These Black Eyes

by P0ST

The ongoing adventures and experiences of the Teen Titans, as witnessed through the eyes of a silent newcomer.

156. J part 4

156. J part 4

SLIIIIIIIIIIINK!!!

I drove Myrkblade into Slade.

To the hilt.

I leaned my head over his shoulder.

My lips parted.

Breathing.

Slade's helmet convulsed.

"Snkkkkkk…..y-you are a ffffffool, Noir. Hckkkk!!…O-Only fools tear themselvessssss up for friends. Only f-fools………"

I exhaled.

A final breath.

"………………"

My black eyes flared--

SLASH!!!!!

I pulled back.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I panted.

My freshly-stabbed eyesight washed back over into clarity.

The blinding plume of the carbonite's flame was still there.

Half of a shattered building was melting before me.

It filled the air with heat and smell.

Burning dust settled around me as my ears throbbed with the second and third echoes of the burning-alive.

Two seconds……Three seconds……Four……

FWOOOOOSH!!!

I blurred towards the flames.

Teeth gritting.

Myrkblade held tightly in my grip.

Ashes and embers laughed in tiny orange splashes on either side of me.

The wind turned hot and whipped against my face.

I narrowed my vision.

I craned my ears.

I combined my eye for the darker regions of the flame with my hearing for the loudest of the tortured voices.

I found a spot two stories up.

I encased my body in a shield of warbling smoke…

And dove in.

FWOOOOSH!!!

I was momentarily shielded by an even more momentary flash of hotness on either side of me.

Then……

CLUMP!!!

I rolled onto cold floor beyond the tongues of flame.

I got on my knees and looked around, panting.

Smoke.

Crumpled walls.

Blackened furniture.

And around it rings……rings……rings……rings of fire.

Around me……

Voices.

My head jerked.

A caved-in hallway.

Shadows on the other side.

Encased in orange…

FWOOOSH!!

I teleported towards it with a breath and exploded out on the other side.

CRUNCH!!!

My body rolled onto dry ground and settled against a dismembered arm.

"!!!!"

I sat up, panting.

I heard a murmur.

I looked to my other side.

Two teenage girls huddled against a wall, coughing and whimpering. Smoke billowed over their heads as they convulsed against each other. One had blood trickling down her brow.

I grabbed their shoulders, hoisted them swiftly and—with teeth gritting—blurred back out through the flames in a wall of murk.

CRASH!!!!

Teleporting, we exploded out the other side. Quicker than the flames could burn us, I leapt us through the wall of fire and out onto cold territory. I lowered them to a sidewalk where a group of startled citizens had gathered. At sight of me and the victims they gasped and immediately ran to investigate--

SWOOOOOSH!!! No sooner, I was already blurring back towards the fires.

Panting.

Heading towards the screams that were growing fewer and fewer……and fewer………

PHWOOOOOM!!!

Part of the building's face crumpled down.

Screams erupted.

I clenched my teeth and burst through in a pulse of murk.

CRASH!!!

Mortar.

Dry wall.

Embers.

I tumbled onto charred floor on the other side.

Wincing.

Being singed by sparkling ashes all across my splayed legs--

"Mommy!!!" a shrill voice rang out.

I looked up.

A little child was on his knees in the middle of a burning halo of carpet. His hair was singed and his face was blackened by soot. He reached out across a pile of rubble towards a smoke-filled hallway where a half mangled woman in a charred nightgown struggled to get loose from a collapsed door frame.

"Mommy!! Get out!! Get out!!!"

"Aaaagh……," the woman bellowed in pain. "R-R-Richard……st-stay back!!" Her upper arm quivered. It was planted against the wall. That wall started to crumble. Cra-a-a-a-ack!! Amongst showers of red ashes, a huge fracture ran up the wall and onto the ceiling and enveloped the smoldering hallway in crimson spiderwebs.

"!!!!" I blurred forward. CHIIIIING!!! I materialized to a standstill at the mouth of the hallway with Myrkblade jabbing straight up. CHUNK!!!!

I gritted my teeth.

My entire body convulsed as I extended a field of murk up through my blade, outward, across the ceiling, and cascading down the walls of the hallway. I struggled to hold the crumbling frame of the burning interior whole with my black powers of balance.

The woman gasped and wheezed for breath. Half-open eyes gazed painfully at me.

I gazed helplessly back at her. Peripheral blazes danced off my shades. I couldn't move from that spot even if I tried. I sweated and my arms strained as I mouthed: 'Get out……Get out……'

Her jaw was weakly agape. She wheezed: "I……I-I can't……" Her leg was caught.

"I'll help you, Mommy!!" the little boy crawled up to his feet and ran towards the hallway. "Stay there!! I-I'll help you!!"

"Richard! NO!! Stay back!!!"

The boy ran.

The walls started to crumble over and across my blade's reinforcement.

I gasped. I looked down.

The boy ran past me--

THWOOSH!!

My leg shot out.

WHUMP!!

I tripped him.

"Ooof!!" he fell down hard on his tummy just an inch before the hallway.

CRNNKKKKK!!!!!

The wall collapsed.

I let out a mental scream.

The ceiling parted around Myrkblade.

The spiderweb fractures billowed flame.

The hallway swallowed the woman as she let out one last gasp of life.

CRASH!!!!!

"No!!!!!!!" the child squealed. "Mommy!!!!"

I collapsed on the ground from the impact. A second later, I vaulted to my feet and rushed towards the flame.

CL-CLANK!!!

Two crossbeams fell down, nearly crushing me.

I skidded to a stop, gulped, and stretched my left hand forward……spilling smoke……'feeling' through the rubble with spatial sense.

The child sobbed on the floor beside me.

I panted. I kept 'feeling' until I finally found the mother's body. The only problem was—underneath all the rubble—it was now in three separate places.

I gulped.

"Mommmmmmmy!!!!" the child wailed.

CRNKKKKK!!!

I looked up.

Two levels of ceiling were leaning over us with a loud groan.

CHIIING!!

I sheathed Myrkblade, spun around, scooped up the little boy, and dove---

FWOOOOSH!!

CRAAAAAASH!!!!

The two of us flew out of the blaze in a trail of smoke.

I landed in a crouch, stood up, and limped over to the sidewalk where a cluster of worried, woken citizens were gathered around the two recovering teenagers.

I slumped down to my knees on the sidewalk and let the boy go. The only problem is, he didn't let me go. He pounded his tiny fists against my chest and wailed: "Why didn't you save her?!?! You just let her die!! I hate you!! I HATE YOU!!!"

I exhaled. I practically shoved him away and into the arms of an unsuspecting good Samaritan. I hobbled up to my feet and turned towards the blaze again.

A random gentleman out of the gathering crowd ran across the flickering street towards me. "What happened here?!?! Sir, who are you?!?! Did you save these people??"

I pushed him away harshly. CHIIIING!! Teeth grit. I had Myrkblade out again and was sprinting towards the blaze.

The man gasped and reached towards me in vain. "M-Mister! Don't!! That building's going to collapse at any time—"

FWOOOOOSH!!!

I dove into a burning room. I coughed. I wheezed. Bubbles of sweat formed on my skin and shoulders. I ran into a door. It was jammed. Flames lit up all around me. I rammed the door with my shoulder. Once. Twice. I kicked it open with a mute growl. CRUNCH!! I stumbled into a burning hall. I heard moaning. I spun around. Smoke and embers. Smoke and embers. I stumbled forward. Ashes showered on me. The floor was groaning. The walls vibrating. Cracking sounds like shattering steel and splitting wood echoed around me. The groaning increased. A numbered door. Half open. I kicked it and rushed inside. I blinked.

PHWOOOOM!!!

