The Titans had reached the main floor of the factory, the security alert system still blaring and strobe lights flashing in a constant, disorienting sequence. It had taken them time to work their way through the dozens of bots and explosives left waiting for them by their oldest villain, but finally they had reached the floor they assumed Slade was after. Here, a new type of power cell was being prototyped, and with it, Slade could cause untold amounts of chaos.

It had been several years since the now adult Titans had come across their villainous adversary, but just as the Titans had grown and progressed in their skills and talents, it seemed so had Slade. The new bots and rigging he had left for them were more sophisticated, more dangerous, and more destructive. Defeating them had been just as hard, if not harder, now as it had been seven years ago. Clearly, Slade had upped his game.

Or maybe he just stopped holding back, Raven thought bitterly as she floated along with her battered teammates. Ever since her father had chosen Slade to serve him, Raven often found herself thinking about the mysterious masked man. She had begun to question all their encounters in the team's youth, asking herself if he had really been trying all that hard to truly beat them or if it was just an amusing game he liked playing. Raven had a gnawing suspicion it was the latter. Which made his reappearance now all the more unsettling.

The Titans weren't kids anymore. They weren't naïve or misguided. They had been tempered by their failures and knew the consequences and risks of this life. There was no reason to hold back anymore. If Slade really wanted them dead, Raven had a sinking feeling he wouldn't have a hard time doing it.

And that was why when the team encountered more advanced Sladebots, Raven was the one to split off and chase after the disappearing shadow of a man off to one hallway. She heard Robin's – now Nightwing – furious cry when he spotted her chasing his longtime nemesis, but she ignored him, shutting out the fear and concern she felt from him.

If anyone was going to die, Raven would make sure it was her. She wouldn't hesitate to put herself in the way of death if it kept her family safe. Besides, of all the Titans, she had the least going for her. Well, that, and it wasn't a secret that Raven was the most powerful, even if she did often hold back and keep a tight constraint on the power she let loose. If anyone stood a chance against a potentially homicidal Slade, it was Raven.

From somewhere in Nevermore, a purple-cloaked emoticlone whispered softly in her head, And there's that other thing, too…" Raven could see Passion wiggling her brows.

Raven grimaced, shutting down her emotions before they came too distracting, and putting extra effort to shove Passion into the farthest corner of her mind she could. It was true, though, she knew it before she even fully thought through her decision to chase Slade.

Ever since Trigon's defeat, Raven had felt the smallest of bonds between her and Slade. Never anything she concerned herself with, but then again, she hadn't had to face him since she discovered it. Still, she felt its presence growing ever so slightly as she matured. She hadn't felt it much before she turned eighteen, mostly an awareness of his existence, but as she became more certain of herself as a grown woman, the awareness became something else. Why it grew, she didn't know, and her emoticlones all had their own theories – especially Passion – which Raven vehemently ignored.

Because of that bond, though, Raven had the tinies hope that when confronted, Slade wouldn't be able to truly hurt her. It might be a foolish, childish hope, but she couldn't help but have it.

Raven slowed in her pursuit of the shadow, a red cloaked ghost in her head thinking in disappointment, That might mean we won't be able to hurt him either….

"No," she reminded herself aloud, pressing on into the darkening hallway. She didn't hurt people. She was a hero. She stopped people. There was a difference.

Despite her reminder, Raven hated it when her darker side bubbled to the surface of her thoughts. She hated the feeling of that darkness wanting her to cause pain, wanting her to succumb to her nature. It happened more frequently now, just as her bond with Slade had grown, so had the darker desires inside her. It was not uncommon for Raven to ponder if the two were connected.

As the fighting behind her began to fade from earshot, Raven slowed again. She was deep in the facility now and the only light here were the strobes above. She landed softly on her feet, reaching out with her mind to track Slade. She was positive he was close, she just needed….

"Hello, Raven," his voice, smooth, calm and right next to her ear.

Raven sucked in a gasp, spinning and lashing out with her hand to blast him away with her darkness, but as she faced him, his own hand darted out, almost connecting with her cheek. She stepped back to avoid the hit, fading into the shadows and appearing further back. After all these years spent fighting, she had accepted hand to hand was Nightwing's thing, not hers. Especially against Slade.

"Well, I see someone has learned her lessons," Slade tsked, a smirk hidden beneath his mask. He could've knocked her out the moment he saw her, but what was the fun of that? Had it been Boy Wonder or one of the others, he wouldn't have hesitated. Secretly, he was glad it was Raven who had followed him, and he was going to enjoy this dance between them.

"I've learned a lot more than that," Raven countered, her voice monotone but confident. Despite her brave front, Raven felt her heart racing. How did I not realize he was right there?!

