The Watchtower's docking bay three was roughly the size of a basketball court and was empty of everything save for the Titan I. The orange ship barely took up half of the space and looked strangely out of place. Tiny and insignificant compared to the towering steel walls. Robin could relate; standing inside the Watchtower made him feel small and weak as well. Or maybe it was standing in-between the Man of Steel and the Green Lantern that made him so. He wanted very badly to straighten his shoulders back even further than their already perfect posture but knew the gesture for what it would be; a boy trying hard to be perceived as a man. Instead he folded his arms across his chest and resisted the temptation to start pacing.

Though he stood still, inside his mind was a whirl of activity. If not Batman, then who? If not the Justice League, then who? Had the Ravager been lying? Raven had said no. Robin's masked eyes flickered in the empath's direction but she had her back to him, retreating into the dark folds of her cloak. Did that mean that the Justice League was lying? He thought of the intensity in Bruce's blue eyes. Did he still trust his former mentor? Yes, was the answer that immediately came to mind. Despite the feelings of hurt and betrayal that were still slinking through his soul like a slow acting poison, he trusted the dark billionaire. That brought him back to the Ravager. The criminal must have been lying. But Raven has said no. Was Raven lying? Again his eyes shifted towards her. Part of him knew, was absolutely certain, that the answer was no. Raven was a Titan. No matter how dark or sinister or evil her heritage, Raven herself was one of the good guys. But another part of him, a very small part, the same part that had looked into the eyes of Batman and doubted, couldn't help but recall the man's parting advice. Sometimes you have to watch your friends just as closely as your enemies.

As if she could feel the thoughts passing over her, Raven turned her head and their eyes locked. Robin was glad for the mask that covered his face because otherwise, he recognized, he would have been at a serious disadvantage in the sudden contest of wills. Her gaze was flat and unreadable; she stared at him as if she were looking through him rather than at him. He wanted to tell her that he trusted her, that no matter what anyone said, he would continue to believe in her. But he was starting to believe that the entire thing was quickly becoming about something other than trust. It was as if a line was being drawn into the sand and he was going to be forced to pick a side. The trouble was, the way things were shaping up, no matter which side he chose, he would end up losing something important.

Beside him he felt the air shift slightly; Robin turned and found himself once again face to face with the hero known as Superman. The Kryptonian's chiseled features were drawn into a stern expression, tinged with hints of both kindness and arrogance. A combination that always served to irritate the hell out of Robin and he found himself wondering if he practiced it in the mirror. He much preferred dealing with the hero's mild mannered alter ego, though even Clark Kent's quaint clumsiness had a quiet ring of conceit to it; as if he were enjoying fooling everyone around him. Robin barely resisted glaring upwards; he hated the way the man towered over him and he hated his broad shoulders and the strength that could crush coal into diamond.

The red underwear was stupid. And the red boots were just tacky.

"The Titans should keep in close contact with the League. If we're going to catch whoever hired the Ravager and stop Trigon, we're going to have to work together," Superman said.

Robin had been expecting this and logic dictated that the inclusion of the Justice League into the investigation would make things both quicker and easier. He could practically feel Raven's eyes burning into the back of his neck.

Sometimes quick and easy just weren't the words of the day.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Justice League had its chance to help. And it passed. The Titans will take care of Trigon and we'll most certainly take care of our own," was Robin's reply. Superman appeared taken back and a few feet away, Beast Boy leaned over towards Cyborg and whispered,

"Dude, what the heck is Robin doing? Is he dissing the Justice League? Can you even do that?"

Cyborg thought of all the gizmos and gadgets that were housed into the Watchtower's Research Lab and all the technology that was built into the Watchtower itself. Then he sighed and kissed it all good-bye. "I have no freakin' idea what he's doing Beast Boy. He's being Robin."

"This isn't a game Robin. Or some kind of competition. There are lives at stake."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "Don't lecture me on saving lives. I'm not the one going around hiring assassins to do my dirty work."

"I'm sorry you had to find out about it like this Robin."

Robin kept his arms crossed over his chest. "No, you're sorry I found out about it at all."

"Look, I did what I had to do."

Robin stepped forward and spoke in a low voice. "You did what you wanted to do. And I'll let it go for now. But once the Titans take care of Trigon, you better watch yourself, Clark."

Superman leaned down until his face was inches away from the Boy Wonder's. "Are you threatening the Justice League?"

Robin shook his head and refused to be intimidated. "No. Just you."

