***

There was a tension between everyone at in the Tower. It was so different to how things were only three days go where it felt like they were living in a blissful bubble. With everything that was happening it felt impossible not to worry about everything, especially with the knowledge that Slade Wilson was somewhere in the city. Whenever he decided to make his next move I knew that it was going to be when they least expected it.

"How's Jason?" Dick asked as I entered the training room stopping his sparing. He was practically dripping in sweat meaning that he had really been pushing himself. His frustration was clear though there were so many things going on that it was difficult to guess what had him more stressed.

"Fine. But you'll need to apologize." I replied as I stepped farther into the training room. It was frustrating that everything seemed to suddenly be going to hell after we were all doing so good. It felt like everything was slowly starting to crumble all around them. I should expected our happiness to be short lived it, there were times it really felt like the odds were not in their favor.

"I know." Dick replied as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I should have handled to tonight better."

"Yeah you should have." I said sounding more harsh than I intended. Reaching out I took his hand in an attempt to comfort him. "Listen I know you're under a lot of stress. And that this is getting personal. But you can't get in your head. That's what he wants."

Dick knew that this was all like some big mind game that Deathstroke was playing. "I know."

He studied her for a moment almost like I was also a concern.I knew that he concerned me some kind of flight risk, that when things got tough I tended to disappear. Unlike before I wasn't planning going anywhere, I was determined to make sure thing ended differently for us. All those years of pain couldn't have been for nothing.

"I know this isn't easier for you either, being around the Titans."

"I understand why they hate me." I said honestly because there was no part of my past that proved to them I was someone that could be trusted. They also all loved Dick and I would always be known as the woman that broke his heart time and time again. "They all see me as a villainous seductress that's going to hurt you."

Dick smiled his body language changing entirely as he took a step closer to me. "Well they aren't entirely wrong. Consider me seduced."

I rolled my eyes having felt that in reality he was the one that had seduced her. It had always felt that he was the one that lured her back in, he was always a temptations that she couldn't resist. "Funny."

He leaned forward pulling me into a kiss once again proving that I really was just putty in his hands. I kissed him back feeling relieved that although everything felt like a disaster around them they could still have moments like this. Dick pulled away only rest his forehead against mine, placing a hand on the side of my face. "You aren't going to hurt me right? It would kill me if I lost you again."

"I'm here to stay Boy Wonder." I assured him knowing that I had given give more than enough reasons to believe otherwise. Closing the gap between us I kissed him again, only this time Dick had chosen to deepen the kiss taking a couple of steps forward until by back was against the concrete beam behind me. The hand that had been on the side of my face moved down until it was around my neck as the other reached down to try to unbutton my jeans.

"Wait." I said taking his hand and slightly pushing him away, knowing that they couldn't take it any further. "We kind of have a full house and anyone can walk in on us."

"Right." Dick said taking a step back knowing that we probably wouldn't be able to help themselves if they continued to be so close.

Their relationship had changed so drastically in a way that felt natural, but at times they had to remember that it wasn't just them. There was an insecurity that I couldn't help but feel about Dick growing bored with me now that their relationship wasn't as exciting anymore. That without the cat and mouse game that they used to play that fire that always burned between them would die out.

"Do you think you'll miss it?" I couldn't help but ask earning a confused look from Dick. "You know the chase. The reckless and angry sex on Gotham rooftops?"

He seemed genuinely surprised by the question, like he hadn't even considered the possibility. It seemed that even now my insecurities couldn't help but bleed through.

"Sure, that was fun. But what we have now is so much better." Dick said undoubtedly sensing that this was something that I was worried about. "The feeling of waking up with you in the mornings, or making breakfast, even us just folding laundry together... I don't think there's anything better than that. The most boring chores feel fun when I'm doing them with you."

I couldn't help but feel a little speechless of his words. Of his ability to always be able to say the perfect thing.

"I love you." I found myself saying in disbelief with myself for having gone so long without telling him. Because I have loved him for so long that it had completely consumed me even if I had never wanted to accept it. I couldn't believe that we had gone so long denying ourselves this, when nothing really compared to the feeling of just completely giving into what we felt for each other.

"You know I'm never letting you go right?" He said with a boyish smile that had me feeling like I absolutely couldn't live without his smile.

"Good."

"I think it's time to go to bed."

I smiled knowing exactly what he was insinuating. "I agree. But you're going to have to take a shower first."

"We should just shower together. You know to save water and all that." He whispered as we began to talk towards the door leading out of the training room. But they both came to a stop at the same time Gar did as he seemed to hesitate for a moment before opening the door.

"Hey." Gar muttered as he entered the training room, guilt written all over his face as he refused to look them in the eye.

"What happened?" Dick questioned immediately noticing the panicked look in Gar's eyes. But it wasn't just fear there was also guilt as he looked between the two of us with wide eyes.

"It's Jason." He said quickly like it hurt for him to get the words out.