A wall of flame flew at me in a backdraft.

I held my breath, gripped Myrkblade in two hands, and covered myself in a shield of smoke.

FWOOOOOSH!!!!

A ceiling of fire bubbled down and wafted past me like pure plasma. In a blinding blink, the flames were gone. The heat lowered down to a simple scorching. I lowered the shield and gasped for breath.

Moaning……

I spun around.

A leg sticking out of a bathroom door. A charred black leg.

I ran over.

I leaned my head through the door frame.

"…………"

A seventy-year-old man lay collapsed on the tile. Half naked. He clutched a quivering right arm to his chest. Thin ribbons hung off his wrist. I knew it was skin.

"H-Help……m-me………," he spat up blood and smoke.

"…………"

I took a deep breath.

I knelt down.

I scooped him up.

"OhhhhhhHHHHH……," he hissed in agony.

I hoisted him over my shoulder. I hobbled out of the bathroom. I looked around the hallway. The building started to shake all around us. The man sputtered and quivered against my back.

I spun around.

There was a noise from the hallway. Like that of a wall of growling lions.

Rupturing Oxygen……

I felt the hair on my neck curl as an indescribable heat built up in the place.

The man wheezed.

I saw a peripheral reflection of pure hot orange in the edge of my shades.

A wall of flame from behind.

I panted. I looked around for an exit.

The smoke from the ceiling dipped down and parted ways momentarily.

And I saw………

A window.

FWOOOSH!!!

Carrying the man, I blurred towards it.

SMASH!!!!

I broke through the glass and saw myself flying towards a brick wall straight across a third story alleyway.

I pulsed smoke and pivoted my upper legs sideways and up to meet the wall.

WHAP!!

Smoke powers gripped.

PHWOOOOOM!!! A cloud of flame burst out after me.

With sheer momentum, I ran across the alleyway wall. I gripped hard to the injured man. I streaked us both towards the dark sliver of the alley that led us towards the open street. Bright chaos chased us from behind, so did a monumental thunder as the entire building collapsed in a plume of ashes beside us.

CRUNNNNNNNCH!!!!!

Nnnnghhh!!!!

I leapt.

We burst out through a thick wall of flame.

We fell three stories.

I covered my legs in smoke.

I cushioned our descent.

I landed us in the middle of the street several feet away from the other three victims and the crowd surrounding them.

CRKKKKK!!! The building finished collapsing from the carbonite wrath.

Everything settled into liquid agony.

The sounds of flame were replaced by an even more intense shouting of voices as people performed spontaneous, street-knowledge first aid and called for the fire department.

And I sat there with the man over my shoulders.

Panting.

"…………"

I knelt down.

I gently lowered the man and cradled him against my lower legs and the sidewalk.

His eyes were open. Glazed. Staring straight up through his shades.

His mouth hung agape. But no breath came out.

"……………"

I looked up from the body towards the flames eating into the sky.

But I didn't see them.

Not really.

I became dimly aware of bodies gathering around me.

Cold things in the shapes of people rushing around. Clustering. Squawking into cell phones. Sobbing. Attempting CPR on a man no longer in my grasp.

My black eyes blinked.

Ana stood behind the out-of-focus shoulders.

Her head was hung.

Her hair shined golden in the firelight like angel blood.

Her head tilted up.

Sapphire orbs opened.

But when the tears came out of them, they had turned white.

I blinked again.

And she was gone.

And yet……she wasn't gone.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest, and without knowing it I had turned invisible.

Nobody noticed.

They were too busy trying to breathe life back into an elderly corpse.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

It was no more than forty-five minutes later.

I was cloaked in smoke.

Nobody could see me.

I leaned numbly with my back against a lamppost across from the blaze.

Firetrucks and two ambulances were at the scene.

Police squad cars were there, but they hadn't even begun to roll out the yellow tape.

A group of onlookers kept their distance while those who tended to the three survivors gave their eyewitness testimony to cops and on-site reporters alike.

The two girls sat on the back of a ambulance, bandaged, holding each other beneath a pair of blankets and shaking.

The little boy was flanked by two medics. He never stopped wailing.

I stared down at the asphalt from where I was invisibly located.

"…………"

I took a deep, shuddering breath.

Myrkblade hung dead on my back.

Silence……save for the tiniest crackling of dying embers from the 'clean' blaze.

"…………"

I had my shades off. It made very little difference when I was invisible. To stay in stealth for that long was really an exercise. I could have killed myself.

Well……maybe not. But perhaps I wanted to pass out.

Breath slowly poured in and out of my mouth.

"…………………"

I shut my eyes.

I hugged myself.

I took a deep………long………inhale………

"………………………"

A breath of wind.

………

Wind?

My black bangs danced.

I opened my eyes.

Clump!!

In slow motion, a shadow touched down in front of me. A living shadow landing in a crouch. I could feel body heat in the air currents. The figure stood up, and a black and yellow cape shook.

My black optics narrowed.

The figure turned around.

White eyemasks.

Hard set.

Frowning.

They glared right at me.

"What are you waiting for??"

I blinked.

"It's……It's a lot to take in, dude……"

The caped crusader waved at someone on the other side of me and the lamppost. "Nothing you haven't seen before. Now come closer. A tragedy has taken place here tonight, and it's up to us to investigate……"

A thin figure walked past me, nearly bumping into me. A short youngster with green complexion and pointed ears. He was practically limping with melodramatic air. "Man……this is really bad. H-How many people do you suppose were inside that building?"

"The police might be able to give us an estimate. Where're the others?"

Fwoosh!!

An amber skinned girl with flaming red hair landed directly to my left. She clasped her hands together and gasped. "X'Hal!!" she exclaimed dramatically. "How horrible!!"

"Shhh……keep it down, Star," the caped one signaled with a green glove. "There are survivors."

"My goodness, there are. Oh……the poor children………," she murmured quietly.

"Yeah……I know," the green one muttered.

There was a revving engine, then halting wheels, then two doors opening.

"Awww man……no," uttered the android driver with a hand to his fleshly skull.

"We're too late, Cyborg."

"The whole damn building's gone! Who could have done—"

"Need you ask that?" a girl in a blue robe drifted over from the passenger side. "This was bound to happen eventually. No matter how vigilant we were," she droned.

Half of the members hung their heads. They all stood around me. Surrounding.

I felt suddenly warmer. Warmer than in the middle of any blaze.

My lips parted.

A beat.

"We are……t-to avenge the deceased?" the redhead uttered.

The caped one shook his dark head. "No. We prevent more from dying. Come on. We're getting to the bottom of this. And we're taking it to Slade."

"Damn straight……," the android punched his fist.

The elf gulped.

They all drifted forward.

My left arm was drifting forward too. For what reason, I couldn't quite figure out. So I halted it half way before I could so much as touch anyone.

I blinked.

The ghost returned.

And then—to my realization—the girl in blue had halted.

A beat.

She slowly turned around. Her face was obscured by the shadows of her robe's hood. Until she daintily gripped the edges and lowered the hem. A pale face with a chakra stone stared unemotionally through me. Strands of blue hair fluttered in a warm breeze of the wounded spring night.

I breathed slowly. Staring.

"…………," the girl gazed past me. Her violet eyes scanned the street. The alleyways. The sidewalk.

She must not have found what she was looking for. Or maybe she did. Either way, she turned around quickly and hovered over to join the rest of the teammates in conversing with the police officers.

And I was alone. Unseen.

My left arm fell by my side.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The Sun was rising across a new City.

I sat limply on the edge of my bed. I wore my black tank top and my camouflaged pants. Myrkblade and the rest of my outfit was tossed across the edge of the apartment. My black hair hung limp over half of my brow and chest like a dead animal. I crossed my arms over my knees and stared down into the floor. Slouching……slumping……breathing……

"………………"

My naked eyes barely blinked. Even when the morning light intensified and everything started to hurt……

I swallowed my empty throat.

