Raven kept turning around nervously, trying to get the gist of the conversation. Realizing her eavesdropping was rather obvious, she turned around and sighed heavily, her stomach queasy from the nerves.

"If it is not rude to ask, my lady, but what is an astounding woman, such as yourself, alone in a facility such as this?" Raven turned around at the unfamiliar voice. She looked into his gray eyes and blushed slightly. She wasn't used to this kind of attention from anyone other than her husband, and this man was not bad looking. "Mind if I take a seat?" Before the question was even answered, he sat down. Raven was alarmed by this, but was in no haste to get rid of a man who found her astounding.

"I know this must be odd, but I feel the need to get this off of my chest. So now, are you dating?" he asked, rather rudely.

"No I'm--"

"Wonderful. Me either. With work, my personal life can't get in the way. It's rather depressing when I really think about it. But I never think about much besides work."

"Self indulged I presume?" Raven asked for spite.

"Ha. It might seem that way. But I'm not. I do things for the betterment of mankind."

"Good for you," Raven said with a fake smile, plastered on her face.

"Yes, well. Good is how I will feel, maybe even a little more than good, when we get together. I don't know how you are not accompanied in a restaurant like this!" the man outstretch his hand, and let his fingers caress Raven's palm. Raven pulled her hand out from under his.

"Don't be frightened by my forwardness, dear." Raven gasped softly, feeling something on her leg, going up her dress. She knocked it away, and pushed her chair out a little further.

"Oh, that was just to tease you," he said while standing up, walking over to her. He placed his cold hand on the back of her neck, and slowly dragged his fingers on her warm skin. Shivers shot up and down her spine.

"Get off of me!" she shrieked, smacking his hand away.

"For now…," he said, sliding his hand down her dress, and pulling it back up slowly.

-xXx

Slade turned his head towards the direction of their table, and saw that Richard was right, there was another person at the table. Something clicked in the back of his mind, that his heart didn't particularly like.

"He's here," Slade said vengeful.

"How do you know?" Sanaa asked abruptly.

"Like any "good" villain, one attacks straight for the heart."

"He's tantalizing you?"

"He's luring me away from you. He knows that I betrayed my orders to kill you, and more importantly, he knows me."

"It looks like he's trying to flirt with her, badly," Sanaa stated. Slade turned his head, and saw him get up and walk towards Raven, placing a hand on her neck, and then slowly pushing it down her dress. Flames of anger rose within him, and his hand was clenched into a fist.

"Go get her out of here," Richard said, "she isn't safe."

"And you don't think I can't see that? Being a vigilante has been my life, I know exactly what he's doing," Slade said threateningly, looking over towards the table again, noticing he was gone. "Just stay here, and act like nothing is happening." He walked away and went back to the table, and saw Raven shaking. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She snapped, and smacked his hand away.

"Get off of me!" she cried, with tears on the brim of her eye. She looked up, and saw it was not the gray-eyed man and sighed with relief. Slade sat down, and grabbed her hands to try and settle her shaking.

"What did he say to you, Raven?" he asked fluidly.

"He…he touched me. Wait, how did you know that--"

"That's not important. The man who did this to you is after Richard. You need to get out of here and be safe. I will escort you back to the hideout, and do some more things to prepare for tonight. Forget what I said about not using your powers. Raven, you have to use them to defend yourself if he gets anywhere near you. Now let's get out of--"

"Good evening, folks. I am Henry, your server for the night. Would you like to start out with a drink?" the waiter asked.

"No, actually. We are leaving. An emergency has occurred," Slade said while standing up.

"Oh. I am sorry. Hopefully everything will be alright. Have a good night," Henry said politely. Raven stood up, and they walked out of the restaurant together.

"I want to help you."

"Rae--"

"Don't try and sweet talk me out of changing my mind."

"Fine, I won't," Slade said with a smirk. Behind the slight grin, he was conjuring up a plan to leave her behind.

"Good."

The two entered the hide out, and Slade when directly to his bag and pulled out his laptop and set it up.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked, laying her jacket on the bed before looking over his shoulder.

"Hacking into the security cameras, which are around the restaurant. I want to see when this person came in and out. I need you to help me identify him," Slade said, while intently staring at the computer screen.

"I could just give you a description," Raven simply said.

"Yes, but I want to know which direction he was coming in from, and which direction he was going in when he came out."

"Why is that important?"

"It may be helpful to what he's planning next. And he might have left a clue."

"Well, he smokes," Raven said. Slade looked closer at the box of cigarettes, and noticed the cover of the box was obstructed by something small. He paused the camera, and zoomed onto the box.

"Oh my god…," Slade said wide eyed. On the screen, in neat handwriting, was a note that read:

A dying day is all that you need,

And it will happen next time you bleed.

At Slade's trailing voice, Raven looked at the computer, and read it. Her jaw hung open, and her delicate hand rose to cover her mouth.

"Is he talking about me?" Raven asked, "I'm the only one that can…die."

"It's wearing off…."

"What is?"

"…I'm dying…."

"The stuff that is making you immortal, is wearing off, and killing you!" Raven shrilled.

"It's not killing me, Rae. I'm dying naturally, as are you."

"So…so now you need my help?" Raven asked excitedly.

"No." He got up from his chair, shut the laptop, and put it back in the bag. He walked out of the room, without even acknowledging Raven's presence. Perturbed by this, Raven screamed, "Where are you going!" His return reply was faint, but she heard the words 'to think'.

