Chapter Thirty-Two: To Assign Fault

Chapter Thirty-Two: To Assign Fault

Adeline wrapped her hands with tape, something that had become a daily thing. Not that she liked it that way. After tearing off the piece she was working on and flexing her hand, Adeline allowed herself one of the brief opportunities to slump her posture. There are always days where one is full of energy or on the other side of the scale, entirely depleted of energy. This was one of the days where Adeline wished that she could be depleted. The daily routine of fighting Slade, it was starting to almost depress her. And worse yet, she recognized it.

There had been a point in time where she had always been able to beat him. Within a minute or less, too. True, she had taught him to do better, to improve, to actually hold his own to her, but often times, she had still won... unless, she let him win... It would always boost his confidence. Confidence that at one point would make her smile; at one point make her...

The door opened and Slade walked in. Automatically, his confidence made her feel sick. She half wondered if the corners of her mouth were falling off her face due to the frown they were shaped in. He said nothing, but walked over to the closet chest in the room. Adeline leaned against one of the old couches and waited.

"Bo-staffs today?" He asked.

"Whatever," Adeline said, without much of a care.

"You're talkative," He noted.

Adeline glanced over at him as he walked up to her, "Maybe I'd want to talk more if the person I was talking to wasn't wearing some ridiculous mask."

Slade raised his eye, but began to chuckle. He was always in full uniform when he and Adeline fought. She generally favored sports clothes; today's outfit included a light purple tank top with a short sleeved jacket, tennis shoes, and a pair of loose black shorts. But he always wore what had been coined as Deathstroke's uniform. The mask, included.

"Touché," He said, reaching behind his head and releasing the metal mask from its place.

She looked up to see him, but as she did her perceptive eye overtook her. He caught her eye, "What?"

She stopped staring, "Nothing."

He really hadn't changed very much, when she looked at him closely. He still held that young air about him. Just like when she had first met him. Except of course, the eye patch. That was new. She smiled bitterly and laughed as he handed her the bo-staff.

"Forgive me for missing the joke," He said, walking over to his starting position as she did her's.

"Reminiscing, Slade," She told him, truthfully, "That's all."

"I suppose we do have a lot to reminisce about," He said, "Though I would have thought that you would do that at another time."

"Unfortunately," Adeline said, "I only reminisce on the bad things in my life when I'm around you."

"I apologize," Slade said, like a gentleman, but mocking all the same.

"Don't tell me you don't reminisce, Slade," She said, twirling the bo-staff in her hand.

"I never said I didn't," Slade stated, "But then again, I don't suppose you would care."

"Come to think of it, you're right, I probably wouldn't," She stated.

They stood opposite each other, both ready. Adeline had both hands tight on the bo-staff while Slade stood loosely, like this was some form of practice for the real thing. Too bad for her, it was. Her eyes narrowed. It was her move. It always was. Slade had given her that courtesy. A growl escaped her throat and she attacked head on, aiming the bo-staff at the top of his head. Slade side-stepped her and aimed a blow towards the right of her stomach, but she caught it by placing her bo-staff in the way.

She felt her feet slide backwards as they stood facing each other, but she held her ground all the same. She kept her eyes on him while her brain worked with what she remembered of the surroundings. That was one thing that Adeline knew about Slade. He watched the eyes of his opponent to guess what they would do next. But not her. She wouldn't look anywhere but him. Otherwise, he'd figure out her strategy faster than she could actually plan it out.

That's why when she tilted her staff downwards, he almost lost his footing. Almost. He didn't, but that was good enough for her to fight back. She twisted around to kick him in the gut, but she missed as he jumped back and over her. As Adeline turned, Slade used his own staff to attempt to trip her. It worked. But for mere seconds. Upon falling, Adeline rolled over a good ways away from him. Her breathing slowed as she willed it to. They began to circle the room again, this time slower.

Slade sighed and Adeline's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"What has it been, almost a month?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" She demanded.

Slade shook his head, "The number of times we've done this, fighting."

"Oh you..." She seethed, and attacked, but he blocked with his bo-staff.

"I'm just saying," He said, backing off, "I think we know the outcome of this fight already, Adeline. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Her eyes widened and she spun around, hitting him in the back with the staff, but not hard enough to make a real impact. She did though, cause him to drop his staff, "Are you kidding me?"

"Hm?" Slade asked, side stepping another of her attacks.

"I don't want to do this, Slade," Adeline hissed as she pushed herself away from another of his attacks. He still made a hit and Adeline felt the pain run through her upper arm, "I have to do this."

Slade looked Adeline in the eye as she continued, another attack on the way, "I've always had to do this!"

He backed away as she swiped at his shoulder, "Ever since what happened to Joey... I've had to protect them."

She landed a hit at his chest, but he caught hold of her bo-staff, "I could have helped you there, Adeline, if you had let me."

"You were the threat!" Adeline yelled at him as he wrenched the staff from her grasp and she flipped away, "How could you even..."

Slade kicked out under her legs and Adeline jumped to avoid him, "Adeline..."

"No! No! Can it, Slade," Adeline told him, "I don't want to hear your excuses. I've heard them all."

Slade and Adeline fought. In every instance, something crept back into Slade's memories. Her determination, her sense of justice, her loyalty... She almost landed an uppercut to his jaw, but he turned to his left and was able to pick up his staff. Upon noticing this, she ran for her own and barely managed to grab it before he aimed one end at her hand. He missed and she stood up, knocking him back.

"You know, I did leave them be," Slade said, "As you requested."

"Oh, so responsible of you," She remarked sarcastically, wiping some sweat from her forehead, "When was the last time that happened?"

"We're talking about responsible when you're the one who risked losing custody of them by attempting to murder me?" Slade asked.

"Shut it," Adeline snapped, "It's not like it wouldn't have saved us a whole lot of trouble."

"And yet I know where Grant is and you do not," Slade said, a smile creeping onto his face.

It infuriated her, "And it's responsible of you to know and not tell me? You don't even look after them! You don't care about them!"

"You know that's not true," Slade stated slowly.

Adeline ran into the fight again, "You. Never. Cared."

"Adeline..." He dodged her again.

"No, don't tell me lies like that," Adeline yelled, "I can't believe I trusted you like I did..."

Slade shook his head, "I still believe you to be a good judge of character, though."

"Yeah, well, I don't," Adeline stated firmly, running with her staff at him.

His eye never left her's. They kept fighting, dodging, kicking, and attempting to hurt the other in some manner. After a while, Slade noticed Adeline's movements getting slower and less coordinated. She was tired. He backed off once again. Her hair was clinging to her neck and face, though she still looked like she was ready to go another hour. He almost didn't think that he could last that. Watching her, it reminded him, of everything that she was. The brave, fierce woman that had at one point, been his teacher, his friend...

"Addie..." He began.

Something snapped in her head, "And you know, another thing, I wish, you'd quit calling me that!"

"You're still, so egotistical!" She ran forward and their staffs collided.

"So stubborn!" He pushed her back.

"And sly and..." The staffs clashed again and she was pushed back.

She remembered first meeting him; he was standing in a line of soldiers.

"And annoyingly secretive!" She yelled.

Their first date.

"You couldn't be more..." Another clash and she felt herself losing distance even more.

Meeting him at the airport.

"Detached and hurtful!" Adeline felt her ankle hit the old couch and had no choice but to take a step up.

Watching him playing with the boys...

"And... and..." Adeline felt her back hit the old fireplace's counter.

Their eyes locked and for a moment, time wasn't a factor in their minds. Adeline couldn't tear her eyes away. This man. After everything that he had done to her, everything that he had done to Grant and Joey. After all of those painful nights that she had cried away after he ruined her life...

"Addie?" He asked, and she felt all of her anger subside.

Instantly, Adeline pushed her head passed the two staffs and their lips met. She dropped the staff and her hands fell to his chest, then around his neck. He dropped his own and very gently, brought his hands up to her waist. She paused momentarily, her lips still mere millimeters away from him.

"And vexing..."

Their lips met again. She leaned into him from her spot on the small couch and he carefully pulled them both back until he held her in mid-air. Her fingers toyed with his blond hair. As she needed to breathe, she felt him letting out his own as it ran down her neck.

"And smart..." She whispered.

The third kiss occurred. Almost as a way to politely excuse himself from holding her up, Slade had carefully made his way with her back to the couch in the middle of the room and fell back onto it. She landed on his chest, her brown hair covering most of his face. Just like she had before...

"And patient..."

She gave herself a minute to actually get air and collapsed her head onto his chest, taking in his scent. The same as it had always been. It was like the world and it's problems had melted away and had left them behind...

"What else?" He whispered, a hint of ironic amusement at their current situation hidden in those two words.

Adeline remembered wearing white and what had been the happiest day of her life...

"And..." Her eyes locked with his, "Too... persistent..."

Their lips met for the final time and they hugged each other. She clung like she had been forbidden to her entire life, while he held her like he would a fragile object. He pushed some of her hair out of the way, so that he could have some light when they opened their eyes. But that was when the sound of a door opening found its way to his ear. Slade opened his eye, but could only see Adeline as the door was to the right of him. He ended the kiss and Adeline opened her eyes. He turned his head to the door and so did she, only to see Robin standing in the door way, his masked eyes and mouth, wide open.

Instantly, the look on Adeline's face turned into one of panic as she realized what she was doing. But she didn't get a chance to say anything before Robin turned tail and ran off. Getting up and running without looking back, Adeline chased after him.

"Dick! Dick wait!" She yelled.

Up ahead, Robin could hear her, but he wasn't about to stop. What had... He thought that... How... It was like his brain wasn't working. Like it had been hit out of the ballpark and hadn't been found yet... Slade and... Ms. Kane?

"Dick wait!" Adeline caught up with him and reached out for his wrist.

"No!" Robin turned around and backed away from her.

"Dick, let me explain..." Addie said, though she wasn't sure if she could.

"No! Stop! Don't..." Robin stuttered, "You... you were with him all along! You never cared about what happens to me! You lied and I believed you!"

Adeline shook her head, "No, no, Dick, that's not... Slade and I were..."

"What Ms. Kane and I were doing is none of your concern."

Adeline spun around to see Slade standing behind her. But instead of hesitancy, she saw instead only anger in Robin's face.

"Shut up! Just, shut it! I don't have to listen to you Slade!" Robin yelled, "Why should I? It's not like anyone actually cares about my well-being! It's not like I'm not surrounded by liars!"

"Watch your tongue," Slade warned.

"Make me," Robin said simply, fury seething from his tone.

That's when Adeline saw Slade move forward, but before she could do anything, Slade had caught hold of Robin's arm and a good portion of the boy's hair. The teen screamed.

"Slade, don't!" She yelled, but he shoved her off.

"Let go!" Robin yelled.

"He deserves an explanation!" Adeline yelled.

"He'll get what he deserves," Slade told her, their eyes met and he read everything, saw everything.

But then he turned, dragging a struggling Robin with him. She shook her head and while a hand reached out, hoping to stop them, it did nothing but hang in the air as she heard another boy's cries fade away. At some point, she fell to her knees, shaking. What had she... What had she done?

Down the hall, Robin made every effort to free himself, "Let go of me!"

He thrashed about, but he could feel Slade's grip begin to bruise his arm while a headache seeped through to his skull. Slade said nothing as he dragged the boy wonder down the hall. He could tell that the boy was visibly shaken from seeing him and Adeline... well, from finding out about the nature of their relationship. At some point, Robin quit struggling in favor of yelling.

"You had Ms. Kane working for you all along!" He yelled, "She left willingly! I'm right, aren't I? That's what really happened! Right!"

