Chapter Four Round and Round

This is Slade Wilson.

He's had no one to rely on but himself for all his life. His mother died when he was a child, and his father Charles had left the C.I.A. and joined the League of Assassins.

He'd enlisted in the military, he was an excellent soldier, he was the best and he knew it, and he let everyone know about it.

Former military, an excellent soldier. He's the best at killing the enemy, and accomplishing the mission. He should have been the greatest super soldier, but the experiment failed. But it wasn't a failure, it'd awakened his latent metahuman powers. But since the army had tossed him out like he was garbage and covered up their experiment, he put his new powers to good use, becoming Deathstroke the deadliest assassin.

Then Jackal happened, the incident with Joey, Adeline going ballistic, it wasn't his fault, he could have taken him out, but his code wouldn't allow him to betray his client. She'd overreacted by shooting him in the eye.

It was always their fault, the US. Government, Adeline, Robin, the other Titans, always someone else getting in his way.

At least that's what he tells himself, because he doesn't want to think about how vulnerable he is, how afraid he is of dying, of being meaningless.

Part of you will always lie in the inferno of a pit of lava, remembering the flames that chew upon your flesh. He doesn't like to think about it, when he's busy, when he schemes and plots and carries out a crime spree, he'll forget it exists.

When he is alone, and sometimes in his dreams, he still remembers dying. It scared him, he didn't see any sort of afterlife, after Trigon the Terrible snatched him up and he'd made that deal, he wasn't sure if there was an afterlife.

But he turned his attention back to reality. He'd been out at his favorite bar, enjoying an evening when he'd seen the gorgeous woman and propositioned her for a one-night stand, just one in a long string of them that meant little to him.

Mary Grayson had been fascinating, a woman who hated the rich and powerful and yet accompanied him back to his hotel room and gave him what he wanted. It was enjoyable, truly. It should have been nothing more than a distraction.

For her age, she still had a fire in her, energy, stamina, and enthusiasm that was more than physical. Her personality was strong and fiery and reminded him in a tiny way of his ex-wife Adeline.

He'd grown tired of his ex's complaining. Always whining about how she couldn't accompany him on his "trips". He'd grown weary of it.

For a long time after he'd been discharged from the military, he'd searched for the fancy government contractor jobs, the ones that look boring on the outside, but all of those jobs were full, his wife had made him take a "security" job from one of her contacts. He wanted to fight, he wanted to kill, but no, all those jobs were taken.

His country had abandoned him after he'd taken part in the experiment that awakened his metahuman powers, and then they'd thrown him out when he'd failed. So Slade created a new life, Slade the Deathstroke, and enjoyed being the best assassin in history.

Then the incident with Joey, his failure to save his son, and his wife shooting him in the head.

He didn't need her, Adeline was crazy.

Mary Grayson was the type of person Adeline should have been. He wanted her.

He couldn't protect Joey, he'd failed, he was never failing again. He'd never lose to anyone, nobody would stop his goals.

He'd left his wife and moved to Jump City, his mercenary fortune let him dabble in supervillainy. He'd enjoyed toying with the Titans, wanting a challenge from so-called heroes.

All the adventures, the excitement. He'd even found someone who could surpass Grant's potential. Dick Grayson, Robin the Teen Wonder.

He'd schemed to get the boy away from his worthless friends, trying to mold him into the perfect apprentice, but the boy had fought him, and resisted every step of the way.

So he'd tried another, a troubled young teenager named Terra, she was mailable and easy to manipulate, she'd accepted his help and then stabbed him in the back, too attached to the "friends" she'd made. She'd broken her promise to fight by his side forever, little bratty backstabber.

Being revived by Trigon the Terrible had been enjoyable, and the fringe benefits had been entertaining, but getting stabbed in the back enraged him, he'd kept his word and his word was his bond.

He'd been contacted by the Brotherhood of Evil after Trigon's defeat but he'd turned them down, he needed to lay low for a while, take a vacation, play hard for a while, and not think about heroes or villains, it was why he sent the bot after Beast Boy instead of showing up himself.

A lovely evening with a beautiful woman to let himself play hard before he went back to work the Teen Titans.

It had been interesting, he hadn't even gotten to his cryptic threat yet when someone had gutted him. He should have been able to fight back, but he'd been surprised when his enemy had attacked the Titans too.

But the reveal, he'd been stunned, not to mention Robin's shock as well. If she hadn't gutted him he'd be singing her praises for putting on quite a show.

Slade was surprised. A new rival, a new enemy, and it had been that boy's mother of all things.

Now he was very much torn between screwing her over and screwing her senseless.

She'd been fascinating, personable, beautiful, sweet, it could almost drive him insane. No wonder that boy had been born in a hurry.

