Disclaimer: I do now own any of this! The Teen Titans are not my idea and belong to their rightful and respected owners!

Ch. 13-Instinct

Slade came at Jay in a whirlwind, throwing punches and kicks while Jay barely dodged and deflected all of them. As they continued to fight through the House of Mirrors, glass was broken, fists collided, and rage swirled, creating the mood and scene of a full on war.

And all while a little green mouse was making his way toward the cat's den.


As Beast Boy hurried through the streets of Jump, now as a fox, he couldn't but feel overwhelmed. Just a few minutes ago he was finally getting to know Jay; finally they would be more than friends. Beast Boy had planned to kiss her too. But then Slade showed up. Just like before. Only this time he wasn't dealing with a betrayal. No, this time he was dealing with the fact that the girl he loved was counting on him to break into Slade's hideout and steal Slade's apprentice without any of Slade's henchmen noticing him. It was maddening when Beast Boy thought of all the things that could go wrong.

*But at least I don't have to fight the guy,* Beast Boy remembered. Back on the pier, Jay was fighting for her life against the madman. Beast Boy shuddered. He didn't want to think about how the fight was going. He didn't want to think about Slade's hunger for Jay's destruction.

A small vibration made its way up Beast Boy's spine from the location device, indicating he had almost reached the hideout. Morphing back into human form, Beast Boy began running through Jump on his own two feet, worried at any second Slade would pop out and attack him.

But Jay must have been even more incredible than Beast Boy realized, because when he got to Slade's hideout, no one was there waiting for him. Morphing into a fly, Beast Boy zoomed over the roof, trying to see if he could find any entrance. Remembering Jay's instructions, Beast Boy flew over near a very disgusting smelling pile of debris and flew under it to find a small grate. Thankfully the grate had slits so Beast Boy slid right through.

TTTTTTTTTTT

Robin was sitting in Slade's main control room practicing his punches when the alarm (a big red light) went off. Smiling, Robin hurried over to Slade's control panel, excited that his master had finally come back. But as Robin looked at the screen, he didn't see Slade sliding through the grate. In fact no one had opened the grate. No one was in the hideout.

*But then why did the alarm go off?* Robin wondered, until he caught a slight movement on the screen. Squinting his eyes, Robin realized it was a fly.

*But Slade made sure that flies wouldn't get in by spraying something that wards them off,* Robin realized, his eyes widening. Then, as Robin watched the fly morph into a familiar green kid, his widened even more.

"Beast Boy."

TTTTTTTTTTT

Beast Boy walked through the hallways of Slade's hideout quietly, biting his lip and wiping the sweat from his brow. There were no instructions from Jay now; now it was Beast Boy's time to improvise.

"Beast Boy," Robin's angry call sounded from behind Beast Boy.

Whipping around and seeing the extremely enraged look on Robin's face, Beast Boy gulped. *Yep, time to improvise.*

"Uh…hey Robin," Beast Boy smiled sheepishly.

"What did you…how did you…why are you here?" Robin stammered.

"Oh um…just walking around," Beast Boy inched closer to Robin. "Uh…what are you doing?"

"I was waiting for my master to return. I wasn't expecting…you," Robin sneered. But Beast Boy could see Robin's confusion behind his mask of anger.

"Oh well, you know us Titans, we always just pop in," Beast Boy laughed nervously.

"How are the Titans?" this time the venom in Robin's voice was genuine.

"Good," Beast Boy continued to inch closer. Thankfully Robin was taking this as a challenge and was also moving closer to Beast Boy. "Well we weren't doing that well until Jay came."

"So she's a Titan?" Robin hissed.

"Well…no, not really," Beast Boy replied. When he saw Robin smile, he continued, "but she's going to be! She's got a room and everything!"

"She will not become a Titan," Robin growled.

"Well I don't think she'd become Slade's apprentice," Beast Boy replied. "After all she and Slade…not the best pair."

"We'll see," Robin spoke, and then lunged. Caught off guard, Beast Boy didn't have time to dodge as Robin punched him right in the gut with amazing speed and force.