Slade twisted Robin's hair, who let out a yelp, "You are quick to assume the worse."

Robin shut his eyes as he stumbled forward, "Why shouldn't I? You both lied! You and her! You, she...!"

"We what?" Slade turned to look Robin in the eye, and suddenly Robin felt his breath caught in his throat. Slade chuckled, "It doesn't even matter to you does it? I told you long ago that you didn't have a say in this. You were never in control and you still are not. I am."

They continued walking. Robin somehow managed. He could feel himself grind his teeth as he tried to make sense of it all. Slade and Ms. Kane were... something, an item, he'd go with that terminology. How had he not seen that? And if they were... didn't that mean that... Slade had been right? Ms. Kane had lied. She had lied to him, to Alfred, to the GCPD, to everyone...

"You both deserve each other!" He finally yelled, "You're both as evil and as putrid and as vial as..."

Smack!

Robin felt blood trickle down from his nose as his vision blurred in and out of alignment. Slade pulled him back from the wall. If there was something he wouldn't tolerate, it was Robin insulting Adeline.

"I was going to be lenient..." Slade trailed off, "But you've earned yourself a little more than that..."

As the words reached his ears, Robin felt a new anger burn inside of him. They turned to the right and suddenly, they were in a cold room. It almost felt like it was... outside. But it was totally... he didn't get a chance to take in his surroundings before he felt Slade release his hair to open something. That something was what, he assumed, he was then thrown into. He rubbed his head where it had been hit. That was when he realized that he was in a metal cage of some sort. The door slammed shut right as he got to his knees. He shook the door hard and glared at Slade when it wouldn't open.

"Let me out!" Robin yelled.

"I'm not going to do that, Robin," Slade told him, "You brought this upon yourself."

"For what? For seeing you two making out?!" Robin reached for anything he could in his defense, though he didn't really care about skirting around the issue anymore.

Slade shook his head once, "How long are you trying to stay in there for, Robin?"

"Oh yeah, I'm trying to stay in here because I love being in this type of circumstance!" Robin yelled.

Slade let out a small chuckle, "You wouldn't be in such a great situation if it wasn't for me, Robin. Where would you have been? Who would have taken you in? I think I've proved my point before. Adeline didn't care. None of your friends cared, otherwise they would have stuck around."

Robin was about to say something in their defense, when Slade continued, "But then again, you were the one alienated them. They never really wanted to be around you in the first place; you are always so prone to problems. Your current predicament is proof of that."

For a long moment, Robin sat on his feet while on his knees, speechless. Somehow, throughout all of the chaos in his head, what Slade had just said... was true. He had left his team. He was always causing problems. He...

"Honestly, Robin," Slade said, "How can you save a city, when you can't save yourself?"

How could he...? Robin had heard Slade tell him that before, but something about that caused him to panic. All of the truth, all of the revelations kept hitting him and hurting his head.

Robin stopped his trail of thoughts. It all stemmed from... He glared up at Slade, who smiled, "I'll be back to get you when you've learned your lesson for back-talking."

"Hey! Hey!" Robin yelled, but Slade had left the room.

The door slammed shut and Robin immediately felt a draft. He panicked, "SLADE!"

He shook the cage doors when he heard something above him shift and fall back down on top of him. He fell to his back in order to avoid the barred wire that create a roof above him. The Boy Wonder had even shut his eyes in case of contact. Fortunately, it had caught onto something and stopped inches from his face. Slowly, Robin opened his eyes, his head twisted to the side, when something dripped onto his face. He looked up and screamed.

The head, the head of the dead dear from earlier that week was over him, lying on what had been a shelf. Its eyes were still wide open. Robin turned his head around to look around him. It was only then that he realized where he was. Against other walls were other similar cages with other dead animals within them. Worse yet, the walls were only made of one layer of nailed wood. Was this... an old meat house?

A drop of blood dripped from the deer's mouth onto his cheek.

It was.

And he screamed. He screamed and held his head, rolling onto his side hoping to shut everything out, but he still felt the metal scratching him and the cold burning the scratches further. If only... He couldn't take it. What had he gotten himself into? Where was he? Why was Slade after him? And why... He opened his eyes and shivered as the wind hit his back. He was worthless. A pathetic excuse for a successor. He couldn't save himself. He never could. Not when it really mattered. A deep sense of shame overwhelmed him. He couldn't even tell who was on his side. He hadn't figured out that Wilson had been Slade and he hadn't been able to tell that Ms. Kane had been helping Slade...

What had he been able to figure out anyway? What was he good for? How could he even still... He hated this. He hated all of it. He hated Slade for capturing him. He hated Ms. Kane for betraying him. But most of all, he hated himself for driving people away and for not being strong enough. It was like everything he ever tried to make himself was always going to be out of his reach. He was always failing everyone. Why couldn't he do anything right?

Another drop fell by his ear and Robin shuddered. When was Slade going to let him out of this place?
Sadly, it would not be for a few long hours.

Slade made his way casually back towards the gym. He found Adeline still on her knees when he rounded the corner of the hallway that he had left her in. Her hands were on her thighs, keeping her up, while her thick brown hair covered her facial expression. But he could see she was biting her lip in the way that told him she was trying to contain herself.

He walked over to her and knelt down next to her, "Addie..."

He brought up a hand to her face, but she slapped him away, wordlessly. He looked at the ground as he heard her stifle a sob or two.

"It's not as bad as you're making it," He said calmly.

That earned him another slap to the face. Her hand landed on the wall and Adeline pushed herself up... barely. She bit her hand, choking on her tears.

"I hate you," She whispered.

Slade stood up, "Addie..."

"I HATE YOU!" She yelled, spinning around to face him, "You ruined my life! You hurt our boys! You lied to me! And you can't just leave me alone! You have to involve me and them and now Dick and even..."

Adeline sobbed. She continued, "And you... You..."

She finally brought her eyes into the light to stare into his lone one. Like she could tell him. As though she could. What kind of woman was she for it... What would... How could she...

He brought his hands up to her arms, offering to support her, hold her while she cried... "Addie, come on..."

She shuffled herself away and turned her back on him, "No, just... leave me alone... please... Please Slade..."

He stood there and didn't move while she brought a hand up to her mouth. Why did he always call her Addie? The way it reminded her of their past. Of all of those happier times when things were simpler. All of the moments that he had ruined for their family, for her, for them... What killed her the most though, the thing that made her despise herself, yes herself, from the very bottom of her heart, was that... that... she knew.

She knew that she was still in love with him.

She couldn't hate him. Even after what he had done to Grant and Joey. Even after what he had done to countless others. Even after what he was doing to Dick... She was still weak and still loved him. Loved the man that had at one point in time captured her heart. Whether or not that same man was who he was now, it didn't really seem to matter. He was the only place she could think to look for him anymore. She choked, a cry escaping, strangled from her throat.

Why was she so weak?

Why was she still so hopelessly in love with a man that had hurt her so much? It just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair…

Slade watched Adeline for a good number of minutes. Strangely, he felt that he should leave, but he wanted to stay. He had not planned on what had happened in the gym and he knew that she hadn't either. But the more important fact of the matter was that she was severely affected by it. And yet, he knew that Adeline wouldn't accept his help, his comfort. That's the way things were. The only way she could cope, would cope. Shutting herself off like that... It was the only way for her...

And he did, as astonishing as it may be to some, regretted it. He regretted that he couldn't help her. He was only doing the best that he could at what he was carrying out. Heartache was not something he knew how to avoid, as evidently, it was something he kept running into and kept seeing often. Slade turned around and walked off.

She would be okay. He knew that much. He knew her. He knew that she could make it through this, even when she wasn't sure she could.

Chapter Thirty-One: Mud and Rain

Chapter Thirty-One: Mud and Rain

The bowl smashed into pieces as it hit the floor. Robin jumped, a natural reaction. Wintergreen looked over and nodded for Robin to clean it up – just as he had been expecting. He got down on his knees and began to collect what he would have used for his breakfast bowl. Surprisingly, he had received an awful lot of freedom, though at the same time, he never got to go outside in the three weeks that he had been there. At least, he thought it had been three weeks. For some reason, he thought that Slade might have been messing with his concept of time, as he was positive that none of the clocks held the same time.

No matter. He had stayed long enough and he didn't care if there was nothing around for miles. He would run as long as he had to. The only thing that made him feel slightly bad about this, the whole escape plan, was that Ms. Kane wouldn't be going with him. But at the same time, he knew that he would have a better chance at helping her get that information when he was back in Gotham or Jump. Robin would take the chance that he had.

"So where's Slade?" He asked casually, as he hid a particularly large shard in his pocket.

"He left early this morning," Wintergreen told him, without looking up.

"Huh?" Robin asked, he hadn't been expecting that.

"He does this often," the butler answered, "It isn't unusual."

"Oh..." Robin said.

This was going to be better than he had expected, though he wasn't going to bet that Wintergreen was telling the truth. He picked up the remaining shards and threw them in the trash before getting a new bowl and pouring himself some cereal. Grabbing the milk from the fridge, Robin sat down and pushed his cereal around until he reached what had already been drenched in milk. Wintergreen finished the dishes and pulled out the bag of trash that had been filled by the recent broken bowl fragments.

"Take this out to the garage when you're done," Wintergreen said and with that, he left the room.

Robin swallowed what was in his mouth and looked at the bag. It was his ticket out of here, so to speak. Though the only reason that he'd need to take a shower after this little escape was, he hoped, going to come from his own sweat. He picked up the bowl and drank the remnants of the milk before wiping his mouth and grabbing the thin coat on the side of the door. He tied up the bag and opened the door to the garage.

Normal enough, except for the four cars placed in the garage, though the cool temperature that penetrated the room was more distracting than the vehicles. It was a surprisingly neat garage. Slade hadn't let him actually go outside and this meant that when Slade or Wintergreen said 'take out the trash', they meant put it in the garage and someone else would take care of it later. Robin though, on his many trips into the garage figured out one thing. The security here was perhaps the most vulnerable in comparison to the rest of the house. There were two cameras and four large doors to allow the cars in and out. The doors themselves had dual-protection: one was that they were massively heavy and the other was that they had extremely acute sensors.

So his issues? Lifting the doors and getting rid of the sensors. It hadn't been until this morning that he had figured out how to solve these problems. The fact that Slade wasn't here (or rather shouldn't be; Robin would still be acting as though he was) was even better. Robin walked over to where he normally placed the trash, though not before he tore a large piece of the plastic off of the bag's end. That's when he jumped.

Catching the camera above him, he stretched the plastic over it until it stayed without having to be held both because of pressure and because of how he shaped it. He dropped to the ground and ran over to the other camera and preceded to do the same. Then he ran back to the corner and proceeded to kick the door of the driver's seat open. He slipped inside and underneath to where the wires connected. He wasn't Cyborg, but he knew a thing or two about how to start a car without a key.

The engine revved and Robin smiled. Abruptly, he sat in the driver's seat and proceeded to move the car so that the exhaust pipe was angled as close as possible to the sensor box, near the right wheel. As soon as it was close enough, Robin turned off the car - otherwise he risked being killed by carbon dioxide. Jumping out, Robin slid to the back of the car and saw that there was but a few centimeters difference between the exhaust pipe and sensor. Once again grateful for the long hours of working out, Robin slid the car over carefully. Now was the time that he slipped out the shards of the bowl from his sleeve. As soon as he was done shoving them into the pipe, Robin went back into driver's seat and ignited the engine.

