Chapter Two-

Back at the tower, Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing video games while Starfire was slurping up her third mustard that hour. Raven wrinkled her nose in distaste. She didn't even like mustard. And how did Starfire eat that stuff at that rate without gaining a single pound? But she was forced to withdraw from her thoughts when she noticed an aggravated Robin looking at her.

"What happened?" He frowned at her.

She opened her mouth to say something before she realized she had no idea what she was going to what those words were supposed to be. Not a position she found herself in very often. He looked at her expectantly and she found herself getting irritated. "We fought, and I lost. It all seems pretty simple to me. Why are you getting all huffy?"

"Because it's Slade! And I've seen you fight him before. You threw him around like he was nothing. So, why was tonight any different?" He crossed his arms over his chest and he examined her closely.

"I was taking out my rage at him, then! There was my father to deal with, the prophecy, and I didn't want to deal with Slade too. But Robin, the world wasn't ending tonight." Her eyes flashed with a fierce anger and Robin backed up instinctively putting his hands up in an apologetic gesture.

"Yeah, I guess. Sorry… I guess I'm just worried to see Slade again, especially after he's been so quiet recently." He gave a small, worried frown.

Raven sighed with relief. Good, so he wasn't pushing her. Cause that wouldn't help either of them. She gave him a small nod and turned to leave before asking him, "Oh, and Robin? Could you, um? Would you mind training me some more in some hand-to-hand combat? I think it's- one of my weaker points."

Robin's face went blank for a minute as he comprehended her request. "You want me to train you in hand-to-hand combat? Are you sure? Last time we tried that, you nearly took my head off, you hated it so much."

Raven groaned inwardly. He was right. She hated it. It really wasn't one of her strengths. She was far better off when sticking with her powers in battle, but what Slade had said was eating at her. "Yeah. I think it's time I try it again."

"Okay, then. Tomorrow morning, Seven o'clock sharp in the training room." And he made his way to the couch to sit next to Starfire, who was onto her fifth bottle of mustard.

Raven left her teammates to go to her room. She was hoping to get some quiet time in before Starfire reminded her of her earlier promise to "do the hanging out" together. When she got to her room, she made for her bookshelf, quickly pulling several novels off her shelves and brought them over to her bed. She scanned the titles and chose the Southern classic Gone With The Wind. Not something one would assume a girl like her would read, but she loved just about any book that could occupy her for hours with intelligent and interesting material. Escape.

She had only just began the first chapter however, when she was interrupted by the unsettling and familiar voice of Slade. "Raven." It was spoken softly, yet sharply and it gave the girl chills, making her shiver.

She froze in fear as he called her name again, this time, harsher. He wasn't in her room. She would have sensed that. So where was the voice coming from? Some communicator? Or chip? "I know you're in there. There's no sense in trying to hide the fact. You're reading Gone With The Wind. Interesting choice, I wouldn't have pegged you for a Southern romantic type, myself."

Her breath caught as she realized he had cameras hidden in her room too, "I guess the term 'respect one's privacy' never crossed your mind, huh?" She replied when she got her voice back. Raven closed the book and placed it on her bedside table. She carefully got up from her bed and began walking around her room, searching for anything that looked like a camera.

"Such trivial matters never bother me. I see you've taken my advice and are going to train in hand-to-hand combat." Raven wasn't surprised that he knew this. If he managed to get audio AND cameras in her room, then why not tap the rest of the tower, too? "You're not going to find it."

"Find what?" Better to play dumb.

"The cameras. But have fun trying. I'll be looking forward to seeing how your training session goes tomorrow. Of course, if you were training with me, you'd improve much faster and with better results."

"Yeah, like with two broken ribs, a black eye, and a fractured collar bone. Some better results those would be."

He laughed coldly and she could tell there was no humor to it, "We shall see. Good-night, Raven."

Raven waited for a while before returning to her bed. She sat on the edge before lying down, and tried not to think of who was watching her. But it was impossible. Some psychopathic criminal had cameras and audio in her room and she was just supposed to lay there and sleep? She tossed and turned, never once closing her eyes, before finally groaning to herself and dragging herself out of her bed along with a blanket and pillow. Her clock read 2:03 a.m. The others would hopefully be asleep so she could have the couch to herself.

Slade observed Raven in her room as she unsuccessfully tried to sleep. He smiled to himself and with the press of a button the screen went black.