A/N Shameless Robin torture in this one...there should be some more angst in the next chapter too!

Disclaimer Robin: How many times are you going to break me, exactly?

Me: Hmmm...I dunno. It depends on how many times I get bored.

Robin: You break me...because you're bored?

Me: Pretty much.

Robin: -sighs in relief- Thank goodness she doens't own Teen Titans!

Me: -death glare- I heard that!

Robin: -runs away-

Everywhere hurt. He felt as if he were on fire, burning up slowly until, eventually, nothing else would remain. One eye was swollen shut, and blood continuously dripped into the other, making it hard to see. Cuts lined his face, and he was certain that, along with his leg and possibly his arm, he had broken quite a few ribs. And the day had only begun. "Don't tell me you've given up," Slade remarked. "We're just getting started." His voice echoed in the bare room, mocking Robin. A hard boot crashed into his side, and the dark-haired teen let out a small moan, panting heavily. There went a few more ribs.

Robin weakly tried to stand, but ended up collapsing after only a few stumbling steps, using the wall as support. Standing up obviously wasn't going to work, especially with his leg most likely broken. Weakly, he tried to at least crawl away, willing to do almost anything to end all of this. Slade followed easily, appearing to almost enjoy this. Robin let out another involuntary sound; this time, it was a raw, animal sound of fear. Slade kicked him again, and Robin fought the urge to scream as another fiery bolt of pain shot through his tortured, aching body. He gritted his teeth, breathing heavily.

"I never would have guessed you'd be so easy to break," Slade mocked. Robin let out a sound similar to a growl, and trying to ignore the pain, managed to make it to at least his knees, though standing was impossible. His fingers reached for his belt, then fell empty to his side, remembering his weapons had been taken long ago. But the spark inside of him hadn't been put out completely. Slade gripped Robin, tilting his head up. "Come on, little bird," he mocked. "Where's your fight?"

Robin would have responded, but pain burned throughout his entire body as Slade shoved him roughly against a wall. Robin moaned again, the sound slipping out accidentally. He gritted his teeth. Not another sound, not another complaint. He would not give in. All thought was stripped from him as the pain finally became too great, and he sank into the welcome oblivion of unconsciousness, escaping the worst of the burning pain for at least a few moments.

Robin awoke with a start, jolting upright in bed, eyes wide, breaths coming fast and heavy. Phantom pains burned across his body, and seeking to escape the lingering nightmare, the young hero stood, moving towards his window and thrusting it open. The night breeze was welcome, ruffling his ebony hair with cool, soothing hands. He closed his eyes, allowing it to wipe away his fears for one blissful moment. Then he carefully stepped onto the ledge outside.

He had to get away, he had to distract himself somehow. With only the thought of escape on his mind, Robin disappeared into the night, seeking relief from the onslaught of memories. Eventually, as he tumbled across rooftops, running through the sleeping city, his heart rate began to slow, his breaths becoming more regular. Somewhat calm now, Robin realized he had reached the fringes of town, far from the tower. Already, the sun was beginning to peek up over the horizon, bands of lighter grey striping the sky. He should probably head back.

He had only taken a few steps back when the familiar sensation of paranoia made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Acting completely on instinct, Robin whirled around, whipping his metal stick out and holding it in a ready position. He faltered when he saw who had caused the feeling. "Slade," Robin murmured. Behind the mask, Slade was sure to be giving a sinister smile. "Who else?" came the cool response. Then he lashed out, and Robin's world went black as he collapsed.

Raven awoke with a start. Something was off…then she realized what it was, and immediately slipped out of her bed, running out of her room. It was still a little while before dawn, but that didn't stop her from waking everyone up. Cyborg was yawning and Beast Boy was mumbling grumpily under his breath; Starfire was the only one who seemed to sense something was wrong. "Where is Robin?" she asked, noticing their absent teammate.

"I don't know," Raven said, the words hanging ominously in the suddenly quiet air. Everyone seemed to wake up immediately as Raven went on. "I've been keeping a mental link open for him," she explained quietly. "Just in case anything happened."

"Okay, so you were being all stalkerish to Robin," Beast Boy said. "What's the problem?"

"He's gone. I can't sense him anywhere."

Starfire clenched her hands into fists. "What happened to him?" she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"I don't know. I think he may have left the tower last night, but he was fine. Then all of the sudden…nothing. It was like he vanished," Raven replied.

"We must search for him!" Starfire cried, hovering a few inches above the ground, nervous energy buzzing in the air around her. Cyborg nodded. "Star, you and I will take the northern half of the city. Raven and Beast Boy, you take the southern part." The team nodded, determination and apprehension clear on every one of their faces.

An hour or two passed, but there was still no sign of Robin. Starfire was close to tears, and everyone was nervous to varying degrees. "Still no sign of him," Beast Boy announced solemnly into the communicator.

"Are you sure?" Cyborg asked.

"Positive," Raven replied, moving closer to the communicator. "There's no sign of him."

"People do not just disappear!" Starfire practically shouted out. "He must be somewhere, so we must go there and look!" Cyborg placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her somewhat.