He heard the flying glass spit out of the pipe and instantly, the dying sound of electricity was heard. Robin looked up and saw the sensor- destroyed. He smiled. Popping the trunk of the car, he searched for anything that he could use for a lever for the door. A hammer... he grabbed it and began to hit the trunk door as hard as he could. It came off within thirty seconds. Pulling it off, he slid it under the garage door. He pulled a spare tire from the side, picked it up and dropped it hard. Just as he had thought, the door inched up, but was still too small to squeeze through. One more thing... Robin grabbed the trash and dropped it on top of the tire. Just enough if he took off the jacket. So he did.

Robin slid his way under the garage door, pulled his coat under, and was off. He didn't know what sort of defenses he'd run into now that he was out, but he didn't care. He was this close. He was out of the Estate. He was going home... wherever home was now. Wayne Manor, Titans Tower, anywhere. Just not the Estate or anywhere that Slade had easy access to.

Immediately, he headed east, as he figured by the sun's rays through the trees and thin overcast of clouds. East was probably going to get him to the shore or a road the fastest which would lead to civilization or a public area. The entire forest seemed to be frozen over, though by no means was it a winter wonderland. It was deserted, it was so cold. If he hadn't been running, Robin would have guessed that he wouldn't be feeling his fingers right now. The wind hit the Boy Wonder and he pulled his jacket over him. It wasn't much, but every bit helped. As he climbed over fallen tree trunks and dodged, he wondered how far away he was from Gotham anyway...

His eyes softened. It felt odd to run there, when he had previously run elsewhere. It wasn't even home anymore, now that he thought about it... He took in a deep breath of cold air. So what? It was better than here and from there, he could reach the Titans, who he should have never pushed away. Sad how that had been a mistake that he had constantly repeated. With his friends, Bruce... He had to make it right with his friends. It wasn't like he could do it with Bruce now. It was his job to live up to what he was taught to do... especially after everything... his mind drifted in the cold air...

"You think I don't care about your well being?" Bruce whispered and looked down at him.

And ever defiantly...

Bang!

Robin was shocked back into reality and at the jarring sound, immediately hid behind a tree. What was...?

Bang!

Gun shots? What? That meant someone else was out here. Someone else... Could they help him? Or... Robin gulped back the thought that came to mind. Either way, his methodical mind began to process his situation. Could they even see him? He looked like just another tree practically, he was pretty thin. The boy wonder made a mental note to never tell anyone about that thought. They'd never let him live it down. But onto his primary concern... was he in the line of fire? The chances... He looked around, but saw no signs of movement. It did little to ease his fears as hunters didn't move much intentionally... His best chance was to make himself a hard target and keep moving...

He breathed in quickly and let it out, crystal clear, as the puffs of smoke that had escaped him earlier were long since gone. He set out again, making his way through the woods. He heard nothing, saw nothing, but swerved just in case. It was all he...

BANG!

Robin turned his head towards the echoing sound when suddenly, his foot snagged a tree's exposed root while his forward momentum continued. By the time he reacted and spun his head around, it was too late and he fell face first into the snow. The sensation startled him as his whole front shuddered with cold. His whole face hurt and he couldn't breathe. It was then that he realized that he had fallen into a pit of cold muck He lifted his head up and got to his knees, coughing out as the pieces of mud clung to his face and jacket, even the legs of his pants. His hands were freezing. The boy wonder felt himself unintentionally shiver. He was wet, cold, and had no idea where he was; how long...

He heard the song of metal pieces hit against themselves as they landed in front of him. Robin looked up to see a man towering over him, a large male deer lying dead over his shoulders, the gun by his side. He was covered in winter gear, but his face was exposed. Robin gulped. Slade looked at him oddly, passively, but without much concern. After a moment, Slade broke the silence.

"Well get up," He said.

Robin nodded and began to push himself up as Slade picked up the gun. The boy wonder felt his shoes fill with the sloshing mud as he stood up, but he didn't have much time to dwell on the fact as Slade gripped his upper arm tightly. The numbing sensation was gone as he walked along side Slade back to the Estate. All of the cold seeped in as the long minutes slowly ticked away. He wondered how long he had been running for. His entire focus had been on other things. Had he really been caught that quickly? It felt hopeless...

The overcast weather remained and deepened in its gray color. He thought that he heard thunder somewhere, but then again, maybe it was just another gun shot. Neither spoke to the other. Slade's pace didn't change. It was smooth, easy. His posture changed only once – to re-adjust the deer on his shoulders. Robin shivered again. It was a slightly creepy thing to see, the deer lying limp like a mere doll. Sooner than he had expected, the Estate came back into view. Back. He closed his eyes and he trudged his way forward to keep up with Slade.

As they reached the Estate's edge, they came up to a spring well, surrounded by rocks, an old style. Slade forced Robin to his knees next to it. The boy refused to look at him, the red color in his cheeks coming from not just the cold. Ever the dignified child... Slade thought.

"Stay here," He told Robin before leaving for the house.

The Boy Wonder didn't even try to escape. It was no use now. He was in no condition to attempt an escape now. He would die of hypothermia before making it to a road, any path to civilization. He couldn't believe it. Of all of the things. He was caught even when Slade wasn't looking for him. Was the world out to get him? The logical side of him reminded him that Slade might have found out and really was looking for him, and he wasn't tempted to believe it. He half wondered what Slade would do to him when he saw the shape of the Mustang...

He heard the crunching of snow and looked over to see Slade walking back towards him, the deer and gun gone. The elder stopped at the well and began winding the handle, bringing up the bucket. They both could hear the water sloshing around inside of it. Robin's face remained tight. He was both furious as well as frustrated. There was even a bit of disbelief in there as well. Slade saw it. It wasn't like he missed these things. You learn those sorts of things as an assassin for hire. Wintergreen had called him and told him that Robin hadn't been seen on the cameras for a while. He hadn't been too worried, though he would keep an eye out for him. Perhaps save time. If he hadn't found him, he could have tracked him with the chip in Robin's coat pocket.

Funny how coincidences worked out for him. He might have normally severely punished the boy, however, he could see the defeat in Robin's face, even through the mask. He might as well make the most out of this. As the bucket reached the top of the well, he took off his gloves (to keep them from getting ruined by the well's water) and pulled the bucket over to sit on the side. Though the air was cold around them, the water was still fairly warm as it came from a silent, secure spring. Scooping some into his hands, Slade brought it over to Robin's head and carefully poured it over the boy's mud ridden hair. He wouldn't let it trail into the Estate.

"I'm impressed," He said, going back to the bucket, "You actually made an attempt."

He repeated the process and Robin tensed, "You must be thinking how unfortunate it is that your skills are only mediocre. Otherwise, you might have had more luck."

"I don't bet on luck," Robin spat.

"Yes, well, none of us do," Slade commented, "A shame that none of your attempts are ever good enough..."

He dumped the rest of the water on top of Robin's head and threw the bucket back down the well, "For yourself or anyone else it seems."

Robin said nothing as Slade pulled the bucket back up, "Or am I making a false assumption again?"

"I was good enough to get your attention, it seems," Robin said bitterly as more muddy water ran down on him.

"Yes you were," Slade admitted, "But you miss the mark in your comparison. The ability to get my attention came from your outstanding potential. Expectations only focus on achievement."

Slade dropped the bucket again as Robin barely looked up at him. Their eyes met briefly and he closed the connection, "I don't do things only to meet people's expectations."

Slade smirked, "Oh, I'm sure..."

He found the bucket again, "Every time you stayed up late losing sleep to work on stopping Jump's criminal element, it wasn't to show that you were a capable leader to the Titans, was it? And every time you went out in Gotham and knocked the bad guys senseless, it wasn't to impress Batman. Or was it?"

Robin turned to look up at Slade, "I did things like that because they're my friends, Slade."

"And because Batman was your mentor, right?" Slade finished, "For a mentor, if he expected so much, he should have taught you how to succeed at such a high mark. Unless of course, he just wanted you to lag, so that he could use you like a pawn, like he did everyone else."

"Batman didn't do that to people," Robin argued... "He didn't do that to me."

"You were always second," Slade said, "Always at the end of 'Batman and...'."

"So why would you believe that he or anyone else wouldn't, Robin?" Slade asked, picking up the bucket.

He dumped the rest of the cold water on Robin's head, most of the mud gone now. Robin felt the cold burning into him and sucking out the heat from him. And with it, went his sense of grounding. Slade dropped the bucket for a final time and faced him.

"Come on," He said.

Robin saw Slade heading inside and got up to follow. However, instead of what he had thought would feel like a defeated return, Robin found himself shrouded by his own thoughts and contemplations. Slade opened the door and let Robin come inside before code locking the door again. It was about time the boy came inside; his lips had been turning almost a dark purple-ish blue. He led Robin to the hallway that connected Robin's room to his bathroom and left him to himself for the rest of the day. He had already given the boy enough to think about as it was.

Robin found himself a clean set of clothes before leaving himself to his room for the rest of the day. He was slightly cheered by the fact that he didn't have to go to dinner with Ms. Kane and Slade as Slade had decided to eat by himself that night. He went to bed early that night as time seemed to pass quickly for him. Taking off the mask, Dick laid down under the covers of his bed and switched off the light, letting the darkness engulf him and lull him to sleep. As his eyes drifted slowly downwards over his eyes, he wondered how likely it was that Slade had actually been correct in his statements.

Yes, he had always wanted to impress Batman. And yes... he had seen Batman use people, though never by saying anything to them... he wondered if that was the same as using them though... But yes, he wanted to seem capable to his friends, who all had superpowers of some sort or another... But Bruce wouldn't have ever used him... No. Because Bruce... The memory from before returned as did his answer to Bruce's question.

"No."

In short, 'no, he didn't think Bruce cared.' Dick shut his eyes and shook his head. He hadn't meant it. He hadn't really believed that... He hadn't... Bruce had cared. That's why he would have never used him... But... Doubt seeped into his mind and Dick recognized it immediately. He shut his eyes tightly, silently in his mind refusing to let it in. It couldn't... It should... never... He suddenly yawned.

He was too tired to be thinking straight; he had to realize that... Dick shut his eyes, hoping that sleep would blissfully take him somewhere else, because he knew that he couldn't deal with anything here.

-T-

The time for snow had long since passed in Gotham. Instead, ice chilling rain had decided to terrorize the city, forcing everyone inside to stay warm. Well... almost everyone. Red X was currently trying to find such a place that could provide him with some shelter as the hotel that he had been staying at had long since kicked him out. He couldn't believe that Robin hadn't contacted him in a month. He wasn't about to do anymore favors for that guy for a while.

Right about then, he hit black ice and found himself lying on the ground after hitting the side of the building's fence. It continued to rain. Tonight was not one of his nights. He watched for a moment as rain drops splattered on his mask when he saw light coming from the distance. Sitting up and spinning around, he saw the Bat-Signal shining into the clouds from a building nearby. It couldn't be...

Red X got up and jumped across to the next building, careful to make sure that he wasn't about to hit more black ice. Running around the side, he saw a man with an umbrella on the next roof over standing next to the origin of the lighted bat in the sky. The man flicked off the switch and Red X realized that he must be looking at the famous Commissioner James Gordon. As his eyes had long since adjusted to the lack of lighting, he watched as Gordon left the roof and went down a few flights. On a side note, X couldn't believe how many windows the Police Department actually had.

Gordon walked into a room filled with three others, where the window was open just slightly. Intrigued, Red X jumped down the fire escape he had been next to and across to a ledge of the Police Department on the same level Gordon and the others were on. X crept over to the window and held onto a drain line, listening to the conversation, thankful that he had some shelter from the rain from where he was standing.

