The thief turned to see that she was not alone in the room. Standing behind the desk was a man who looked both unclean and rat-like. He was beginning to bald and his 'business clothes' looked shabby. He was the thief's 'boss', the man who told her what jobs to take and what to do about them. More than anything, he was the broker of deals. It was his duty to find jobs and deal them out to the appropriate thieves, workers, and assassins. In return for giving them work, he would get a piece of their revenue.

Also in the room was a man that was quite unlike the broker. He was tall and muscular, his suit showing a wide chest and strong arms. The suit was black and was adorned with buckles and straps that probably held interesting technology. Metal pieces almost looked like they had been bolted onto him and his suit on his arms, shoulders, and neck. But his mask was what the girl was focused on. It was half orange and half black, and the black half had no place for an eye.

"I thought I'd escape through a window, but it didn't turn out quite like I'd imagined it." The thief said nonchalantly, pulling her gaze away from the stronger individual in the room.

She frowned at her faked voice and pulled off her mask so that she could reach the voice changer, which she turned off. Long gray hair spilled down to the girl's lower back, and she looked to be no older than 17. Pale blue eyes, often mistaken for gray, then glanced between the two adults.

"I see I've interrupted a meeting. Sorry, I didn't mean to." She said, starting for the door.

"Actually, we were just talking about your assignment. Did you complete it?" The boss said, sounding anxious.

The thief turned to him, giving a smirk.

"Of course I completed the assignment. When have I not?"

"Well, Mr. Slade here seems to think that we've stolen his property." The boss said almost greasily, glancing between Slade and his thief-for-hire.

"Well, maybe Mr. Slade would be smart enough to hire one of us next time. Then we could guard or steal whatever he may otherwise lose." The girl said, smiling charmingly.

"Your organization has been creating quite a lot of interest lately, Mr. Graham. How long do you think it will last?" Mr. Slade asked. His voice was quiet; it sent shivers down the thief's spine.

"Is that a threat?" Graham said tensely.

The girl turned to fully face both of the men in the room, although her gaze was fixed on Mr. Slade. Working under Graham, she was not only a thief, but a bodyguard. She mainly worked for money, but following some of Graham's orders was better than getting bitched at by him. Usually, anyways.

"No, it was a question." Slade said. His voice was almost mocking. "Logically, even a budding enterprise like yours cannot last too much longer. Something will happen that will bring it down."

The boss glared. He didn't like Slade anymore, and he wanted him out of the building. Still, Mr. Slade was a possible customer and was very skilled at combat. It wouldn't be wise to just demand him leave or try to force him.

"Jan, do you have it with you?" Graham said finally.

The girl nodded her head and reached inside her suit, pulling out the drive to show them both. Graham made a face.

"If our customers knew where you kept their priceless pieces-"

"I might make them pay more." Jan said, smiling slyly. "Besides, I only did it to get a reaction from the Titans. And they didn't disappoint."

The balding man shook his head, sighing. Then he turned his attention to Slade, whose patience was fading away by the second. Jan could feel it in the air, but she was unsure if Graham was as aware.

"This information will go to the person who bought it from us. You can have your arguments with them, if you wish." Graham's words sounded final, but Slade had begun eyeing the drive.

"How about this instead?" Slade said smoothly. "If I can take that drive from your thief, I will also take it with me out of this place."

Slade looked calmly at Graham. Graham didn't seem to be able to come to a conclusion, so both he and Slade looked at Jan. Graham did this a lot, although he would never admit it. Jan may work for him, but she had also forced a measure of control from him, as well as earned a certain amount of respect.

"Doesn't sound very interesting." Jan said finally. Sure, this guy looked tough. But just because you could fight didn't mean you were worth any attention.

The only clue the girl got was the slight narrowing of Slade's eye. In the next instant, his foot was sweeping through the air, forcing her to duck. The drive was again shoved into her clothing, and then she leaped in the air to avoid a kick at her legs. Jan landed next to the door and hurried past it. The office wasn't big enough to fight in. When she saw Slade giving chase, she turned and ran down a small hallway, the scent of damp stone making her want to choke.

Jan turned sharply down a hallway and entered a large area just in time. Slade was faster than her, and his hand reached out to grab her shoulder. The fabric of her suit was slippery, however, and he only managed to grab a fraction of it and toss Jan to the side. The girl landed cat-like on her feet. Quietly, she viewed her opponent. He watched her carefully, ready for any attempt to flee.

Jan wasn't going to flee. She had needed more space than a small office and hallway could offer, that was all. Now they were in an abandoned subway station. It was vast in size, offering much in the way of maneuverability. Some people, old, young, or weak, leaned against walls or sat in the shadows, making themselves scarce. They waited for work from Graham for days, sometimes weeks at a time with no food and no money. It was no wonder that the lot of them turned their attention upon Jan, the star of the underground workers, and Slade, a man who was known all over the underground as a man who was strong, vicious, and who always got what he wanted.

