Greetings kind and gentle readers. Before I begin, I wanted to make sure all normal disclaimers apply: I do not own the Teen Titans or any of the other characters related to the series herein. I also wanted to offer a brief explanation that in the comic books which the cartoon was based off, the character Deathstroke, who became Slade in the cartoon, had a daughter named Rose who, like her father, had a dual identity as a high-powered assassin named Ravager. This fic is intended to be an animated-series introduction of the character; elements of her story and character had to be changed to fit her into the storyline of the series, so for all those die-hard purists, please do not be mad at me. I will try to stay true to her character, but also to that of Slade as he exists in the series, so some things will need to be changed to make them compatible. This will also probably be a short fic, as it is merely her introduction-I may write another in the future to further develop what her overall role would look like in the series. I hope you will all enjoy, and please review!

MY FATHER'S EYES

"Bit by bit I realized

That he was here with me

And I looked into my father's eyes"

-Eric Clapton

"I'll bet I could be watching some great TV shows." Beat Boy groused as he sulked alongside his companions.
"Hush." Raven said, giving him a gentle nudge in the ribs. Her green skinned teammate muttered to himself and trudged alongside her through the high school auditorium. Students, teachers, and parents all milled around, examining the numerous science projects that had been submitted for the fair. Some of them were predictable, like the cardboard volcano that erupted gelatin, and some were impressive like the home-made solar power system. Robin and Cyborg, at least, seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even Starfire was enthused as she floated around the room, examining the students efforts.
"How wondrous!" she exclaimed as she reached out a finger and poked the collection of mushrooms one student had grown on a piece of a log, "what is this project called?"
"I just grew some fungus on piece of wood" the rather bored looking boy muttered and went back to keeping his eyes buried in a comic book. Starfire promptly snapped one tiny mushroom off the log and looked at it carefully. She held it up to her nose and sniffed it, and then popped it into her mouth. "Hmm, it tastes much like gorthaberries on my home-world. You must share this wondrous recipe!"
"Ahem…excuse me!" a voice broke in over the loudspeakers. All eyes turned to the front of the room, where the high school principle stood with some other school officials. He tugged nervously at his collar and then spoke into the microphone again. "We're ready to commence the judging. Here to hand out our prizes this year we have Jump City's very own Teen Titans!" he said and guided the audience in a round of applause for the young hero's.
The Titans moved to the front of the room to join the gathered adults. Robin stepped forward to take the envelope from the principle, who then handed over the microphone. Robin tapped the mesh and then joined in the round of cringes at the screech it produced.
"Heh, sorry…" he said and then opened the envelope. "Well, in first place we have Rose Wilson and her…home-made xenothium reactor?" Robin said, arching an eyebrow. A mutter ran through the crowd as eyes scanned around to find the lucky winner.
"Hey, I'm over here!" someone shouted. All eyes snapped around to see a striking teenage girl make her way through the crowd. She stepped up to Robin and held her hand out, expectantly. Robin took a moment to size her up; she was dressed in the school's uniform, albeit a larger than usual one as she was a little taller than the other girls. She had long, silvery hair and deep, hazel colored eyes. Her face was dotted with some freckles, and her mouth seemed set in a self-satisfied looking little smile.
"Well, uh, congratulations Miss Wilson," Robin said as he handed over the small trophy that signified first place, "But how could you make a xenothium reactor on your own? There's not a lot of it around." Robin didn't mention the reasons he knew this better than most others.
"Oh, it's not that hard to synthesize if you know what you're doing" Rose said smugly. "All you have to do is merge the right elements and the atoms just line right up. Once you've got that, building a reactor is just a matter of stabilizing the atomic structure. After that you can make as much as you want." Rose glanced around, smirking to herself at all the slack jawed, confused looks.
"Um…did anyone understand that?" Beast Boy muttered.
"I sure did!" a new voice broke in from across the room. There was a high pitched whirling sound, and a projectile shaped like a blood-red X knocked the microphone out of Robin's hand. All eyes snapped around to see none other than Red X perched in the rafters of the auditorium. He launched himself off, cartwheeled through the air and landed flawlessly on the floor, the crowd spreading away to make room for him.
"Titans, go!" Robin shouted. Instantly his teammates reacted, making a charge for X. Starfire tossed a handful of green energy bolts, but a large X shaped shield drew out from X's gauntlet, blocking her attack. He then detached it and threw it like a discus. It skidded across the floor, stopping right where Cyborg set his foot, slipping him and causing him to fall flat to his back.
Beast Boy leapt forward, morphing into a kangaroo as he jumped, and landed flat in front of X, immediately raising one powerful leg for a kick to the abdomen, but X sidestepped expertly and in return slapped an open palmed hand onto the green animal's chest. When he drew back he had left a small red orb on Beast Boy's chest, which then sprouted four tentacle-like cords that snapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides. He then disposed of Beast Boy with a quick kick to the chest.