Things almost make half-sense when they hurt.

There was a shuffling of feet.

"……………," I glanced over.

'J' stood in the doorway. He looked like he belonged there. He hugged himself and shrank twice as small as his tiny self already was at the receiving end of my gaze. He was biting his lips. Green eyes bled at me.

Silence.

"……………," I took a deep breath.

His lips quivered. One shaking foot at a time, he shuffled into my room and stood besides me.

I stared at him.

He swallowed. He barley managed to lift his hands up from where they wrung behind his back.

He hand-signed: 'The Titans were there? They took care of it?'

Silence.

My lips curved ever so slightly. Painfully. I lifted my hands up and merely gestured:

'The Titans were there.'

'J' shook. He ran a hand through his blonde hair. Shook. And signed: 'It was Slade.'

I nodded. 'I know,' I mouthed. 'I know.'

Something came over him. Something so nightmarishly intense that I instantly wondered why I didn't predict it. The boy sniffed once…twice……then hugged himself as his whole body convulsed inwardly, and the tears started floating. Down his immaculate face. Shivering through his small frame.

I took a deep breath. I reached an arm out.

He gladly fell against me in a clutching hug.

I circled a single around his back and gently rubbed his shoulder as he sobbed into me. I was deadpan, but my breaths hurt more than his. I gazed out the window into the stabbing light and gently rocked him.

Why does this kid care so much?

Why is he so obsessed over what Slade does?

Why does he look up to me?

Why……Why…………

I blinked for the first time, resisting the bright torture.

Why couldn't I have run faster to the site………?

I don't remember how long J cried. Nor do I remember how long we were both there that morning. I only remember thinking about Ana's smile. The giggle she would sound off while racing me through the cedar trees to breakfast……

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"For the last time! I don't remember anything! I was asleep, Cyborg! Asleep!"

I blinked.

I was sitting in the Main Roo.

The Titans were having a 'meeting'.

I momentarily lowered my shades and rubbed my eyelids tiredly.

"Robin, it's cool man," Cyborg gestured.

"No! It's not cool!" the Boy Wonder barked, back in his signature costume. "I don't kindly to finding out I've been running around doing things I can't recall in my sleep!!"

Raven drifted forward and faced him: "We know this is a lot for you. But something is wrong. We believe you when you say you don't remember what happened last night, Robin. It's inherently impossible for you to have. You were acting under a mysterious influence—"

"What kind of mysterious influence?!" Robin cackled. He gestured towards himself: "I feel fine!!"

"Robin…..," Starfire rested a hand on her shoulder. She was standing next to him the entire time. Standing close. "Be calm, please. Allow them to explain their findings once more…."

At her touch and her words, the Boy Wonder breathed easier. But that didn't stop his shoulders from shaking and his brow from being furrowed. He hung clenched fists at his side and gazed mutely through the floor.

Cyborg said: "There was no brain activity inside that spiked head of yours to possibly register the sort of experiment you were performing. It's like your body was in complete control. You don't remember a thing because your brain wasn't working with the rest of your system to get the job done last night that you did! Do you understand, Robin? We're talking about a dissociative function here. It's not a matter of multiple personalities vying for control over you. Neither is it some crap about an ego and superego conflicting and resulting in the said activity. Quite honestly, I don't know what happened. But according to all the sensor readings and surveillance….it certainly wasn't you."

"Sounds like you've done a lot of intense research," Robin grumbled.

Cyborg. "Yeah, man. Quite frankly….I stopped doubting you as a Titan a long time ago."

"………," Robin was silent to that.

Raven spoke: "Like I mentioned before, I detect something about you. Something small. Something miniscule. I cannot describe it. Neither is it something I've encountered before in scanning the psyche of an individual. But there's definitely something foreign in your….in your…..y-your system. Your mentality. Your overall being. And whatever that thing is that my empathy is even remotely measuring…I am certain it may be the missing link to your somnambulist activity."

"Excuse me for interrupting," Tempest lifted a finger. "But….wh-what exactly did Robin—er….the body of Robin do?"

"He worked way ahead of us, Flipper," Cyborg gestured. "He did an intense scan on the evidence found at the Prison."

"You mean the escaped prisoners' stuff that you lectured us about yesterday?" the Atlantean remarked.

Cyborg nodded. "Everything I intended to do. The surface scans. The chemical analysis. The digital comparisons to prior subjects. Research into local manufacturing bureaus both legitimate and not…..Robin somehow did it all in a span of three hours. It's phenomenal. From the surveillance footage, it looked like his body was going through the experiment like he had done it a billion times before! Like a computer! Not a single second was wasted. Er….no offense, Robin. You're a good detective in your own right."

Beast Boy chuckled.

"Yeah……," Robin grunted.

"So….like…..," Tempest blinked. "What did he find?"

"Is that really important right now?" Robin uttered. "In case you haven't noticed…..there's this little issue of mind control that's worrying me!"

"We don't even know if it is mind control," Raven droned.

"What else can it be?!?!" Robin exclaimed. "I wasn't doing all of that last night!! There's something wrong with me, and as the leader of the Titans I cannot afford to suffer that liability!"

"I'm sure it's nothing big, dude," Beast Boy shrugged as he leaned back in his sofa seat. "I mean….Robin's been known to sleepwalk before, right?"

"Eep!" Starfire clasped her hands together, blushing.

Cyborg bit his lip.

Raven's eyes trailed.

Robin did a double-take. "What??"

Starfire hummed nervously.

"It's nothing, Robbie," Cyborg said.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Robin ran a shaking hand through his hair. "I'm confused."

"So am I…," Tempest blinked.

"Okay…so like….Robin's doing experiments in his sleep," Beast Boy pointed. "So what? Makes our job easier! Cyborg, you followed up on the research from last night, right?"

"Yeah….."

"Couldn't we use that to make Decker satisfied?"

"It just doesn't feel right, man," Cyborg said. "Something outside of the circle of Titans is obviously impacting Robin. The fact that our leader was used to an end of performing the same experiment we've been planning on doing sounds like it could be leading us into a big trap if we followed. Besides…the conclusions that 'Robin' came up with last night are ambiguous. Yes, they show that the weapons and the tools found at the prison could not have been made by the prisoners themselves. But the closest the experiment ever came to revealing the location of the stuff's manufacturing was somewhere by a body of ocean water. And that doesn't help much."

"Raven," Starfire spoke. "When you and Robin pursued Noir and Jinx into H.I.V.E. Academy….there was an extremely powerful telepath present, was there not?"

Raven nodded. "There was. Psimon. Most likely the leader of the temporarily reborn Fearsome Five."

Starfire leaned her head to the side. "Could he perhaps have wielded an influence over poor Robin's mind?"

The Boy Wonder lifted his head at hearing that. He seemed dazed. Tired…all of the sudden. His body sagged in proportion to Starfire's tall and alert complexion beside him.

"……….," I stared.

"We thought of that ourselves, Star," Cyborg nodded. "That's why we conducted a scan on Raven and Noir as well. Both with my systems and with her meditation."

"Neither Noir or I give off the same signal of peculiarity," Raven droned. She shook her head and gestured: "Whatever has affected Robin has affected him alone. And I cannot give an exact time as to when this mental interference began. It could have been during the H.I.V.E. debacle. It could have been weeks before it. I'm tempted to think it happened after we returned from Bludhaven. I had…..h-had undergone a lot of mental exercise during the H.I.V.E. raid. I would definitely have sensed something about Robin shortly thereafter."

"Then the cause as to his nocturnal habits is inconclusive….," Starfire blinked.

