The Unknowing
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything dealing with DCU
Chapter Thirteen: Selfish Dealings
….
Third Point of View
….
(Flashback To When Slade Knocked Raven Out)
As a mercenary, killing people was never that difficult of a task to complete, it was more second nature to him really. And at this point in the game, he couldn't even imagine how many people he's killed in all his years of work. There's just too many to remember. That's his job and he is damn good at his job. Until now.
He couldn't help the frustrated sigh as he looked down at the unconscious Titan or ex-Titan. He knew he had a job to complete by killing her. Save the world and he is always team save the world after a series of bad decision making skills with Trigon the first time around. But this was different. Very different. They had a history and to be honest, as much as they annoyed him, he never wanted any of the Titans dead. That defeated the purpose of toying with them.
Raven was no exception but he knew she still needed to die. Once she dies, there is no threat of Brother Blood or Trigon taking over the world. He could rest easy and live with the guilt he knew he would ultimately face with killing her point blank. After all, she never asked for any of this.
But now, as he stares down at her with a knife in his hand, he freezes. He can't finish the job, not because he didn't have it in him, but because he literally could not do it. His hand is frozen in place and he feels a heat creep its way up his mind, body and soul. He coughs, trying to move past it and do what he came to do but even with all his strength and willpower, he's still not able to move. That's when he heard a sinister laugh he knew all too well and despite the heat, he felt a cold chill.
Fuck. In a blink of an eye, his surroundings shifted to a hellish place and Trigon was sitting front in center of him.
"You foolish human. Did you really think you could kill my daughter?" He throws his head back, laughing. "You pathetic humans disgust me. You never learn, do you?"
"I assume you've summoned me here for something more important than just insulting my whole race." Slade's voice was unwavering, although he was quickly growing impatient.
Trigon smirked and sat back on his throne. "It's time for another deal but this time if you fail or betray me, you will die."
"Sorry, I don't make it a habit to work with someone who's already crossed me once." Trigon must be very desperate to even think Slade would help him after he betrayed him last time.
"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice in the matter but know in the end, you will get what you want more than anything else."
"We want different things. You want world destruction and I quite like the planet I live in." There's no way in hell he's crazy enough to work with him again.
"That's where my deal comes in, Human." Trigon stops as a demon servant fills his goblet with a red substance that could be wine but looks thick like blood. Not a moment after the servant fills the glass, Trigon snaps his neck and looks Slade straight in the eye. "You will have the League of Shadows to rule for your own and in return I won't destroy the continent. It will remain untouched for you to rule over and do your biddings."
"And I should ignorantly trust you to hold up your end of the deal just like you did last time? I'm rather insulted, Trigon." This was a desperate measure on his part.
"To show my words ring true, I am prepared to show you first hand how serious I am," Trigon declares as he drinks from his goblet.
"And how's that now?" Slade cocked his head to the side. He'll bite, if only just to hear what he has to say.
"By offering you a chance to slay their leader."
Slade paused, slightly taken aback at his announcement. That can't be right. "Ra's al Ghul."
"Precisely."
"Ra's has been your obedient servant for hundreds of years. Why do you want him dead? Or better yet, why not have him do your biddings?"
"I grow tired of the al Ghul. He doesn't listen like he should and he overuses the pits for his own desires, causing him to act irrational."
"And what makes you think I'll listen any better than him?" Fat chance in hell, he would ever work for Trigon again.
"You have more to lose and gain. Think about it like this, you are a mere human and one not capable of defeating my daughter alone, especially when she has those pesky friends with her. Not that you could even try to kill her with the hold I still have on you." He stops to drink from his goblet, before continuing with a smile.
"They will stop you in time and ultimately you will lose. I will come back and when I do, I'll leave you alone in exchange for killing the al Ghul and forgetting this foolish idea of killing my daughter. So take my deal and gain the League of Shadows. Live worry free on your pathetic continent."
"And if I refuse?"
Trigon chuckles. "Then when I do come back, you will be the first one I kill."
"How would you even expect me to bring you back? If you haven't noticed, you're stuck in this place and I'm just a human with no magic." Slade squinted
"Go to Brother Blood, join him. You will aid him and his motives. He will succeed in capturing Raven and when he does, she will bring me back. Only then will you get your League of Shadows."
