Disclaimer: puts on speaks My fellow Fanfiction writers and readers, I do not own any of the Teen Titan characters or Batman for that matter. They all belong to DC, Bob Kane and the cartoon show. I am not making any profit; it is just for pure, good ol' fashion fun and to save my sanity from an overactive imagination.

A/N: I soooo should be writing my essays. But, I have got no creative juices flowing in that direction cause their all flowing into this story. So by typing all these chapters down, hopefully I can go back to writing my essays. I can't believe school is almost done and I'll be flying back home. Yes! Oh and be warned there is going to be a little torture here, but I kept it minimum so I don't have to change the rating.

Ch. 26 The Mind is an unknown country

Sitting on the edge of the cot, arms resting on his legs, Robin didn't expect them to come so quickly for him. In the echoing of the hallway, he heard a door open and close followed by another, in which the rolling of a cart was being pushed into a room before that door closed as well. It was only then he heard the quiet footsteps of a person approaching his cell. Sitting on his cot, Robin mentally sighed with relief when Beastboy stepped up to his cell. The Changeling took notice of the broken plate and narrowed his eyes at Robin.

"Starfire dropped the plate. I kinda spooked her."

"You spooked us all."

A warning blared in Robin's mind. He never had heard Beastboy use that cold, emotionless tone with him before. It was rare for the youngest member of the Titans to display such negative emotions, but here he was doing it to Robin. Anger bubbled deep inside him. Robin remembered what he had heard from Brain and that jealousy was still present. But seeing how much Beastboy had changed; he gave the other boy some credit. While Starfire stayed relatively the same, it seemed Beastboy was the one with the most changes. Interesting.

Punching in the code, but keeping an eye on Robin, Beastboy retrieved the key and began to unlock the door. Robin rose to his feet only to feel a swish of air and grunted in pain. All air rushed out his lungs as a transformed tiger Beastboy pinned him to the cot, sharp teeth just a hairs breathe away from his face.

"Beast…Beastboy…"groaned Robin, but the green-skinned boy applied more pressure to his chest, straining the ribs. Claws extended and lightly scraped across his lower neck. Beastboy could smell the small trace of caution and felt a dark, animalistic glee twinge deep inside him.

Morphing back into his normal self, Beastboy was still face to face with Robin. Knowing that he had Robin's undivided attention, Beastboy growled, "I don't know what you said to Starfire but I swear if you're playing her heart and break it in the end, I will tear you limb from limb."

For the first time and only time in his life as Slade's apprentice, Robin felt sympathetic towards Terra in having to face the wrath of Beastboy. While with the others he wouldn't be scared of, seeing the cheerful, joking Beastboy turn into this threatening creature was a bit unnerving. Licking his lips, Robin nodded fervently, "I understand you, Beastboy."

Beastboy narrowed his eyes into slits and snarled, "You better." Hoping off of Robin, he stood in the center of the cell and watched Robin get up and straighten his top. "Sorry man, but I just wanted to make that clear."

A weak laugh escaped Robin's lips, "Oh, you made it clear alright."

"No hard feelings then?"

Flashing a smile, Robin eased the younger boy. "Beastboy, if I was in your position, I would have done the same thing."

Beastboy grinned, the dark aura all but gone replaced by his usually cheerful self. "Well, let's get going. We got a movie for you."

"I hope it ain't Attack of the Swamp Monster 2," joked Robin. Beastboy eyed the boy, "Ha. Ha. Ha, very funny, dude."

Motioning towards the door, Robin followed behind Beastboy. Opening the door, Beastboy stepped to the side and let Robin enter. Sitting himself on the chair, Robin faced a medium sized TV that was situated on a chart with a VHC below. Robin's eyes flickered to the camera and noticed that from that angle Slade would not be able to see what was on the screen but if he somehow taped into the other cameras that were hidden behind the corners, then he would be able to see. But from what Slade told him, the bug did not hold that ability to hack into the Titan system.

Cyborg who had stood to the side moved and inserted a tape. Picking up the remote, he hit play. The black TV screen fizzled to life and on it appeared the image of a worn-out figure that was leaning on a sickle, eyes covered by a blindfold standing amidst mass destruction.

