"Okay, we need to talk." Red said one afternoon in August.

"Can you wait? I'm busy." Slade murmured in reply.

"It's about Robin." Red replied.

Slade sighed and closed out a window on his computer before turning around in his chair. "What seems to be the issue?"

Red pulled his mask off and took a seat on the couch. "Have you noticed a change in Robin's behavior lately?"

"Of course. He's maturing and his social skills are-

"No." Red interrupted. "I'm not talking about that."

"Then if you would please tell me what you are talking about so I can get back to my work." Slade glowered impatiently.

"Come on, Slade. We both know the signs. Robin's needy, attached to you, giving you gifts…he's on his third box of crayons what with all of the pictures he draws you every day."

"Hmm, we are running out of refrigerator space." Slade mused.

"Face it, Slade. Robin's got the hots for you… in a weird teenage-toddler way."

"I'm not surprised." Slade shrugged before turning back to his screen. "I knew it would happen eventually."

Red sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Well I certainly knew it was a possible outcome. Reliance on someone for long periods of time in isolation is very likely to lead to infatuation." Slade shrugged.

"And you're…what? Going to set him straight? Marry him?"

The mercenary chuckled. "Don't be silly. Robin still possesses the psyche of a child. What we have here is some harmless childhood crush."

"Well what about later on?" Red demanded. "What about when he's back to his normal mindset and the crush turns into gross teenage lust?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Slade replied.

"We? What makes you think I'll be around for that train wreck?" Red asked.

"Because you need my protection and my financing. Now go get Robin up from his nap. He's not even supposed to be taking those anymore." Slade ordered.

"He was cranky. If you'd been there, you would be praising me right now." Red huffed. He turned and headed down the hall to Robin's room, leaving Slade alone once more.

Slade turned back around and pulled up the GPS he had been studying. Up in the far corner, a red spot blinked like a small, nagging itch in the corner of Slade's mind. He'd known this would happen before he even started his project. In fact, he was surprised that it had taken this long in the first place. Slade sighed and narrowed his eye. Robin couldn't have picked a better time to express romantic feelings for him. If that small red dot on his maps was really who he thought it was, then Robin's love would be the icing on top of a most delicious cake when it finally came down to it.

"So…I don't have to go to Hive Academy?" Robin asked. It was late, at least ten at night but Robin wasn't tired. Ever since September had started, he'd been having trouble sleeping with the thought of being sent away to Hive any day.

"No, Robin." Slade shook his head. "Your performance over the past month has been exceptionally satisfactory. I feel that our one on one instruction will be a much better use of our valuable time than what the teachers at Hive can do."

Robin smiled brightly, his shoulders slumping as if relieved of a heavy burden. "Thank you, Slade. I'll train so hard for you. I'll get up earlier and practice longer…whatever you want."

"As if I'd expect anything less from you." He replied. "Did you brush your teeth?"

Robin nodded quickly as he pushed down his pants, stepping out of them and dropping them in his hamper. Then, tugging the front of his shirt down, he waited for Slade to grab a pull-up from the pack on his dresser. The criminal looked at him and held up the training pants. "We work on this, too." He added sternly. Blushing lightly, Robin nodded and held onto the man's shoulders long enough for him to slip his feet through the leg holes. Slade tugged the pampers up his thighs and made sure it fit snug around his hips. To the boy's surprise, he was suddenly scooped up over Slade's shoulder and he let out a delighted squeal.

"You're a big boy now, Robin. No more accidents, right?" Slade asked, tickling his feet.

"No more!" Robin shrieked happily. "No more!"

"Good. Otherwise I'm getting the alarm." Slade warned.

Robin whined in distaste, tugging his blankets up over him.

"Exactly. Why don't you use the toilet before bed?" Slade suggested.

"Don't have to." Robin pouted, but one look from the man sent him running to the bathroom.

"You're a powerful force, Robin. A fighter. What would your enemies say if they knew you're still wetting your bed?" Slade called. Something gave him the idea that Robin had struggled with bedwetting the first time around and considering it from a villainous standpoint gave the mercenary a sick kind of pleasure. If only he'd known things like this a year ago. He could have driven the boy wild.

"Done!" Robin announced, adjusting his pull up and clambering back into bed. He grabbed his bear and nestled under the covers. "G'night!"

Slade took a step closer and surveyed him for a moment. Then he held out his hand and cleared his throat.

Sighing, Robin pulled the pacifier out from under his pillow and placed it in Slade's palm, his cheeks reddening with guilt.

"Really, Robin? You're much, much too big for binkies now." Slade sighed disapprovingly. "No boy your age would ever dream of using a pacifier."

"I know, I know." Robin muttered, getting more and more ashamed by the minute. He looked like he was trying to come up with yet another excuse for still hoarding pacifiers after all these weeks, but in the end he simply burrowed further under his sheets.

"Go to sleep, and if I find another pacifier, no dessert for a week." Slade warned. "I'll be checking."

Robin nodded quickly. "Good night, Slade. Love you."

Slade exhaled quietly and gently brushed the hair away from Robin's eyes. "I love you too, baby bird."

At the sound of that, Robin glanced up and a small smile touched his lips before turning over onto his pillow.

"You wanted to chat with me?" Slade asked, looking calmly into the camera.

"Don't act like you don't know what this is about." He said gruffly. "Where is he?"

"You're going to have to be a little more specific if you want me to understand what it is you desire."

"Bullshit! What did you do to Robin?" Batman snarled, pounding his fist on the screen in front of him.

"Please relax. I have no interest in trying to hold up a conversation if you're just going to yell into the microphone." Slade replied.

"I have the entire Justice League behind me. It's in your best interest to surrender him." Batman growled.

"Well I have an assortment of weapons behind me. And if they try anything, then the boy dies." Slade watched curiously as the man's eye twitched from under the dark cowl. Folding his hands in front of him, he leaned forward in his seat. "Please try to understand that we share common ground. You desperately want your sidekick back, and I definitely do not plan to give away my apprentice any time soon."

"He's not your apprentice." Batman barked.

"Why don't I go ask Robin what he thinks?" Slade asked. He knew he was taunting, but something about the dark man on his computer screen made it hard not to gloat.

"He's there? Is he okay? What have you done to him?"

"What makes you think I've done anything to him?" Slade inquired.

"You don't really think I haven't been in contact with the Titans. Whatever psycho-manipulation you've done to him, the League has more resources than them. You will not come out victorious in this." Batman said.

"Slade?"

Hearing the soft voice, Slade turned to see Robin standing across the room in the doorway. He turned back, relishing in the sight of the dark knight's astonished expression. "I think I already have." He chuckled lowly before closing out the screen. However, he neglected to turn off the camera so that the bat could watch him cross the room and scoop him up into his arms. Robin wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face in his neck, making a surge of triumph push through his nerves. He didn't need to look at a screen to know that Batman's eyes were glued to his monitor, drinking in every second of his sidekick's surrender to the other side.

"Why are you awake, Robin?" Slade asked, stroking the soft black hair atop the boy's head. He could practically hear Batman going ballistic all the way from Gotham.

"Wet the bed." Robin mumbled into the side of his mask.

Slade sighed. "Let's go clean up, then. Go straight to the bathroom and take that pull up off in the bathtub."

Robin nodded and hugged him tighter as he was carried away from the camera, out of the room, and into the darkness of the hallway.