Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Did That ❯ One-Shot

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Haunted coda. Robin wonders about the effect of Slade's death while Raven is torn with her merging with Robin and the implications of Slade's return. Can the two realize the harsh truths without being torn in two? Completed.

Non Anime: Teen Titans Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Psychological / Drama / | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 10.02.2005 | Updated On: 08.04.2006 | Pages: 18 | Words: 15.7K | Visits: 899 | Status: Completed

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or the lyrics to “Did That”.

Author's Note: To celebrate Haunted's anniversary, I thought it fitting to write an actual coda to my favorite Titan episode and the opening for my ship. I based many of my fictions from the effects of “Haunted”; I thought it fitting to use the episode itself finally.

Dedicated to my good friends who happen to have the same ship I do, you know who you are.

Timeline: an hour after “Haunted”.

Song: Lisa Loeb, album: Hello Lisa.

Ready Go!

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“He's dead, he's really dead.”

Robin blurted out the statement in the silent corridors of the Tower as he trudged to his room. He marched to his bed to rest after almost having his body burnt out by Slade Wilson's final trap: a chemical reagent from one of his old masks. With Raven's empathy and clarity, he uncovered the truth but the whole incident left for him to brood over.

`It seems so hard to believe Slade is finally dead. After all that agony he's put me and the team through, the ending seems…almost anticlimactic.'

He schlepped to the corridor to his room, deliberating.

`It's funny how life works: one day, you get up, dress up as someone who walked off a Tim Burton set and you betray everything possible and, then, the next day, you see how much you're the bad guy and learn what a jerk you are. Maybe I am getting too old for this.'

He entered his room and observed all the newspaper clippings, rotting away.

`Maybe I should redecorate.' He ambled to the “Who is Slade?” article.

`How many nights did I have staring at this? At him and that eye taunting me.' He bore his masked eyes into the clipping; he swore the illustration would leap out of the page. He massaged his temples.

“I'll worry about the rest later. Need to sleep…”

He collapsed on the bed. `I hope I don't have another nightmare about him. Not after last time.' His final thought was the dream right before Slade recruited him as the Apprentice, with Robin fighting the Terminator and the grand unmasking.

`I wonder if I will be ever rid of him. Alive or dead.'

The Teen Wonder had a restless sleep.

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`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' Raven bolted to her room with an exceptional reason to mediate—the merging of her soul self to Robin's mind.

`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' The images replayed in her mind like a movie: Robin's memories of Slade, the savage fighting, his pledge in front of Batman before he donned the Robin costume, and his parents plummeting to their deaths. She upheld her focus on the final scene.

`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' The scene rewound itself while she sensed the core of emotions Robin possessed as they dived and his profound helplessness.

`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' She then summoned up his training, bred from his never-ending quest for perfection, such as his time out in the Gauntlet—Batman's challenge for Robin to evade him for 24 hours, with the capture of gangster Joe Minette as a bonus.

`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' Now it was Robin's memories and sense of betrayal after being “fired” by the Dark Knight mixed with his initial actions with his team: to betray them to be Red X and undermine Slade.

`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' Switch to his sense of futility and frustration with Terra clashing with his sense of temper and restraint as the Terminator continued with his games and mocked Robin with the blonde geomancer.

`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' Robin's uncertainty with the alien princess Starfire, after her seemingly rejection on her homeworld flashed briefly.

`Azarath Metrion Zinthos.' His lack of resistance to Raven's entrance into his mind, undisturbed for the unraveling of his well constructed mystery. His only concern was on her safety.

`Azarath Metrion…' Raven shifted to her own mind and her own amazement of her desperation to assist the Teen Wonder and risk contamination.

`Azarath Metrion…' Her indulgence finally had the best of her, despite the constant attempts to suppress.

`Azarath…oh, screw it,' she sighed and floated down on the bed, the events of tonight undulating in her brain.

`All this time, I never knew, I never even suspected about the truth about Rob…no. Can't say that anymore, can I? Richard. Well, I'd rather call him that than…Dick. Despite the fact, it's almost fitting with the way he acts from time to time. No, I can't say that either, at least not normally, just when a certain one eyed man is involved.' The pain of her jaw from where the simulacrum of Slade punched her still tingled.

`One thing I have to give Slade, I praise his convoluted planning. Who else could pull off a double switch like the one he did with Red X with the robot duplicate, and wait for Robin…Richard to obsess and trap him by his own delusions by the one thing that binds them: obsession. All just to screw with his former Apprentice? Bravo. I'm used to such tactics myself, or least from the supernatural version of Slade—my dear old dad. I guess it's another thing Richard and I have in common, among other things, apparently.

