Okay, so the story officially starts now, it picks up a bit after the very first chapter, ya' know, the one that's super short and actually had to do with the summary? Yup, we actually go back to the plot! WOOT, I just had to give a little backstory to how Robin had actually gotten there. so hope ya' aren't too mad at me for that bit, but here we go then.
The only thought going through his mind now was; "This is the beginning of the end." … and it truly had been, in so many more ways than one.
Once the team had gotten back to the tower, all of them, well, aside from Mas and Robin that was, were drained. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. Completely. They were mourning the loss of two members, two irreplaceable members. None of them had said anything since Robin had left with Slade, too shocked and depressed to even bother. "I-I'll be okay guys … just don't get killed, please." His parting words were ringing in everyone's heads. Then Beast Boy finally spoke up.
"... How do we tell Batman?" His eyes were red and puffy, he'd been crying, and didn't look much better than anyone else in the group of depressed teens. Raven looked to him, even she couldn't hide her emotions right then.
"Someone has to … Sooner rather than later too." None of them wanted to make that call. None of them wanted to face the big bad Bat with the news that Robin had been kidnapped, sacrificed rather, that none of them knew where he was or if he was alive, and if he was alive, how long he'd stay alive. They didn't know these things, and they were scared. They didn't know what had split the dynamic duo up, but they knew that despite whatever disagreements the two had had … they still cared for each other. They all exchanged a look, none of them wanted to do it. Especially not alone. Cyborg sighed and rubbed his face.
"Alright. Let's do it now so we don't have to do it later then." He didn't want to do it any more than the rest, but since Robin was gone, someone had to step up. Someone had to make the hard decisions. And being second in command after Robin meant that that person was him. He walked to the computer and pressed the emergency button that connected them immediately to the Justice League. Superman was the one that answered, upon seeing all of the distraught teenagers he immediately called Wonder woman, not quite sure how to handle the situation.
"What's wrong Titans?" She asked looking sympathetic.
"It's Robin … He's-" Bee had started but couldn't finish, especially not after Starfire collapsed on the ground crying hysterically. Raven sent her a sympathetic look and took over as Bumble Bee went over to comfort their Tamaranian friend.
"He's been ... kidnapped." She finished hesitantly.
"You sound unsure, was he or was he not?" Wonder Woman asked, slightly confused.
"Look, Miss Wonder Woman, it's complicated." Aqualad interjected.
"sí, y mi hermano, más, está muerto! Fue culpa de Slade! Slade lo mató. Slade tomó Robin!" Menos screeched, his Spanish was slower now, but it was jumbled by tears, he was crying too, they all were. In the background, Raven could hear Starfire crying harder. She just couldn't take it. The alien had always been very close to people and she treasured each and every one of her friends. Having one die … on top of the one she loved taken away by the man who had killed said friend. It was taking it's toll on her. Not that the rest of them were in any better state of mind though. Wonder Woman nodded and turned to Superman, who was still off screen.
"Clark, get Batman over here right now. Tell him it's important." She turned back to the screen and her gaze softened. "It'll be okay guys, We'll get Robin back, okay?" Raven shook her head.
"You can't." She put her hood up, covering her face, but it still didn't hide the tears streaking down her cheeks. She choked out a quiet sob, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to keep herself together. "He said if we go looking for Robin that he'll kill us. The only reason Robin even went with Slade was because he killed Mas. He didn't want us to die, if we go looking for him-" Raven fell this time and before she even hit the ground Beast Boy was there for her, hugging her to his chest. He looked back up to the screen.
