Have a Heart

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Important: I just wanted to remind you guys that Slade will stay in character, but you will see his good side shine through, despite his wanting it to or not. If you ever read the comic books, yes Slade is Robin's and the Titans' greatest adversary but he's listed as a "Neutral" instead of a "Villain" like Catwoman. She's a robber but she helps out the good guys when it benefits herself or because she has a soft spot for someone. You'll see—Slade does a major good act in the end, you just have to keep with me. BUT! HE ALSO GETS TO BE REALLY MEAN because he doesn't want anyone knowing he's being nice…You'll see, Just bear with me for now…

Oh—and I'll stop making them speak in German, and if I do then I'll tell you when. I didn't know it would confuse you guys, so I apologize for that.

CHAPTER TWO: Setbacks

Just keep running. Just keep running. Just keep running.

He could do that. He'd been running for the last five years and he was in better shape then most of the guys that came after him. It was the truth. But what had him worried so much now was that the maniac behind him was gaining by the second. It was uncanny how fast he could run.

"He's not human." He muttered. That could only mean he was a meta-human—and good grief! Those were always so hard to shake. They were the ones that really gave him all the trouble.

And he looked familiar too. Peter could have sworn he had seen the man in the news…his costume was just too….Well, it stood out in a person's memory.

Nearing the V-Wing Science Building, he thanked God when he saw Prof. Schneiden open the door while fishing in his jacket pocket for his keys. Waving his arms and calling in German, he finally got the man's attention.

"Keep the door open, Prof!" He yelled, although he was certain he said 'door' wrong. "And then run?"

"You said 'door' in plural, Peter." The man replied in English, looking toward his younger friend. Then he caught sight of his opponent and jumped aside to let Peter pass.

"Danke!" (Thank-you!)

He heard the man behind him bang into the door as it slammed shut in front of him, nearly jumping through the glass at the break neck speed he was going. He got the door opened again in no time soon, but by then Peter had more of a head start and was already turning down a second hallway, and then another to lose him. Finally he rounded a third corner and slid into the main forum, a large, high roofed room filled with students talking and chatting about classes. They were, to say the least, startled to see him sprint by and, at one point, nearly knock own man clear off his feet, but they paid more attention to the man that came after him. With a few shrieks and a lot of panic, the students and teachers moved aside quickly for the frustrated mercenary in hot pursuit of the newest Physics Professor.

"Good glory—won't you give up already!" Peter called after his shoulder, jumping over the flight of stairs leading down to the main entrance. "This really isn't a civilized way to talk to someone."

"I'm not here to talk."

"You're all the same. You—" He slid to a halt on the last landing but crashed into the chest of hiss pursuer anyway when he flipped down in front of him. "What the hell!"

-S-

"To continue running is pointless." Slade stated blankly, reaching out a hand to grab the front of the young man's shirt when we backed away. "You can either make this easier for yourself by giving up, or I could always knock you out and save you the grief of losing."

"Somehow, I really don't like either choice." The man struggled to free himself but only found himself lifted from the ground; feet dangle a few inches off the floor. "You're really not a people person, are you?"

"Can't say that I am."

"Too bad for you."

He didn't expect the little boy named Klaus to be in the building. When you thought about it, he didn't expect to slip on the foam of a fire extinguisher either. He was fed up with the game and slamming to his knees on the ground wasn't the fun-est experience. And to make matters worse, he let go of the man.

In a small attempt to catch the man again, he reached over toward him as Mr. Colin slid past him, grabbing hold of his sleeve as Slade began to stand. The downside to that was that he grabbed the same sleeve which tore the last time he almost caught the man in the classroom. It only tore further until it came entirely off the rest of Mr. Colin's sweater, allowing the young man another head start as he bolted out the front doors.

"I'll get you yet." Slade muttered. For now he could let him go. After all, Slade always had a back-up plan…

-E-

"I'm sorry, Klaus! It's not like I hand out my location to every bounty-hunter in the world! Be grateful we got away from the university without him on our tail."