`Such as the air of mystery, although that is gone to the wind now, pity. Couldn't be avoided anymore as the last thing I need on my…conscience is letting my image get in the way of someone's life. At least the damage was minimal given how similar we are: our lovely way to hide within ourselves, ironic given the childhood training. ' Her mind drifted to her childhood.

`Enmeshed with that lovely angst, it's almost delectable as we've a similar enough of a past. Of the two, he's had the worst—he had hope and it was taken away. Interesting. I wonder what he was like as a child. He seemed happy from what I witnessed, however, with someone such as Batman, I doubt he was allowed to be a child. He had to grow up quickly, and become oh so, serious, which isn't a turn off, not to me. Why am I taking pleasure from that?' the empath mused.

`Serious with a dark edge, thanks to Batman and Slade, and I didn't see this before. I wish I had, or I would have done something…slightly proactive, but he could have made the first step as well. One thing I'll give the blonde, she made us try to talk to each other, even though he didn't heed my advice,' she churned.

`No, the blonde is neutralized and we're still together, so it's moot to blame past decisions. Just focus on the now and the future.' She pondered about the fear of Slade's return and Starfire's rejection of Richard.

`To whatever future it may be. Azarath Metrion Zinthos.'

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Robin awakened four hours later, gazing at the ceiling.

`I slept enough for now, just too much on my mind.' He revisited the same clipping.

`I wonder if he is dead. For all I know he left a robot double to take that lava bath. He would do that, too. So manipulative. I wish I can be so sure but I don't know if I want to dig all that earth…and yet…no, no, I said to let go, and I will. I did enough to mangle my credibility with the others, I need to restore it.' He tore down the clipping and clenched his fist.

`So now what do I do now that he's dead? I got Blood and his new H.I.V.E. and that Red X imposter to worry about. I have enough to keep my hands full, yet it's hard to see them as separate entities even with Slade out of the picture, since he was connected to both. It's just not the same; it feels so new and different. Same thing with Terra—there was nothing like it back when we first started and the mystery of Slade was so—I hate to say intriguing but…' He crumbled up the clipping and discarded it on the floor.

`Stop obsessing. You already did that tonight when you looked at that mask and you fell for it. I always seem to fall for his tricks. I did with Red X, then the Apprentice, and Terra. I wonder how she would feel given he still had one final trick for his first Apprentice. I suppose in Slade's sick way, it's a term of endearment,' he ruminated as he tottered to his closet for a new costume.

`I wonder—did he care about her at all? I know he somewhat did with me when I was with him. Yet he switched gears, why? Jealousy, rage, or the ambition with Terra's power? I guess I'll never know. After analyzing him all this time, I have no clue to how he thinks, how he schemes, and how he can just use anyone for himself. I didn't find a thing at his old base. But I wasn't looking for research, I was looking for him.' He whipped out another costume and swiftly dressed himself.

`It's time to drop this, Grayson. He is dead, they're right, and it's time to move on. Granted, it would be nice to finalize these feelings, just so I can finally get closure and it would help resolve things for later with Blood and X. Just how…' He glanced at the clock: 3:00 A.M.

`It won't be sunrise for four hours, I could do it. Just have to slip away and back.' The leader of the Titans devised a plan.

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`Azarath…drat.' Raven attempted to complete her meditation but could not for she had visions of a masked Titan treading in her head.

`I'm never going to see things clearly with him in my head. I hardly gave a thought to him before, yet I am now. I never realized how drawn I am to him, which was nothing until now. All this similarity and I missed it. How could have I missed this? How could I have been so blind? No matter now, but how do I use this knowledge? What do I do about the effects and the aftershock of this? What do I do about what I've done tonight?' she murmured in frustration as she heard several distant explosions.

`Life was so much easier when I was an unfeeling, distant—I'm not going to end that. So now what do I do about him? And what about telling him about Slade's possible return? He finally has some serenity. Should we lie to him and not disrupt this newfound tranquility for him? However, if Slade were to return, it would all blow up in our faces anyway. It's all “damned if I do, damned if I don't”.

`Great, I know everything about him but I don't know anything about him, beyond the evidence before my eyes. Since we are similar, then, he might do what I would do in such a situation but I need more proof. So where do I go from up? Where can I turn to? Maybe that should be “who”. I know he has some form of relationship with Starfire and Cyborg. I could go there.' The gothic Titan's mind lit up in cogitation.

`With Starfire and the incident in Tamaran, I don't know, and she can be rather emotional with him. After tonight, my shields aren't up to that, so that leaves Cyborg. Be nice to have another heart-to-heart after a year since the last one.' She morphed out of the door.