Slade chuckled, "We'll see." And then he was moving.

Raven dodged as his attack came in, throwing up a shield and attempting to fade in behind him, but he twisted as her shield went up, expecting her new location.

Frustrated her move didn't work, Raven sent out two rings of shadow. One toward his head, one to his feet in the hope one would land and either knock him out or knock him off his legs.

But Slade was as good as she feared. He launched himself between the two disks, rolling and ending up right in front of her.

Before she could vanish again, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Raven felt something latch on her thin forearm. Even through the sleeves of her leotard, she felt the cold metal of this arm bracelet as it clamped down on her skin. She felt the effect of the infernal thing instantly. Her power was blocked and the air left her lungs as she felt it writhe inside her, imploring for release. Her emotions screamed in her head, Rage taking over her mind at being constrained. It was overwhelming and a feeling she had not yet experienced. Even her empathic abilities were blocked, and she briefly thought of how Nightwing would react when he could no longer feel the bond between them.

As Raven recovered from the sudden block of her abilities, Slade rose to his feet, still holding her thin wrist in his hand and chuckling darkly.

"Did you really think I would come back to Jump City without a way to block you, Gem? After what you did to Trigon?" he said condescendingly, making sure to emphasize her old title, knowing it was annoy her. If she hadn't looked like a grown woman, he might've thought he was still facing off with a teenager.

Her response was to glare at him in indignation, ripping her hand away and trying to pry the bracelet off.

He grinned, entertained by her frustrated struggle. Not that she could see his amusement behind his mask. After allowing her a few seconds of struggling, he shook his head, "You won't be taking that off yourself, little bird."

Raven meet his visible eye, and Slade could see the rage and panic there. "Fuck you," she spat at him, taking several steps back having realized how close she was to him still. Despite his words and her failed attempts, Raven continued to pull at the arm bracelet, but now she made sure to keep her violet eyes on her enemy. She was furious with him and the situation. For whatever reason, it felt like cheating. She knew it was ridiculous to think it, especially since she had often crafted similar devices for using against the Titans' enemies, but her emotions were, for once, standing with Rage and having a riot in her head.

At her curse, Slade's eye widened and he laughed, not expecting it. "Language, Raven!" he scolded, mockingly. He could see she was furious with him, looking like one of the green one's fierce animals ready to pounce, but with the bracelet binding her magic, he found her anger mostly amusing. She's adorable, the thought came unbidden to his head, and he ignored it. Focusing instead on the humor of seeing her trying to claw the damn thing off.

At his tone, Raven clenched her fists, stopping her attempts to pull the metal band off, figuring what he said was true. If she couldn't get it off herself, maybe she could get him to. "What's wrong, Slade?" she sneered at him, hands on her hips and giving him a brazen smirk, "Afraid to fight me as I am? Or do you just know you can't even beat one Titan without crippling her?"

Slade scoffed, his own anger starting to rise up. All the years he'd tormented the young group, he could've wiped the floor with them, but he'd held back, content to toy with them and haunt them while he went about his business. In his mind, having a bunch of teenagers occasionally cause him problems was better than the Justice League or someone truly dangerous meddling with his affairs. Even now, he felt confident the Titans weren't a match for him. Well, except for one….

"Raven," Slade started, his voice silky smooth as he took several steps toward her with his hands behind his back.

Raven tried to suppress her shudder at hearing him say her name and then at his approaching closeness, sending the purple-cloaked Passion another great shove to the back of her mind, wondering where the hell Rage had gone. Still, Raven held her ground, keeping her hands on her hips and her smirk in its place despite the nervous energy bubbling in her chest. When he was just inches from her, he leaned down so his mask was right next to her and their eyes were blazing into one another.

Quietly but with complete control, Slade continued in that same smooth voice, "I'm not an idiot. If you decided to truly unleash on me, I'd be right back in Hell with dear old daddy. Now, you might have complete confidence in not hurting people, I, on the other hand, do not share that same confidence in you. If you'd like to think of that as me being fearful of you, my dear, then by all means, but the truth is," Slade leaned lower to whisper in her ear, his breath coming through the mask hot on her neck and bristling her violet hair, "I'm as afraid of your powers as you are."

With that, Raven's façade cracked. She hadn't expressed her fears to anyone, but the way he spoke to her, the words he said…. Raven was beginning to think Slade was as aware of the invisible bond between them as she. Then again, she had been afraid of her powers all her life, but after Trigon, that had changed. Only after Rage began to come to the surface more recently had her fear returned tenfold. That's got to be it, Raven assured herself, he's just going off what he knew from before. He doesn't have any idea about now.

