Thank you all for the great reviews so far! My Thanks goes out to .S-N-B, Rock Royalty, 718darkstar and everyone else who has been so loyal and given me great reviews and commented on the storyline! I hope the story's going the way people want it. I like to take my time and beat 'round the bush before giving the real juicy and dirty details. It's building up to it's point! So until next chapter! Please leave any reviews and tell me how you like it and the storyline! Thank you all!
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Chapter 21: Ambiguity
There was an awkward silence between the two as they traveled through the rest of the tunnel. They were not ar from their destination where Wintergreen was waiting for the orders to set off the explosives. The robots had set everything up and turned on the security systems of the main base. Wintergreen was relieved to see the both of them come out of the tunnel's entrance. The relief was short lived as worry began to consume him for Raven. The poor girl was keeping her head down and had a mood about her that suggested she had suffered a great humiliation. What happened in the tunnels that caused her this grief?
"Show Raven to a room. I'll be in the security center."
Wintergreen watched as Slade walked by without stopping into the beautiful building hidden under a canopy of trees. Raven stood by Wintergreen without a word. The sense of defeat had infected her whole conscience and soul. The memory of their fight in the tunnel kept replaying in her mind. The way she didn't fight back as hard as she should have, letting Slade touch her and put his lips on her. His poison was coursing through her veins and making her ill. She felt like she was drowning in something she could not escape from. What would her friends think of her sordid secrets? If Robin ever found out what she'd done with Slade, he would never trust her again. Neither would Beast Boy or Cyborg.
"Come this way."
There was no response but only an obedient compliance as she followed Wintergreen into the large mansion. They passed by extraodinary decor in the home but she didn't notice any of it. She was suffering tunnel vision due to her regrets eating her up. All she wanted was a soft bed to rest in and forget about the whole ordeal in the secret tunnel. Wintergreen stopped in front of a large door and opened it to let her in first. Once she stepped in, Raven forgot about her troubles and stared in amazement at the gorgeous room. A large canopy bed of white silks and lace, beautiful murals and gorgeous purple carpeting. Raven stepped in and looked around and let a faint smile come to her lips. Deep down she did like the luxury he was letting her have...
"Slade wishes for you to get some rest, Raven. I'm sure he will call on you soon enough."
"Ok..."
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When Wintergreen went to check on Slade, he found the man sitting in his chair staring at video footage of the base they abandoned. There was no sound but the visual was enough to express the chaos being caused. Men clad in dark clothes and wearing tactical vests were busting down doors and tearing the place apart from top to bottom. The two did not say anything as they watched the base being torn apart by the invasion of mercenaries. There was nothing important left behind to be discovered. Slade zoomed in on one of the video footages and enlarged it on the screen. Standing among the drifting dust and ravenous soldiers was the Joker. The man was smiling as he watched the place being wrecked.
"Hm...it's as you always say, Slade. You're always one step ahead."
"That I am, Wintergreen...go ahead and take care of the tunnels. It'll only be a matter of time before they discover it. And please. Set off the ones in the base as well."
Slade's old friend gave a nod and reached into his pocket. Small, remote detonators rested in his hand. Each one had a little number on them so he could keep track of which detonators belonged to what areas he set up the bombs. Wintergreen took up the one with the number one on it. As the mercenaries were snooping around the vacant security area, he pushed the button and a large blast destroyed the whole system and blew the men into the wall. The explosion drew the attention of the others. The next four detonators were pushed and the abandoned base was filled with the screams and yells of pain. The only lucky one was the Joker. As the smoke cleared from the explosions, the man was seen surveying the dying and dead bodies among the smile never came off his face.
"Set off the ones in the tunnel."
Wintergreen took the rest of the detonators and set them all off. The chain reaction of explosions caused the secret tunnel to collapse and erase the only way to the main base. Slade stared at the screen as the Joker turned around and walked out of the decimated area without a scratch. Now the next plan was to accuse Lex of treachery by trying to kill him. No one would send that many mercenaries and the Joker anywhere if there weren't plans to extinguish a life. So far, he was maintaining the upper hand.
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The air was thick and hard to breath in. It felt like a heavy blanket draped across her whole body. When Raven woke up in a wicker bed of straw with a tattered old blanket folded into a pillow, she knew she wasn't in America no more. The air was different here and the living standards far below the usual. She sat up in the bed and surveyed the surroundings. The room was poorly constructed of wood, bamboo and straw. The floor was only flattened dirt with many bootprints. In the far distance she could hear gunfire and the faint vibration of bombs exploding. She got off the small bed and peeked out of the door of hanging straw and weeds. The moment her head came out, it was pushed back in. A tall and muscular man had pushed her back in and gave her a stern look. It was now obvious to Raven he didn't want her coming out of the hut.
"Go sit down."