"Before he left he told us not to look for him. He thinks he can handle this on his own." Speedy scoffed in the back. Unlike the rest of the Titans, Speedy hadn't cried or broken down, he was just angry. Angry that he hadn't been able to stop Slade. Angry that he hadn't been able to stop Robin. Angry that he had been so Goddamn useless! "You heard him too Speedy! We can't go looking for him! Robin-"
"Robin isn't coming back! Don't you get it! That was the whole point! Slade isn't stupid! He's not going to give Robin the chance to escape, or to fight back! He said he wanted to keep him as a fucking pet! Robin is worse off than the rest of us, don't you get it?! The second he stepped out that door, Robin, our Robin, he died! He won't ever come back, and you guys want to go out and look for him?! What do you even expect to find?" Speedy was shaking after his rant, he could hardly contain himself from breaking something.
"Speedy, calm down." Wonder Woman coaxed him, thanking her lucky stars and stripes that Kid Flash hadn't been there as well.
"Don't tell me to calm down! I know what I'm talking about." Speedy's voice cracked as he finally broke. "You weren't there, you didn't see it like we did, like I did. I've known Robin for eight years, I know him better than anyone here. He may have been wearing a mask, but I know what I saw. He's dead. He gave up so that Slade wouldn't kill the rest of us. He's always been like that. Always." He slammed his fist into the wall, the wall giving way and letting his fist make a hole as he continued. "And it's always pissed me off!"
"Speedy." Cyborg said, a hand on the archer's shoulder. Speedy just pushed him away, screaming at the other boy to "don't fucking touch" him. Soon after Batman came into view and Wonder Woman caught him up on what had happened.
"I'll be there in ten minutes." he answered quickly, his eyes narrowing under his cowl. He knew that that man had been trouble, had been too much for the team … for Robin, and now he hears that his son had been kidnapped by him?! That just wasn't going to fly.
"Don't bother. He's not Robin anymore." Speedy told him looking up at the Dark Knight evenly. "I saw it in his eyes." He added before leaving the room.
Slade sat in a comfortable patio chair and watched as Robin sat in the small field of flowers that were behind the cottage, he had decided that the boy needed some fresh air and sunlight, so he got some "time off" for good behavior. Lately Robin had become much more sociable with him, Slade had chalked the boy's change in attitude up to Stockholm syndrome, but at the same time, he didn't really mind. A compliant Robin was much easier to deal with than a Robin who kept fighting him every step of the way. And now he actually got to see the boy smile. Which, really was a miracle.
Before he had brought Robin there, he had figured that when it was time for him to make his move, it would be necessary to kill the young man, but he really didn't want to do that. Holding him captive though, seemed like a pretty good counter to the problem. He wouldn't have to kill him, and, with a little pushing, he could, hopefully, eventually, expect some affection from the boy. Though, in the beginning, managing ruling the world and an unruly teenage pet bird seemed to be a bit more than even Slade could handle. So when it came time for him to go out, he had taken to asking William Wintergreen to watch the boy. Slade had worried at first that the older man might not be enough, but as it turned out, Robin quite liked William, often saying he reminded him of Alfred.
Recently Robin had taken to talking a bit more about his friends and family. Especially his family. He would always tell stories of things he had done as a little boy that he had gotten in trouble for, both in the circus and with Batman, such as when he had surprised Batman at work. It had surprised Slade when the young man had opted for using names rather than aliases when talking about his close friends. He had even told Slade his own, not that he had needed to of course, but Slade wasn't going to tell him that he had already known his name, that might set things back again. But, the fact that he still chose to address his mentor as "Batman" instead of using his name, that surprised him the most, Slade wasn't sure if it was out of respect or if he just didn't like the man personally.
"There was one time when Batman was out of town on business, he did that a lot, but this time, Alfred made cookies and he let Wally and Roy come over too, it was a lot of fun. Wally even burnt his tongue because he didn't wait for the cookies to cool." He heard Richard laugh. He had been reminiscing a lot lately. Perhaps it was his way of coping. Because unlike his mentor, Batman, Richard was a very social boy, he needed to talk, he needed to have friends, even if they were just a memory.
