Disclaimer: I do not own any of this! The Teen Titans and Robert Frost's poems are not my idea and belong to their rightful and respected owners! Enjoy

Ch. 17-Confrontations

(Jay's POV)

I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. Not as I took Robin through the city, not as I handed him over to Slade, not as Slade backed away, mocking me from behind his mask.

It was infuriating, thinking about what I had to do. I thought I had it all figured out; I thought I was one step ahead of Slade. But I was wrong. Slade still had one final trump card. And he had used it.

*At least it can't get much worse,* I thought as I began to jump from building to building, making my way back towards Titans Tower. Then, sighing, *How am I ever going to explain this to the Titans?*

Suddenly a tiger claw came out of nowhere, barely missing me by millimeters. Jerking backwards, I flung out my bo staff and smacked it into the tiger that was roaring down on me. As the tiger held back for a moment, I noticed the green tint to its fur.

"Beast Boy?" I asked, breaking position.

The tiger turned away, just as it morphed back into the hero I knew.

"Beast Boy don't scare me like that," I approached Beast Boy. But when I went to put my hand on his shoulder, Beast Boy whirled around, growling.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child! Like I'm an idiot!" Beast Boy raged.

"Beast Boy, what's wrong?" I asked, confused. An idea of why he was angry was nagging at me, but I was praying that wasn't it.

"Oh gee, I don't know, maybe I'm just a little upset that YOU'RE WORKING FOR SLADE!" Beast Boy screamed. I backed up a little as he took a step forward, his eyes gleaming murderously.

"No Beast Boy, you don't understand," I tried to explain but Beast Boy cut me off.

"Understand? Understand! What's there to understand? You betrayed us! You lied to us!" The words were pouring out of Beast Boy now, and they only seemed to be getting him more worked up.

"What, did you realize that we weren't good enough to save? Didn't want to side with the losers?" Beast Boy took another step forward, while I continued to back up, shocked by his accusations.

"Beast Boy if you would just listen-

"NO!" Beast Boy shrieked. "I'm tired of listening! I'm tired of trusting! I'm tired of it all! You're just like everyone else who comes here claiming to help us! But you know what, you're the one that's going to be sorry! We will get Robin back, and we will stop Slade, with or without you."

Beast Boy abruptly turned around and began to walk away.

"Beast Boy," I muttered, my heart breaking. No, I couldn't be deserted, I couldn't be.

Beast Boy looked over his shoulder at me. For once, my usually calm face broke and a small tear streaked down my face.

"Don't ever come back," Beast Boy hissed, and then morphed into an eagle and flew off, leaving me on the rooftop with no home, no team, and no friends.

TTTTTTTTTTT

(Robin's POV)

When I woke up, my head was screaming in pain. Bits and pieces of memories flung themselves at me in an attempt to help me remember, but they were instantly burned by the ever present fire. After twitching my fingers and toes to make sure I wasn't seriously injured, I opened my eyes.

I was in my room. Nothing out of the ordinary. But why did I feel a nagging sensation that I didn't belong in here? It was like the feeling when you blackout and wake up in a new place. Still…that didn't make sense. The last place I remembered being was here, at Slade's hideout.

Sitting up, I looked around the room. Nothing had changed, but I still felt like something was wrong. Like I should have known something but it continued to slip from my mind. I clung at the little bits and images that were whirling around in my head, but they didn't answer any of my questions.

Suddenly the door opened with a low hiss. I watched as Slade stepped into my room, but was shocked to feel my body cringe at his arrival.

*It's just Slade,* I told myself, but even thinking of the name sent shivers up my spine.

"Robin," Slade spoke as he came to the edge of my bed. Looking up, I tried to smile.

"Hello…master," something twisted in my gut as I spoke the words, but I forced them out. What was going on with me?

"You must be feeling very weak Robin," Slade replied. "You've been fighting an infection."

"I have?" I cocked an eyebrow. I didn't remember getting sick. Then again, I didn't remember much at all.

"Yes, a very grave illness," Slade explained. "When I came back to the hideout, you had passed out on the floor. You were running a high fever and vomiting."

"But why can't I remember?" I asked, confused. My memory might have been very chopping but there was no way I had been vomiting. Wouldn't I taste it in my mouth?

"The drugs I gave you were very powerful," Slade continued. "Very beneficial, of course, but unfortunately, they came with side effects. Your loss of memory for one. Another side effect was hallucinations."

"Seems dangerous," I narrowed my eyes. I didn't know why I was so suspicious of Slade, but something about his explanation didn't seem right. Part of me was telling me to not worry about it and accept Slade's story, but still…

"A healthy risk," Slade responded. "I knew the dangers and the benefits and which one outweighed the other. And look what happened. Here you are, recovering faster than normal drugs would have let you."

"Well…alright," I finally let it go. I was too tired to be concerned with what had happened. Slade ruffled my hair quickly, and then headed back toward the door.

"I'm going to be working," Slade explained. "Should you need me, just press the call button on your arm. And don't try to go wandering, you need rest. If I catch you, you're going right back in that bed mister."

"Okay…master," I replied, but the words were hollow.

The door slid open and Slade slipped through. Once the door was closed again, I sat down on my bed, trying to make myself believe what Slade had just told me.

*That has to be it,* I tried to tell myself. *Slade wouldn't lie to me.*

But as I began to take the armor plates on my uniform off, I realized that Slade did lie. For there, barely hanging on to one of my plates, was a single strand of bright orange hair.

TTTTTTTTTTTT

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Mad Mod asked Slade as they made their way down one of the many halls of Slade's hideout.

"Positive," Slade replied. "Now, what are the coordinates?"