*Oh man, he's gotten better,* Beast Boy cursed as he morphed into an eagle to soar to the top of the hallway. However Robin must have been expecting him to do so because he threw a bomb at the ceiling right as Beast Boy was heading down from it. Blown away by the explosion, Beast Boy skidded across the ground. Hearing footsteps approach him, Beast Boy morphed back and grabbed the device slyly from his belt, getting ready to throw it when a cannonball suddenly soared through the wall behind them, causing an explosion that sent both Robin and Beast Boy flying.

TTTTTTTTTT

(Robin's POV)

*Ow, my head,* I rubbed my forehead as the dust from the explosion cleared. *What just-

Suddenly I caught sight of Beast Boy and Mad Mod fighting, and my body acted on instinct.

Old instinct.

Before either Beast Boy, Mad Mod, or I had time to react to what I was doing, I had punched Mad Mod in the face, grabbed the Brit's arm and threw him into a wall, effectively knocking him out.

It was only after this, as I was trying to catch my breath and get rid of a very painful headache that had arisen did I realize what I had done.

*Oh no. Oh no! What have I done?* I thought worriedly. And it wasn't an accident either. I had just attacked Mad Mod, a fellow villain, and protected the very Titan I had just been trying to destroy.

"Woah…" I heard Beast Boy gasp from behind me. That turned my attention back to Beast Boy. Maybe I could turn this around. Maybe, if I captured Beast Boy, it would balance out my actions. That was my only hope of reconcile.

But as I turned around to fight Beast Boy, a strange bomb was thrown in my face, exploding and sending me into black.

TTTTTTTTTTT

(Jay's POV, starting when she is standing in the hallway)

All was calm. I could see Beast Boy standing in between the mirrors, looking at me desperately. I could hear faint footsteps, but those were probably echoes. My senses were telling me that there was no one there in that house of mirrors except for Beast Boy and myself. But I wasn't one to trust my senses.

He came at me all at once, hands and feet flying at me from all different directions. I didn't have time to notice if Beast Boy escaped, but I hoped he did. This was our one chance to capture Robin; our one lucky day when Slade had left his headquarters.

*For me,* I thought as I continued to dodge Slade's blows. *He left his headquarters to fight me.*

After deflecting one of Slade's blows, I managed to get a small hit in, right beneath his chin. But this only angered Slade further, causing him to push even harder. Before I was able to dodge a punch, my gut had been kicked firmly and I was sent flying into a mirror. Quickly lunging away from the mirror to avoid having glass fall on top of me, I turned my attention back to Slade.

"I see you've gotten better Reyna," Slade hissed as he began to circle me.

"Don't ever call me that," I snarled, pulling out my bo staff and lunging. Slade too had his staff out and ready. Our bo staffs hit each other with a loud, screeching clang.

"Why? Does it bring back too many bad memories?" Slade replied. I knew he was trying to get me worked up so I would lose my focus, but the anger I felt toward him only seemed to strengthen my desire to beat him.

"Like you care," I growled, managing to get a nice kick to his arm while he was caught off guard by what I said. But when I went to punch Slade, the man grabbed my arm and flung me across the room into another mirror.

"I always cared about you," Slade responded, back to circling me again. "From the day I set my eyes on you…and your sisters."

I couldn't help it. I lunged right at that monster, with nothing but my hands formed like claws that I was hoping I could tear the man's eyes out with. But I was playing right into Slade's hands. He grabbed my arm again, only this time he didn't let go, but instead pulled me into his massive chest.

"I did everything you ordered," I hissed, knowing Slade would want more than my previous shout as a response. "I did everything you asked."

Suddenly my back was flaring in pain, and I was dropped to the hard ground.

"That's right Reyna, you did do everything I ordered you," Slade hissed. "Except you didn't obey my last request."

"Because it was murder," I shouted.

