You Belong to Me
A/N: This takes place after 'Terra' with a more comic book based version of Slade and a cartoon based version of Terra. The parts about Slade's background are true, with all credit going to 'The Judas Contract'. I do not own Teen Titans.
No one save himself and Wintergreen had entered Slade's study in years. Terra stood behind the closed door about to break this unspoken tradition. She ran a trembling hand along the heavy doorknob and wondered if she had imagined Slade requesting her presence.
It wouldn't have been the first time she day dreamed about Slade, although her day dreams usually dealt with material that was far more romantic. She could differentiate between her dreams and reality quite well now, but it still hurt to remember that her feelings for Slade were unreciprocated and wrong. This was why she was so surprised when Slade spoke suddenly at the dinner table.
"Something has been on my mind as of late," Slade had said over dinner that night, "Come to my study tonight and we'll talk. I know something has been on your mind as well." He spoke with such a graceful air that Terra could only nod dumbly and try to process what it all meant.
She worked her way to one ultimate conclusion: Slade knew that she was attracted to him.
As embarrassing as that was to admit, at least after this night she wouldn't have to wonder and worry over her feelings. Slade would make it right. Slade would tell her how foolish she was, throw in a sarcastic comment, and if she could just laugh at herself for being so stupid then things would be perfect in the morning.
Except nothing was that simple. First, she had to open the door and confess her feelings before Slade brought it up. She pulled at the hem of her shorts, knowing she had to enter sooner or later. Her hand gripped the doorknob and before she could change her mind, she opened the door. Light flooded the hallway and Terra had to squint to make her way through the threshold because compared to the dark metal corridors the light was blinding.
When her eyes adjusted she could not believe this was a place Slade would occupy, let alone own. It was too well lit. It was too ornate. The walls were painted a soft egg-shell white and across from where Terra stood, a stone fireplace was fitted into the wall with a few embers still clinging to life. The study was lined with book shelves but Terra couldn't make out any of the titles from across the room. A large desk was the focus though, beautifully carved dark wood, with a tall straight-backed chair to match. Twin lamps stood like sentinels on either end of the desk, guarding photographs meticulously placed. The only sign that this room belonged to Slade was the order and precision in which it was structured. The décor was far from Slade's usual dark, metal architectural designs, but the structure of the study was designed for easy maneuverability and calculated with a clear head that could only belong to Slade.
Terra was going to call out to Slade, but she was not looking forward to the conversation that would soon follow. She let his name roll as a whisper from her tongue and was suddenly smiling a guilty smile with just the thought of her mentor. She shook off her thoughts and occupied her mind with the photographs sitting casually on the desk. A silver framed picture caught her interest first, speaking true of the photo inside. The picture captured the kiss of a handsome blonde groom and his striking brunette wife on their wedding day. Terra studied the photograph without a sound before moving onto the next picture. This frame was wooden, well worn and yet all the more poignant. The blonde man from the wedding stood in military uniform next to a slightly older gentleman with graying hair who Terra swore she recognized. She was all the more surprised that this one had not been the picture to catch her eye.
A hand reached out from behind her and grasped the frame.
Terra whipped around to face Slade, suddenly guilty about snooping. She pulled at the hem of her shorts and searched for an explanation as to why she didn't announce her presence when she had first entered the study. When she finally brought her face up to meet his, any words died in her throat. For the first time, Terra could actually meet Slade's eye and she found in nearly impossible to do so. Slade held his mask carelessly in his free hand and kept his attention on the photograph.
It took courage to look at the features of the man she had wondered about for months, but with Slade's attention otherwise occupied she dared to indulge her imagination. A black eye patch covered his missing eye, but Terra only cared about the half of his face that was whole. She had watched his good eye sneer, cold and ruthless in training, she had seen it laugh when Slade chuckled, and she had seen it shine with the brilliance of ideas. Without the mask she could see the pupil moving at a rapid pace always taking in new information, and she could watch the shadows move across his face, over his eyelid and across the bridge of his nose. His features were angular, but somehow not as sharp as Terra had imagined. The intelligence of his eye drew her away from the cutting cheek bones and prominent jaw. This was a Slade far surpassing the one she knew. He was far more dangerous.
Any bravery she had had to tell Slade how she felt about him was lost in a wave of awe and fear. He would bring it up. He had to, because Terra had lost her nerve to breach the subject herself.
She continued to stare long after Slade has moved his eyes to her, subtly glancing over his apprentice and storing information.
"This is a picture of Wintergreen and myself." Slade wove his way to the photograph as if this were a casual meeting. He paused, a teacher awaiting a student's epiphany.
It seemed obvious to Terra now that the man she had recognized was Wintergreen and that the blonde man was therefore a younger Slade. She blushed, remembering her thoughts that the blonde man was handsome.
Slade watched this and catalogued the emotional response for future use.
When her face recovered its normal pallor, Terra frowned at Wintergreen's smiling face. "He doesn't like me, Master." For a moment, she flinched, waiting for some form of anger that she would dare question Slade's friend, but Slade lifted her chin with a gloved hand and gave a rough form of a laugh.
"Clever child." He watched Terra's eyes grow wide at the compliment and Slade wondered whether he had meant what he said. His hand still held her face a moment later. She was frightened, but she couldn't stop staring at him and he refused to break eye contact. He released her face with a gentle hand as she self-consciously rubbed the place where his glove had been.
