"What is a little whore from a restaurant doing in an ex-villain's lair? Trying to get some business? Well honey, this kitchen is open," a familiar voice, now hushed, whispered into her ear. Raven froze, and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up straight from the suddenness of the cold-hearted whisper.
"What, you don't remember me?" he said, stroking his rough hand up her soft arm. In Raven's silence, she was tying to find her dormant powers, the powers that once lead her teenage life. She had her power under such control, that it was as if she forgot where she left them.
"Do you know what this place is? Do you know where you are? How did he trust you enough to let you in here? Do you even know who he is?" he asked, bombarding the sorceress with questions.
"The real question here is how did you get in here?" Raven said, quickly turning around to see the gray-eyed man from the restaurant, "no mask?"
"I have nothing to hide. And to answer your question, I got in here quite easily. Now answer my questions before I slit your delicate throat," he said, putting a tight grip on her throat.
"I have no idea what this place is. I know where I am. And obviously he has to trust me, he showed me the cash before he dragged me here. He's a one-eyed man, with a lust like no other, sir. Now do those answers answer your questions?" Raven said fiercely.
"You are to relaxed to be new to threats."
"Whoring is a dangerous business."
"So is being a villain," the man said, running his hand down to her hips and thighs.
"Lucky for me, I grew up ridding myself of them," she said looking up into his eyes with a mysterious smile.
"Wha--" Raven used her foot, armed with a healed show, to shove into his groin. The man doubled over in pain, and Raven ran out of the room, jumping over the piles of papers with relative ease. She tried to find the nearest nook and cranny so she could hide in there to try and summon her dormant power.
"The fucking little…bitch!" Raven heard him roar, as she quietly closed the door to the pantry. The smell would surely keep him away at least for a few minutes.
'He touched you in a way you didn't like. That should be enough incentive to find and use your power,' her thoughts mused, 'come on, you weakling. Get up and rid yourself of him. A quick and easy prize for Slade, when he returns.'
Raven stood up, and watched as her right hand enveloped in black flame. She walked out of the pantry, and came face to face with the man. He looked at the woman, with a black flame surrounding her, in the shape of a….
"Raven!" he called out, in disbelief, "Bu--but…no. All the conspiracies! They…they were…true! Ha, even a better demise for him when he finds you dead."
"Good luck," she said in monotone as she threw a large amount of black energy at the man. With ease, he dodged it while running toward her. Raven put up and energy barrier and he ran into it, putting him belly up on the ground.
Raven walked over to him, and pushed her foot into his throat.
"Looks like you really did need the luck," she said pushing on his throat a little harder. All he did, was stare into her gaze, almost not effected by what was being done to him. Suddenly, what sounded like a large metal door opening erupted throughout the hideout. Raven turned around to see where the noise was coming from, and her grip on his throat loosened, and the black energy that once was spread throughout her body deceased.
He grabbed her ankle, taking an advantage in her moments of distraction and said, "Looks like I won't be needing it as much luck as you." Raven looked down at him as he forced her off him, and collapsed to the cold pavement floor. He grabbed her wrist, and dragged her across the floor. Raven struggled to stand up and fight him off. He dragged her into a dark and colder room than the rest of the place, and threw her to the floor.
"Scream, and I will cut your vocal chords, try and escape, and I will put a bullet through your fucking head. Don't think I'm finished with you quite yet," he threatened. Looking into Raven's round eyes, he saw a familiarity to someone he hadn't thought about in years. He pushed his feelings to the back of his mind, not wanting to think about the part of his heart that died so many years ago.
-xXx
The man ruffled his fingers through his hair, trying to get his focus back on his job, and not his girlfriend from over half his life ago. He paced his way back towards the "secret" weaponry room to stock up. When he stepped into the room again, he felt like a kid in a candy store. He was so excited to pick out his treat. But instead of going straight for his choosing of a weapon, he went over to the drawer within the far wall of the room. He pressed a piece of the wall in, and the drawer slowly hissed open. Before when he came in and opened this drawer, he had found the mask, suit, and Bo staff that belonged to Slade. But this time when the drawer came out, nothing was in there. He looked around the room, noticing a few more weapons gone. He knew he had taken one, and that all of them were on their hangers perfectly when he came in.
"Crap," he hissed. He knew that Slade was here, and there was going to be no way out of the upcoming battles.
-xXx
Raven tried to find her center point again, but it was no use. She could not force her power just to resurface again. So, she sat in a damp room waiting for her rescuer. Raven smiled, as this jerked the memory of when she was locked and handicapped in his basement. Everything flooded back, as if she had just gotten her memory restored. Her heart was overjoyed about all of the good things that had happened to her, that lead her to this night.
-xXx
There in the shadows, stood the looming figure, ready for whatever crossed his path. He eyed his prey intently, waiting for the perfect and exact moment to strike.
-xXx
Trying hard to keep his composure, the man searched every corner of the hideout stealthily, always looking behind him to make sure there was no surprise attack on him.
"You draw my blood, tamper with my prostitute, and break into my personal space, and I don't even know your name. How inconsiderate," a deep luring voice said, filling the room.
"It's my job. I'm sure you had rendezvous' such as these," he responded.
"Once again, you go into my personal space! It takes a real warrior to not bring in what is irrelevant. This fight, if you would like to call it, is not between anyone else but you and me." The man turned around to face his masked competitor.