"I told you what to do," Slade continued. "You could have killed the innocent. I brought him in on a silver platter. I didn't even order you to break his neck. Just point the gun and shoot. But you couldn't do it. You couldn't bring yourself to kill, even though you knew what the greater punishment would be."

"I will never kill," I hissed, acid coating my voice.

"But Reyna," I knew Slade was smiling under his mask, "you already have."

"No!" I screamed. "That wasn't my fault!"

"Oh but it was," Slade continued. "Since you would not hold up your end of the bargain, I couldn't hold up mine. So naturally I had to order Karina to-

"Stop it!" I interrupted him, unable to hide the tears in my eyes.

"Although it was a shame they both had to die," Slade kept talking, continuing to push me over the edge. "I had to planned to use Karina as a servant when we took over the world."

"You planned for both of them to die and you know it," I snarled.

"But if you only had obeyed that order," Slade responded. "We wouldn't be having this discussion right now. You would have saved not only your sisters, but you would have also prevented a certain boy from a large amount of suffering."

"You're manipulating him," I countered. "You're trying to break him. Just like you broke me. But the thing is Slade, I've healed. I learn from my mistakes."

"As do I," Slade replied. And then we were fighting again. Like a whirlwind, we decimated that House of Mirrors. But while Slade continued to fight and continued to lunge, I was getting tired. I had not fought like this in a long time. My lungs screamed for air, but every time I attempted to make a break away from Slade for just a little rest, he would merely flip over me and block me from escaping, forcing me to fight. I was trapped, and both Slade and I knew it.

It wasn't long before Slade got his hit in. Right in the jaw to. My back landed on the floor with a sickening thud, desperately clawing for air and trying to wipe the pools of sweat off my face.

Suddenly a foot was placed on my stomach. Looking up, I saw Slade' s gleaming eye staring down at me victoriously. I might have improved, but I was still no match for him. This revelation only made me angrier, but when I tried to move, Slade's foot slammed me down into the ground, knocking the breath out of me.

"I should kill you," Slade whispered, with a crazy desire in his voice. "You've caused me far too much trouble than I would have liked. But…I will be merciful."

Again Slade slammed his boot into my stomach.

"Run away, Reyna," Slade ordered. "Run away and don't ever let me see your face again."

And then Slade's foot was off my chest and I could breathe again. It was then that I realized that I still needed to be fighting Slade; who knew if Beast Boy had even managed to find Robin yet. I needed to buy him more time. Even if it meant getting a beating to do so.

Gingerly pulling out my S shooter (bird-a-rang shooter but with Jay's S shaped weapons), I pulled the trigger, enjoying watching an S wrap around Slade's leg and throw him to the ground.

"I'm done taking orders from you," I growled from the floor. Slade turned around, a murderous look in his eye. But just as I thought he was going to lunge, a faint beeping sound came from his arm.

"What?" Slade's voice turned from shock to horror. "But how did he…"

I knew then that Slade had turned his glance to me.

"IT WAS A SETUP!" Slade roared.

"Better hurry back Slade," I spat out. "Before Beast Boy takes your precious bird."

Before I could blink, Slade was gone. Gingerly lifting myself off the ground, I began to limp toward the entrance to the House of Mirrors.

*Beast Boy,* I mentally chided my teammate. *I told you not to call for help.*

When I reached the outside of the House of Mirrors, my body gave out from under me, and I fell to the ground. It was still dark outside, but a small sliver of light was just coming up over the horizon.

*How long did Slade and I fight?* I wondered as I lay on the ground and finally succumbed to my body's overwhelming desire to sleep.

It seemed like hours before I came to again, shaken awake by a gentle hand. Opening my eyes, my blurry vision finally became clear, and I saw Beast Boy's smiling green face above me.

"Beast Boy," I whispered.

"I got him Jay," Beast Boy smiled. "I got him."


Okay, so this is a REALLY long chapter! I hope you guys liked it! Originally I was going to split it into two chapters but I liked the flow of it as one, so, here you go! Please read and review, and thank you to all who are reviewing, it's really helping me a lot.

Question 6:

Is it time for Batman?