"I'm afraid so," Raven nodded.

Starfire swallowed. She asked: "Could this interference have an impact on his emotion?"

Robin gave her a surprised look.

Beast Boy and Tempest and Cyborg all scratched their heads.

I gazed at the deadpan Raven, then back at Starfire.

The Tamaranian's face was untouched. Patient. Awaiting a response.

Robin stared at the floor, exhaling gently…

"I….I don't know, Starfire," Raven said. Then quite bluntly she turned, faced Robin, and asked: "Have you felt…..different lately, Robin?"

Slowly, pensively, Starfire gazed at him.

We all stared at him.

The Boy Wonder gulped. "I…..I-I…..n-no! I've been fine! I've been….myself…..normal….you know??"

"…………….," we all stared at him.

Robin breathed. He turned and looked at Starfire.

She kept gazing at him.

"I'm fine, Star….," he insisted with a nod of his head. "I'm fine. Only….."

"Only what?" Tempest asked.

The Boy Wonder ran a gloved hand over his face. He sighed. "Tired…..I guess….."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Tired?"

"Yeah, Cyborg. Tired. OKAY?!" he gritted his teeth.

We all shifted nervously where we stood or sat.

Robin sighed and shook his head. "Look, I'm just about as confused about all of this as you guys are. But the way I see it…nothing really bad has happened. At least…..not yet." He stared at Cyborg and Raven. "I'm proud of you two. Honestly, I am. You caught me…..n-not being myself and you reported it the first moment I got. It just goes to show that—as Titans—we don't keep strange things to ourselves anymore. We know damaging it is to carry on with our own individual suppositions of other members. And I'm very glad that you two brought this to everyone's attention—mine especially—right away. But as things are…this shouldn't get in the way with official business. I think it'd be best that we alert Commissioner Decker of our 'findings', vicariously influenced or not. The furthest we can get to the bottom of the prison bombing, the better."

Cyborg stepped forward and looked down at Robin. "The nest best thing we should do now is get you to stay put."

Robin's eyemask narrowed. "Why would you insist that?"

"Are you nuts, dawg? There's something wrong with you!"

"I feel fine--!!"

"At least admit that there is a level of unpredictability with whatever has been controlling you in your sleep," Raven droned. "We all respect you, Robin. And we believe that it is truly you whom we are speaking and deliberating with this very moment. But if this mysterious element were to take root in you in the midst of our investigations—"

"I could be nothing but big….big trouble…..," Robin muttered.

A beat.

Raven blinked. "Yeah…..," she exhaled. "Quite honestly….."

Silence.

Robin slumped back into a chair. He stared down at the carpet. "Why…..? Why now? Why did all of this have to throw a wrench into the project?"

"Don't put it that way, Robin," Tempest spoke. He shrugged with a helpful smirk. "The rest of us can handle the investigation as far as it goes physically. While you're taking it easy, you can give us commands from the sidelines."

"Yeah, dawg," Cyborg patted the Boy Wonder's shoulder. "Just take it easy for the time being. We've got it covered. When we need you—and believe me we will, Mr. Detective—we'll holler. Got it?"

A beat.

Robin sighed.

"Consider it gotten…."

"Good," the android Titan nodded. "Now go get some rest. Your room is a good place to start."

"Uhm….," Starfire raised an amber hand. "May I volunteer to escort Robin to his habitat?"

Tempest snickered.

Raven suppressed a smirk.

Cyborg rolled his human eye. "Girl….you're too modest."

"Huh?"

"By all means, Star…," Robin smiled tiredly and offered his arm as he headed towards the elevator. "You don't even have to ask."

She blushed somewhat. "I understand," she waved at the others. "Thank you, everyone. Our leader shall get the respite he deserves."

"Uh….yeah," Beast Boy nodded. "Joy to the world and stuff."

I watched as the two hobbled out of the Main Room and descended beyond the double doors.

A beat.

I turned and glanced back at the rest of the Titans.

Cyborg took a deep breath. He glanced at Raven. "Well??"

"He is absolutely clueless," Raven said.

"Duh!!" Beast Boy hopped to his feet and scampered across the Main Room to the fridge to make himself a tofu sandwich. "Any dolt could have told you that! I swear, that guy's gonna have a mid-life crisis real early in his existence! Like….two weeks YESTERDAY!"

"He has no inclination as to what possibly caused his actions in the middle of last night," Raven spoke. "And I doubt that his detective skills will help him unravel any of the mysteries we have about his condition."

"But they will help us in the prison investigation," Cyborg said, walking over to the computer.

Tempest leaned forward: "Shouldn't we be more worried about Robin right now? Can't Decker and the prison stuff wait?"

"If there's one thing you learn from being a Titan….," Cyborg said as he sat down and typed away at the keyboard. "….it's that 'Robin issues' have a way of resolving themselves on their own with you not really getting any jest of it. I dunno. It's all Greek to me." He finished a keystroke, leaned back, sighed, and swiveled to face Tempest. "Robin will be okay, Flipper. Whether it's mind control, neurological programming, or just plain sleep-walking….I dunno. But don't worry about your leader. He's gone nuts long before you were even a tadpole."

Tempest shrugged: "I just think we'd perform this investigation a whole lot better with Robin fully at the reins."

Cyborg glared. "You doubtin' my leadership skills?"

"Yes."

Raven chuckled.

Cyborg looked at her, eyebrow raised.

Raven cleared her throat. She gestured towards Tempest: "Did I mention he makes a great addition to the team?"

Tempest smirked.

"……….," Cyborg sighed and leaned forward with all of his focus on the computer. "I'd throw you out with the Atlantean tonight too, but I kinda sorta like keeping my skull in tact."

"You remember that," Raven drifted off.

"Where're you going?"

"To meditate," the dark girl droned. "I want to try scanning Robin's psyche again. But I'll need to 'exercise' first."

Beast Boy held a plate towards her as she passed by: "Here! Take a munchie with you! Good for the heart!"

"Go suck on tofu."

"Heh. Anorexic."

Raven was gone.

Beast Boy was quiet.

Cyborg was typing.

Tempest was resting.

"……………….."

With a quiet sigh, I stood up, shuffled about, and walked out of the room.

Why was I ever given a 'cloaking ability' to begin with?

I was gone.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Robin and Starfire walked down the dark hallways side by side.

Silent.

"………"

"………"

A beat.

Starfire glanced at Robin.

Robin stared ahead.

Starfire looked ahead too.

Silence.

The alien girl smiled. She held her hands together and uttered: "I know! I-I can have a saturated wash-of-the-cloth prepared for you! And an ice pack! Would that not be alleviating to your condition?"

"…………."

"R-Robin?"

"I'm not sick, Star," Robin grumbled.

She blinked.

He sighed: "Ice packs work on humans when they have a fever. I don't have a fever. I'm not sick."

"But Cyborg and Raven's findings….," she spoke. "They said—"

"And I acknowledge what they said. And I believe in their findings," Robin droned. "But I am not sick. I am not….n-not anything! I just….just…."

"You need rest, most assuredly?"

"I just don't know anything, Starfire," Robin grumbled. "I've felt this way for the last few days. Ever since I've gotten back from the H.I.V.E. fiasco with Noir and Raven, I've felt clueless about…..a-about everything. Only—starting yesterday—I've been feeling clueless and tired. So very tired…."

Starfire's green eyes fell. She stared at the floor passing beneath them.

"Only….."

She looked up at the sound of his voice.

He came to a stop at the door to his room. He hung his head.

A beat.

He sighed, he turned and smiled weakly at her. "…..only I didn't feel tired this evening, Starfire. I…..I really enjoyed being with you."

