Hi friends! I thought I forgot something when I posted the last chapter, turns out it was to introduce this story. This is going to be my second long story and I'm really excited, so thanks for checking it out! You can expect updates on Fridays. It may start a little rocky for you, but I think you'll like where it's heading. Also, this story is rated M for reasons to come. Buckle in, we'll get lemony eventually. Please drop me a note below, it's really encouraging to hear from you!

XOXO Gwen

PS. HAPPY BBxRAE WEEK! I missed the memo but this update is (sort of?) my contribution.


Training

"Again!" His voice echoed loudly through the room, sending even more adrenaline through her veins. She took a deep breath in, mustering the strength she had left, and began her attack.

The man she fought wore a black mask, as they all did, so she tried her best to approximate where his nose would be as she brought her palm up with lightening speed towards it. He threw up his arm to block her, as she expected. The move was only a distraction; as soon as he threw his weight into the block, she shifted, swinging out her right leg to land a kick to his ankle, throwing him off balance.

As he tried to recover from the attack, she spun and brought an elbow into his side, ducking down to miss his flailing punches. Apparently she wasn't fast enough, because before she knew what was happening a fist struck the left side of her jaw. It wasn't a particularly well placed or powerful punch, but it was enough to leave her reeling for a second.

They continued to exchange blows, dancing around one another endlessly. Raven didn't dare look at her tutor, who she knew was watching angrily from the sidelines. She should have finished this guy off by now. It seemed the more anxious she became about her fight, the longer it took to finish it.

"Enough!"

Raven flinched when she heard his voice. She took a few steps back, mirroring her opponent, and tensed herself, ready for Slade's intervention.

She could hear him approaching from behind, but she remained motionless, waiting for his lecture to begin. Instead, she felt his gloved hand wrap around her wrist, spinning her around with painful force. Her eyes widened and her mind raced as she moved her free arm up to block whatever he was about to throw at her. It was too little too late; his fist connected hard with the other side of her jaw, the uninjured one. She tried not to wince, knowing she'd have another bruise tomorrow. She focused her efforts on his next attack.

"How do you still struggle with these exercises?" Slade ground out between blows. Raven just barely kept pace with him, blocking his hits as he threw them. His eyes flashed with anger and frustration. Raven knew the feeling: she herself was disappointed that her training was taking so long.

"Do you believe your old friends are going to be easier opponents? They'll kill you in an instant, you are too weak to defend yourself," he sneered, stepping back from her for a second. The two circled each other, waiting for any hint of what the other was planning. Raven had at least learned how to read body language in a battle. There was no move you couldn't anticipate, if you payed close enough attention.

Raven had been studying with him for almost three months now, but she was still waiting for a breakthrough. She was training to take down the Titans: her former friends, her current enemies. The people who would pay for the crimes they committed.

She was lucky to have been found by Slade, on so many counts. She owed this man her life, for one, but her debt with him only grew. After she announced her plan for vengeance, he revealed that he could help her learn to fight. She was powerless; she needed something more if she was going to stand against the Titans. And by some undeserved stroke of luck, someone fell into her lap who could give it to her.

"Take initiative Raven, do you want your revenge or not?" he practically snarled at her. Raven grit her teeth, lunging forward as he had suggested.

She took quick, powerful strikes at him while dancing around his, making use of her smaller stature to move quicker than his heavy blows. Despite her efforts, she took a hard kick to her side that left her stumbling.

"You're getting sloppy," he reprimanded, giving her just a second to catch her breath. "You may be able to take on Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, but you'll never beat Robin like this."

Raven clenched her hands, hating the truth in his statement. She lurched forward again, this time with a little more determination.

Slade continued to block her blows, as she did his, the two of them dancing around the arena. "They did this to you because they could, Raven, because you are weak," he said quietly as they fought. "They rejected you because you're weak. They tried to kill you and you were too weak to stop it."

Anger started to boil in her gut as his torrent of antagonism continued. It was true, all of it. They used her, they lied to her, and in the end they took everything from her. She'd been so stupid.

"And your fiance," Slade continued, "he trusted you. He needed you to protect him." The image flashed through her mind again. Grant's dead eyes staring through her. The image she'd never shake. Tears started to well in her eyes. "He's dead because of your weakness!"

Raven let out a cry, shaking her head. The anger boiled over, coursing through her veins. Her eyes narrowed at the man in front of her. As she lunged at him, she pulled out the bo staff she secretly kept in her bra, extending it as she struck.

"I... am... not... weak!" she yelled with every blow. Slade's eyes grew in surprise as he threw his arms up to try and block her. He was strong, but she was angry as hell.

She sent a jab into his chest, knocking him back a few feet. She didn't let up, using the staff to sweep at his legs. He fell backwards, sprawling out on the floor.

Raven hovered over him, tense and panting. Her chest heaved breaths of air and she could feel her hands trembling. Slowly, deliberately, Slade rose from the ground. They stood, face to face, staring one another in the eye.

