Have a Heart

Alexnandru Van Gordon

I…really don't know what to say right now. I've been pressed for time like you wouldn't believe it, and I was really looking forward to wrapping up "Not Again" before Christmas…I should get it done, maybe even "Blast" but that depends on the workload that my school is slaving us with…If you want to blame anybody, point your finger at my social and math teachers. They're trying to cram as much knowledge as they most possibly can into our heads.

PS: Remember to send in your list of best to…least best stories (in your eyes) to DLsky so she can fix up the chart and figure out who the winners are so far. Thanks.

DISCLAIMER: Hah!...Ownership? There's a joke…

CHAPTER SEVEN: On my way to America…

"That little bi—"

"Mark! I'm on the phone!"

The brothers sat together on a bench outside the airport, Matthew with his ear attached to his cell phone. If they couldn't win the war, then no one would.

Matthew still couldn't believe he was taken down by Deathstroke. Talk about bad luck…

"Jason?"

Then was a grumbled on the other side of the line before a man answered gruffly. "Don't you guys know not to call during the day? Do you want to get caught."

"It's night here." Matthew muttered. "And besides, we lost the kid and his younger brother."

"How? He weighs half as much as you and wouldn't hurt a fly. Just shoot him in the legs and drag him back here."

"Duh! The competition got to him first."

"Then why are you calling me?"

"Because…" He grinned at Mark and his brother nodded. "We want to know where this Slade guy is taking him."

"Take a lick'n and keep on tick'n?"

"Not quite…I just want to give the Titans a heads-up on the situation…"

-C-

"That's new…"

Raven had to agree. "He'll be a first…"

It was a letter—or an e-mail really—sent by the police to the Titans, posted on the main screen, informing them that they had two major problems heading their way. One was a supposed mad scientist who went by the name of David Church, an escapee and not the nicest man to meet at the subway, and the second was none other than their archenemy…or Robin's really. The rest of them tried not to loose sleep wondering about the psychopath…

"I didn't realize he left…" Raven muttered. Slade had been awfully quiet for the last little while—and they knew it was bugging the hell out of their leader—but still…what on earth could he be up to now?

"It gets better." Cyborg continued, frowning. "He has a hostage. Looks like he's trading the man to this David Church guy…"

"What's in it for him?"

Cyborg jumped and Raven paused. They'd been the only ones in the room—of course, until Robin suddenly showed up. He stood no more than a foot behind them before he made his presence known.

Must have been the bat genes…

"Did they give us any possible trade-off locations?"

"No…" Cyborg returned to the keyboard and scrolled down the rest of the letter. "But we can monitor the airways and ports. It says his hostage was taken from Berlin earlier today…err…yesterday, according to the time zone in Germany."

"Then we'll do that. Until then, I'm going to find this David Church…"

Raven nodded. "I'll look up on any outside airports. If Slade's smart, then he's obviously not going to use the international airport of Jump City…"

Robin grinned, "You do that…" and spun around, heading toward the hallway. If Slade was trying to play behind his back, he was going to catch the man off-guard. Guaranteed…

-M-

She had no idea what just happened. There was smoke, she began to feel woozy, someone opened the driver's seat and grabbed her…then she woke up, sir blowing in her face.

Sitting up, and trying to move into a more comfortable position, Muriel found herself in the backseat next to a slumbering Klaus to her right; her window opened a crack to blow a cool breeze in her face. She almost forgot why she was there until she spotted Eric in the passenger seat up front, sitting straight with his head hanging forward.

Good grief…that meant…

Maybe her brain was dead today, she didn't know. She just suddenly had the urge to hit something and the first thing that came to mind was a swift kick to the seat in front of her. That, of course, was where the driver was sitting, and he didn't appreciate it much.

"I can understand that a suicidal act of heroism would look good on an application to heaven, but consider the lives your friends." Slade growled after he corrected his driving. He didn't swerve too badly when she startled him, but he was close to the middle of the street and in the dark of night…well, she really didn't want to die the same way her husband did…

"Impulse…" Muriel muttered; crossing her arms and staring at him from the review mirror built into the roof of the car. "And what just happened? The last time I checked, we almost got away."

He laughed—he actually laughed—at her. "You can try, but I can't guarantee success. You're determined, but even your reckless boyfriend lacks the skill to outrun me."