She smiled and shut her eyes as she pleasantly said: "It was ecstatic spending time with you as well, Robin. I….I do think it would m-make a pleasant trend."

"Yeah……," he slowly nodded. "It would…."

A beat.

Robin's shoulders suddenly sagged as if his body had been draped in a melting thunderbolt. He shook his head and sighed.

Starfire's lips parted. "Robin…..you are…..afflicted?"

"Nngh….I dunno," he rubbed the corners of his eyemask with gloved fingers. "Everything that Cyborg and Raven said. It's a bit…….a bit….."

"Overwhelming?" Starfire blinked, her head leaning innocently to the side.

Robin gritted his teeth. "I'm just sick of it, Star! I really am!"

"Sick of what, Robin?"

"Being a liability to the entire team. Being so unpredictably problematic!" he gestured. He sighed. "Being so…..h-human…."

A beat.

Starfire daringly touched Robin's shoulder. An intimate echo from a golden conversation hours ago. "I think you are precious, Robin."

"……," he gazed up her arm and at the Tamaranian herself.

She smiled. "Precious….but strong. Strong and resilient." A beat. She giggled softly and said: "But right now, you are extra precious."

A beat.

Robin chuckled.

Starfire giggled.

Robin sighed: "Yeah….super tired." A beat. "Ugh." He practically fisted the console to the door. Clank! Schwishh! "Now is a good time to crash."

Starfire gasped: "Robin! Do not hurt yourself!!"

"It's a figure of speech, Star," Robin blinked under his mask. "It means that I'm going to sleep….in every definition of the term."

"I see," she nodded. "I shall not keep you."

Robin paused. "…….." He looked the girl's way. "Did you want to come in for a second?"

She did a double-take. "I…uhm….erhm…..," she blushed.

He smirked. "It's just…..to talk some more, Starfire. I've got a lot on my mind. If th-that's allright."

"Oh….u-understood," she simpered. "But of course."

"Do they make gutters on your planet?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Robin walked in.

Starfire followed.

Schwissh!

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I went into my cellar room.

I plopped myself onto the bed.

I got out my laptop.

I signed online.

I switched on my instant messenger service.

I scanned down my buddy list.

My heart skipped a beat.

InzeUltima……

I quickly highlighted her name, typed, and clicked 'send'.

SpSquirrel: Hey there.

But….

'InzeUltima Is Away From the Computer'

"……….," I sighed.

A beat.

I looked around my room.

The lanternlight.

The lonely shadows.

Silence.

"……….."

I cracked my metal and flesh knuckles.

I flexed my fingers.

I typed.

SpSquirrel: Say, I know you're gone and all. But I gotta ramble on about one thing.

SpSquirrel: When you first became Supergirl….was it your way of preserving something? Like perhaps the memories of your family back on Argos?

SpSquirrel: If that's too pointed of a question, then don't bother responding to it when you get back and stuff.

SpSquirrel: You're one of the most legendary superheroines out there….even with all the 'restrictions' Clark puts on you and whatnot. The legacy of Supergirl had to have started with something big, right? Otherwise, how would Supergirl be around today? Things have got to be built in concrete.

A beat.

I leaned back and scratched my chin.

My black eyes narrowed.

"………….."

I exhaled.

I leaned forward.

I typed:

SpSquirrel: I joined the Titans through an impulse, Kara. And an impulse only lasts for so long. My impulse has turned into something so…so incredibly big. I've lost an arm and half of my decency to stay where I am now. And for the life of me, I can't seem to wrench myself free even if—for some psychotic reason—I was possessed with the need to do so. There is something mind-numbingly frightening and paranoid eating at my senses. Like something evil and ugly on the horizon and I can't make myself leave my best friend's side for fear of an end to the security I once killed Slade to uphold. It's an ambiguous thing…kind of like what's affecting Robin. And I'm scared for him. And I'm scared for my friends. And—in a lot of ways—I'm scared for myself. I don't know what to do, Kara. Lord help me, I'm even more powerless than Robin is.

I finished typing.

I leaned back.

I sighed.

Silence.

"………"

I groaned inwardly.

With the 'mouse' button of the laptop, I highlighted the gargantuan paragraph I had just typed….

And quickly deleted it.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Well a how-do-you-do to you, Titan's Tower!! Are you the bringer of good news this fine evening?!?!"

Beast Boy paused in mid-sandwich bite.

Tempest nearly tripped in walking across the room.

The boys looked past Cyborg's shoulder at the computer console's speakers.

The android Titan at the station blinked. "Uhm……C-Commisioner? Is that you?"

"Damn straight, it's me! What?! Scared that I sound like I'm in a good mood?? Well I am in a good mood!! God only knows…the moon may be shitting acid down to earth and still I'd be tap-dancing outside with an umbrella! Naked, I might add!!"

Cyborg winced. "Ahem. I'm afraid I don't follow you sir…."

"I just got done talking to Margaret Sawyer!!"

"And?"

"She's sending the Headmistress of H.I.V.E. to the department of yours truly for some good old-fashioned interrogation!! Your leader Robin and the rest of the Titans get front row tickets, by Zeus!! I'm going to grill the Headmistress for every god damn shred of evidence she conceivably has lying around in that prozac-layered head of hers regarding the prison bombing!! And I want Robin nearby as a listening ear and a helping hand!! He's trained for such things, ya know!! Bats in a belfry have an influence over him, if you catch my continental drift!!"

Beast Boy uncontrollably giggled.

Tempest hissed at him to shut up.

Cyborg leaned in towards the speakers. "Uh….yeah. We'll….um…..work something out."

"Work something out?!?! This is progress, Cyclops!!"

"Cyborg."

"Whatever. The green one, right??"

"No, sir, actually I'm the black one."

"So maybe you're a random drop from a bag of Skittles?! Who the Hell cares?? The truth is coming to this City! It's official! HA!"

"How exactly is the Headmistress getting here??"

"Patty Wagon! Quite literally!! A prison van from Metropolis is headin' our direction down the Highway!"

"Alone??"

"Shit, no! Armed escort!! Six motorcyclists and two state troopers armed to the teeth!! Nothing short of a Greek God is getting through that phalanx!! And even if Apollo himself was to pay a visit, mine and Maggie's men would have his granite balls on a platter, I tell you what!"

"It's…erhm…..g-good to hear you in…s-such good spirits, Commissioner," Cyborg sweatdroppingly stammered into his mic.

"Tell him to stop on by!!" Beast Boy cackled from the back of the room. "And bring his sleeping bag and a teddy bear and we'll all sit around gossiping about New Kids on the Block!!"

Tempest tossed a sphere of dishwater at him.

SPLOOSH!!

"Dah!! Hehehehe!!"

"Grow some pituitary glands!!"

"SHHH!!!" Cyborg uttered at them and returned to the mic. "Anyway we can assist in the Headmistress' trip here??"

"Nuh uh. I need you kids for other things at the moment. Don't worry about that old bag. She's halfway here by now, I bet. In the meantime……just what did you hail me for, Mr. Cypher?"

"Cyborg."

"More good news, perhaps? About the investigation? Hmm?"

Cyborg sweatdropped. He glanced back at the others.

A half-soaked Beast Boy gestured: "Is there an even more eloquent form of saying 'don't look at me'??"

"Uh…..," Cyborg blinked. He turned back to the intercom. "We ……our e-experiments on the weapons….found at the prison……………………………………………more or less."

A slight pause.

"More or less??"

"Yeah….uh….you see….uhm….," Cyborg scratched his titanium brow momentarily. A beat. He brightened. He said: "But….there's this….uhm…..high improbability factor—uhm—'percentile' that is forcing us to go back over the procedures and….um…..proceed on them just right so that…….they're not improbable anymore."

