Author note: I realized I'm getting quite into this story . . . plus writing it helps me sleep. I think it's safe to say I'll update more often. Oh, and thank you to reviewers. 3
Robin had spent the past few hours trudging through Jump City in the rain. His hair was damp, in his face and droplets clung to his clothing. Slade knew how to time things just right. Robin hoped he was already waiting for him, concealed from anyone else within the shadows of Jump City's alleyways. But as he moved on his feet felt heavy and his breaths became shorter. He stopped to a walk to conserve energy-this was probably what Slade wanted. He's going to show up when I'm out of breath and tired, thought Robin. Even then, after hours, Slade didn't show.
It was all part of some game he didn't want to play and Robin knew this. If only he could get out of the game and use his coffee-sustained mind for better things. Terra was at home with a Slade device burying in her skin, though, and that alone was motivation enough. He moved on and just when he thought Slade was nowhere to be found, a sign turned up in the form of a broken mechanical part with the Slade symbol on it. Robin glanced up a few feet ahead and noticed another. Looks like he left a trail, Robin noted. Wish he'd stop hiding and just get out here. It never worked that way, not with Slade.
He remembered his demanding voice growling into his ear: "Not a word, Robin. They're not your friends anymore….Excellent, Robin. I'm pleased. You're already proving to be the perfect apprentice." Just the thought made him clench his teeth and make fists. Perfect apprentice, he thought, yeah, right. Bet that's what he thought about Terra, too. Didn't he have someone else, Robin wondered, someone who actually wanted to be his apprentice?
The trail of broken mechanics ended in front of a door that led to a flight of stairs. The stairs dipped down into darkness and seemed to be never-ending. Robin took them, and soon found who he was looking for.
"Robin," said Slade, in an instant after Robin's foot touched the ground off the last step. "I must say, I expected you much earlier." He turned his head from a few monitoring screens towards Robin. He toyed with something in his hand and then put the object in his pocket. "Much earlier, actually. Was there some sort of a delay?"
The room was wide, tall and dim. The screens in front of Slade cast a flickering glow that illuminated the space, but otherwise it was dark. The floor was concrete and Robin assumed the walls were, too. "What do you mean?" he grumbled. "I only came here to find out why you lied to me yesterday." He stopped approaching Slade and held his ground in place.
"Lied to you?" Slade repeated. Obvious amusement filled his voice. "Is that what you think I did, Robin?" Of all things, he hadn't expected to be accused of lying. He was expecting Robin to bombard him with questions about Terra first. After all, she was the set-up reason for Robin to return to him.
"You told me Terra would trigger explosives beneath the city," Robin said in a rush, like it had all been kept in perfect memory, "and your robots were stationary because you were waiting to turn them on, to cause her to use her powers to fight them." He frowned and held back an attack. His right hand clenched. "But when I got back, Terra said she had already used her powers and nothing had happened." His masked eyes moved up to Slade's hidden face.
Slade laughed for just a second under his breath. "Very good, Robin," he said. "You've figured out the first part. But really, I was expecting more."
"Tell me why you lied!" Robin barked, cutting Slade off from his train of thought.
"I did nothing of the sort," Slade answered. "I never lied to you, not entirely." He took out the object he'd had in his pocket and glanced at it before putting it back again. "When I told you the city's destruction would be Terra's fault unless you stopped her . . ." He looked to see Robin's expression. "I meant what I said." He turned to face his monitoring screens again. "What I didn't specify was at which time this would happen. You thought you saved her from a one-time deal, Robin, but it's much, much more than that."
Robin's body felt a rush of coolness settle throughout. He felt weaker from Slade's words. "Then tell me what's going on," he said. "Whatever it is, I'm going to stop you and you're going to get that thing off Terra."
"So, you did find it, then?" Slade seemed to feel better knowing this. "I was afraid she would discover it for herself and hide."
"Beast Boy found it first," Robin mumbled. He didn't want to give Slade more detail than was absolutely necessary. "Then I did. We showed her in the mirror after that. You're going to take it off her." He didn't understand what the device did yet but he also didn't care. Anything that had a villain's mark on it that was attached to one of his teammates needed to go. The fact that it was Slade's mark attached to Terra only made things worse.
"Funny, Robin," said Slade. "You're the one who put it on her in the first place and now you're telling me you want it off?"