-xXx

His head, heavy in his hands, his thoughts began to wander. How could this person know that the chemicals were starting to recede? Memory after memory played in his mind, and then it came to him…

Slade Wilson was at the top of his game, during those sixteen years away from the Titan. His kill count was unbelievable. The rumor was he had reached the thousands. He was feared by many, and idolized by one. This one person, at the time, was not the Titan, but by a young boy. This boy always heard stories about the master-killer, and swore to himself he would go on rendezvous like him. His childish dream, turned into a teen fantasy. With his smarts, the now teenager knew practically everything about Slade. Even about what made him "special".

A close friend had told him that she heard a rumor that the infamous Slade was back in Jump City. His plan could now be set in motion.

Slade was walking through the crowded city, going to his next place of business, when he ran into the teen. As the two passed by Slade was clipped, and figuring it was just an extra sharp edge of a shopping bag out to get him. He dismissed the encounter, and watched how his very minor healed within seconds, leaving not a scratch. Once the teen had the blood he was looking for, he disappeared from the sidewalk to an alleyway. He took out a swab and soaked it with the blood and put it in a case. The boy's plan, in its immature stages, was already very successful.

-xXx

"He looked familiar, the gray-eyed man. But I just can't place his face anywhere," Raven sighed.

"He's not after Grayson," Slade blurted.

"Sure he is—"

"He's bate, Rae. Whoever this guy is, he's been on me for years."

"How do you know that?"

"Plans like this, so perfectly executed, don't just come together like this. They take planning. And with any good plan, a lot of time is put into them."

"What are you talking about? What plan?" Raven asked innocently.

"I'm not sure of what plan exactly, but he's got one. We are to leave tomorrow," Slade said, pacing the room with an unsure look.

"But what about Richard, Slade? How do we know that he isn't just bate."

"Sanaa."

"Who's Sanaa?"

"The woman he was with, his secretary."

"He's sleeping with his secretary! How completely unoriginal!"

"No! He was wearing his wedding band, Raven," Slade said quickly, calming her down, "I told you it was just business."

"You had me scared, for a moment. So what do you propose we do?" Slade looked Raven in the eye after she asked her question, and thought. What were they going to do? He needed to get Raven off his mind.

"Just relax. Get a good night sleep, I guess." There was a long pause of uncertainty from the both of them. Each one was trying to secretly plan there own agenda, and their usual openness with one another was gone. The feeling made both of them uneasy.

"We need to get some food to eat. I'm starving, and I don't want to even go near the stench of the kitchen," Raven said while wrinkling her nose, emphasizing the disgust of the smell.

"I know a burger place a few blocks down. I'll get some stuff to go."

"Sounds amazing."

"Good," Slade said, planting a kiss on her forehead, "I'll be back soon."

Raven heard the loud boom of the shutting door, and decided to take a look around the place. There was surely something good to see in a place like this.

The lights flickered on, revealing a messy unorganized room. Papers and books lay everywhere. Stepping over piles of papers she managed to wade through to the desk, and flipped through the old papers, the pencil drawings fading. Grabbing a random piece of paper, she observed a blueprint and it was a sophisticated human looked android. The squiggles, millions of notes, and complexity of the picture confused Raven into the oblivion, and put it down. There was so much to his life that was untouched and unexplored by minds other than his. His stoic ways angered Raven at times, but his secrets were probably kept in the past for a reason. There wasn't a villain behind the mask, there was a genius. A genius who found the perfect bunch to test his intelligence on. She turned away from the desk, and accidentally knocked over a stack of papers. She shrieked, and turned around to see the mess she had made. She turned around and saw a manila folder that lay underneath the pile she had just knocked over. She opened the folder cautiously and peaked in. Pictures filled her view. She flipped through the pictures, and came across a younger and two-eyed Slade. She smiled, and noted that at the particular angle the picture was taken, someone else had to have been holding the camera. She lifted the picture and looked at the one underneath it. A beautiful woman was pictured on the photograph, with her brown hair flowing with the wind. Her face was beaming with happiness. Raven realized who this woman is was, when she noticed the ring on her right finger….

"…what happen…to your…eh…eye," Raven said, still her gaze focused on his face.

"My attempt for a first wife," Slade uncomfortably said, moving uneasily in his chair. Raven's staring gaze broke, when her expressions filled with worry.

"May I ask how?" Raven said, clearing her throat. Slade looked at her, but decided to let his guard down around her.

"She shot my eye out."

Raven wondered what went wrong. The picture must have been before the event that left Slade one-eyed. Slade must have loved her enough to keep the pictures, to remind himself of all the good, instead of all the bad that he was reminded of when he looked into the mirror. But secretly, Raven was glad the relationship ended the way it did, because with out their struggle, her own relationship with him would have been nothing. She put the folder down gently, and maneuvered herself around the desk. Carefully, she made it three-quarters of her way out of the room, when she tripped and stumbled into a small column with an expensive looking piece of artwork perched on it. The column wobbled enough so the artwork tittered, and fell off.

'Crap…,' Raven thought to herself as she awaited the crash, with her eyes tightly shut. But instead she heard something lock. She opened her eyes slowly, and noticed that the tiny statue was a lever. After she came to this realization, a section of the wall started to shake and progressively disappear into the floor. Dust flew from the inside of the room and Raven coughed it out of her lungs. She curiously stepped into the room, and felt around for a light switch. But before she could do that, the lights flickered on automatically. Raven was appalled at what lay in front of her. The weapons ranged from pocket knife, to a massive selection of artillery. Raven stepped into the room, her eyes glittering with amazement. She was partly interested in the collection, but partly disturbed by it too. Though the stock was not updated, she realized something truly odd about one weapon hanger on the wall. When Slade started something, he always finished it, no matter what. His obsessive composure wouldn't allow him to be any other way. Raven stared in bewilderment at the one empty hanger.