Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or F.E.A.R., This was Co Authored With Wgreen, He Wrote This chapter, I Edited, Elena Lerche Is Property of Wgreen,
The train ride was quiet with only the occasional grinding of the rails. Paul was used to riding these trains, to him it was like walking. When he was younger his mother had to ride them to work often. Since she could not afford a sitter Paul would always have to go with her. Sitting near the back Paul gazed out the window as lights glistened past his eyes or eye. Half of the time he kept his right eye covered with an eye patch. It did not hide the scars but at least it hid his synthetic eye. He hated when people asked how it happened. It was none of their business nor their concern.
Shifting in his seat Paul found a note laying in his lap. Looking closer he noticed that it was sealed with the Armacham insignia. His first reaction was to tear it up. None the less he had to read the letter, it could have been vital to his mission. Instead he found a mushy poorly written love letter. Crumpling it up and tossing it to his side Paul cursed under his lips.
"Is that any way how to treat a letter like that, I worked really hard on that you know." Elena Lerche purred sarcastically. Paul just flipped her off and continued to stare out of the window. Like Paul, Elena also was part of the Hallowed Whisper Project. She however never took her rank or duty seriously. Elena more or less just liked to flirt with her targets and on occasion Paul, much to his dismay.
"Go away E, I really don't need your sexual harassment right now." Elena just flicked Paul a faint grin and practically attached herself into his lap. Rubbing up against him she tried to kiss his cheek but he just shoved her aside. Content with holding onto his arm she looked into his good eye and smiled.
"You know Patchy you're really cute when you resist." Elena said while licking her lips. Pretending to ignore her Paul just sighed and continued to look out of the window. He didn't dislike Elena but her continual flirting was something he could live without. She was good to him though when she wasn't trying to force him to make out with her. In fact out of all the member's of Hallowed Whisper she was the one he trusted the most. Granted every member of Hallowed Whisper were like family to him, Elena was different. She was like Paul, she disliked killing innocents. That's what set them apart from the fifteen elite Armacham assassin's. So in that they had a particularly strong bond.
"You are going to have to move your hand away from my arm you know and stop calling me Patchy." Paul grumbled while he shifted in his seat again. Elena's only reaction was to move even closer to him and hold onto his arm even tighter. Grunting out of irritation Paul gave up. When Elena wanted to flirt, everyone knew damn well she was going to.
"What are you doing here anyways Elena you can't possibly have a contract in Jump City the same time I do." Smiling at him wickedly Elena held his arm even tighter and replied devilishly
"I had the Armacham officials transfer me over as your field coordinator, so that means..." Going pale in the face Paul slowly began to realize what that meant. Clearing his throat he said hoarsely
"That means your going to be an even bigger pain in my ass than before."
"No silly that means that I get to work with you side by side on all of your missions from now on. Isn't it lovely darling will be just like newly weds, love making and all." Losing every once of coloration in his face Paul groaned. He would have face palmed but found he had no strength left within him. Once he got control of his free arm Paul slapped himself as hard as he could in hopes this was all just a a nightmare, it was not. Elena chuckled as Paul rubbed his cheek and again tightened her already vice clamp grip on his arm.
Coming to terms with this new found hell Paul let himself fall into a light sleep on the train. It was mostly a dreamless sleep up until the end. It was a blurry dream at best but it was one Paul had often. He was sitting with Alma and Canyon in the Wade house. They were playing monopoly and as usual Paul was losing. Alma had over half the board while Canyon had the other. Alma was rooting for Paul to pull through and promised that if he won she would treat him to ice cream. After that the dream would always fade out and Paul would wake up. As usual he did and found Elena cuddled up on his shoulder fast asleep. Wrapping his arm around Elena Paul whispered
"your kind of cute when your not making my life a living hell." Elena cuddled into his arm some more and whispered softly.
"I heard that Patchy." Blushing Paul just patted Elena's head as she fell back asleep. For the rest of the ride Paul remained awake. Elena dozed on and off until finally reaching Jump City. Grabbing his duffle bag and katana the train slowly began to come to a halt. Snapping awake Elena rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched.
"ready sleeping ugly." Paul remarked happily, Glaring at him Elena nodded her head and spat.