She knew she was about to get yelled at. Bringing a weapon to hand-to-hand training was against the rules, and using one against the master? Practically suicide. Raven stuck out her chin, ready for whatever he was going to dish out. She was tired of losing.

He smiled at her, chuckling a bit. Raven narrowed her eyes, confused.

"That is what I wanted to see from you Raven," he said in praise. "Ruthlessness. Willingness to do whatever it takes to win. That is how you get strong. That is how you can kill them."

He turned his back to her, heading towards the doors. Raven eased out of her crouched stance, her muscles aching. She was used to the feeling by now.

"You're dismissed for the day. I suggest you work on your research into the Titan's whereabouts. It seems you might be ready to make use of it soon."

Raven watched as he and his assistant left the room, the sound of the door closing echoing through the gym.

Images of her former friends floated through her mind. He wants me to be ruthless? she thought as she moved to get her things.

"Watch me."


Raven moved through the compound silently, absently staring at its vaguely Asian design. It was hard to believe she had lived here for so many months. It felt like yesterday that she had woken up in Slade's house in downtown Jump City.

The compound, a very secretive training academy for the martial arts, sat about an hour and half outside of Jump. She certainly didn't know of its existence when she was with the Titans, and she didn't think Robin did either. She was surprised when Slade first told her about it. He was a member of this underground society and she had convinced him to take her under his wing. Her powers hadn't returned to her, and though she tried every day to meditate and reactivate them, she was running out of optimism.

Raven had always believed in destiny, and she knew that finding this place was hers. A doctor had been nearby during the attack, had saved her life, then just happened to be a combat expert and could give her the training she needed to exact her revenge? Some people would think it suspicious, but everything in her life had seemed to align up until this point. Everything had happened for a reason.

Her gut told her to trust this man. Whenever she spoke to him she felt calmer. There was something so benign about his voice, she couldn't imagine lies in it. He'd shown her nothing but kindness for over a year, even when she wasn't conscious for most of it. He was a harsh teacher, to be sure, but she knew in this discipline you had to be. Her mission was an extremely dangerous one, she couldn't afford to be coddled. When he screamed at her, or when he dealt her a harsh blow, she knew it was out of concern for her safety.

Raven turned the corner into the hall with her living quarters. She was the only one living in this part of the compound. She always wondered if their current enrollment was low or something, because though she saw others in the training rooms and gyms, she never saw them outside of those spaces. They kind of creeped her out though, so she couldn't complain too much. The true, "full time" students here had to wear these black masks, meaning she never saw their faces. She was glad Slade was able to get her a pass on that policy.

She jammed her key into the lock on her door, shoving it open and dropping her gym bag by the entrance. The room was small and utilitarian, but it was more than enough for her.

She leaned into the compact bathroom from the doorway, flipping the lights on and starting the water in the shower. It always took forever to heat up. As she kicked her sneakers off, the spread of papers on the small kitchen table caught her eye.

She had four files, one for each of them. According to Slade, after her "death" the team had split up, each member going their separate ways. It was a little hard for her to believe at first, that things had changed so much since that night. From her research, they barely even talked to one another anymore. She was still adjusting to the reality that a year had gone by in the world without her.

Some members had been easy to track down. Others, not so much. While it was frustrating legwork to formulate four separate attack plans, she had to admit it would be a lot easier than taking them on all at once.

Raven slipped back into the bathroom, pulling her clothes off and depositing them in the hamper by the door. She stepped under the still-too-cold stream of water and tried to coax her muscles into relaxing.

A little flurry of excitement swirled in her stomach from Slade's comment earlier. Could this be it? She wondered. Some part of her thought she'd never get to leave this place. But it seemed that she might have finally become sufficient enough of a fighter to convince him she was ready. The combat classes were always where she struggled. They'd done all sorts of espionage and weapons training during her time here, which she'd aced. This was the last thing holding her back, and she may have just surpassed it.

Raven ran her fingertips in slow circles around her scalp, lathering up her shampoo. While she felt ready to take on the challenge before her, she also felt a twinge of nerves. This was not going to be easy. They had already tried to kill her, and had come so close in succeeding. Raven absently traced her fingers over the burn that stretched along her neck. In a way, she liked having it there: it was the ever-present reminder of the loss she had suffered. It was like a tattoo; a mark to memorialize her pain and grief. She grit her teeth, shoving the feelings aside like always. She'd made up her mind before: she'd kill the Titans, or she'd die trying.

It's not like she had anything to live for anyway. She had no friends, no family, and no home. The life she had built was gone, and she was too damn tired and angry to try and build another.

She turned the shower handle to off, standing still for a moment in the echoes of dripping water on tile.
It wasn't only that she feared what would happen if she failed in her quest. She feared what would happen after she'd succeeded. She had one goal ahead of her, and she let her bloodlust and heartbreak drive her forward. Once she actually killed them, what would she do then?