Something dark flashed across the larger man's icy blue eyes; something that had the Green Lantern placing a hand on his shoulder, a subtle show of restraint.

"There are other matters that warrant our concern, Clark."

A ripple ran along the Man of Steel's jaw and it was quite obvious that he was just barely resisting throwing the hand aside. He stepped backwards, his spine painfully straight. And without another word he turned on his heel and stalked towards the docking bay door, his red cape swishing behind him. The door whisked open before he reached them, revealing Starfire on the other side. The two aliens stared at each with open hostility.

Their contest of wills was interrupted when the room gave a sudden, violent lurch, as if something had crashed into it. Two seconds later a harsh, shrill alarm suddenly sounded, followed immediately by a flashing red light that swept through the room. From seemingly out of thin air came a mechanical voice that was oddly flat and calm despite its message of caution.

"Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Decks four, five, seven, nine, and twelve."

"Jeez, what the hell hit us? And what's your hull made of? Swiss cheese?" Cyborg commented.

"Actually it's a reinforced titanium alloy. One of the strongest substances in the galaxy. On top of that, there's an electro-magnetic force field surrounding the entire tower," was the Green Lantern's reply.

"Is there any way that it's a false alarm?" Robin asked.

Superman turned away from Starfire and stalked over to the bay wall. He placed his palm flat against the surface and the panel slid open, revealing a small screen and an intercom. The screen fizzed for a moment and then the Flash's face appeared.

"What's the situation?" both Robin and Superman asked at the same time. They glared at each other.

"Something has latched itself onto the side of the Tower and has cut through the hull on decks four, five, seven, nine, and twelve. I'm not getting any life sign readings but something is definitely making itself at home," the Flash was saying.

"Don't you guys have an earlier detection system than hull breeching?" Cyborg wanted to know.

"We have scanners that pick up anything that enters this solar system," Superman shot back as he disappeared through the bay doors, Robin following close behind, as was Starfire and the Green Lantern.

"I guess those scanners must be broken or something," Beast Boy said, glancing over at Cyborg. The machine man shrugged his broad shoulders and made a mental note to run through the security system on Titans Tower when he got home. A wave of darkness whipped past them both and from its depths came Raven's voice,

"Are you guys coming or what?"

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Robin had started out trailing Superman by mere inches but it quickly became clear that the Man of Steel was not accustomed to waiting for backup. With his super speed he was out of sight almost before Robin had gotten through the door. He narrowed his eyes and increased his pace, taking a moment to glance at the Green Lantern, who ran along side him.

"Why is he on a team again?"

The Green Lantern gave a rare smile. "It's not as if we could have told him no."

"Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Decks four, five, seven, nine, and twelve. Warning. Warning."

"Yes, yes, we've got it already. Multiple hull breeches. Not a good thing. Isn't there any way to shut that thing up?" Raven asked as she flew up beside Robin. He turned his head again; she kept her eyes focused in front of her but he could tell that she had directed her comment at him. It was the first thing she had said to him in hours that hadn't been filled with hurt, distrust, or anger. For a moment, he wasn't exactly sure what to say. And then his indecision passed.

"You could always just get pissed at it."

This time she did turn her head and he saw out of the corner of his mask her eyes narrow dangerously.

And her lips curve.

The hallway they were following abruptly gave way to a four way intersection. Three of those directions were filled with a familiar and unwelcome sight. The flashing red emergency light reflected off of smooth black and orange metal. Beast Boy, in the shape of a hawk, landed on the ground and morphed, his expression one of disbelief.

"Dude! How in the heck did they get here?"

"Probably the same way we did. Space ship. Maybe two. Definitely had to have at least two rocket engines."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes at Cyborg. "Hey, EnCyclopedia-borg, it was a retinal question, okay?"

Raven leaned over and out of the corner of her mouth, said, "I think you mean, 'rhetorical'."

The green changeling waved her statement away with one long fingered hand. "Retinal, rhetorical, whatever. Are we gonna stomp these metal heads or what?"

Reaching into the back of his utility belt, Robin pulled out his telescoping staff and extended it.

"Titans, let's try and remember that we're on a space station circling some two-hundred and fifty miles above the Earth's surface." He sent a stern glance in Cyborg's direction. "That makes this a non-destructible area."

"What are looking at me for?"

Holding out his staff in the direction of the Slade-bots, Robin's answer was, "Titans, GO!"

After so many years of fighting together, the group hardly needed the two words to springboard them into action, and yet, as always, it served as a nice entrance cue. The five heroes shot forward with one unifying goal on their collective minds.

