Moving Mountains: Thanks for the review :). Hopefully, he will get more attach too Raven soon.

Buddybuddy96: Thanks :) for the warm wishes! I made it home safely.

Guest: Thank you :)!

Everyone else: Enjoy :).

Frustration

He hated that he was in this predicament. He still couldn't fully comprehend how he entered into a contract with this demon. Nevertheless, he knew there were two ways to exit the contract: die while trying to complete the mission or complete the mission and live.

While he wasn't fond of the mission or the people who he worked with, it wasn't in his plans to die againsosoon. He preferred to be old and wrinkled when he left the earth the next time.

"Slade." He looked up at the man that entered his room and who his contract was with. He was, also, the man who made sure that he held up his part of the bargain. The man usually wasn't this hands-on with his deals, preferring to leave everything in the capable hands of his underling. However, past deals made it essential for him to see to this personally.

"Yes." He stood from his desk and met the man in the middle of the room.

"How are your injuries?"

"Good." Due to his mission, he often ended up in altercations with very unpleasant people. While he thought he handled himself well against others, his body condition told another story.

"Excellent. We'll proceed according to plan." He nodded in agreement. "Here is Black Willow's gift to you."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he took a handful of small, robotic spiders. He hated Black Willow. They fought often, with words, of course, when they were in the same room. She was manipulative and back-stabbing. He had to be on constant guard with her, because he was certain that she wanted his neck on a platter. She blamed him for slowing down their mission. This was true; however, he didn't see her doing the real work.

Furthermore, her little toy spiders creeped him out. But that was more personal; he hated spiders when he was growing up.

"Don't worry, Slade. This will be over soon."

And when it was, he would be done with demons for good this time. But for now, he had to protect his interest and working with a demon and a psychopath was the best way to do it.

"This is the tenth tech company that has been attacked in the last two hours." Nightwing said, talking to his teammates through the Bluetooth on his device. "Head to the new coordination. It is likely to be the same person."

He did a U-turn on his bike, changing direction. They were traveling to the ninth tech company when the report came through about the tenth one being currently hit.

"I'll be there in two minutes," Cyborg said. "I see Changeling in the sky. He's a minute behind me." Changeling made an animal noise, confirming what Cyborg said.

"Good. Raven and I are five minutes away." They were at the bar together when they got the alert. "I'll try and make it there in three." He gripped the handles on his bike harder to go faster. Raven held on to him tighter.

Two minutes later, Cyborg's voice could be heard. "It's Kardiak. He's sucking up the tech equipment. Oh, no you don't!" They heard the sound of Cyborg sonic cannon firing.

"Why is Karidak stealing tech?" Raven asked. "Doesn't he usually kidnap children?"

"Well, this is better than kidnapping kids. I'm at the site." Changeling said before they heard him roaring.

The last two titans pulled up at the company's parking lot a minute later. It took about thirty seconds to find the others and Kardiak on the third floor.

Changeling was a T-Rex and had one of Kardiak's appendage in his mouth. Cyborg was aiming another cannon at his body.

"Do you guys want to finish this the easy way or the hard way?" Raven asked, knowing a spell to tear the mechanical heart apart.

Her teammates yelled, "Easy!"

"Retra and I have a date in an hour," Changeling added.

"Okay," she said, "Azarath Metrion Zin-" She was pushed on the ground by Nightwing, who laid on top of her.

"Slade," he shouted, moving from on top of her. She got up, also, to follow Nightwing, who was chasing Slade out of the door. However, Nightwing said, "Raven, help Changeling with Kardiak. Cyborg, come with me." Cyborg fired off one last shot before following Nightwing.

Raven stood there, staring at the door, contemplating whether or not to obey Nightwing's order. After a moment, she decided to go after Slade. She flew to the door but stopped when she heard Changeling calling her name.

"Rae, what are you doing? We need to take care of Kardiak." She looked at the door with regret and went to help her green teammate.

She summoned the spell again, but it had no effect on Kardiak. She felt another magical spell blocking hers. The spell was protecting Kardiak from her magic. And the magic that was used to fuel the spell felt familiar.