"And Ra's?" Slade inquired, wondering how much Trigon was willing to share with him.
"I'm glad you asked. He thinks I placed a new Lazarus pit in Metropolis so he's on his way there now. You better hurry before he figures out I lied to him."
Slade shook his head. He couldn't trust Trigon, that much is obvious. But the idea of running the League was enticing. He trained under Ra's for years after his time in the army. He obeyed every command and he still named his bastard grandson his heir. He still needed to pay and this would be the best time to catch him off guard considering he rarely leaves the compound.
"I guess I'll see you when it's all done," Slade concludes.
Trigon smiles. "That you will."
….
Raven's POV
….
Present
When I followed Jason inside, I didn't expect him to lead me to a grand set of double doors. He paused and turned to me. "Do you like to read?"
I nod, confused by the randomness of the question, and he seems happy with the response because he smiles back. "Thought so." With that, he opened the door and extended his arm, inviting me inside.
I'm surprised to see such a vast library once on the inside. There had to be thousands of books in here. The room smells of parchment paper and I instinctively make my way towards the nearest book shelf. Skimming the spines as I take in all the names of the novels. So many classics. A Tale of Two Cities, The Catcher in the Rye, The Count of Monte Cristo, Of Mice and Men, Richard III. The list kept going. There were books in a variety of languages too. Latin, German, French and Russian. Very impressive.
Reaching for one, I'm surprised to see that I'm holding a first edition novel in my hands. I've never been lucky enough to hold a first edition before now.
"Pride and Prejudice. Careful, that one is my favorite," Jason said as he made his way towards me.
I look his way, almost forgetting he was still here and shake my head in disbelief. "It's one of my favorites too." I'm surprised he even reads Jane Austin. "How does Bruce have a first edition of this?"
He shrugged. "It was a birthday present in a past life." He paused. "I never trusted myself taking it out of the manor so I leave it here. It's good for the downtime moments when I'm helping out on a mission, which seem to be more often lately."
I nodded in understanding and gingerly started flipping through the pages. I never thought I'd be holding a first edition novel.
"You can read it, to help pass the time while we're stuck here."
"You make it sound like we're trapped in your family's home," I replied evenly as I head towards a chair to make myself comfortable for the foreseeable future.
"Aren't we until we finish the mission?" He counters.
"Not if we get intel that leads us outside of Gotham."
"Hmm, that's unlikely. There's been too many sightings here already, it wouldn't make sense to move operations to another city this late in the game," he points out as he strokes his chin in thought.
Without another word, Jason makes his way towards the door, which had me looking up from the page I was on. "You're not staying?" I just assumed he was going to stay and read as well.
Jason chuckled as he turned to face me. "Sorry to disappoint you, Sunshine but I have a couple things I need to take care of. Make yourself comfortable though. I'll see you in the morning." With that, he disappeared behind the double doors.
I can't say I'm not curious what he meant by "things to take care of" but I pay it no mind as my gaze gravitates back to the book in my lap. Knowing I'll be here a while, I throw my legs over the armrest and stretch out.
….
Third Point of View
….
He had to admit, he was starting to feel a lot like Batman. Hunching over the bat computer, looking for anything to aid them in their mission. Raven filled him in on what happened. First Blood connected with her and then Slade captured her. To say he was feeling frustrated would be an understatement. He was down right pissed off that he couldn't protect his long time friend from either low life. The only positive thing that came out of this ordeal was that it's increasingly likely that Blood's plan is to bring Trigon back. That's the whole purpose of his cult after all.
But why is Blood working with Joker to achieve this? The intel Raven got from Eric Forrestor was legitimate. It had to be considering he couldn't lie once Raven cast her magic on him. This raises so many questions.
Rewinding the Surveillance video for the twenty second time, he squinted at the wall where Raven raised her hand. As far as the human eye is concerned, there's nothing there to see. He should know, he's watched it enough times. He had hoped Raven would have more information when she was disclosing her report but she didn't recall the event at all. It was as if she was sleep walking the entire time and woke up from it once she was kidnapped by Slade.