`Stupid attachments and maintaining relationships. You know this never happens to J'onn Jozz or Dr. Fate,' she groused as she searched for Cyborg.

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Cyborg was off running tests on the broadcast signal that activated Slade's mask in the medical lab.

`Tthe wavelength appears to be underground, but where? It's close to the city. Even if we find it, what do we do about...?' The door opened and Raven sashayed in.

“Raven, what are you doing here?”

She sucked in a breath. “I came to ask you about…”

“What? Beast Boy's bad jokes? What's in Starfire's glorg? If Robin has as different color for each eye?” His defense mechanisms were in fine form tonight.

“Something like that. Are you busy?”

“No, not really, just trying to triangulate where that signal to activate Slade's mask came from, but I'm fine. What's up?”

“Well, you know Robin, right?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Pretty much, not as much as Star or Batman but enough, why?”

`Now how to word this without compromising myself,' “I have some questions about him. My observations are strong, but they may not have the most foundation as I haven't had the most exposure to him. I am wondering the sincerity of his closure with Slade tonight and how to approach him with the fact that Slade might be alive.” `Yes, perfect, don't tell him you bonded with the Titan you avoided, in a way one couldn't even imagine.'

The cybernetic Titan elevated his organic eyebrow. “Uh huh, well, Robin doesn't mean to lie unless something is really on the line. I do think he'd try to let go, but with his old habits and digging up that mask in the first place tonight, I don't know.”

“You think he'll break his word?”

“No, but after all the trouble Slade gave him, it's hard to let go, especially since he didn't take down Slade—Terra did, really. Hard to get that release if you didn't have any part of it.”

She narrowed her eyes in scorn. “Yes, she did. I forgot about her involvement.”

“Yeah, well, with the craziness we've had lately, it's not hard to forget when you're distracted. Tonight was just Robin's turn. Last week it was me.”

“You were infected, not crazy,” she scoffed.

“I know, but you got to laugh these things off or you'll really be crazy,” he volleyed back.

“I suppose. So what should we do about this? Observe him?”

“Well, between us, it will have to be. Star could as she's known him a while, but with her, I don't know what to call what she experiences when she's around him but I'd like to think it as…”

“Emotional dependence?” Raven jabbed.

“Something like that, either way, I'm not touching that with a 50 foot pole unless I have to. Just pick up small things he wouldn't do normally, I guess.”

“I'm afraid I am not around him as such, so I don't know if I would be truly observant.” She dusted off her emotionless tone.

“I don't know, Raven, you can make an effort if you want to—like you did with Terra?”

“It's not that easy,” she responded with defeat.

“No, but after been being in your head, it made things easier for you and me, at least for what it's worth.” Cyborg reminisced about the labyrinth he and Beast Boy were trapped in inside her mind and Raven's timidity guiding them out.

She lowered her head down in shame. `He's got the point there; I suppose I could return the favor.' “It's not that easy as you know. I am afraid if I did that I'd be risking too much with him inside my…”

“I didn't mean it like that; it was just that way for you and me. No, just talk to him about something. He's smart; you're smart, play on that.”

The demoness felt like a fool after that. “Oh, right. Well, he's a detective in his own right. I just never noticed.”

“I bet. But to answer your other question, I don't think we should tell him for the time being. He's already unstable enough as it is; don't need to add to it.”

“That may be but what if Slade returns and Robin realizes we withheld the truth from him? We've moved on since the time of Red X.” `Not that I'm one to talk,' she replied in a subtle anxiety.

“I know. So far, the signal is close to the city but I can't find anything else. Just have to wait and see.”

“How long do we maintain this line of thinking?”

“Until Robin has had enough time to let go.”

“Which is how long? Slade could return in a week, or few days, or even tomorrow,” she spat out as her indignation spiked.

“If so, we'll handle it as it comes. We got other things to deal with first,” he soothed her.

“Please don't say Blood.” She rolled her eyes.

The mechanical Titan concealed a snarl. “I'm not. I was speaking of this Red X 2.0 for the most part. He may be depowered now but he's still on the loose.”

“What makes you think it's a he?” she teased.

“Don't be screwing with me, Raven.”

“Just saying.”

“So what's with the sudden interest with Robin? You don't usually say `boo' about him before,” he inquired in a near accusatory manner.

“That's not true, I just been busy.” The dark Titan's barriers were erected.

“Raven, I know we had Slade and Terra to deal with but you couldn't have been that busy.” Raven gritted her teeth on his obvious enjoyment.

“You're enjoying this.”

“Yeah, I am. Because I enjoy seeing you on your toes, and see just how much will it takes for you to air out all that stuffiness?”