"Ummm," Changeling said. "Is something supposed to happen? Because I don't see nothing happening." An appendage from Kardiak swung at him. He transformed into a bird to avoid it.

"Distract him for a moment. I need to concentrate."

"I'm on it." He said while she floated in the air.

She needed to cast two spells simultaneously. One spell to break the protection around Kardiak. The other spell to break Kardiak.

It was the first spell that needed her attention. The protection around Kardiak was strong and well crafted.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos" She heard the sound of Kardiak falling apart, but she remained focus. She had to continue with the spell until it was completed, or else the mechanical villain would be able to rebuild itself later and the protection spell would be reinstated.

Once she finished the spells, she floated back down to the ground to stand next to her teammate.

"It's good to have someone like you on the team to do all the heavy lifting, especially with Star being gone." He said as they looked at the pile of broken pieces that once was Kardiak.

With Starfire gone, they had to adjust when it came to fights. It had been easy for everyone to adjust to the change except for Changeling. Nightwing was used to fighting alone and with different partners, so he adapted to a lack of teammate easily. Cyborg had fought with the Justice League and the Teen Titans that replaced them as well as trained them. As members came and went and fell in battle, he was used to fine-tuning to the changing number of people on a team. As for Raven, she had to learn to adjust to the changes on the battlefield the hard way years ago. It made it easier for her now.

However, Changeling always worked with teams that never change. The Doom Patrol still consisted of the same members. And the current Titans were the same members from the first time. Thus, he tended to forget that the team lacked a member at times.

"We should go help them with Slade." Raven said, turning around to head out the door.

"Don't bother." Cyborg appeared at the door with Nightwing behind him. "It wasn't even him."

"What do you mean it wasn't him?" She asked, barely keeping herself from yelling.

"It was one of his bots." Nightwing answered. "It was surprising, considering –"

"He stopped using bots a long time ago." Raven finished for him. The factory and producer of Slade's robots were shut down by the FBI years ago after they received a tip from an unnamed source.

"But we did find this baby on the bot." Cyborg said, holding up a small spider that was moving. "Does it look familiar?"

Raven and Changeling looked closer at it before Changeling answered, "It's a mini version of the spider from the industrious plant."

"Bingo."

"So what? Slade is planning to break into the technology business with the latest, cutting edge tech equipment."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Raven used her powers and lifted the equipment that was in the red part of Kardiak. "All of the equipment are a little outdated. You could buy most of these online."

"Old equipment. Kardiak," Nightwing thought out loud with his thumb and pointer finger rubbing his chin. "Ten companies in less than two hours. Shoot! Slade's still at the first or second company." He punched his right hand inside his left. "This was only a distraction, so he would have time to get what he needed. Cyborg and Changeling, go to the second company. Raven and I will go to the first."

They nodded and split up again. However, they were too late. Slade had long disappeared from the second company along with the information that he wanted.

Garfield was two hours late for his date, but it was okay. The place that they chose for their date was opened until three in the morning, at least for tonight. Once every two months, the science museum held 'Adult Night'.

He wasn't sure what was the original purpose of 'Adult Night', but he and Retra enjoyed it the first time that they stumbled upon it.

"Do you mind if we sit down for a moment? My feet are killing me." Retra placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned against him so that some of her weight shifted off of her feet.

"Sure," he said, looking around for a place to sit. When he saw an empty bench, he guided her there.

She immediately took off her heels and rubbed her feet. "I don't know why I still wear heels to impress you. I mean, I already have the ring."

"You're trying to make sure that I don't stand you up at the wedding." He teased.

She chuckled. "I know you won't leave me at the wedding." She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "You're too excited about the wedding night and the outfit that I picked out."

He felt his body heating up. She was right. He couldn't wait to make love to her as husband and wife. "Make sure that it goes well with my favorite pumps of yours."

"Oh, it does." They shared a small kiss and a small smile.

Retra's phone beeped, and she pulled it out. Within a second her demeanor changed as she read the message. She positioned herself farther back against the wall and held her phone where he couldn't see the screen.

He felt a different heat rising in his body now. The anger in him climbed rapidly up his spine. His hand went to snatch the phone from her hand. However, he stopped once he saw a tear falling from her eye. Concern filled him immediately, dispelling his anger.

