Endless Love (Sequel to 'His Love') / On Hold

Chapter 6

Raven sat in silence as she heard what Slade, her mother, and Kyd had to say about her friends being here in Azarath.

"Rachel? Did you bring them here?" Arella asked her sternly.

Raven looked at her and shook her head, "No. I didn't do that. I'm not ready to talk to them yet."

Kyd grabbed ahold of her shoulders, supporting her no matter what. "Look, we're not here to blame anybody, we just need to find out what to do with them."

"There's absolutely no way they can stay here! We know nothing of them and their power!" A councilman yelled. There were murmurs and nods in agreement around the table.

"I say we capture them and put them in the laboring chambers..." Another suggested.

Raven's power banged against the power, "No! You are not sending them to do such labor! We may have not seen each other for a long time, but I still care for them. They were my friends! I'm sending them back to Earth and that's final! And no matter how much you disagree, I will still send them back. Even if you lock me up." Raven was never a fan of the whole labor thing, but it was the only way to keep the prisoners in an healthy shape.

"You are not in command here, Rachel. You may be next in line, but your argument is irrelevant at this moment!" a councilman that disliked her shouted.

"You do not command me, Gonzalez! Tell me what I should do again, and I will kill you." Raven scowled with a angry glared fixed on him.

"Rachel, do whatever you must. Just make sure to take them back to where they belong." Arella said.

Raven nodded and then she stalked out the room. As Kyd tried to follow her, Slade grabbed ahold of him and held him back. "Let me talk to her."

"She doesn't trust you." Kyd snarled.

"J-Just let me talk to her, alright? I won't do anything. I just want to talk to her." Slade said staring him hard.

Kyd groaned and then sat down, disappointed, but he let Slade go after Raven.

When he arrived at her door, he knocked softly so she wouldn't be startled. 

"I don't want to talk right now, Kevin." Her voice sounded broken and oh so very sad.

Slade gulped nervously, mentally preparing for the worse, "It's not Kevin, it's me. Your step-father."

Through the door, Raven was fuming. How dare he come? She was betting that he was there to tell her to reconsider the whole 'not putting the Titans to labor' idea. "What is it?"

"May I come in?" Slade asked her gently.

Raven cleared her throat and sat up straight, "Yes, you may."

Slade opened the door slowly, and looked at her. She was facing away from him, and he could tell that she had been crying. He walked in and closed the door silently. "May I sit?"

Raven nodded.

They stayed silent for a moment, then it got awkward. Raven was both angry and filled with disbelief when she found out that her mother had married him. He had scarred her. Both mentally and physically. He had helped out her 'real' father to make her basically die, and then he almost captures her to make her his apprentice the third time around. But as his two previous failures, that time was no different. They had beat him, and she thought she had seen the last of him. Although, that time, he had tortured her to make her work for him. She still had a scars on her back that only Kyd knew about, but she had never told him it was from her dearly beloved step-father.

"Listen, Rachel. I'm terribly sorry about what I've done in the past. I admit, I was an idiot. Going after three of the strongest Titans. Especially with you. I know that you don't trust me. I don't expect you to. And I'm not asking for forgiveness, because I don't deserve it at all." Slade started. He looked to Raven and saw her nodding her head, silently agreeing. This was way more difficult than he expected. "But I also want you to know that I love your mother. I'm not using her in any way for one of my evil schemes. I gave up the mercenary life so that I can live in peace with your mother. Hell, I wouldn't have even married her if I had known you were her daughter, because I knew that you would hate my guts."

"Well, what do you expect? For two weeks, you tortured me. I still have scars running down my back because of you." Raven scowled nastily.

Slade nodded, "I know. I deserve being told everything you're telling me. I wasn't a good father to Joseph or Rose. And I don't deserve a second chance with you. But I just want you to know: I don't want to hurt you anymore, Rachel. And I'll be here whenever you need a father, because I know how your real father is. I just want you to at least attempt to learn to trust me."

Raven looked at him, tears pooling up in her eyes. She had always yearned for a father-figure. But there was no one. And while Willa did do both jobs of being her mother and father, she had always wanted to be picked up and twirled around like a little princess. Of course, she didn't want that now, but she had wanted that for so long when she was younger. She wanted someone to threaten her boyfriend if she came home with one. She had wanted someone to teach her how to fight, instead she had to learn alone. She was never given joy, and she was the pride of a fatherly figure. She wanted someone, other than friends and Kyd, to protect her. She wanted someone who she could finally call 'Dad'...

Slade stood up, and then looked down on her, "Just know, I want to protect you now, Rachel. I don't want you to hate me, but if that's all I get for now, I understand." Then he started walking towards the door.

Raven didn't know what she was doing. Her limbs were moving on their own accord and she couldn't stop them. She had stopped him by grabbing ahold of his jacket, which caused him to turn back. And then she wrapped her arms around him, sobbing loudly. Slade, cautiously, but firmly held her in his arms as she cried. She dragged them both down to their knees and Slade kept her in his embrace. He wanted nothing more but to do this with his own children. But he had lost that opportunity a long time ago. All he wanted now, was to protect and shield Raven from every single thing that tries to harm her. He wanted to prevent hurting his daughter again...

They stayed like that for a while, before Raven pulled away and said, while wiping away her tears, "I'm sorry. I-I just-"

"It's fine, Rachel. I understand. Even though you're not supposed to feel because of your powers, sometimes you can't help but to express them. I'll take this secret to the grave." Slade said reassuringly.

Raven smiled gently and then she hugged him again. He used to be her enemy. The person she hated more than anything in the world. He was a bastard and the person who tortured.

But now he was her father.

Her dad...

*****

I know, they both seem out of character, but I really wanted them to form a daughter/father relationship. Even in the cartoon I was kind of hoping to see Slade be like a father to her(even though her hurt her, I understand that). It just makes me happy to think of them that way. I'm not in any way saying I ship them romantically, I just like the idea of a father/daughter relationship between the two. It's sweet... Till next time, guys!!

-CristinaLara99