Robin felt blood begin to drain from his face and his eyes widen slightly. Did he really look like that after the battle? He looked pretty dang good considering he just walked through Hell. In his mind, he pictured himself bleeding more, a skeletal appearance, something from a horror movie. But from what he saw, it was the total opposite; sure a little bit tired looking and weary but still good. Knowing that the others wouldn't want such a pleased reaction from him, Robin quickly let his eyes sweep to the side.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, he noticed that Raven was not in the room, but she would be nearby. The Titans were showing this video to get some response out of him. Clenching his mouth shut, Robin bolted his emotions shut inside a tiny box. Closing his eyes, Robin sighed deeply and closed his eyes. Memories were resurfacing and in the background he could hear the roaring of a helicopter. He should have told Slade or shot down the copter himself. One fatal mistake and they knew he was involved in the war.

In the secret room, Batman watched as Robin's face paled. "Anything, Raven?"

The Goth was floating in the air, her legs crossed-legged, and eyes closed in a mediating pose. "I'm sensing ripples of resistance, like he's trying to repress something. Faint emotions of rage, irritation and sorrow."

Masked eyes flickered back to the boys, "Keep me posted."

Cyborg stepped forward and laid the remote on the table, "We know you were at the Verna base, we know that you were going by Captain Dimitry and after this picked up the name Reaper. Robin…"

The boy's voice came out in a broken whisper, "Don't…"

"What happened Robin?"

Pale blue eyes opened up slowly and stared down at the table, "It was the last big battle. It was there that I found out the General was working for the League of the Shadows. I tried to fight him but he escaped. He's the one who led the League and the enemy to our base. There was mass chaos…" Robin paused and took a deep breath; "I quickly gathered some men and led them to a field where we could stand a chance in a counter attack. We won. There was a stalemate…but then some enemy dropped a bomb…and that is the result." Tilting his head to the screen, Robin felt a small tear fall down his cheeks. His eyes were aching, relieving the phantom sensation of burning when the bright light hit them. The Titans had become ruthless in trying to make him drudge up all those memories and open old wounds. This was not becoming a fair game.

He never heard the door slide open or close. Only when Batman tossed a worn-out journal in front of him did he realize the man. But that fact just flew out the window. Lowering his hands on his knees to clench at them, Robin flickered his gaze upwards and watched Batman stand next to him.

"Don't lie, Robin."

Raven's eyes snapped open and she hit the comm. unit, "Batman, I'm feeling major surprise and an undercurrent of fear. Whatever that journal contains, it holds something Robin doesn't want anybody to find out on."

Batman nodded and locked his gaze on Robin, his ears picking up a shaky voice, "Where did-you…get this?"

"I visited the hotel where the boy—Kumi—whom you went with to the ball with in Gotham was staying at. A small boy by the name of Durin came in and I questioned him, going through his luggage. I found the journal and right away recognized your handwriting." Placing his hands on the desk, Batman leaned downwards searching for anything. This was his major trump card and knew that the boy had to react somehow, "I want you to stop lying to us, Robin. That whole story you just told was false. I want to know why you are lying."

Cyborg and Beastboy looked wide-eyed at Robin, whose eyes seemed to collapse.

Slade and Lex, despite being in different parts of the city, stared at their screens. Lex had an expression that was akin to dumbstruck, surprised and fear of this turn of events. Slade's single eye was burning with Hell's fire. But, what he didn't understand was why Batman was saying that Robin was lying? Robin had been telling the truth-

The fire flickered into understanding and awe.

Oh.

Words could not express the swelling of pure joy that filled him. Swallowing and licking his lips, Slade leaned forward, his anticipation on how this would all play out making him forget about the rest of the world.

Raven quickly closed her eyes, seeing an opportunity in invading Robin's mind. She felt a weakness in his barrier at the unexpected appearance of this journal. Running along their bond, she found herself at Robin's wall. Taking a deep breath, she chanted "Azerth Mentrion Zenthos."

The Goth faded through the small openings in the wall and found herself in a barren darkness. A cold wind swept through the region, echoing the sound of gears turning. Shivering, she pulled her robe closer around her. This was not like Robin's mind from before. During the episode with the dust and afterwards, Robin's mind was always filled with emotions, memories and thoughts. It was like having multitudes of windows open on your computer screen when you surfed the Internet.

