It had been a few hours and Robin was feeling frustrated again. His hands were behind his back, matching Slade's, as they stood together in front of a series of large monitoring screens. Jump City was getting dark. Every now and then they'd switch viewing locations and sometimes a citizen or two would walk into view. He couldn't understand why Slade was still looking for Terra-she was obviously not around. Maybe she knew what was going to happen, he thought, so she got out of the city as soon as possible. He frowned. As much as he'd like to believe that, he didn't think Terra would just run away. Sure, she'd done it before, but again? Maybe it's Slade. She doesn't like him and I guess if she was going to run away, he'd be the cause.

"Look, Slade," Robin tried to reason, "this isn't getting us anywhere." It was odd how he wanted to find Terra as much as Slade, just not to give her to him.

Rose stood with her arms folded in front of her door. Terra watched her from the bed with a stale look. Both of them were getting bored. Rose thought about leaving to do something, but then Terra might escape. She decided to make light conversation, because it wouldn't kill either of them-it would only kill time. "The only reason I've got you in here is to stop his plan," Rose told Terra without eye contact. She glanced around her room, not really interested in what she was seeing, just so she didn't have to stare down Terra. "I'm sick of his plans with you guys. It's pathetic."

Terra raised an eyebrow. This didn't make any sense to her. "Why?" she asked. "Don't you work for him?" Maybe she was growing to be like her and how she felt after awhile of working for Slade. In other words, maybe she'd decided she didn't want to anymore.

"No," said Rose.

"Then why are you here?"

Rose didn't feel like answering. "You know, it's kind of late. Maybe we should just go to bed." Better than being interrogated.

This comment caught Terra off guard because it was an obvious subject change. "Um, I guess so," she said, "but if this is your bed, where'm I supposed to sleep?" She crossed her legs on top of Rose's bed. If she had to, the floor was alright-she'd slept in caves, on sand and on park benches before, so she'd be fine-but a bed or something would be better.

"With me," Rose said.

Terra unfolded her legs and sat up. "Wait a minute," she said. "You're joking, right?"

"No." Rose bent down and dug under her bed. She stood up again with a long piece of rope and smirked. "If I let you just sleep on your own somewhere, you might run away. Wouldn't want that."

Terra stood up and tried to figure out a way around it. Before she had much of a chance, Rose pushed her back on the bed and was on top of her, legs over her chest. "What do you think you're doing?" Terra complained. "Get off!" Terra reached for Rose's wrists and tried to hold them back, but Rose seemed to be able to read her mind and stopped her before she could. Rose reached back and pulled a katana-style sword forward. She set it down across Terra's neck and told her to stay still. Terra had no problem complying but she did so with a scowl. Without another word, Rose tied Terra's wrists together and then attached them to one of the iron rods that made up her bed frame.

"I really don't feel like staying up all night looking for her," Robin told Slade. "If you want to, go right ahead. But, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." He frowned because he realized he'd be sleeping somewhere on the floor in Slade's lair. Fun.

"I expect you to help me, Robin." Slade took a seat in a metal chair in front of the screens. His tone told Robin he was just as frustrated with Terra's disappearance. His plan was failing, because of a rather elusive geomancer.

"You expect me to do a lot of things, Slade," Robin said. "Doesn't mean I want to. You're going to stay up all night anyway."

Slade's eye narrowed a little and he turned to face Robin. Making fun of his sleeplessness, was he? He began to wonder how Robin would act after a day or two of no sleep. Maybe a few slipped caffeine shots would do the trick. Behind his mask, a smile formed.

Terra didn't like the idea of having to sleep in her Titan uniform, but she wasn't about to bring that up with Rose since the only way she'd get a change of clothes would be if Rose put them on her. Leaving the sword on Terra, Rose changed into pajamas in her bathroom. The constant lack of even the slightest movement made Terra nervous. She really hoped Rose wasn't going to make her sleep with it on her.

Rose returned and pulled back the covers on the bed, only on the side she was to sleep in, at first. She watched Terra for an uncomfortable amount of time in the geomancer's opinion and then removed the sword from on top of her. She laughed a little as Terra cringed and mumbled, "You know, it wouldn't have hurt you." She lifted her up a little and then pulled the covers down on Terra's side as well. "I don't really want you in my bed," Rose said, "but if . . . Slade . . . comes to check on me during the night or something creepy like that, I don't want you to be so obvious. Oh." She paused and frowned at Terra's shoes. "We've gotta get these dirty things off you first." Without waiting for what Terra thought about it, Rose removed her shoes. She looked at her belt and gloves and said, "These have to go too, they're too bulky." Once those were off, she hid them under the bed. Rose turned off her light and slipped under the covers. She pulled them over both of them, but added a large pillow over Terra's head. "Sorry," she said. Her voice was shaken a little by a smothered, bitter laugh. "But one, I don't want to remember you're there, two, can't let you be seen so easily."

Robin meandered around through the lair like a dog looking for a good sleeping spot before he found a suitable area. He leaned against the wall for awhile but eventually switched positions to the floor. It was hard and smelled like dust and metal. After a few minutes of struggling to get comfortable, to his surprise, Slade approached with a sort of peace offering, in his mind: a pillow and blanket.

"Wouldn't want you to wake up in a bad mood, Robin," Slade said, still with a hidden grin on his face. He handed the bedding to Robin then turned to leave, before Robin had a chance to say something.

Now it was much easier to get comfortable. With his head on the pillow and blanket wrapped around him, Robin drifted into sleep within thirty minutes. With everything on his mind, he hadn't expected to sleep so soon, but he needed the energy.

As soon as Slade was certain Robin was asleep, he prepared a syringe.

Author Note: Wow! Sorry for such a long break. I got busy and I still am but I got an idea on how to continue. (;

Anyways, when I wrote this, everything that happened hadn't been planned but now it is, if that makes sense.