"Only if you are Prince Patchy." Walking off of the train together arm in arm Paul felt out of place. Everyone was staring at him with Elena stuck on him like whacky glue. Than again he couldn't blame them Elena just had that whole European look to her. Standing at five foot four with sandy blonde hair and emerald green eyes Elena was a Russian beauty. With those perfectly toned legs and slender build she could make most men drop dead just by blowing them a kiss. That and Elena knew that other men found her attractive only adding to her dangerous charm. Yet here she was attached to Paul's arm like a part of his body.
In the distance he spotted Canyon and Alma Waiting for him. Shaking Elena free from his arm he was going to explain to her that she couldn't be seen with him but Elena was already gone. Sometimes Paul would forget that Elena actually was a master assassin and not some flirty eighteen year old.
Spotting Paul Alma began to wave her arms up in the air shouting his name. In no time at all he was standing right next to them. Hugging Alma tightly Paul brushed the hair out of her eyes. Once he was done hugging the life out of Alma he pulled out a bag of his home made hard candies. It was a treat Paul often made for her that she loved.
"What no love for me, Paul I'm hurt!" Canyon yelled jokingly. Turning to face him Paul remarked
"Hey Alma gets priority, I'll squeeze your brains out in a minute." Grabbing ahold of Canyon Paul gave him an authoritative noogie and knocked the back side of his head with another bag of candy. Handing them over to him the three were off. Both were talking Paul's ear off bragging that they actually got to meet the Titans before him. On the outside he played it off easily but on the inside his guilt was consuming him. Normally he would be happy to see the two but not now, not when Aresitede ordered him to capture her. Nearly cursing out loud Paul bit his lip. For now he would try and enjoy what time he had left with Alma and Canyon.
For most of the walk Paul was silent. He was thinking of all the ways this operation could play out. He knew that when he did act it would have to be fast. Canyon was a force to be reckoned with alone he would hate to see him in action with the Titan's backing him up. Paul's best bet was to gain the Titan's trust and when given the opportunity take Alma. It would have to be when the two were alone outside of Titans Tower.
"Um earth to the space cadet samurai, you with us Paul?" Alma asked snapping Paul out of his daze. Shaking his head Paul apologized for zoning out. Alma was worried ever since he had gotten off of the train Paul wasn't his usual self. Granted he was always a bit quiet "Something wrong Paulie?" Alma asked, using Paul's childhood nickname. Paul blushed and said something about evil ninjas and toilet troubles, at least as far as Alma could tell. Canyon raised an eyebrow, and continued walking.
It was a nice day outside, and the three friends took it slowly getting back to Titans Tower. Stopping at an ice cream parlor Alma felt that ice cream would lighten Paul's bad mood. Sitting down under shade of a parasol table Alma went to the stand and ordered everyone's favorite flavor of ice cream. Canyon's was pumpkin pie, Alma's was mint chocolate and Paul's was Vanilla with chunks of Reese's. Once their order was brought to the table all three instantly dug in.
Looking to Paul he still seemed a little out of sorts. Letting out a grated sigh Alma didn't know what to do. Ice cream usually cheered him up. Or made him hyper. Probably would later... but Alma was alright with that. "Hey Canyon," Alma said telepathically, "doesn't Paul seem a little... off?"
Though Canyon wasn't telepathic, he could mentally talk with Alma, for whatever reason. "Probably just tired from the train ride. Those can be long and boring sometimes. He'll freak once he sets foot in Titans Tower though. Warning: big smile up ahead."
Silently, Alma laughed. She hoped that Canyon was right. The three of them hadn't hung out in forever, and it was nice to have the gang back together again. It felt just like old times, Ice cream and all. The only thing that was missing was a game of monopoly.
"Hey telepath's are you talking all psychicy about me again." Paul barked with a mouth full of ice cream. Both blushed a little and let out a suppressed giggle. Letting out a low growl Paul forced the rest of the triple stacked ice cream into his mouth. That was a bad mistake because Paul was prone to headaches and brain freezes. Squirming in his chair Paul banged his head against the table.
"Yup he's back to his normal self." Alma stated mentally to Canyon. He just snickered and agreed. Both looked to Paul and laughed they warned him about the deadly affect of ice cream, but he did not listen.
"How many times has he done that now?" Canyon asked Alma flashed him an evil smile and replied.
"I stopped keeping count after he was eight." Canyon was about to reply to her but his communicator went off, it was Robin. Canyon was about to casually greet him but just the look in his eye warned him that something was wrong.
"What's the problem?" Canyon asked, Robin narrowed his eyes and responded with a word that chilled even Canyon's battle hardened bones.
"Slade"
