Ok you guys, this is my first teen titans fiction! Yay! Plus, it has Jason in it! Double yay!

It was late. Everyone else was in bed. He sat alone at the titans computer, it was nearing 2 Am. He really should be getting to bed he thought, and he was about to, when suddenly, a familiar face appeared on the screen of the titans computer.

"Hello Robin."

"Slade." He growled.

What was he doing showing his face at this hour? Robin silently complained.

"It's been a while Robin, has it not?"

"What do you want? If this has anything to do with another plan to kidnap me to make me your apprentice, can't you at least wait until the sun comes up?"

Slade chuckled.

"Oh don't worry, kidnapping you has become too strenuous a task. You will become my apprentice from the very comfort of your tower. The first task I have for you is simple. Kill the titans, your friends."

Robin couldn't believe what he was hearing, Slade must have finally lost it.

"What makes you think I'm going to just do that so easily? You don't kidnap me, you don't threaten me, and yet, you simply tell me to kill my friends? C'mon Slade, I expect better…" He sneered.

"I thought you may say something like that. So I brought along a little something for motivational purposes."

He moved out of the view of the camera momentarily, then an unconscious Red X was thrown to the floor in view of the camera.

"Red X?...How's that supposed to motivate me to do what you say? I mean, sure, we don't let people die because we're heroes, but, why Red X of all people?"

"Oh, you don't know…" Slade picked the unconscious man up by his hair.

"You see, there is more to Red X than meets the eye Robin…Or should I say, Richard?

With that, he removed the mask of the titan's enemy to reveal…No, it couldn't be…He thought.

But it was. There on the screen, was an unmasked, unconscious Red X/ Jason Todd. There was no denying it was him. He looked a few years older, but he still had the same features.

Robin didn't have any time to voice a reaction before Slade continued.

"Here's how this is going to work out. When you kill the rest of the titans, then, and only then, will I leave him alone. But until then, his life is mine. Think Richard, do you really want to be responsible for your brother's second death? But then again, maybe I won't kill him, I'll just make him wish he was dead…Again. But It's all up to you. This can either go really easily for your brother, or really hard. I'll let you be the judge of that. Until then, we'll be keeping in touch. You have until sunrise. What easier way to kill them than in their sleep?..."

With that, the screen went black.

Robin sat staring at the black screen, struggling to comprehend what had just happened. His brother was…alive? But even more mind boggling was the fact that he was…Red X? Mixed emotions plagued him, he wanted to be happy that Jason was alive. Who was he kidding? He would have been ecstatic if it weren't for the tiny little detail that SLADE had him!

Slade had said that he would make Jason wish that he were still dead. But at the moment, it was Robin who was wishing that he was still dead! Not because he didn't like him, he loved his little brother!...But at least if he were still dead, he would have peace. He would never have that as long as Slade had him, Slade would make sure of that, and the only one who could save him now was himself…by doing an impossible task. One that he knew he couldn't accomplish. What was he to do? The last thing he wanted was to see Jason get hurt, and at the same time, know that he could stop it.

He began thinking that this wasn't an attempt by Slade to make him his apprentice at all. No, he just wanted to torture Robin, and he was going to do it through the one he cared about the most; his little brother. Slade already knew full well that Robin would never do something like what he had demanded. So, kidnapping his brother gave him a free pass to torture Dick, and boy was he doing a good job at it…And he hadn't even hurt him yet!

He had been so caught up in thought. All hope of getting sleep that night had vanished. He was wide awake, trying to decipher this mind game that Slade was playing with him. Maybe that's what all this was, another one of Slade's mind games. After all, there was no way Jason could possibly be back from the dead…Right?