"What happened to Jason?" I asked though I was already starting to imagine what had happened. Jason was reckless and impulsive, whatever he pulled Gar into couldn't have been good.

"We figured out that Dr. Light was in the train tunnels." Gar began sighing as his eyes continued to dart between us nervously. "Jason wanted to prove to you that he wasn't a reject. We were gonna come right back. And then, Jason wanted to split up. And then I heard him scream, and I ran, but they were already gone."

There was a part of me that really wanted to be angry, but I knew that would get them no where. That part of the issue was the way that we were going about this all wrong. The problem was that we were divided and not communicating with each other. It was an issue that we were all going to have to work on sooner rather than later, but for now I priority was getting Jason back. 

***

Dick had insisted that we ask Donna, Hank and Dawn for help in finding Jason. I had disagreed feeling that we all simply wouldn't be able to work together, but for Dick involving the others was something that wasn't up for discussion. 

"Keep your heads on a swivel guys, Dr. Light could still be down here." Dick instructed over the coms. They had decided to split up in hopes that they could have more ground covered quickly considering how extensive the tunnel system was. 

"Dick, no sign of Jason's tracker on the 3rd floor." Donna's voice came through as I continued walking down the tunnel quickly covering the area that Dick had assigned to me. I couldn't help but still feel angry that we had to be doing this in the first place when it felt like something that we could have easily prevented. Instead we put the boys in a place where they felt like they needed to prove themselves in order to be heard. 

"Hank, did you find anything?"

"Do rats the size of my head count?" Hank replied his anger not having diminished since Dick had woken him. He had originally complained about Jason and how reckless he had been. Sure all of his sentiments might have been true but they didn't need to be constantly repeated an hour into our search for Jason. 

"Are you sure your just not looking at your own reflection?"

"I got dragged out of bed to trudge through sewer water 'cause dip-shit decided to go off half-cocked." Hank continued and I was sure that the sound of his voice was going to drive me insane. I had no understanding of what someone like Dawn could see in him. 

I had been around some of the worst criminals in Gotham and most were more tolerable that Hank Hall. 

I sighed as I continued looking around for any sign that Jason could have been here. Any signs go of a struggle or a clue to where he could be. I felt anxious and hearing Hank's voice in my ear wasn't helping. If it wasn't for the fact that we needed to stay in communication with each other I would have taken the ear piece out the second I split up from them.

"At least Jason found Dr. Light. Maybe he would have told us if we'd given him half the chance yesterday." Donna countered and I was sure that this would probably be the only time I would have agreed with he. 

"Guys, I got something. Sending over the coordinates now." Dick said and not even a second later I got an alert on my phone with the coordinates on how to get to him. From the sound of his voice alone I knew that whatever it was he found couldn't be good. 

Trying not to think too much into what he could have found I followed the coordinates to where Dick was located farther into the train tunnels. Walking through the tunnels reminded be on Gotham in many ways and I couldn't believe that Gar and Jason would have ever thought it was a good idea to navigate the tunnels on their own. 

The rest of us approached Dick coming from different directions. He was just standing there the flashlight in his hand shinning down on nothing that I could see yet. Not until I was close enough to see the blood. There were no signs of Jason and I couldn't decide whether that was a good think or not yet. 

"Jesus." Hank muttered as he looked down at their feet. It was like a scene from a horror movie, it was certainly more blood than I had ever seen. "This is fucked." 

"He was attacked here." Dick explained as she shined his flashlight down on the concrete at the pool of blood at his feet. Before shinning it down the other end of the tunnel where the boss stain continued down. "Then dragged. Tracks disappear a hundred yards down."

"He could be anywhere." Dawn stated knowing that by now Jason could very well be out of the city. 

Donna's face was expressionless as she crossed her arms over her chest. "If he's still alive."

"He's alive." I said confidently knowing that this was all part of some bigger plan. Had Dr. Light simply wanted to kill Jason he would have left the body for them to find, he wouldn't have done through all the trouble of carrying him out. 

 "Dr. Light's using him as bait to lure us out." Dick continued to explained quietly thinking through everything. It was a relief that Dick was thinking the same thing, had I made any suggestion the others would have never considered it. But they would listen Dick. "If he was dead, he would have left him here."

Donna looked up at Dick a look of annoyance flashing over her face. "How does that make it any better?"

"I'm not saying it makes it better."

"Back up. So the kid is bait to you now? Is that right?" Hank exclaimed as he looked at Dick in disbelief. I couldn't help but feel angry that they completely twisted his words. That they are too blinded by their own petty arguments to see the bigger picture or even attempt to put aside whatever happened in the past. "That's rich, Dick."

Dick sighed as he turned towards Hank the irritation now very obvious. Normally Dick had a lot of patience but lately he had very little patience. "You were bagging on him a minute ago, and now he's your best friend?"

"Not about me, pal. This is all because of you and your big, dumb fuckin' idea to start up the Titans again!" Hank yelled his voice echoing throughout the tunnel.

