Title: First is the Best
Author: Jordan Herbert
Rating: T for topics not suitable for small children
Genre: General/Drama
Pairing: Implied Sladin, anti SladeTerra
Summary: After episode 'Betrayal' Slade and Terra return to the lair. Slade's mad. Terra decides that she's ready to prove herself to him but Slade disagrees. He realizes how much better his first apprentice was, even being unwilling, and longs to have him back again.
First is the Best
"Slade?" he didn't look at her, he remained silent and stared at the screens before him as each and almost all of his cameras were carefully removed from the Titan's tower. All of his careful planning, all the hours spent on building each and every robot, everything now a waste because of her, she had ruined everything.
"Slade, I'm sorry, I promise I won't change my mind again. Next time your plan will succeed, I won't disappoint you again." She looked scared. Good. She should be afraid of him, of his anger, and he was angry.
"How can you promise me something I know you can't keep? True, your mind is loyal to me but your heart belongs to him." His eye narrowed as the boy appeared on the screen and disabled another one of his cameras.
"My heart is broken, it's not his anymore. He's not my friend anymore." She glanced at the monitor and quickly looked away, as though the sight hurt her.
"A heart's ownership is not easily returned. And from where I was sitting when I interrupted your little date it looked like he was the owner of your feelings." He leaned back in his chair.
"He doesn't own me, any part of me." She looked at him and smiled in an attempt to lighten his mood. It didn't work. "You are the only one who owns me." She motioned to her new outfit. She was quite a suck up, he liked that about her. Why not have someone around willing to stroke your ego?
"But will you be able to fight him for me?"
"Of course,"
"I don't believe you."
"What do I have to do to prove myself to you?" She moved closer to him but his glare froze her before she got too close.
"Prove that your heart is over him; prove that he's out of your life once and for all." He tilted his head slightly as a thought occurred to him. "Destroy him and his little friends as well. That is what you can only do to prove yourself loyal."
"All of his friends?"
"Of course,"
"Even Robin?" she cringed as she looked to the screen where the Boy Wonder had appeared, deactivating another camera.
"Why do you ask?" His focus remained on the screens as Robin weaved in and out of different camera points in his search and destroy mission for them.
"Well," she kicked at a rock slightly. "Isn't he…special, to you?"
"What are you implying?" His narrowed gaze fell on her again and she backed up from the sheer force of the look.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing at all!" She waved her hands frantically in front of herself. "I just thought…he was your first apprentice and all…"
"Terra?" it was more of a demand than a question.
"It's just that while I was in the tower the guys said some things about you and all…" She scratched the back of her neck nervously.
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear Terra, not all rumors are true." His attention got drawn back to the monitors as the Titans thought that they had gotten all of his cameras. "They missed three." He grinned under his mask.
"One in the main room, one in the gym, and one in Robin's room, I bet you're thrilled about that." She folded her arms across her small chest.
"What's that suppose to mean?" He faced her and her eyes widened in fear as he raised a fist. "Alright, what did the Titans fill your mind with?"
"They, um, claimed that you were a" she mumbled incoherency.
"A what?" he pressed as he edged closer.
"A pedophile for Robin." She backed away as he froze on spot. "They said it, not me!"
"…And you believe them?" He lowered his fist.
"Well, seeing as you are rather obsessed with him and you have all those files on him and you also made me get everything I could about Robin to you, it kind of made sense if you are." He cringed slightly.
"That's because Robin is the strongest of the Titans, all information gathered on him can be vital for bringing him down." He straightened his form. That seemed reasonable enough.
"How does knowing his favorite number, color, and sandwich help defeat him?"
"…Shut up." He whispered dangerously.
"I don't judge Slade." She smirked as she looked at the screen to see Robin in his room. His attention also went to the screen. "But you're a hypocrite for telling me to get over Beast Boy when you still have a thing for Robin."
"…Leave me now; I have a new plan forming. And if I plan it right, then perhaps we can spare destroying the two boys and instead have them join us. You'd like that as much as I would." He placed a hand to his chin as if lost in thought while his mind was actually focused fully on the screens.
"Right and you don't want me to leave just so you can watch Robin change." She smirked again as she motioned to the screen where the Boy Wonder was currently removing his gloves, belt, and boots.
"I said leave!" He snapped angrily. She yelped and ran to her room.
Finally alone, he looked at the screen and smiled behind his mask. "Maybe I can think of a way of getting you back my dear Robin. After all, your company was so much more enjoyable than Terra's."
A.N. I think I might write something about that little plan. Maybe an "Aftershock" rewrite where Robin and Beast Boy are taken as prizes, like in the old Trojan days, while Slade and Terra control Jump City. Does that interest anyone?
