Alice: This will be the last chapter of this story.

Emily: Yeah, it's horrible! But!

Alice: There will be a sequel called Finding You.

Emily: It will start with the episode How Long is Forever.

Alice: Thanks for reading and supporting this fic! I love you guys.

Apprentice

Part 5

Dick frowned as he stared at the screens above him. Each screen represented each titan with the deadly probes inside their bodies. Millions of plans, schemes, and fights crossed through his head to somehow free them and go back and apologize. He was their leader and their friend. If he couldn't save them, what did that make him? Bruce showing up and ripping off his mask surprised him, and he briefly wondered if his friends saw his eyes or connected the dots. Why would Bruce make sure an idiotic mistake? Didn't he know the consequences?

"Richard," Slade called out. Dick flinched and walked over to him obediently. Slade was going to discuss where he would be stealing from next.

Wally wondered how well Dick was holding up. Bruce informed him on what happened before Robin left his side and went to Jump. Now that he was on a villain's side again, and he was sure he was being forced to just like last time, he hoped there weren't any bad memories being brought up. Bruce pulled him aside and explained how he ripped off Dick's mask and how Slade might have seen. "What?" Wally gaped. "Why would you do that?"

"I needed to see if he was really a killer," Bruce murmured softly. "Slade wouldn't hold something like that against him. That would be too easy."

Wally took Bruce's word for it.

Now parts of the Justice League, the old sidekicks, and the Teen Titans, well most of them, began sneaking to Slade's secret base. Bruce had quickly planted a tracker on Robin in the mist of the verbal fight. Now they just prayed for their plan to work.

"Security cameras and alarms have been disabled," Barbara said through the communicator. Wally nodded and smirked. It was time!

Robin clenched his fists as he stared into Slade's mask. It wasn't enough that he had to steal from his own father. Now he had to steal from his friends. Slade commanded him to steal from the one and only Titans Tower. Every instinct and fiber in his body told him to attack this man for even mentioning the idea. But the screens to the left of him stayed within his eye sight and he remained still. "Alright," Robin gritted.

"Good boy," Slade sounded very pleased. "And from now on, I'd like you to call me master."

He was about to continue but his dialogue was interrupted by a starbolt hitting him in the chest, sending him flying back and shattering the screens. Robin gasped and whirled around to see not only his teammates and Batman but many more of his old friends. He stood perfectly still, staring into the determined eyes of each one. "Robin," Slade growled, and Robin nearly sighed in relief when he didn't use Richard. "Attack!"

Robin nodded and ran over to try and attack them. Due to his past with each, he knew their weaknesses and strengths. Wally narrowed his eyes and ran towards him. Robin skidded to a halt and threw tiny, circular bombs onto the ground. Wally gasped as he slipped on them and fell on his face. Robin nearly laughed. "Dude!" Wally whined much like the old days when he used that trick in training. "I thought we were over this!"

This time Robin couldn't hold it. He began to cackle almost madly. "You're always such a klutz!"

"Yeah well at least I-" Wally began only to blink and find Robin completely gone. "You know I hate it when you do that!" he screamed at the dark sky. Robin then came down from behind Kid Flash, tackling him to the floor with a grin.

"Why do you think I do it?" Robin snickered. The rest watched in amazement. Wally had always been Robin's best friend. While Robin had always been overly mature even at a young age, Wally seemed to bring out the kid in him which is what he seemed to be doing now.

Slade narrowed his eye. "Robin!" he snarled, appalled by the lack of seriousness from his apprentice. "Fight to win."

Wally grins and is about to tease Robin abut obeying the orders of an adult. Robin's fist connecting with his jaw stops him and causes him to fly back. He winces, knowing that it would most likely bruise. Robin's stance was no longer playful but serious, intent on causing some sort of damage. Batman stepped up, his eyes narrowing into the oh-so-famous "Bat-glare". No one was surprised that it had no effect on Robin. "What?" Robin sneered. "Are you going to stand there all day?"

"Are you?" Batman asked in return. Robin immediately shut his mouth but glared anyway. In a millisecond, Robin threw himself at the man, trying to punch and kick him. Batman picked up on the attacks and managed to block every single one without hitting him back. He stayed on the defense as Robin grew more and more frustrated.

Starfire wanted so badly to join the fight but the way everyone stood and watched made her think that maybe this was supposed to be a moment just between them. It was, after all, the first time they've seen each other in a long time. "You're holding back," Batman growled. "If you truly want to hurt me, fight harder."

