A/N: Sorry for the wait! In the chapter after this it'll finally get back to what Robin and the others are up to!
Terra grinned and laughed to herself before reaching for another tape. Something about Robin's voice rubbed at the edge of her mind but Terra couldn't quite put her finger on what it was so she ignored it for the moment and inserted the next tape.
"Today, on this extremely special episode of 'Beast Boy Presents,'" the green changeling's voice whispered so quietly that the geokenetic had to turn up the volume to even make out what he was saying. The camera lens was focused on the door of the third floor bathroom, "We will be attempting to do something no one has ever done before – not even Starfire – and that is… to see what Robin looks like… without the mask!!" The camera slowly edged forward and Beast Boy's gloved hand reached out to grasp the door knob. There was a tense moment of pause and then the camera suddenly lunged forward, bursting through the door into the steam filled bathroom. Robin, who only had a white towel wrapped around his waist, yelped and spun around. The eye mask he had always been wearing before was noticeably absent and, as his large gray eyes widened in shock at the sight of the camera and Beast Boy, Terra thought that he looked younger without the mask, almost innocent. The geokenetic only had a few moments to contemplate this, however, because almost instantly Robin was lunging for the camcorder, one hand still clutching the edges of his towel.
"BEAST BOY!!"
The shot promptly cut off, only to be replaced by another – this time a dim picture of what looked like the carpeting in one of the T-Tower's hallways late at night. A soft, familiar voice began to speak, but it wasn't Beast Boy's.
"We would like to apologize. Due to technical difficulties, 'Beast Boy Presents' will not be airing tonight at its usual time. Instead, in its place, shall be," the camera was spun around to face its operator and Terra was given a sudden, extreme close-up of a black and white eye mask, "'Robin's Revenge!'"
The camcorder turned back around to reveal that Robin was standing in front of Beast Boy's bedroom door. Sliding the door open noiselessly, Robin drifted as silent as a shadow across the debris littered floor to the side of BB's bunk bed. The green changeling was curled up beneath his covers, long, pointed ears twitching ever so slightly in his sleep, a pillow cuddled protectively against his chest. As Terra watched, Beast Boy tightened his grip on the pillow burrowing his face into it slightly and the tips of his ears began to twitch more noticeably as he began to mumble to himself in his sleep.
"Sorry ladies, there's only one girl for me… She's right here… No, no – not Star… Not Bee… Jinx? Ew! …Hey… Hey, Rae – where ya goin'? …No, it's not like that… Stay? Please? …Aw, Rae, you're the only girl for me… You know that… I love you, too, Raven…." The camera slowly began to edge back from the bed as BB tried to kiss his pillow in his sleep and caught a fang in the fabric. In the background, Robin could be heard attempting to stifle his snickering with little success.
Back out in the hall Robin turned the camera back on himself though not at the extremely close range that he had used before. "And there you have it folks – Beast Boy, the Tower's resident trickster and clown, is head-over-heels for Raven, everyone's favorite dark and gloomy Goth. The world just keeps getting weirder and weirder every day."
With the press of a button, Terra turned off the camcorder and set it down on the floor next to her. She stared blankly at the far wall of the basement for a moment, lost in thought. Why did Robin sound so familiar? Had she met him before? Surely she would have remembered a uniform like that…. Still lost in thought, Terra reached one-handed into the first box to retrieve another scrapbook, hoping it might be able to answer some of the questions barraging her. She blinked in surprise as her gloved fingers came into contact not with the hard edge of a book, but the crinkle of newsprint. Peering over the lip of the box, the geokenetic spotted the corner of a stack of newspapers sticking out from under the bottommost scrapbook. Intrigued, Terra pulled them carefully out and stared at the headline of the first paper: Boy Wonder Missing in Action.
Jump City's famous Teen Titans were noticeably one member short today as they fought to stop another prison break at the local jail. Robin, leader of the Titans, was absent from the skirmish and has been missing since last Wednesday night. Details are still unclear but it seems that the Boy Wonder disappeared after being separated from his teammates during another attack by the infamous master villain, Slade. Since his mysterious vanishing, Robin has made no contact with his team and experts are uncertain whether he is even still alive. There is speculation that the goal of Slade's most resent attack was to take out Robin in particular. The Teen Titans have made no comment on whether they believe their leader still alive or dead….
Terra stopped reading, her stomach twisting unpleasantly. She glanced at the photograph directly underneath the headline. It showed Robin crouched on the edge of a rooftop, bo staff extended in one hand the fingertips of the other resting lightly on the concrete, preparing to spring out into the night sky, his black cape snapping out behind him in a brisk breeze. The caption read: "Last picture taken before Robin's disappearance." The geokenetic bit her lip. Slade, it was always Slade. How much pain had he caused the Titans over the years? How much grief? Him and his bloody apprent-
The first paper slid down to reveal the headline of the second, which was dated about two weeks later: A New Criminal Makes his Appearance. Without even glancing at the article, Terra stared at the large, color picture taking up a fair portion of the page in horrified fascination. It was Robin – she was sure of it! The boy in the picture was slightly silhouetted against the dark background sky, making it hard to discern specific features, but he was crouched in almost the exact same position as the last picture, bo staff once again in hand. He had the same body type, same muscling, same spiky black hair, and Terra could just make out the black eye mask obscuring the upper half of his face from view. But there was something off about the boy wonder's appearance, too. He wasn't wearing a cape; his once brightly colored uniform was now almost completely black; light reflected slightly off of metal shin guards and a collar that covered his neck and shoulders… And he was facing off against Beast Boy and Raven. Terra felt a vice begin to crush the air out of her lungs as her stomach continued to tie itself into hangman's knots. Beast Boy was in the form of a green Siberian tiger, lips pulled back in a snarl to show long fangs, one massive paw raised, claws extended, muscles bunched as he, too, prepared to spring. Raven was just in front and to the left of the green changeling. Her eyes glowed white with power in the deep shadow of her hood and her hands were raised, a defensive shield of black energy still in front of her as though she had just fended off an attack.
Terra peered closer at the picture, still not daring to read the article beside it. Wait a minute – she knew that uniform. It was… Icarus' uniform…. Oh, god….