Night had fallen, and the dining room's fireplace was well light. Slade sat at the end of the table, while Wintergreen stood nearby. Slade slammed his glass down onto the dining table, and Wintergreen silently refilled it.
"They transferred him months ago," Slade said. "How could I have been so far behind?"
"You will find him, sir," Wintergreen replied. "Perhaps, with Raven here, she could-"
"She barely follows orders," Slade replied. "Besides," Slade shoved a folder towards Wintergreen. "I wouldn't even be able to talk to him. And there was no information on her."
Wintergreen opened the folder and began to look over the pages inside. "You knew he couldn't talk," Wintergreen said.
"I was going to find a way to communicate," Slade replied, his tone bitter.
"Sir, sign language is a way to communicate," Wintergreen said.
"How am I supposed to learn another language?" Slade asked.
The door creaked open, silencing them both, and Raven stepped inside, a cup of tea in her hands. "I heard shouting," Raven said. "Is everything okay?"
"Fine," Slade replied.
"What language do you want to learn?" Raven asked.
"This is none of your business," Slade said.
"I speak seven languages, I might be able to help." Raven sat down at the table, watching Slade and Wintergreen exchange a look.
When Slade did not reply, Wintergreen turned away from him. "American Sign Language," Wintergreen said to Raven.
Raven nodded. "I'm not fluent, but I know a bit. What do you need to know how to say?"
"Everything," Wintergreen said. Slade threw up his hand in anger.
"Enough, this is not a discussion that Raven is to be a part of," Slade replied.
Raven ignored Slade's outburst. " I can show you some of the basics. Greetings, family, food, colors, animals…"
"Why?" Slade asked.
"Why what?" Raven replied.
"Why would you help?" Slade stood up and walked around the table until he stood directly in front of her. "Why would you help me?"
"We made a deal," Raven said. "And I'd much rather help you learn a language then then rob a bank or blow up a bridge, but if you don't want my help then I'll go."
Slade stared at Raven intently for a moment, then he nodded. "Alright. Show me what you know."
"Let's start with the alphabet," Raven said. "It's best to learn the letters out of order."
Slade sat down across from Raven and they worked into the night fingerspelling words. "Hello". "Ok". "Dog". "Car". "Rabbit". "Slade". "Wintergreen". "Raven".
The clock above the fireplace chimed 1am, and Wintergreen, who had been bringing refreshments as they worked, finally dismissed himself for the night while serving Raven a final cup of tea, and Slade a small glass of whiskey.
Raven lifted her hand and signed out the letters for: "Why do you want to learn sign language?"
"Efficiency," Slade said aloud, sipping his whiskey. "In the military, we learned Morse code to communicate, but sign language wouldn't draw any attention. No sound."
"You should sign back to me," Raven replied. "If you don't practice you won't remember it."
Slade signed back the letters "o" "k", then downed the rest of the whiskey. "It's late, we can resume this tomorrow," Slade spoke aloud again.
"Alright," Raven replied. "What's the real reason you want to know, though?"
Slade was already heading for the doorway to leave the room, but he paused and turned back around.
"You were so defensive when I offered to help. I know it's more personal than strategy." Raven stood up to leave as well, staring Slade down for an answer.
"I don't ask you about your personal life," Slade replied.
"What personal life?" Raven asked. "You keep me locked here."
"I don't lock you anywhere."
"But I'm not allowed to leave," Raven said. "If you told me why you wanted to learn, I can make sure I teach you the relevant signs for the task."
Slade stared at Raven for a moment in silence. Raven stood her ground, staring back. She could feel the waves of anger coming from him, with the hint of sorrow that she had found several weeks ago still buried under his rage. Then Slade pulled the chair back out from the table and sat down again, leaning forward.
"I know you read the file on Rose that was in my study," Slade said. "Rose is my daughter, and I also have a son, Joseph. When the kids were young worked with the US military and I rose through the ranks. I did well enough to get on the radar of a terrorist group in Qurac. They knew I would have classified information and so they took my son, Joseph. They thought Joseph would know something, or at least I would trade information to get my son back. Instead, I killed every single one of them." Slade paused, and then with a deep breath he continued. "I was too late. Joseph's throat got cut during the fight and while he survived, the doctors said he would be mute forever. My ex-wife swore the kids would never be allowed near me again. I had to go through military hearings and clearances, and by the time I got back, the kids were already long gone, both Joseph and Rose."
"What about your wife?" Raven asked.
"She stuck around long enough to shoot me in the eye and hand me divorce papers," Slade replied.
Raven glanced at the dark side of Slade's mask, the side that had no eye. "So that's why…" Raven mumbled mostly to herself. Slade must have heard her though, or at least noticed her looking, because he turned his head away from her to hide the dark side of his face.
Raven tried to move on with the conversation, looking away from Slade's mask. "So - the sign language?"
"According to the file I stole from Jump City High School, Joseph was transferred out months ago. It was not noted where he transferred to, but it did say that he uses American Sign Language to communicate now." Slade passed the file over to Raven.
Raven picked up the folder and opened it, flipping through its pages. The file read "Joseph W. Wilson" at the top, blonde hair, green eyes. As Raven read the file, she asked: "How does attacking the town help you with all of this?"
"I stuck a deal with the leader of Qurac," Slade admitted. "He wants to see this city taken down. As long as I am working on his behalf, my family is safe."
"Why not tell the Titans this?" Raven asked.
"Because he wants the Titans dead. If there was even an ounce of thought that I was working with the Titans, he would have my family taken out." Slade sat back in his chair.
"You're working with me though," Raven pointed out. "How is that any different?"
"It's different," Slade said. "If I got an apprentice to continue my work for me that my children will be protected even if I died."
Raven continued to eye Slade suspiciously. "You've worked with us before though."
"When Trigon destroyed the world, yes. Qurac was turned to stone, just like Jump City was. There was no way for them to know. You wanted to know why I was learning sign language, now you do." Slade stood up suddenly, and pushed his chair under the table.
Raven hesitated for only a moment before standing up as well. "I find it hard to believe that all your acts of violence were committed out of love for your family," Raven said. She stood across the table, staring at Slade for a reaction.
"I haven't killed anyone, have I?" Slade replied. "I've saved all of you more than one."
"You once threw me off a building," Raven replied. She struggled to keep the anger out of her voice. "You ripped up my clothes. You helped my father force me to do horrible things."
"You father offered me my life back," Slade said. "I had no choice."
"You had every choice," Raven nearly yelled back. She took a deep breath, returning to her usual monotone. "I can sense emotions, Slade. You are angry all of the time. Your violent acts aren't done for your son. You do them because you are so filled with rage that you don't have any better way to express."
"If I wanted you dead-" Slade started.
"You'd be dead," Raven replied. "I am ten times more powerful than you are. I could destroy you before you took one step closer to me. This entire city could be gone before you so much as blinked. I know rage, Slade, and I know what it does to people. You can tell yourself that everything you do is out of love for your family, but the truth is that you are an angry, bitter old man with nothing better to do then beat up teenagers. The very same teenagers who would put their lives on the line to protect your son if Qurac did show up to harm him."
Raven flew up and phased through the ceiling before Slade could reply. He stood in the dining room alone, clutching the ends of the wooden chair until his knuckles hurt.