A/N:OK, sorry for the delay in updating, I've been really busy packing for my trip. By the looks of it, this is as mich as I'm going to be able to put in until I get back , so until the 20th of April, I bid you farewell, my followers, fellow author, and anyone else reading this =)

A few minutes later, Raven stumbled into her quarters. She had run all the way there from Nero's office, feeling like everyone she passed was staring at her, even though she knew there was no way they could know what was going on yet. Nero would never tell them before he would tell her. He wasn't that evil. At least she hoped he wasn't. Raven was so busy thinking this over that at first she didn't even notice the dress that was spread across her bed until she went to sit on it. It was black, thankfully, but in Raven's mind, there was nothing else good about it.

She picked it up off the bed and held it out at arm's length, inspecting it. There were no pockets to keep any weapons in, and it was to tight to wear her leather body armor underneath. "Useless," she muttered, bending down and putting it underneath the bed. She knew that if she had to look at it any longer she wouldn't be able to stop herself from ripping it to shreds. Just as she was about to stand back up she noticed something sharp sticking out from the carpet. Two sharp objects actually. A ball of dread slowly formed in the pit of her stomach. Her worst fear. Stilettos.

Nearly three hours later, Raven stood in the middle of her quarters, fully dressed, but not at all ready to go. She cursed loudly in Russian as she tried to take a step forward in the dangerously high black stilettos, only to stumble and fall to her knees. She stayed down, cursing Nero for a minute or two before she even attempted to stand again.

At that moment, her blackbox beeped at the other side of the room. She sighed. Probably Nero wanting to know where she was. Raven took a step towards it, only to fall again. She was forced to crawl on her hands and knees, cursing the entire time, in order to reach it.

"Ah Natalya," Nero's still smiling face greeted her when she flipped it open. "I trust that you are ready to leave and will be in the hanger momentarily." It was not a question.

"Yes, of course Doctor," Raven fought to keep the frustration out of her voice. "I'm on my way." She snapped the blackbox shut, not waiting for his reply. But of course she wasn't on her way. She could barely even stand. She sighed again, and leant her head against the wall. She gazed longingly up at her katanas', which hung, in their sheath, from the foot of her bed. She had sworn never to go anywhere without them again, after the Tokyo safe house incident, but there was no way to conceal them under the dress Nero had provided for her. She stayed motionless for a few minutes longer, before finally realizing there was no possible way she could stall any longer. She looked to the ridiculous shoes.
"There's also no way I'm getting anywhere in these dumb shoes," she groaned. If there was one thing Raven hated doing, it was admitting defeat. But she saw no other options as she leaned forward and tore the troublesome shoes from her feet, reaching for her favorite pair of combat boots instead.
"I question Max's sanity sometimes," she muttered as she stood to leave.

Raven had barely taken five steps into the hallway, wearing her combat boots, one stiletto in each hand, when people began to stare. The guys the guys. Colonel Francisco, all of the security guards and technicians, even the normally oblivious Professor Pike. Each turned to look at her as she passed, and she felt their eyes following her even as she was long past them. As she ran, she began to hear the whispers. Every guy she passed pointed her out and whispered to his mate. Unfortunately, she couldn't miss snippets of the converations.

"That dress doesn't leave much to the imagination does it? " one technician said to another.

"Nero certainly has good taste." the second technician answered, though it wasn't clear whether he was talking about the dress or Raven.

"My dreams have come true." one of the security guards sighed dreamily.

"She really would do anything for Nero wouldn't she?" Francisco sighed, although he couldn't say he minded.

Professor Pike's mouth swung open and shut noiselessly.

Worst of all was coming across her young protegee, Wing Fanchu, and his somewhat outspoken friend Otto Malpense just as she was approaching the safety of the hanger bay.

"Don't you two have somewhere to be?" Raven snapped, wishing she could sink through the floor and into the scalding lava. Death sounded marginally more appealing than this. "Like a class, or perhaps watching senior boys water polo with the girls?"

"And miss this once in a lifetime opportunity? Otto asked, elbowing Wing and muttering under his breath, "Say something. She's your mentor." Wing struggled to find something to say.

"You look beautiful," Wing breathed, and immediately his face turned red. Great Raven thought. Now even my own protegee willnever take me seriously again.

"Go," she snapped. "Leave. Now." Otto snickered, but turned to go. Wing, on the other hand, stayed where he was, still in a state of shock.

"Come on Wing, snap out of it," Otto muttered, grabbing his friend's wrist and dragging him down the corridor. "And be very thankful Shelby isn't here." But of course, him being Otto, he had to have one last remark. "Have fun on your date, Raven," he called over his shoulder.

"That kid has no idea how lucky he is," Raven growled as she reached behind her for her twin blades only to feel the thin fabric of her dress. "No idea."

Raven entered the hanger bay, wanting, for the second time that day, to throw something sharp and deadly at Nero's face. She quickly dropped the stilettos by her feet. The thought was just to tempting.

"Natalya!" Even though he had had all day to mentally prepare himself for this moment, no amount of mental visualization could prepare him for the real thing. Quickly regaining his composure he put on a straight face. "I was beginning to worry you were going to stand me up."

"I said I would accompany you, didn't I?" Raven snapped, before remembering who she was talking to. "I don't break my promises."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Nero finally spoke.
"We're going to have to do something about your shoes. I'm afraid, my dear. As fond as you are of your combat boots, they don't quite work with that particular dress." He smiled slightly. "But we can take care of that on board the Shroud." He held out his arm, which after a few seconds, Raven realized she was supposed to take. She reluctantly reached down and picked up the stilettos before reaching up in a failed attempt to look graceful and elegant.