"Taking it from me is kind of boring." Jan shifted her weight a little. "There's so much potential for you to just grab it and leave like a boring old man. How about you beat me in a battle instead? Then I'll just hand you the drive."

"Jan, what are you doing?" Graham shouted from the hallway. He had followed the two, and now he was almost crying at the thought of how much money he was losing.

"I have three more jobs this week, Graham." Jan smiled. "They'll more than pay for what I might lose here today."

"Don't waste my time with games. You'll get hurt, little girl." Slade said. His eye was narrowed unhappily.

"I honestly can't believe that you aren't ready to use all your energy for even the simplest of tasks." Jan said.

If Slade was as good as they said, then yes, he would know that he would beat Jan just as well as she knew. But then, if she threw him a loop and forced him to do a little more than he had originally intended, she was sure he would put in just that much more effort, despite what he 'should have' been putting in. As if it mattered to him. Jan could see him decide just to take the drive right before he ran towards her.

The girl leaped in the air, deciding to avoid him for a time and just watch him. But then his hand shot out and grabbed her leg as she tried to dive over him, and her whole body was jerked to the side. Jan was released, and she felt herself twist in the air so that her feet touched on the side of a pillar that stood in between train tracks. From there, she removed what exploding blades she still had left from her suit and threw them at Slade, who had followed her onto the train tracks. The explosion caused more smoke than flames, but Jan took the moment to extend and then disconnect one of the swords from her elbow and toss it into the smoke, where she remembered Slade being last. There was the dull sound of her blade hitting stone, making the girl frown. But she didn't move after she landed on the ground. She wasn't going to go into that smoke and just get herself ambushed.

A familiar blade streaked out of the cloud of dust, and Jan narrowly missed the speeding streak of silver. She spotted Slade coming out of the dust, and she jumped upon the blade- now stuck in the pillar- and used it to launch into the air. Out of Slade's reach, she twisted her body so that her legs came down. Slade dodged by a hair's breadth, and the ground underneath Jan's shoes cracked with the force of her landing. She barely had enough time to raise her arms in defense as Slade's leg came at the left side of her head, and the girl found herself skidding along the ground.

"Don't stick to your persona!" Graham screeched, panicking, from what seemed a far away place. "You'll lose money, too!"

Jan didn't care about the money. She never did. It had never been the jobs or the money or even the name it gave her to be in this business. The only thing she had ever gone after was the thrill that would stave off the boredom that persisted every second of her life. Interesting things were what she pursued, and she had found that thievery, assassination, and the like were excellent ways to get into interesting situations. Sure, she could have served the 'greater good' instead, but what was the fun in that? To be bathed in light seemed boring, but to be cloaked in darkness seemed a much more appealing and interesting lifestyle. Especially when you switched faces as much as Jan.

The girl pulled another sword from her suit and extended the one on her other elbow. She could find a smile barely curling the sides of her mouth. She hadn't landed a single hit, but her heart was beating and she was truly interested in this man. His abilities were so much better than her own. The threat of possible death was even more exciting. Slade pulled from his belt a small cylinder that extended into a staff, not unlike the one Robin used.

The two leapt at each other, dashing from side to side and dodging, twirling, smashing their weapons together. Sparks flew, creating a show more attuned to Jan's graceful moves than Slade's more powerful ones. Jan did what she could, despite the knowledge that her abilities weren't good enough to rival Slade's own. She parried his blows, which shook her arms and made them numb. Then, when an opening arrived, she thrust the held blade forwards.

Damn, Slade was fast. He spun in time to dodge the blade and his leg came around. A little more used to the man's movements, Jan ducked in time to avoid the brunt of the blow, but the man's heel clipped her head, causing her to roll several feet away.

The girl got up. Her body felt like she had done a full day's workout. Things were shaking and her chest was heaving; she was tired and thrilled at the same time, and it had been made unhappily clear that her physical abilities compared to this criminal mastermind's were lacking.

"Surely you don't plan on defeating me with that?" Slade said. His voice was as soft as ever, but Jan sensed something else in it: boredom. Well, she couldn't have that.

"Your gymnastic moves are cute," he continued mockingly, "and you have potential. But it's not good enough to beat me. Now just hand over the drive before I put a bruise on your pretty face."

Slade extended his hand as if to make the action easier. Graham glanced between the two, unsure who to side with. Slade could make him lose a lot of money, but if Jan was put out of commission or killed, the entire business would be ruined. Less money was better than no money. Jan seemed to be considering the current situation. She was silent for a time as she caught her breath a little bit and steadied her shaking limbs.

