Have a Heart

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Wow…I've been really slacking off—but anyone who takes Religion at school knows that you have to do two things 1) service hours and 2) a huge project on one of the World's religions. I picked Egyptian…really interesting—but that's not the point…

Semi-important: Hmmm…trust me when I say you will see a genuinely good Slade—no matter how hard it is for him to be that way—but I have to go with a natural reaction. He tries to be good, it blows up in his face so he goes back to being bad, and then something comes along and changes his mind…don't worry, he'll still be the same mean, calm and collective, evil mastermind that I do so love writing about, but he takes out his frustration on another outlet, kind of like in "The End" (with Raven and Trigon), where he takes down Trigon, and just so happen to 'help' the Titans in the process…Just read. You'll see soon enough for yourselves…

DISCLAIMER: Refer to chapter one please.

CHAPTER EIGHT: Mr. Church

"So…where's the pick up?"

Robin almost laughed. Eyes scanning the information, he just shook his head and turned to his teammates. "The docks."

David Church must have picked the position, or at least one of his men. Slade wasn't the kind of guy to use the same place twice and if the dock was the trade-off point for the hostage…

"Who'd he take?" Beast Boy, hovering behind Robin, was trying to peek over their shoulders and the papers spread out on the counter. Finally he morphed into a squirrel and climber over the huddle.

"Here." Starfire offered, picking up a picture of the man. "He is a Collin of Peters…"

Raven sighed. "You mean 'Peter Collin'."

"Um…yes."

Robin had to admit…there wasn't much left for them to prepare for. Tonight was the trade off and they hadn't many clues as to where to find either of the two men (David Church or Slade). The best thing to do until then was to play dumb and pretend that they knew nothing. That way D. Church wouldn't suspect his plans to be spoiled and would go on with everything arrogantly, like a real criminal.

"Sit tight." Robin sighed. "I just hope Slade hasn't tortured anyone…"

-M-

As strange as it might have seemed, everything Eric told her made perfect sense. Oh course, she probably would have rolled her eyes and laughed as though it were a joke if he had told her this before the whole abducting issue, but now she realized he was quite serious.

"Ouch…talk about a tough childhood." She finally admitted. "What does your father want you for now?"

Eric grinned. "You'll see…I don't want our humble host to hear about anything."

She followed his eyes and stared out the side window. Slade was finished talking to the elder man—who was making his way to the plane—and was heading back toward the car.

"Knowing him…he probably knows something about it already."

Eric laughed. "Don't jinx me." He leaned toward back seats and hit Klaus in the knee, waking the boy with a start. "Rise and shine, sleepy-head. Our plane is leaving."

"So…you're actually going to let him take you back to your father?"

"Yep…" He finally noticed his seat belt and undid it. "I'd rather get rid of him once and for all, than continue running."

She paused for a moment. "…So...you're going to kill him?"

Eric looked incredulous. "What makes you think that? In all honesty, I never killed a person in my entire life. I might have shot someone once or twice…but never to kill them."

"He—" She nodded toward the dark figure heading their way. "—said you used to be a thief."

She could tell she hit the nail on the head.

"Please don't lie…" She added. "Not after everything you told me…"

"Sometimes…Sometimes I was, but it more so because of the security for Klaus and the fact that I couldn't get a job anywhere normal without someone popping up with a gun and a million dollars in their pocket. But I never stole from anyone in their own home…"

She smiled. "Then what did you steal?"

"Stuff from the museums."

Then the door swung opened.

-S-

"Don't try anything funny." He warned, grabbing the woman by the arm and helping her to stand. "Trust me when I saw you won't get very far."

"I believe it." She replied without a worry in the world.

She seemed to be a little…cheery. He was almost tempted to ask what Eric told her, but he'd get it out of the man on their way over to the states. That also reminded him of the matter concerning why his father was after him.

They were going to have one hell of a long conversation.

Eric and his younger brother stepped outside the car without so much as a word. Eric was frowning. Klaus was more focused on the bushes alongside the road and the few glints he saw—or thought he saw—every then and again. It was a few of the robots Wintergreen brought along for the ride in case they ran into someone. There were more on the plane, Wintergreen assured him of that, but the older man also had something else to say.

The trade-off was at Jump City.

The trade-off was originally scheduled in New York, but one of Dr. Church's contacts got a hold of Wintergreen somehow and told him that it would be easier for them both if Slade brought his sons to Jump City instead. Like hell. If Slade had set up the entire plan on his own, then maybe going to Jump wouldn't be so bad, but if was David's men who set everything up…

The Titans probably already knew. They had trouble when it came to battling major villains like Blood or himself, but when it came to petty mad scientists and mofia men; they probably thought it was a vacation.

Perhaps he was giving them too much credit. After all, they were just children. Then again, with a leader as obsessive as Robin, some things weren't as difficult for them as it would be for the average person.

To hell with the Titans. If they managed to find out, then oh well. More fun for him.