Raven hurried back to the bed and sat on the edge without question. Being in unkown territory and having only this man to rely on put her at a serious disadvantage and was forcingher to place trust in him. As she watched him, she noticed the white hair and bright blue eyes. There was a name on the tip of her tongue. She knew this man from somewhere.
"You need water. Luckily, I was able to find fresh water to drink. And I have a few saved rations."
The man came back to her with an opened ration and a canteen of water. Raven took the items and looked down at them. She was unsure how to speak to this man and say thank you for his kindness. She took a drink of the water and snacked on the ration while the tan skinned man sat down to clean his rifle. The silence between them was overbearing and rude. Raven sat down the food and looked at him and then it clicked. His name was Wilson.
"W-Wilson...?"
The man stopped cleaning the rifle and looked to the girl. It was evident she was a shy girl and was at a lost what to say. The other guys on the platoon thought of her as a bemusement. After all, being in the jungles fighting for so long and hard then coming across a young, pale girl with purple hair in a leotard was quite out of the ordinary. Wilson had vouched to watch out for the girl since he didn't trust his comrades to do it without taking advantage of the poor, scared girl. They had checked her for any bombs that she might have strapped to herself, but found nothing except a communicator. When Wilson tried using it, all he got was static. It was more or less broken.
"What's happening?"
"...We're in a war. We found you and decided to take you in. How did you get out here?"
"...I...I don't remember."
Wilson watched her fiddle with the half ate ration and pondered about her. The girl seemed lost and hadn't a clue what was going on out there. Was it a form of amnesia? Maybe from the gas grenades or a kind of blunt force trauma.
"What's your name?"
"...Raven."
Wilson paused for a moment then put his rifle aside. He sat on the bed with her and grabbed her chin. He forced her to look at him. He looked down into her eyes and felt the genuine aura of fear and confusion. She wasn't no terrorist or enemy. It was still a wonder how this odd girl had landed in these lands from out of no where. She had no characteristics bearing resemblence to her enemies and an accent more common in the States. He let her chin go and rested his elbows on his knees.
"We're going to get you out of here on the next flight to the States. Ain't no place for a girl to be. That's where you're from, correct?"
"Yes...how soon?"
"As soon as possible. Don't worry. We're going to take care of you until then. But I want you to stay away from our sargeant. You stick around only me and my friends."
Something overtook her and she leaned in and gave the soldier a hug around his waist. Wilson was temporarily stunned at the sudden show of gratuity from the young girl. Slowly, he let an arm slip around her shoulders and comforted her. Raven could smell many scents on him and they were magnificent. The scents of gunpowder, blood, dirt, sweat and foilage. It was what she might expect a soldier to smell of. Raven closed her eyes when she felt his strong arm keep her snugly held to his body. There was something safe about this person. The sense of security and strength radiated off him and put her at ease despite the predictament she was in. She was quickly becoming fascinated with this handsome, strong man. Raven nuzzled into Wilson's broad chest, breathing in his scent and memorizing it's unique blend. Fingers clawed into his shirt as she drew closer to him. She could feel Wilson hugging her tighter to his body and his hand traveling up and down her thigh. It was such a gentle, enticing caress that she gave a small, whimpering moan. A hand cupped her cheek and brought her face up. She gazed up at the man with white hair and gorgeous blue eyes. They stared at one another for a while before he leaned in and doted a gentle, tender kiss on her soft lips. Raven melted right into Wilson's arms and kissed him back. He tasted so much like mint and honey. Arms encircled his neck tightly as she began to welcome him into herself. The intense moment was ruined when she felt her body begin to tire and her eyes become heavy for sleep. The warm, comforting feeling was beginning to fade though and it made Raven wake up. The surroundings had changed to a dark, spacious warehouse. She was up on a catwalk, looking down through the floor. Below her was a man tied in a chair and two people. The one tied up was begging for mercy but the other who was standing right in front of the bound man wasn't showing an sign of relenting. The moonlight reflected off a very familiar looking mask. It was Slade.
"Either you tell me where she is, or...I break off each finger one by one."
She heard screams of excruciating pain that made her ears ring. The emotions her soul was eating up was bitter and distasteful. There was too much fear and pain happening for her to take it all in. She screamed as the guy did in pain and grabbed her head.
"STOP!"
Raven bolted up in the bed, panting and sweating. The dreams were becoming more vivid and more realistic than before. She looked at her hands and thought she could still faintly smell Wilson's clothes and feel the metal catwalk. There was something terribly wrong with her dreams. She couldn't figure out who Wilson was...and why did she dream of Slade torturing another person?
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Slade woke up with a startled gasp. Once he sat up in his bed and figured out no one was in his bed beside him, he calmed down. He had dreamt of her in a very inappropriate way...and dreamt Lex had stormed in and captured them. He ran a hand through his white hair and gave a heavy sigh. At least he was safe and so was his subject. But Lex...would be coming soon. They had to prepare and pull the blindfold over his eyes and soon.