"…………………"

"……………….but we think we have enough info to confirm that the weapons weren't made by the prisoners."

"Kickass! Now THAT'S some development!"

"It's safe to assume that whoever or whatever made those weapons, it was a source outside of the prison and responsible for ALL of the weapons and props found."

"Has Robin been working hard to get all of this done?"

Beast Boy and Tempest winced.

"Oh, by all means sir…," Cyborg shrugged his shoulders. "Robin's been spearheading this investigation ten times more than the rest of us!"

"Well that's comforting. Yesterday he looked like an undercooked vegetable. Mushy limbs supporting an even mushier psyche. Sometimes I wonder what's in that scrawny little head of his."

"That makes the seven of us, sir."

"Anyways, be sure to have Robin bug me soon. Or else I'm going to have to bug the punk by the time the Headmistress gets in Town. Ha! Decker out."

-blip-

"That guy in a good mood…," Beast Boy pointed, "….is like a really yummy ice cream sundae………dipped in termites."

"Well…be thankful for what I got out of him," Cyborg swiveled around and stood up on tired feet. "Now we've got some time to check up on Robin and get all our ducks in a row before the Headmistress actually gets in Town."

"Well done, Cyborg," Tempest smirked. "No wonder Robin chose you as number one."

"Flattery gets you nowhere, Flipper."

"You see me going anywhere anytime soon?"

"Hey, I got one thing to say…."

"One thing? What is it, B.B.?"

The changeling gestured: "If there's something making Robin do stuff in his sleep, how do we not know whether or not he's been affected in other ways?"

"Like…..," Tempest raised an eyebrow.

Beast Boy sighed. "Him and Starfire, dudes."

Silence.

Cyborg rubbed the human part of his head. "That's for….the two of 'em to know. I guess…."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"………….," Robin sat on the edge of his mattress. Staring at the bedside table. The closed drawer. Silent.

Starfire was admiring various frames of newsclippings along the Boy Wonder's clustered bookcase. "Glorious…….I was not aware that you had so many documented instances from your Gotham City legacy. It must be a wonderful thing to achieve such recognition."

"Yeah….," Robin muttered. His eyemask was still frozen to the drawer of the bedside table. "All they are—though—are memories."

Starfire traced images of Robin and Batman in action as taken by random, spontaneous photographers. There were headlines depicting the fall of Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter, Bane, and Killer-Croc….just to name a few.

"Your memories are wonderful, Robin," Starfire smiled. She looked over at him. "You should be happy…..a-and proud."

Robin slowly lowered his gaze from the table. "Not all memories are good ones, Starfire."

"Oh??"

"But one can still learn from them…"

Silence.

Starfire slowly walked over and stood above Robin at his bedside. "You are…..thinking of the girl of clay?"

Robin exhaled slowly. "I've….had my chances to grow up. As I'm sure you have, Star…." He looked up at her. "I don't think any Titan here has had a happy life story."

She stared with unblinking green eyes…then slowly lowered them. A breath. She uttered: "I acknowledge that I have been through times of great severity and turmoil. And you are right, I have used such instances to grow. X'Hal knows what kind of a person I would be now had I not learned to survive a devastating world that burned its way onto my beautiful Tamaran." She slowly opened her eyes again. "But I know that I need not feel shameful for living in the present and looking forward to the future. Tamaran is my home, Robin. But Earth has….has stolen my heart." She clasped her hands together and leaned forward. "I choose joy. I choose joy as something to live and die for. The people of Earth are wonderful and beautiful, but they are also very sad and pessimistic. Many of them do not understand how truly strong the forces of Life are. They cannot open their eyes to salvation…a thing which emanates from their very own heartbeat. Their very own essence of being." She gazed aside meekly. "I have…always carried about me this ideological consideration. And perhaps that is why I have not been so quick to admonish you for your vehement acts of daring that put your life on the line so many times daily, Robin. I know that—in spite of your obsession and in spite of your penchant for danger—deep down inside you truly, truly love life. You love life's warmth and the justice that secures it and all the faculties you are able to employ in preserving it. I admire that about you. I admire it about all Earthlings. But I admire it about you the most. For I feel it in you, Robin. I feel that life. It is….hehehe….m-most addicting."

A beat.

"Heh….," Robin smiled slightly.

"Does something amuse you?"

He looked up at her. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be saying that you saw life in me."

"Why….whatever do you mean, Robin?"

"Do you not see how incredibly good and innocent and…..just plain righteous a person you are, Star?"

She blushed somewhat. "I do get a….s-slight impression of people's opinions."

Robin shook his head. "It never fails."

"What is it that ceases to fail?"

"Never mind, Star….," Robin rubbed his temples. He yawned. "Ugh…I am so out of it. I can even think let alone…..think wisely."

"You have been subjected to unsettling revelations within the last hour or two," Starfire pointed. "One cannot blame you for physiological exhaustion."

A beat.

"Starfire?"

"Yes, Robin?"

He stared at her. "You said….for some reason….th-that you feel life in me, right?"

"Mmmhmmm," she nodded.

He bit his lip. "By feeling that…..can you tell me………" A pause. He finished: "….am I the same person right now that you have always known?"

"…………," Starfire blinked. She slowly sat down on Robin's left side. She held her hands in her lap. "Earlier today, Robin. When……Wh-When you let me 'hold' you….."

"Yes?"

A beat.

"I-I felt that very same life tenfold," she uttered softly. "And I suppose it is liken unto the essence of your bad dream turned good as of recent. I realized truly how precious this 'life' that I sensed was. It amazed me, yes. But not because it was different coming out of the person I have always known. I knew it was 'Robin'. I had sensed it before. Only so close….so intimate…..it was……," she hugged herself and looked at Robin with a soft smile and warm cheeks. "…..stronger."

He slowly nodded.

"I….I must sound liken unto the liquid excrement of a tree."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Eep! I am sorry. I forget exactly the term, but Cyborg once described to me how Earthling trees excrete a sticky substance—"

"Sap?"

"Yes!"

"You think you're being sappy?"

"Yes! Er…I-I mean no! I….ohhhhhhhh….," Starfire planted her face in her hands and shook it. "How I so desire to master your vernacular after so many months of planetary habitation!! This is liken unto the strand of dead grass that damaged the vertebrae of the desert beast!!"

Robin chuckled helplessly. He stretched his left arm out and hugged Starfire gently to him. "Starfire…..I've got to say….your existence is the best thing that ever happened to me."

She blinked. "Truly?"

Robin suddenly blushed, as if realizing at the last second what he just spat out. "Uh….yes, Starfire. Truly." He looked at her in a somber gaze. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

She bit her lip. Her eyes suddenly glossy…until the eyes nearly crossed at seeing how close Robin's nose was to hers. And then her eyes drifted down to their two forms sitting so close. Sitting so close on a bed.

"….."

She got up.

"I think I must….uhm……endeavor to leave so that you may rest."

"Y-Yeah…," Robin scratched the back of his neck. "I suppose….I need that. Rest."

"A Terran shower would also be nice."

"Nah, Star. I think I'm just gonna crash—"

"I was referring to myself."

"Oh……..huh?"

She was already at the door, waving pleasantly. "Heeeeeeee! Happy slorvax!"

Robin waved back at her.

Schwissh!!

She was gone.

"………." Robin murmured, "Tell me, Starfire. How could I ever be as truly happy as you?"

A beat.

The Boy Wonder sighed.

Yawning helplessly, he laid himself down on the bed, curled up partly, and was out like a light.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Outside the door to Robin's room, Starfire sauntered down the hallway a few paces.

She paused.

A beat.

She hugged herself.

A sigh.

Biting her lip.

Green eyes shut somberly for a few seconds, and reopened moist.