"Which ones were they? Roy and Wally?" Slade asked offhandedly, he didn't really care much, but he liked seeing the sparkle of life in those deep sapphire blue eyes when he talked about his friends. When he didn't respond right away, Slade took a closer look over the top of his book; Robin wore a confused look, his brow drawn in a contemplative manner, like he was trying to figure out just what the other man had meant by the comment.
"What do you mean? They were Wally and Roy, they weren't anyone else." He finally answered. That threw the older man through a loop, he was pretty sure that Roy and Wally had been heroes as well, just like his little bird.
"Oh? I apologize then, so how did you meet the Titans? He asked instead, changing the subject.
"Who are the Titans?" Richard asked as he got to his feet and walked over to where Slade had been sitting on the patio. Slade paused a bit. Who are the Titans? What kind of trick question was that? They were the boy's best friends, the people who he had personally used against him to break him down and bring him here.
"You know, Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, even that annoying green one, Beast Boy. They were your team, your friends." Slade answered truthfully. He watched in mild shock as Robin laughed.
"Those are some funny names. Cyborg? Beast Boy?" The young teen gave another small giggle-esque laugh as he sat down at Slade's feet, picking the flowers that were growing there and leaned back against the mercenary's legs. "I don't know anyone by those names." He smiled and looked up happily. Slade looked down to Robin carefully, trying to see if there was any sign that this were a joke or if he was just lying to protect himself and his former team. He saw nothing, the boy's eyes were crystal clear, he had no idea who Slade was talking about. ... Well it did make it easier if they found him and tried to convince him to leave.
"If you don't know the Titans, who did you work with then?"
"Silly, Batman, of course. I am Robin after all. But then I decided that I didn't want to work with him anymore. Too bossy ya' know?" He shrugged then continued. "But it's much nicer here!" Robin stood up, a couple of white daisies in his hand as he moved closer to Slade, even surprising him by coming closer and sitting in his lap.
"Are you feeling okay Robin, you've never sat in my lap before." Sade smiled softly to him, after all, it wasn't an unwanted action. He had been meaning to teach Robin to sit on his lap for a while now actually. Less work for him he figured. After all, the whole point was to eventually get their relationship, if you could call it that, to the point where the young acrobat actually trusted and liked him enough to … well, Slade wanted to do a lot of things to that body, but he was a patient man and so he had to put forth the effort needed for his goal to become a reality. The older man's body went rigid for a split second when he felt Robin snuggle up to his chest, but soon got over it and began to run his fingers through the soft ebony locks of the adorable creature that had decided to grace his body with his presence.
"You looked comfy. That's all." Robin hummed contentedly, his eyes slipping shut as he started to doze off due to the man's warm body and comforting scent. And because of Slade's naturally large build, he was just the perfect size for Robin to be comfortable while he slept, but not be in the other man's way as he read. The daisies still in his hand, curled up under his chin, it seemed that Robin really liked white daisies as he seemed to pick a couple every time he came outside. Slade chuckled at the simple answer, the sound resonating from deep in his chest, as it burst forth from his lungs Robin felt his chest rise and fall, smiling as he snuggled closer, like a cat.
"I'm not a chair Richard, if you wanted to take a nap you could have gone back inside." Slade answered, a smirk playing at his lips. Robin's head turned to look up at him, one eye cracked open just barely.
"Are you saying that you don't like me?" The small bird asked, a pout on his lips, and Slade knew he was just playing with him. He sighed and put a hand on Robin's head, shaking his own head, smirking.
"No, I do like you, but that doesn't mean you can just sit on me whenever you please." Slade answered honestly. He liked having the boy this close, but he couldn't very well let the boy think he could do anything he damn well pleased. Slade was still in charge here … but he'd let it slide today. After all, it was such a nice day, and having Robin there on him felt nice.
