"Slade?" Terra asked.
Slade casually laid a hand over hers. "Yes?" The amount of control he had over her was stunning. At this rate, Slade knew she would never leave him. Even if she considered it, steps were being taken to prevent her from leaving. A neural-interface suit was in the process of being created. Not only that, but another . . . factor complicated matters of her running away. Slade was quite aware of what the Titans would say, of what they would do, if they found out that she enjoyed his company more than a normal apprentice should. She could never return to them; she was his, and his alone.
Terra slipped her hand out of his. "Are we going to train again?"
"Training will resume at seventeen hundred hours," Slade said. He saw Terra's face fall ever so slightly. "Would you like to assist me in planning the break-in of Wayne Enterprises?" The words were hardly out of Slade's mouth before Terra answered.
"Yes."
Slade motioned for Terra to follow him. Within minutes, the two were in Slade's control room. Slade accessed the blueprints of the building and, turning and seeing Terra standing off in the shadows, motioned for her to come closer. "Now, Apprentice, considering the locations of the guards in red, where would you say would be a possible entrance point into the building?"
Terra focused all her attention on the blueprint in front of her, and she was unaware that Slade was drawing closer to her side. "I think . . . here." She turned to Slade, gasping in surprise when she saw him so near her. She quickly looked away and back to the blueprint, pointing a shaking finger again to the screen.
"Good, but not perfect," Slade said. It didn't surprise him. Terra was very skilled with her powers, and it made sense to assume that she was also quite intelligent. In fact, there was only one place better to break into from. "Look here," Slade said, purposely leaning over her and directing her attention to another vent in the system. "The place you chose has several guards stationed ten feet closer than this vent. It is also one hundred yards closer to our destination. Do you see, Apprentice, why this is the best place to choose?"
Terra swallowed and nodded, and Slade placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to tense.
"And when you approach the building, what is the best direction to approach from?"
Terra blinked. "Um, underground?"
Slade nodded. "That is correct."
Terra smiled hesitantly. "What about for you?" she asked.
"What would you have me do?" Slade asked.
Terra frowned. "Well, you'd probably . . . be awesome," she muttered. Then she blushed deeply, shook her head, and attempted to retract her previous statement. "I-I mean . . . you'd stay in the shadows, and, um, take out any security cameras before they saw you, avoid all the guards, and scale the building to get to where you wanted to go. Yeah."
"Perfect," Slade purred.
Terra looked away, her eyes wide. Then she coughed once. "What are you stealing?" she finally asked.
"A blaster," Slade said. His words were an outright lie, but he knew Terra wouldn't catch on. In reality, the object of his desire was an essential part of her neural-interface suit. However, there was no reason for her to know that.
"Cool," Terra said. "Does it blow things up or vaporize them?"
"Both," Slade said.
Terra looked at her shoulder where Slade's hand rested, and she gingerly escaped from his grip. "Can we start training now?"