But now, this emptiness was not…natural.

"You're not supposed to be in here."

Spinning around, Raven came face to face with Robin. He was wearing a black uniform with splotches of blood and mud. A cold smile tugged Robin's lips upward, "Sorry about the dirty appearance, just don't see myself as clean anymore these days."

"Robin."

Stepping up to Raven until they were nose to nose, Robin locked his emotionless eyes on her violet ones. "Raven, Raven. You shouldn't have come here."

"Why not?" Raven questioned, her eyes burning in determination. "What is it you want to hide? Why such strong mental shields?"

Robin chuckled, "Such courage is a waste." Raising a hand, he caressed her cheek.

Surprise shot down Raven's body. Robin was never this physical and it just seemed scary. It was like hearing Batman laughing. Tender caresses don't match with Robin. "Robin…"

"You know to much."

"I don't know anything!"

"Exactly."

In that one word, Raven felt her mind click. She now knew why this place seemed so inhuman, why everything screamed wrongness. Staggering backwards, Raven bolted the way she came, back to the wall, but Robin grabbed her wrist and yanked the girl towards him. As she flew backwards, Raven screamed in pain as Robin slammed a kick in her lower back. Being in his mind, the kick had more strength than in reality and she felt her spiritual body's spine crack. Falling backwards now, Raven tried to gather dark power to attack Robin but he slammed his fist into her mouth. Letting go of the girl, Robin watched her fall to the ground, blood gushing from her mouth. Grabbing her hair, Robin dragged the witch to the wall.

"Don't feel sorry for yourself, Raven." Prompting her up on the wall, Robin imagined shackles holding her in place. Shaking her head, Raven tugged at her restraints. "Azerath-"

Before she could continue, Robin had slammed a red substance on her mouth. Memories of Red X flashed in her mind. Robin smirked, "Hey, it's my mind and I must say I had quite the genius streak in creating Red X and his weaponry. Now here is the deal, Raven. I need to know some information here and you're going to provide such information."

Raven shook her head and continued to fight against her restraints. But, it was useless. She was in Robin's domain and unlike before, Robin's mental state had strengthened greatly. He wouldn't let her do anything until he willed it to happen.

"I figured you wouldn't talk," with a wave of his hand a small table with simple tools appeared. "But, from what I remember of our little bond, it works two ways. You feel what I feel, and I feel what you feel. So, all I have to do is make you open that bond willingly."

A dark glare was sent his way. Raven would have expected Robin to smirk, but instead a dead look fell on his face, "I know that I've been the one closing off my end, but what I seek is deep in your mind, a place that you never opened up to me." Grabbing something that looked like an old scapula, Robin walked over to Raven, "But I'm going to open up to you Raven. I think it's about time someone felt all the pain I felt and you always wanted me to open up instead of bottling it up."

Fear danced in Raven's eyes and Robin frowned, "Sorry, Rae, but don't worry. I did countless surgeries out in the field. I've become quite the expert on the human body. Never wanted too, but you would understand wouldn't you, Raven, about how cold fate can be…being Trigon's daughter and all."

Raven closed her eyes and continued to struggle. She concentrated and sent a massive black magic blast straight at Robin. The blast hit Robin full on and he skidded into the barren wasteland. Glaring at the chains, she left herself fade through them and fell back on the ground. Placing a hand on her lower back gently, Raven turned around and reached out to touch the wall to return back to her body. But a cord shot out and wrapped itself around her body. Air rushed out of her lungs as she was pulled back. Calling on more magic, she cut the rope. But Robin was already next to her, slamming a kick into her chest. Skidding on the ground, she barely had time to raise a shield as a powerful punch flew at her face. The shield began to crack and Raven rolled away just in time as the fist made it past the shield and slammed into the ground, creating a dent.

Scuffling to her feet, Raven leapt into the air to fly towards the wall, but Robin grabbed her cape and pulled her hard into the ground. Chocking from the cloak's collar, Raven tried to pull herself free. Yet, Robin straddled her body. Fighting off Raven's clawing hands, he quietly tied the remaining cord around her wrists and punched her one more time in the face before flipping her over and tying the rope to her feet. With bound hands and feet and the red-substance covering her mouth, Raven still struggled despite the pain that racked her body and face. Violet eyes locked themselves on Robin, who just stared down at her.