“Stuffiness? I am not…” She concealed her shock to his rejoinder.

“Oh, come on. With your books, your outlook on things, your smarty-pants intellect, your inability to have fun with us peasants, you can't tell me you don't place yourself a cut above others?”

Raven couldn't deny that. “Well…maybe a little.”

“Don't worry, Robin is stuffy, too. It's kinda funny how you two are alike.” He waved his hand dismissively.

“Hilarious,” she deadpanned.

“So why the interest in him?”

“Let's just say tonight was an eye opener, and made me realize some things.” It was an honest enough statement from the mysterious empath.

He evoked an incredulous glance before opening his mouth again. “Yeah, I know, it's kinda easy to take him for granted because he's the leader, isn't it?” She shrunk down to size when she heard that, interrupting her assessment on his previous emotion.

“Yes, it is. I think that was the epiphany, or much needed lesson to browbeat into me, apparently.”

“As long as it sticks. With the Blood crap going on, I'm not much better.” His mood altered to aggravation.

“At least you try.”

“But I could do better.” Cyborg's subtle negativity consumed him.

`Here goes. My only shot at optimism.' “I'd say no time like the present but we both should give him some rest first, and, then, try it. He, at least, will be here in the morning, yes?”

“Yeah, wait, was that you being optimistic?” he grinned.

“Bite your tongue. I was merely pointing out the obvious,” she denied.

“Sure you were,” the half-machine chuckled.

“Stop it.” Her eyes adopted their ivory glow.

“Okay, okay, but you don't have to worry about letting down your guard all the time. I think with everything, we're past the point of that, don't ya think?” he posed in satisfaction. Raven was still for a minute.

“Honestly, I…” A well-timed alarm from Cyborg's arm disrupted the duo.

`Thank you.' “What's wrong?”

He typed up a few commands. “It's the R-Cycle, it's gone.”

“What do you mean gone? It's an inanimate object, locked in the hangar.”

“Well, it's not now. I increased security around the R-Cycle in case—” Her cold eyes were on him.

“In case he would leave.” She completed the sentence.

“For tonight and the next few days, yeah.”

“So what do you want to do? Beast Boy is immobilized by his cold and Starfire…”

“I know. She's been through a lot tonight. That's why I patched in my personal sensors, but I would have called on you at any rate.”

“Oh really? You seem so…Machiavellian over him; I figured you had all the angles checked and didn't need me,” Raven jeered.

“Anyone else, maybe, but Robin is more…complicated. I'd need some extra muscle and who isn't afraid to push back.”

“I suppose I'll take that as a compliment,” she jovially sneered.

“It would save time if you did,” he quipped as the two Titans dashed to the elevator.

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Robin revved his bike at the traffic light. `I wonder if I'll find what I'm looking for. Maybe it is a waste of time. But how will I know for sure if I don't? But would I know anything anyway even I did? God, my head hurts.' He grunted as his chest ached.

`I have to admit, I never had such a workout before. Maybe that was the point: the pseudo Slade mocked about me getting soft. Maybe there was more to the reagent than I thought. I guess Raven was on to something.' His mind dwelled on the dark empath entering his mind, viewing the dark scenes of Slade's impact on the Teen Wonder, the mask that infected him and the focal point of his obsession, his oath to Batman, and watching his parents descend to their deaths. He gripped the handlebar tighter at that reflection.

`I don't know what's more exposing: the reagent exploiting my fears and insecurities and turning me into a frothing madman or a teammate I barely spoken more than two words to, finding out everything I've hidden and locked away over the years. All that maintained secrecy gone. Now what do I do? I'm compromised no matter what I do. I can't do anything about the reagent but what about Raven? I have no inducement over her. It's my own fault for not letting her in but I can't think about that now, I have larger concerns.'

The traffic light turned green and Robin sped off into the night.

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“Robin, come in. Robin, come in. This is Raven,” Raven uttered to the Communicator. All that was heard back was silence.

“He deactivated his communicator. I can't contact him nor track him.” She tucked away the device.

“It's alright; we still got the censors on the bike. And he's…” Cyborg punched commands into his control panel and presented Raven the results.

“Is he heading where I think he's heading?”

“Yep. Looks like Slade's old base,” he dourly rejoined as they slinked into the T-Car.

“But we were just…” She put on her seatbelt as he ignited the car.

“I know, but that's Robin for you—he's a full circle, anniversary type of guy.”

“I wouldn't exactly call that a negative trait,” she countered.

“No, it makes him more predictable if anything.” He bolted out of the hangar and into the bay with the vehicle's hover mode.

“What if, God forbid, he finds your sensors and disables them? He's not a fool.”

