HEY GUYS

Before anything, let me get this out of the way. This chapter and the next are filler. I know, I know, OMG FILLER!? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO US!? Because it's important filler ok!?

You'll see why once things get going again.

OH and Asilla, you were right, it needed more umph, So I added a extra bit. It's small but yea, next time I'll be sure to send ya something better XD lol

ALSO all you guys are awesome and deserve KUDOS GALORE! Thank you all so much for reading and faving and OMG you REVIEWERS ARE SIMPLY THE BEST! I know I say that all the time... but seriously tho. Thank you. *bows*

So anywho.. ONWARDS WITH STORY!

08/22/2022 EDIT: Fixed some typos

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Two days.

It was quite the countdown. Two days to train, two days to prepare themselves physically and mentally. For what exactly? Robin wasn't too sure. Slade had gone through firearms with him once again, pinpointing exactly where to shoot someone. While in full knowledge that Robin wasn't quite ready to kill anyone yet, he took Robin through vital areas that could easily put an enemy down for the count. Firearms were a bit different then wielding a bow staff. While many areas on the human body took the same damage regardless of what you were wielding, a gun did indeed pack more firepower.

"Go for the knees." was all Slade had really said. He was correct however, it would disable his opponent, probably indefinitely. However, Robin knew it wouldn't last long. He knew that eventually he'd be taught how to aim to kill. The thought still struck a chord through him though. He had to remind himself that he had left the Titan part of him behind, and in its place would be something more.

At times he felt he hadn't come very far at all... until he reminded himself of the desert.

The fires.

The bodies.

Robin hummed to himself as he bound the bandage around his hands. The sight and smells of the desert vanishing, being replaced with a sense of change. He no longer felt afraid of the visions, more like angered by a different source all together. Last night he took some of his pent-up frustrations out on the poor punching bag. With the way he was feeling, he'd be amazed if anything were still standing at all in this room by the time they moved locations. Tonight however, he would push the thoughts away and gain some sort of control over his frustrations. Once his hands were bound, he realized he had a visitor.

Turning around Robin was almost expecting Slade but was greeted with another face entirely.

"Sariel? It's late wha-"

"Need a sparring partner?"

Robin gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Sure, I suppose."

The woman didn't seem to be in any kind of attire to fight in, although he wasn't either. She sported a pair of dark grey sweat pants and a navy-blue baggy T-shirt with some sort of logo on it. He basically wore the same ensemble, but with a tank top instead, and his color of choice was black on black.

"Be forewarned." she put herself into a defensive stance. "I won't hold back." Robin mirrored her. "Neither will I."

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He kept himself to his room, he felt so afraid these days. Sariel didn't trust him, although she seemed somewhat willing to try. But how much was he willing to do to gain her trust once again? Why did he even throw it away in the first place?

The question plagued him. Was it power he wanted? Revenge? Revenge for what? What did Sariel ever do to him? Nothing. In fact she did more for him then he could ever give back. He knew deep down when he said he betrayed them, that she to would of done the same to purely survive in that god forbidden world... he knew that Sariel wouldn't of done that. She didn't need power. She had an abundance of it. That girl had done much for him. She was there for him when his sister... Asif caught himself before he could shed his tears. God damn... his sister. What would she think of him now? She probably would have slapped him for his betrayal. Survival be damned, he rather be dead right now.

Why? Why did he do it?

It was simple. So simple it stared him right in the face but he didn't want to admit to it.

He was scared.

So very, very scared.

Scared of them, scared for his life, and for those he knew and loved.

They had come, fully knowing he was there. A friend of Sariel's was an enemy of theirs. And that could not stand. Or so he thought. They had offered him his life in exchange for his services.

He should have refused. In the end they would have killed him anyways. He was just another tool for them to use and he fell right for it. It was the reason why he screamed at her that night. Begged for her to kill him. To put a bullet in his head. To relieve him of his misery, of the monstrosity that he was.

Getting up, not wanting to think on the past anymore, the young man left his room in hopes to find the very woman that somehow found the strength to forgive him.

Asif took in a deep breath and exhaled. In the end, he was still here. Still with her, still with Gus, and overall still a part of this team. And while the group had newer components, it still functioned as it always had. Living each day on edge, always preparing for whatever came next.

He could even hear them now. Sariel and Robin, the two really had seemed to hit it off. He leaned against the doorframe and watched the two spar with one another. The two had years of combat training. Years and years in the field. While their environments were different, Robin being a hero taught not to kill and Sariel having wielded a gun since she was a child, they were somehow similar while being so strikingly different. Somehow the two had become friends. Odd how two people from two different worlds can collide like that.

The two were going for each other's throats, but in a far more playful manner than expected. They both had smirks that graced their lips, their eyes were mischievous, and their punches were not held back. This was a match of wits and brawn. They traded insults and did ridiculous things like stepping on each other's feet.

Asif left them to their playful battles, knowing they would likely end up both sitting on the floor laughing at the end of it. He knew he would have to speak to her eventually, but it was not today.

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He had everything ready to go. Two more days and the show would be on the road. The gang was all hush, hush about the boss coming for a visit. Apparently, there would be some sort of drop off then they were supposed to take care of the supposed traitors.