"Azarath, Metrion…" Raven began her incantation, but before she could finish X swept an arm at her, a pair of small X shaped objects flying from his hand. They landed over Raven's eyes with a splat, liquefying on contact with her skin, becoming a glue-like substance. She reached up to wipe it away, only to find her fingers getting stuck as well.
Now it was Robin's turn as he leaped in and aimed a series of punches and kicks, each of which X blocked and then replied to with attempted blows of his own. They danced around each other, perfectly matched in their skill, unable to land a single solid hit.
"What do you want X?" Robin snarled in frustration.
"That girl's science project should let me make all the xenothium I need to power this suit" X replied. "She gets first prize, I get a new power source. I'd call it a fair trade." X said coldly as he ducked another of Robin's punches. He glanced quickly over Robin's shoulder and saw the other Titans starting to recover; Beast Boy morphed into a mouse and then back to himself, escaping the cable device. The glue on Raven's eyes was overcome by a black energy and dissolved, exposing her eyes which were glaring with annoyance. Starfire helped Cyborg to his feet. Robin tried to use the distraction to launch a roundhouse kick to the side of X's head, but X ducked swiftly, crouched down to his knees, and then launched himself up, somersaulting through the air and landing next to Rose Wilson's xenothium reactor.
"This little baby should…" he started to say as he reached out for it, only to have it fly away from a powerful kick that sent it screeching across the floor. Startled, X snapped his head around to find the culprit and was surprised to see none other than the winner herself standing, her fists raised, ready for a fight. "You've got to be kidding me!" he chuckled.
"It's over X! You've got nowhere to go!" Robin barked as the Titans fell in behind him. The crowd started to tighten up as well, blocking off all of X's escape routes. He glanced around, and then in a sudden move darted around behind Rose, grabbing one of her wrists and pulling it up behind her back as he coiled an arm around her neck.
"On the contrary, WE'RE going to go someplace"! X threated, tightening his arm around Rose's neck. "Now back off!" Robin clenched his teeth and then held his hands up for X to see clearly as he took a few steps back. The rest of the team followed suit, and even the crowd started to dissipate a bit. "Now, you're going to stay right where you are while we get out of here. Make any moves, and this little cutie might just get hurt!" X threatened, narrowing his eyes through his mask.
"Yeah, right!" Rose grunted and then slammed one of her feet down onto one of X's. The would-be thief jolted from the hit, his grip on her loosening enough for Rose to jam the elbow of her free arm into his throat. X stumbled a moment, releasing his grip on Rose's arm as he reached for his throat. She used the advantage to reach other her shoulder, grabbing a hold of his head and flung him over her shoulder, sending him crashing flat onto his back. And then, in a move that drew a gasp from the crowd, she kicked one of her legs up, so high that her thigh brushed her chest, and slid herself down into a perfect split, her heel cracking down onto the face of X's mask. X kicked his legs out stiff and then went limp, completely unconscious.
Rose got up to her feet, brushing herself off, and then raised her eyes to meet the slack jawed gaze of the crowd. She smirked in amusement to see that even the Titan's were staring in disbelief at her performance. "What?" she said as she tossed her hair. "Miss Jovie's Self Defense Class for Girls." She said and then swaggered her way toward the exit. She paused only a moment to grab her trophy from the hands of one of the adults who was holding onto it. "I'll take that, thank you!" she said and then threw her chin into the air and strutted out, the eyes of the entire room watching her go.
"Dude…" Beast Boy muttered, sounding awed.
"Maybe we should make her a part of the team." Cyborg joked.
"Yeah, sure." Robin muttered, and turned his eyes to the unconscious X. He reached into his utility belt and withdrew a pair of handcuffs, snapping them onto X's limp wrists as he head the sirens approaching in the distance.

Somewhere else, hidden below the streets of Jump City, another mind, even more devious than that of Red X, had watched the battle unfold with keen interest. The room was completely silent, except for the soft sound of gears turning. In the center of the room a dark figure sat facing several large monitor screens which were showing the images of the fight from several different angles. The man seated in the chair narrowed his single eye as he rewound and played the events over and over.
After a few moments he sighed, seemingly annoyed, and shook his masked head. He reached for a button to shut the monitors down.
"Well, in first place we have Rose Wilson and her…home-made xenothium reactor?" Robin's voice filled the room. At this, the dark figured straightened up, his attention suddenly perked. He snapped his head around, his single eye wide with surprise. He pressed a button, replaying it. "Rose Wilson and her…Rose Wilson and her…Rose Wilson and…Rose Wilson…Rose Wilson…" Finally he stopped the images altogether, focusing on the face of the girl who came forward to collect her prize. He rose and strode across the room, standing directly in front of the monitors. He reached out and brushed his fingertips over the screen, as if trying to touch her face.
"Rose…" Slade said softly to himself. Then he narrowed his single eye as he began to formulate a plot.