Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Ok…I guess this is sort of a "sequel" to my story "Dust," but you don't have to read it to get this. I was watching The End Part 2 and I realized that I wanted more Robin/Slade screen time. They must have talked about something else down there. Just a mid-week anti-homework dribble...

Robin and Slade walked down into the hell. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the silence that crept between them. The heat from the lava rose in steamy clouds, causing sweat to pour down Robin's face. He didn't know what he was thinking when he agreed to accompany Slade.

He knew that the others didn't want him to go. Not after everything that had happened between them. Robin had no inclination to fight Slade because he wanted to save Raven, but he couldn't help but feel…defensive. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask.

"So…Dick, I couldn't help but notice that you discovered the reagent in my mask."

Robin paused, his muscles going rigid as the eyeholes of his mask widened in shock. When Slade heard him stop walking he too paused, turning around to look at him. Robin swallowed, but he found that he couldn't speak.

"Don't call me that," Robin said. "And yes…I…I did."

Dick.

One of the things that he never told the Titans about his apprenticeship was the fact that Slade knew his secret identity. When he agreed to work for Slade he knew that it was a risk he had to take for them. That was the reason why he was forced to steal from Wayne Enterprises. And that was one of the reasons why he had been so frightened of Slade…why he was still frightened of Slade…

And the reagent that made him go crazy. That was one of the big questions hovering over his head, although Robin didn't want to ask the question out loud. The man was his arch-nemesis, after all. And just like Slade always did, the mercenary could always say something to get under Robin's skin. Slade's eye narrowed in amusement. They stood there, studying each other, until Slade stepped forward and broke the silence.

"It's the end of the world, Dick: we might as well be honest with each other." Slade motioned for him to follow. "Come on, we have to keep moving."

Robin forced himself to continue walking. Slade allowed Robin to catch up with him, slowing his walk to keep in time with Robin. Annoyance flared up in Robin's chest. "I still hate you."

"Ah, but I don't hate you."

"Then what about the reagent in your mask?"

"That was a test. I don't hate you, Dick. I never have."

"That's hard for me to believe, especially after all you've done to me. You almost killed me after I kicked your mask off."

"I would never kill you. I saved your life when you injected yourself with the probes. I could have let you die."

"Why didn't you?"

Slade merely looked at him. Even though Robin already knew that Slade wouldn't kill him he couldn't help but still be afraid that he would. When he was lying helpless on the basement floor of Titans Tower...vulnerable to the halluncination...he thought that Slade would kill him.

"Because the world would have lost a good fighter." Slade looked to the side. "You still have great potential, Dick. It's sad that you still waste your time with the Titans."

Robin didn't want to reply to that. It annoyed him that Slade still thought that way, even after coming back from the dead.

"You've made so many people suffer," Robin said, "civilians…the Titans…Terra…me…" He scowled. "I never believed you when you said I'd learn to like working for you."

"Even after you left I noticed that you still retained some of the moves I taught you."

The younger man made a noise that even he couldn't comprehend. Yes, he had to admit that some of Slade's training still lingered in him. Robin gathered his wits before answering.

"That doesn't mean I'm grateful for being taught them."

"Still…your training may yet be useful," Slade said, staring down at the lava monsters. "If we do run into trouble I have a plan in mind. Do you remember some of the moves we worked on together?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Good." Slade's voice turned into a smirk. "It seems as though I drilled those moves into you well."

Memories of how Slade drilled them into him made Robin fall silent. He remembered the beatings…the lectures…the verbal and mental abuse that Slade put him through. Robin knew that Slade put Terra through the same crap, and that made him angry. He hated how Slade hurt people, and what he did to Terra was unforgivable. It was one thing to blackmail someone and quite another to mess with someone's feelings before sinking back to his sadist tendencies.

"Working with Terra…was she ever the same? Or different, compared to me?"

It took a moment for Slade to respond. When he spoke, he sounded a bit surprised. "No. Like I said before, Dick, you were always the perfect apprentice. Terra was second best compared to you."

"Yet you used her, just as you used me. You never cared for me just as you never cared for her."

"I would be careful about jumping to conclusions."

What was Slade suggesting? That, in his own, twisted way, he had cared for him? If Slade really cared about his well-being that he wouldn't have hurt Robin. He wouldn't have hurt the people he cared about. A sudden memory popped into Robin's mind.

"Did you really intend to see me as a son?" Robin asked. "Or were you just messing with my head?"

Slade didn't answer. He just kept walking, ignoring Robin. Robin's eyes narrowed. Even though Slade said that they should be truthful with one another he certainly wasn't being truthful now. Robin got the feeling that even if he asked the question again Slade would refuse to answer. Really, though, a part of Robin wanted to know the answer. So instead he posed another question.

"Since it is the end of the world, Slade," Robin said, "will you ever regret what you've done to hurt people for personal gain?"

"No."

Slade didn't even hesitate in his response. Robin let out a low breath. Nothing would ever redeem this man. Nothing. As the hero he wanted to believe that there was some good in people. Perhaps not in Slade.

Yet, it was the end of the world. Robin didn't know if they would both die down here, but he had to take the risk. He had to make one last stand. Slade was only here to save himself. This little father-son talk changed nothing between them.

Absolutely nothing.