Robin raced down the hallway, stopping at the door way as instructed by Slade that afternoon. What he really hated was how trapped he felt. But what was worse was certainly that Slade knew it too, and was choising to rub it firmly into his face by running him headlong into his teammates. Hopefully Beastboy's head didn't hurt; it had only been a light bump.

Robin broke the code, and the door slid open. He raced into the room, snatching the small cylinder from the table in the center. He spun around to see a shadow in the doorway. His stomach clenched. Why'd she have to be brought into this?

"What the hell Robin?" Batgirl demanded. Robin flinched, wishing he could explain.

"Hurry up Robin, your clock's ticking," Slade's voice purred into his ear.

"Hello?" Batgirl snapped. "Earth to Robin, come in please! What are you doing?" Wait, Robin? She only ever calls me Grayson when she's mad…

"Robin, can you not hear me? You have an hour before I start things up."

"I'd love to stay and chat," he drawled, refusing to meet her eyes. "But I need to get going."

"Through me," she replied, assuming a ready stance.

"This isn't going to end well," Robin offered, assuming she could figure that out.

"Nice try. Not another word, understood?" Robin fought the urge to swear. Instead, he moved forward, throwing a preemptive strike. Batgirl caught it, not that there was much will behind it. She countered equally halfheartedly.

"Come on," she prompted. "Just talk to me." Robin took the hint as they continued to spar. After half a second, he saw his oprotunity as Batgirl threw a punch, missing to his side. A classic rookie mistake. He grabbed her hand, pulling her backwards into him with her arm across her stomach.

"Bombs, basement," he hissed to the extent he could without moving his mouth (he couldn't risk Slade having video transmission). Then, he shoved her away from him, using her arm to spin her around, giving her hand one miniscule squeeze before releasing and throwing her across the room. Then he threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared into the hallway, running down and disappearing out the skylight before the rest of his teammates arrived.

"Robin?" Cyborg called out.

"What happened?" Beastboy asked, coughing again. "Aw, come on, I'm going to get sick from smoke inhalation."

"Friend Batgirl!" Starfire exclaimed, as she helped Batgirl back to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Batgirl replied.

"Where'd he go?" Beastboy asked.

"I don't know, he threw a smoke bomb," Batgirl snapped, dusting herself off. "Probably out a skylight, it's what I'd do."

~0~

The five discouraged teenaged superheroes walked slowly into the main room of Titan tower. Cyborg and Beastboy both plopped themselves down on the couch, while Starfire walked into the kitchen.

"I will prepare the pudding of sadness," she declared. Beastboy and Cyborg grunted, unwilling to further sadden her by telling her that no one wanted her pudding. Batgirl pulled a small black device from her pocket and held it up in front of her.

"What's with the PDA?" Beastboy asked, looking over his shoulder at her from the couch.

"Not a PDA," Batgirl replied simply.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Raven asked from her position in the doorway. Cyborg, Beastboy, and Starfire stopped to stare at her. She raised an eyebrow, and they turned back away. Batgirl didn't respond immidiatly, turning around with the device held in front of her face and moving it up and down. The device beeped, and she put it back in her pocket.

"Fine," she replied. "Actually, pretty good. Robin gave me a hint."

"What?" Beastboy asked as he hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to Batgirl and Raven.

"I thought Robin threw you into a wall?" Cyborg declared.

"Slade's monitoring him," Batgirl explained. "But I brought a transmission jammer." She pulled a piece of black plastic from behind her ear. "I think Slade's got bombs planted in the basement of buildings."

"Whoa, I called it!" Beastboy exclaimed. Cyborg shot him a "what the hell" look. "Robin said if he didn't stop Slade, he'd either force Robin to be his apprentice or blow something up. But I said it would be some combination of both, and I was right!" Cyborg rolled his eyes, but chuckled slightly. Starfire blinked, and Raven slapped him upside the head. "OW!"

"This gives us somewhere to start," Batgirl continued as though Beastboy hadn't spoken. "We should inspect the basements of buildings for bombs, starting with highest traffic and impact. Though we're going to have to be careful, because Slade's probably monitoring the bombs, and the last thing we want…" As she talked, she crossed the room and began typing on the computer.

"So you're suggesting we inspect every large building in Jump City without letting Slade know about it?" Cyborg cut in. "How exactly do we do that?"

"Very carefully," Raven suggested.

"And with stealth," Batgirl added.

~0~

Robin entered the warehouse to find it pitch black. Robin closed his eyes to adjust to the darkness more quickly. He suddenly became aware of movement next to him, and ducked in time for Slade's blow to fly over his head.

"What interrupted my signal?" Slade purred. Robin ducked again, rolling out of the way until he had some breathing room.

"You're signal was interrupted?" he asked. This earned him another round of attacks. Then Slade backed off, a screen lighting up to the right a few seconds afterwards. Robin watched as the Robin on the screen turned and spotted Batgirl. He noted his expression of surprise, and cursed mentally. Slade was going to work with that. Batgirl snapped at him, and he flinched noticeably. Really not good. Batgirl said something else, he replied, they sparred, and he pulled her into him before throwing her away. With relief, he noted that his talking was unnoticeable. The smoke cleared, and the Titans were in the room, Starfire helping Batgirl to her feet. Batgirl said something else, Beastboy responded, and Batgirl snapped something else while brushing herself off. Then the five left, and the screen went blank.

"What would you like to tell me about your friend?" Slade asked. Robin shrugged.

"I didn't think she was in Gotham," he replied calmly. Slade chuckled slightly.

"And you were so surprised you flinched at her anger?"

"Clearly you haven't met Batgirl," Robin countered. "And we've been over this Slade. I don't like stealing or betraying my friends."

"You aren't betraying your friends," Slade purred. "They betrayed you."

"Oh, and he goes for the criminal work around," Robin grumbled. "I forgot one thing. I also don't like you." Slade lunged again.