Mad Mod handed Slade a small device that showed two blinking dots. One was in the center of the screen, which represented the heart of the city of Jump, while the other was a little more to the left, almost to the outskirts of the city.

"The one in the center is Jay," Mad Mod explained.

"Excellent," Slade put the device in one of his pockets. Then, turning to Mad Mod, he continued. "You know what to do?"

"Yes, we're ready," Mad Mod replied tiredly. He was sick of having to answer to Slade. Sick of having his every move needing approval from Slade. Because heavens forbid he would do something to turn Robin away from evil. This plan for turning Robin was getting out of hand.

Still, everyone was ready. Slade had come up with a final plan to get rid of the Titans, and the mysterious Jay. And once those annoyances were out of the way, Robin belonged to the villains; he was all theirs to control.

*Just one last plot,* Mad Mod thought as Slade made his way out of the headquarters and toward the heart of Jump.

*Just one last stage, before Robin is one of us.*

TTTTTTTTTTT

(Jay's POV)

I was surprised when I came across the book. But nonetheless, it gave me something to think it about. It took my mind off what had just happened.

While I had been jumping across the rooftops of Jump, I had come across my original rooftop where I had first sighted Beast Boy. The words of "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening," had run through my mind, and I had picked up the book. Now, in the heart of Jump, I was reading the poems, trying to ignore the fact that I had nowhere to go but that rooftop; nothing to look forward to but the next Robert Frost poem.

As I was mindlessly turning pages to get to the next poem, my eyes were caught by a poem I had only read once;

Out through the fields and the woods

And over the walls I have wended;

I have climbed the hills of view

And looked at the world, and descended;

I have come by the highway home,

And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the group,

Save those that the oak is keeping

To ravel them one by one

And let them go scraping and creeping

Out over the crusted snow,

When others are sleeping.

The words registered vaguely in my mind. As I continued to read the poem, I couldn't block the painful memories that were still so fresh.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,

No longer blown hither and thither;

The last long aster is gone;

The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;

The heart is still aching to seek,

But the feel question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man

Was it ever less than a treason

To go with the drift of things,

To yield with a grace to reason,

And bow and accept the end

Of a love or a season?

Suddenly I plunged into the memory, with its icy tendrils surrounding me on all sides as it overtook me.


(Jay's POV, flashback)

"Hello Reyna."

Spinning around, my eyes widened as I saw Slade on the big screen. However, the shock soon passed and my eyes narrowed.

"Slade," I hissed. "What do you want?"

Slade only laughed. "Oh Reyna," he replied, "it's not what I want from you, but what you want from me."

"What are you talking about?" I hissed, edging farther away from the screen. I hated not knowing what was going on with Robin. I wanted to make sure he was okay, and Slade was so inconveniently preventing me from doing so.

"Eager to help, aren't we?" Slade teased. I snarled, showing my teeth.

"If this is just a waste of time I swear-

"If you want to help Robin, you'll do as I say," Slade interrupted me, his eye narrowing. "Seeing as I am the one controlling him at the moment."

My eyes widened as Slade's comment sunk in. "You're doing this?" I asked incredulously.

"Well," I could tell Slade was smirking beneath his mask, "those probes controlling his emotions weren't ever taken out, and combined with a few other devices…the result will be interesting to say the least, for all of us. Nevertheless, let me put it to you this way, the longer you leave Robin at my hand, the more unstable and angry he will become. Now I am quite alright with an unstable Robin; he will be much easier to break. You on the other hand can't afford Robin in anything other than prime condition."

"I'm not helping you," I turned around and began to walk off when Slade continued.

"Reyna, if you walk away now, you'll only be hurting Robin. Sooner or later, I will get him, and by that time, he will be an emotional wreck. It pains me to do this, but I will follow through. As long as it's for Robin's benefit."

Whirling around, I snapped.

"YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT ROBIN'S BENEFIT! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS GAINING A STUPID APPRENTICE SO THAT WHEN YOU DIE THERE WILL SOMEONE JUST AS TWISTED AS YOU TO CARRY ON YOUR CRUEL LEGACY! WELL I WON'T HAVE IT! I'LL FIND SOME OTHER WAY TO CURE ROBIN AND GET THOSE…THINGS OUT OF HIM!"

"And right now Reyna," Slade replied. "You're helping my cause."

I sighed, breathing heavily from my outburst. Slade was right. I was only delaying the inevitable, and making things worse for Robin.

"What do you need me to do?" I finally spoke, hating myself for speaking those horrible words. It was those words that got me into a mess with Slade, and now history was repeating itself.

"Bring. Robin. Back."


And I had done it. I had followed Slade's words right down to the letter. Like I had a choice. Either watch my friend suffer at my hands, or suffer at my enemy's hands. And in the end, I wasn't sure if I had made the right choice. Had giving in been the right thing to do? It was so hard to decide.

Looking back at the poem, I noticed the title that I had neglected to see before.

"Reluctance," I spoke, enjoying how the word sprung off my tongue and leapt off into the cool night air around me. Deciding it was time to move on from the poem, I reached over to grasp the paper.

But just as I was beginning to turn the page, there was a loud thump on the rooftop.

"Hello Reyna," my heart hardened as I heard the voice that called out my name.

"Slade," I hissed, turning around. There was that man. That cruel, evil man. At the moment, I wanted nothing more than to tear his limbs off.

Before Slade could even get a syllable out, I lunged, with no hesitation, no boundaries. No reluctance whatsoever.


Yay, new chapter! I hope you guys like it, oh my gosh I finally found the perfect ending. I'll give you all a hint: it's based on the lion king! Haha confused, that's okay!

Question yada yada:

It's Batman time, would you like to see him find out about Jay's semi-betrayal or stay oblivious?