Author's Notes: Ahh! Sorry for the long wait! I knew things would eventually get too busy for me. I just took a week long school trip to the east coast only to come back and have school work try to kill me (which I'm not out of the woods yet XD) but I graduate next week! AHHH! o_o Scary. I'm so not ready to be an adult. *curls up in the corner*

Chapter 14: Revelation

The broken team sat silently in the common room, avoiding each other's gaze, looking at the floor. The numbness of feeling too many emotions in such a short amount of time was afflicting them all, causing them to be in a state of shock that they had difficulty overcoming. As expected, Robin was affected the most, appearing nearly catatonic as he sat completely still, lost within his mind. Merely half a hour ago his wife of six months had vanished with barely a trace, nobody yet able to piece together any of the questions that were surrounding her disappearance. But technically, that statement was incorrect. She didn't just vanish - apparently, she had already been gone for a long time. Months. For months of crime fighting, date nights, bad days, good days, she hadn't really been there. Robin felt like a fool for falling for this elaborate scheme, but at the same time he couldn't help feeling angry with her for not knowing either, for not saving herself. He knew that wasn't fair though, how could someone in that situation come to such conclusions without being convinced that they had gone crazy?

Despite his anger in himself and frustration over his laboring wife, his fury for Raven's inability to sense the danger and act on it nearly drove him mad. He gritted his teeth as he reflected upon the events that occurred not long before, coming close to blaming the entire situation on her. The only thing that kept him from screaming at her at the top of his lungs was the sadness that laid heavily in his heart, cancelling out his anger and leaving him empty.

After Starfire had fallen asleep and left to deliver a baby alone, or with a kidnapper, which wasn't much of a better prospect, everyone fell under a trance which prevented them from leaping straight into action. But there was also an unsaid understanding behind the silence, other than the crippling shock - they knew that if they ran out to find her with absolutely no clue where she was or what to expect that they would have little to no chance of success. As Raven would likely say, they needed to control their emotions and treat this like a typical mission, or else their feelings would prevent them from doing their job effectively. Instead of talking it out, since there was currently nothing to say, everyone kept to themselves, trying to dig through their memories of the past six months to unearth any evidence or clues as to where she was being held captive.

Cyborg shifted uncomfortably, wanting to say something but feeling quite awkward, unwilling to break the silence and interrupt everyone's concentration. However, it didn't take him long to push that mental obstacle aside, realizing that this was Starfire in trouble and that such trivial concerns had absolutely no importance.

"We need to get one thing straight…" He started, waking everyone up from their thoughts, his voice echoing around the large room. They looked up at him, their facial expressions remaining unchanged. "The person who took her, whoever took her, has to be after the baby." He paused for a second, watching their subtle reactions. Everyone had already mostly accepted that, but they continued to let him talk. "I mean, if she's been gone so long, ever since her marriage… the person planned this, thoroughly at that, and they saw this coming. That baby must be really valuable for them to go through so much trouble…" He glanced over at Robin, regretting his word choice as he observed his anguished expression. Of course 'that baby' was 'valuable' - probably the most valuable thing to Robin alongside his wife, and his other teammates being a close second.

"Well yeah." Raven mumbled, her eyes carefully avoiding Robin's side of the couch. "The baby's partially Tamaranean, it's to be expected that it will inherit some of Starfire's powers. That kidnapper must be counting on that-"

"-so they can take advantage of them." Beast Boy concluded grimly.

Raven nodded once, turning her head completely to the opposite side of the room from Robin, her guilt overflowing past her blockade on her feelings. "Perfect weapon. Strong, starbolts, ability to fly, inhumanly tolerant… maybe even an extraordinary leader if it takes after Robin." Robin ignored the compliment, feeling his grief overtake him more and more as everyone talked about his missing son or daughter and why someone would want to steal him or her. Plus, Raven's use of the pronoun 'it' to describe his child made him clench his fists tightly in anger.

"We have no idea what the baby will inherit, how can anyone know!? It's a random chance! What if he or she doesn't get any of Star's powers!?" Robin exclaimed loudly, his new burst of emotions giving him the ability to speak once again, pulling him out of his numbness. Everyone but Raven looked at him, startled.

Cyborg cleared his throat. "Man, it's still a huge possibility; a fifty-fifty chance. And that's the best thing Star could possibly offer to a power hungry lowlife. Having a Tamaranean, even just part Tamaranean part human, isn't an opportunity that presents itself everyday."

