Starfire sat in the ops room. Staring at the city out the window and sighed. She kept having a feeling that at any moment, Robin would jump over the couch and sit next to her. Then with a small smile and a pat to the shoulder, he would ask, 'are you alright?' and then she would confide in him her worries and fears. Afterwards, he would comfort her with some words of wisdom. Then Beast Boy and Cyborg would proceed to make fun of him.
Problem was, he never came. She sighed for the umpteenth time in the last hour. She wanted her best friend. Galfore was much too far out of reach, too. Her other friends were working on this case as well. She had been for awhile, assigned to scour the city for some sort of sign. But Cyborg had asked her to come back after she started scaring people with her worry.
She had just emerged from an alleyway when she plowed over an old lady. "Many pardons ma'am!" She helped the woman to her feet and collected the items from her fallen grocery bag. "I was not watching we're I was going!"
"You are one of the Titans, aren't you?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I thank you for protecting our city. Now if I may be so bold, what are you doing out here all by yourself?"
"I am looking for someone."
"A criminal?"
"No...A friend." Star spoke sadly.
The woman put a chocolate candy in star's hands. "You are very distraught over this friend, I can plainly see. But you must take heart. They will come home safely."
Cyborg had mindlessly been monitoring her progress until she had burst into tears and hugged the old woman. He then called her back to the tower an ordered her to sit in the ops room and cool down, claiming she wasn't sane enough to continue with the search. She did not argue.
So she sat, staring at the skyline, hopelessly waiting for her love to come home.
Beast boy had been sniffing around evidence room. He was looking for a match of cologne, leather, and oil. So far he had no luck. Control freaks remote reeked of pizza and sweat. Mumbo's hat of stage makeup and some other powder that made him sneeze. Mad Mod's cane had the same cologne smell, but no leather or oil. Johnny Rancid had the leather and oil smell, but the oil smelled cheaper, greaser. And no cologne. He was beginning to suspect that this was a new villain, until he reached the far back corner of the room, designated to the big enemy's they went up against, like Trigon, brother blood, and the brotherhood. There he picked the scent back up, it was very faint coming from an old piece of evidence, one of the first villains they had taken care of.
"No way..." he whispered in horror as he saw whom the evidence piece belonged too. To make sure, he thundered into the basement and found one of many boxes dedicated to the man. It was potent, and Beast Boy was confident he knew who it was. He ran as fast as possible to the ops room.
Raven had gotten nowhere with the mental link and fell back on the video footage. The picture was fuzzy, that much was sure. She was able to determine that he came from the south part of the city, which was mostly abandoned warehouses and factories. In other words, every criminal's hideout. She ran the picture through multiple filters, trying in vain to sharpen the image. Eventually, she got to a point where she could run the image through an archive and cross-reference it with other villains. The result was less then pleasing. "You have got to be kidding me." She hurried to the ops room to announce her find.
Cyborg had furiously been typing away, trying to find some clue of the owner of the boot. It was a standard model, not custom like Batman's sole. But, the brand was high quality and super expensive. The narrowed it down to the big league villains. Great. They didn't have much information on the real names of some of their criminals, but they had a few. And he could also type in the name of any suspects and get a picture.
After some digging, he finally got the type and size of the boot, narrowing the search down again. Up came four names. One a young entrepreneur, who enjoyed hiking. Another was an army enthusiast, who did World War II reenactments. The third was a man who had recently passed away, giving the boots to his son for a Christmas present, the son was a leader for an eagle scout troop. The last was the one that scared him, the one they had wanted to find, but dreaded it was this person. A white haired man with cold grey eyes and an eye patch stared back at him. The description read, "retired from US army, disappeared." Cyborg rushed to the ops room to deliver the news.
Starfire nearly had a heart attack when everyone ran into the room, all coming from different doorways and shouted in unison, "I've got it! It's-"
But they were cut off when a face appeared on the screen. "Hello Titans."
They all glared at the perp.
"What? No one's going to say my name seething with rage? Oh that's right, that's Robin's job."
"What did you do with him?" Beast Boy yelled.
"Who?"
"Robin!" Cyborg exasperated.
"What makes you think I did anything with your little leader?"
"All the evidence points to you." Raven accused.
"Very good. Even without the little detective, you are proving to be most intelligent."
"Get on with it Slade!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Nothing to shout about. I guess that you have gotten my present I left for you in the sewer?"
"Please Slade, no mind games. Where is Robin?" Everyone looked at Star. She was not angry, just...extremely worried.
"He is dead, my dear." Slade said almost sympathetically. "Like I said in the note."
Everyone was stunned. Starfire's hands flew to her mouth as her eyes grew wide. Then she became angry. "You liar! You are only tricking us! Why would you kill him!" Her eyes glowed as tears came from her eyes. Starbolts were at the ready.
"I do not lie. Now, I know you want to start grieving, but I have something for you to worry about first."
Star calmed down minutely. Slade turned the camera to a young boy he had strapped to a table. He looked extremely familiar, like they had met him somewhere, but something was missing. His blue eyes looked into the lens, revealing all the heartache he was harboring. His skin was scratched and bruised, and he looked extremely tired.
"Titans I'd like you all to meet my good friend Richard Grayson. Mild mannered and a straight 'A' student. He grew up with loving parents, as an acrobat in a circus. A circus of all places!"
