Several hours later, Slade sat at his laptop, going over the Wayne Enterprises blueprints once final time as he planned the break-in of the compound that night. Though it was quite late, Slade was aware that Terra had entered the room and sat down next to him. Normally, he wouldn't have given her presence a second thought, but now, for some reason, she seemed to be very uncomfortable. She continually fidgeted in her spot, and he was aware that her breathing was

much faster than normal. Slade glanced over at her, and when she saw him looking her way, she blushed deeper than he'd ever seen before.

"Slade, I . . . "

Suppressing a sigh, Slade closed his laptop and turned to look at her fully. "What is it, child?" Though Terra said nothing for a few moments, her body language spoke volumes above her silence. Slade calculatingly noted her every move as understanding dawned on him.

After inhaling once, Terra turned away from Slade, intent on talking to the wall away from him and refusing to even look in his direction. Slade waited, somehow already knowing both her response and her reaction. "I just . . . thank you. No one's ever accepted me," she muttered, now looking at her lap and her clenched hands. "No one's ever accepted me for who I am. You're the first one to." She glanced his way then back to her lap, her hands shaking. "You actually care," she said, looking directly at him.

Slade looked back at her, raising an eyebrow and holding back a smile as her eyes burned into his. Was she really . . .

At that moment, several things happened, but Slade, knowing all, reacted faster. Reaching up, he pressed a finger to Terra's lips, stilling the child. Instantly, Terra's eyes opened.

He knew her intentions; they were written all over her face. She, however, was so blinded by her own emotions that she couldn't, or possibly refused, to see what was so obviously in front of her. "Perhaps in a few years, child," Slade mused, gently touching the side of her face, "but for now, the time for rest is long past."

Terra blushed and sat up, then made a move to stand and leave. Suddenly, she threw herself against him, embracing him tightly and pressing her face into his shoulder. Slade ran a hand down her back in comfort. The two remained like that for several moments, and Slade was then aware that she had pulled away from him slightly. Their gazes connected, and he saw the change within her.

"Thank you," she whispered. In that instant, Terra closed her eyes and leaned forward.

This, Slade allowed. If he thought about it, there was a good chance that he would obtain more satisfaction and pleasure by choking Terra to death than by displaying any sort of physical affection towards her. But it wasn't the act or effect that was important to Slade. What mattered to him was the result, because now, the first stage of his plan was finished.

And when she pulled away from him and he saw the vulnerability in her eyes, Slade knew he had her completely. Moments later, Terra got up and fled the room. Slade, his single eye now glowing, sat back in his seat and laughed outrightly. He wondered if she'd even realized how much the ground had shaken.

As of now, there was nothing more that he needed to do. Now that he had her complete trust and willingness to obey, he could begin the task of having her submit to him. Though the first stage of his plan with Terra hadn't played out quite as he'd expected, the results had turned out much better than he could've imagined.

Terra had made it so easy for him to dominate and control her. She was his servant and his toy. Though she might've believed differently, whatever else she thought herself to be to him was merely her own wild imagination. She would live and she would die for him. After all, she was nothing more than his apprentice.

And he was nothing less than her master.

ﮛThe Endﮛ

A/N: Explanation.

I pulled out all the stops on this one. As my first ever pseudo-romance story (notice I said pseudo, more on that later) I knew I had to make this story both subtle and believable. Portray Slade as cold, cruel, brilliant, but in a classy, tasteful way.

First, I will cover any questions that any passing reader might have regarding several scenes in the story (before I cover the final scene between Slade and Terra).

The " . . . possible that other factors could be at work as well. But that neither bothered nor concerned him. In fact, perhaps it was something he could use against her," scene was, in fact, Terra's own growing affections for Slade. It wasn't her puberty (as some people may have assumed) but her growing confused emotional state (of do I want a father, or a lover?) that caused this incisiveness. Slade sees this, and knows that he can use it to his advantage.

During the scene where Terra passed by the training room multiple times and Slade asked, "Child, is there something you require?" Terra wasn't actually looking for anything. She was just wanting to watch Slade train because she thought it was fascinating to watch and she thought that he looked cool.

During the entire scene where Terra wakes up screaming was when Terra realized that she was going through puberty. Though she thought she was bleeding to death, she was not. Side Note: during the scene when Slade asks Terra if she had a nightmare, and Terra's jaw gives a small twitch before she looks away and responds negatively . . . she was lying to Slade. She was lying because there's a good chance that she'd actually been dreaming about him before she woke up and freaked out. Of course, she'd never tell Slade that, but Slade would never tell her that he'd caught on.

Other scenes, (such as when she blushes when Slade tells her to break free, her blushing after Slade tells her that they will battle using hand-to-hand combat, and Terra's own showing Slade the copy of her clothes before changing into her pajamas) were all her childish ways of demonstrating her affections toward Slade. However, due to Terra being young and barely in puberty, she confuses love with parental affections and guidance, the thought of just wanting someone to care could be confused with wanting someone to love.

And finally . . . the ending scene. I originally wrote a very shortened version of this ending, then decided to expand it after one of my sisters read it and didn't know what I was getting at. So I expanded it to explain it better, and though it's still hard to understand, I will explain it fully now.

Slade has been playing with Terra's emotions the entire story. That's obvious, and he also has an idea of her not-so-subtle intentions are. But here's the thing: Terra never really liked Slade. If she did, it was just her confused emotions mistaking romantic love for parental affection and someone to care about her. (Because if you remember, her awestruck expressions when Slade states multiple times that he cares for her simply blows her away. Terra's never had someone who cares for her and accepts her fully, lack of control over her powers and all.) Slade sees this, and (using both confusing emotions against her since he doesn't yet have her neural suit in hand) allows her to figure it out by herself. But when it goes too far, he stops her, because while Slade himself knows that he's never been attracted to Terra, Terra doesn't know that this is how she herself feels until she's put into the position of finding out what her emotions really mean. What was so "obviously in front of her" was NOT the fact that there is a large age gap and it could be construed as something else. It's that Slade was never interested, and he also knows that she's not really interested, either. At the end of the story, she sees this.

"Perhaps in a few years, child," Slade said . . .

Now this is the one line that gave me the most confusion. Slade is not saying that, sometime in the future, when Terra's older, they can start a family together. That was NOT what Slade meant. What he meant was, verbatim: "you can stay with me a few more years. You can figure out what your 'romantic' emotions really mean. You can figure out that you only want me as a father figure. But by the time you figure out that I'm not the man you thought I was, it will be too late and you'll be unable to leave."

He said this to keep her trapped.

The change in her eyes, right before Terra moved toward Slade, wasn't lust. (That was why, earlier in the scene, I stated that her eyes were burning into his.) What she was doing was thanking him. It was less of a romantic kiss and more one of gratitude. But even so, Terra's vulnerability told Slade that she, at that moment, realized that she'd never wanted him in that way, anyway. It just took her until that moment to figure it out.

And now, I'm laughing because, while writing this scene, I thought of the fact that Slade's mask was on this entire time Terra leaned toward him. Man, he really cares . . . not!

And, at the end of the story, I reiterate that Slade only does things that help himself. He only does things that further his own plan. So, if getting Terra to trust him took this much work on his part, Slade willingly goes through this, because he will come out on the other side as the victor.

Though she might've believed differently, whatever else she thought herself to be to him was merely her own wild imagination. . . After all, she was nothing more than his apprentice . . .

Reiterating that Terra is nothing more than Slade's apprentice to him, just in case you thought otherwise. He was only using her emotions against her the entire time, hence the title: Pulling the Strings.

I liked writing this story, and I'll bet you liked reading it about half as much as I did writing it! ^.^