Slade was still leaning down next to her, his eye staring into hers. He could smell the light scents of lavender, parchment and incense lingering on her skin and hair. It was certainly a unique pairing, not one he'd encountered on a woman before. He was just about to take in another deep breath when Raven's courage returned to her and her small fist collided with the side of his face.

"Ow!" Raven grimaced as she pulled her hand back from the punch. The metal of Slade's helm was as sturdy as it looked, but despite the pain Raven was satisfied with the shocked look in Slade's eye as he turned back to face her.

Raven was snarling at him, clenching her fists and settling into a fighting stance. It didn't matter if she didn't have her powers, she was still a Titan. Even if she knew she would lose this fight, she would still fight it.

Slade watched her curiously, seeing her hand she'd punched with already forming bruises and cracked on the knuckle. He tilted his head like he was looking at something particularly fascinating before laughing again.

His chuckle just enraged Raven even more, and she darted at him, kicking and punching with purpose. Not bad, Slade thought to himself as he deftly avoided and deflected each and every attempt. Far better than she used to be, but, well, it's a good thing she has magic.

"Fight back!" Raven shouted at him as he continued to evade her. Rage was fully in control now, and Raven let her take over, knowing that with the bracelet, she wouldn't really be able to harm anyone.

Slade just laughed harder, not even phased by her onslaught. He waited for her to tire herself before grabbing an incoming fist, twisting it, and pulling Raven flush against his chest. She cried out in shock and attempted to squirm her way out of his grip, but Slade held tight, her back to his chest.

"Let me go!" Raven demanded, throwing elbows to his stomach but only hitting hard abdominal muscles and armor. She was wrapped up in his arms and while logically, she should be afraid, she felt something else instead. Something that she knew was definitely not appropriate for a Titan to be feeling in the arms of someone like Slade. Despite her best efforts to swat it away, Passion continued to creep back to her thoughts and the purple-cloaked clone was ogling.

He's so strong! And warm! And look at those arms! Those abs! Oh, Raven, stay here, please! Passion was squealing.

Slade held her tightly, squeezing her as she tried to wriggle from his grasp. Again, he enjoyed the struggle of a futile attempt from the young woman. In truth, he was enjoying holding Raven as much as her emoticlone was, not that either would admit to it. For Slade, the feeling of her lithe body against him was a comfort he didn't get very often, and the fire with which she fought him was causing his own fire to grow in his stomach.

"Fight you or let you go? Which is it, Raven?" he taunted in her ear.

"Both!" she protested, still struggling against him.

His mouth was at her ear again, his breath sending shivers down her spine as he spoke, "I won't be fighting you, Raven. I don't fight cripples." He grasped the forearm where the metal band was still blocking her abilities and squeezed it gently, a massive grin behind his mask.

His words got the desired reaction.

"Fucking asshole!" Raven screeched. She tried stomping on his foot, elbowing him, doing anything to weaken his hold, but the mountain of a man didn't budge. It was only when the entire world started shaking that his arms loosened enough for Raven to dive out of his grasp and onto the ground.

Slade looked around, bewildered, as the entire facility began to shake. Concrete dust falling from the ceiling. A massive boom sounded from the main hallway and Slade had a good suspicion as to what was happening. His suspicion was confirmed when Raven's communicator beeped loudly and Nightwing's voice screamed through it.

"Everyone out!" Nightwing shouted, his voice coming in roughly and muffled as background noises threatened to drown him out. "Cyborg hit a power cell with a blast! The whole place is going to blow!"

Raven and Slade were both staring at the communicator on her hip for a brief moment as the facility shook again, more sounds of explosions coming from the main hall.

Slade tsked, shaking his head, "Titans are still as reckless as ever, I see." Dammit, I could've used that power cell, he thought as he took off further down the hall, only briefly considering helping Raven to her feet before deciding against it.

Raven launched to a stand as Slade ran past her, trying to get a bearing of what to do. Slade was running away from the main hall, but Raven had no idea how to get out that way. She could always portal herself – The armlet! she remembered in a cold shock. She couldn't use her powers to get out, and with the explosions sounding, she couldn't go back the way she came. So she did the only thing she could, she took off after Slade.

The shaking and booming were becoming more intense by the second. Raven, despite not being great at hand to hand, was fast. She caught up to Slade in hardly a moment, sprinting alongside him as they both tried to outrun the doom behind them.

Seeing her appear next to him, pumping her arms and not just keeping pace but threatening to overtake him, surprised Slade. She wouldn't beat him in a fight, but apparently, she didn't need to fly to be able to chase him effectively. He wondered briefly why she was coming with him when he, too, realized she couldn't get out without his help. Having her be dependent on him gave Slade a brief sense of pleasure but he forced the thought away as he focused on where they needed to go to escape.

"To the right!" he called as they came upon a fork in the hallway. They both turned, sliding into the new hall and continuing their sprint.

