Regressing For The Enemy

Chapter 5

(A/N: Trigger warning for brief mention to ag3play. )

"Robin's little secret, Slade? What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Slade held up the adult pacifier between two fingers. "He's a creep- a sexual deviant of some kind or another. How much you wanna bet his team doesn't know about that? " Slade smiled a Cheshire cat-like grin. "What? A binky?" Wintergreen tilted his head in confusion. Slade sighed dramatically, rubbing his temples. "Old man, you need to get out more. This is obviously a sign of some hidden sexual role play of some kind." Wintergreen wrinkled his nose. "Are you meaning to tell me, Dick is a potential pervert  in training, Slade? You know how I feel about that sort of thing." He shuddered at even the possibility of such an implication. "No, no." Slade crossed his arms. "Not that I'll be allowing, anyways." Wintergreen stepped forward, observing the small pacifier with interest. "Are you sure it's sexual?" "Of course it is. What else would it be?" Slade snapped. "It's probably some DD BB LG BC type of thing." Slade shuddered for a moment. "I need no more information about that ." 

Back In The Tower

    It felt good to be back in Jump City. For Robin, it brought the relief of home. The familiarity of the streets. The corner stores and tiny businesses Robin always made an effort to support. Despite having only moved there a year and a half ago, it was strange to see how much the boy had bonded to the area. Despite the villainy, despite the weather, despite Slade, Jump City would always be a home for the Titans. And therefore, would always be a home for Robin. 

Walking back into the tower, he was instantly greeted with happy faces. "Robin! You are back from your meeting with the man of bats!" In a flash, Robin was scooped up into a classic bone crunching Starfire hug. Not that Dick minded, really. "Heh- that I am." Cyborg was the next to move, followed by Beast boy. Raven simply waved from her position sitting at the kitchen bar stool. "So, how'd it go man?" Cyborg asked first. "Yeah, man. Did you get - like- grounded?" Beastboy chimed in before Robin could answer. "Ouwch! Hey, what was that for?" Beastboy looked accusingly at Cyborg who had pinched the underside of Beastboy's arm after his little comment. "Ya know, that really hurt dude." Cyborg only smiled coquettishly to Beastboy's mock pain, though. "Oh, don't be so dramatic BB. It's barely pink." To prove his point, Cyborg pocked Beastboy directly under his under arm, getting a giggle from the younger hero. "Still," Cyborg got serious again. "How did  everything go?"

    Robin explained everything as vague as he could, while still remaining truthful about the main details of the visit. He explained that Batman and him had gotten into a disagreement, as they often do. And that he had visited and been comforted by an old friend along the way, before returning to Jump City. That his old friend was sending a care package to the tower with private information to Robin. Which was a slight  little white lie, but there was no way Robin was going to risk one of the Titans finding his pacifier collection. He knew that by telling the others it contained private information, they would all respect his space. 

    "So now that you have returned home with safety, may we all recollect in the happy times in the night of movies?" Robin smiled. "Well, I was actually going to go to my room for a little bit, Star." "Oh, come on, man! You missed the last one, two." Beastboy whined. Cyborg smirked, apparently agreeing with BB. Robin looked in between the two and took one look at Starfire's puppy dog eyes, silently pleading with him. He melted on the spot. "Er- I guess one movie wouldn't hurt." Cyborg sent him wiggling eyebrows, as if to say 'I know'. Robin awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, cheesing a bright smile when Starfire squealed. "Yes! I was going  to suggest another of the fungi documentaries, but since the Robin is joining us, I have a 'nother in mind!" Beastboy and Raven both let our a thankful sigh at that and Robin had to bite back a chuckle at that. 

    "Taadaa!" Starfire smiled, thrusting forward a Wall-E movie case. Raven remained stoic as ever, but held up a thumbs up in approval. Beastboy beamed at the choice and Cyborg sent the wiggly brows towards Robin, again, smirking as he did do. "A love story, eh Star?" Cyborg asked, resulting in a very red faced Robin. "Dude, Wall-E isn't a dumb romance! It's an animated classic about killer robots, dude." Beastboy interjected. "Technically, it's both" Raven's answer seemed to settle both sides of the argument. "So, I have made the good choice?" Starfire looked in between the group. Robin and Beastboy both smiled, while Raven held up another thumbs up. "Yeah, Star. Good movie." Cyborg nodded, helping her place the CD into the high tech TV system. 

    As the movie began, 'Put on Your Sunday Clothes' begins playing from the screen as the team all settles in. Cyborg grabs Raven and the dark teen allows herself to be dragged into the outer rim of the group hug. Cy was in the middle, with Beast boy and Raven on his left and Robin and Starfire to his right. As Wall-E begins searching through his shack, Robin feels his body stiffen. Starfire laid her head on his shoulder unknowingly and it took a few moments of tightened joints and quickened breathing, but as the song heightens in on the scene of Wall-E staring at the old fashioned TV set, Robin allows himself to relax under the touch. Perhaps movie night wasn't really so bad after all. 

Back At Slade's Lair

A dim static glare shown through Wintergreen's stricken white hair, the sounds of typing filling  the empty room surrounding him. "A g e . . . r e g r e s s i o n." Wintergreen hummed, typing away on his google search engine. In a click and a blink, hundreds of images and web pages flooded upon the old man. "Health line, huh?" Clicking on the health line link, he skimmed the article before him. "Age regression occurs when someone reverts to a younger state of mind. This retreat may be only a few years younger than the person's physical age. It could also be much younger, into early childhood or even infancy." The elderly man picked up the adult pacifier between two of his fingers, turning it over in his hand to examine. "People who practice age regression may begin showing juvenile behaviors like thumb-sucking or whining. Others may refuse to engage in adult conversations and handle issues they're facing." Wintergreen chuckled, imagining someone like Slade sucking his thumb and whining for a pacie. "People with a history of trauma may be more likely to regress. Age regression is never considered sexual. It's a type of defense mechanism that allows you to mentally escape to a different time in your life." Wintergreen copied the helpful article, before scribbling down some notes over what he'd read. "Never sexual ... early childhood or infancy ... likely formed through ... trauma." He smiled, looking over his paper approvingly. "SLA~DE! I think I have something of interest to you!"