"A little stuffy in here, isn't it?" Gordon asked.

"Better than it is outside," the other man noted.

"Nice come back, Harvey," a woman stated sarcastically.

"Can we please just get on with this," He saw a dark haired woman say; she sounded tired.

"Very well, Yin," Gordon said, "I assume everyone brought what they found. Sawyer?"

The other woman, Sawyer, spoke up, "Well, out of the... long list that you gave us sir, I can't say that any of these people had any shady backgrounds."

"None of them had a record," Harvey chimed in, "Well, Wreith did for stealing from a candy stand at the age of twelve, but nothing else."

Gordon shook his head, "It would figure."

"Sir, if I might add, I don't think they were all killed for the same reason," Yin stated, "If we look at each case individually instead of collectively..."

As she trailed off, Gordon passed his eyes over each of them, "Let's go over this then. We've got, in order, Max Wreith, Efrem Austin, Bard, Clara Thompson, Edwin Beagle, Bennett, Bruce Wayne, Earle, and Kane."

"Well, Bard probably knew something," Sawyer said, "It's not like he was just anyone in our department. And who knows what Bennett saw..."

"Wayne and Earle might have been funding something," Harvey offered.

"Well,  what about the others? Wreith, Austin, and Beagle were retired," Yin stated, "And who knows what Thompson had to do with anything."

"Beats me," Harvey said, "Though I think Austin might have been a name once. Don't really remember."

"Look into their previous jobs," Gordon said, almost in an off tone like he wasn't really paying any attention.

"Huh?" Harvey asked.

"It might reveal something," Gordon said.

"What about Kane?" Sawyer stated, "She took in Wayne's kid, right?"

"Yes, she did," Yin stated, "Adeline also headed up the security in Wayne Tower after Wayne's murder, too."

Adeline? Wait, Adeline Kane? Red X leaned in to hear better. Wait. Did that mean...?

"After she disappeared, where did the kid go again?" Harvey asked.

"A man named Grant Wilson was granted guardianship of Grayson, through some process of the law," Gordon filled in, remembering the migraine that had been for him and nearly everyone else, "Apparently, he was a good friend of Kane's."

Grant Wilson? What on earth? And what did they mean Adeline Kane had 'disappeared'? His interest was beginning to peak...

"I doubt that following the lead on Wayne's will will actually do anything," Sawyer stated, "Wouldn't this Wilson guy have gotten sniped at by now if that was part of it?"

"She's got a point there," Harvey said.

"Well, you got any other brilliant leads?" Yin asked, negatively.

"Hey, hey, I'm not the Batman," Harvey stated, pulling his hands up defensively.

"Really, I could have sworn you were," Sawyer stated sarcastically.

"Not like you're Sherlock Holmes either," Harvey said.

"Enough!" Gordon yelled, and Red X heard the man turn the rest of them.

"This department has relied on Batman to save our skins, not to mention everyone else's like it was his job to do so, when in reality, he does it out of his own self-sacrifice," Gordon stated, "As much as I appreciate and hope for his assistance and Robin's, he's not here. So let's actually do what we're paid to do. I believe that we can be just as capable..."

The other three looked at Gordon, shocked into silence. Gordon had always endorsed the Bat, though it was a startling reminder to hear it from him that they should be just as reliable.

Gordon sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing them with a tissue before placing them back on his face, "Look into our four unknowns, Austin, Wreith, Thompson, and Beagle. Something tells me that's our best lead for now. I'm willing to bet that Bennett, Bard, and possibly Kane probably found out something they shouldn't have. As for Wayne and Earle, let's count their murders for business reasons most likely..."

Gordon paused again and Red X waited with baited breath... 'Come on, go back to Kane and Wilson...' He thought.

"Dismissed," He said.

And Red X growled silently.

Inside he heard from Harvey, "What was that?"

Gordon looked up automatically and X knew it was time to dash. Just as he made it around the corner of the building, he heard Gordon fling the window open. Somehow, he knew what they had all been hoping, but there wasn't a trace of either of the dynamic duo anywhere. It was like the hope kept dwindling...

Red X waited to move until he heard Gordon shut the window, when he made his way to the rooftop. He walked over to the Bat-Signal. The metal outline of the bat was battered by the cold rain. He felt like kicking it in frustration. They couldn't keep talking about Kane, could they? But as much as he hated the whole thing, somehow, seeing the signal's sad position out in the cold with him, softened his anger.

He traced the outline of the bat with a gloved finger as he thought. So this whole thing was what Robin was working on. And Batman wasn't here to help for whatever reason... But what on... The thing that baffled him the most was Adeline Kane's involvement, including her 'disappearance' which, despite himself, worried him. Not to mention everything with the will and Ravager...

He sneezed and was brought back to his current situation. He had to get inside. Somewhere. Even his back was soaked in spite of the cape covering him. He jumped to the next roof, leaving the Bat-Signal and the Police Department behind. After a few blocks, he found two men talking outside while waiting for a cab. They had already set their briefcases down. A perfect score. Tossing a pebble at one of them, they fell down the steps from the building. As one of them ran down to get them, he snagged the other's wallet out from his back pocket. Four hundred buck – easy cash. He was good at what he did.

It took him just minutes to reach the nearest hotel. Before he went in, he changed the Red X uniform in favor of street clothes. It didn't change the fact that he was still dripping wet. He handed the man at the desk cash for one night and a dinner and got a key. What a scene that must have been. Heading up to the room, he threw the concealed uniform (that he had hidden in a small bag) to the side and looked out the window. Robin had better have figured out something for this case. He threw off the soaking wet shirt, shoes, and socks. Out of everything to get involved in... He shook his head. None of this made any sense...

It was then, as he collapsed on the bed that he determined that he'd make it make sense, as far as he could at least. He wasn't very skilled in that department, but it was worth a shot... And then he realized he'd have to do research. Like... school work. He groaned. It was official:

This night couldn't get any worse.

Chapter Thirty: The Portrait

Chapter Thirty: The Portrait

The window pane snapped violently against the walls as the curtains blew in the wind. The banging echoed throughout the empty house, which for the most part wasn't heated to save energy. But that didn't mean that no one was home. The door opened and the current and only resident of the manor walked over to the window.

"Oh honestly," He said, closing the window and glancing at the lock, which appeared to have just not been locked tight enough, "It's hard enough as it is..."

Alfred relocked the window and went back to the main entrance hallway. Wayne Manor had been quiet for the past month and a half, it's regular two other occupants absent. It was... an odd enough feeling. Alfred never thought that Wayne Manor would cease to be occupied by an heir to the Wayne legacy and the fact that he had actually out-lived Master Wayne... Alfred went into the dining hall when he heard knocking.

"Is it too much to ask?" He questioned, walking towards the front again.

He had begun talking aloud at random points in time in order to keep the silence from unnerving him. While he thought that at first it was another window that had been blown open, the former butler soon realized that it was coming instead from the front door. Hurrying over, Alfred opened the door to see an old friend standing in the doorway, bundled in a brown trench coat that covered the white one underneath.

"Evening, Alfred," Leslie said.

"Leslie?" Alfred said, "Oh do come in, you must be freezing outside."

Alfred stood aside as Leslie came in. He shut the door behind her and hastened to follow her in.

"It's... dark," She said, slowly, trying to find a word to describe the place.

"Oh yes, well, not much of a reason to keep it lit these days," Alfred said, as they walked towards the living room area, where a small fire kept the room warm.

The velvet couches sat in the center on top of an exquisite rug, one that Martha Wayne had found while visiting Africa. There stood a few glossy tables on the sides of the couches while one or two blankets were resting on the sides. Leslie walked in, the room familiar to her. She had spent many days helping Alfred care for a young Bruce Wayne back in the day. It was during that time that she and Alfred had become close friends. She sighed as she looked around. It was... emptier than usual...

Alfred cleared his throat, "So, uh, Leslie, to what do I owe this visit?"

Leslie turned around to see him and smiled, "I came to check in on how you were doing. What else?"

Alfred blushed irrefutably, "Oh, well, I am doing fine, thank you. How has the clinic... and yourself? How have you been?"

Leslie brought a tired hand up to her hair, which was placed in a loose bun, in an attempt to keep it from falling out of place, "Busy. The clinic's been busier than usual."

They stood there awkwardly for minute, neither sure how to continue. But as in every instance, Leslie was the one to break the silence. She pulled off her coat and walked over to Alfred.

"Are you alright?" She asked, earnestly interested.

Alfred was surprised by the gesture, but answered, "Yes, I am alright."

Leslie caught his eyes as she speculated as to whether or not he was telling the truth. And then in an instant, she dropped her coat to the floor and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him.

"Don't lie to me," She said.

Alfred looked at her, the presence of another human already a shocker in and of itself. But slowly, he took it for who she was and wrapped his arms around her too.

"Just but a bit of depression, that's all," He said to her.

Leslie hugged him tightly before pulling back, "Just a bit, huh? I'll say there's a lot of 'bits'."

She spun around the room again, "This place looks less lived in than it ever has."

"Well, with only one person here, I hope you don't expect me to go through every room and cause utter mayhem in it just to have to clean it up later," Alfred said indignantly.

Leslie looked over and smiled at him, but he could see that she was also being sympathetic at the same time, "Have you heard from Dick recently?"

Alfred shook his head, "Rarely. Mr. Kent said that he visited him the other day, though I must admit that he did not sound too thrilled about it."

"Mr. Kent?" Leslie asked, "Isn't that the cheery one of Bruce's friends?"

Alfred nodded and Leslie looked at him oddly, "That's... unusual. Must have had an off day..."

Alfred shrugged, "Couldn't tell."

Leslie walked over to the fireplace. Above the mantle, a large portrait stood where two people, a man and a woman smiled. Husband and wife. Doctor and Philanthropist. Father and Mother. Below them, stood a small boy, smiling as well. Perhaps his was the cheeriest. The dark hair was brushed out of his face and the corners of his mouth were as far back as he could make them go.

"He was such a cute kid..." Leslie trailed off.

Alfred rolled his eyes, "He was still the biggest trouble maker."

"I bet Dick gave him a run for his money," Leslie said.

Alfred nodded, "I think Master Wayne knew that when he took in young Master Dick. They were very similar at that age, and older now that I think about it."

Leslie turned her head to the ground, biting her lip, "I'm sorry, I suppose I'm not making things any better."

"Leslie, you know as well as I that reminiscing is no crime," Alfred told her.

"Yes, well, it doesn't always help in these situations," Leslie said... "Has Dick been... is he still working?"

Alfred nodded, "I believe so, but his time for going out is limited."

Leslie looked at Alfred in question, "Do you think that's a bad thing?"

Alfred made his way over to the fireplace next to her, "From what Mr. Kent said, I'm not entirely sure. I believe that it would be a good notion for Dick to be preoccupied, but not if that occupation would remind him of his current circumstances..."

"You seem distracted..." Leslie said, noting Alfred's pause in his thought process.

Alfred shook his head, "It's nothing..."

"Nothing seems like a lot of something," Leslie told him, as they turned to face each other.

"What Kent said about Wilson... He said that he had someone on it, but just sitting here only making sure that dust doesn't collect..." Alfred explained; Leslie brought a hand up to his face as he closed his tired eyes, "I feel as though I should be doing something more than this."

Leslie smiled at him. Alfred was always one to be resourceful and was always willing to lend a hand. It was a natural instinct that he had. She liked that about him. His only downfall came when he got discouraged. Thankfully, it didn't happen very much and when it did, she more often than not had a solution.