He'd been intrigued, so he dug up everything he could about her, other than anecdotes in the papers and various interviews, he learned very little outside of her professional life.

It made having her all the better because having her rely on him would be the ultimate insult to someone who hated him.

Yes, he was going to possess her, she would want him as much as he wanted her, he would make sure of that.

He wouldn't even have to stalk her, she'd come to him eventually, she was under orders to kill him, and good soldiers carry out their orders.

He'd bide his time, and wait, eventually, she would be his in every way. All he had to do was wait.

This is Slade Wilson for now.

"And so, let the curtain rise on tonight's dream."

Slade rushes at Mary, his flying kick sends her across the room. She expertly lands on her feet.

She executes a well-placed strike aimed at his neck. He blocks it with his elbow, pushing it aside.

Slade swept his foot out in front of him trying to knock her off her feet, she tried to stab him in the leg forcing him to stop.

He removed his desert eagle and started firing. Mary counted the bullets mentally as she deflected his shots, pushing the gun away from her face. She grabbed the gun, twisting it, pulling it out of his grasp.

"It's useless to shoot me, Mary," Slade taunted.

Mary threw the gun and ricocheted it off a pipe, it flew back and Slade barely managed to avoid it.

"Impressive, you were aiming for me, my dear, you are too much fun."

"You're not that impressive, I'm doing a number on you again, I haven't even broken a sweat," Mary taunted him.

Slade decided he had enough and broke her arm.

To his surprise, he could hear it snapping back and healing.

"Broken bones for someone who can regenerate, I said, impress me," Mary goaded him again.

"It's time someone put you in your place," Slade snarled.

"Really? Why are you trying to make it sound so noble? I thought your goal was more focused below your waist!" Mary laughed. She pulled off his mask.

She leaned over and deep kissed him, a taunt, a reminder of what she would deny him. His heightened metahuman sense of smell and taste was overwhelmed by her scent, taste, and warmth. If he were a fool he'd get lost in it.

He forced himself to pull away, he couldn't afford to be distracted. He grabs his mask and places it back on his face.

"My goal is to make you pay for trying to kill me," Slade hissed, his voice dripping with contempt. "Trust me when I say Mary, you will be physically intact but it's going to hurt," Slade removed a knife from a sheath, "A lot."

"It's a terrible thing when you can't trust those closest to you, I only trust myself," Mary watched his hands carefully.

As he tried to stab her, she gripped his wrists and forced him to stab himself in the gut again and again. Slade dropped the knife.

Mary backed away, leading him up the stairs of his lair. Slade kicked her in the face and Mary grabbed his other gun from the holster as she went wheeling over the railing. He leaped down after her.

She landed on the ground and jumped back up, firing the gun, they met in midair as she grabbed his free hand, and even as they fell, they began to spin, both firing and unsuccessfully, missing each other.

Slade tried to club her with his desert eagle, only for her to parry the barrel of the gun with her own. Landing on her feet, she stopped, breathing hard, trying to catch her breath.

The only sound that was heard was the sound of their heavy breaths.

"Wish we'd be breathing hard doing something else," Slade said suggestively.

"Shut up and fight!"

Mary decided it was time to run, but Slade was faster. He caught her and pinned her down, pushing her head into the concrete. She wriggled in his grasp, trying to escape.

"I do enjoy watching you squirm," he taunted.

She elbowed him, causing him to release her, rolling away, he pulled out his sword.

Blades clash and the sound of their battle echoes inside the lair.

Slade battled her sword out of her grasp. Mary threw four circus throwing knives into his shoulders.

Slade watched his armor shatter as she continued her relentless assault. She wasn't like Robin, he fought to defend, she fought to kill and while he'd been attacked before, none of his opponents were this determined to kill him.

She stole his sword and slashed him, the scarlet life within him showered down on the ground.

"I'll make this cold, clean, and painless!" Mary told him.

"Shut up!" Slade grabbed the blade of his sword, trying to push the pommel through her skull.

Mary dropped down so the handle went over her head and into the wall, using her incredible acrobatics to bend and contort her body, flipping up off the ground to land on her feet.

Slade slammed his knee into her gut, shooting her with his gun.

Staggering back, she accepted the shots and kept stabbing him with the circus knives. She slammed them into his palms, pinning him to the floor.

She smashed her booted foot into Slade's mask, crushing it to bits.

"All too easy!" she said, preparing to decapitate him.

"Not too easy," Batman said.

"Well, well, this is a surprise. Did he ask you to come here, Bruce?"

"No point in hiding that since Slade also knows who I am, but no, I came here on my own," Batman replied.

"Well, hero, I'll give you a choice to make, you can save him," Mary threw the knife right next to Slade's heart, "Or you can chase me."