It had been almost a year and a half since Robin had been abducted. And just a couple months after that Slade had launched his attack, slowly taking over one country at a time, making sure to take out the bigger threats first. America was one of the first to fall, Slade had made sure that he had the home of the brave and the land of the free under his thumb as soon as he had started. Honestly, there had hardly been any fight at all. Sure, the Heroes had tried to stop Slade, but they had never really gotten passed all of the "friends" that Slade had brought with him. Military, Villains, anyone and everyone who might be of even the most remote use to him; either by force, choice, or just the sheer hope that if they played their cards right they'd live. And then, after a while, one after another, each one fell, either by death, exhaustion, or just losing hope, and just like that. Slade had won. Superman had been the first to fall, Kryptonite laced bullets killing him slowly and painfully. Slade didn't believe in mercy when it came to those that didn't deserve it, and the Justice League definitely didn't deserve it.
"This is Beast Boy reporting for Sector FR9, I think I may have found something, I'm going in for a closer look. Don't send back up, repeat, don't sent back up." was broadcast through small communicators. They had gotten rid of the Titan communicators, in case Slade still had Robin's laying around somewhere. The few that were still alive and willing to fight had decided a couple months back, when it was obvious that they were doing more harm than good trying to fight Slade, that they were going to try to find Robin. Dead or alive, for better or for worse, They were going to find him and bring him back even if it killed them. … It was just a matter of time.
As Beast Boy got closer to what looked like a house he made sure to turn off his com link with the rest of the team before hearing a reply. He shifted to a smaller shape, a squirrel, and made his way over to a wooden fence just as a teenaged boy hopped up onto the fence and reached over it to pluck an apple from the tree right above the green changeling. It had startled him at first, but he soon realized that the boy hadn't noticed him. The boy had the same color hair as Robin, but it was longer, not unkempt, just long, and he was wearing simply a tee-shirt and some shorts, the weather was pretty good this time of year up here so the outfit made sense. Beast Boy watched as the boy hopped down from the fence and then leaned his back against it and started eating the Red apple he had just picked.
"Richard, don't eat too many, I'm making dinner soon and we're having Apple pie for dessert." an old man smiled from the back sliding glass door a good several meters away, if the changeling had to guess, he'd say about 40? The yard was a pretty good sized yard after all.
"I know! I promise to save room for dinner William." The boy laughed. Beast Boy was at a loss here. Here he was, in the mountains, in a secluded place, close enough to ground zero of the entire dominated world, and this little patch of greenery was completely left alone. It was hard to find sure, but surely they knew that there was a new evil dictator so close to their home didn't they? After the boy's reply the other man, William, just smiled and went back inside the cozy looking home, just leaving the boy in the yard.
"Psst." Beast Boy Whispered carefully to the boy sitting in front of him. The boy jumped, and looked around.
"Huh?" He turned his head behind him but didn't see anything. Beast Boy almost lost all ability to speak again when he saw those clear blue eyes. They were beautiful! He was so distracted, he hadn't noticed when said boy had shrugged and gone back to eating his apple, slumping down to lay in the grass, his head laying on one arm while the other brought the apple to his mouth again every now and then to take a bite. This time Beast Boy was louder.
"Psst!" right in the boy's ear. Said boy sat up so quick it'd put the flash to shame and looked around for a second time, again not seeing anything he warily laid back down, this time on his side, facing away from the fence. "Oi, I'm trying to get your attention, look down here!" Beast Boy snapped as loudly as he dared, which was hardly above an aggravated whisper. The boy turned around this time laying on his stomach, face to the fence, trying to locate the origin of the voice.
"Who said that?" he asked carefully.
"Down here." The boy looked down and saw a smiling green squirrel and shook his head, but when he looked back, it was still there. He took one look at Beast Boy, then to his Apple, then back to Beast Boy and chucked the Apple away over the fence into the tall green grass that the young Titan was hiding in.
"That wasn't you who was talking … was it?" The boy asked skeptically.
"Course it was, who else is here?" Beast boy asked smiling wider. The boy's eyes went wide .
"Um, I was told not to talk to … talking … green … squirrels … you should leave." The Boy answered hesitantly, moving to turn back around.