His mute brother just crossed his arms and stared out the window, ignoring his older brother's excuses yet again. Peter—well, his real name wasn't Peter—didn't know what to do anymore. Everyone was after him constantly and he couldn't just leave Klaus somewhere different. His younger brother was his weakness, the perfect blackmail if anyone ever got their hands on him. Coming to Germany and finding a normal job was the best thing that happened to them yet. They had only been there for seven or eight months and with the school year ending, Klaus finally had some permanent friends. This time their plan almost worked…they almost began a true new life.

"Would you rather I took up my old job?" Peter muttered, pulling up into the packing lot of their apartment building. "At least then the pay included additional protection from anyone after us. Smith still calls every once in a while…"

He could see Klaus stiffen at the thought. 'No…that was a sinner's life.' He answered in sign language, hands moving rapidly to form the right symbols.

"Hey, stealing isn't that bad unless for greed. Although, I have to admit the pay was bigger than a job as a university professor."

He used to steal. Plain and simple as that. At first he worked for certain employers who used his brains to hack into security systems and special information. Then he took on more physical jobs and did the actual stealing himself. Smith was his last employer, someone who kept calling him back for his services. The man had a fancy for rare artifacts in the museums…

"Be grateful all you have to do is act like a normal kid and run when you're told to. I never went to a regular school. I didn't have friends."

'Let's just leave, please, before I start to miss the place.'

"You get the luggage bags from under the bed and I'll call the airport for tickets. Be quiet though—and don't pack a lot. What we leave behind I can pick up somewhere else."

Klaus nodded and undid his seatbelt as Peter parked. They just made it up the outdoor stairs and opened the front door when Peter heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, guys. What happened to the sleeve of your sweater, Peter?"

Klaus didn't answer, or maybe he didn't hear, and just entered the house quickly. Peter, on the other hand, ridden with guilt, turned slowly to face the young woman behind him.

"Oh. Hi, Muriel." He said softly. He knew she would figure something was wrong soon. Muriel was good at reading people's emotions, quite the empathic person.

She was younger than Peter by a few weeks and was currently six months pregnant. Slim and petit, glowing all the time, Muriel was the sweetest and shiest person he had met in his entire life. The saddest part about her was the death of her late husband four months ago in a car crash when a drunk driver swerved into his vehicle on the highway. They were both American artists, living in the flat directly above them, and both Peter and Klaus had done everything they possibly could to help Muriel with her pregnancy.

He didn't want her to suffer anymore grief than she already knew.

Paint splattered over the right side of her face, her hands, and the baggy overalls she wore for comfort, Muriel had her shoulder length brown hair pulled back into two messy braids and a small paint brush tucked behind her ear. "My doctor called." She said, staring oddly after Klaus. "I'm really sorry to ask, and I know I shouldn't be asking you because you're so busy and you have Klaus to watch and—"

"Relax, Muriel." He smiled. Another thing about her was the fact that she was constantly nervous and apologetic about absolutely everything—even if it was nowhere near her own fault. "Go ahead and ask."

"Well, I have a scheduled check-up for the baby every once and a while and I was supposed to have it next week. Dr. Fran called and said that something came up and that he switched my check-up to this afternoon instead, but my car is in the shop. I don't want to be a bother, but you're the only one left for me to ask for a ride downtown."

Darn…talk about bad timing.

"What are you guys doing anyway…?" Muriel peeked over his shoulder at Klaus who was gathering anything he could inside their flat. "Oh—are you moving again? Where to?"

"Brazil." He sighed. They had been there once before in a chase…maybe he could find somewhere secretive down there.

"Oh—my aunt lives in Brazil. She paints the rainforest, you know." Muriel's face lit up at once. "She's out in one of those villages, and I could call her if you want a place to stay."

"Really?" Well, that was an upside. "Um, we're leaving in a couple of hours…but we could give you a ride downtown if you need it."

"Oh…" She blushed in shame, a hand wandering toward her slightly rounded stomach before resting gently on it. "I really don't want to be any trouble, and it looks like you're in a hurry. I'll just take a bus."