"Then why don't you?" She asked.

Alfred's eyes opened and he looked at her, "Excuse me?"

"Kent doesn't like Wilson. Research Wilson, then. No one's stopping you," Leslie said.

The former butler's eyes widened and suddenly, held a familiar old spark to them, "Leslie, that's brilliant! Come on."

"Huh?" She asked as he found her hand and pulled her towards the exit of the room and down the hall.

He grabbed her coat and his and ran towards the garage, "The Manor's internet has been disabled. We have to go to the library."

"Is the library even open?" Leslie asked, confused, though her hand did slip into his evenly.

"It's open till ten in Gotham," Alfred explained.

He hit a button and a car door opened for Leslie. She got in barely before he did.

"I should have known you would get me into this," She said as he started the engine.

He turned on the warm air before looking over at her and telling her, "At least on the way there, we'll stay warm."

She smiled at him as he backed out of the garage, her cheeks rosy, but not from the cold.

-T-

Two large buckets landed in the middle of the tarp-covered floor. Robin looked up at Slade in question. In the past week, Robin had been subjected to sparring and performing household chores. Not much, considering past encounters had often been much worse. So as Robin looked around the bare room and the two paint cans, he began to assume that this would be another odd ball chore. At least he had somehow earned the freedom of walking around most of the estate. Most. Not all of it. The doors and the windows remained locked.

"The tops and bottoms of the room should have a distinct thick black rim," Slade told him, "Leave the ceiling white. The main color of the room will be orange. Give them both a double coating. I'll be in the gym when you're done."

With that little instruction, Slade left the room and left Robin to paint it. Robin looked down at the paint cans. Wonderful. He picked up the nearby screw driver and proceeded to wriggle one open. It contained the black paint, so he opened the orange to begin with that. It would figure that Slade would choose these colors. What did he want to do? Slather it in his face that he was stuck here? He'd already done that quite well.

He poured some of the orange paint into the tray and pushed the roller back and forth, getting a good coat on it before walking over to the wall. Thankfully, it was a small room. Not as small as his room, but it wasn't the gym by any stretch of the imagination. The coat colored the wall without much effort and he reflected on how if he was just supposed to do chores, he should be at least a little relieved. In reality, they only made him angry.

The fact that he had decided to even do these willingly angered him. Ultimately, he wasn't doing it out of loyalty, which he figured Slade wanted. He was doing them because he didn't want to add to the number of bruises on his back. Like a coward. He slammed the roller again onto the wall. Like a coward...

To be intimidated was one thing, to avoid the fight all together was another. His logical side reasoned that if he wanted any chance of escape, he needed to be in the best condition. At the same time, he asked himself 'What escape?' Every time he looked out a window, all he saw was a nothingness within the forest. There were no lights and the only signs of life came from the animals, many of which had secluded themselves to the safety of their nests or burrows to avoid the cold. There was only so much...

He nearly finished a first coat on one wall within thirty minutes, and started the second coat. He'd paint the coats of orange first, considering it was the lighter color and easier to paint over. At least the work wasn't really heavy labor and he wasn't being worked to death, despite the whole situation annoying him to no end. He kept painting. He half wondered if this was a room that Slade hadn't gotten to yet. He had seen no traces of furniture outside of it.

So he was painting an empty room, with perhaps no other purpose other than the fact that he should paint it. He glared at the wall. He hated it for existing. The second wall was done. He continued to the third. He was getting faster at this as he went along. Hopefully he'd be done soon. He couldn't stand the smell. It made him wrinkle his nose as new fumes escaped from the wet paint. Even if there were windows in the room, he doubted that he would have been able to open them, anyway. Suddenly, the heater turned on and the smell intensified. It made him cough violently. He walked over to the door and stumbled out, trying to regain his breath. The door opened and he stepped out to wait until the heater turned off. As he had come to learn, it never stayed on very long.

Once he heard it turn off, he walked back into the room to find two of the walls ready for a second coat. If it wasn't for the wet paint, he would have slammed his head against the wall. On the other side of the estate, someone else had a similar desire in mind. In a blue work out suit, Adeline warmed up in the gym, waiting. In the past week, she and Slade had sparred once a day, for an entire hour. She wished that it had been longer as she enjoyed being able to let a little anger loose more often.

The doors to the gym opened and Slade stepped in, "I'm not late, am I?"

Adeline faked a smile, "Oh, never."

Slade walked over to stand opposite her, "You know, you don't have to do this, Adeline."

She ignored him and readied herself. The one thing that really got under her skin was the way he underhandedly would bring up the fact that he had won all of their previous encounters. It was almost a shock to her the first day. He had improved significantly, off-the-charts-significantly since the last time they had ever fought. The loss was a humiliating wake-up call, despite the fact that she knew that the odds had been against her. And since then, she hadn't held back, not that she had felt that she had done so the first time. Slade's well being meant nothing to her, nothing at all.

"But if you insist," Slade said, eying her.

Adeline stared at him and calmly, slowly conveyed, "As if I wouldn't."

Slade nodded. He knew that she wouldn't ever surrender to defeat once she started something. Adeline leapt forward and they began to fight. For the first few minutes it seemed pretty evenly matched, or rather, Adeline held up her ground pretty well. The thing that they both had going for them was that they had both learned the arts of guerrilla war fare and martial arts. What was Slade's advantage was his enhanced brain power. What was Adeline's advantage was her will to win.

She jumped over him and landed a kick on his back, but not without him finding her arm and displacing her balance, too. They both landed with skill. Adeline felt her hair cling to her face as her pony tail limped past her shoulder. She never took her eyes off of him. The clock ticked and told them thirty five minutes had passed.

"Tired yet?" He asked.

Adeline laughed, "As if."

She stared the fight again, "You know what I don't get?"

He spun out of the way of her attack, "What?"

He was curious. She kicked, hoping to knock his feet out from under him, "You've really hit a low blow..."

He jumped and she finished, "This time."

She backed off, "Even I was caught by surprise."

"I'm flattered," Slade said, "I've surpassed the teacher, then?"

"I never said that," Adeline snapped, as Slade started the fight again, causing Adeline to speak between defending and attacking, "What... I... Don't... Under... Stand... Is why..."

She leapt behind the old couching, distancing them again, "What could have motivated you so much that you'd kill off Batman to get it?"

Slade looked at her, letting her continue without an answer, "And what exactly do you want Dick for, anyway?"

They stopped circling the couch and looked at each other. Answers and Questions. That's all there ever were about them.

"Adeline, what's the point of having an empire, without having an heir?" Slade asked.

Adeline's mouth dropped as Slade continued, "I promised to leave Grant and Joseph out of this business. That does not mean that I am bound to do the same with everyone else."

"You want Dick to..."

Adeline glared at him and leapt over the couch, hoping to kick Slade in the head. She couldn't believe it.

"It was never public knowledge, but at one point, Robin was my apprentice," Slade dodging her.

"Wha..." Fists danced, "Why?"

"His friends' lives were simply in danger," Slade explained, "But it didn't last. I don't see why I expected it to."

"Maybe you never did?" Adeline asked, furiously.

She was a little happy to hear that Slade's plans had been foiled in the past. Though something also told her that this defeat had caused much more trouble than it ever really solved.

They kept fighting, "So now... ugh... you want Robin to be your apprentice again?"

Slade didn't answer, but Adeline knew that was the case, "Why?"

Slade aimed a kick at her waist, but Adeline side-stepped it, "If you watch, you'll see why."

Such a simple answer and so not the one she wanted. No matter... "How... gah... do you expect... to achieve that... when you've failed... whoa... at it... wha... before?"

She aimed a punch at his face, but he caught her arm and held her in his grasp, the fight almost won. Adeline's eyes widened as she attempted to wrench herself free.

That's when she heard him tell her in her ear, "That's for me to know."

Adeline's face contorted in anger. She turned her head and spit in his face. He released her, wiping the spit off his mask. The clock struck. It had been an hour. Slade looked back to see Adeline glaring at him without an ounce of forgiveness.

"I don't care if it's Joey or Grant or someone else. You're demented, Slade," She hissed.

Slade turned for the door, taking a deep breath, and though he didn't face her, he ended their conversation, "You are free to your own opinion."

He left the gym. At this point, he figured that Robin should be almost done, so the mastermind headed to the empty room where he had left him. He wouldn't let her get to him. Adeline's determination never ceased to amaze him and cause him to... Slade shook his head. He wouldn't let Adeline's presence deter him from convincing Robin to be his apprentice. He had just about reached the room when Robin came around the corner, smelling of paint. The boy wonder barely caught himself before they slammed into one another. Looking up, Robin crossed his arms. Slade cast his eye down to see the younger.

"You've finished?" He asked.

Robin rolled his eyes for an answer. Slade eyed him. Walking back towards the room, Robin followed Slade for whatever inspection he had to now endure. As Slade walked into the room, he looked around at the four walls. It looked like a decent job. Until he saw one wall, right by the corner. At the top line where the orange met black, a thin line of black paint had begun to trickle down, ruining the distinction. Slade cast a glance at Robin, who had been ignoring him for the most part up until this point.

"You missed a spot," Slade told him, "Repaint it."

Robin looked over at what Slade was talking about. The thin black line... He had been working for a good few hours. He smelled like paint and he was sweating like crazy because of that heater, which only made the whole situation worse. Two coats of paint, four walls a total of twenty four different coats. And to make matters worse, it was the black that was running, which would mean he'd have to do several more coats to cover the darker color. He looked up at Slade, angrier than ever, but his answer was simple and final.

"No," Robin said.

Slade's expression, despite the mask, suddenly scared him. He looked livid with fury. Robin backed away, uncrossing his arms, worried, when suddenly Slade chuckled.

"Huh?" Robin asked.

"What you don't seem to understand, Robin," Slade said, turning to face him, "Is that you will be completing that order, one way or another."

Robin stepped back, but before his foot could even rest on the floor, he felt his shirt being wrenched forward. Slade threw him to the ground and beneath his back, he could feel the tray of orange paint. Suddenly, he was lifted up off the ground again. He grabbed onto Slade's wrist, hoping to find some relief from the choking hold, but was rewarded at he felt himself being slammed against the wet wall. Then directly after wards, his shoulder blades were the first to feel the sensation of his whole body being rubbed across the wall, with Slade forcing his head against it causing the boy wonder to feel dizziness overwhelming him.

Slade pulled Robin back and held him in the air, looking up at the wall. The paint job was immeasurably uneven, but Slade wasn't looking at that. The remnants of the black line remained. He glanced at Robin, who was just coming out of fighting off the dizzy spells.

"I think it needs a second coat," Slade said.

Robin's masked eyes widened, "No. No-no-no-no!"

He didn't finish. Slade slammed him back into the orange tray, but not satisfied with the amount of paint that was left, he let go as Robin gasped at the intense pain in his back, old wounds springing forth. When he finally looked up he saw Slade standing above him with one of the cans of paint. His eyes widened.

"Slade, don't...!" The mastermind tipped the can over, spilling half of the can on top of the Boy Wonder.

Robin covered his head, though he could feel the paint seeping past his arms, dripping onto his face. Slade picked him up and once again threw him into the wall, using him to cover the black line's remaining fragments. Robin held onto Slade's wrist as he felt himself being dragged back and forth across the wall. Finally, for a second time, Slade pulled the boy back and held him in the air again by the neck. Slowly he lowered him down.

"I don't think I see a trace of that line now..." Then his eye narrowed, "Though, now that I look at it, the top line of black seems to have a few specks of orange."

Robin glanced over at the trim and was horrified to see that Slade was right, "Slade, no! Stop...!"