“Yeah, but I'd know if they were tampered with. He's smart, but he won't outsmart me,” the synthetic teen boasted.

“Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he easily access your control panel and made you collapse to the ground while branding around technology beyond your grasp?” she answered with a modicum of smugness.

“He was just lucky,” he snorted.

“Sure he was. And Slade wore a tutu.”

“Your sadism streak is starting to bud. Nice to see that growing along nicely,” he jibed.

Without a beat, she retorted. “And it looks like your quest of being wrong all the time is hitting fruition nicely there, too.”

“Can I just say `I don't like you' and call it a day?”

“Not until we get Robin.” Her tenor converted to serious.

“Yes, dear,” he snickered.

“What does that mean?” She glared at him.

“What?”

“You're implying something, aren't you?”

“No, no, what would make you think that?” he hummed artlessly.

“Your tone in your voice for your starters, or shall I go north?” Her eyes sparked once again. Cyborg differentiated his limitations with her.

“All right, all right, a guy can only take so much. It's your overall 180 of him that has hooked me. I would think if you were a normal girl your age, I'd say you're beginning to hint something deeper there.” His snickering amplified.

“Like what? He's a teammate and my leader; the team would fall apart if he falls. That's been proven,” she affirmed in nonchalance.

“I dunno. We've done alright when the chips are down without him, like when he was Red X or the Apprentice.”

Raven glowered at the memory. “Indeed, but that's not the same. In either example, we were fighting him.”

“Yeah, but when he was Red X, we didn't know that.”

“I think that was the point,” she scowled.

He had nothing and drove on. “I didn't say it was a bed of roses, it's just that we've endured fine despite him being…”

“You might as well say it: crazy. I know you thought that.” Her defensiveness climbed.

“You said it; I didn't. I was going to say `gone.'”

“No, you meant something else.” Her finger was on the pulse of the matter.

“Stop getting defensive. Now that you mention it, not all of us are sane—Robin lived in a cave, I am half machine, BB is a ticking time bomb with only his jokes to defuse and you. What's sane anyway?”

“I suppose I can't argue you with that.” Raven's memory of her attack on Dr. Light echoed in her head.

“Nope. On the plus side, we didn't destroy all of creation either, so I guess the law of averages balances out again. There we go.” The car hit one of the beaches surrounding the bay and infiltrated into the city.

“In many respects and not just from within.” Cyborg tensed up when he heard that subtle quality of the enigmatic demoness.

“You're getting cryptic again. I hate it when you're cryptic.”

“Well, A girl has to maintain some form of image. But I'm really referring to that while Slade is dead, someone else will take his place, there has to be. And from what I see, it's Brother Blood for now.”

“Oh, him, don't worry, he may be strong but…we can take him.” The male's pride exploded.

“You hesitated, again you meant something else,” she probed.

“Will you stop that? You're getting so paranoid.”

“I'm just reading between the lines.”

“You and Robin,” he mumbled sotto voce.

“What?” She perked up her ears.

“Nothing.” If only he could whistle an innocent tune.

“Right. But you're avoiding the issue—you were with the H.I.V.E. for a week, so you can't tell me you don't have your own personal involvement in catching Blood.”

“None at all.”

“Please, `don't kid a kidder' I believe is the phrase? Blood is different; he got under your skin, didn't he? Just as Slade got under Robin's,” she noted.

Silence was the male Titan's only reaction. “You can't tell me I'm wrong, can you?”

The stillness sustained until a beeping cut in. “I got something. He's heading east? He's going away from the base. More to the center of the city?” he declared in bewilderment.

“No, it's too convenient. If you're smart enough to know he is smart enough, he is smart enough to stop you from knowing what he's up to. He probably switched the bike with someone,” Raven elaborated.

“No way, my sensors are state of the art; there is no way he can detect them. Besides, he is not going to dismantle or give away that sweet bike.” He maintained driving in the same direction.

“I think if push came to shove, he would easily discard it. He does with people, what's to stop him with inanimate objects?”

“I know him with that bike. He won't do it. It's his baby, like me with mine.” The half machine patted the dashboard.

“At least you're not at the level to want to sleep with the car,” the demoness mordantly jested.

Cyborg got nervous. “Right.” She let a faint smirk grace her lips.

“You still haven't answered my question about Blood.”

“Maybe that's because it's a stupid question,” he dismissed her.

“Is it? Something obviously made you want to stay over a week.”

“I told you, it was just getting a normal life again.” He was getting annoyed.

“That may be, but you can't say Blood didn't offer something enticing for you to try and defect,” the gothic empath prodded.

“It was a con and you know it.”

