A/N Here we go! Get ready for a wild ride, y'all :)

Chapter Eighteen: The King Returns

Slade's single eye narrowed as he surveyed the chaos at the port. All around him people were scrambling, trying to get as many ships staffed, supplied, and in the water as possible. The King's murderous scowl watching over them didn't seem to help any matters, but how were they to know it was really directed towards a certain little bird. Slade snarled to himself, making the stable boy next to him gulp. The kid was holding both his horse and Robin's. It had been found wandering along the docks and now was pleasantly munching on some hay.

The King was furious. After his pet had taken off Slade had actually found himself at a loss of what to do: quite the rare occurrence. Every part of his being had urged him to follow his bird. But he was the king after all, and instead sent his fastest riders. He had assumed that the boy would reach the port and then find himself without a vessel. He had assumed wrong, Slade admitted to himself with a clenched jaw. The man himself had stayed behind, working on mobilizing a small armada and studying the reports. The Joker had been there for quite a while, just hovering around the edges of the island, and no one had reported it too him.

"No estaba…. seguro, mi Rey…*" The lookout stammered, frightened for his life as Slade bore down on him. He had been given one job, to watch over a few of the farthest islands within the kingdom. (*I was not...sure, my King…*)

"¿De qué exactamente no estabas seguro*?" Slade kept his tone impossibly even, silently slipping a small knife out of one of the many pockets along his belt. The lookout's terrified eyes were busy scanning the room for help, but there was only Wintergreen guarding the door to the throne room. (*What exactly were you not sure of.*)

"Nunca dejaron los barcos. Estaba esperando una invasión ... ¡Nunca dejaron los barcos!*" The trembling man finally looked up and made eye contact, and the last thing he saw was his King bare his teeth in a smile. (*They never left the boats. I was watching for an invasion… They never left the boats!*)

Slade stooped down briefly to retrieve the knife that had been flung with such force that it penetrated the man's skull, right between his still wide eyes. He then wiped the weapon on the dead man's shirt before slipping it back into place around his waist.

"Fill his position while I'm gone." Slade ordered Wintergreen, his voice calm and cold. "I'd prefer to have someone decently intelligent for the role this time."

Wintergreen chose not to comment on this, but instead asked, "What is your plan, then?" Before the one-eyed man could answer, the messenger boy from before came bursting through the doors. His face was unusually pale and he carried a white, embroidered linen, with something wrapped up inside. The messenger quickly handed it off to Slade, bowed, and hightailed it out of the room just as sudden as he came.

Slade grew murderous and a bit afraid, if he was being honest with himself, as he unwrapped the package. Inside the cloth, with had a large J embroidered in blood red on one corner, were three severed fingers. It only took a glance for Slade to determine that they were not Robin's- a fact that didn't make him feel any better. He knew the Joker had worse planned for his little bird. That was how the madman worked.

"I will retrieve Robin personally. And then I will kill the Joker." Had Wintergreen not known the man in front of him, he might have shivered in fear a bit at the tone of Slade's voice. Instead he simply arched a greyed eyebrow and said "Very good, sir."

The image of those severed fingers was still fresh in Slade's mind as he stalked towards his ship. The gore of it did not disturb him, he had seen much, much worse. No it was just the idea that they could have been Robin's fingers. And the idea that Robin had already met a worse fate. The King's eye narrowed. He felt as if he knew the Joker well enough by now; they had "fought" side by side during the original conquest the Spanish had sent them on, if one could consider the Joker's methods as fighting… Slade wasn't soft in any sense of the word and didn't spare lives, like Robin had insisted upon doing. He was, however, practical and low profile, traits he had carried over from his assassin days. The carnage that the Joker left in his path was nothing short of dramatic.

With just a few long strides the one-eyed man boarded his ship, a single look sending the crew into overdrive as they prepared to take sail. The other ships were not quite ready to leave to port yet, but the King had made it silently clear that he was not going to wait another second to go after his little fly-away bird.