He was dropped down this time onto the tray of black paint, but he wasn't about to lay down and wait like last time. Rolling over, Robin fought the searing pains that threatened to destroy the nerves in his back, when he heard Slade talk.

"Where do you think you're going?" Slade walked toward Robin, the can much heavier as not as much black paint had been used, "We're not done yet."

Robin felt Slade shove the side of his stomach over and pour the black paint over him. This time, stopping it did nothing to help. The black washed over him. The inevitable came. Slade once again picked Robin up shoving him into the wall, but this time, Slade didn't keep him in one place. First on one wall, then another, the colors getting smeared against each other creating an unkindly grey. At one point, a hand print clung to the paint, fingernails digging in, making an imprint, before it was dragged away and left to dry. Robin choked out, trying to breath, his vision obscured.

Finally, it was over. Slade dropped Robin to the ground, onto his knees. He attempted to sit up when he heard Slade walking away, picking something up. Then, he heard it, the remaining paint from the cans and the trays, rushing, falling on top of him. The colors ran into his hair and seeped past his clothes onto his skin. His hair dripped with the colors that stained him, his chest a mixture of black and orange complimenting and contrasting each other at the same time. He choked, getting air, the paint tasting vile as it threatened to seep past his lips. The heater came on and did the opposite of what it should do. It made his skin feel like ice.

Robin bent over, trying to catch his breath. It had been so fast and yet... he didn't want to think about it. He opened his eyes and realized that his mask was covered, making him unable to see. He brought a hand up and attempted to wipe off what he could, but he found that his fingers were littered in the orange blood, too. But as he uncovered what he could, the first thing that he saw was Slade's feet, standing in front of him. He looked up at the man. No, he couldn't be a man. No man could do something like this...

Slade kneeled down and looked Robin in the eye, "Take a good look around you, Robin. Take a good look at yourself."

Robin looked around the room, the entire paint job, ruined, and then, as he looked at himself, he saw a similar display as the orange and black colors covered him, tagged him...like an adverse portrait... Slade grabbed Robin's chin as some orange paint slid down some of Robin's hair.

"I own you, Robin," Slade said, "Don't try to escape that fact."

Slade stood up, releasing him and walked towards the door, but before he left he gave Robin one final order, "Oh, and Robin."

Robin turned his head upward as Slade finished, "I don't want to see any paint leave this room. I'll see you at dinner."

Robin nearly choked as Slade left. Looking down at himself, he didn't think he could leave this room. He was so drenched in paint... a black bit of paint dripped down his mask and he wiped it off. As he sat down, trying to recover from the terrifying experience, he slowly realized that he probably wasn't going to have to time wait for the paint on him to dry as he most likely only had a few hours...

He slowly took off his shoes and socks, separating them as he did so. Pulling his shirt off, he didn't dare look to see if his back looked as bad as it felt. He found the screw driver and punched a few holes at the knees of his pants, so that he could tear the bottoms off making shorts. He squeezed what he could out of the now-shorts and wrung out his shirt. Using his socks that were surprisingly mostly still dry, he used them to clear off any massively dripping bits of paint that had clung to his skin.

Within an hour, he had been able to slowly make it out of the painted room (the doors of which had slammed shut and locked themselves behind him) to the bathroom, where he took a shower to rinse off the rest. By the time dinner started, he was clean of any signs of paint. It didn't stop him from resenting Slade for what he had done or from resenting himself for letting it happen. Had he? He felt as though he should have been able to stop him... despite his... slipping grasp of control.

And all the while, Slade accumulated that control as the seconds, hours and days ticked by.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Vignettes

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Vignettes

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."

Raven had been chanting for the last hour is seemed, but the passage of time didn't affect her. She kept her head covered with her cloak as she levitated in a lotus position. Her room was covered in a mist of shadows while a few candles glowed in her presence. The heater turned on and she looked up, her incantation interrupted. She had to admit it was cold, but even still, it bugged her. Standing up from her position, she covered the candles' rims with her gloved hands and blew them out. Opening the door from her room, she was surprised to see the Tower's hallways almost as dimly lit as her own room.

It was odd to say the least, but with the current circumstances, she couldn't blame anyone for not turning on the lights. Walking down the hall, the empath suddenly sensed another's presence. She glanced over to the nearby door which read 'STARFIRE'. She sighed. The alien of the team seemed to be the one the most affected by all of this. The Tower being shut off and... well, Robin's absence.

"Starfire?" She called, knocking on the door, "You in there?"

Of course she was, but that didn't mean that she would answer, "Come on, Starfire. Can you open up?"

Nothing. Raven folded her arms. She had to come out some time other than when she was to go on duty... "Starfire, I know you're in there."

Silence followed and Raven knocked again. She wished that she wasn't so bad at this sort of thing, "Look, I know you're upset, but... Can't you at least come out?"

In that instant, Starfire opened the door, but she wasn't looking at her friend. It took her a minute until she finally brought her eyes up to see her, "I'm sorry, friend Raven. I was... distracted."

"Oh..." Raven said, trailing off, "Well, that's, that's okay... Are you alright?"

Starfire looked down and then nodded, "I will be fine..."

An awkward air of silence followed. Raven shuffled her feet a bit as Starfire tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Well, I hope you can excuse me, friend," Starfire finally said, "I, um, I need to take a shower."

She walked past Raven to the bathroom. Raven watched her go, wondering if Starfire really had intended on taking a shower or if she was just trying to avoid her. She shook her head and walked in the opposite direction to the front room and found Cyborg, where he always was, at the central computer board of the Tower. Working. The poor guy, he was only getting about four hours of sleep a day at this rate. Generally, he stayed plugged into the charger all day, but his human body still needed the natural rest that came from sleeping. So four hours was what he got.

The rest of them got about eight. Each taking two four-hour shifts for guarding the exterior of the Tower, which was still down from the massive reboot that Cyborg was conducting. She sighed and made herself some herbal tea. As she poured the steaming tea into her mug, she blew on it and walked over to Cyborg, who was hunched over at the screen. She glanced over the screen, most of which didn't make much sense to her.

"How are you doing?" She asked.

Cyborg sighed and sat back, cracking his neck, "Well, it's mostly a lot of security codes that I have to get through and reset. And then to check if the system's reloaded, I plug in all of the passwords and if it stops... well, then I missed something."

"And that's what's stopping you now, isn't?" Raven said, smirking lightly.

Cyborg nodded, "Man, when I get my hands on this hacker... You know, it's one thing to hack in the Tower. I can deal with that, but hacking into my system files at the same time..."

Raven watched as Cyborg slouched over again, "They don't know who they're messing with."

She looked down at her tea and stirred it with her spoon. She was glad that after all of this, Cyborg wasn't too shaken by it. The fact that he was still mad about someone hacking into him, well, that was a positive sign. After everything, with Gotham and the thefts and now this, she was surprised that they were not more rattled. Then again, she had been trying to... calm people's worries down. Not that she told the others. In any case, she felt sorry for whatever poor sap had committed this crime.

"Any idea who did it?" Raven asked.

"Whoever it was, their server wasn't within Jump City limits. But with all the by-passes it had to go through, I'd say that it was still in a pretty densely populated area," Cyborg explained.

"That narrows it down," She remarked sarcastically.

Cyborg rolled his eyes, "I'm working on narrowing down the possibilities at the moment. Right now, I've got that they were in the United States."

"Again, that helps," Raven said, not seeing how useful that really was at this point.

Cyborg shrugged, "There's only so many cities... Hey look Raven, I need to work on getting this done. Do you think...?"

Raven smiled slightly, "Don't worry, I'm gone. Just get this Tower up and running, alright?"

Cyborg smiled, but he was too tired to really be enthusiastic, "Thanks, Rae."

She nodded and left the room. As the door closed behind her, she thought to herself, 'Now what?' She didn't really want to be a bother to anyone and she could always go back to meditating... She walked back towards her room when she felt a draft. So that's why her room's heating unit had turned on. She walked up towards the roof's door to shut it, but upon reaching it, she glanced through the crack to see Beast Boy sitting out in the cold. It never got too cold in Jump City, but it was still pretty chilly. She looked down and then up again. The door creaked open and she walked out. Beast Boy turned to look at her.

"Oh, hey Rae," He said, "What are you doing up here?"

She shrugged and let her cloak fall around her shoulders, "Nothing really... aren't you cold?"

Beast Boy raised his eyes at first and then laughed, "Only a little. If I ever get too cold, I just shape-shift."

He changed into a tiny kitten and then a large dog before finally changing back into a human being. Raven put up a small smile, though she wasn't entirely convinced. She walked over to Beast Boy and sat down next to him.

"I'm surprised you can still make jokes," She admitted, "After everything..."

"Hey, you know that's all I'm good for," Beast Boy told her.

She sighed, "You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Oh, yeah, I'm good for being a guard dog," Beast Boy, shifting into a greyhound and back, "Forgot that one."

Raven rolled her eyes and looked out at the city's landscape, "So how do you keep yourself busy up here?"

Beast Boy shrugged, "I don't know, mostly I bug Cyborg on a walkie. You?"

"Meditate," Raven said simply.

"Should have known," Beast Boy said, leaning back, "You doing alright?"

Raven suppressed a laugh, "I suppose. I'm more worried about Star and Cy though, considering Cy's lack of sleep and Star's... state. How are you doing?"

Beast Boy shrugged, "Alright, I guess. I just wish there was more that I could do other than be a guard dog."

Raven smiled, "You're not alone in that. I can tell that Starfire's been... dying to get out of here, I'd say. She's worried."

Beast Boy nodded and there was silence for a moment before he realized something, "Wait, have you been going into our minds lately?"

The empath looked up at him panicked, "What?"

"You heard me, you've been messing with our heads!" Beast Boy accused.

"No!" Raven yelled back, "I didn't..."

"Rae," Beast Boy said, casting the shadow of doubt on her word.

"Well, what would you have done?" Raven said standing up, her cloak blowing in the wind, "Star might leave and Cyborg's so... frustrated right now. And..."

"And what?" Beast Boy said.

Raven glared out of the corner of her eyes before answering, "Robin's gone. We're barely holding it together and if the Titans don't..."

Beast Boy eyed her, "What? What happens if we don't keep it together?"

Raven held her arms, "Something bad's coming, Beast Boy. I can feel it. It's like those feelings I had in Gotham, but they're worse. They get worse everyday..."

Beast Boy stood up and walked over to her. He wasn't quite sure what to say or do. His caution was evident and she noticed.

"I guess all I'm trying to say... is what would you do?" Raven asked, turning to him.

"I, I didn't know, I'm sorry," Beast Boy said.

She looked him in the eye, surprised by his answer. He shuffled his feet at the silence, "I, uh, I haven't been doing anything to worry you, have I?"

To her own surprise, Raven found the question a bit ironic. She debated as to whether or not she should answer, "Um, I don't know... You just haven't been very happy lately. That's all I know..."

Beast Boy laughed, "Well, no one has. No surprise there. Just wish I could do more, like I said earlier."

"You like feeling useful," Raven stated simply.

"To save a life or be the comic relief," Beast Boy shrugged, trying to be cute, "And I think it's working on you."

Raven shook her head. He was so predictable sometimes. They walked back to the edge of the roof and stared out at the city, which was now past dusk. It was quiet for a while, except for the few seagulls calling out overhead. Beast Boy sighed and stretched.

"You know what's fun?" He asked, glancing at her.

"No," Raven said, "What?"

"This."