"Retra, what's wrong?" He watched her as she quickly wiped the tears that fell from both of her eyes now while stuffing her phone back inside her pocket.

Her sad, blue eyes turned to him. "Do you want to go somewhere far away and get marry?" He didn't answer because he wasn't sure where the question was coming from. "Let's go somewhere where there's only Retra and Garfield. No bad guys or superheroes. Just us."

"Retra,.." Before he could response, like a light switch, her mood changed once more.

"Come on," she said, slipping back on her shoes. "Those hurricane cocktails are calling my name."

"Retra." He grabbed her arm before she could stand up. "What's wrong? What was that text message about?"

She looked down at her shoes. "The project…. I wish that I never took it. I want it to go away."

Nightwing stared at the information on the screen: a giant spider along with a smaller one, the second tech company that was hit, Slade's first message, the incident at the warehouse, and Mad Mod. All of the them were connected to Slade. Yet, none of them were connected to each other.

What was Slade planning?

What was he after?

Why did he appear and disappear often?

Where was he?

Has he come back for Raven as well?

All of these questions ran through Nightwing's head. It was as if Slade was toying with them, as if he had no real interest in the Titans. But yet, they were his main focus. Something wasn't right.

What was he missing?

What pieces of the puzzle had yet to reveal itself?

"You still up?" Cyborg walked into the room, yawning.

Nightwing's eyes left the computer monitor as he turned to face his friend, who was leaning against the wall beside the evidence room's door. "I need to figure out what Slade is planning."

"It's almost three a.m. Whatever Slade's planning to do I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen this time in the morning. Villains like to get their beauty rest as well. Besides, don't you have to go to work in the morning?"

Nightwing groaned. He did have work in the morning. He was still on desk duty. That meant his schedule was a regular nine to five until he got clear by the doctor which, hopefully, it would be on his next doctor visit. His wound was basically healed. Even Raven stopped coming to his place to heal him.

"I do," Nightwing answered Cyborg. "I will finish this up and go to sleep in ten minutes."

Cyborg snorted, not believing him. "If you do, sleep here for the night, or rather morning, and go back to the city when you wake up."

"What? You're lonely in the Tower?" Nightwing asked half jokily.

It must be an adjustment for Cyborg to be here by himself. Now that Starfire was gone, he was the only permanent resident at the Tower. Changeling would stay if Retra was out of town, and Nightwing would sleep over if he was working on a case. Raven never stayed.

"No, I just don't want you crashing your bike because you're tired. Besides, I like being by myself in the Tower. I get to walk around naked."

"That is always a plus." Nightwing laughed at the joke. "Why are you up?"

"There's a new design that I working. I was completing the finishing touches."

"Don't stay up too late. Don't you have work in the morning?" Nightwing threw the question back at him.

Cyborg chuckled. "Unlike you, I get to go into the office at any time I want."

"Must be nice."

"Hey, you can come and work for me. I'll let you set your own hours and start you off with a high paying salary."

Nightwing shook his head. "Nice try, but I'm not telling you my name."

"You can't blame a guy for trying." He chuckled. "Well, don't stay up too late and turn off the lights when you done."

"No problem."

"You need to find a new girlfriend to keep you busy and from obsessing over cases."

"You're fishing again. That was just the delivery person."

"Suuuuuure. Just don't let this one slip by you if you like her. Time is precious."

"I'll make sure I'll tell the delivery person that. No one likes cold food anyway."

Cyborg just shook his head as he moved toward the door. Nightwing turned back to the computer, but he wasn't focus on the clues that Slade left. His mind stray to Cyborg's words. Time was precious. And he was wasting time with Raven.

...

Cyborg looked back at the leader of the team. There was something on his mind that he contemplated on asking Nightwing about. Yet, he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination or if it was really there. It was too subtle that he couldn't be sure.

Nonetheless, he felt that there was a change between him and the only, current female on their team. He wasn't sure when he noticed the difference, if there was a difference at all, but something wasn't the same.

The two birds of the team seemed to be more….more affectionate with each other. Well, at least, on Nighwing's part.