"You're holding back too," Robin snarled. "Dammit, hit me back!"

Instead Batman ducked under the punch and remained on the defensive side. Slade clenched his fists as Robin's moves slowly became sloppier and sloppier as though waiting for the Bat to hit him. "Fight to win, Robin." Slade snarled. "Fight to kill."

Robin froze slightly, the thoughts of killing someone temporarily distracting him. Batman still did nothing about it and stood there. Robin glanced up at Batman as memories flooded him.

"Come on, Junior! Kill the Bat! You can even use my gun, sonny!" His blood red lips slid into a full grin, tossing the boy his favorite gun. Once he caught the gun with both hands, he began giggling madly as he pointed it right at Batman. His smile was so stretched out, so forced. He held the gun and aimed towards Batman's head, still giggling all the while. Once it was at a perfect aim, Batman began to beg him as his father to stop.

"You don't want to do this," Bruce had pleaded, no longer bothering to act touch and resilient. The boy just giggled.

"Come on, sonny!" the girl laughed, latching herself onto the man. "Do it for your parents!"

"NO!" Barbara's voice screeched.

Robin pulled the trigger.

Robin flinched, forcing himself back into reality. He no longer stood in a fighting stance. Part of him wondered how long he had been absorbed into his own thoughts and memories. Not too long he thought. Slade, who was by the screen earlier, was right next to him and raised an arm, backhanding the boy.

It was a tense few seconds as no one moved an inch. Wonder Woman shook violently, her eyes filled with fury. "You…" she snarled. Speedy immediately noticed the situation and tapped Aqualad's shoulder. Both nodded at each other and grabbed one or two of the titans, dragging them back. The titans were about to protest but then noticed just how furious everyone in the Justice League was.

Even Flash, the happy-go-lucky hero, had hard and cold eyes.

In a sudden movement, they all leapt forward making Slade snarl. He knew he couldn't take down these many League members on his own. So he did the only thing he could think of to save himself. He pulled out the trigger and pressed harshly on the button. Robin saw this movement. "NO!" Robin screamed.

Groans of pain hit the League's ears making them all stop just centimeters from Slade. They all turned to see each Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg leaning over in pain. They began glowing a bright orange. "Guys!" Robin shouted. He turned to Slade and growled. "You said-"

But Robin stopped in mid-sentence. Of course Slade wouldn't keep his promises. He was, after all, a criminal. "Just as I said before. I hate to lose." Slade smirked.

"You will regret this," Superman raised a fist.

"I am the only one who can stop it," Slade sounded calm. "If you kill me, they will die as well."

"That was your leverage on him," Wonder Woman narrowed her eyes. "What did you do to them?"

Robin stood still, watching his friends crumble to the ground. The other ex-sidekicks tried to help them up or do something but they all knew their death was inevitable. Robin closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind and think clearly on how to save them. Slade hated to lose which is why he was doing this… he hated to lose… Robin's eyes snapped open and searched for the laser that shot each titan with the probes. With a nod to himself, he dashed towards it. "Robin!" he heard Garth call from behind him. He ignored them and threw his hands onto the circular, glowing black surface. He gasped as pain shot through him.

Finally he released it and turned to Slade, gasping. Slade looked simply perplexed. "New deal, Slade," Robin spat, limping his way to the villain in pure pain. "I lose my friends, you lose your apprentice. And I know just how much you hate to lose."

Robin managed to smirk before dropping to his knees in pain. Slade narrowed his eye as Batman tried to thrust him up. "You always were too smart for your own good," Slade told him. "Another day, Robin. Another day."

With that, Slade began walking backwards before disappearing into the shadows. Almost immediately after he disappeared, Robin's skin began to clear and his breathing became steadier. He gasped and turned to see the rest of the titans also recovering. "You guys," he sighed in pure relief.

"W-what happened?" Beast boy mumbled groggily. Robin began to run over to them only to be slammed back into the screen. He groaned slightly to see Raven holding up her hand with narrowed eyes. "Raven!" Beast boy screamed. She didn't really care. After everything that happened, she just didn't care.

"You were willing to kill, steal, and lie just to save our lives?" Raven frowned in distaste. Robin slid down until his feet landed safely on the ground. "Robin, we risk our lives every day to save these people and to prevent the very things you've been doing to them. If we're going to die to save them, then we'll die to save them."

Robin parted his lips to reply but found none. Superman gulped slightly as he walked over to the very thing that caused this whole mess. He picked it up and walked over to the rest of them. "We should…"

Everyone nodded in return.

