Author's Note: To those who reviewed, THANK YOU! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

ROB smokes: Hey Robinson. Yep, on my way out of the desert, but KEEP READING, buddy. And stop complaining about the Rob/Rav connection, bro.

Azlarok Tolkein: Now that I know I have such a dedicated fan, I'll surely post these faster. And yes, the Cthulhu reference in TT Abridged made me chuckle.

blake212: I'm glad you're enjoying the ride, buddy.

Remember to keep those reviews coming! Please!

To all my readers, welcome back, and here's Chapter 3.

/

Chapter 3

'Group Therapy'

/

Slowly, Dick Grayson opened his eyes and took in the world around him.

He was in what appeared to be the Tower's old infirmary. The lights were off and he didn't appear to be attached to any machinery. That was good. It would make escape easier. He quickly did a quick reflex check, subtly shifting his various joints to ensure that they were all still working. His sense of touch confirmed that his full uniform was still in place, his mask included. He turned his head to the right… and was faced by his worst nightmare made real.

Slade loomed over him, un-masked and staring.

Adrenaline surged through Dick's system as he rolled to the left and hit the ground. He jumped to his feet with a battle-cry, but the world started to swim before his eyes. "Slade… what did you do to me…?" He started to fall, but a strong pair of arms caught him.

"Easy…" A soothing female voice told him.

He blinked a few more times to clear his vision. True, Slade was standing by his bed. But then, so were Gar and Raven. His adrenaline faded as confusion set in. "Would someone please tell me what's going on?"

Raven crossed to him and placed a palm on his forehead. "Just stay calm. What's the last thing you remember?"

Dick swallowed and searched his memory. "I was following Star and Gar after I heard about Titans East and had tracked them to the Tower. I had just arrived on the island when I just… blacked out."

"That's all?"

"No, wait. I had a dream. A very realistic dream. I was fighting Star, and then… and then I tried to kill myself. But Star stopped me. Then… nothing. Just random images." He looked at her. "What happened to me?"

Raven lowered her arm to her side. "Mind control."

Putting two and two together, Dick scowled. "Brother Blood."

Raven nodded and motioned to the bed. "Star, set him down."

Dick's head shot to the right to find Star's face inches from his own. She was the one who'd caught him. "Star… uh… Hi."

"Greetings."

For the first time in years, he felt completely tongue-tied. He had a distinct feeling that her gorgeous face had something to do with it. "That… wasn't a dream, was it?"

Star tilted her head in confusion.

"When we were fighting."

Star smiled and shook her head. "No."

"Did I… did I hurt you?"

Star barely suppressed her giggle. "No, but you certainly tried. I did my best to hold myself back, but I am sorry about your nose."

Dick reached up and touched his nose. The sharp sting of pain confirmed his suspicions; broken.

"Not a problem. It's happened before. Cardiac got in a lucky shot a few years back." He let Star sit him down on the bed and reached up to his face. He braced himself and grabbed his nose roughly, twisting it back into place with one smooth motion.

Everyone's jaw, save Slade's, hit the floor.

Slade laughed lowly. "Well done. I learned that little trick in the Special Forces."

"When did you learn to do that?" Raven asked.

Dick took a breath to confirm his nose was back to normal before answering. "After the team broke up, I headed back to Gotham for about a year to train with my old mentor for awhile." He looked over at the far wall. Standing there were his two least favorite people in the world. "What's he doing here?" He asked, motioning towards Slade. "The last I heard, you were in jail."

"So you read the papers. I was wondering how you recognized me without my mask. As to being out of jail, would you believe time off for good behavior?" Slade asked, a trace of his razor-sharp wit returning.

Dick lunged at him, wanting to wipe that smug look off his face, but Star again held him back.

Raven stood between them. "Listen, we need to get along if we're going to survive this. Dick, Slade explained everything to Gar and me. I know it's hard to believe, but he's on our side. He's…" The next words were hard to say. "He's always been on our side."

"I'd be willing to tell you all the details, if you'll give me a chance." Slade followed.

"Save it. What I want to know is exactly what's going on right now."

"There's a deal, Dick." Raven started. "We tell you, you stick with us. This enemy we're up against is bigger than Blood and bigger than us. We need to work together to stop it."