Raven felt her stomach drop as she saw Beast Boy lean over and begin to fall off the side of Titans Tower. He waved as he fell farther and faster away from her. Raven leaned over the edge watching. She had regained her first feelings of panic as she remembered that he could fly, but that was quickly escaping her as he plummeted faster and faster towards the ground.

'Oh come on, change already,' She thought.

He was feet away from the ground when she lost it and held out her hand, which glowed of telepathic energy, "Beast Boy!"

And then he was gone.

She jumped off the roof panicked and flew downwards to the ground. She searched around frantically, finding no sign of him. Where had he... what had he...?

"Boo!" He yelled and she nearly screamed as he changed back from being a fly and held onto her neck to keep himself from falling to the ground.

"Oh!" From the corner of the eye, she glared at him, "You..."

She elbowed him in the gut and he fell to the ground, despite the injury, laughing, "You should have seen your face!"

She stood in the air, her arms crossed at him, "It wasn't funny."

"Oh come on," He said, "You knew I'd be alright."

Raven glanced at him. He was smiling and resisting the urge to laugh. For a while, she did nothing, not giving him one reaction even as he got up to look for some. Finally, she landed on the ground and gave him a final glare.

"Oh, you're useful alright," She said sarcastically, "Useful for giving people heart attacks."

Beast Boy laughed, "That and migraines!"

"That too," Raven said, but before their conversation could go any further, one of the walkies they were using in place of their communicators turned on.

"Titans! Get up here to the meeting room! The Tower's back online!" Cyborg called to them.

They looked at each other and instantly flew up to the top of the Tower. Once Raven reached the window, she flew threw it to reach the meeting room faster. As Beast Boy got to the top of the Tower, he changed back from the hawk and ran to the door.

"That's just cheating!" He called down.

Upon reaching the main hall to the meeting room, he ran into Starfire and they came in at the same time.

"Is it true?" Starfire asked, as they got to the front of the room, "Is the Tower back online?"

Cyborg nodded at her after looking over her appearance, namely her wet hair, "Uh, yeah, Tower's back up and our communicators should be working again."

"Sweet!" Beast Boy yelled, pulling his out, "Yes! My Tetris game is still on!"

Cyborg looked at him and shook his head, "Yeah, because that's so important. Listen, as we get back to a regular sleep schedule, now that I've got more resources, I can get closer to finding our little hacker."

"Hey,  my high scores are missing!" Beast Boy exclaimed, clearly not paying as much attention as he should to the current situation.

"Friend Cyborg, wait, does that mean that we will be able to reach friend Robin?" Starfire asked.

"I guess so," Cyborg said, shrugging, "Let's see... if we have any messages..."

Starfire held her hands together, waiting as Cyborg searched up the communicators' files, "Hm... looks like we had one call, but Robin didn't leave a message. Guess he got cut off or something..."

"Do you think we could reach him now?" Starfire asked urgently.

"Uh, I don't know, maybe..." Cyborg trailed off, typing into the computer.

Instantly, the communicator was open in Star's hand and she frantically typed in the code to reach Robin. She let it ring a couple times before she heard the answering machine. She closed it slowly. Raven looked over at her, sympathetically.

"He probably just can't answer right now, Starfire," She said.

"You are..." She started, but paused slightly, "You are probably right."

They waited in silence for a moment before Cyborg finally ended the short and brief meeting, "Alright, y'all. I'm gonna go knock out a couple hours of sleep. But afterwords, you leave it to me. That hacker is mine."

Beast Boy almost laughed, "Don't let me stop you, dude."

Besides, they were all tired and without even really thinking, they dispersed themselves through out the Tower.

-T-

"How confident are you feeling right now, Robin?"

Robin narrowed his eyes, "I'm sure if I answer that I am, you'll downplay that immediately."

Slade chuckled, "True, though you are not, are you?"

"Oh no, I'm totally going to play into your hands and say I am," Robin said as they walked down the hall.

Slade decided not to mention the irony in that last statement as they kept walking. After a moment of silence, Robin finally continued, "So what is it today, anyway?"

He had been stuck in his room for most of the past four days, except for meals and the occasional trip to the bathroom. Yeah, Slade had been extremely hospitable. He'd visit once a day, mostly in Robin's opinion to get a daily dose of talking down to him. But today, Robin had gotten the pleasure of getting to come out for a new reason. The new reason though, was still a mystery to him.

"Something I think you'll like," Slade said, opening the doors at the end of the hallway to reveal a large room.

It was mostly clear save for a few pieces of furniture, such as an old couch, a few matching chairs, and a fireplace that didn't look like it had been used in ages. But despite these few pieces of furniture, the room was mostly empty except for a cabinet at the side that Slade was currently opening. The floor was bare and made of well polished wood. All in all the whole place was perfect for...

"Catch," Slade said, tossing Robin a Bo-staff.

He caught it in his hand and looked at it for a moment before smirking, "We're sparring?"

"Still confident?" Slade asked, amused.

Robin shrugged as he tested out the staff, "I think I could enjoy this."

He yelled and ran forward with the Bo-staff, but Slade sidestepped it and grabbed Robin's wrists, halting him in his attack. Robin stared up into Slade's masked face, furious.

"You still planning on enjoying this?" Slade asked, twisting Robin around and throwing him and the staff to the ground.

However, Robin regained his footing and twisted around to face his opponent. Stubbornly, he failed to answer and ran forward, yelling. Slade readied himself as Robin approached. But when he moved to block a frontal attack, Robin moved to the side. He was going to make it, land a hit... So when he felt a kick to his back that he wasn't expecting, he tumbled across the floor until he hit the green couch. Slade moved over, pleased, but Robin wasn't about to stop there. Not after just one shot. He sprinted to his feet and grabbed the fallen Bo-staff in the process. Heading straight for Slade, he looked above Slade's head, though the corner of his eye kept Slade right in his line of sight.

Robin made a move that looked like he'd jump up to hit Slade from above, but before it could be fully executed, he stopped himself and aimed straight at Slade's chest, hoping to catch him off guard. To his surprise again, Slade had seen the move coming with ease and used Robin's own momentum against him, tossing him to the left towards the fireplace. The Boy Wonder yelled as he hit the stone feature of the room.

"Tired yet?" Slade asked.

Robin wiped his mouth and glared up at Slade, angry. He looked around the room, looking for anything that could give him an advantage. None presented itself... Only the Bo-staff... His feet made contact with the floor again and he stood to face Slade. Slade eyed him, watching him closely, when Robin began to run forward once again. He was ready for Robin's next actions. Another frontal assault, when Robin slid past him to the right, finding the Bo-staff in his left hand again. He slid till he found his footing again and then ran towards the couch. Jumping on top of it, he thrust himself at the window before throwing the Bo-staff with all of his strength towards his one escape.

At the moment of contact, there wasn't a single shard and Robin followed the Bo-staff in clattering to the ground in a heap. Slade chuckled and Robin looked up at him. Slade had known that it wouldn't have worked all along. That's why he hadn't bothered to try and stop him...

"It's not going to be that easy, Robin," He said simply, looking down at the boy.

Robin growled and ran at Slade, infuriated, but Slade got a hold of Robin's arms and restrained him, "Get off me!"

"I'm intrigued," Slade told him, "You fight though you know that you can't get out."

"Yes I can!" Robin yelled as he struggled against Slade's grasp, eventually freeing himself and stepping a good few feet back from his enemy.

Slade chuckled, "Really?"

And that's when Robin knew he was in trouble, turning around, it felt like he had only mere seconds before Slade landed a well planned kick to his legs and caught him in a choke hold. Robin squirmed and fought, but it was like being a fish caught on a hook. He kicked and desperately attempted to free himself, but Slade wasn't about to let Robin out of this that quickly.

"It seems to me, your possible escape routes are few in number..."

Outside in the hall, Adeline walked from her room to the front. Her intention was to go read. It was one of the few things that she could do that would get her mind off of her current predicament. Watching TV never felt productive and outside of that and reading there wasn't much to do other than help Wintergreen in the kitchen and around the estate, something Adeline wasn't about to do for the life in her, unless Wintergreen was being overworked, of course. And the one good thing about this place was that Slade's library had to be the most diverse private library she had ever seen. Today it was a book about Alaska. She wished she was in Alaska, a thousand miles away from hi...

"Slade!"

She turned her head up ahead and ran ahead. That was Dick. She knew it was and at that instant, she suddenly felt panicked. At the point where the corridor parted, she took a right instead of a left and ran down to the last door, every moment being able to hear better.

"Don't be foolish, Robin," She heard.

"You're crazy!"

"Or merely using statistics..." She could hear the amusement in Slade's voice now.

She slammed the doors open and found Robin in a headlock, with Slade keeping hold of some of the teen's hair with the other hand. Her mouth dropped and without hesitation, Adeline's hands became fists.

"Slade! Release him! Now!" She yelled.

Slade looked at her as though tired, "Adeline, I'm a little busy right now..."

"What on earth are you doing?" Adeline asked, walking over to him and grabbing the arm that he had around Robin's throat, "Dick, are you okay?"

"Well..." Robin managed to choke out.

"Slade, let go!" She yelled.

"I repeat, I'm little busy," Slade said.

Adeline looked at him, shocked and infuriated, "You let him go or I will make you."

"You're cute when you're angry," He said, and she knew he was smiling under the mask.

"Are my fists cute, Slade?" She asked in response.

Slade considered his options. He knew he could stop both Adeline and Robin easily, but he really didn't want to fight Adeline and it would be simpler to just talk it out with her. He dropped Robin to the ground and Adeline tensed. Robin shook his head and attempted to smile up at her as though he was okay. As though. Slade knew that he was probably feeling a kink in his neck. Slade stepped forward to Adeline and looked behind his shoulder at Robin.

"Practice. Make yourself more of a challenge," Slade told him.

Robin frowned and Adeline glared at him, before he led her outside of the room and closed the door. He leaned against the wall, his arms folded as she walked out, a hand to her chin in thought. There were so many things wrong with this... She turned to see him and he watched her with interest.

"I don't really know where to begin," Adeline said.

Slade shrugged it off and offered an explanation, "Adeline, Robin and I have been fighting for years and that's nothing compared to what..."

"Nothing?" She asked, walking up to him, "Slade, you've got a sixteen year old boy in a choke hold!"

"I learned it from you," He said simply.

"Yeah, well I wish I had never taught you," Adeline answered, turning away, "I mean, what if that was one of... what if that was Gr...?"

"I've left them out of this, Adeline," Slade interrupted.

Her face took on a sour contortion, "No, you haven't. You won't tell me where Grant is and that's why I'm stuck here."

"But they're not in any way going to get harmed," Slade told her.

"But Dick is!" She yelled, "I didn't teach you this to let you..."

But then an idea hit her and she smiled, "I bet I could still deck you."

Slade raised a brow beneath the mask, the conversation having changed course, "Really?"

"Really," Adeline said, turning to face him and walking up to him.

"What are you getting at, Adeline?" Slade asked, they were mere inches away from each other.

"I fight you," She said, "We spar, once a day. If you win or if it's a draw by an hour's time, the original agreement stands. If I win, you tell me where Grant is and his situation and you let Dick leave."

Slade mulled it over in his head, making Adeline impatient, "Well?"

"You know, that blouse looks great on you," Slade's velvet voice teased.

"Answer the question," Adeline insisted.

"Technically, it wasn't a question," Slade told her.

"Slade," She warned.

Slade chuckled and finally answered, "Alright, you've got yourself a deal, starting tomorrow. But I'm afraid that you really must excuse me, Addie, I've got to get back to work."

