Raven wasn't sure how long they stood in each others' arms. After a while, she came out of her dumb state of shock and said softly, "Slade...?"
He slowly pulled back from her, but his hands did not release her arms. "Raven, I... I want you to know that I've never had these kinds of feelings before. I don't know how to control them... and I'm not used to not being in control." His hands slid down her arms until he just held her hands loosely in his.
"I don't... know what to say." Raven said.
"You don't have to say anything. You love Robin, not me. I don't expect you to return my feelings; I just wish that we didn't have to be enemies." He sighed heavily. "To be honest, I just feel relieved to have said it out loud." Giving her hands one last squeeze, he let them fall to her sides.
They stood in silence for a while, Raven lost in thought. She realised that she understood why Slade had surveillance on her friends; it had just been a shock to her senses to see Robin so unravelled. Slade had to keep tabs on the titans' progress.
"Slade... I would like it if we could be friends."
He nodded. "So would I."
"Ok... let's talk." Raven said and sat cross-legged on the window seat. Slade sat on the edge of the bed, not far from her. "I think it's time some questions are answered." She said.
"Ok. What do you want to know?"
"Hmm..." she had so many questions she wanted to ask. "Do you have a real name, or is your name really Slade?"
He seemed surprised by this question. "Well... Slade is actually my second name. My full name is Garret Slade."
Now Raven was surprised. She hadn't expected him to have a normal name somehow. It was too... ordinary. Not villain-like at all. "Oh." Was all she said. After a minute, she opened her mouth again, "So what - ?"
"Hang on a moment." Slade interrupted. "Did you think that you get to ask all the questions? One for one, I think."
"Ok, fine. Ask away." Raven said.
"Why did you join the teen titans?"
Raven was taken aback at his directness. "It's... complicated." When she didn't say more, Slade gestured that she should elaborate. Rolling her eyes at his persistence, she said, "They were nice to me. I was something of an outcast and they befriended me. I guess I also subconsciously wanted to defy my evil side; you know, my demon father."
Slade nodded. "Thank you for your honesty." He said sincerely.
Raven shrugged. "Ok, my turn. You kidnapped me to get to Robin. Why do you want to hurt him so badly?"
Slade considered her for a moment before answering. "He is my enemy." He shrugged. "We cannot both occupy the same area. It's him or me, and frankly, I choose me."
"But it doesn't have to be like that. Why do you hate him anyway?"
"He has got in the way of my plans one too many times. He's like a mosquito, always buzzing in the corner of my vision." He shrugged again. "He is not quite strong enough to defeat me but not quite weak enough to be defeated easily. But now I've found the way to defeat him." He looked at her pointedly.
Raven hugged herself, trying to ignore the cold, unemotional tone of his voice. "But..."
"You've had two questions now." He interrupted. "My turn. Why do you love Robin? I mean, what about him made you fall in love with him?"
"He... he and I just click." Raven said, finding it hard to describe their relationship. "We understand each other, and even though we're two very different people, I just always feel right next to him. Like we fit. He has a good heart, and all he really wants to do is help people, and I admire that in him. He doesn't realise it, but he's teaching me everyday to be a person; I wasn't half the person I am now when I met Robin." She looked up at Slade. "Do you know what I'm trying to say?"
Slade nodded soberly. "I can hear your feelings in your voice."
They were both quiet for a moment, neither knowing what to say.
"Enough of this." Slade said suddenly. "I think you've been cooped up too long. Why don't we go and have lunch in the garden?"
Raven was relieved to hear that his voice sounded much more alive than it had a moment ago. Smiling, she replied. "Sure, ok."
They both went down to the kitchen and had some fun throwing a huge amount of food into a basket, enough to feed at least five people, not two. As they walked down the many flights of stairs and into the bright sunshine outside, Raven was thinking. They may have come to a truce, but what about later? What about when the titans found her? Or when she went back to them? She couldn't stay here much longer, knowing what Robin was going through. Would Slade let her go if she asked? She wouldn't know unless she tried.
Right now, though, she thought, she was going to relax. For the moment, they could pretend that they were just two friends enjoying each other's company. Tomorrow, she would bring up more serious matters. They would take this day, just this one, to not be enemies.
They spent the rest of the day lounging under a tree, talking and laughing until the sun started to sink. Raven's heart sank with the sun; she went to bed dreading the next day when she would have to shatter the peace they'd experienced that day. It had to be done; she had to get back to Robin.