She pushed the thoughts aside, throwing her robe over her shoulders and pulling the ties tight. She grit her teeth, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. It didn't matter what she did. This wasn't just about her, it was about justice. And it was about Grant.

She heard a faint knock at her door and she glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. 6:30 pm. Dinner was here, perfectly on time.

Raven sighed, moving towards her front door. When she opened it, another man in a black mask stood there with a tray of food.

Supposedly, there was a cafeteria here, though Raven had never seen it. Slade insisted all of her meals be brought to her in her room, though she didn't understand why. Whenever Slade said anything around here, people tripped over themselves to comply.

"Thank you," she said softly, taking the try and setting it on her table, shoving a few papers aside in the process. When she turned back around, the man was gone.

She rushed back to the door, sticking her head out into the hallway. She found him retreating back down the hall.

"Wait!" she called, the word surging up before she had time to think it through. The man stopped, and slowly turned to look at her, still silent.

"Uh... what's your name?" she asked awkwardly.

The man stared at her for a few moments, then said something unintelligible. If she had to guess she'd say it was Chinese. He had a strange accent though.

"Oh, um... sorry," she muttered, watching as he turned once again and disappeared around the corner. She sighed, moving back inside. She sat down at the table, taking a look at what was on her plate. Meat, rice, broth. The usual. There was also a mug of the herbal tea that Slade always brought for her.

She brought the mug to her lips, inhaling the earthy scent before taking a hearty gulp of it. The tea always helped clear her mind. She felt the tension in her shoulders relax and the uncertainty from earlier fade away. She had a plan, a good plan, and she just had to follow through with it.

She picked up one of the files and began flipping through it for the hundredth time. That was how she'd spend her evening, just like she spent every other one. She knew those file's contents inside and out, which was comforting to her.

As boring of a process as it was, she knew one thing would come of it: the Titans wouldn't stand a chance.


"Are you wearing... cologne?" Raven asked cautiously from her end of the couch.

"Yup." Beast Boy didn't even look away from the show he was watching. Raven sat with her lips pursed, considering this development.

They were in the common room and it was unbearably hot, though she wasn't exactly sure why. There was a fan to help circulate the air until it cooled down, and it left her downwind of her teammate, the only other Titan there at the moment.

"It smells... nice." It was true, though she didn't know why she said it. The scent was subtle and it suited him well, but Azar knew he didn't need an ego boost.

"Thanks," he grinned, attention still on the TV. "Picked it up in London."

London. They had been in London for two weeks, and they had just returned. They'd left the AC off while they were gone, to conserve energy. The picture grew a little clearer for her.

She took a deep breath of the scent. It was strange. The other boys didn't wear cologne. It smelled foreign, like it belonged to some grown man, not one of her friends.

There were words on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say them. He's busy, she justified, watching him out of the corner of her eye as she pretended to read.

Suddenly he stood, turned the TV off, and walked towards the door. He paused before going up the stairs, turning towards her.

"Uhh... see you around."

Raven's mouth wanted so desperately to let the words slip, but she kept her lips in a thin line instead. "Yeah," she managed to mutter.

He gave her a short, uneasy smile and turned away, moving silently out of the common room.

He was leaving, and all she could muster was a single, sad word.

Raven's eyes fluttered, struggling against the yellow glow of light. As she grew more lucid, reality started to come back to her.

She laid in bed, propped up by pillows, an open case file in her left hand. Some of the papers had fallen out, probably when she fell asleep in the middle of reading them. Raven glanced at her clock as she organized them back into the folder. It was half past midnight.

It had happened again. The weird dreams had started after she'd gone to the Tower. She knew it was a mistake, but she needed to do it anyway. She'd slipped out in the dead of night, walking for miles before she found the bus to take her into the city.

The Tower was abandoned. Had been for months. She tried not to cringe at the rats that scampered along in the shadows or the spiderwebs that had started to cover the place she used to call home. The Teen Titans were officially disbanded. Slade and her own research had told her that, but for some reason she had a compulsion to see it for herself.

She hadn't stayed long and she hadn't been caught sneaking out. The trip was fairly uneventful, but she couldn't help but notice the correlation between it and the dreams. The next night she had the first one, and since that they'd been near-constant.

If she didn't know any better, she'd say they were memories. Perhaps they were; little mundane moments hidden in the recesses of her mind. But upon waking, no matter how hard she wracked her brain, she couldn't come up with the time and place they'd happened in real life. Tonight's was particularly confounding; she had never even been to London, to the best of her knowledge.

Raven moved to turn the light off, placing the file on the nightstand. It was his file, Beast Boy's. She turned away from it defiantly, pulling the covers over her shoulder.

All her life, her dreams had meant something to her. But there was something off about these. Something about them made her feel uneasy.

It was a feeling she couldn't afford. Not with the destiny she was about to fulfill.