"Bang, bang Motherfucker!", was what they were laughing about, as the gang leader reenacted what he would be doing to Sariel and Robin. His fingers the gun, his voice the bullets. Gus as usual acted uninterested. Since he was on the inside, he really didn't care. He knew what was really going to go down and he couldn't wait for Sariel to shoot these guys full of holes. He cringed every time one of them tried to make a joke.

Every time they killed an innocent.

Every time they threatened the locals for money.

He watched them. Carefully.

Gus wasn't much of one to deal the deathly blow, he was the intel, the one getting info to his boss one way or another. He had killed before. He wasn't against it, some people deserved it, but that wasn't his field. He wasn't a master of Death like Sariel.

The child soldier who earned her name.

These people were nothing to her. Nothing to the woman who had survived the horrors of war, the onslaught of thousands. A mere child when she had dealt it out. And when Sariel came on that night, he would stand aside and gladly let her do her job.

Better yet in all of this, they had the infamous Deathstroke on their side. And Robin, Slade's apparent apprentice and heir, which was still something odd to get used to in his mind. They couldn't loose. All he had to do was wait. Only two more days.

He could wait.

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The spar had tuckered them out. They both let loose, both stressed from everything going on around them. But the banter between them hadn't stopped, even as they sat there on the floor.

"Your upper cut hurts cupcake."

"As do your kicks buttercup, you got some power in those legs of yours. Surprising for being such a stick." she giggled.

"I am not a stick!" Robin blurted out.

"Whatever your scrawny ass says." she retorted.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Whatever your cheeky ass says more like."

Sariel picked herself up from the floor and turned to her companion. "Oh, I do say so." she lent him a helping hand, which he took gratefully as he stood up.

The woman walked towards the bench and grabbed a water bottle and a towel. "What are you going to do once this is all said and done with?"

He smirked. "You think this is going to be done so easily?"

"Slade's not going to want to be going to war over all of this, while I do realize he is a tad bit curious about them..."

"Slade is also willing to pull the plug on them. He thinks they'll get in his way."

"Oh they will, or they won't. Depending on how important they see you. But after everything. Probably a big fat yes. So, I can see why... But if we do take them down, then what?"

Robin shrugged, "For that moment, I guess wherever Slade has planned. I'm not too picky. You?"

She smiled. "Hrmmm... Probably a nice beach somewhere. With lots of martinis." she chuckled. "Or at least that is what I'd like. To be honest, I don't know what I'll be doing. It's always been about going off on an errand or two. One battle to the next." she looked to Robin who stood beside her. "Maybe I'll go back to the desert. Always did feel more at home there. But would probably have to check in on Grams before doing anything really."

"The cottage in France."

"Yea the place you don't like so much."

He chuckled. "It's not that bad really. Your grandmother really does value her privacy though. I dunno if I could live that far out in isolation."

"Yea she likes it that way. Keeps her underground and that way she can let her boys do their job around Paris and the rest of the country when need be." she shook her head. "Sometimes I do wonder how far her connections go. And the vast amount of properties she owns. All of them seem to be much like this, like she's preparing for something." she shrugged. "My grandmother is also a big worry wort, she feels she has to be prepared for anything and everything. So, yea..."

"Really? She didn't seem the type."

"Oh, trust me when Slade brought you to the cottage and you were like a sheet of ice she was a worrisome mess."

Robin looked down for a moment and reflected on the past events. "Tell her I'm sorry, next you see her, ok?"

"Yea, I will."

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Geist was not a man to sit around. He usually took action. But Aurora had told him to hold still. Be patient. "That woman is too... difficult." he merely thought as he brought the glass to his lips. Difficult indeed. But he would listen. So he sat there, the window open, the night sky quite the luring landscape. The air filled his lungs as the wind tugged at the velvet curtains. The posh apartment he sat in was such a façade. Not even she truly cared for such things. No, she was not the luxurious type.

He reminisced of their times during the war.

She was brutal then. Her thirst for revenge could never be sated. The blood on her hands and face was has red as her hair. As vibrant as a blood moon. As red as the Nazi flags that she tore apart.

He remembered her then.

Finally free.

She took his life, and he gave it to her willingly. He wanted to die and she would gladly take his life for what he had done to her. All those years at his side, forced to become something she did not want.

And yet she rose above it all.

It was true, nothing could sate her. Not revenge, not murder, not even sex. She just wanted more and more blood on her hands. She was something to respect. And he did. Greatly.

Now... now she was something far more then even she could of possibly imagined. And as long as she led the ben Elohim, he would be at her side. Her beck and call. He would follow her every command.

So he sat there and waited. Berlin may of looked majestic tonight, but he would not disobey. He smirked at the thought of Sariel and her little troupe of friends. What did they think they could do? Topple them? He wanted to laugh. The ben Elohim had been doing this for centuries, and he should know. He had been there for more then half of it.

"One more day Ms. Sariel. And we shall truly see what you are made of hrmm?"

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Thanks again guys! You da BESTEST! So PLS PLS PLS leave me a review! I have something better then cookies this time! I HAVE CAKE! You know you want some cake! You get cake if you leave me a review! lolz

You all be good out there ok, have a good night/day/afternoon/whatever...

BYE

-Fangy