"You should feel grateful, Raven, that you are not my first." Crouching down, he summoned the knife once more into his hand, "I'll show you how a true interrogation works."

Raven's eyes widen as the knife inched closer to her face. Her mind was screaming but she quickly tried to regain some composure while she began to mutter her chant. Yet the moment the icy blade ran softly, not cutting skin, up her cheek, her mind exploded with images of the dying and all her willpower was swept away in the red river of blood.

-Reality-

With his fingers having a death grip on his knees under the table, Robin pulled his mind away from Raven; she wouldn't be a problem for right now. The woman had put up a fight, but he had won in the end. She should have known better than to try and beat him in his own mind. Despite feeling a bit exhausted and a growing headache from the blast she had hit him with, Robin knew that his most dangerous opponent in the Titans was out for the count. Which meant, that he had free reign to do what he needed to accomplish his mission and not worry about someone picking up on his emotions. Besides, he had to keep most of his focus on the present anyways. Showing no strain he pulled himself back into the interrogation room and back to the task at hand.

Propping his hands on the table, Robin turned open the journal and stared down at a rundown picture of the Titans. The picture had the four main Titans posing in front of simple bank robbery taken months after their battle with the Brotherhood. But the picture maintained a faded look with a worn circle over it.

Batman attacked, "In that journal, you wrote how during the battle of Verna, the General had turned you in to Slade. It was through the fight with Slade that sparked the massive battle and that he had given up on you and decided to break you completely. He beat you up and forced you to watch the battle and explosion from a rocky perch. This was how you burned you eyes. Afterwards, he dragged you through the rubble and left you in the center to think of your actions. It was then, that you propped yourself on the staff and read a Bible excerpt containing the verse that states the numbers of the Devil, the same numbers tattooed on your arm. You wrote on how you felt that that verse was now true but you still wanted to get the tattoo removed. After the copter left, Slade threatened to kill the survivors if you did not follow him."

Standing up, Batman walked in front of the TV and ejected the video, sliding the video to rest next to the journal. "Should I go on and summarize the other entries you wrote in there concerning how you never escaped and he was the one that dragged you through the war, forcing you to steal."

Beastboy swallowed and Cyborg stepped forward and placed a hand on Robin's now shaking form, "Is this all true? You've been lying to us this whole time?"

"I…I wanted to protect you guys," whispered Robin, his body shaking slightly. One might think that the shaking was attributed to the guilt of being caught lying. But the true reason for the shaking was that Raven was being a little difficult in letting him search her mind. She had unexpectantly lashed out once more with her powers and hit him hard between his legs causing pain to role through his body.

"Why? Did Slade threaten you?" snapped Beastboy.

"He said if I ever told the truth to you guys, he would…kill…all of you." Looking up, Robin fixed his watery gaze due to the man on all three men, "What was I suppose to do! During that entire journey, I tried telling myself that what I was forced to do was the right thing. I kept telling myself that until I believed it."

"Robin?" Cyborg's concerned voice made the raven-hair boy eye the older man with a small sad smile, a tear sliding down his cheek. He had successful broken Raven and her mind opened up before him but the pain was getting to him manifesting itself into tears. He would have to be quick.

"I'm sorry."

"Dude, no need to apologize, it's glad you feel remorse over what you committed during the war. Right?" Beastboy's gaze flickered to Batman.

The Dark Knight nodded, "He wrote in there that he was sick of what he was forced to do."

Cyborg patted Robin's shoulder, "See it's a good thing that you feel guilty, now if you didn't…well that would be problem."

"But, see that's the problem," conviction began to strengthen Robin's voice, "I do feel guilty…in…killing people and stealing from the wounded…" He paused and let the news sink into Beastboy and Cyborg's shocked minds, "But the thing is I know that I was doing it for the right cause. Our enemy was going to be bad for the people in the country and so if what I did under Slade could prevent and protect the people…"

"Whoa, back the train up!" yelled Beastboy, all sympathy escaping his face, "You telling me that ya' think it was ok to fight for a bunch of strangers, to kill for them and steal for them all to end a war that wasn't yours in a cause that you were forced to think was right?"