"The best thing she could offer…" Robin repeated unintentionally, the words escaping his lips before he could stop them. Cyborg gave him a confused look.

"Um, yeah. Don't ya think? I mean, I guess someone could somehow brainwash Star into joining them, but I'm sure more people are capable of raising a child to be a villain than converting an already dedicated superhero-"

"Shut up for a second!" Robin commanded loudly, Cyborg immediately shrinking back from the harshness of the demand, but Robin was too focused to be apologetic.

"Hey, come on Robin, he's just trying to help." Beast Boy said, defending his friend. Robin didn't respond, connections in his brain beginning to be made.

{Flashback}

Robin was terrified into silence. He wanted to stop him, to scream at him not to touch her, but his body wouldn't follow his brain's commands. Raven undertook the duty as temporary interrogator. "What do you mean, Slade. Why are you targeting Starfire?"

"Simple. It's what she has to offer." Robin's eyes widened, remembering Starfire say something very similar to that.

{Flashback within a flashback}

"What happened?" Robin asked, rubbing her back consolingly.

"I do not know. I was trapped in an all-white room, and someone said I could... offer him something?" Robin looked at Starfire in concern. He couldn't help but worry about this, even if it was just her dream.

"Slade said that…" Robin said after nearly a minute of quiet had passed. He turned his head towards the team. "He said that, did he not?"

"Yes." Raven affirmed, still not meeting Robin's eyes. She was just a step behind his thought processes, reality quickly making itself clear to her. But Beast Boy and Cyborg hadn't quite joined the movement yet.

"And…?" Beast Boy asked, seeing Raven's expression change from grim to enraged.

"Starfire said a man in a nightmare of hers long ago had told her that she had something to offer him. Slade said that too…" By then, Robin didn't need to explain any further. The room filled with silence - but this time it was different. Instead of a mutual, heavy confusion stifling the sound, understanding and determination took its place. The revealing of this easily overlooked detail was enough to possibly save Starfire and the baby she was likely giving birth to right at that moment, if not moments before.

"Of course…" Cyborg said, a light bulb shining brightly over his mind. "His weird threats, telling us not to mess with him… it all makes sense now!" His happiness at the discovery was abruptly cut short, his excitement quickly fading. "Oh, man." He said quietly, really taking in the fact that Starfire was with Slade, the villain that the Titans hated the most. He had forced Robin to do his bidding by threatening his friends' lives, ruined their ex-teammate Terra, terrorized Raven while assisting her demonic father, and now had stooped even lower with his most recent venture.

Before allowing sorrow to engulf him as well, Robin leaped off the couch, posed to fight, almost as if he was mentally preparing himself for what was to come. They knew who had Starfire now, and that was the only information they required. Now they had a clue of where to look, and the sooner they went out and searched the better. The chances of finding Starfire and the baby alive and well were quickly diminishing with each wasted minute, so Robin didn't want to waste another.

"Titans, we need to split up and search the city. Start at any and every area we have ever spotted Slade, then fan out from there. I'll begin at the old factory. GO!" Without any further direction, Robin bolted from the room at light speed, leaving his team behind as they collected their thoughts. They followed momentarily, sharing in his eagerness to find their best friend, but Raven suddenly stopped near the doorway, floating back down the floor. Her chest felt constricted and she breathed in and out with difficulty. She stood, watching Cyborg and Beast Boy disappear down the hallway, holding her hand against her chest. Normally she didn't feel much, keeping a tight lid on her emotions, but right now she swore that this tightness was a dangerous mixture of fear and outrage, mingling together with the intense guilt she had for failing the team and not detecting all of this before it was too late. Robin was right, she thought in her chaotic mental state, I should have stopped this sooner.

Unexpectedly, as her disparaging thoughts cut at her internally, Beast Boy's head appeared from behind the wall at the end of the hallway.

"Raven! Come on!" He shouted, motioning for her to join the search.

Raven shook her head vigorously, trying to rid herself of this demoralized attitude that had filled her head. Regretting the past wouldn't do anything to help now, and hearing Beast Boy's urgent call reminded her of that. She lifted herself out those thoughts, likely saving a few objects from exploding before her emotions had become too strong, flying down the hallway and racing towards the exit with Beast Boy close on her tail. She pushed her worries to the back of her head, focusing entirely on the mission at hand: get Starfire and her baby back unharmed and prevent this disaster from ever occurring again.

Author's Notes: So, quite a bit shorter and slower than the last chapter, but it needed to be done. XP Now they know everything that I'm pretty sure we already knew. Woohoo.