Dick broke eye contact. "Then thanks, but no thanks. I don't need anyone's help going after Blood. I have ways of resisting his mind control back in my lab. Anything bigger than that is for some other super team. I work alone now." He made to stand.

Star moved for him, but he held her back. He started to say something, but shut his mouth and started heading for the door. He'd almost reached it when Gar spoke.

"Let him go. Figures he'd run when someone actually tries to help. It's what he's been doing for the past few years anyway."

Dick stopped dead in his tracks. "Say that again?"

"You heard me."

Dick spun around, pushing the green teen against the wall with his arm in a sudden surge of angry movement. "I will not be lectured about responsibility by you of all people." He hissed.

"And why's that, big guy?"

"You got Vic killed. You're the reason he's dead."

"Is it that, or is it that you can't bear to hear the truth about yourself?"

"I said shut your mouth."

"Or what? You'll beat me up again?"

"If I have to, I will."

"Then go ahead! Just hurry up, do it, and get out of here so we can go to work. Blood's got my girlfriend and I'm going to save her, with or without your help. And maybe, after you're done with me, if you're still in the mind-set to kick someone's ass, I guess you wouldn't mind going a few more rounds with Star, huh?"

Dick's fist caught Gar hard in the cheek with a sickening THWACK. His head bounced slightly, but he immediately rebounded back into Dick's face.

"C'mon, is that the best you got? Maybe my memory's getting fuzzy, but I remember you hitting me way harder than that last time. Maybe you've gotten so used to hitting your girlfriends that…"

The second punch split his lip. Gar's head tilted forward slightly, but he looked back up, his eyes blazing and his lip bleeding.

"That one actually hurt a little bit. Here, I'll help you. Just pretend I'm Star and…"

"I. SAID. SHUT. UP!"

Dick punctuated each word with another punch, feeling himself lose control for the first time in a long time.

Raven and Star moved forward to break it up, but Slade held them back. "No. Let them work this out."

Finally, Dick let up and surveyed his handy-work.

Gar's face was purpling, one of his eyes already swelling shut. He looked at Dick, smiled, and spit a wad of blood into his face. "You make me sick."

Dick swung back for another punch, but felt a hand on his shoulder. Before he could even think about it, he swung his fist at the one who'd touched him…

Star saw the fist coming, and closed her eyes…

Dick's fist stopped in mid-air, barely an inch from Star's face. He gazed uncomprehendingly at her. "Star…"

She opened her eyes and looked at him sadly.

Dick felt himself go limp. He fell to the floor, staring at his hands. His gloves were speckled with Gar's blood. "What… how…?"

Gar remained on his feet even as Raven moved forward to fix his face. "Feeling better?" He asked, using his tongue to ensure his teeth were all still in place.

Dick said nothing.

Gar caught Raven's hands as they moved for his face and stopped her, shaking his head. He kneeled down and looked at the former Boy Wonder. "Dick…"

Slowly, Dick lifted his head.

"You're right. I wasn't there when you needed me, and maybe if I'd have been there Vic would still be alive. But he's not, Dick. He's gone. And you've held his death against me for three years."

Dick shook, trying to keep his emotions detached. "He wasn't supposed to die. None of us were…"

"I know. He was my best friend too. But he's gone now, and you need to move past it. You think Vic's looking down on us right now, happy that the team split up because he died? He isn't. He'd want us to move on, to keep fighting. I'd be willing to bet that it was him that brought us all back together so we can do what we're supposed to do."

"And what's that?" Dick asked.

"We've got to save the world."

Dick sighed and looked at Gar. He smiled slightly. "When did you grow up?"

Gar smiled back. "Hey, you'd become really deep too, if you were in court-appointed therapy twice a week."

Dick laughed as he extended his hand and Gar caught it, clutching it tight. The two old friends stood and embraced. They stepped apart, and Star caught Dick's eye.

Noting the eye contact, Gar tilted his head in the direction of the door. "C'mon." He said to Raven and Slade. "Me and Dick have had our moment of healing. Let's give these two theirs."

Raven, confused by the multitudes of mixed emotions in the air, nodded and followed him out of the room.

Slade tailed behind, staring at Gar with a new-found appreciation.

When the trio were gone, Dick and Star faced each other.

"Star, listen… I… I'm sorry about…"

"It's nothing. Emotions were running high. I understand."

