Disclaimer: No ownership of teen titans. wish I had it, but I don't. Oh well!

Ever wondered why Slade was interested in Robin? What about why he doesn't like the titans in general? Slightly based off of the comics, with the TV twist.

Why Him?

Robin could barely look up, guilt and shame eating away his insides as the scene replayed in his head over and over again. You'd think after six years of hero experience, he'd be able to save a young adult from an accidental drug overdose. Yet he hadn't. He failed to save one person. And now he was going to have to tell the guy's father.

Looking at the grieving man in the hospital's hallway, he could tell what he was going through. The man had to be in his forties. White or grey hair, a well-trimmed goatee, a crisp suit, he showed all the signs of being an experienced and well trained adult. And with the grief of losing his son, he was positively miserable. He was looking off into space, his hands clenched tightly and hadn't moved from that spot since hearing the news.

All Robin knew was the man's name was Wilson, his son was Grant, and it was likely that was his only family left. No ring, no tears, no hope.

How was he going to tell him what happened?

Taking another hesitant step forward, his mind spun as he tried to put the pieces in place. All he had was the truth. Taking a deep breath, the bird started to talk. "Mr. Wilson? Sir?"

The man looked up to him slightly, barely making the eye patch on the other side visible. The teen couldn't help but blink once in surprise before continuing on. Just how much had this man lost? "My name is Robin. I'm with the Teen Titans."

"I know who you are." Wilson's deep and barely audible voice was heavy, almost masking his feelings. There was some hate in it, but mostly grief. Grief for his son. "What do you want?"

"I was there when... when Grant..." Licking his lips, Robin tried to settle his heart before continuing again. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Are you?" There was some bitterness at the statement, along with a subtle glare. He didn't believe him.

"Yes. I am." Their eyes met for a moment before Robin looked to the ground in sorrow. "I know what it's like to lose family. No matter what he did, or was trying to do, it doesn't mean I don't feel bad about his death."

His mind flew back to when he first met Grant, or rather Ravenger. He was a hitman with a contract on the Titans. The guy was a good shot, always keeping Robin on his toes. He was strong too, and fast. For a while he had the upper hand, nearly knocking the team senseless.

Then he stumbled. His breathing became ragged. Jerking came next, then cries of pain. By then Robin knew something was wrong and tried to disable him quickly, to stop the fight and get the guy medical attention. He didn't work fast enough. Before he knew it, the guy was on the ground, convulsing.

The others were in too much shock at the sight to do anything, but he ran forward and tried to stabilize him, ordering one of them to call an ambulance. By the time they shook off their shock and did, Ravenger had gone slack, barely breathing. Robin propped him on his back and cleared his air passages, trying to help him breathe, and if needed, to do the breathing for him. He was performing CPR when the paramedics arrived, desperately trying to keep the man alive.

According to the doctors he talked to at the hospital, he was brain dead before he left the ambulance. Completely dead before making it to the emergency room. There was literally nothing to be done for him.

"I tried to save him," Robin murmured, partly for Wilson and partly for himself. Mostly for himself actually. "I really did. It just... it wasn't enough. I didn't know enough about drug overdoses to help him. I knew if I tried to give him anything, it might make it worse. So I... All I could do was CPR.

"I really wish I could have saved him Mr. Wilson. I really do. I just wasn't enough."

Silence stood between them for a long moment, making the air heavy. Robin hated himself for not saving a single man's life, even one who wanted him dead. He had no real quarrel with Grant or Ravenger; for them it was just business. Batman had saved thousands of lives, including criminals. Many of them reformed because of their actions. Yet Robin could save no one.

After who knew how long, he heard the man in the chair before him stand up. He sensed rather than saw the man turn to face him completely, his head still down. Wilson watched him for a moment in silence before walking past him, silent as the grave. His silence was his answer. Yes, it wasn't enough, and it would never be enough.

The acrobat stayed where he was, letting the guilt soak through him. Just what was he expecting? Forgiveness? Reassurance? A vow of vengeance? All he knew was that he had to talk to the childless man and tell him what he could and assure him of his regret. Robin would bare this burden to his grave, along with the many other lives he failed to save. At least he was able to apologize to the families now.

"CALL AN ABULANCE!" Robin was glaring at his teammates as he turned Grant onto his side, trying to calm him down with normal conversation. Even from the cheap camera, Slade could tell how badly his son was convulsing. How much pain he was in. That Titan was doing the right things to help during a seizure, but it wasn't enough. The chemicals flowing through his body were cheap imitations to the serums he had in the army.

Despite their leader's orders, the other Teen Titans took their dear sweet time calling for help. They wanted his son to die. Slade grit his teeth in anger at the four of them. How could they just let his son die?! He wasn't even close to killing them yet! And weren't they supposed to be heroes?! Those vile little...

He watched bitterly as the convulsions stopped and Grant became limp. Robin saw the change and immediately put him on his back, starting CPR. What he was doing accidentally made the poisons in his system to circulate faster, bringing his death closer, but he was only following his training: if anyone stopped breathing, put them on their backs and perform CPR. Under the circumstances, he would have done the same as Robin.

At least this teen was trying to save his son.

He had tried to save his son.

Grant was dead.

Slade Wilson leaned forward on his chair, head in his hands as a fresh wave of grief filled him. His son was dead. Joey wanted nothing to do with him, but Grant idolized his father. His loyal son was dead. All because of a contract on the Teen Titans. If only they had died and Grant lived...

"YOU HAVE TO SAVE HIM!" Robin's voice dragged him out of his thoughts, pulling his eye to the screen. The teen was desperate to save his enemy's life. He deeply wanted to help. To him, whether they were killers or no, every life was precious.

"I know what it's like to lose family."

The teen's apology at the hospital... the revelation... filled his ears for a moment and made him think. Robin truly had tried to save his son. He didn't hesitate, he didn't choose after thinking about it. It was an instinct he obeyed without question. He wanted to save lives, because he knew better than most what it was like to lose them.

Slade looked over the images of the teen for a minute, studying him. Of all the Titans, he tried to save a life. He had apologized for failing to save one, honestly apologized. There was something different about this one. The Titans as a whole deserved to die for what happened to his son. But maybe there was something more to this one.

It was worth looking in to.

END

A/N: So in the comics Grant, Slade's son, died from chemicals in his body to make him like a super soldier, while trying to kill the Teen Titans. Before then, Slade didn't care who they were, nor was he interested in killing them. After Grant died, he made it his goal to kill the titans. So if this happened in the show, why was he interested in Robin as an apprentice? This is my answer: Slade saw that Robin wasn't like the others, and then started watching the titans and him. Then the apprentice thing came into play. But this is how it started.