They were halfway down the hall when the largest explosion yet, rocked the building, and a great groan was heard right ahead of them. Slade skidded to a stop, grabbing Raven by her cloak and bringing them both to the ground as the ceiling ahead of them caved in, dropping concrete, steel and part of the fire above to their level.

"Shit," Slade muttered under his breath, getting to his feet and pulling Raven up with him automatically, still holding her cloak.

Raven, despite annoyed at being manhandled a second time, looked to Slade, "Please tell me there is another way out."

Slade was swinging his head side to side, trying to think and remember the blueprints of this place. The most direct escape was now blocked to them. They couldn't return through the main floor. The only option left was to go back and to the other end of the hall they were in. The problem with that was the nearest exit from there wasn't close. If the building was collapsing already, they wouldn't make it in time.

"Slade!" Raven shouted at him, gripping his shoulders to get his attention.

He brought his eye to hers, and he saw true fear and panic growing. "There's another exit that way," he said, running in the direction. He wouldn't tell her how far. If they were to make it, she needed to focus.

Raven kept up with him still, but just as they got to where this hall connected with the original, there was another great groan and explosion. Raven heard the sound of rushing fire and looked to the side. Down the hall leading to the main floor, she could see the unmistakable glow of flames coming straight for them.

She screamed Slade's name again, her eyes on the approaching fire. Slade saw the incoming inferno and met her eyes.

"Take it off!" Raven demanded, thrusting her arm out to him. "I can get us out of here, but you have to take it off!"

Slade looked at the armlet, then at her face. Uncertainty was swirling in his gut. If he took it off, there was nothing stopping her from just leaving him to a fiery death. He thought of the flames consuming him, the pain of flesh burning, and his mind unwittingly drew to dark memories of his time in Hell, the pain and horrors he'd experienced. He felt his body and mind numb as the fear of that place, of going back, came rushing to him.

Raven was begging with him to take it off, but his eye was on the fire fast approaching behind them and a haunted look was glazing the normally icy blue iris. She didn't need her empathy to understand what he was seeing, feeling. She did the only thing she could think of.

Raven stepped up to Slade, put both of her palms on his mask, as if she was gripping his cheeks. "Slade," she said evenly, firmly.

The pressure on his mask brought his attention away from the flames and to the woman before him. Her violet eyes were pleading with him, but there was another expression in her gaze, one of understanding and concern, and it was enough to shake him from his stupor.

"Slade," she said again, seeing his awareness return. "I can get us out of here, but you have to take it off. I will get us somewhere safe, both of us, I swear it."

Slade hesitated, his hand going to her forearm. Before he took it off, he pulled Raven into him, gripping the small of her back with one hand, and her forearm with his other. At least like this, she would be less able to leave him behind. Just as he was about to take off the metal band, another massive explosion echoed through the halls, causing floors to collapse and the inferno Slade stared at to expand, sending a fireball right for them. With a quick motion, Slade pried off the band, and swung Raven around so his back was to the flames and she was covered by his body.

"Time to fly, little bird," he said into her ear as the fireball licked at his back.

Raven's eyes were wide, seeing the fireball coming for them as Slade took the band off and her powers returned. The sudden release of her abilities was intense, taking her breath again and shaking her focus. All she could think was she needed to take them somewhere safe. The fireball was right on them, and she realized Slade was going to take the brunt of it. She dove backward with him in her arms and she in his, her legs flying around his as the force of the explosion knocked them back.

Somewhere safe, somewhere safe, somewhere safe! Raven screamed in her mind, calling up her powers as they fell into her darkness.

When her portal opened up, they were still falling, but it was short lived. Raven's back hit something soft, warm, and very familiar, while Slade landed directly on top of Raven, practically crushing her beneath him with his weight and momentum.

"Ugh!" Raven groaned from his landing. Her eyes fluttered open, her focus slowly returning.

Slade, however, had never lost focus. When the portal had opened and dropped them, he knew exactly where he was. He'd seen it enough times on his little explorations of the Titans Tower. He was surprised how little it had changed. When he looked down, Raven was beneath him and seemed to just be coming to her full senses. Slade lifted himself onto his arms, his eye twinkling as he looked at her.

"If you wanted to get in bed with me, Raven," Slade said lowly, "you could've just asked."

Raven looked at him confused for a moment, seeing his eye glittering with amusement and feeling the curiosity, delight, and excitement coming from him. With her empathy back, she could practically see the grin under his mask. She was perplexed why he would be feeling that or saying those things when her skin brushed against the silk sheets beneath her and the scent of incense and books hit her full on. She took one glance around and realized immediately where her somewhere safe was.

She was in her room, on her bed, and Slade was right on top of her.