A/N: Thank you all for the kind reviews and comments. Welcome to the new readers and thanks to all who have added this to your faves and alerts. Here is chapter 5. Please enjoy. There are several little things I have to get out of the way before I can settle onto the actual plot, so bear with me for a bit. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Teen Titans anything. I only lay claim to my original characters and plot bunnies.

WARNINGS: Dark Fic, BDSM (others will be added as I see fit)

For this last proposition, Raven didn't dare voice it aloud.

No, she wanted this to be much more than simply a drolling line.

She gently set the young redhead down, smoothing away the tangled hair from the bruised face. The children hadn't been very well treated at all. It made a strange feeling churn in her stomach when she could read the very hate behind the cuts, scrapes and bruises that littered each body. turned on her heel and focused her mental energy. "Alfred." When she called, there was a scarce minute between when she breathed his name and when the man in question appeared. She spoke to him in whispered tones and a simple inclination of the head.

The grey-haired man merely nodded and stepped forward, extending a hand towards the children. "If you would all come with me," he began. "There are things to be done."

"Where?" The boy looked from her to the man and then dared to take a step backwards, his hand twitching towards the young redhead.

"To a bath and bed." Alfred said, matter-of-factly. "And I did not mean to include you, young master." He turned, gesturing with a hand towards the other four. "This way, children."

"Wait-!" The masked boy began only to find that suddenly, he could not speak.

The room emptied in short order and there was nothing left, save for the Lady Raven herself and the battered, masked boy.

"Robin." She said, at last, the name was whispered with a hint of interest. "What a strange name for a strange boy." She gilded forward and reached for his face.

He lashed out, pushing her away and retreating, his arms positioned defensively.

Pale violet eyebrows arched upwards and the very faintest curve of a smile twitched across her face. "I mean no harm, boy." She murmured, circling halfway around him. "Not to you, at least." Her eyes pierced through his form and she turned, gliding to the door where she held it open. "Come."

It was a simple word with no explanation.

An invitation.

The boy stayed stubbornly where he was, but his shoulders drooped, exhaustion making itself known.

The regal head turned back to the room and violet eyes flashed with fire and power. "Come!" The weight of her voice held something beneath it that the boy could not fight. He wanted to, but there was something in those eyes that promised pain, pleasure and power. Something beneath that gaze that seemed to swear that she would not hurt him, if he came.

His head was whirling, jumbled mess and he couldn't handle this strange flip-flopping between emotions and reality. She hadn't offered him any of the things she had the others, but she hadn't ordered him to do anything either. She'd simply requested he come. He didn't understand. She was well within her rights to force him to do whatever it is she desired, well within her rights to kill him right where he stood for showing such open defiance and daring to touch her back.

But she hadn't even responded to that. She'd simply turned away and walked to the door, now holding it open for him.

Holding it open—for him!

The confusion and despair showed plainly on his young face, unhindered by the mask that he wore. This went against everything he could know of the higher societies and what he'd been told to expect when purchased. None of their captors had mentioned anything like this—a choice of free will. And that's what this was, she hadn't ordered him, she hadn't demanded it of him, it was almost more of a suggestion, perhaps a little touch of impatience.

The look on the lady's face softened by several degrees and she held his gaze until his head bowed. She said nothing more as he fought within himself and then, slowly, began to inch forward.

He stumbled forward the first few steps and then he was walking—against his will—to the door, through the doorway and out into the hallway. He stood, frozen, breathing heavily.

A firm hand dropped on his shoulder, squeezing almost hard enough to hurt, but urging him forward, guiding him down the hallway. "I mean you no harm, boy." Her voice was tempting as she bent to whisper in his ear.

The warm breath ghosted over the appendage, sending an entirely new flood of sensations rippling through his young body.

"Your friends shall be taken care of. I promise you this."

He couldn't answer.

"You need not fear me."

He trembled.

By the time the rest of his senses had caught up to him, Robin found himself standing in a large, clean bathroom, with white tiled floors and ceilings and a bathing area the size of a living room. He stared in a mixture of confusion, awe and uncertainty when the hand on his shoulder finally released him.

"There are towels on the racks, cloths on the shelves and soaps and things in the taps." She nudged him forward and paused beside a bathtub, beginning to turn the taps, where one added water and others gave thick, colored liquids. Colorful foam began to rise in the tub and she turned to the petrified figure. "Rinse first." She gestured towards the shower in the corner. "And then bathe. You have an hour. I shall call you when it is over."

She left.

Robin didn't know what to do.

He stood there, in the center of the bathroom, for quite a long time. He didn't know how long, for there were no time devices to help him in his musings. The bathtub filled itself and the taps shut off automatically. The humid warmth of the bathroom was somewhat welcome and soothing, as herbal scents filled the air and steam began to rise.

He was trying and failing to fix the mental puzzle currently lodged in his brain.

A wave of tiredness swept over him and a bout of dizziness followed almost at once. Robin reached for the edge of the sink and gripped it with shaky fingers. It took a moment to catch his breath and then to try and find his resolve. That proved trickier when he heard the bathroom door open behind him.

"Young master?"

Relief made his knees weak as he realized it was the elderly butler and not the strange woman.

"Do you need assistance?"

Robin couldn't have answered if he tried.

Alfred seemed to take that as an answer and he moved forward, with slow careful movements, keeping up a constant murmuring of chatter as he began to usher the boy towards the shower and out of the ragged clothes.