Kick ass.

How they did so was completely up to their own creative (and not so creative) minds. Each has his or her individual style, the Green Lantern noted, and the mixture made for a unique visual. He found himself stepping back from the battle, his keen eyes observing this young generation of heroes that just might someday continue the work of the Justice League.

Starfire, for all the hostility that had exploded between her and Superman, had a remarkably similar battle tactic. She charged straight forward into the fray and used her brute strength to dispatch the robotic warriors. Her motto seemed to be "hit them hard and hit them often." And when her fists and feet weren't doing enough damage for her liking, she tore through the ranks of machines with carefully controlled short bursts of green energy. Powerful enough to rip through their armored plating but with enough finesse to keep from damaging the hull around her, he noted.

His eyes shifted. Cyborg also relied much on his enhanced strength, using his metallic fists to punch through the swarming enemies, and then relying on his sonic cannon to pack an extra punch. But while Starfire was something of a hurricane, ripping a wide path of destruction through the enemy ranks, Cyborg was more like a tornado—his shots were more precise, leaving his foes defeated but for the most part whole, rather than a pile of mangled mechanical limbs. Was it a by-product of laser point accuracy or his fearless leader's warning? The Green Lantern couldn't tell.

To the right Beast Boy had transformed himself into a lion and was tearing through circuitry with razor sharp teeth. Here was a creative mind at work. The changeling shifted between animals with ease, breaking down and reconstructing his DNA in little more than an instant. And the cleverness of the animals he chose—sometimes he went for bulk and strength. A gorilla. A rhinoceros. A hulking beast. Sometimes he went for movement, morphing into a thick skinned python, winding his way around a robot and crushing its circuits. And other times he went for small and nimble, morphing into a mouse, tiny and harmless. He ran up and along metal arms and legs until robots began crashing into other robots in their attempts to catch him. The playfulness of his technique, combined with his constant chatter, brought a ghost of a smile to the Green Lantern's face.

"If you boy's can't play nice, I'll have to separate you two!" CRASH! "I warned you. Somebody's going to poke an eye out. Ooops! Too late! Hey One-Eye! You couldn't hit me if I—Whoa! Lucky shot! Really, guys, I think what we're missing here, is communication. Say it with me dudes—"

"For Azar's sake! They're robots! They can't talk! Which, unfortunately, is not a trait you have in common with them."

The sarcastic reply came from the cloaked sorceress, who was using her dark magic to both block the lumbering attacks of the advancing machines and to tear them apart. The Green Lantern watched her closely. Raven. She was older than she had been the first time she had approached the Justice League but had lost neither the air of mystery that surrounded her nor the heavy feeling of sadness. He knew very little about her other than she came from another dimension, a pacifist society called Azarath. This much she had announced on her first visit. And she was also the daughter of a human woman and a terrifying demon lord known as, aptly enough, Trigon the Terrible. He could see the uncomfortable union of good and evil in the way she fought—crushing enemies without mercy while keeping a watchful eye on her teammates, occasionally throwing out a spray of energy when she perceived help was needed.

"Raven! Duck!"

The cry came from Robin who was running toward the empath at full speed. Without hesitation she complied, wrapping herself in darkness and sinking into the floor. Robin leapt forward, almost passing through her as he took her place. Unconsciously the Green Lantern leaned forward, curious to see the second adopted son of Batman in action.

He was larger than Dick had been—broader in both the shoulders and the chest. And yet still small and tightly packed in an acrobatic manner. He flipped and leapt through the air just as easily as the first Robin had, though there was considerably more violence behind the blows that came at the end of his tumbles. The Green Lantern's eyes narrowed as he watched the youth drive his fist through the head of one of the robots. There was anger bubbling just underneath his cool exterior and the Lantern had to wonder if it was directed at the mechanical creatures themselves or at something else entirely.

Robin rolled underneath a blow aimed at his head and simultaneously slashed at the offending robot with his staff and let fly three small disks towards the remaining group of bots. His aim was dead on—each disc struck metal plating and exploded with a dozen arcing bolts of electricity. In seconds the battle was brought to an abrupt finish.

"Dude, when is Slade going to stop sending out these chumps and give us a real challenge?" Beast Boy boasted, morphing back into himself. He cringed as a heavy, metallic hand smacked the back of his head. Rubbing at the injured spot, he glared up at Cyborg.

"What was that for?"