Shaking his head, he took her free hand and led her inside the flat. "Nonsense, you look a little paler than usual. At least let us drive you there."

"Really?" Smiling warmly, she bit her lower lip. "Thanks Peter. Um…maybe I could help you guys pack. You look like you're in an awful hurry."

"That would be a great help."

"Oh—and I almost forgot!" She reached into the chest pocket of her overalls and handed him a letter. Reading off the front, she raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you changed your name."

"Huh?" He jumped when he heard a crash behind him turning to see Klaus fall into the living room with a bunch of luggage bags toppling around him. "Different name?"

"It says—to a Mr. Peter Colin for returning his name back to Eric Church."

He paled. Taking the letter from her hastily, he opened it with shaky hands. "Who gave this to you?"

"Some guy came to my door and said this had to be handed to you personally. Are you a part of the witness protection program?"

"Umm…something like that…" Unfolding the letter, he began to read the news. It was a letter from his dad…just another boast that he would be seeing Eric sooner or later, whether he wanted to or not.

Stupid jerk.

There was another crash from Klaus, still rushing around the house frantically and Eric had to roll his eyes. Crumpling the letter up in his hand as he stormed from the front entrance, he went to help Klaus in the kid's bedroom before he killed himself ruing.

"Klaus, stop trying to carry so much stuff." He pushed the boy's door opened and stared inside. "You're going to—"

"Eric Church? I would have never guessed."

And there, to his great displeasure, was the same maniac, window opened and Klaus face down on the ground with a knee planted into his back and both hands pinned behind.

"Oh dear." Muriel gasped behind him.

-S-

This job, by far, had to be the most interesting yet. It was true—he would have never guessed that the young man would be related to the man who was after him, and, unfortunately, that made his job more difficult than it should have been. Now he had reached a small dilemma.

"You're his son?" Slade said, his one eye narrowing at Eric. He had heard everything from the boy's room. "And this…" His gaze fell on the struggling kid pinned beneath him. "…I presume, is your brother."

The man stood frozen to the spot, blinking a few times as he stared at the boy. "…That just about sums it up."

Yes indeed. Now everything grew a tad bit more difficult.

Slade was a father once. His first wife, presumably dead, shot him in the eye when she found out he was a mercenary, and his second wife, too, was now supposedly dead. From his first wife he had two sons, the oldest, Grant, tried to exceed his father in his meta-human strength, speed, agility and intelligence, and had to be killed in the end. His second son, Joseph, had his throat slit when he was young as blackmail to Slade but only became mute. As he grew older he became a hero, possessing powers of his own, and, in the end, had to die by Slade's own blade when he became possessed by a demon. From his second wife came his only daughter, Rose, who was currently some place unknown in the world. He would never see her. For her sake, he didn't want to have to kill her like he had her brothers.

Seeing the older boy, chased down by his father, and his younger brother, a mute, only brought back the worst of his memories. It was now something of a living nightmare.

He didn't know if he should have just left, forgot everything about Mr. Church, or if he should have gone on with the mission like nothing had changed.

He never started anything he had no true intentions on completing.

"Get off him—you're hurting him!" The young woman—Muriel, yelled. She was as pale as a ghost and her eyes were locked on Klaus. "Stop it!"

That's right—now he had a pregnant woman to deal with too.

Slade reached a free hand to his belt and took out a pair of small cuffs. Tossing these to Muriel, he pulled the boy's arms further up his back until a loud cracking noise sounded. "I can his break both his arms in a second. Handcuff Mr. Church's arms behind his back and I will stop."

She stared at the cuffs quietly and then looked to Eric. He gave her a small nod and turned sideways so Slade could see what she was doing. Rolling up the one sleeve left, she fastened the cuffs around his wrists and tightened them until she couldn't anymore. With a final click, they locked into place and the cuffs were safely secured.