Once they arrived back to the tower, they began working on how to cure the titans of the probes within their bloodstream. Cyborg was redeeming himself slightly, saying how something so small and in the bloodstream wouldn't alert his sensors. This resulted in Barbara teasing him. It felt weird, Robin decided when he saw almost all the people he loved in one room. It felt strangely unbearable being back within his old home. Nothing much had changed.

"Hey," a voice whispered. Robin flinched and turned to see Roy standing there, still in his mask. Robin offered him a strained smile. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Robin lied easily. "It just takes some getting used to… being back and not having the people you love under constant death threat."

Roy chuckled a bit. "You were always the best at lying. Do you want some of us to stay for a little while? Help you out?"

They were playing the big brother role again. Robin shook his head. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Wonder Woman turned to them, the machine ready to free them. "Who's going to go first?"

"I want to talk to Robin," Batman declared. Robin flinched but nodded as well. The titans all looked like they wanted to protest but none did. Superman sent a look of sympathy to both of them while Wonder Woman rolled her eyes. The Dynamic Duo then left the room.

"How about the pretty lady over there goes first?" Wally nudged Starfire, winking slightly.

Garth smirked but knew Wally would have no way of cutting the tension in the room.

The first thing they both did when they walked into Robin's room was to remove their masks. "Hello," Dick murmured.

"Hi," Bruce sighed. "You should have called."

"Called?" Dick frowned. "When? Slade would have-"

"I meant… when you were going to Jump City," Bruce sighed. "When you were starting a new team. Heck, if you won a battle or if you had a nightmare. You should have called."

"Calling is a two way street, Bruce," Dick replied almost bitterly. "You wanted to get rid of me, so I did you a favor."

"I didn't want to get rid of you," Bruce protested. "I wanted you to be safe. After what happened with everything, I just wanted you to be safe. I didn't think that taking Robin from you would have made you seal away Dick Grayson."

"Seal away? What do you mean?"

"They don't know who you are," Bruce informed. "They didn't see your eyes. If they don't know, it means you're Robin all day and all night for the whole year."

"You never let me tell anyone. I remember you had a fit when I told Wally my real name. Garth actually got mad at me a while ago because I never gave him my name and I left him." Dick sighed. "Robin is a part of who I am and who I want to be. I just… When you said you wanted to get rid of him, I felt like I had to run. It was like you saying you didn't want me around."

It was silent for a few moments. Bruce cleared his throat before wrapping his arms around Dick in a slightly awkward hug. "I've missed you," he murmured.

"I know," Dick whispered back. "I did too."

Wonder Woman and Superman already left after saying their quick goodbyes to Robin. Flash stayed around for a little longer but eventually left. He sternly told Kid Flash to be home before dinner to which Robin sent him a teasing glare. "Thanks you guys," Robin smiled at his older teammates. "For everything."

"No problem," Roy grinned, patting his head like he used to do when they were kids. "You ever need any help, just call."

"I will," Dick promised.

"Good," Wally smirked. "So the Teen Titans, right?"

He glanced over at Speedy and Aqualad. "Maybe we'll join someday…"

"Maybe."

With that, Kid Flash sped off while Speedy and Aqualad just walked out. Alfred simply patted Robin's shoulder and Barbara landed a quick kiss on his lips. This, of course, ended up in Starfire and Raven frowning in distaste at her. "Call sometime, idiot," Barbara smirked. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Robin nodded. With that, Oracle, Alfred, and Batman left the room, leaving the Teen Titans.

It was silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry," Robin finally confessed. "I just… I couldn't lose my family again. So I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure nothing happened to you guys even if it meant…"

"What's done is done," Cyborg said. "We're just lucky we figured it out and we got our leader back!"

"I can't believe I just met three members of the Justice League," Beast boy gushed. "Wonder Woman was just so… and Batman… and what about Superman and Flash? They were so cool! And what about that girl that kissed you? She was really-"

He received two glares from Raven and Starfire. He gulped. "R-really average looking…"

Robin laughed along with Cyborg. "I'm glad I'm back."

"We are too," Starfire smiled brightly at him. "Shall we do the performance of the group hug?"

"No." Raven replied quickly.

"But Raven~" Beast boy whined. Robin smiled softly.

He was glad everything was back to normal.

Alice: The sequel will be called Finding You.

Emily: It will be on season two of Teen Titans.

Alice: Thanks for reading and reviewing. You guys are great.