Adeline swallowed hard, hating the thought of letting Slade keep doing this, but at the same time, she knew that once Slade set his mind to something, there wasn't anything that was going to stop him. And he had made a promise, gave his word. She knew how much he honored his word. Too much... in fact, in her mind. Slade opened the door and disappeared from view. Adeline stood there for a moment before it hit her.

"Don't call me Addie!" She yelled through the door.

She wasn't sure if he heard her and the silence angered her. She began walking down the hall, picking up the book that she had dropped on the way to the door, her heals clicking as she walked. Adeline then looked at the blouse she was wearing and made a mental note to change and burn the blouse later. Inside the sparring room however, Robin's worries were back and already becoming realities.

"You annoy everyone don't you?" Robin asked, twirling the Bo-staff.

Slade smiled under the mask, "I suppose that's another thing we have in common."

Robin leapt forward, aiming the Bo-staff at Slade's face, though Slade side-stepped it. Slade aimed a kick at Robin's legs, but Robin managed to knock it out of the way with the staff. However he was far from out of the fire. This time they didn't get interrupted and the fight lasted a good twenty minutes. Robin spun around, despite feeling a dizzy spell coming on. But Slade saw it and advanced quickly, causing Robin to trip over his own feet and fall to the ground. Before he could get up, Slade had done it for him, grabbing his wrist and arm.

"You can't escape from here, Robin," He said in the boy's here.

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" Robin yelled.

Slade glared at Robin and dragged the teen to the window. Robin looked outside and saw that it had begun to snow and it was falling rapidly. The overcast sky had darkened the woods to the point that it felt like it was night time outside. He heard the winds blowing against the windows as they hit the house. He saw the trees surrounding the house being rocked as their roots held them to the ground. The leaves flew past them as they were whipped from their hold on the branches. He involuntarily shivered.

"Do you see any lights?" Slade asked.

Robin didn't answer, but there were none to see and Slade continued, "You don't know where you are or where anything else around us is, so I'll tell you. We're in the middle of the woods. There is nothing around for miles. Gotham is over two hours away driving by car at the speed limit. And this house is designed as a fortress."

The Boy Wonder watched the scene revolving around outside, his chances of survival and escape dimmed with every moment, "No one is coming for you. No one even knows to come for you. You're on your own if you want to break out."

"So feel free to try and escape," Slade continued, "But know this: I know these woods, Robin, far better than you do. It would be a fruitless effort on your part. I suggest you reassess your options."

Slade let go of Robin, who stood rooted to the spot. He walked over to the Bo-staff and picked it up. Robin didn't move or bother to notice. Slade smiled. At least that had been drilled into the boy's head. Suddenly, Slade saw Robin's hands ball up, becoming tight and tense. He turned and yelled as he attacked. Slade smiled. Time for a lesson.

"Don't let anger drive you, Robin," He said, sidestepping the attack.

Robin spun around, not even acknowledging what Slade had said. He didn't care that he was angry. He just needed to release it and even if it meant that he'd be beaten by Slade. Slade had been controlling his life, whether he had realized it or not, for the past three months. Every bad thing that had happened to him was Slade's fault and now he was stuck dealing with him in this miserable estate. And what annoyed him most of all, for some reason, the only reason the man had done all of this was because Slade was intrigued by something about him.

He wondered if he annoyed himself in that way... Yes, the immense responsibility and sacrifices of being a hero could be somewhat agitating. But it was all worth it... Robin lashed out to punch Slade in the face when Slade grabbed his fist and snapped it back. Robin gasped and Slade looked at him.

"You just want a fight today," Slade told him, "That's obvious."

He tossed Robin to the ground, "But I assure you, you won't want what's coming. I'd suggest surrendering now."

Robin rubbed the side of his face where he had been elbowed, said nothing, and kept on the sour pout. Slade sighed. He was confusing him, that was for sure, but at least Robin realized his situation. That, Slade was happy about.

"Get up," Slade said, "You need to get changed for dinner."

Robin looked to the ground. Fine. Whatever. He didn't care. But he wasn't going to surrender. He couldn't. He stood up and walked over to the door, waiting for Slade to open it and lead him back to his room. Slade's masked face was expressionless as he unlocked the door and strode out, the boy following.

-T-

Inside of the apartment, Selina rubbed her arms as she watched the snow fall outside. She stretched and looked over as one of her cats purred. With graceful steps, she slid over and pet the feline's head.

"Yes, yes, I know puddin'," She said, "Just be glad you're not out there."

She walked into the kitchen, putting a few dishes away. She shut the cabinet just as the door of the apartment opened. She looked over to see her friend walking in with the groceries.

"Man! It's cold outside! Those weathermen never get it right," Holly muttered, "I mean, where in the report today was there any sign of snow?"

Selina laughed, "At least the heater is worker this year."

"Oh, don't remind me! Last year was like being up at Santa's workshop!" Holly answered.

Holly Robinson and Selina Kyle had been long time friends, who together had slowly worked their way out of poverty. It was a lasting friendship and Holly was perhaps the only one who knew that Selina Kyle was Catwoman. Well, despite Batman and Robin. Selina sighed and proceeded to wash a few dirty dishes before stacking them into the dishwasher.

"What's up with you?" Holly asked, bringing the food in to put it away, "You've been awfully quiet lately... By the way, I love your eyeliner today."

Selina looked over at Holly with a small smile, "Thanks... I'm just a little worried."

"Why?" Holly asked, opening up a few cans of cat food, "Arkham's getting pretty full last you heard, right?"

"Yeah, but it's been full for a while now," Selina said, trailing off.

"Is it because of Bruce?" Holly asked, her eye raising, "You've been awfully depressed since then, come to think of it."

Selina's lips firmed a straight line, "He was a good man, Holly. One of the few... I just hope Batman and Robin find his killer soon. I want him behind bars."

"Why don't you find him then?" Holly asked.

Selina sighed, "I wouldn't know where to start..."

"Help! Please! Someone!" Selina and Holly heard from outside. A woman.

Selina lept into action. She zipped up the rest of her suit over the thin tank top, as she already had the pants on ready to go, and pulled the goggled mask over her eyes. She pushed the window open and grabbed the whip, attaching it to her belt. As she fell out of the window, Holly ran over and looked around.

"Oh yeah! Thanks for leaving the window open!" She yelled, rolling her eyes as she shut it.

A cat meowed next to her and she stared at it before asking, "What are you looking at?"

The cat tilted its head to the side and Holly shook her head as she went to unload the rest of the food. Outside, Catwoman landed on the ground with ease and ran down the street in the direction of the cry. They couldn't be a block away... Then she saw them and she kept herself to the side. She wasn't about to run in headlong without knowing what she was up against.

"Please, please, don't!" The woman yelled, as the three men around her cornered her to a wall.

"We just want your money, pretty lady," One of them said, "I'm sure you have more."

One grabbed her wrist and she yelled, "Stop! Get off! Please!"

"Shut up lady," The second said.

"Unless you want to just hand over it over without a, OW!" He yelled.

The whip snapped back, breaking the sound barrier and the three men looked over to see the figure in the shadows approaching them.

"I don't like men like you," Catwoman purred.

They all looked at each other and began to back away from her as she continued, "I'd suggest you'd let go of her before things get ugly."

The first one swallowed hard, but he didn't want to look like a wus, so he did nothing and instead puffed up his chest and answered for his pals incorrectly, "We ain't afraid of you, Cat."

The others started to laugh with the first after a minute or so. Catwoman's eyes narrowed, "Alright tough guys, if that's the way you want it...Ha!"

The first one fell to the ground, knocked unconscious as she ran ahead at the other two. She tangled the third in her whip and tossed him to the side into a trash can, after which he immediately fled. As she took care of him, the second one had come up behind her, ready to fight. Selina smiled. She kicked him squarely in the jaw, sending him straight to the ground before landing her boot on his stomach, causing him to cough and choke loudly. Selina jumped off of him and wiped her hands as though to clean them. She walked over to where the first one had fallen and picked up the woman's purse.

"Here," She said, "You shouldn't be walking alone at this time of night."

"I, thank you. I know," She said, "I had to work late tonight."

"Just be more careful next time," Catwoman said, before she heard the second begin to groan again, "Excuse me one second. Ha!"

She gave him a good solid kick to the head, knocking him out. The woman jumped back, startled. Catwoman turned back to her, smiling.

"Nothing like a little girl power, huh?" She joked.

The woman nodded quickly and Selina walked over to her, "Listen, why don't you call yourself a cab and get home that way? Alright?"

The woman nodded again and quickly fumbled around her purse for her cell phone. She dialed the numbers and as soon as she got a hold of one of the receivers, Catwoman could tell that she was beginning to calm down. Catwoman waited with her until the cab came, despite the cold. They leaned against a building near a streetlight. The woman, in the light, Catwoman on the outside.

"I can't thank you enough," The woman said again.

"It's no problem," Catwoman answered, "I just don't like men like that."

"Well, still, thank you," She said.

Catwoman shrugged. The woman twiddled her thumbs for a minute before speaking, "You know, when I was running, I was praying that the Batman might show up. Funny how people hope something scary will save them something else."

Catwoman tilted her head down at the next question, "Did you see him?"

She turned her head away, "No. Not lately."

"Oh... Sorry..." The woman said.

Headlights came into view and Catwoman saw the taxi sign above them. She quickly darted into the alley and watched as the woman got into the safety of the taxi. She sighed as the snow fell around her. Well that was simple enough. But it left her once again in her brooding mood. She began walking back to the apartment, coiling up the whip again. She jumped to a fire escape when out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. Selina eyed the shadowed alley way. She shrugged before going off again.

She stopped. Catwoman turned around again. Her eyes narrowed and she jumped down from the fire escape, intent on finding out what was following her. About fifteen minutes later, back at the apartment, Holly had finished putting the groceries away and feeding the cats and was now sitting on the couch curling up as she watched the O.C. Suddenly, the cats started to purr and meow loudly. Holly looked up and at the window that the cats were focusing on. It was beginning to jiggle and Holly immediately realized it was Selina. She ran over and opened the window.

"Selina, what was...?" She stared, but Catwoman darted past her to her room, "What are you doing?"

She instantly pulled out a small back pack and began grabbing items, ranging from her Catwoman gear to her cosmetics. She grabbed a few changes of clothes and a few personal items. Holly watched as Selina pulled back her hood to get a quick breather.

"Selina, what are you...?"

"Listen, you're right. I need a break. I can't stand just staying here and thinking about him," Selina said.

"I... I didn't say that," Holly stuttered.

"I need a break, Holly," Selina said, zipping up the backpack and slinging it over her shoulders and walking towards the window.

"Selina wait!" She called, "Are you leaving?"

"I'll be back soon, don't worry," Selina said, opening the window as a gust of wind came in.

Holly shivered. She looked at Selina as she pulled on the hood again. She was sort of surprised at Selina's change in attitude. But Selina still seemed like her determined self.

"Oh... Okay. Just take care of yourself, Selina," She said quietly.

Selina smiled at her, "I will. You do the same. Will you take care of the cats?"

Holly shrugged, "Well, I guess... I mean, what else am I going to do with my time?"

Selina laughed, "Thanks."

She jumped out once again and out of sight. Holly looked out, searching for the Cat, but finding nothing. She sighed and slammed the window shut. Rolling her eyes, she walked over and sat down on the couch again. Whatever that was about, she was sure that Selina would tell her later on. She clicked on the TV again and was pleasantly surprised to find that she hadn't missed much of her soap after all. She sat back, a blanket on her lap, and began eating popcorn as outside, the snow clung to the dark city of Gotham.