"What? Someone seriously told you not to talk to talking green squirrels? That's a pretty weird rule."
"Yeah, well you're a pretty weird squirrel."
'I'm not a squirrel. I'm a Titan."
"What's a Titan?" he asked laying back down to talk to the green animal face to face.
"You live this close to Jump City and don't know about the Titans?! Well, you don't hear much about us now seeing as most heroes have left that line of work, are dead, or are underground." Beast Boy muttered the last boy's face contorted, like he was trying to remember something, but he didn't quite know what.
"Why?" Seems the bigger boy had heard him all the same though.
"Dude, do you live under a rock? Because of the evil dictator that took over the world, Deathstroke, duh. The guy pretty much banned happiness, hope, and heroes. It's a mess out there man. Fire, death, muggings, anything and everything bad is going down." Beast Boy sighed. He was depressed all over again just thinking about everything that had become of the once great Jump city. "It's worse in other places too … "
"Wow, that does sound pretty bad, it's nothing like that here." The boy's big, innocent, deep blue eyes blinked and for just a moment, Beast Boy thought that maybe Slade hadn't stomped out everyone's hope, that this boy here was at least safe. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you mr. talking green squirrel, but Dinner's almost ready, and Slade will be mad if I'm late to dinner again." He smiled. Beast Boy's heart dropped.
"Slade?" He asked, choking out the name, as if just saying it would bring calamity, which, it just might knowing that man.
"Yeah, He's my master, He's really super nice to me too!" The boy chirped standing up again, stretching backwards all the way back to the ground so he was in and arch shape then sprang back up. "Would you like to meet him? We never have guests for dinner, I don't know why. I doubt William would mind."
"M-master?" The little green mammal squeaked. "Nah, it's okay, I'm actually looking for a friend of mine and should get back to searching." He paused, "What's you're name anyway?" The boy laughed.
"Well my real name is Richard, which is what William calls me, but Slade likes to call me Robin, sometimes he'll use my name though, when he's happy or if I do something he likes." He was about to walk back when he looked over his shoulder and asked why. That little piece of hope, that little whispering voice in his head that was telling him that everything would be okay, that they just had to find Robin … It had just died.
"Oh, No reason, just wanted to know the name of the cute boy who lived in fantasy world, that's all." Beast Boy tried to laugh it off. But with each sound leaving his lungs, he felt a little piece of him die. Speedy had been right, the Robin they had all known really was dead."
"Haha, William and Slade say I'm cute too, but I just thought they were teasing me. You really think I'm cute?" He paused, the light in those deep sapphire blue eyes was amazing and Beast Boy had a hard time believing that the happy, carefree, nice boy in front of him was really his Robin. "So, what's your name then? I mean, I just told you mine … it's only fair if you tell me yours." Robin waited for a response. Beast Boy swallowed, clearing his throat, trying to get the nerve to speak again.
"G-Garfield. My name is Garfield." He answered heavily. For now, it was best if he didn't tell him that they used to be teammates. Or his hero name, it was too dangerous. Whatever Slade had done to Robin … Beast Boy didn't know if he wanted to know. He did know however, that he had to tell the others that Robin was alive … physically at least. The real trick, was not telling Starfire. The weeks closely following Robin's disappearance had been the hardest on her, it had gotten so bad that the others had had to physically restrain her and lock her in her room. It truly was what was best for her. The team had no doubt in their minds that had they not locked her up then, that they would have lost her, that she would not be with them now. And the young Titan was pretty sure that news of this sort would only catapult her back into that dark state of depression and blind desperation.
"Well Garfield, it was nice meeting you, I hope you find your friend soon, it doesn't sound too safe out there right now." Robin smiled and then took off for the house. How the hell was he going to tell the team this?
"Well … fuck." Beast boy muttered dejectedly as he turned on his heel and started back for the city. "Maybe I just shouldn't tell them." He groaned, his small squirrel head falling and lolling to the side. Yeah, that sounded like a better Idea.