"No, I'm talking about the day Vic died. I'm sorry that I hit you, but I'm more sorry about what I said to you. I didn't mean any of it."

Star nodded. "It's alright. Gar was right. We need to move on."

He took a step towards her. "You know, sometimes there's things in life we can't move on from."

She stepped towards him. "Yes, things that ended before they had the chance to get started."

Another step. "When I was out, it wasn't just random images I saw. I thought I heard your voice in my dreams."

Step. "I'm glad. Do you remember what I said?"

They were standing right next to each other now, drinking in each other's presence. Being around Star again was sending Dick into a frenzy. He felt his breath catching in his chest.

Star's heartbeat quickened. What had begun as something she wanted to get rid of had now become something she could never part with. She pushed her face towards his and closed her eyes, waiting for the bliss to come.

Dick stared at the flawless face poised before him, waiting for him with lips oh-so-soft. All he had to do was take that last step. He closed his eyes…

…and saw the dead, staring eyes of Roy.

Dick's mind stalled. He opened his eyes and stepped back. "I…I'm sorry about Roy. I knew you two were close."

His words deflated the moment completely, and Star felt herself pulling away. "Yes, we were…"

The moment, so perfect a second before, had become awkward and uncomfortable in the space of a stalled heart-beat.

After a few moments, Dick turned towards the door. "I guess I'm missing part of the picture here. I'd better have Raven and… Slade fill me in. Coming?"

She shook her head. "I'll be along in a few minutes."

Dick shrugged his shoulders and left.

Once his foot-steps faded, Star collapsed, all the strength leaving her legs as she sobbed onto the bed. 'Damn you, Dick Grayson.' She thought.

'Damn you.'

/

The images swam before Terra's drugged eyes like lazy fish in a pond. She tried to focus, but found herself unable. She had no idea how long she'd been out or even where she was exactly. All she could remember were brief moments of lucidity followed by more blurs after a sharp pain in her arm.

Her vision began to clear at last and her sense of touch returned as well. She felt… tied up. Still coming out of her stupor, she tugged experimentally at one of the coils around her. It was indeed rope.

She took in the surrounding environment; an up-scale apartment from the looks of it. She seemed to be all alone in the big living room.

"Where am I?" She croaked, her voice dried and cracked.

A noise came from the next room and a man stepped out quickly. Her eyes widened at the sight of Brother Blood.

Her memory came back in a rush. Blood had poisoned her, kidnapped her, and kept her drugged so she couldn't use her powers. He'd been periodically injecting her with some solution that knocked her silly.

"A unique mix of morphine and GHB, actually. My own special recipe." He said, moving towards her, a syringe already in his hand.

Terra was shocked for only a moment, and then she remembered; Blood could read her mind.

Blood smiled and leaned over her, working up her sleeve and revealing a bandage on her arm. His eyes flashed red and the bindings fell away to show a series of tiny holes in her arm.

She wanted to say something, to scream but her tongue was heavy and her mouth felt like it was full of saw-dust. Her throat felt like a dry cave.

He saw her throat working and 'shushed' her. "There there, won't sting but a minute. This dose should keep you out until we're out to sea."

Before her mind could fully process his words, the needle was in her, shooting her up with it's damned chemicals. They went to work immediately, and Terra felt herself slipping back into the blurs.

Her final lucid thought before passing out completely was a sense of disgust as Blood leaned down to plant an almost fatherly kiss on her cheek.

/

Star rejoined the others just as Slade and Raven finished filling Dick in on all the details. Gar was leaning against the wall while Raven passed her hands over his face, healing the wounds.

Dick had listened with quiet attentiveness, merely raising and lowering his eyebrows with some of the more 'out there' details, especially when it came to Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones. When they at last fell quiet, Dick sat in silence. Finally, he turned to Slade.

"I've hated you for so long… I wanted nothing more than to end your life. Why all the secrecy?"

"How do you mean?"

"We could've used a straight up mentor. If you'd have just come to us and offered to help us…"

"No, you don't understand. You didn't need a mentor. You especially had just left your first teacher. You all needed to find your own way as a part of a whole. You needed a threat you could unite against. I took it upon myself to become that threat."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this? Even when you and I went to the under-world to find Raven?"

"It was always my intention to simply disappear once I deemed you ready. You were never supposed to know that I was working with you the entire time."