She sniffed for some reason or another and continued her brisk pace around the corner.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I sat on the bed in my room.

My back against the headboard.

My arms folded.

Staring into the blackness of my domain.

Silent……

"………………."

I took a deep breath.

I gazed down at the laptop on my cross-legs.

"………………."

Kara still isn't back.

A beat.

Hmm……

I moved the cursor and checked my e-mail. I looked under the old subject headings. I opened the last one addressed to me within the previous forty-eight hours.

Dear Old Friend,

Jinx and Pulsade are back safely. I cannot thank you enough for not threatening their necks with that sword of yours. In the meantime, I hope my assistance to the Titans was useful. But I still have the feeling that you don't remember me. Quite alright. I'll be there in your City soon. I'm sure we'll get a chance to meet again in the next few days.

-"J'

I leaned forward and stared at the message. Scanning my black eyes over it a few times. Scratching my chin and slowly exhaling in the process.

A beat.

My eyes narrowed.

Old friend??

I blinked.

I leaned back and folded my arms again.

We met briefly back when I met the Titans.

But we were never……'old friends'.

I ran a metal hand through my long black hair.

But then again, the little shrimp was sorta friendly. His idea of a companion could be a different definition compared to my reclusive little book.

A beat.

I blinked.

Or could it be……he's been around longer than I've known him to be……?

I gazed at the message again.

'I hope my assistance to the Titans was useful.'

I took a breath.

He's an 'old friend' of mine. And now he's helping the Titans like we're all pals. What if all this time……he's had every reason to 'get to know them'?

I swallowed.

My black eyes trailed the shadows of the room.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I walked into the corner of the abandoned apartment building.

Piano music wafted down through the floorboards above.

I stood by a little cot next to a cooler of food.

I stared at two laptops and a TV. screen.

Surveillance camera footage flashed in sequence.

A map of the City had Titan's Tower blinking.

The DOS prompt……

Reinforcing Program "River Jordan"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I exhaled.

My fingers curled.

He……monitored the Titans. How could I have……forgotten about that so easily?

I gazed at the message on the laptop again.

"……"

I stared off into the shadows.

He was watching them before I joined. So how would I know he wasn't……

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SLIIIIIIIINK!!!!

I drove Myrkblade into Slade.

To the hilt.

My body leaned in.

His body lurched.

Our heads met side by side before the huge, circular window of the ship's cabin.

The dripping red shadows of the two of us reflected off the lenses of three of Slade's security cameras, obsessively placed by the madman in the high rafters of his freighter's black interior.

The recorders were zooming in the entire time.

Red lights blinking.

High powered microphones aimed constantly……

Slade hissed in my ear.

I breathed back.

And……

SLASH!!!!!!!!!!

-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

My breath shuddered.

I felt a chill up my metal arm.

I stroked my wrist.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

WHAM!!

SMACK!!

I tumbled around like a ragdoll as Dagger kicked and punched me repeatedly.

I fell off of a catwalk and collapsed across a conveyor belt carrying vials of pink hex in the secret processing plant of the dead despot's skyscraper.

Dagger blurred down with a pink aura and grabbed me effortlessly by the throat.

As I struggled, my twitching limbs reflected off of video cameras of Dagger's security system hanging high above the facility.

The lenses focused.

The microphones were trained.

They recorded the fight emotionlessly.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I blinked.

My fists clenched.

Only a hacker could……………

I stared at the laptop again.

My lips parted.

No……

More than a hacker……

'I'll be there in your City soon. I'm sure we'll get a chance to meet again in the next few days.'

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I stared at the blonde kid in the crowd.

Surrounded by press agents and cameramen.

They towered over him.

He smiled sweetly and his green eyes were large and inviting and……

Tilted up.

My black optics narrowed.

He was looking at……

I traced an invisible line.

…………Robin?

"!!!" the Boy Wonder suddenly gasped. He lurched forward on his podium.

Starfire jumped, "R-Robin??"

Robin leaned forward on the stage. Panting. Sweating. He gathered his wits……shook it all off……and uttered: "E-Excuse me. I think I put my cape on too tight this morning."

Chuckles.

Camera flashes.

I glanced down.

And……

The blonde kid was gone.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"…………," I stared at the dim walls.

He was gone!

I blinked.

Robin jolted and 'J' was no longer……

"……………"

I jumped up, dumping my laptop across the covers of my bed.

Robin.

I blurred out of my room in a trail of murk.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The Boy Wonder panted.

He sat on the rock bluffs.

He wore the black and red and yellow of his Gotham days.

Thirteen-year-old legs dangled over crashing waves of a dark Bay under the red sky.

A band of yellow light streaked overhead from a faraway lighthouse.

"…………………," Robin shuddered. It was cold. He hugged himself. Moisture formed at the edge of his eyemask. "……………"

Slowly……like liquid clay……two warm arms encircled him from behind.

At the slightest touch, Robin shivered. He bit his lip and hung his head in a visible shudder or two.

The girl leaned her head forward. Short black bangs fluttering in the wind. She leaned her chin daintily on Robin's shoulder and held him close…softly…comfortingly……

A beat.

"Robin……," she uttered.

The Boy Wonder shook.

She breathed on: "What troubles you??"

"This……Th-This isn't right……," the thirteen-year old muttered.

"Why isn't it?"

"This isn't the way it all happens……," Robin whimpered. He sniffed. He shuddered. "It's now how it's SUPPOSED to happen."

"Do you feel me?" the girl cooed. "Am I not real?"

Robin choked back a sob. He sniffed. "You're not supposed to be……"

"Be calm, Robin. Be at peace……"

He cried.

She gently stroked his shoulders. "Do not fight it. This warmth……it will heal you."

"No it w-won't!!" he shuddered. Weak. Teeth chattering. "It'll only distract me!"

"And since when is a distraction a bad thing??"

"I NEED my memories! I don't just need to know them……I-I-I need to FEEL them!! I can't feel this! I can't feel this warmth!!" Robin shook. "Otherwise……I-I'll never have grown up!! I'll never have become strong……I'll never have become a Titan!!"

"Robin……"

"No! No no no no no!!"

"Robin……listen to me……"

He helplessly fell back into her embrace.

She whispered into his ear gently: "I am not here to steal that which you have become. For a greater good……I must merely borrow your talents. You have given so much……sacrificed so much. Allow someone to give you rest for the time being. It is for the best of you and your friends. You must believe me."

"I……I-I……"

She pointed up at the sky. "Look up there, Robin. Tell me. What do you see?"

He gazed up. Tears streaming down from under his eyemask. His mouth agape.

She spoke: "It is the sky, Robin. A red sky. All your life…you've had blood over your head. But you've moved on. You've kept your strength……but you've pulled yourself out of the mire. But there is someone, Robin. Someone so horribly evil……all he wants to do is bathe your new life in that very same blood. He is out to blemish the Robin's new and precious aviary. Don't tell me you haven't sensed it."

"I……I-I don't feel anything……," Robin exhaled. "Not anymore. Not until—"

"It's because I came in, Robin."

"………"

"You may not feel anything. But there is a lot inside of you. It's been trying to get out."

"And you……," he leaned back and shuddered to the girl. "Y-You let it out……didn't you?"

She nodded. "It was……th-the fair thing to do. The only way I could pay you back for helping me work through you."

Robin bit his lip. "St-Starfire………"

"You are who you are, Robin. And I must say……it is an amazing being." She gently let go of him. "I promise you……I will not hurt you or any of your friends. You will be perfectly safe…"

The Boy Wonder felt suddenly cold. He turned around. "Wh-What……" His eyemask widened. "Wh-Who are you?!?!"

The girl was no longer there. Instead, there sat a young boy.