"¡Establezca un curso para el borde norte de la isla!*" Slade barked at the crew. He had read all of the reports and knew the Joker's ships still watched over the beaches of the island. No matter, the former assassin did not need to make a grand entrance, he just needed to kill. (*Set a course for the Northern edge of the island!*)

The dark waters lapped against the side of Slade's ship in a steady hum. It was the dead of night and sea had calmed down. Slade's single eye traced the stars, triple checking that they were on the correct route to the island. The cliffs stood out proudly, just on the horizon and the boat inched closer to them by the minute. If the former mercenary hadn't have been, well, a former mercenary, he might have been twitching with adrenaline and fear at the mission in front of him. Luckily for Robin, Slade was calm and collected, the only show of his inner emotions was how he slightly adjusted his armor from time to time. It wasn't the same armor that he had arrived at the island in that first fateful day; that had been his flashy, "I'm the King and I'm dangerous" armor. This new outfit was geared towards stealth and protection. It was solid black and fit the man like a glove, as one of the cabin boys had noted with lust filled eyes. Slade didn't even have time to wink at the boy, he was much to preoccupied with strapping as many weapons to his frame as he could. The final touch to his ensemble was a metal two-toned mask, one side black with no hole for his missing eye and the other a brassy-orange color. It was his mercenary mask, the one that had been associated throughout all of Europe with certain death and his name, Deathstroke the Terminator. The Joker would know immediately that Slade the King wasn't here to bullshit, he was here to kill.

As the ship drew nearer to the cliffs, Slade's ever-watchful eye caught a glimpse of something built into the side of the tallest one. He swiftly made his way to the front of the ship, the crew fleeing his masked presence. There, he could just make out a cage of sorts, and a body slumped within it. Even from this distance the man would know that form anywhere: it was Robin.

The King was not a man that dealt with what-ifs. He preferred facts and swift courses of action. Therefore he wasted no time fearing that his pet was dead, and instead prepared to go find out for himself. The tide had receded, leaving the cage dry and far from where the waves now peacefully lapped at the base of the cliff. Above the imprisonment was an abandoned camp, a few torches still flickering dully as their fuel ran out. Slade took it all in, wondering briefly why no one was guarding his bird… Maybe…

Slade stepped up onto the bow and then dived into the water. He wouldn't even entertain the idea of Robin being dead. Instead he began to swim, taking long strokes underwater and moving swiftly as if the ocean provided no resistance at all. The ship set out their anchor to await the King's return. The crew knew it could be days before they saw him again, but their orders had been clear, and the rest of the small armada would be there soon.

It took the man just a little while to reach the base of the cliff, and in hindsight he could have waited until the ship drew closer, but he wasn't prepared to waste a second. Slade was in mercenary-mode, and all that mattered to him was the job. Rescue Robin, kill the Joker. Rescue Robin, kill the Joker. The face of the cliff was flat and worn by the waves that crashed against it, so climbing up to the cage would prove quite the challenge for an ordinary man. The King was not ordinary in the slightest, and he produced two steel picks to drive into the rock as he began to scale the cliff, using only his arms as there were no footholds. The view from the ship was a dramatic one, and the crew gathered along the side of the boat to watch the figure of their King climb seemingly effortlessly the sheer face.

Once he was close enough, Slade reach up and grabbed a bottom beam of the cage. There were a few broken bars on the front, large enough for the teen to slip through, and the man knew that an escape had been attempted. With bulging biceps, the King hoisted himself up and kicked another piece of wood clean out, making the hole large enough for his frame to slip into the prison. It was a tight squeeze, but Slade managed to maneuver himself in and began checking on his pet. Robin was still breathing, he noted, slipping off his mask with an uncharacteristic sigh of relief, but there was dried blood caked to the back of his head and he was soaked to the bone.

All of the sudden there was a shout from the top of the cliff, where the camp had been, and Slade drew a knife. It wasn't a guard to looked over the edge, but rather a small teen with slightly pointy teeth. Beastboy, Slade's exceptional memory provided him, one of village's hunters.