Dick nodded. "Then… I think I understand." After a moment's hesitation, he reached a hand towards his most hated enemy. "And I want to say thank you."

Slade looked at the hand, lifted his mouth in a small smile, and grasped it firmly.

As they shook hands, Dick chuckled. "I still can't get over the feeling of wanting to punch you in the face."

Slade's smile grew. "Hey, I'm always up for a few rounds."

Raven stepped back and looked over Gar's freshly healed face. "All clear. Want to tell me how many times I'm going to have to heal you today?"

Gar shrugged. "Who knows. This has been a crazy twenty-four hours already." He checked his watch. "Speaking of which, how long do we have before Blood sets sail?"

Slade went over the math in his head. "Assuming he's preparing for the voyage now? Maybe… eight, nine hours, tops."

Star made her presence known. "If he has absorbed Garth's abilities, why wouldn't he just swim there?"

"Because he's got Terra. And Terra couldn't survive something like that. He'll find a boat."

Gar jumped off the wall. "So if we're going to beat him there, we'll need to leave in about six hours."

Slade nodded. "Right. I can secure a suitable transport in three, maybe three and a half hours."

Dick raised an eye-brow. "How are you going to do that?"

"Limitless fortune, remember?"

Dick laughed a little, thinking his own teacher's wealth.

Slade continued. "That gives you all plenty of time to get ready. I'll handle the food, water, and all that. You all pack a travel bag." He turned to Dick. "You said that you have something that'll resist Blood's mind control?"

Dick nodded. "Yeah, back at my lab. Me and Vic came up with the original design just after Blood went to jail."

"Okay. Take care of all of that, and we'll meet at the wharf at sun-set." With that, Slade headed towards the exit.

Once he was gone, Star turned to Gar. "You go with Raven and Dick. I'll go back to the apartment and grab some clothes for you."

Gar was confused, but agreed anyway. "Sure, but that won't take you long. What are you going to do in the mean-time?"

Star lowered her eyes. "I have to do something that I may never have the chance to do again."

Before he could ask her to elaborate, she was gone.

"I hate it when she does that." He turned back to Dick. "You ready?'

"Yeah. Raven?"

They both turned to see Raven looking towards the door cautiously.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I haven't been out there in three years. I've forgotten how to tune down my empathy. I'm not sure I can filter out all those peoples thoughts and emotions." She looked at them ,and Dick remembered the little girl he'd met in the under-world, also clothed in white. "I'm… scared."

Dick crossed over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we have a bond, remember? We've shared each other's minds. I know you have the strength. I know you can do it."

Raven sighed and reluctantly nodded. She reached back and pulled her hood over her head. "Then let's go."

Gar looked at Dick. "Hey, where are we going, anyway?"

Dick couldn't help but grin. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

/

After packing her and Gar's bags, Star had checked the phone book and found the address she'd been looking for. Now, here she was, floating outside of the picturesque suburban home. She landed on the front porch and swallowed before knocking on the door gently.

A moment later, Mrs. Deborah Timm, the woman that had adopted Terra, opened the door. "Oh! Hello Miss… erm… Fire-Star, is it?"

Star forced herself to smile. "It's Starfire actually, but it's alright. May I come in?"

Mrs. Timm nodded and opened the door wide, ushering Star into the house proper. Star entered and gazed at the multitudes of pictures on the walls.

There was Terra, fishing with someone she guessed was either Mister or Missus Timm's father.

Another showed her cavorting on a beach, a huge grin on her face.

The largest picture of all was Terra's high school portrait, a gentle and demure smile on the girl's face.

Star felt a pain in her stomach. It was obvious the Timms loved their adopted daughter very much.

Which was going to make this so much harder.

Mrs. Timm led Star into the living room where Mr. Timm was sitting in a recliner, reading a paper-back novel.

Star shuddered as she read the title; 'The Dunwich Horror' By H.P. Lovecraft.

He looked up as she entered. "Oh, it's you." He smiled pleasantly. "And to what do we owe this pleasure?"

His wife sat on the couch next to the chair and held his hand.

Star swallowed again. "Mister and missus Timm, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Bad news? About what?"

Star raised her head and met their eyes. "It's about you're step-daughter."

/

Author's Note: Good Lord, do I know how to end a chapter or what?

So, until next time, remember; a little review never hurt anybody.