All thoughts swarming in Robin's head stopped and he snapped into angry confusion. "What? I would never put something like that on her, especially not for you." In fact, he continued in his head, I wouldn't do anything for you.
"While fighting me yesterday," Slade said, sounding rehearsed, "I stuck a few of those devices on your hands. You didn't see them because, at the time, they were too small. I programmed them to attach to only one DNA sequence when they came into contact . . . Terra's." His voice was too casual, like he was reading from a textbook. "So, when you rushed back to stop her from causing destruction, you must've set a hand on her."
Robin felt as if he had sunken into the ocean and was drowning with each explanation from Slade. He remembered setting his hand on Terra's shoulder when he got back. That's it, he thought. That explains why it's on her shoulder. He cringed. How could you be so stupid?
"Since the moment of contact, my device has been tapping into her body's nervous system, connecting to all of the major areas that control movement. It's grown in size only because it had to take a little of her skin and blood to dig in far enough."
"No," Robin growled. He drew his staff and held it out in front of him as a threat. "Not again." His eyes narrowed and he tried to say more, but it was almost impossible. He didn't let it show, but he was feeling choked.
"What is it they always say?" Slade continued, ignoring Robin. "First is the worst, second's the best, third, the golden bird?" He grinned under his mask. Third time's the charm, he added. "So, tell me, my third bird, would you like to save your friend from having to obey me once again?"
"Tell me what to do and I'll consider," Robin answered. All of the bitterness inside him was swelling up.
"And if I don't?" asked Slade.
Robin had had enough. He charged towards Slade with his staff at the ready and dove in with an attack from the side. The tip of his staff came so close to colliding with Slade. At the very last second, Slade threw him backwards and Robin landed on the harsh concrete floor.
"Don't be so hasty, Robin, it will only get you into trouble."
Robin pushed himself up from the ground and said, "You've gotten me into enough trouble already." He aimed a high kick towards Slade's mask. If only he could get it off. He'd dreamt of the very act so many times, only to wake up right when the metal fell from his face.
Slade grabbed Robin's leg and pushed it back. Robin stumbled, caught his balance and stabilized himself. His breathing came short again. Slade was doing especially well this morning, where as he was fatigued.
"There is one way you can save Terra," Slade said with a concealed smirk. This was the moment he had planned out for months. "Either you become my apprentice again or I'll force Terra into doing the tasks I need against her will."
Robin went numb. His breathing stopped and so did his heart. Both continued again as his mind started to race. He hated Slade more than almost anything and wanted nothing to do with him. The first time as his apprentice, he'd managed to escape Slade with limited wounds and only hatred. Terra, on the other hand, he feared, came out much worse than he did. She'd killed Slade, froze herself from life and also had to take blows from both her friends and enemies. She'd spied on them, conscious of what she was doing and what it meant and then attacked them without thought as Slade told her to. She'd watched and caused what she thought was each of the Titan's deaths. But somehow, in the end, she felt bad for it all . . . so bad, she'd rather be dead herself. Or, perhaps, she'd finally been released from Slade's mind control. Even though she was the one who tried to kill them and faked being their friend, she wasn't the one who thought of it first. Robin knew that if she had never met Slade, she wouldn't have done anything to harm them-she wouldn't have even thought about it. It was the lethal combination of Slade's pushing influence and orders and Terra's desperate want to control her powers and be "normal" again. When they went controlled by a malevolent source, emotions could be extremely dangerous. In the end, it was all due to her lack of judgment and knowledge. Robin was sure she was aware of this. Beast Boy told him that she begged him to destroy her when he found her crying in Slade's lair. He couldn't stand to let her go through that again because he knew there may not be more of her afterwards. If she'd almost succeeded once . . . he didn't want to think about it.
Robin turned towards Slade and dropped his staff. His shoulders drooped and he let out a breath. "Fine," he said. His words came out by force. "You've got a deal. I'll be your apprentice . . . as long as you leave Terra alone."
As Slade's smirk broadened, the lips of a white-haired girl frowned. She'd been watching him tease Robin into apprenticeship, but stayed far enough away so she wouldn't get in trouble. "Why doesn't he pick someone who'd actually do it?" she complained under her breath. The tone of her voice sounded much like Slade's when he was angry. She too had had enough, especially since her father wouldn't let her leave the lair. If he'd let me out I'd show him how it's done, she thought. Wouldn't he be mad if I was the one who killed his stupid Titans?