Anger lit Robin's eyes, "Of course! If I was able to prevent more people from dying, to stop the civil war from spilling out of control-"

"You're lying again, Robin," declared Batman, "In the journal, you wrote that what you were doing was wrong, no matter what was happening. You were willing to leave the war at the first sign of escape."

A pause and Robin snapped back quickly, "You think I should have?"

"Hell yeah," screamed Beastboy, throwing his hands in the air, "I mean come on, dude, they were a bunch of strangers. STRANGERS! You don't get mixed up in other people's wars. That's just insane!"

Robin lowered his eyes, "Then what do you think you're doing?"

Beastboy's jaw dropped and his hands fell to his sides. Quickly gathering his wits, Beastboy scratched the back of his head, "Um…yeah…but this is different."

"How? How is it different? Because they're some remote country? Because they're just normal humans living a normal life?"

"Hahaha, yeah, that's it!"

"Beastboy." Batman's loud tone snapped the Changeling out of his embarrassment. Batman stared down at Robin, "Enough, Robin. Like I said, I want you to stop lying and tell us the truth."

"Truth?"

Cyborg sighed, "Yeah, look we got the journal right here, we'll be able to know if you're lying."

"Fine, I will speak the truth."

The men nodded. Robin closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He had just pushed Raven out of his head and left her to slowly float back into her body. Cyborg raised an eyebrow, "Headache?"

"Yeah, just relieving too much right now." Robin's voice was rough, but in his mind he snarled "And fought two mind battles at the same."

Cyborg offered his hand, "Then I think we shall call it a day then." Robin eyed the hand and took it.

The cybernetic human led Robin out of the room. Beastboy trudged after them, "I'll check on Raven. And dude," He pointed at Batman, "you are so going to explain how the heck you came by that?"

With that Beastboy left. Batman felt his shoulders sag and grabbed the journal. He had analyzed it quickly back in the cave and it was authentic. The blood and mud was real and the pages held an age to them. Walking into the hall, he heard the door open and Beastboy running out in the hall, fear dancing on his face.

"Call a doctor! Raven's unconscious and she isn't breathing!"

-In his cell-

Cyborg locked Robin back in, "Hey man, I'm with you ok."

"Thanks Cy."

"No problem man, after that story and how Slade forced you to believe his lies. You were working on the wrong side, ok. We'll help you sort through this and make you whole again. Guess BB was right in the brainwashing thing, huh?"

"Yep."

"Night," with that Cyborg waved goodbye and left the room.

Robin walked to his cot and crashed on it, eyes sliding closed. He had finally gotten the info he needed from Raven. Despite the pain and exhaustion, he felt a deep satisfaction. Raven was out of the way. He had Starfire and Cyborg on his side, Beastboy following shortly leaving Batman all alone.

And the journal, the journal he had fabricated during his vacation in London had Batman and the others thinking that the truth was false and the lies in the journal was the truth. He always brought the false journal with him everywhere he went. But then Slade had to come and give him the real one. Placing the real one on the bottom of the dufflebag, he left the false one on the top to catch the attention of anyone who was snooping his bag and stop him or her from going any further. And it seemed it worked, which was a miracle in itself.

Letting his mind rest, Robin surveyed the false blood of Raven that stained the walls and floor of his mind. She was a necessary victim, someone to provide him information to let him get out of here and keep his freedom. Picking up the knife that had become twisted halfway through the interrogation due to Raven's lash out but not entirely useless, he wiped it clean of the dark blood. Finishing up washing away the blood with sand and water, Robin yawned and could here the distant ruckus as the Titans discovered Raven's fallen form. She wouldn't be waking up any time soon. He had made sure of that in his little torture session. Snuggling deeper into the cot, he let himself drift away from that dark part of his mind but frowned when he heard the heavy footsteps of mad Bat coming his way.

He would so ask for a raise after this assignment.

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A/N: Robin has become evil. That's it people, I don't think there ain't gonna be no redemption for our little bird boy. And what would you know; I was able to put in a little action scene. Sorry if you guys were expecting more scenes concerning the interrogation/torture scene with Robin and Raven, but I kinda like Hitchcock's philosophy where I will just let you guys imagine what happened. Well the other chapter is all locked and loaded but you'll have to wait. Finals are coming up in like a week or two, so be warned if I don't update.