"We will find him, Star," he promised. Starfire nodded, breathing deeply.

"What do we do now?" Beast Boy asked. Cyborg hesitated and began to answer, but was interrupted by Raven. "I think I've found him!" she announced, eyes closed in concentration as she mentally scanned the city. "He's alive, but I don't think he's safe."

"Where is he?" Starfire yelled into the communicator, ready to fly off. Raven hesitated before answering. "Slade's place," she said heavily.

Robin stirred, head throbbing painfully with every heartbeat. Suffering from a possible concussion, he felt dazed and dizzy as he sat up. Opening his eyes, he had to fight the panic that rose up inside of him. Though it wasn't the same bare room he had often been in during that period of time where he was MIA, it was quite obviously Slade's place. The clockwork-like machinery throughout the room and the heavy shadows were painfully familiar. Thankfully, Slade was nowhere to be seen at the moment. Standing, Robin had to fight a surge of dizziness. Probably a concussion, he thought, running his fingers lightly over the decent-sized bump on his head.

Breathing deeply, the dizziness soon passed, and Robin glanced around. No escape routes were immediately visible, and his empty fingers proved that, once again, his weapons had been taken away. Now he really had to fight the panic rising up inside of him. Luckily, he was good at that, and appeared nothing more than tense and wary. However, he was buzzing inside with the sick, heavy feeling of dread; he wasn't about to let Slade continue where they had left off before.

Maybe the team would find him this time. Maybe he could escape before Slade came back. Robin knew both of these things probably weren't true, but he couldn't help but hold onto that small hope anyway, almost unable to release it. He glanced around again, more carefully this time; still no visible escape routes. And knowing Slade, there most likely wouldn't be any if Robin were to actually look harder either. That didn't stop the Boy Wonder from trying though. As he had expected, he saw nothing that looked promising. Or even hopeful. And considering how long it had been, his friends probably wouldn't be finding him anytime soon either. If they found him at all. Slowly, Robin felt that small flame of hope within him going out. The only thing he could do now was hope that Slade wouldn't come back any time soon.

But of course, not even that could happen. Slade chose that moment to appear, and Robin whirled around, eyes narrowing as his body settled into a fighting stance. He wouldn't go down without a fight, that was for sure. Slade seemed somewhat amused by this, as if he knew that Robin didn't stand a chance. Scarily, Robin was starting to believe that himself as memories continued to flood his mind. Robin clearly distracted, Slade struck then.

Robin tried; he wouldn't allow himself to do anything but keep trying, no matter how many times he failed. But that didn't change the outcome. Robin sagged against the wall, the only thing really supporting him. His breaths came hard and fast as he mentally gauged his injuries. Nothing was broken, but all of those cuts and bruises added together certainly hurt like crud. Robin struggled to stand, glaring at Slade with nothing short of pure hatred in his eyes. Torture would do that to a person.

Slade gave a humorless, cold chuckle. "You've grown soft, Robin," he said before lashing out again. Robin twisted away, managing to avoid most of the blow, but he still felt Slade's knuckles make contact with his cheek, which immediately began to throb. Just another bruise to add to the hundreds that had already formed. Slade kicked Robin's legs out from underneath him, and Robin landed hard on the ground, the breath knocked out of him momentarily. Slade proceeded to then kick Robin in the chest, the hard blow of his boot sadly familiar to Robin's aching body. "Where is your fight," Slade asked, voice mocking, cold, "little bird?"

Robin gritted his teeth; not one sound would escape him this time. He would make sure of it. But as the blows continued to rain down upon his battered body, Robin's resolve began to waver. Blackness was beginning to creep up along the edges of his vision, and Robin was tempted to sink into the painless oblivion unconsciousness offered. Then came the crash and a bright flash of green light. Robin managed to raise his fuzzy, aching head enough to make out the familiar outlines of his teammates bursting into the room. Beast Boy, fists clenched and face determined; Cyborg, blaster glowing and already preparing to fire; Raven, black energy clustered around her spread hands; and Starfire, green energy pulsing around her fists, eyes glowing with anger. Then Robin allowed his head to drop, the pain and probable concussion making it hard to think, much less keep his head up.

The team wasted no time before attacking. Raven continuously bombarded Slade with a barrage of random items laying around the room, Beast Boy was morphed into a large bear and clawing at Slade, Cyborg was blasting him with powerful bolts of energy, and Starfire was…well, really mad. She blasted Slade back with a single Starbolt, anger clear on her normally cheerful face. "No one," she growled, "messes with Robin." She raised her hands and a powerful burst of energy exploded from her, blowing another large crater in the ground. Once again, Slade was gone when the smoke cleared.

Starfire stayed still for a moment, breathing hard as she hovered in the air, then rushed towards Robin's side. She rolled him over as gently as possible, trying to ignore his grimaces and winces of pain as she did so. "Robin, are you alright?" Looking at the state he was in, Starfire knew it was probably a pointless question, but it slipped out anyway, a force of habit, almost. Robin coughed, clearing his throat. "I'm fine," he managed to get out, before passing out.

A/N Slight cliffhanger there...oh well. The next chapter should be up soon! In the meantime, please review!