"Do you see me on the ground, unable to get up?" Jan said finally, her expression changing from thoughtful to challenging.

The girl brought up the sword in her hand and threw it, aiming its point at Slade's head. The man turned to the side, avoiding the blade by a calculated centimeter. He blinked lazily to look at the blade in an instant, and then looked again to Jan. But that moment's change of focus was enough for Jan. It was enough for Slade to look back and find that what looked like orange balls of light, maybe the size of a marbles, were held between each of Jan's fingers.

"I'm not beaten yet!" Jan shouted, and she threw the balls.

It was chaos. Those who had been waiting for a job for days, weeks, or months ran. Where the orange lights touched, there were explosions. Now the crowd knew they were in danger, and with much shouting and unnecessary movement, they hurried to the nearest exits. That was fine. It meant more room for Jan and Slade.

Slade was caught off guard by the lights and, blinded and thrown off balance by the explosions, he was easily hit by a sweeping strike of Jan's foot. Jan knew she wouldn't have long to use her mobile mines effectively, so she threw one behind Slade. The orb stuck to the ground, and Jan jumped away before Slade's fist could find her. The orb exploded, throwing Slade forwards. Somehow, he barely missed Jan's blade as he tried to stay on his feet.

The man tried to get Jan's feet from under her, but she avoided it and made to strike at Slade with her sword. She quickly found her weapon was too short, and then lost it in a short parrying battle with Slade's staff. Slade tried to press his advantage, swinging powerfully with the staff. Jan moved around the weapon like water and backed off. Slade, of course, pursued, launching into the air and not giving the girl time to pull any more tricks on him. Not that Jan needed much time to pull a trick out of her overly tight sleeves.

The girl raised her hand, perhaps looking the least innocent for such a simple act. She snapped, flicking her hand towards the flying man. In the air and unable to see the blow that Jan had sent at him, Slade was hit hard by something in the gut. And then, on that same spot, something exploded, sending the man flying far back and causing him to hit a wall.

Jan stood up. Right now, she could not press her advantage. She was neither fast nor strong enough, and any blow she tried to land would likely be reversed and used against her. For the rest of the battle, she would have to use all the tricks she had hidden up her sleeves to gain any sort of advantage.

Slade got up, casually brushing himself off. He was going to have bruises in the morning, Jan was sure of it, but he didn't show it. It was as if there was no such thing as pain. Now he walked forward, picking up his dropped staff along the way.

"That was good. But you're not pressing your victory." He said calmly, almost as if he was lecturing her.

"What are you, my sensei?"

"Not today, child."

"That's good. Otherwise, I'd feel a little guilty." Jan grinned maliciously.

Around Slade, many orange lights suddenly lit up. The orbs all exploded, and the bright flash illuminated Slade's unsurprised eye. Jan was already rushing forwards and turned to kick through the dust, where she was sure Slade would be. She hit something alright, but it grabbed her leg and then hit back. Slade didn't let her move away this time. He pressed forward, forcing her into close-quarters combat that wouldn't allow her fancy tricks to be even thought of. Jan was hit so hard, she wondered if some bones had broken. With a quick move of his hand, Slade caused Jan to lose balance. Then he spun her on the spot and wrapped his arm around her neck, lifting her into the air.

"Game over." Slade said, sounding angry. Apparently, she had annoyed and inconvenienced him more than once.

But Jan smiled a nasty smile.

"Funny how everyone seems to give me second chances." The girl said past the large bicep that was closing off her throat. "Didn't think you'd be the type, though."

Very suddenly, many sharp blades that coated the inside of the back of the girl's suit stuck out. They stuck into Slade's suit and flesh. The man cried out and leaped back, releasing Jan from his grip. He looked down at his abdomen. The wounds were deeper than the inch-long blades that were now hanging limply on Jan's back, so she had used something else to intensify the blow. It was smart for a girl so young and inexperienced, but Slade was not impressed.

Jan landed on the ground shakily and did what she could to turn herself so that she was facing Slade; her legs were shaking real bad now. The girl reached into her suit and found the drive that held all the stolen information she had cut from the company's computer. She held it up for Slade to see, and then tossed it to him. The man caught the drive, but his eye never left the girl.

"Just like I promised." Jan said, allowing a half smile that turned into something more like a smirk.

"Jan! What are you doing?" Graham shouted from somewhere at the edge of the battlefield. "I- Janus!"

Shieb: Didn't I tell you this was going to be action and battle-oriented? Well, I meant it. Anyways, this is two pages longer than the first chapter because my first chapters tend to be shorter, as just introductions, really. The rest of this story will most be like this... When I get to it, anyway.