“Maybe, but I can't say you weren't tempted by the way you aimed your cannon at us, or how rather roughshod you were with Robin,” she darkly bantered.

“That has nothing to do with anything.” He wished he located their leader already so she'd stop the interrogation.

“Then, what does it have to do with? You had that anger for building for a reason.”

“I…” The sensors chimed and he silently praised their lovely timing. The empathic Titan was rather jarred by his sentiment.

“We're getting close and he's turning to us. He's heading this way.”

“Oh, goodie,” she gibed.

“We can stop; he's heading right before us.” He stopped the car in the empty street and exited the car.

“You make it sound like we should trap him,” She questioned as she joined him.

“Well…”

“After this, you and I are going to have a long talk,” she sternly avowed.

“Aren't we having that now?” he joked.

“Yes, but the original choice of topic isn't you, but Robin.” She heard the motorcycle speeding from the shadows. The familiar sleek ruby motorcycle emerged from the darkness and zipped past the two. A male throwback from the 1950's biker movies with the obsidian leather coat, denim jeans, slicked back hairstyle, and sunglasses was the rider. The two recalled him all too well—it was the carjacker known as Cash.

“And that is not Robin.” Raven levitated to the side of the motorcycle.

“Pull over.”

“Piss off.” He gripped the handle and hastened away.

“Oh, please.” She flared her eyes, Cash's clothes spontaneously irradiated a negative ebony energy, and he floated off the custom motorcycle.

“Hey! Hey!”

“You were saying?” she ridiculed. Cyborg hiked up to the two, trying to obscure his windedness.

`I need to get in better shape.' “You again? Didn't you have your fit of stealing when you stole my car?” the half-artificial Titan fumed.

“I did, I learned my lesson,” Cash derided.

“So what are you doing with the motorcycle of the leader of the Teen Titans?” The demoness' eyes bore straight through the teenager's soul.

“That's your boss' bike? No wonder it was such a sweet ride,” the greaser chirped.

“Enough shop talk, where did you get the bike?” The male Titan aimed his sonic cannon at the human.

“Okay, okay, don't get your bolts in a bunch. A masked kid parked by 87th and Perez Street, recognized me from the drag race circuits and wanted to sell to me his bike. I would never ride in something that dull looking but he egged me on to ride it around for a couple of hours to get a feel for it and I figured a bird in the hand, and a free bike?”

“I see.” She shined her eyes and ensnared the teenager in a negative indigo bubble. “I hope you enjoyed your joy ride. See if you'll get the same satisfaction from the back of the paddy wagon.” She threatened as the two Titans marched away, dragging the bike with them.

“Hey! Come on! I didn't even do anything this time! This is discrimination or harassment! I'll sue!” Cash's rants drowned out in the distance. Cyborg lifted the bike on his shoulder.

“Hard to believe Robin would sell and/or ditch his bike to anyone, lest of all that...” the cyborg raged.

“I know, but remember, when it comes to Slade, anything is possible with him. He was still heading to the old base when the bike diverted, didn't it? I still say hit there anyway.”

“Yeah, and don't say it.”

“Don't say what? About the fact that he outsmarted you, yet again?” She contained her amusement.

“I hate you.”

“I get that a lot.” She permitted a small simper to taint her lips.

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Robin scoured the surrounding rooftops before eyeballing at the decaying reminds of Slade's old base.

`Pity I had to ditch the bike but I had no other choice. Cyborg, you're just going to have to try harder to get me. But I know he will be here, so have to act fast.' He launched a grapping hook on a nearby rusted pylon and swung himself near the main doors.

`At least this time, I won't have to worry about hallucinations.' The doors creaked stridently as he pushed them aside. `I hope.'

The corridors prolonged to infinity. If the Teen Wonder wasn't already intimate with the base, he would have been lost for years. A knot in his stomach formed as he advanced to Slade's inner sanctum.

`I know I shouldn't worry but I still get knots in my stomach.' The stench of rust and rotting death enwrapped his mind as he approached the final doors before Slade's command chamber.

`And my nose still turns with the stench of metal.'

The sights and odors knocked him back a few feet. `I just love the smell of melted plastic in the evening.'

He tentatively stepped in, broken glass crunched underneath his boots. He journeyed to the center of the chamber.

`I wonder if the computers still are functional. Not that I know where to look.' The reverb of a particular taunt of Slade's ricocheted in his head.

`“What I remember is that you couldn't defeat me…at least, not all alone.”'

He slogged to Slade's throne and slumped down on it. `I think that is the one taunt that jabbed me most. He is, no, I am right—I couldn't defeat him by myself. Beast Boy and Terra had that pleasure. No wonder I couldn't let him go.'