It was some time later before Robin found himself standing on the threshold of a small, simply furnished bedroom with the bare basics of a bed, dresser, desk, empty bookshelf and nightstand.

"This will be your room, young master." Alfred held the door open for him. "Her ladyship will be here in a minute."

The door closed behind him.

Robin heard the lock click.

He turned too late to realize that the lock was on the outside of the door.

"Malchior?" Kit looked the bandaged fellow up and down. "Do you really need all of that?" He gestured to the bandages. The other boy shrugged. "Suit yourself." The kid grinned at him. "I'm glad to have help, gets to be quite a bit of stuff to do around here. I mean, I'm helping Alfred, but Alfred pretty much has to be everywhere at the same time." He shrugged. "I'm just glad you don't have any weirdness to work out before you can get into the thick of things. Everything heats up around the manor in the next few weeks. I sure wasn't looking forward to doing all the work meself." His smile softened into a friendly grin. "So what are you good at? Anything in particular?"

The odd, one-sided conversation continued as the two boys exited the manor and found themselves in the back courtyard. Whatever answers he was looking for, they were apparent on the bandaged face of young Malchior. Kit didn't seem to mind that his new helper didn't really speak and he happily chattered away to fill the silence with nonsense and other tidbits of information about the manor.

As they made their way around the back to the working quarters where the workshop and other outdoor appliances were kept, Kit's chattering eased up a few seconds. He listened, carefully and then frowned. "Great, just ignore her for a bit, okay?" He squared his shoulders and kept his head down, continuing in his path with silence.

Two seconds later, a haughty Jinx sailed past them on her way indoors, with a disdainful sniff in their direction.

Kit stiffened at once, sending a glower after her until she was out of sight. "Stay out of her way whenever you can." He advised the other boy, approaching the garden shed. "She's just as devious as her name suggests, a bad jinx. A downright vixen." There was a hint of venom in his tone. "Mark my words on that. You won't be able to avoid her completely, she'll figure that into you soon enough, just always try to busy with something and most of the time she'll let you alone. She tends to be a bit of a favorite though, thinks she can charm her way out of anywhere with a wink and a smile." He shuddered. "Meh, never mind that. You good with a rake, shovel, shears or anything?"

The bandaged boy shrugged.

Kit grinned, the earlier mood forgotten. "Then that means you can push the wheelbarrow! I sometimes trip over it, 'cause I don't remember that things are there." He turned the combination lock on the garden shed door. "Only me n' Alfred have the code for this right now. You're new so I can't tell you, but I'm sure he'll let you know in time. We've just a bit of trimming and raking to be done for today, it's getting too late to do much more, but you'll find that it takes its own time to get ready." Kit popped the doors open, and hung the lock on the handles. "Stay here a sec."

The bandaged boy merely blinked.

Kit blurred away in a haze of blond and red.

A half-minute later, he stood back in the entrance, pushing a giant wheelbarrow filled with gardening gloves, pruning shears, a hedge trimmer, a rake, folded burlap sacks and giant shears. "If you can't tell by now, speed's sort of my thing." He shrugged. "Which means I'll cover the majority of the estate work in regards to the down and back." He gestured over his shoulder towards the expansive grounds. "But you'll have to help with just about everything else, Alfred explained, right?"

And so they went to work.

Jinx scowled as Alfred stood before her, explaining what was needed and when. "Why can't those healers do it?" She huffed. "I'm not a babysitter." She wrinkled her nose as the bubbly redhead sitting awkwardly at her feet. "And I don't know anything about kids!"

The man fixed her with a meaningful glare. "The healers will be here, momentarily. You know very well that her ladyship must summon them directly. I expect you to take care of the young princess. I shall tend to the young men." His eyes narrowed. "And behave, young lady." He turned on his heel and tipped his head to the side, motioning for Cyborg and the changeling to follow him.

The pink-haired witch scowled at his retreating figure. "You think that you're-!" She sputtered.

Something kicked her foot.

Jinx looked down. The redheaded princess beamed angelically up at her. The witch stifled a moan. "Worst day ever!" She growled, reaching down and grabbing the child by the arm. "Come along little princess." She said, sarcastically. "It's bedtime!"

Raven met Alfred in the hallway between her personal rooms and the next floor. "Alfred." She greeted, automatically. "How was it?"

The older man eyed her warily and then straightened. "The Malchior one was in good enough shape to help Kit on the grounds. I sent them out. They should be getting back around now. He is bright enough and quick on his feet. Has not said a word yet." He frowned. "The Cyborg and the changeling are exhausted beyond comprehension, perhaps there is…?"

"I shall consider it." She allowed.

"Ah, well, I had young Jinx tend to the princess, as the healers had not arrived yet and-"

"I shall summon them in the morning. I assumed that Jinx could fill in where you could not." The curtain of violet hair spilled over her shoulders as Raven turned towards a faint sound. "Did she complain?"

"No."

"Really, Alfred, you are slipping."

The man did not answer.

Raven smiled. "I will see to it…also in the morning." She reached into one pocket and drew out a thin strip of black silk. "Take this to the usual place and be sure that the monthly order is fulfilled ahead of schedule. I have need of the…ingredients, sooner than I thought."

"Tonight?"

"If you would."

"I shall see to it."

"Thank you, Alfred." She said, dismissively.

"Goodnight, Ladyship."

A/N: Sorry for the late chapter, I've been reworking some of the plot points and deciding just how dark I want this to be. We'll see. I hope to have the next chapter up sooner. Let me know what you think!