"You know you're not allowed to say things like that."

"Should we proceed to the other decks? The others may be in need of our assistance," Starfire pointed out, a light pulse of energy still glowing around her hands. The Green Lantern stepped forward and shook his head.

"Since the alarms have been shut off, I think it's safe to say that the other areas have been dealt with."

It took the Titans a moment to realize that both the shrill alarm and the flashing red light were no longer going off. Less than a second later, the voice of the Flash came over the Tower's intercom system.

"It looks like the bad guys have all been cleared out. They've left a little present behind so if everyone could kindly meet up in the resource room on Deck 8, section 4-B."

"A present?" Cyborg asked, lifting an eyebrow. Beast Boy folded his arms over his chest.

"It's probably just another one of Slade's video messages telling us how awesome he is and how he's hidden a trans-ca-bob-u-lating thingy somewhere in the city and with the press of a button he can turn everyone into a blob of oozing sludge-goo, a goo so destructive it can eat through anything! And it'll turn out the Slade's plan isn't really to just turn everyone into goo—it's to turn everyone into good that will completely destroy the city!"

The final bit of his scenario came out in a whoosh of air that either stemmed from sheer excitement or from Raven whacking him upside the head in much the same manner as Cyborg had. Beast Boy touched the back of his head again and fell silent, shooting Raven a dark look that she pointedly ignored.

"If it is a message from Slade, then we're going to have to be on our guard," Robin warned as they all stepped into the lift that would take them to level eight. "But if we're lucky, we might just get some kind of clue as to what he's up to."

"Or maybe we'll get some more delightful nanoprobes injected into our bodies," Raven deadpanned from her spot on the back of the lift. She hated elevators—the sensation of being in-between flying and falling.

The lift doors opened and Beast Boy shuddered. "Don't remind me about those things. Just thinking about them gives me the creeps."

"Are you sure it isn't just the thinking part that's creeping you out?"

"Har, har, Raven. You should really take your act on the road. Or, you know, out into space far, far away from other intelligent life forms."

"Gee, I thought that was where I was."

The door to the resource room slid open, effectively cutting off any reply that Beast Boy might have had. The other members of the Justice League were already gathered around a long table. On its surface was a white box with a small silver crank on the side of it. As Robin's eyes lighted on it, he felt a cold sweat break out on the back of his neck. When he drew up beside the table, he could that "Robin" had been printed across the top of the box in thick black lettering. He glanced up at the others and met Superman's gaze.

"What's in it?" he questioned. Superman shook his head.

"I can't tell. The box is made of lead."

"And our sensors are having trouble analyzing its contents," the Flash added. Cyborg stepped up and held his arm out, punching in the commands for his own sensors. After a moment, he shook his head.

"I'm not getting a clear reading either."

Robin clenched his fingers briefly and shifted his eyes. Batman stood in the far corner, an unreadable expression in his cold eyes.

"Then I guess there's only one way to find out," Robin said, reaching out and grabbing hold of the crank with his thumb and forefinger. Slowly he began to turn it and with each half circle there came a click, followed by silence. Click, click. Silence. Click, click, Silence. Click, click. Silence. He resisted the urge to quicken the motion—like a kid opening a jack-in-the-box he had no idea what would come springing out, only having a vague notion that something would. Click, click. Silence. Click, click. Silence. Click, click. Silence.

"This is intense," Beast Boy whispered to no one in particular.

"Hush," Raven answered.

Click, click. Silence. Click, click. Silence. Click, click—

CLINK!

The box remained closed. Robin took his hand away from the crank and leaned forward slightly, as did everyone else in the room.

BOING!

The top shot off suddenly and a small rectangular shape shot up towards his face but Robin didn't as much as flinch. His jaw clenched as his eyes scanned the message that had been waiting for him.

KA-BOOM!

You've been a bad boy. You must be punished. Prepare yourself for a severe spanking, young man. But let me tell you right from the start…

"Robin?"

A hand touched his shoulder and Robin turned his head. The last thing he saw before he sank into unconsciousness was a mixture of concern and confusion in Raven's violet eyes.

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The med-lab on the Watchtower was in many ways similar to the one in Titans Tower and at the same time, was very different. The constant humming and blinking of machinery was ever present but it was a much brighter room, with the overhead lights casting a pure white glow that illuminated every square inch. It felt colder too, with the white walls and steel floor. Raven absently tugged her cloak closer as she looked down at the motionless form of the Boy Wonder.

