Chapter 5- Behold the Shape in the Shadows

Raven awoke from what seemed like an eternal slumber. She lay there and thought, "What the hell happened? I remember being dragged into an alley, and then being knocked unconcious by a shape in the shadows." Then she sat up and looked around. The walls and floor were made of limestone. Close by, a fireplace was crackling. Also near was a small dock over a peaceful lake. Raven walked onto the dock and stared out at the lake. "Where am I?" she quietly asked herself. Suddenly, behind her, a secret door swung open from the fireplace. A dark figure emerged.

"Hello Raven. Guess who," a familiar voice said as he walked through the fireplace door.

"I-It can't be. We drowned you!" Raven screamed as she began to remember her dreams. It was true. Slade did supposedly die again. She remembered it perfectly. Her father and Slade made a pact to fufill her destiny of ending the world. Oh, they came so close! The Titans, though, hired an exorcist to cast Trigon out of her. Raven then used all of her might to destroy her father. Then the Titans tracked down Slade, knocked him out, tied 200-pound heavyweights to his limbs, and they all threw him over the bridge. Raven watched him go down, thinking it was over, all over. But as she stood there, looking at him, it obviously wasn't. "Maybe it's a hallucination," she thought. As Slade began to walk towards her, Raven turned around and jumped into the lake. Slade, however, managed to grab her wrist and pull her back up.

"I am not here to kill you or take my revenge, darling," Slade told her.

"Darling?" Raven questioned. Only one person had ever called her darling before, and that was Robin. "What the f do you want with me, you creepy son-of-a-bitch!" she yelled fiercely, "I'm not going to do anything for you either! Especially after forcing Robin and Terra to do your bidding, and forcing me to do my father's!"

"Well Raven, after a month-and-a-half apart, I realized I can't live without you," Slade stated, getting down on one knee, "Raven sweetheart, will you marry me?"

"YOU FING PEDOPHILE! I hate you! Are you out of your mind! Why the hell would I want to spend the rest of my life with you?" she ranted in shock and confusion.

"But Raven, where are you going to go? The only friends you've ever known voted you out. They hate you. You've done horrible things, unforgivable things," Slade tried to convince her.

"Robin still loves me," Raven replied, "He told me he would always love me." There were tears running down her face by now, "He never lies dammit!" she sobbed.

"Yes, but he also loves Starfire, and you made him lie to her, Raven. One day he will realize that, and he won't love you anymore," Slade explained simply.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly.

"Because I love you, and I want to spare you a life of hate to give you a life of love. Come with me, sweetheart, and I will show you," Slade answered. He stretched out his hand, and to even her surprise, Raven took it. The two disappeared into the secret passageway, and the fireplace flames started again.

Meanwhile, at Titans Tower, Starfire was out of bed. Robin didn't realize she would be better so soon, so he went to Cyborg.

"Cyborg, is Starfire completely healed?" he asked.

"Yeah, but she can only talk slowly because of the knife wounds. It's just temporary," Cyborg answered.

"What about Raven coming over and healing her?" Robin questioned.

"Um, I tried getting a hold of her, but her communicator is off-line," Beast Boy explained, "We can't track her. I tried all night. Sorry."

"I'm going to find her," Robin said, heading for the door.

"She can't come back here!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"I know, I'm going to look all over Jump City so I know she has somewhere to go. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find Raven," Robin stated firmly. He walked out the door. The others, after a couple of minutes, decided to follow him.