Chapter 11

August 3rd, 2017. 3:23 AM.

Damian sat perched in a high elm just outside of the Jump City limit, with Raven, Jaime and Tara behind him. From his position, he was able to keep an eye on their target: it was barely noticeable, but hidden just off the highway was a small hatch. Damian knew that this hatch would lead them straight into Wilson's bunker. Damian still had a hard time believing that the fearsome Deathstroke the Terminator, once considered to be the successor of Ra's al Ghul, had been reduced to such a pitiful state. The last time they'd fought, Wilson had control over an entire mountain stronghold, a castle he had seized from Damian's people. How one who held so much power had been brought so low was beyond him, but Damian felt no pity for Wilson. All Damian felt for that sad shell of a man was hatred and disgust. After the things he'd done, Slade didn't even deserve the bunker.

"We're ready when you are, Todd," Damian whispered into his com link. "What have you got planned?"

"Just sit back and watch, junior," Jason's voice cracked slightly through Damian's earpiece. "You kids are in for a show."

A moment later, up zoomed the Red Hood on his motorcycle. He hopped off the bike and retrieved something Damian couldn't quite make out from the box mounted on the bike's rear. Todd quickly rushed over, placing the object against the secret hatch before returning to his bike. Just as it clicked in Damian's mind what the object was, Todd pressed the button on the detonator in his hand, and the hatch was engulfed in a grand flash before flaming chunks of the concealed door were sent flying in all directions.

"HEY MISTER WILSON!" the Red Hood shouted into the fresh hole in the ground. "I know you're in there! Get out here and let's talk!"

Within four seconds, several soldiers clad head-to-toe in Deathstroke's detestable rebranding of the League of Assassin's uniform were pouring out from within the bunker. Shorty after Jason had been surrounded, out stepped the one-eyed beast himself, outfitted with what appeared to be some kind metal sheath in place of his old mask. He took the bait.

"I've heard tales about you, Hood," Deathstroke hissed under his metal mask. "They say you're the most dangerous of all the Batman's students. But if this is what you call an offensive… then I am disappointed."

"Ooh, that's some big talk…" Todd crossed his arms as he quipped. "Wanna see if you can back it up?" He throttled his bike aggressively, the roar of its engine acting as a taunt all on its own.

Deathstroke said nothing, but snapped his fingers. In a moment, two more soldiers wheeled out a black motorcycle with orange accents to Slade's side.

"Nice wheels, old man," Jason shouted as he throttled again, this time kicking up a cloud of dust under the spinning wheels of his bike. "Let's see if you can keep up!" As Todd began speeding off into the city, Wilson quickly mounted up and tore off after him.

"Wait one more minute. Let them go back inside…" Damian whispered, watching the remaining soldiers as they slowly descended back into the stronghold. About a minute or so after the last one disappeared from view, Damian gestured forward, and the squad crossed the highway and made for the entrance…

Jason tore down the streets of Jump City, the sound of gunfire cracking from behind him. So this punk knew how to use a gun, he thought. So what? He doesn't seem so–

He identified the pop of his back tire just as the bike vanished from underneath him. Yeah. I just had to open my mouth, didn't I?

Jason crashed to the asphalt, his helmet shattering as he rolled like a log along the road. He barely managed to pull himself to his feet when he felt the icy touch of a steel blade to his neck send a shiver of his spine. Oh crap…

"Is that all you had in you, boy?" Shade growled, his one eye burning down on Jason. "I expected more after all your bravado."

Jason just barely saw the blur out of the corner of his eye, a half-smile curling on his lips as he watched the assassin pull back, preparing to cleave his head clean off. "Well, I guess you're right. I should have thought this through a little better. If only I'd maybe brought some backup…"

Jason didn't flinch as he watched Slade swing his blade. He also didn't flinch as the blue-and-red streak crashed into Slade from the side, sending him flying through the adjacent building. Instead he just grinned as the sword clattered to the steer next to him.

"Oh, wait…"

When Deathstroke looked up, floating overhead was Jonathan, a fiery look in his eyes.

"That was for hurting my friend," the boy growled, his eyes beginning to glow red. Deathstroke groaned.