He looked . . . . fragile, stripped to the waist with a number of sensors stuck to his body. She had always thought that he had seemed a little lean but now, with no brightly colored garment to distract her, she could see clearly that there was only muscle and bone beneath the fabric. Well developed muscle. And yet, as impressive as his physique was, it was not what caught and held her attention.

The scar was viscous. Jagged and the width of two fingers, it ran from his collarbone down along his left side top the top of his hip. His left shoulder was no better. The skin was shiny and smooth, almost like plastic, and it spread halfway across his back. Her eyes were drawn to it, as were her fingers, but she pointedly turned them both away, focusing instead on the arm already wrapped in plaster. She could feel the tiny breaks beneath it, thankfully no worse than they had been before the sudden attack. It had not been any physical injury that had caused him to pass out. Raven frowned down at him as she moved her eyes from his scars to his still masked face. Even asleep he did not look peaceful—the expression he wore was a cross between a scowl and a grimace. As if he was remembering something particularly painful. She wondered if it had anything to do with the intense fear she had felt radiating off of him just before he had gone under.

Her eyes shifted back to his chest and the scar. What had caused it? An old accident? A battle with a criminal? It had not occurred at any point during Robin's tenure as the leader of the Titans that much Raven was certain of. Involuntarily, her fingers reached out and then paused, hovering over his skin. She looked up at his face, torn between the need to know and the desire to respect her friend's privacy. His eyes remained closed and her fingers settled, lightly following the winding course of the scar. The images that shot into her mind were sharp and clear. A white face with an ugly grin. Maniacal laughter that rolled on endless. A crooked metal bar raised high in the air. Raven gasped as a shockwave of pain radiated through her body; she could feel the unyielding metal slam into her. Strong fingers encircled her wrist and pulled her fingers away.

"You . . .," she struggled to push past the memories that she had seen, to return to reality. She lifted her head and saw him staring at her. "You . . ."

"It was a tire iron. And a bomb. Tire iron first. The bomb was just plain overkill. Leave it to the Joker to fuck things up."

The sound of the crude expletive spoken in his voice startled her back into coherency. "What happened?"

"I was careless." Robin gave a short, humorless laugh. "Stupid, really," he corrected. "The Joker had laid a trap and I walked right into it."

Raven had only a vague notion of who the Joker was. An arch-nemesis of Batman's with a wily, sadistic bent who had a fairly permanent residence in Arkham Asylum and who had a knack for either being released or escaping on his own terms.

"Batman . . .?" she trailed off, not sure what she was trying to ask.

Another laugh, harsher than the first. "Batman. I waited for him. Even after I felt the first blow and knew how stupid I had been, I knew he would come. I hadn't told him where I was going or even that I had left, but I knew he would come. I remember hearing the bomb go off and thought maybe that was it for Robin. But the Joker hadn't meant for the explosion to kill me. He wanted the fire to do that. A charred corpse would be a bigger blow than unrecognizable pieces. It burned, everywhere, and then there was darkness and I knew it was him."

Robin sat up in the bed and turned his body so he legs dangled off the side. His fingers plucked the sensors off absently.

"I'm not going to let Slade become my Joker."

Raven wasn't altogether certain she had heard him correctly. "What do you mean?"

His gaze was fixed on some point on the far wall. "The Joker has ruined the lives of so many people. He's killed, maimed, hurt, and tortured countless times and he's never going to stop. And Batman . . . . Batman is never going to be able to stop him." He turned his head and locked gazes with her.

"I'm going to stop Slade. He's never going to hurt anyone ever again."

The coldness in his voice triggered a warning bell in Raven's mind. She opened her mouth to respond, in what manner, she had no idea, but stopped when she felt a firm squeeze on her arm. Looking down she saw that his fingers were still cuffed around her wrist. As she watched, he drew her hand forward until he could press his lips to her knuckles. A fiery sensation raced up her arm. She shook her head.

"You don't even trust me," she warned, tugging her arm back. He refused to release it. Instead he pulled on it again, this time pressing her fingers against the side of his mask. The leather felt smooth and worn to the touch.

"I trust you," he said quietly.

The tips of her fingers slipped under the edge of the mask and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to pull the stupid piece of leather away. Wanted nothing more than to see the completeness of his face; the lines, the angles, the color of his eyes.

Raven shook her head again and pulled her hand again. This time he let it go.

"I believe you," she replied, just as quietly.