Slade put his hand on Richard's forehead. "But, a deranged clown cut the rope that his parents were on, and being the fearless artists they were, they didn't use a net. Little Richard watched his parents plummet to their deaths, scarred forever. Especially since he knew what was going to happen, and didn't warn them."
Richard shut his eyes in shame.
"About a year of life in a juvenile detention center, he was adopted by the wealthy man, Bruce Wayne. He lived with Mr. Wayne for a few years, until he suddenly disappeared. Right around the same time Robin quit his partnership with Batman."
Realization dawned on everyone.
"Lucky me, I seem to have found the missing child."
"What do you want with him?" Star demanded, again.
"You kids ask too many questions. I'll simply say this. This video feed cannot be traced, I've encoded the transmission, and it will take you years to crack it, so we'll keep in touch." The screen went blank.
The team stood in shock, staring awkwardly at each other.
"And all this time, I thought Robin would reveal his secret identity to us when he was ready."
"And Slade figured it out before us..."
"What do you think he's planning? Holding Robin for random to get something? Trying to weaken us?" Beast Boy asked.
"I don't know. But it's big, bad, and ugly. And The Titans are going to stop it and save Robin. Just as if he was a normal kid."
"And how do you expect is to do that?" Raven rose. "We have no leads, no way to figure out what he's planning. And if you haven't noticed, one of our team members is losing it!" She gestured to Starfire would was staring out into the city again. "There is nothing we can do for now except keep doing our jobs. If word gets out that Robin's preoccupied, there could be hell to pay." The message rang clear with the team, but that didn't mean that they liked it.
Slade turned off the camera. "There, do you feel better knowing that your friends are worried about you?"
Robin said nothing.
"The silent treatment isn't going to work you know."
"...water…" Robin's voice cracked.
"What was that?"
"I need water..." His voice sounded awful, and rightfully so. After days of screaming, he still had not eaten or drank anything since the night he was kidnapped. He was too proud to announce his hunger, but he could only go so long without water.
"Of course, now here is the opportunity for your first lesson: humbleness. Can you ask for some water?" Slade was treating him like a little kid.
He grunted, only to hurt his throat more. "May I...please have some water?"
"Oh, you even threw a 'please' in there. Starfire must be rubbing off on you. That wasn't so hard was it?"
Robin cast a sidelong scowl.
"Lean your head back." He did so and heard Slade turn a water faucet ever so slightly.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
You have got to be kidding me! Robin thought miserably. At this rate, he would only be more thirsty.
"I'll be back. Let you hydrate a little bit." Heavy footsteps echoed across the floor and the door clanged shut. Once Slade was gone, he relaxed, well as much as he could, and let the water collect without swallowing. Minutes passed and Robin had swallowed three times. Not much to say, but he was glad to have it. Soon though, the door creaked open again and there were a few heavy footsteps. Then they stopped. Robin didn't dare to speak, afraid of what would happen if he did. What was that sound? It sounded like chains being rattled. Then a scraping sound. It was coming closer and closer. Robin involuntarily swallowed. Then it stopped.
Another door on the opposite side of the room creaked.
"Robin! Come here my little Robin!" He heard a woman's voice. Not just any woman though.
"Mama?" His voice sounded childish, like he had gone back in time. How long had he been captive? Three days? He was already hallucinating?
"Come along Richard! The crowd is waiting!" Sounds of trumpets, cheers, honking horns, and animals rose, but her voice was still crystal clear. "Don't you want to show everyone your new uniform?"
No..not that day.
"Are you still thinking about what that thug said?" A man's voice asked cheerfully.
"Papa?"
"I told you there's nothing to worry about...nothing is going to happen."
He was wrong. How very wrong he was. Robin pulled against the restraints.
"Stop! You don't know what you're doing!"
"Of course we do, why else wouldn't we be using a net?"
"Use one tonight! Please just this once!" his voice was breaking. "I beg you! Don't do this to me again!"
His parents laughter drowned out his screams. "It's okay! Everything is fine..."
"No! You're going to die! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"
"We love you..." His mother's voice was almost like a song, one that he would never hear again. They were never coming back.
"NNNNOOOOO!"
"My sweet little Robin..." she whispered.
The door clanged shut.
"Mama! Papa! Please! Come back!"
"They can't hear you." A hand came to rest on his shoulder. "They're in heaven, a much better place. They can't hear you here...in hell."
"What kind of tricks are you using? How did you replicate my mother's voice?"
"Now now, a magician never reveals his secret."
"That was too close to home. Whatever you're planning, this is a crappy way to get it!"
"Oh no Robin, I'm getting exactly what I want." Slade's silhouette blocked the light as he fiercely grabbed the edges of the table. "What I want is so simple, even you can understand. I want you dead. Not just a bullet through your head, I want to destroy you mentally, physically, and spiritually! I'm going to make sure every day for the next year is spent in agony. At first, you'll wish you were never born, but after awhile, you won't even remember who you are."
"Why? Why do something so cruel?"
"Because that's how much I hate you. And there was no way to describe it in words."
Slade moved away from the table and slipped back into the shadows. In the silence, he knew that Slade was watching him, but didn't know where or for how long. He was completely vulnerable. Robin wouldn't have wanted to admit it...but he was afraid. Afraid of Slade.
I'm so sorry for this chapter! It's SOO Sad! D: And just for future reference, I think Robin gets alittle OCC, but it's justifiable. Why? You'll have to wait and see.