robin watch that video now. Raven, you will remain at the post that I assigned you. Starfire, you will go to your room until you sort out your emotions. Move out."

With that everyone made their way to the elevator. After the door slide closed, Starfire let her lips tremble but she did not cry. "Robin, I am sorry. I thought…but…" An idea hit her and her resolution flooded back into her. "I remember you once told me Robin that in the past if you ever needed someone to help back you up or be the mediator between you and Batman, there was only one person. I will get this person and help prove your innocence." With that Starfire flied to Robin's room to contact a hopeful ally.

A/N: Who will Starfire contact? Gasp, you'll just have to wait. And I know I said no romance, but what Robin is doing isn't what I call romance. It's just one-way, cold-hearted manipulation. And that little scene is as far as it's going to go.