The Titan leader surveyed the shattered ruins. `I'm not going to find anything here. No, I need to go straight to the source. I had better hurry before the others catch me and strap me down to the bed…again.'

He wiped the dust of the throne off himself before striding on his way.

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The T-Car screeched to a halt outside Slade's old base.

“Here we are. Again,” Cyborg harrumphed.

“I agree. Twice in one night to this place is a bit too much,” Raven accorded.

He activated his control panel. “Sensors aren't picking up anything. He's gone.”

“Oh, great.” She wanted to slam her head on the T-Car's dashboard.

“Well, he's on foot, so he can't be far, right?”

“Fine. I'll take the high road.” She teleported out of the car and soared into the ominous sky, inspecting the various structures around the base, Communicator at the ready.

“This is our third time here and the place still gives me the creeps.” He patched his link through while driving on the grounds.

“Even I agree,” she returned, as her eyes darted everywhere

“What do you think we'll find?” he queried.

“I don't know.”

“So while we're here, why don't you answer that question hanging over your head?” the synthetic Titan reminded as he turned a corner.

“Which is?”

“That you have a thing for him. I've felt it since we left the Tower.”

She was insulted—how dare he assume that she felt what she felt towards Robin because of mere romantic entanglements. “Take that back.”

“I'm not. Two years you don't do anything with him and, then, suddenly one night you are worried and care about him? I'm not buying it, Ray.”

“Just because I care about him doesn't mean I'm going to declare endless love and have his children. I've seen enough soap operas, thank you.” Her sardonic character was in perfect sync.

“Okay, sorry, just see these things one too many times.” He backed down.

“Understandable. I felt your disbelief before; I just didn't finish the thought.” She calmed down as she scrutinized overhead.

“Yeah. Although, since you brought that up, could you answer another question from before?”

“What?”

“Why don't you let down your guard? C'mon, Raven, we've been together for what? Three years almost? During the Apprentice and Terra stuff, that's one thing. I can believe you being defensive then, but what's your excuse now?”

“Cyborg, you've been in my mind; you know why I can't. I can't find him.”

“I can't either. I don't think he's here, just come on down. And yeah, a literal demon in your head, but Raven, after your freak-out with Dr. Light, you haven't had any of those attacks since, so that can't fly anymore, can it?”

`That would be correct, Cyborg, except I did it again with Terra when she betrayed us.' “I suppose.”

“It's just something to think about. Don't worry; we have to tell Robin that one day, too.”

Her budding tension slowly dissolved. “I'll enjoy hearing you telling him that.”

Cyborg stopped under her. “I bet.” She slowly pervaded down before the T-Car.

“Now what?” she solicited.

“Well, what other Slade-related places can we search? The mountain before the city where we fought the fire monster? The building where Robin met him for the first time? The diamond mine where we brought Terra on a mission? Uh…”

The empath's eyes sparkled from an epiphany. `Diamond mine, Terra…' “I know where he'll be.”

“Where?”

Raven scurried to the car. “To where Terra is.”

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Robin eyed the statuesque reminds of the renegade Titan, Terra. The only sound in the cavern was his shallow breathing.

“I searched everywhere I could find but I didn't find his corpse. Being melted in lava tends to have that effect. Tell me—what magic words did he say to have you on his side? Blackmail? Brutal force? You had nowhere else to go?” He chatted with the frozen girl.

“I came here, because your boss infected me with a chemical reagent. It made me see things, think things, experience things that were hiding in the corners of my mind. Would he have done that to you? Maybe not, not after the care I'm sure he had to take to recruit you.

“Removing you from the equation, I actually envy you. You got to do what I couldn't—defeat him finally. Even your beau could claim that, too. It's a titch pathetic, I think. I know Slade is laughing now and I wonder if you would have as well. Remember how you said `you wanted to go with Slade' and you weren't `some sad little girl who's waiting to be rescued'? That version of you.

“It doesn't matter. You're a statue and he's dead. Justice is met, so why do I feel so hollow? Oh, Terra, it is to laugh. Now as I think about it, this is the first real conservation we've ever had. Isn't that pathetic and a recurring theme of the night?”

A slight adjust to the air behind him triggered his training. He performed a defensive position. “Get ready.”

From the aperture materialized the two peripatetic Titans.

“How did you know he would be here?” Cyborg grilled the gothic empath.

“Because he'd want to go where there is absolute proof of Slade's body or at least the last place the body was in,” Raven stated with authority.

“Robin!” they exclaimed as they promenaded to their leader.

He loosened his body. “I'm sorry. I had to see for myself about Slade. I just wanted to slip in and out; I didn't want to worry anyone.”