"You have GOT to be kidding me…"

Tara ran as quietly as she could behind Damian and her friends. She hated the idea of being here again, after everything that happened… it sickened her to think about it. But, this was was needed to happen; she knew her way around Deathstroke's base better than anyone, and she had to be there in order for her neural implant to be shut down. Still… her skin crawled as she thought of what happened in these corridors. But she did her best to put that out of her mind as she and her teammates ducked into the shadows to avoid detection by the patrolling soldiers.

"We're almost there," she whispered once the soldiers were out of earshot. "Just a little further, then turn right at the end of the hall."

Damian nodded, taking the lead as the four of them darted between the shadows down the long hallway. But just as they were approaching the end of the corridor, four more troops came around from the left. In a panic, Damian leapt into the nearest doorway, followed immediately by the other three, just in time to avoid being spotted.

"That was way too close," Damian said under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry guys, I'll pay better attention from now on. Let's get in th…"

By this time, Tara had long since stopped paying attention. Tara, in fact, had slid down to the floor up against the wall, and could not move. Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth hung agape in mortified realization. This… this room was…

This was where it happened.

All at once, every memory of what Deathstroke had done to her came flooding back. The feeling of him cutting her open, pulling out her insides and putting the cold metallic abominations back in with them. The smell of blood overwhelming her senses, which she knew was her own that pooled all around her. The feeling of powerlessness as he tested his device, taking away all control of her body, exerting his will onto her in a way she could never fight back against. But worst of all… worst of all was the memory of him– it– pulling her hair, throwing her onto the cold steel medical bed… the sting of the black eye it gave her as it tried to stop her thrashing… the chill of the restraints it latched to her wrists… the… the feeling of… oh god, it…

As Tara spiraled away in horror at what happened in the room she swore she'd never return to, a feeling she wasn't expecting swelled up in her heart: a sense of center. She could still see the vile sin committed against her over and over in her head, but the fear was… fading? It seemed to getting smaller, as if… as if the heart she thought was broken was being stitched back together. And something… something else echoed in the back of her mind. Something she'd heard before, but never understood until now…

Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos.

Suddenly, everything snapped back to reality. Tara blinked for a moment as she realized there hands held gently against her face. There, kneeling down in front of her, was Raven… who had tears streaming from her face. Why was she crying? Oh crap, did something happen while–

Before Tara could finish her thought, Raven threw her arms around her neck, weeping quietly. This just confused her even more… was everyone okay?

"Tara… I'm so… so sorry that he…" Raven's words were broken up between weak sobs. "that he did that to you…"

Suddenly it clicked. Raven was a healer… not just a healer, but an empath. She must have… she must have seen it. Felt it. Every last scrap of pain and shame she'd felt for the last two years… Raven made it all go away.

Tara put her arms around Raven, and tears began to well up in her own eyes. "… it's okay now, Rae…" Tara's voice trembled and cracked as she searched for the right words. "… I'm home now."

Deathstroke tossed the battered Jonathan to the side with disdain, and Jason stood shaky, a deep cut in his left thigh. Okay, he thought, I wasn't expecting THAT. Where'd he even get that green crap? Kori flew to Jonathan's side and picked him up, looking worriedly at his dirt-covered face.

"I need to get him back to the Tower," Kori shouted. "Hood, can you hold Slade here?"

"No problem, princess," Todd said as he grit his teeth, pulling a knuckle knife out of its sheath on his right leg. "I can take this trash."

"Thank you," Starfire replied before flying out of the destroyed building with the young Superboy in her arms. Jason grit his teeth and charged Deathstroke head on. He leapt up, and felt his knee connect with, annoyingly, Slade's forearm. Jason cursed as he dropped back to the ground, launching into a furious offensive, blow after blow deflected by a steely-eyed Wilson. Aggravated by the lack of wear in his opponent's resolve, Jason pushed his body to throw shots even faster.

"Come on, boy!" Wilson taunted as he continued to block Jason's shots. "You are a child of Batman! You should have ended this far sooner!"

"Big talk comin' from someone who got curb-stomped by a TEN-YEAR-OLD!" Jason roared as as he launched the brass knuckles of his knife right into Wilson's mouth. Red Hood grinned and Deathstroke stumbled back; he felt a tooth come loose with that shot.

Slade stood there unmoving for a good four seconds. Wait a minute, he thought. The boy… the boy isn't here. And neither is his friend the witch… and neither is…

Then it clicked.

"… well played, Titans."

