A/N: Before we unpause the drama I just wanted to say 'Holy shit there are actually people still reading this thank you so much!'. When I started this story it was well before this site existed to me. I was a lonely teenager in my bedroom who jotted this down after reading the dust cover for a book. Fast forward almost ten years later to now, I'll be a quarter of a century old in April; married with a hectic job.
Bringing this to point, thank you. Thank you for taking interest in something I never thought would leave the private prison of my mind. If Satsuki were real she would probably bow and thank you as well. On with the show!

Chemicals React: Chapter Ten

Wicked Games.

Satsuki drew her knees closer to her chest. All she could focus on was the peaceful face of her now ex lover. The rest of the team had been in and out of the room to check on her. Robin had said something about the police coming to cart the body off for processing and disposal. She hadn't heard much of what he was saying, everything around her had been a blur from the time she regained consciousness on the cold metal floor of the medical bay. They let her trail behind while transporting Slade down to cold storage. A chill bit into her that didn't come from the air conditioning. How could she not have known, every single line of events happened so perfectly. All the lies, the manipulation. It had wounded her deeply and the worst part was she couldn't hate him for it. Satsuki still cared. She almost loved him in a sick way.

Wiping away a tear she slid down from her spot and trudged over to the table. Peering down at him stillness was eerie, it felt like a personal funeral.

"Why would you do this? Was this all part of a master plan from the start? Did you plan for me to be the first piece of my team to fall? You almost succeeded. This was something I'll never fully recover from and you knew it. After all this I'm still sorry for taking your life." She snuffled and brushed her lips to his. The moment was broken when a hand intertwined with her hair and pulled her in for a deeper kiss. Panic set is as she struggled away from the table as Slade slowly sat up.
"Never count me out darling. I'll always have a trick up my sleeve." He coughed to clear his dry throat. Satsuki rushed for the call button but he had a vice grip on her hair. She jerked and pushed in a confused attempt to get away before the cold steel of a scalpel was pressed to the base of her skull. "I however have no guilt in ending you. Do as I say and we'll both get out of this alive." Slade purred as he slid stiffly off of the table. "Now, hands where I can see them."

Robin was showing the officers down to cold storage when the door slid open. Everyone stopped in their track when Slade nudged Satsuki out into the hallway. The officers reached for their weapons.
"Draw and I kill her." Slade barked coldly and pushed the blade against Satsuki's skin for emphasis.
"You were dead. We all checked and you were dead." Robin put his hands up in front of the officers.
"There is still a lot you have yet to learn about me." Slade chuckled as he pushed his hostage to open the elevator. "Roof." Robin watched helplessly as his teammate silently pleaded for help as the doors closed.

"Titans, we have a problem. Get to the roof before that elevator does!" He snarled the order as he threw open the door to the stairs.

"Well isn't this fun. A daring escape from the belly of enemy lines." Slade mused.
"Why?" Satsuki asked coolly.
"Why... what?" He sighed.
"Why you singled me out." Her gaze staring hard at the elevator doors as soft jazz played in the background. "Will you at least explain that?"
"Picture watching a screen day in and day out of the quiet target. Isolated under the roof she helped build. Sad and truly alone. You were the weakest link and the easiest to spot. Honestly you reminded me of Terra. I did have more fun playing with you." Slade smiled as the elevator halted and the doors opened. The rest of the team sans Robin were already waiting. "If any of you make one twitch forward I will personally see that her life meets an abrupt end." He warned as he pulled Satsuki to the edge of the roof.

"What are you going to do, jump of the tower?" Beast Boy hissed. "That's suicide."

"Only if I go alone." Slade wrapped his free arm around Satsuki and fell backwards off the roof.
She struggled to get out of his hold. "If you don't bend when we hit the ground they'll be tracking your soul through the Air Temples tomorrow." Slade tossed the scalpel. He was right and it left her no choice. She used the momentum from the fall to come back up above ground on impact, dragging Slade with her. They had resurfaced on the main land with the lights of the Tower in the distance.

"You've had you fun now release me!" Satsuki yelled. Slade spun her around and pinned both of her wrists to a boulder.
"Or we can continue our fun elsewhere." He offered. "You don't have to be so alone. Our relationship can still be mutually beneficial."

Satsuki inhaled to speak when an tidal wave forcefully separated the two.

"Or you can stop being a creep and leave the girl alone." A figure stepped out of the shadows to put himself between them. Thomas lowered the hood of his cloak and leveled a staff at Slade. "Begone foul beast of a man. I will obliterate you if I catch you stalking her every again."
"Stop this, you look foolish." Satsuki scolded and slapped his arm down.
"Last chance to start a new. No more loneliness, no more being ignored." Slade smiled.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. I'd rather be ignored than watch you destroy the world I've fought hard to protect." She crossed her arms. "My last mistake will be to watch you walk away."

"Not even going to try to stop me now? I could be weak from all those broken broken bones." Slade teased.
"I watched you wake up from death, who knows what you can do." She tugged on Thomas' cloak and stepped back. "Leave before I decide to find out."
Slade slipped into the darkness of the city without a further word and left the Warden and Avatar alone to the cold breeze.
"Are you okay?" Thomas asked.
"No." Satsuki sobbed as her team called out for her from afar.

Part two:

Ghost

"And then I looked to the guy and asked 'What are you going to do, set me on fire? Been there, done that.'! Let me tell you, nothing deflates a wizard's ego more than saying their magic doesn't scare you." Thomas laughed as the Titans cracked up. They were all walking through the gates of a small cemetery on a night where the breeze had a hint of Spring. The trees where horrible liars of Winter's reign as they gave off that wonderfully sweet scent of renewal. Satsuki let the way to a set of graves as Thomas continued his story. They were giving her space as she cleaned up the site from the season's blanket.

The graves of her family were on a cliff overlooking the Tower so she could always keep and eye on them. It had brought her comfort in knowing they were still so close even in death. She laid flowers down for each of them to mark the anniversary of their passing. She sat on the cold earth and lit incense. Listening to the humorous roar of her friends and watching the waves play with the shoreline of the island the Tower set on settled a calm in Satsuki's spirit that had been a recent, but welcome addition to her battered heart. She had worked hard to pick up the pieces after Slade's little game. He had fallen silent after she left him leave. No crime, no communication. The team stressed over it for weeks before concluding he had left the city in the wake of his defeat.
That was until her communicator buzzed to life with his sooth, dark voice.
"Good evening my darling. I'd hope you're in the mood for a light show." His tone flowed through her body like sharp icicles as the Tower exploded into a dazzling display of fire and destruction.
There were no sounds other than what was coming from the device in Satsuki's pocket.

Satsuki watched in horror as in a single instant all the hard work she had put into recovery, into putting her life back together, into everything she had done in her years with the team was reduced to a pile of rubble, smoke, and ash. It ignited a burn deep in her stomach. A rage so powerful it could boil the ocean below.

This meant war.