I rolled my eyes and beginning to realize why the Titans had failed in the first place. They didn't work as a team at all, it seemed that they were just waiting for someone to make a mistake and hold it against them. Ivy, Harley, Selina and I were far from perfect and there were times where we didn't get along at all, but we were all there for each other when we needed it most. Never questioning each others mistakes no matter how bad things got.

Not saying anything I turned away from the group angry that I had wasted time joining them. Has I gone off on my I would have gotten more done. Not to mentioned if I heard anymore bickering and fighting I was sure to snap, giving them all reason to hate me more.

"Where are you going?" Dick questioned.

"To get Jason." I said not bothering to turn around and risk getting anymore upset by looking at all their faces because at the moment Dick was also very much someone that I was angry at.

"I'll go with you." Donna stated, and I couldn't help but feel shocked knowing that out of all of them she was the one that could tolerate me the least. I came to a stop as Donna joined my side, the express on her face making it clear that this was probably going to be the last time the agreed on something.

"Me too." Dawn said but she stopped to look to Dick and Hank who seemed shocked at the way things had turned out. "And for the record, this is all of our faults. Every single one of us. So get over it and move on. Jason's out there, and we're wasting time."

"Well, we can't keep wandering the tunnels all night looking for this tracking signal." Hank stated for the first time saying something that sounded even just a little reasonable. Apparently have his girlfriend finally speak up was enough have him get his shit together. "We need a new plan." 

Alert, tracker located.  

We all froze not sure if the alert from Dick's phone was something that we should be relieved about, or if it was a cause for worry. 

"I got something." Dick finally said as they all quickly ran after him the last flight of stairs leading out into the street. But they all came to a stop at the sight of a figure tied to a nearby lamppost. There was a moment where Chey felt her heart stop in her chest at the thought that it might be Jason. She just couldn't accept"It's fucking Dr. Light."

"What the fuck?" Hank said not at all succeeding in containing his anger. "Is that Jason's tracker?"

"Someone must have cut it out of him."

"Well, if Dr. Light's dead, where the fuck is Jason?" Hank questioned as he looked around the street making sure that there were no pedestrians coming their way.

"He must be working with a partner." Donna suggested as she looked at Dr. Light with disgust.

I met Dick's eyes both os us knowing exactly who Dr. Light had been working with. They had been keeping the theory to themselves but clearly they couldn't keep it between themselves any longer. This really was becoming even bigger than the two of them could handle. I nodded encouraging Dick to tell them, but before he could the cell phone strapped to Dr. Light's chest began to ring.

Dick wasted no time in reaching forward pulling the phone away and answering it. The way that his face twisted in anger was enough confirmation for me to know who it was.

"It's Deathstroke." Dick said as he put the phone on speaker holding it out between all of them. "Where's Jason?"

"Oh. You mean your little sidekick?" Slade questioned his words taunting and from the way all the Titans went tense around me from the sound of his voice alone surprised me. Dick had told be some details about their long history with Slade but there was clearly so much more to the story. They all deeply feared him. 

"Who the fuck you calling a sidekick, asshole?" Jason yelled and I couldn't help but feel relieved at hearing the sound of his voice. Though that relief was brief as the realization that they were all falling perfectly into Slade's plan hit me. 

"Attaboy." Hank said with pride with heard the sound of Jason being hit on the other end. Jason's grunts of pain made me flinch knowing that Deathstroke was not holding back. Jason had already lost a lot of blood and there was no doubt that he was in bad shape. "Fuck! You fucking bastard! Come try that shit with me!"

"Just tell us what you want." Dick said as Dawn held back Hank from saying anything else that could possibly have Slade retaliating with Jason. 

"As I was saying, if you want him back, hand over Rose."

We all looked around at each other surprised that Rose was Slade's request. Sure, she was his daughter but none of it felt right. This all couldn't be just for him to get Rose back. And I immediately knew that they were terms that Dick would not agree to. He had offered Rose protection and he was not the kind of man to go back on his word. 

"And how do we know you're gonna keep your promise?"

Jason was still gasping and laughing from whatever Slade had done to him and I couldn't help but feel powerless knowing that there wasn't much we could do to get him back.

"Tonight, 3:00 AM, Embarcadero Plaza. Outside. Use this phone to confirm." He said before the line disconnected leaving them all standing on the street like speechless idiots.

Slade was clearly ten steps ahead of them and it would be impossible for them to catch up now. This was something that he had to have been working on for a long time and I couldn't help but be afraid for whatever it was that Deathstroke had planned for them. But for now she had tp push back her fears and focus on saving Jason.

***

A/N: Yikes. I know it has been a long time since I updated this story and I apologize its kind of hard to focus on just one story when there are a dozen living in your head. But I'm determined to finally finish this book. I recently started rereading book 1 and just finished book 2. Have to say it's weird reading your own work, but I started feeling nostalgic and just have to finish now.