Deathstroke walked forward. Jason put his hands up, ready to defend himself. But instead of a blade or fist, Jason was hit with a spray of blood and spittle. He flinched, swatting the tooth away from his face…

And froze as he felt six inches of cold steel bury itself in his stomach.

Jason doubled over, clutching the fresh wound as Deathstroke ran off, hopping back on his bike.

"Being a…" Todd muttered as blood dripped through his fingers onto the ground under him. "… being a big brother… sucks…"

Deathstroke flew down the highway back towards the bunker, cursing himself for being so oblivious. He was NOT going to let her escape! Not after how much time and resources he'd spent engineering her into his greatest weapon. She was his, she belonged to–

Before he could react, Slade felt the full force of whatever wall of muscle had just crashed into him. He found himself rolling down across asphalt into the dead grass, a thunderous pounding on the ground following after him. Quickly, Wilson pulled himself to his feet, and looked up to lock eyes with a massive, one-armed, green gorilla. The beast's teeth were bared, and it threw itself toward him, roaring with blind rage. Slade was quick, however, and managed to leap out of the ape's way.

"Garfield Logan, I presume!" Deathstroke shouted as he drew his sword. "How fascinating to meet the infamous Changeling in the flesh!"

The gorilla quickly morphed into the shape of a lion, batting the sword right out of Deathstroke's hand before bearing down onto him. As much as he hated admitting it, the three kids from before had worn him down. His body was pushed past its limit, and wouldn't hold out much longer.

Garfield, on the other hand, was in such a fury that he could hardly even think straight. Swinging wildly, his single coherent thought what this man had done to his Tara. The image of him forcing himself onto her, the sound of her crying for crying out for help and receiving none, the thought of her locked away in the dark, it was unforgivable. Garfield would show no mercy. This monster didn't deserve mercy…

"Let him go, BB."

Garfield turned, Deathstroke's head in his jaws, to see Tara standing tall on the empty highway, with their friends close behind her. Garfield dropped the broken man, quickly reverting to his original shape. Tara pulled a bloodied rag off of her neck and ran to Garfield, taking his face in her hands.

"Everything is gonna be alright now, Beast Boy." Tara spoke softly, her eyes beaming with strength and love. "I'm free now."

"Tara…" Garfield struggled to ground himself again, but slowly wrapped his arm around the girl's waist, squeezing his eyes closed and breathing in her familiar scent. Her presence made it easier to find his center. "I… how did you guys…?"

Tara let out a single laugh as she put her arms around his neck. "Jaime has a supercomputer strapped to his back, and Raven has that healing magic stuff," she said nonchalantly. "Took like, five minutes once we were in." Garfield couldn't help but crack up at that.

"Beast Boy," Damian called out from behind. "Where is Red Hood?"

"Huh? Uhh…" Gar paused for a moment. He hadn't even noticed until just now. "I haven't seen him. Haven't seen Star and Superboy either."

"Todd?" Slade coughed from his place on the ground, the taste of blood filling his mouth as he struggled to lift himself up. "Heh… I left him back in the city. You should… you should go now and pick up what's left of him…" he cackled, dropping back to the ground.

Tara turned her attention to the man at her feet. Her brow furrowed in anger as she let go of Garfield. "BB, get Robin back to the city." Gar immediately took on the form of a stallion, and carried Damian swiftly back toward Jump City. Tara knelt down and pulled what remained of the helmet off of Wilson's head, revealing his aged face. She grabbed him by his hair and hoisted him up to eye level, her stare boring into his one eye.

"It's over, Slade. You don't get to give me orders anymore," she growled, holding herself back as best she could. He looked back at her wearily, clearly beaten. "I'm taking my life back."

"… As long as the Changeling lives…" Slade's voice was broken, gurgled through blood in his throat. "… You will always belong to me."

Tara tightened her grip on Wilson's hair, then dropped him unceremoniously on his face. "You have three days to leave Jump City. If I ever see you here again…" She rose back up to her feet, glaring down at Deathstroke angrily.

Raven put a hand on Tara's shoulder, reassuring her that she was better than this. "If we see you here again, we'll stop you. All of us."

That moment, Raven's comlink crackled to life. "Raven," Damian's voice came over the signal. "We made it back to the city… Jason's not here."

"Do you know where he may have gone?" Raven asked. "If we can find him, I'll be able to heal his injuries…"

"No… but he'll be fine," Damian sighed. "He always pulls through."