They remained where they were, as still as statues, gazes locked, for a long while. As if each were waiting for the other to come to some decision. Raven wanted to take a step back—his nearness made thinking clearly difficult. She could feel the lingering aftermath of his emotional memories; pain, terror, and anger. That coupled with the intense feelings of desire he was focusing at her was making her distinctly uncomfortable. And yet some part of her wanted to move closer, drawn by both his intensity and the smooth muscles of his chest and shoulders.

Robin shifted slightly on the bed and reached out again, his fingers brushing her waist. At the same time, she "felt" someone approaching the med-lab. It snapped her out of her paralysis and she took two giant steps backwards just as the doors whisked open. Raven had never been so grateful for her empathy when she saw the dark cape and cowl of Batman. His gaze fixed on Robin first, then slid over to her, then back to his ward. Though there was easily five feet between herself and Robin she felt as if he had caught them with arms and tongues tangled. Self-consciously she straightened her back and, without so much as a glance backwards at Robin, she moved to pass through the doors.

"Raven."

He called out just as she got to the exit, forcing her to stop and stand beside the Dark Knight. She tilted her head slightly to acknowledge she was listening but did not turn back, trying her best to ignore the heavy presence inches away.

"Let the other Titans know that we'll be leaving soon."

She gave a short nod and disappeared through the doors. The silence that fell was oppressive and yet distinctly familiar to the Boy Wonder. But it did not last long.

"Keeping your enemies close, I see."

Robin narrowed his eyes and did not reply. Instead he hopped down from the bed and grabbed his uniform shirt from off a nearby table, tugging the fabric over his head. His cape was nowhere to be seen but it didn't matter. There were at least a dozen more back at the Tower. He turned around and saw that Batman had not moved from his spot just inside the room, his expression as unreadable as always. But Robin knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I already told Clark. The Titans will handle this. The Justice League's help is both unnecessary and unwanted."

"Don't be foolish. If the Joker really is involved, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Robin felt his fingers clench. "I can handle him."

"He's already almost killed you once."

"I said, I can handle it," he nearly snarled, angered by the venom he heard in his own voice and by the fact that he couldn't control it. In contrast, as always, Batman was coldly collected.

"If you won't have my help, at least take Nightwing's."

The practical part of Robin's mind cautiously pointed out it was probably a good idea. Another set of eyes and ears would be helpful and Nightwing was an especially skilled detective. Not to mention Dick had his own issues with Batman that would keep him from merely playing watchdog. Still….

"I'll consider it," Robin replied shortly, moving to pass by his mentor. To his surprise, Batman reached out and laid a restraining hand on his shoulder, waiting until the youth lifted his gaze to his.

"Be careful, Jason. I . . . don't want to lose you."

There was an underlying tone to his voice that suggested that he was concerned about something other than life and death. Robin furrowed his brow in momentary confusion, confusion that cleared when he glanced back into the room and his eyes lighted on the observational window on the back wall. The kind with one-way glass. His jaw clenched.

"Consider me lost," he said, pulling his shoulder away and moving forward. After a few steps, he paused and glanced back. "Oh, and by the way, how is Selene?"

Batman was silent.

"I thought so."

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RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "The Trouble With Reporters."

Robin: (Looks at the box on the table.) "What's in it?"

Superman: "I can't tell. The box is made of lead."

Robin: "You know you never should have given that interview with Lois Lane."

Superman: "Shut-up."

Robin: "I mean, what kind of idiot goes around telling a major reporter for a major paper what his weaknesses are?"

Superman: "Shut-up."

Robin: "Why didn't you just tell her that Kryptonite bullets can kill you and then paint a giant target on your chest? Well, the target's actually pretty much already there."

Superman: "My mother made me this costume."

Robin: "Yeah, well, I guess she didn't expect you to like women, huh?"

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Author's Note

I am exceeding sorry for the huge span of time between updates. These past couple months have actually been pretty hellish. The good news? I've graduated school. WOOT! Of course, now I have to go out into the real world and get a real job. woot. Anyway, hopefully this will mean that I will have plenty of time to beat my muses into submission and updates will come much faster. I also noticed that I'm not allowed to leave messages for reviewers and that there are little handy reply buttons instead. So, I guess I'll try that out this time. Let me know if it goes ok. I noticed that a bunch of people seemed confused about which Robin I was using so, just in case you're still confused, I'm using Jason Todd. Actually, kind of mixture of pre-crisis and post-crisis Jason Todd. We'll go into it more later. Hope you like the chapter and again, sorry about the wait!