While this was going on, Slade took out a second pair of cuffs and did them up tightly on the younger boy. He couldn't leave him behind now. That wouldn't work. And he also had the woman to worry about two. On his way over to the apartment, after calling up his old friend Wintergreen for a little more research, he asked the old man to send a plane of sorts to a certain location on the outskirts of the city limits. He couldn't take Eric to the airport, the young man was too smart to go that easy, and he had to wait until the morning to leave, so that left him with only one choice—

—to wait out in the apartment where he could watch his captives.

"Move out into the living-room." He ordered. "And you—" He locked eyes with the scared lady. "—can either make this easier for yourself or end up in handcuffs like them." Naturally, he wouldn't handcuff her. He could see the discomfort she was in already and the last thing he wanted to do was have to tie her up. That just wasn't…he'd say humane but, then again, much of what he did back in America wasn't humane anyway.

Look at this—mixed morals. What in the name of hell did he get himself into?

They moved into the living-room as he instructed and each took a seat on one of the couches against the far wall. The kitchen, being separated from the living-room by a single couch, was where he went, pulling out a chair and sitting down to watch them.

"You're that guy from America."

He paused as the woman spoke. "And?"

"That 'Slade' guy from Jump City." She pursed her lips, seemingly frustrated. "I used to live there, you know. Why are you bugging those poor kids?"

Good grief. This just got better.

"The Titans." He corrected her. "And they're not exactly kids."

"Teens—whatever. But don't they have that deal with the JL?"

What deal?

Eric, sitting to her left with his brother on his right, stared at her for a moment before joining in on the conversation. Staring at Slade, he must have sensed the confusion. "You don't know about it?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"Well, the Titans can only take charge of your disposal so long as they keep you in the city. The moment you do something outside America, the Justice League takes control and has every right to go after you. I think they're sending someone else to Jump City then."

…And how come he didn't know about this?

"You must have ticked someone off." Muriel added. "I think the Bat guy offered to take you down personally."

…That did make some sense. Slade had fought many other heroes long before the Titans were even acquainted with each other, and the Batman was one of few who were at a close tie with him. The hero still lost on the odd counts, and he could see the man coming after him to even out the score.

That wouldn't do at all. He still had plans concerning the Titans and their downfall and—as he had already reminded himself—there was nothing he ever set himself out to do that he had no intentions of finishing. That meant none of his captives could be let out of his site long enough to make a phone call. That's all it would take.

Then even more hell would break loose.

The woman shifted uncomfortably on the couch, both hands on her lap as she sighed heavily in pain. Then he noticed the ring.

"Where's your husband?" He asked quickly. If someone was expecting her then he'd have to take them down for the moment. He couldn't afford to leave her behind with what she knew and knocking her out in a closest for a couple of days wouldn't be…He didn't want her child to die. That was something that bothered him.

"My husband?" She asked, slightly surprised. Then she stared down at her left hand and moved the fingers to see her ring better. Cheeks turning red, she reached under the collar of her shirt and pulled out a chain necklace, the other matching ring hanging on the end. "Right here…"

So…he was dead. Nothing to worry about there, expect for the pregnant woman with the worst mood swings he had seen in years. She buried her face quickly in her hands and broke out crying.

"Nice going." Eric muttered. "Do you plan for these things to happen or is this just another example of your wonderful luck?"

"You're free to shut up at any time." He reached over toward the counter and tossed the woman a box of tissues. "Or is that even possible?"

"Hey, I talk for two." Eric nodded his head toward Klaus, who, in the current situation, was shaking his head and wishing silently to himself that it would all end. "Not many people know sign language."

"I do, so let your brother speak for himself."

"Untie his hands."

Great…he could see where this was going…

-A-

There you go—hey, now I'm getting back into the habit of writing longer chapters. Anyway, I forgot to tell you guys that you get to grade me…or something like that. If I'm late on my word of updating I know you get to disqualify, so…I'll find out the rest of it later. Anyway—you guys are confusing me with The League's Hunt, but I'll talk to you guys about that later too. There was a blackout yesterday afternoon at school so I had so much time to work on my stories…Let's hope I get something else in besides TLH or this one. See you around.

Until Again,

Alexnandru Van Gordon