"Dude! That King guy is here!" Beastboy yelled to the rest of the team behind him. As his friends came running, the small hunter noticed the shine of the blade in Slade's hand. "I think he's trying to kill Robin!" There was an outcry from the rest of the team as they rushed towards the edge, almost pushing one another off in order to see. After freeing Bruce they had struggled to help Robin, who had been knocked out, but the tide had begun to recede and they just couldn't hold themselves there without the help of the water. Starfire and Beastboy had swam away with Bruce, heading to a small inlet with a tiny beach just around the corner from the cliffs while Raven and Cyborg had stayed with Robin as long as the could, making sure there friend was still breathing and no longer in immediate danger before they left to regroup.

"King Slade! Please, you must not hurt our friend!" Starfire yelled down at the two in the cage, desperation and panic in her eyes. They did not save Bruce only to have Robin murdered right in front of them. Slade cursed himself internally for not having Robin teach him his native language, but re-sheathed his knife to the relief of the villagers above him. Once they were sure that the King was there to help, the hunters threw down the rope they were going to use to get Robin. It was a little short, ending about four feet above the top of the cage, but it would be enough for Slade.

Deciding to ignore the team of teenage hunters, Slade turned back to his primary focus, his bird. Robin was still unconscious, but seemed in decent health as the man check his pulse and his body for other injuries. "Robin…" The King murmured, drawing the lithe form into his lap as he awkwardly sat down in the cage. "Robin you need to wake up now."

The team of hunters watched silently at the display below them. Slade was cradling Robin, rubbing his arms to warm him up, and speaking to him softly in that European language they shared. It was… heartwarming, in a way that the teens didn't even know existed between the "pet" and "master." It was true that the two were married, at least in island terms, but Robin had given himself away as a diplomatic gift rather than just giving himself away. It was a situation that the islanders had never encountered before, so were Robin and Slade actually married?

Robin began to stir, feeling enveloped in warmth and protection. He sighed a bit, not willing to open his eyes just yet. His head was pounding still from being crashed against the hard rocks. The teen frowned slightly as the large arms holding him pulled him closer. Was that Bruce? He thought they had gotten the man out of the cage? All he could remember near the end there was the water, filling the cage, throwing him around while his friends struggled to free him. And then blackness. He must have been knocked out. Was he still even in the wooden cage?

"Robin, wake up." Blue eyes flew open in surprise as the teen craned his neck back a little too fast. He would have winced in pain if he hadn't have been so overjoyed.

"Slade!" Robin threw himself forward, kissing the man deeply. The kiss was reciprocated just as enthusiastically, and the man's large hands even gave the pert ass on top of him a squeeze. "You came after me!" The boy panted after withdrawing from the King's lips, a silly grin on his face.

"You must have hit your head pretty hard," Slade chuckled at the expression on his bird's face. But he had to admit this was more than the welcome he had expected. "You are in so much trouble."

Robin blushed a little at this and ducked his head back down onto Slade's chest. He snuggled up as much as he dared with a content sigh: "I don't even care." Two very large and warm hands stroked up and down his back lazily as the duo were happy enough in each others arms to ignore any sense of urgency. Until an awkward cough came from above. "Oh, hey guys!" The blue-eyed teen yelled up to his friends sheepishly, still unwilling to move from the embrace.

"Robin…" Raven drawled in her gravelly voice. "You guys should probably get up here." There was almost a sultry note to the dark teen's tone and Robin smirked at her.

"You're just jealous." He leered at her, sensually stroking one of the large biceps that was encircling his body. Slade rumbled beneath him, amused but also feeling a bit like a show-pony.

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you to are talking about," the King began, "but why don't we get out of here." Robin at least had the decency to blush deeply before nodding. He couldn't help but sneak one last gloating-glance at Raven, however, and she snickered quietly. Clearly the team's leader was head-over-heels for the King, and she wondered just when exactly that had happened. Robin would have wondered that same thing too, if he hadn't been too busy attempting to climb onto Slade's back within the confines of the cage.