Mary turned, threw a smoke bomb, and ran, she headed into the city, to the hidden 13th floor of Wayne Enterprises.

Batman looked at Slade and glanced in her direction.

"What's the matter? Can't decide if you want to let me live?" Slade taunted.

Batman attended to Slade's wounds.

"She's a piece of work," Batman muttered, "she actually beat you."

Slade let out an angry growl.

Batman cuffed him and took him to the police station where they unmasked him and booked him.

"I'd like to call my lawyer," Slade said simply.

Slade sat in the interrogation room, waiting for his lawyer. What a waste of an evening. Still, he'd walk out without much trouble, his excellent lawyer would make sure of that. He just had to sit and wait.

A few hours later, his lawyer came in and told him he was free to go. Slade strutted out of the police station, confident that no one could pin anything on him.

There are so many ways to bend justice so you can get away with anything, especially if you have enough money, and Slade has plenty of money, but he'll lay low for a while, he has to make another suit, one that he can use to best his beloved nemesis.

"So long as justice prevails, there are people who manipulate the system to escape it. Deathstroke is the price society pays for justice," Slade said to himself once he was far away from the police station.

He'd have to up his game if he was going to beat her, Slade headed off to his nearest hideout, he'd have to lay low for a while, but he didn't mind, more time to plan and scheme.

No one was going to stop him, not the Court, not the Titans, and certainly not Mary Grayson.

Slade sighed in his new safehouse, he was putting together another suit, it was stronger and could take the damage she dealt out. It would also survive a beating from the Teen Titans as well.

It'd be some time before he could fight her so he'd have to hop from safehouse to safehouse to be sure she couldn't follow him.

It'd be amusing if it wasn't so infuriating. Slade hasn't decided whether he likes this change of pace. Fighting the Titans is one thing, but Mary Grayson is new, and it would be more exciting if he could win. She's beaten him twice now and he doesn't like it, because he has to win, he has to beat her, because he's the best.

Slade remembered the video footage, the way she kissed him is how she kissed that man, John Grayson. What did some circus manager have that he didn't? She had to taunt him, like affection was a currency for her.

He hated this game, the games he preferred were the ones where he was in control. This was a change he couldn't abide. He would win.

He was going to win this game, he wouldn't be beaten by her. Two fights in a row was a fluke. He hated things he couldn't control, he'd have to find his victory through unconventional means.

He'd have to change tactics dealing with her. He sighed, why couldn't this be a fun adventure where he was the invincible hero?

This change was going to aggravate him, but he was bound and determined to win. He's the hero of his own story, right?

He wasn't about to lose to her, he'd just have to come up with some elaborate strategy to win against her. He'd have to make sure he controlled the environment, every variable accounted for, and he'd have to predict what she would do.

Slade smiled to himself, this was going to be entertaining at least. Now it was his turn to put on a show.

She was back at the Tower and even slept for a few hours, nobody knew she was gone unless they checked the security cameras.

She found her son leaning against the wall, his leg bent, waiting for her.

"You've been fighting him, haven't you?" Robin asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes, that is my job now," Mary glanced at her son.

"No, your job is to kill him, and you haven't succeeded yet."

"He's very hard to kill," Mary admitted.

"Terra killed him," Robin frowned.

"Is she absolved because he came back to life?"

"I don't know. He did sell our world to an inter-dimensional demon to get his body back."

"I see."

Robin grabbed her arm.

"When you slept with him, did it mean anything to you?"

"Dickie, you know a one-night stand doesn't mean anything to both parties. He's sterile if you're worried about me getting pregnant."

"It's like you don't feel anything at all."

He released her.

"The Court beat my feelings out of me," Mary glanced at him.

"Raven can give you emotional healing, you should talk to her."

"I don't want your empath friend inside my mind."

"We can help you if you'll let us," Robin pleaded with her.

"I don't need you to save me, you're still reaching for me, just like the night I died."

"That has never stopped haunting me. You can only save yourself."

"I know, little Robin, but I've made my bed, now I have to lie in it, it's too late for me, son."

"It's never too late," Robin reminded her. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"I burnt mine before you were born. But don't worry, I'll pay for my crimes, one day when I leave this world."

"Why do you sound so empty, mother?"

"Because I am, Dick, because I am, and the only thing that fills it is my revenge."

"Do you still love me?"

Mary stepped forward, clutching him in a strong embrace.

"What kind of question is that? You're all I live for."

"Mom…"

"Don't you worry about a thing, I won't let them decide who you'll be. Not the Court, not Slade, nobody. You will be free to live the way you want to."

She let him go, turned, and walked away.

Robin sighed, troubled. He heard Cyborg's voice, "Robin, I found something, about the Electrum."

Robin quickly ran to the computer in the main room.