Come tomorrow, they will be investigating the area again with Raven. Hopefully she'll sense something that helps them move in the right direction. But tonight, she needs some rest. That much he was certain. Sighing, he leaned back and folded his arms over his chest.
"Ya know, if I squint my eyes, you look just like B." A voice came from behind, almost startling the first Robin.
"Well open your eyes because he won't be back for a couple of weeks." Dick waits for Jason to walk over before continuing. "Care to help?"
Shaking his head, Jason leaned on the computer deck. "You're wasting your time here, Dick. We're not going to find anything looking at these screens. We need to get back out in the field. That's where we'll have more luck."
"You're probably right." Dick agreed. It was time to go on patrol and physically search for leads instead of rewatching the same video over and over again. Thankfully, it was the perfect time of night to get back out in Gotham.
"Don't sound so surprised, I am the smartest one out of the four of us after all." Jason shrugged as he kicked off the bat computer.
He swears, the older Jay gets, the more cocky he gets but he's learned to laugh through it. Some things never change. "Whatever you say, Jaybird."
"What did I tell you about calling me that, Dickhead?" It's times like this that Jason regrets helping his older brother. Everything was going great for him before Dick came knocking on his door but here he is now, being called childhood nicknames he'd rather forget about.
"At least Jaybird isn't as bad as Dickhead." He frowned. They had to at least agree on that.
"True," Jason admits as he starts making his way to his suit.
"Jason, wait." Dick paused, trying to find the right words. "No matter what happens, we need to make sure Blood, Slade, Joker… do not get their hands on Raven."
"Obviously."
"I'm serious. You heard what Raven said just like I did but there's more to the story." He had to tell him, for the sake of their mission but more importantly for the safety of the world. "Raven is a half demon, created to destroy the world."
"Yeah, I know."
"You do?" He frowned, perplexed. Raven was not the most forthcoming person when it came to sharing her history, especially when it comes to her family. It took years of living and working together before she told the Titans what was going on and even then, she held as much information as she could until it all came crumbling down.
"That Trigon is an interdimensional demon, a slayer of worlds and most importantly Raven's father. Yeah, she filled me in on that after she released her empathy in me." One of the least pleasurable experiences of his life. "But I didn't know she was created to destroy the world."
Dick wasn't upset Raven was more open with Jason, if anything he should be happy that she's opening herself up more to people and he is. Happy that is. So why did he feel a smidge hurt? And jealous? It took years before the team- Wait. No, this is not the time to dive deep into that thought pattern. This is important.
"Years ago, we defeated Trigon from that very thing but it wasn't easy and we almost didn't make it. If it wasn't for Raven… we'd all be dead. We may not have the full story but it's clear that Blood could be trying to resurrect Trigon but to do so, he'll need Raven."
"Why does he need Raven?"
"Because she's the portal, the only way he can get through. Blood knows this, it could explain why he's targeting Raven and if Trigon gets through then he's going to destroy the world." Dick stands up, taking a couple steps towards Jason. "She's positive that Trigon can't come back but that doesn't mean Blood will try any less to get to her."
"And who knows what Blood has up his sleeves." Whatever it is, it's not good.
"Exactly. Or what he'll do to her to get what he wants. That's why no matter what, we save Raven. Even if one of us gets left behind trying. We can't risk the safety of the world or any other planet. We save Raven." He held his hand out in a shake, to which Jason accepted.
"We save Raven."
Good, they needed to be on the same page before shit hits the fan. "I'm going to check in on Raven before we leave. Let her know we're heading out on patrol."
Jason waved him off as he grabbed his suit. "I wouldn't worry about it. She's either nose deep in Pride and Prejudice or passed out with it in the library." He chuckled at the thought of Raven curled up in that oversized chair. He wouldn't put it past her to fall asleep there over her room in the manor. She seems like the type.
"Isn't that your favorite book?" Dick asked, remembering he used to bring it up every chance he got when he was younger. He was so proud and excited that Bruce got it for him.
He shrugs. "Yeah, what's your point?"
"Nothing," he chuckles, "but good luck getting Raven out of the library. She's never going to want to leave now." Grabbing his suit, he starts putting it on while he faces away from Jason.
"She has to eat eventually."