"Boyfriend?" She hissed. "Yeah right. And he's as reckless as a fly. He taught in a university for goodness sake…"

"Part time. He used to be an international thief." Slade paused, staring back at her through the rear-view mirror, eye narrowing. Somehow she could tell he was smiling. "I suppose he left that out of his introduction. And to think, because of a few simple lies he added you and your unborn child to the situation. Now what do you think of him?"

"Pretty much the same thing, but now I see you differently. You're a mercenary and a really bad liar."

He laughed at that too. "Believe what you like. Just wait until you meet his father…"

Oh…that's right…his father…

Muriel wondered what he was like. Probably a right bastard if he assigned a mercenary to hunt down his own sons…

The vehicle suddenly slowed until it came to a halt. There was a short pause as Slade allowed the traffic to pass, bright head-lights blinding her momentarily, until he turned to the left. The car hit a dirt road and carried on at a slower pace for about five minutes until she saw the lights of…an old airfield? One of the air hangers had its lights on and there, in plain view, was an old man…

"You're really serious about turning them in…" She whispered to herself. But somehow he heard.

"I don't joke."

And he was being serious about that too.

The car came to a halt for the second time that night and parked beside the first runway, near the opened air hanger. Parked at the end of the runway was a jet…in the dark…

Something about everything didn't sit well with her. She half expected some sort of zombie to jump out of nowhere.

"I trust you won't try anything stupid?" He asked, opening his door. There was a stir from Eric and Slade hesitated. "Repeat that order to him when he wakes, will you? Tell him I'm watching him…"

Muriel made a face but didn't reply. True to their suspicions, Eric woke shortly after Slade stepped up to the older man and began talking with him. Lifting his head and rubbing his forehead gingerly, he blinked rapidly and started looking around for something familiar.

"Now where the hell am I?"

"Don't do anything stupid…" Muriel repeated, sighing. "Supposedly, he's watching us."

Eric jumped, half expecting to be alone. Then he undid his seatbelt and twisted in his seat to face her. "Damn…he still has you guys…Oh well. It's for the best that you stay in the car."

"And what about you?"

He grinned. "Me too. He might not be watching us directly, but I wouldn't doubt the possibility of henchmen or teammates sitting around somewhere, keeping an eye on us…."

"What?" She smiled. "No fight?"

"I'm still seeing double…" He said, rubbing one eye. "He can hit pretty hard…"

No kidding. The guy gets shot and he stills stands back up. Utterly horrifying…

"So…" She licked her lips nervously. "What's your father like?"

He paled at her question, looking as though he just realized something very important.

"Do you still have your husband's wedding band?"

She didn't know why he was asking…but she nodded and pulled it out, still on its chain, from behind her overalls. Talking it off, she handed it to him, keeping the chain.

"Why do you ask?"

"If my father asks you, we're married." He answered, sounding quite nervous himself. "And that's my kid you have with you."

"What? But why?"

He started at her solemnly. "I'm being very serious now. If he thinks that's my kid, then he won't hurt either of you…He'll just assume it's like me. Then he might ignore you…"

What was he talking about? Why? Was there something different about Eric that she still didn't know about? Was this what he wanted to tell her at the airport before they interrupted by that weird guy…

"Would you please explain this to me?" She asked in a quiet voice. "I really want to know what I got myself into…"

There was contemplation in his eyes as he stared at her silently. He began chewing on his lower lip…but eventually he said something.

"Promise me you won't judge me if…I'm a little different." He asked. "Promise that you'll hear me out before you cut in and that you'll never tell a soul what you're about to hear. Got that, Muriel?"

Was it that…serious? What was wrong with him…or was anything wrong with him at all? The word 'different' could imply a number of things, but she didn't judge people. Not a stranger and certainly not one of her few friends.

"Promise."

-A-

YES! Now I can finally work on something else than this stupid story…I've really got to learn how to manage my time. It's late and I want to sleep, but I assure you—this time—that I'll be starting on one of my other chapters soon. Yesterday I thought I lost my USB device and on that was all my stuff. I got it back from John but he broke it (Argh…). I fixed it but now so many of the files won't work…I hate this…I had so much work done…Oh well, my dad should be back this weekend and that means I'll have all of Saturday late-night to work (YAY!). See you guys around…

Until Again,

Alexnandru Van Gordon