Bright green eyes.

"Dream on, Robin……," he spoke quite naturally. Suddenly the cornea of his eyes vanished. Green irises melted into a black abyss. "Dream on."

-CONTACT-

Robin gasped.

FLASH!!!!

-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Raven floated cross-legged in her room.

Her fingers clasped together.

Meditating…..

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion---"

Her voice cut off.

"…………….."

Her eyes popped open.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Schwishh!!

In the Main Room, Cyborg, Tempest, and Beast Boy looked up from a late-night dinner.

Cyborg blinked. "Robin?"

"Titans…," Robin marched forward. "I just realized something."

"Dude….I thought you were with Starfir—"

"I know," Robin nodded. His gloved hands hung in fists at his side. "I told her and she understood."

"Told her what, man?"

"I remember what I did last night," Robin said. "Everything. The experiment. The computer analysis. It's all clear to me now."

"You serious??" Tempest remarked.

Cyborg stood up. "Then tell us!! What the Hell happened?? Was someone controlling you or what??"

The Boy Wonder nodded. "Yes. I don't know who. But whoever it was, he wanted desperately to find out where the weapons for the prisoners were manufactured." Robin frowned. "It's the docks."

"The docks?"

"Our docks??"

"Eastern District. The Zanzibar Piers. A covert group has been working right under our very noses. If they're still there….they may have connections left to the prison bomb worth exploring."

"How quaint," Tempest folded his arms.

"Dude….," Beast Boy gestured: "All of this came back to you…..like 'that'?" He snapped a finger.

"I have no time to explain. We need to take action. We're going to the Zanzibar Piers!"

"Well hot damn!" Cyborg marched towards the elevators. "I'll round up Starfire, Raven, and Noir. I'll get the T-Car rolling and sooner than you can say 'swiss che—'"

"No."

Cyborg stopped. He blinked. "No?!?!"

"I'm taking point," Robin pointed at himself. He then pointed at the others. "When I give the signal, you all rush in. Stay at the Tower until that point, got it?"

"Man, what for?!?!"

"I know how dangerous these people are…," Robin's eyemask thinned. "As a matter of fact…they have over one hundred pounds of carbonite on them as we speak."

Beast Boy pratfalled out of his chair. KERPLUNK!!!

Tempest's dark eyes were wide. "Um….that'll give your Earth a new Gulf of Mexico."

"Whoah….," Cyborg rubbed the human part of his head. "This is heavy…."

"Which is why one of us needs to go in and investigate solo," Robin nodded. "Me."

"Will you be safe?"

"Like I said….wait for my signal…," Robin popped open a nearby compartment and withdrew an extra utility belt. "When I give the call…the Titans will rush in together. But it may not be the Zanzibar Piers. I have to find out some more about these creeps first. Having too many superheroes converging on one location could be bad."

Beast Boy crawled up: "Over a HUNDRED POUNDS of carbonite?!?!"

"I'm out…," Robin dashed down a hallway. "Stay vigilant!"

"Okay….uh……y-yeah…," Tempest scratched his head. A beat. He looked at the others. "Anybody else needing a new set of swimming trunks?"

"This is huger than big…," Cyborg shrugged. "Bigger than huge!"

"Not even SLADE had that much carbonite on him!!" Beast Boy shuddered. "Jocasta almighty…."

"I don't care what Robin told us," Tempest pointed. "He can't go into all of that alone. Are we nuts to let him slip into such a dangerous hive of crooks??"

"Yes, Flipper…we're NUTS!" Cyborg cackled. "We've always been nuts! It's part of being a Titan."

Beast Boy shrugged: "Nobody gets in the way of Robin's will."

Tempest's eyes thinned. "I don't like the feeling of it…."

Schwissh!!

The elevator doors opened.

Starfire and Raven piled out.

"Friends!!" Starfire panted nervously. "Was Robin just here presently??"

"Yeah he was!!" Beast Boy nodded. "Did you hear?? He remember all that went on last night and—"

"Is he gone already?" Raven pushed Beast Boy aside and faced Cyborg. "Is he??"

Cyborg leaned back. "Uh…..yeah, Rae."

"…….."

"Why? What's the problem?"

"That wasn't him," Raven said.

"Say what??"

"Tempest," Raven pointed at a nearby computer. "Check the surveillance footage of this very room when Robin was here. Cross reference it with the sensors like we did with Cyborg's laboratory."

"Uhh…okay then," Tempest ran over and operated the controls.

Beast Boy gulped. "Is this going where I think it's going?"

"I'm afraid it is," Raven droned.

"Got it!" Tempest clicked on the keyboard and brought up visual diagrams on the monitors. "Come take a look!"

The Titans gathered around.

Cyborg leaned forward and squinted his eyes as he read the text. "…….son of a bitch…"

"He was asleep."

"DAMN!!" Cyborg gritted his teeth and spun around. "Alright!! Titans, pull out!! Track Robin down—"

"Wait!!" Raven held up her hands. "What did Robin say to you all??"

"He mentioned loads of carbonite!!" Tempest gestured. "You still can't get in the way of that, man!!"

"How the Hell do we know he was telling the truth at this rate?!?!" Cyborg barked. "He's being controlled and stuff!!"

"Friends…we must think of something!!" Starfire floated in. She was panting. Hands held desperately together. "Robin is in grave danger and it is all our fault!!"

"Our fault?!?!"

"Starfire, if you saw and heard him a moment ago you would have—"

"Everyone!!" Raven snapped. "Calm down!!"

All present in the room immediately obeyed.

"…………," the dark girl in blue blinked. "……where's Noir?"

"????"

"????"

"????"

Suddenly, Beast Boy's communicator vibrated. He glanced down at it….then up at the others. "Uhhh….dudes?"

"Noir??" Starfire murmured.

Cyborg marched over, grabbed the communicator from Beast Boy's hand, and flipped it open with a Star Trek sound. He opened a compartment in his left arm and hooked the device up. "Noir. This is Cy. Where are you??"

A series of morse code bleeps filtered through the communicator. The signals were fed into Cyborg's built-in computer system. An LCD screen flashed blinking, electronic text:

'Do not worry. I am on his tail. He is taking the cycle through Town. Heading eastward.'

"The Zanzibar Piers…," Tempest blinked. He and the other Titans were leaning over Cyborg's shoulders the best they could. "So whoever's controlling Robin WAS telling the truth."

Cyborg spoke into the communicator: "You're trailing him, dawg??"

A pause.

Signals bleeping.

'Yes. I am keeping my distance.'

"Dude….," Beast Boy leaned in. "How'd you know he was being controlled again?"

A beat.

'It is J. J is in Town.'

Cyborg gritted his teeth.

Raven blinked. "J??"

"The benevolent computer expert….," Starfire murmured. She leaned in. "You are saying that he is here in person?'

'Yes. As a matter of fact, you just got done talking to him.'

Cyborg and Beast Boy gasped.

Tempest's eyes narrowed.

Raven stared off, thinking.

"But…..B-But how??" Starfire exhaled.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I clicked my metal finger a morse code response:

'It does not matter at the moment. Keep your distance like I am sure Robin told you to. I will handle this.'

"How, man?!?! You know how dangerous that place y'all headin' into is??"

'Trust me. This is between 'old friends'. Noir out.'

I flicked my metal wrist.

The morse code frequency was cut off.

I waited on the corner of a rooftop six stories up.

Narrowing my black eyes.

VRMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

The R-Cycle burned rubber beneath me, heading straight towards the docks.

The night was cold and autumn a bit nasty.

I stood up.

CHIIIIING!!!

I gripped Myrkblade, cloaked my body into the shadows, and blurred after the 'Boy Wonder'.

Not losing him for an instant…