"Do you know why I am even here?" the man asked with fierce attitude.
"Vince said that you were the second runner up to me. Little did I know, at the time, that he was plotting against me since the beginning of our contract. You see, Justin, Vince had a problem with me. I was demanding, rude, and I had a family. It perturbed him that I finally had something more important than my job. And then, I became his problem when I took his Swiss Army knife and stuck it in him. Why did I do that, you ask? Because, he was the problem all along. He gave me ridiculous assignments, and tested my limits, all for you…his son. Now listen Justin," Slade said, his voice getting real deep, "your father told me to spare your life tonight. I told him it depends on how well he fights. And what a high pedestal he put you on! Ha, little did I know it has a pedestal for the pathetic." Filled with rage, Justin attacked Slade with the blade he took. Slade dodged the attacks swiftly and managed to knock the blade out of his hand. Justin still continued to throw attack with his fists. Slade slammed him into the nearest wall, and walked over to him.
"You fucker! You damned to hell mother fucker!"
"Your rage is your weakness. You must learn to control that if you want to fight me. At least in a fair match. Come back wh—" Justin stood up and kicked the back of Slade's knee, sending him to the ground.
-xXx
Suddenly, it struck Raven as if a ton of bricks weighed her heart down. The nausea caused her to feel as if she was going to puke all of her insides all over the cement floor. The nightmare flooded back to her, and all of its pain. She leaned her head against the wall, in the light coming from the crack in the door. She closed her eyes, and tried to wander into a field of wondrous memories, but the fear of her and his life kept on interrupting. But soon, she was off into a dream world. It had been a long day, and sleep seemed the best cure for this point in time.
A gun shot woke Raven's slumber, and her eyelids sprung open. She scrambled to the door, banging her fists into the metal door, screaming bloody murder.
"No! Oh, God…please no! Slade!" Raven cried, screaming at the top of her lungs, making as much noise as possible. "Oh God," she whispered, "please let it not be him…please let it not…oh God," she whimpered sliding down the metal door, partially hyperventilating.
-xXx
Richard sighed heavily. He knew that he couldn't sleep tonight without making sure that everything was alright.
"Pull over, driver. I must get out. Take this lady home. She will give you her address," Richard said politely.
"Richard, what are you doing?" Sanaa cried.
"I can not sleep tonight without knowing that Raven is safe. And, I think it's about time I accepted someone for who he is, and not what he has done."
"Rich…what do you mean?"
"I'll explain later, I promise."
"Be careful," Sanaa said sternly.
"I will," Richard said with a loving smile. He slammed the door, and disappeared into the darkest alleyway, and came out Nightwing.
-xXx
Slade held Justin's wrist up, and the shot missed and was aimed towards the ceiling.
"Oh, please. Get better tactics," Slade remarked. At this, Justin fled the scene, and disappeared further into the hideout.
Justin needed to regain his composure. There was no way he was going to defeat his enemy in this condition.
'He killed my father,' he thought to himself, 'that should be a good enough motive to fight with more adrenaline.'
-xXx
Raven's soft whimpers turned to loud cries of sadness. She gasped for air through deep breaths, and her face was drenched in salty tears.
('Raven….')
Curled tightly in a ball by the door, she tried to pull herself together, but the thought of loss and despair shadowed her thoughts.
"Raven! Raven?" a familiar voice said from the other side of the door.
"Slade!" she cried.
"No, it's Nightwing," he said calmly.
"Where's Slade!" Raven asked, banging her fist against the door.
"Fairing very well," he said, opening the door. Raven collapsed into him, and he struggled to keep the weeping woman on her feet. "What's wrong?"
"The man…he came in," she started to say through sniffles and large intakes of air, "and he locked me away, and he shot Slade."
"He will heal, so what's the --"
"No he won't! It's wearing off!"
Nightwing sighed. He needed to call upon the fighter inside Raven, the dormant one that was pleading to be free.
"Shape up, Raven. You were always the strong one in these situations. Where is the Raven I knew for all those years that the Titans were together." Raven settled down and was listening to what he was saying, and he was right. Where was her strength? Raven rose from the ground and could feel the energy flow through her veins. She felt alive and dangerous. Soon, the flames were ignited, and she was ready to battle.
"Nightwing…," Slade's deep voice boomed out.
"I couldn't see myself sleeping without knowing that everything is alright."
"Are you alright!" Raven cried, "all I heard was a gun shot and expected the worst!"
"I'm fine, but Justin is still lurking around--"
"Right over here," he said, bringing his arm around her neck, partially choking her. Nightwing, as he is called right now, and Slade dashed forward to try and catch her, but Justin warned them off by shooting a pistol at them in random directions.
Justin dropped the pistol and threw on a cool goop over Raven's eyes. He then exited out through the front door, and disappeared into the night.
-xXx
"God damn it! God fucking damn it!" Slade yelled, throwing his mask down in anger.
"All we have--"
"We can't just follow him, Nightwing. It would be a constant cat and mouse chase all over Jump City."
"Then do what you do best. Bring him down," Nightwing said, walking away to leave him in his silence. But Slade did the unthinkable.
"Stay," he bluntly said, "I need your help."
"From an enemy, a thorn in your side for so many years?"
"No, from my forced upon family member."
A/N: So I was toying with the idea of posting this or not, because of Spring Break. But oh well. Please review!