“Well, you did. You have to realize that you can't play these secretive games anymore,” she reprimanded. Her companion was slack-jawed by her statement. “Cyborg, let me handle this.”

“Raven, I…” the Teen Wonder sputtered.

“No, Robin. After what we've done with saving you from the reagent, you're obsessing again? He is dead, nothing but ashes. He can't hurt you or us anymore.” The female Titan drew near to her superior.

“I know that, but he's pulled the double robot trick before. And I…”

“Robin, no.” She nodded her head in disapproval. “It's over.”

“I know he's dead, just as she is a statue,” he gestured to the stationary Terra. “Yet it doesn't feel that he is dead, that he might be around somehow.”

“I believe that is your defense mechanism to having your sense of purpose fade away. Since you arrived to Jump City, you barely had time to focus on your team as you had Slade to deal with. Now he's gone and you don't know what to do,” Raven enlightened with a hushed quality to her voice. “Robin, examine yourself with your training, you know it's true as I do,” she whispered.

Batman's former protégé appraised her words and himself. “If you're right—and that's a big if—why would I do that?”

“Because without Slade to remind you of what you are and what you left behind, you are bored being here, or you just don't care. Why else did you pull being Red X without telling us?” It was not addressed as an accusation.

The evidence overwhelmed Robin; meanwhile Cyborg preferred to be in earshot of all this but respected his teammate's wishes as he retained his distance.

“That was a mistake and I'm sorry about it,” Robin about sobbed.

“It no longer matters. The reason for it is gone. He is dead and you can go back and live again. Make up for your poor relations with the team or various team members.” Her face reddened.

He cheered up by that. “How do you know so much about me?”

The inscrutable daughter of Trigon pointed to her temple. “Because I've seen that mask before and I've seen what's behind it. Tomorrow, I could show a little of mine, if you come home.”

He bobbed his head up and down. “Sounds like a good idea, I'm getting tired, Raven.” He buckled in Raven's arms.

“We'll take you home, Richard,” she vowed.

The dark Titan duo swaggered to Cyborg. “Let's go home.” Her voice resonated in the grotto.

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Robin was dead to the world in the T-Car's backseat. Raven sensed Cyborg's eye on her as they traversed past the scenery.

“You can say it—I am a hypocrite.” She disparaged herself.

“Nah, I thought it was touching. It all had to be said. Besides, what could I say to add to it? You're kicking yourself plenty.” He presented a grin.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. What did you say to him at the end?”

“I said that I would show a little of that demon in my head to him tomorrow if he came home. Satisfied?” the obscure Titan morbidly tantalized.

He certainly acquired the hint. “Got it. Can I see it, too?”

“Ask me tomorrow night. Take your chances.”

The cybernetic teen smiled. “Sold. After this, changed your mind any about wanting to `declare endless love and have his children'?”

She craned her head and offered a cock-eyed look. `After tonight, I don't suppose it would be the end of the world if I gave him a second look, right?' “Not a chance. I have too much to live for besides poor soap opera drama?”

“That's my Raven.” He beamed as the Tower was soon in their view.

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Lyrics.

My forehead's splitting, I can feel a separation,
And me, here, full of life, waiting for that magic conversation.
That's why I thought that you should see her.
She'll tell our future,
Don't believe her.

Did you ask about love and forever,
Or did you ask her for her number?
I didn't go to the psychic myself,
'Cause she didn't even know that I was

Out of town,
When I called.
Out of town,
When I called.

I did that sitting on the bedroom floor,
Carpeted hallway, sitting on the bedroom floor.

I did that,
I did that,
I did that,
I did that,

I used to win at cakewalks on a Sunday afternoon,
Stop on Lucky 11.
We'd bring the cake home, in the back seat, in the station wagon,
Such a strange prize.

I did that sitting on a bedroom floor,
Carpeted hallways, sitting on a bedroom floor.

I did that,
I did that,
I did that,
I did that,

I smile, I show my teeth,
I smile, I show my teeth,
I make space,
I make space,
I lay back,
I lay back.

We were empty tonight,
We talked about the television,
Only I was talking, only I was talking.
Is this a future disaster? -Full of omens?
I don't believe in fate.
We talk about about a bad sign,
I think about a cut off date.
So I memorized your kiss,
I memorized your lips,
I memorized your kiss,
I memorized your lips.

I did that,
Sitting on a bedroom floor,
Carpeted hallways, sitting on a bedroom floor.
I did that,
Sitting on a bedroom floor,
Carpeted hallways, sitting on a bedroom floor.

Are you my cake?
Is this my fate?
What a strange prize,
I want to taste.

I did that.

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