His three hostages piled onto the plane without question. It would seem that Eric finally realized he was going back to his father whether he wanted to or not, and Klaus was void about it all because he went wherever his brother went, regardless of the danger that await them both. As for the woman, Muriel…he didn't quite know.

The small jet was divided into three parts. The cockpit, the center with a side sliding door for sky-divers, and a far back room which could be used either as a storage area or—in this cause—a momentary prison. Without much thought, he pushed Eric down to sit near the sliding door and took Muriel roughly by he right arm, leading both her and Klaus to the far back. Three of his robots stayed in the center area to watch his original captive with one in front with Wintergreen to fly the plane, another single robot seated in the far back to watch his other guests.

Waiting until Muriel and Klaus were seated, Slade closed the back door partway to talk to them in private without Eric hearing him. He didn't want the man to see him act with any more mercy before they landed in Jump City. Otherwise, his upcoming questioning session wouldn't be as easy as it should be.

"This is your last chance to leave."

Muriel didn't believe she heard him right the first time, staring at him quizzically and then at Klaus. The young boy just shrug, unable to voice an opinion.

"I was only asked to take him back." He explained, meaning Eric. "So as far as anyone besides myself and my partner know, you have no involvement in this situation whatsoever. If you were wise, you would take this chance and leave. As soon as this plane takes off, you will receive no further openings for escape. Is that understood?"

Both captives paused in contemplation—one mute in any case—before shunning his offer aside. The woman turned her face away, almost blushing so far as he knew. And he knew it. Either she owed something great to the young man or she had feelings for him, but he knew then that she wasn't going to leave him. No matter what the cost.

That enraged him somewhat. She really didn't understand what she was getting herself into—but it was the boy that tipped the scale. One look at him and Slade locked eyes (or eye…err…whatever…) with a glare which reminded him too much of his own sons. Joseph…

Startled and a little furious, he reopened the door behind him and slammed it shut as soon as he left. Giving a quick gesture to one of his robots, the bot left to tell Wintergreen it was time to leave, and took a seat across from Eric. The young man was already strapped in, eyeing the two robots seated one either side of him until he realized Slade was staring directly at him.

"You look upset."

"How would you know?" Slade snapped. "Usually the mask hides all that."

"The eye is a window to the soul." Eric found a frown of his own and glared back just as hard. "So, why didn't you ditch them? I'm sure my father left no details in his plans concerning them."

"You can ask them yourself."

"Bastard. Muriel doesn't know what she's getting into."

"Do I honestly look like I care?" Somehow he managed to shake off whatever pity he felt for his captives. He was growing too soft anyway... "I kill for a living. You should know that." Then he smiled behind his mask. "Besides, your slate isn't exactly clean either. You might have never killed anyone, but you seem to think you're above the law as well."

Eric's eyes darkened. "Congratulations, you finally figured something out about me, but I bet you don't even know why my father asked you to grab me in the first place."

His smile faded. "Certainly not fatherly love. Otherwise he would have asked for your brother as well. But we have time to spare. Certainly enough for you to tell me every last detail…"

"Like hell I would." The young man spat.

Yes…he would.

The robot to Eric's left reached to its side and opened part of its chest. Reaching inside, it pulled out a syringe.

"This is what I do for a living." Slade drawled out calmly, not a real care in the world. He had had his fair share of stubborn prisoners and he was quite sure Eric would be no exception to the ones from which he squeezed information from. "And like I said before, we have time to spare…"

Eric stiffened, but maintained the heavy glare. He knew, as well as Slade, that when it came to chemical assistance, keeping a tight mouth was a hard thing to do. And if he was really smart, then he would also know needles weren't the only thing Slade had up his sleeve.

Slade found his smile again. "Feel free to scream at any time…"

-unknown-

The docks were dark and quiet, not quite at peace when you consider the constantly moving shadows or the occasional shout of one of the late-night workers startled by something on one of the further, but it was mostly deserted and not a soul would know what they were doing there if everything went according to plan. Mr. Church came to Jump City as soon as he possibly could, waiting anxiously for the arrival of his son.

Nine o' four p.m….just as scheduled.

"Jeremy thinks he saw one of those kids."

Mr. Church, who was staring quietly out the side window of his car, simply grinned. "You mean the Titans?"

Conrad sat beside him, flipping his cell-phone closed and staring out his own window. "It was that red-haired alien girl hovering near one of the buildings. We're sorry, Mr. Church. We thought—"

"I was wondering when they'd find out." He laughed. "It was inevitable, so don't worry about it. They'll come along and show just who exactly is in control of this small city—them, or Deathstroke the Terminator."

He was looking forward to seeing the man in action.

"Nine o' five." Conrad said aloud, reading off his writs watch. "The old man on the phone said they would be here at exactly that time."

"And they are." Church assured him, opening his door. "They're inside the pier warehouse."

"How did you—" Conrad ended up cutting his own sentence short. He learned, over the years, that Mr. Church was usually quite right about whatever he said….