The wood creaked ominously. The prison had been sturdy enough to hold Bruce and Robin at the same time, but Slade was a lot bigger than the Chief even before the man had starved himself. One gray eye met two blue a second before the wood gave way and the pair found themselves free falling. Robin's stomach lurched as he clung to the man's back. They would probably survive the fall, if they managed to not land on any of the rocks below. But the impact never came. The teen cracked open his eyes that he hadn't even realized were clenched shut only to find Slade clinging to the face of the cliff seemingly by his fingertips. The man's arms trembled as he struggled to support their weight with no real hand-holds.

"Robin, are you strong enough to get on my shoulders?" The King growled out, feeling a finger slip.

"Wha-"

"ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH?" Slade barked, another finger slipping. This time the teen didn't hesitate long enough to even reply. Instead he nimbly climbed onto the man's shoulders. The rope that the hunters had thrown over the cliff was now closer to being ten feet away.

"I don't think I can jump that high!" Robin yelped a little bit as the man shifted under him, trying to find a better hold on the smooth rock.

"I'll help," he ground out and before the islander knew it, the man had coiled like a spring and then shot himself and Robin straight up in the air. That was the only extra push the acrobatic teen needed to reach the rope and grab it. Slade had managed to- Robin glanced wildly from side to side. Slade hadn't managed to grab a hold of anything! A second later a large splash was heard, and two impossibly huge blue eyes looked down towards the water.

"SLADE!" Robin screamed out, voice breaking as he desperately searched the waves for any sign of the man. The exhausted boy's arms screamed at him to finish climbing up to rope but he couldn't move, paralyzed with fear. Minutes seemed to tick by as Robin held his position, tears welling up in his eyes. "Slade…" he whimpered, eyes squeezing shut as a tear rolled down his cheek. This feeling, this feeling was more painful than when he had though Bruce was dead. The boy clung to the rope, still not moving, as the whole world began to spin around him. His hands slipped a little, but he couldn't care, Slade was…

"Fucking move, Robin!" A thoroughly pissed off voice yelled from below and the islander's eyes found a white head bobbing up and down in the water.

"Slade!" The teen cried, arms trembling from the physical and mental exhaustion. "There's a beach about a quarter of a mile around the side of this cliff! We'll meet you there!" Robin wasn't sure if the man had heard him, or if he had even begun to swim yet, but it was time for him to either climb up the rope or fall so he scurried up towards his teammates.

The band of hunters wisely made no mention of Robin's misty eyes as they helped him up back onto solid land. Their former leader fell on his knees for a second, panting harshly and gathering his bearings, before standing back up and starting the trek to the beach. The teen was unsteady, tripping over branches and catching himself on trees, but nothing his team said or did was able to stop him. Robin was determined to make it to the beach before Slade, even though his feet were made from lead and his head was still pounding.

The sun had begun to rise as the quite beaten-up band of villagers made it to the beach. Blindingly bright light poured over the horizon. Robin ran to the edge of the water and put up his hand to shield his blue eyes, but couldn't see anything in the water until-there! The King emerged, gracefully walking towards Robin as if he had simply gone for a dip.

"Oh, that is so not fair." Beastboy muttered to Cyborg in the background. They were all dead tired, but here strode the white-haired man as if nothing had happened.

"Slade!" Robin choked out before he was swept up into a kiss just like their first one, at the Full Moon Festival. Raven and Starfire sighed as the other two boys blanched a little, but neither Robin nor Slade paid them any mind for the time being.

"Didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" Slade murmured against Robin's lips, causing the younger one to smile.

"You just won't die," he teased back, melting into the large embrace.

"Let's head back… We have work to do." The words coming from Slade were serious, but he said them while nibbling on Robin's ear, making the teen a bit light headed. With a nod Robin tried to turn in the man's arms to walk away, but his knees buckled. The King grabbed his pet around the waist and, too quick to notice, deposited him on his back. The former-hunter blushed, but was too exhausted to argue as they met up with the rest of his team and started their trek back through the jungle.

A/N: DAMN that was a long chapter! I hope you all enjoyed! The end was so fluffy and I didn't even plan it that way, but the characters do what they characters want to do!

Read and Review, as always :)