He touched her more and would move closer to her when she was around. His eyes wondered to her when they had their weekly meetings. His behavior was similar to the times he was starting to show interest in Starfire and while they were dating.

Although, there were some difference. There were no childish, school boy grin or sweet, playful conversations that he had with Starfire. No, there were silent, kind gestures when touching Raven and curious and intense stares that follow her instead.

But then, there was Raven. She didn't act different at all. Her interactions with Nightwing hadn't change from what he could see. Her eyes never traveled to meet Nightwing's in the meetings. She never initiated any touches with him. And she didn't gravitate toward him when he was close by.

Cyborg shook his head. Maybe he was just tripping.

It was impossible, right? There weren't any chances for them to build something. Nightwing and Raven were almost never at the Tower together unless there was a meeting. If they did hang outside of the Tower, he was certain that a fan would have taken a photo of them and posted it online already. And Nightwing and Raven was too private to meet outside without their mask and cowl.

Besides, they weren't each other types.

He shook his head again and left the room completely. He was tripping. Nevertheless, a nagging question kept appearing in his head.

Why had the two of them been appearing at the crime scene together lately?

Rachael knocked on the door and waited for an answer. She didn't have to wait long. The door opened, and she stepped inside.

"I'm surprise you're back so soon." No Man said behind his desk. His bodyguards were nowhere to be seen, but she knew that they were close by if their boss needed help, which he rarely did.

"Were you able to deliver my message to Slade?" He asked, watching her take the chair in front of him. None of the chairs on her side of the desk were comfortable. Because none of the 'guests' that came to his offices were meant to be comfortable.

"No," she answered.

"Then why are you here? If you are not here to inform me that my message has been received by Slade then I don't want you in my fine establishment."

She snorted. The only thing that was fine about the establishment was the décor. "I wasn't able to talk with Slade yet. However, I was able to find your toy."

He didn't say anything. He was waiting on her to elaborate. There was no need to give information out if the person didn't have any.

"Kardiak," she continued. "I didn't know you had an interested in kids these days." Over the years, Racheal had learned to forgive a lot of crimes committed by people and other things. However, rape and child abuse of any form were not things that she could forgive. If No Man was kidnapping children, their shaky alliance, if you could call it that, will be dissolve permanently.

"I'm not. I abandoned my own kids hundreds of years ago. Hopefully, they are all gone. Why would I want to collect someone else's kid?"

"You were planning to use Kardiak to collect something else."

It was a statement more than a question, but No Man took is as the latter. "Maybe. Where is my toy?"

"Slade had the same idea as you: to use Kardiak to collect items for him. It didn't turn out well for Kardiak. He was dissembled in the process." She didn't feel the need to inform him that she was the one who did it. And he would never know. She removed traces of the spell and her magic from the giant mechanical heart.

Silence.

"You destroyed it on purpose?" He asked.

"Two other Titans arrived before I got there." She lied, "They took him down before I got there." She felt his distrust radiating from him.

"They wouldn't been able to with the spell I cast."

"You have to take that up with Slade. We both know how resourceful he can be when it comes to magic."

She couldn't see it due to his appearance, but she felt him smirked as he spoked again. "You more than me, I supposed." She knew that he was referring to Blüdhaven and Slade's unfruitful agreement with her father.

"Goodnight, No Man." She stood up from the chair to leave the room.

"One more thing, Rachael." She paused from exiting the room. "How did you know that Kardiak belong to me if Slade destroyed my protection on Kardiak?"

She walked to the front of his desk and place a small piece of metal from Kardiak on his desk. "Next time don't leave your name on your toys."

No Man chuckled, picking up the piece. "Slade has no shame."

"You would know that better than me." She referred to the time that Slade and No Man first met.

No Man didn't reply, but she felt him grin.

He smirked underneath the mask as he listened to Black Willow rant. He shouldn't have placed the spider on his clone robot. He knew that it was supposed to be placed on Kardiak in order to aid it in collecting the data they needed, or rather his employer needed.

He also had to admit, not aloud, of course, that it was foolish of him to have placed the spider on his bot and possibly draw the Titans' attention to Black Willow. Nevertheless, the frustration on Black Willow's face was worth any future consequences.