He just didn't want to see the demon he made a deal with…

-S-

The flight over to America was quite interesting. He found out everything he wanted to know from Eric—even the small planned he hoped of playing against his own father—and he had suddenly come to one conclusion—

He wanted to know more. Not just what Eric knew, but what his father knew as well. And if anything the young man said to him was true, then hello Doomsday…

He came to the old warehouse early, all three hostages in tow. Wintergreen, who had other business to attend to, left shortly after for another engagement elsewhere in the city and Slade…well, he kept an eye open for Mr. Church. Curiosity plagued him as to what the man looked like. If he was as terrible as everyone made him out to be, he wondered what history than ma had behind his back and wanted to know more about his own research. If Eric was right about his father, then he might still be searching for a way to advance the human brain from youth.

He wondered if he still tested his 'ideas' on infants…

Somehow, even that notion disturbed him.

Sitting at the far back of the dark warehouse, he waited for one of his robot commandos to warn him of his visitors' arrival and, sure enough, roughly around nine o' five, one of the small side doors to the warehouse purposely creaked open and slammed shut behind a small group of five men.

Slade picked out Mr. Church instantly, even with the little amount of light supplied for anyone at all to see.

He was a tall man, well-built and possibly and ex-soldier by the judge of his figure. His hair was short and black, a band of white crawling up the back of his neck to show off his age, and his eyes were the same piercing blue that both his sons possessed. His skin was rough, Slade could make out the few lines by his eyes, but that did nothing to show he was weak. If anything at all, it gave the man a weather-worn and powerful air. But even then…he must have had Eric when he was a little older than the usual age that couple wanted children.

Mr. Church was a man with experience and Slade found himself a little angry at him. He couldn't place his finger it, but, nonetheless, something had him feeling disturbed and he was sure to get to the bottom of it before the night was through.

"You're late."

The men didn't see Slade at first, but as one of Slade's robots turned on a main light, they squinted and noticed him standing at the far end of the warehouse, hands placed neatly behind his back as they usually were.

"By half a minute." Mr. Church replied, not shaken in the least bit like his men at the sight of the famed mercenary.

"You're still late."

Mr. Church shook off the question. "Where is he?"

Slade didn't move. On Q, his other robots took the three captives from the corner shadows and into the light, Eric with his hands bound tightly behind his back. Muriel still had that stubborn and determined look to her face, Klaus appeared quite worried and Eric, still somewhat dazed by the whole "questioning" process on the plane-ride there, was pale and a little ticked off.

Slade enjoyed seeing the slightly startled reaction of Mr. Church at the sight of the other two hostages. His eyes shifted from Klaus to Muriel and back again.

"…This was somewhat unexpected." The older man wondered aloud. "I didn't ask for either of the other two, but their being here could prove useful. You expect pay for them too?"

"No."

Church's men glanced curiously between each other.

"Nevertheless, you brought them here in record time." He added. "There must something else I can do to pay you besides this…"

Two of the men stepped forward closer into the light and showed a briefcase before turning them sideways and opening them to show the money inside. Closing them once more, one of Slade's robots stepped up to take them.

Slade reached toward his belt, pulling out his bo-staff and extending it slowly in one hand. Church's men saw this as a threat and pulled out their guns but Mr. Church himself remained calm.

"You'll have to excuse me for a moment." Slade sighed. "But this conversation is no longer private."

"No rush." Church replied, taking out his own hidden gun from within a secret pocket of his long black coat.

Then the Titans attacked.

Three of them came in through one of the garage doors, nearly destroying it completely as they barged in. The small green changeling dropped down from above, first as a squirrel before morphing, mid-air, into a tiger and dashing toward the robots holding the hostages. Robin, on the other hand, came at Slade from behind.

"Attacking a man with his back to you?" Slade inquired, spinning around and deflecting Robin's attack with his own bo-staff. Both paused, pushing against one another with their poles. "I never knew that was part of the code of chastity but, then again, you always were an exception. Although, you seemed to have changed while I was gone…."

Robin had no mouthy answer. He muttered some sort of protest to what Slade had just said before pushing away and rounding up for another strike. Slade deflected the next one as well and, in the process, slid the boy a good couple of feet away for more room to fight.

"Impatient tonight, aren't we?" He laughed. "But you need to understand that not every hour of my life is devoted to ruining your team. I promise you'll have my full attention later…"

He could tell he was getting on the boy's nerves, speaking as though he were talking to a mere child, and it was a nice change from trying to have a verbal fight with either one of his annoying captives (minus the mute). It was so much easier to enrage him.

"I came here to fight." Robin growled, winding up for yet another attack. "How about you?"

Interesting question…

-A-

We're nearing the end…but it doesn't happen here. And yes—if you guessed it—there is a secret plan going on behind-the-scenes, and Slade heads it all. Just wait and see…The world's worst enemy is about to become a one-night-only hero…