"No, Wintergreen does not like you, my dear." Slade placed the picture back on the desk. "He tolerates you because you belong to me." He watched with triumph at the reaction on Terra's features. She gazed at him with wonder and euphoria, all because he was taking responsibility for her. She did not look beyond what she wanted to see. In her eyes, he was filling in the role of parent, a role he was more than happy to play if the end result was him in control of Terra's powers.
Terra gave a small bow, letting her hair fall in front of her blushing cheeks. "I owe you everything, Master. I will belong to you forever."
"My dear child," his voice slithered smooth and dangerously soft, "do you think I would settle for anything less?" The use of the word belong had achieved the desired effect: Terra had given him the loyalty of the weak minded. He contemplated the next stage of his dominion over the girl, but his thoughts began to wander into forbidden territory.
She belonged to him, yes, but then did he, even to a miniscule degree, belong to her? He scoffed at the idea. His eye moved around the room, quicker than normal as he took in the desk lamp, the bookshelves stacked with books, and the fireplace. These things belonged to him. Terra belonged to him. There was nothing more to it than that. Slade belonged to no one least of all to a foolish twig of a child so lost she would cling to anyone ready to take her in. She was a pawn in the Teen Titans' demise. She was breakable. Slade could crush her body with one fist and break her spirit with two words, yet standing at the desk that had belonged to Slade Wilson: business man, he was reminded as to why she was here. Not just as his apprentice, but in this room where Slade swore no other girl or woman would ever stand. She was powerful, and Slade was attracted to power.
Terra went back to the photographs, awkward under Slade's unmasked scrutiny. Slade watched the way the girl moved, the flick of her eyes, the subtleties of her body. This was why she was here, in the room where Adeline shot him in the eye: to prove that his attraction to Terra's powers was not an attraction to Terra herself.
She belonged to him, master and apprentice. He would never belong to her.
As smooth as if his mind had been standing still, Slade reached for his wedding photo, letting his hand brush Terra's arm. She did not pull away and he did not push the issue.
"My wife, Adeline." Slade explained, with a hint of tenderness he did not expect to feel. Did Adeline ever belong to him? Was he bound to her in more than just a vow?
Terra studied Adeline's beauty. Adeline was gorgeous: tall, statuesque, and her very carriage showed a possession of strength of both body and mind. She was everything that Slade once loved and nothing that Terra had. Jealousy rushed through Terra's blood before she could curb the unexpected anger.
"What happened to you two?" Terra didn't expect an answer, and barely believed she had voiced the question.
"She shot me in the eye, if you must know. She was aiming for the back of my head." There was no bitterness or resentment, just a swift glance at the mask in his hand followed by a not so swift overview of his apprentice that made Terra squirm with nerves and anticipation. This was where Slade would tell her how foolish she was for her romantic attraction to him. She knew it had to be now. She just had to wait for him to say it.
Slade's thoughts were in a different realm altogether. He was thinking of Adeline and how Terra was nothing like Addie.
Slade replaced the photograph on the desk and wondered why he had ever believed he could make a comparison? With soundless footsteps he made his way around a corner where moonlight shone through a bay window. The soft dapples created an iridescent pattern on the floor as if a carpet were laid out for Slade to walk on. Terra followed the moonlit path, emboldened by Slade's openness to her last question.
Her bare feet slapped against the floor interrupting Slade's contemplation as Terra caught up to him ready with another question. She had to know more about this man.
"Why would she try to kill you?" Slade was invincible. He had saved her. Why would his wife want to kill him?
She stepped out onto an enclosed balcony and felt the cold floor sap the heat from her bare feet. The moon shone through the windows, bathing Slade's face in a soft mystery.
For a fraction of a moment, Slade was vulnerable, his face etched with lines of pain and confusion. Then the aloof distance returned and a small frown told Terra that what she had seen in him a moment ago was nothing more than a trick of the light.
He turned to her, the image of command and respect. "Some memories do not need to be spoken aloud to be remembered. I'm sure you know the kind?"
"Yeah."
Slade didn't need her to respond. He knew everything about her. He knew she was a princess. He knew the only food she refused to eat was carrots. He knew she slept on her left side curled into a ball. He knew the names of the families she had killed trying to do good.
He knew everything about her, from the smallest detail of her life before they had met, to the subtlest of interactions since she became his. He knew everything about her, or so he thought.
But there, on the balcony, he realized he didn't know how in the moonlight, her hair shone brilliant and white. He didn't know that when she hunched her back, he could watch the vertebrae appear like ants marching up her spine.
And he didn't know the feeling of her lips until that moment.
She tasted young, passionate and powerful and Slade was the one to pull away.
He could not place his feelings. Kissing Terra had been enjoyable, but what had brought it on? It was not love. Slade could barely believe he loved his wife and had, in recent years, accepted himself as incapable of love. Lust then? Slade had mastered his body. He did not have the carnal lust that marred so many other great men.
He looked to her face. She was not afraid, but confused and entranced. To her, Slade's face was collected, inviting, and cocky telling Terra that she was not foolish for her feelings. She smiled up at him, unsure and trembling.
It suddenly didn't matter that she was not Addie, or that he could not place the source of this passion. All that mattered was that he kiss her again and know that she was his.
She leaned forward this time to receive his kiss. Slade would analyze this later.