The Next Generation

Neal's eyes looked around as he and Nightwing left the Tower. Neal was wearing his old costume again, mask and helmet included. He shielded his visor from the rain and tried to scan the area around. "Not seeing anything yet, it's strange. I figured we would have seen something by now. Maybe it was just a glitch or something," Neal suggested. Still, they had to look around and make sure that it was just an accident.

"Got it, I'll yell if I find anything," Neal said before heading over to the west side of the tower. Neal glanced around the area, at first not finding anything. It wasn't until he spotted something in the distance that he stopped and did a double take. "What the?" he asked himself as he took several steps forward. It was only as he realized that it was a person that Neal ran forward. She was bleeding, and appeared to be unconscious. What had happened to her?

"Nightwing! I found someone! She looked injured! She needs some medical attention immediately!"

Nightwing hurried over to Neal's location, kneeling down at the woman's side and investigating closely. Rolling her over onto her back, his eyes widened with recognition. He knew well who this person was. Placing his fingers to her neck, he waited... waited... there it was, a pulse. Faint, but very much there.

"Her pulse is weak, we need to get her into the medical bay right away," he said, lifting her up into his arms. "Go get Cyborg, he knows all the medical equipment. Raven, too, see if she can heal some of the more major injuries. Hurry!" He then hurried off back into the tower to get the woman treated. She'd be needing warm and dry clothes at the very least, or she'd catch hypothermia.

Neal just stood by as Nightwing looked the woman over. It was too dark for Neal to notice that Nightwing seemed to recognize the woman. Neal was too focused on looking her over, wondering if she was gonna be okay. It was only a moment or so later that Nightwing mentioned that she had a pulse.

"Alright! Get her into the medical bay and I'll go grab the others as fast as I can," Neal said before taking off and heading to the garage first. He quickly explained the situation to Cyborg and told him where to go, he than went up to Raven's room and quickly began to knock on her door.

"Raven! We have someone here that really needs your help! She's injured and barely has a pulse. We need you to come to the medical area right now"

Raven opened her eyes, Neal's shouts calling her from her meditation. She didn't know what was going on, but apparently someone was injured and needed her healing aid. But who could it be? It was a she? But there were no other women on the Titans right now aside from the two out on a date, and herself of course. So was this someone new then? Regardless, she couldn't allow this person to suffer while she could prevent it.

The door to her room slid open a moment later and she stepped out, garbed in her cloak and hood. "Take me to her," she said.

When they got there, Cyborg and Nightwing were already working to hook her up to the various medical machines. She'd been changed into a hospital gown for now, while Cyborg examined the extent of her injuries. He was no doctor, but he knew the basics, enough to treat a Titan well enough for less critical conditions.

"Multiple lacerations across her torso," he said. "A lot of bruising, too. Looks like she was in some kind of fight. Goddamn, what did she get herself into this time?"

Raven came over to the bed and looked down, surprised. "This... is unexpected. I didn't expect to be seeing her again... it's been years." Taking in a deep breath, she placed her hands on the woman's forehead and closed her eyes. "I will heal the more dire of her injuries... she should recover just fine."

Neal took a step back once the door to Raven's room opened. He gained a small smile as Raven said that she would be taken to her. "She's in the medical bay, just follow me" he said before turning and heading off towards the medical area that Nightwing, the girl, and hopefully Cyborg would be by now.

As they arrived the others were there, looking the woman over as Cyborg was trying to at least get a basic scan of her. Neal listened and glanced at Cyborg curiously as he spoke. Did he hear that correctly? What did she get herself into this time? Neal admitted that it was obvious she had been through a lot, but Cyborg said it as if he knew the woman personally.

Raven seemed to confirm this suspicion with what she said next. Did they all know who this was? Was she a Titan once? "Um........I'm sorry but I think I'm a little bit behind," Neal said as he glanced over at Cyborg. Best not to bother Raven while she was healing. "Do you all know who this is?"

Nightwing glanced at Neal. Well, it was only natural he wouldn't know who she was, considering she was before his time as a Titan. "Her name is Rose," he explained. "She was a Titan for a long time, back in the day, before I even came back to it. She left about four years ago, though, claiming that she wanted to make a bigger difference. She went with her brother, Joey, also a Titan. Though where he is... I can't say. If her condition is anything to go by, I'm not entirely optimistic."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough what happened to her," Cyborg said, watching the vital signs. They were starting to improve, as Raven's healing touch eased her pain and wounds. "She starting to wake up."

"Ugh..." Rose uttered, her one eye slowly opening. She blinked a few times, glancing around at the Titans around her and taking a few moments to take in her surroundings. "I made it... shit, I was worried there for a while." She then looked down to notice that she was in a hospital gown. Her eyes shifted back to Nightwing. "Gee, I'm not back five minutes and you just couldn't wait to get me out of my clothes, could you, Dick?"

"Rose huh? I don't think that I've ever heard that name before, and I'm pretty sure that I'd remember a face like that," Neal admitted as he glanced back down at the girl. She was a Titan before and left with her brother? Apparently she was in need of some help, why else would she be here after all? It seemed like someone wanted her dead.

Neal glanced down as Rose began to wake up. It seemed like Raven's healing touch had only continued to improve with time. She was going to live, and apparently she was going to be conscious soon. Neal just kept looking down at her until she woke up, listening to her speak. Her comment towards Dick was surprising though, causing Neal to glance over and give a small smile towards him.

"Something you forgot to mention there Nightwing?" Neal asked with a small laugh before turning his attention back to Rose. For having just woken up she sounded like she was doing a lot better, that was a good sign.

"Nope," Nightwing replied, simply. He knew Rose's ways well by now... that was just the way she was. A flirt, a tease, occasionally loose, and with a personality that could go from calm to bitchy in three quarters of a second. He'd never let himself succumb to her advances, and he was pretty sure that was the biggest part of him she disliked, his resilience to her. "How are you feeling, Rose? What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," she responded, with a wave of the hand. "Got captured, escaped, killed a bunch assholes trying to shoot me. Just wish I could remember most of it."

Nightwing's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know... these past few years just seem like one big blur to me, like I was drugged or something. I don't remember when, where, or how those guys captured me, but the last thing I remember, I was waking up in some lab, strapped down to a table. They thought they could hold me... and they could, so long as I was unconscious. They didn't quite plan on me waking up, though."

"Where's Joey?" Cyborg asked.

"I... don't remember," she responded, shaking her head. "I know I was with him for a while in Prague, and then... and then that's where my memories fade. When I escaped the facility, I found out I was in Gotham, and I needed help, but I know your pointy eared buddy never liked me, so I couldn't go to him. Long story short, I hijacked a car and drove up here to see you guys... of course, they followed me, and without my gear I wasn't exactly prepared. Don't remember exactly how I managed to get away, but I eventually ended up driving into the East River and swimming the rest of the way to the tower. That's about when I lost consciousness."

Nightwing, Cyborg, and Raven all looked at each other for a moment. That was definitely quite a story...

Rose sat up a little straighter and folded her arms, glancing over at Neal. "So who's the new guy? ...he's kinda cute." She snickered to herself, and then let out a sigh. She looked around some more, appearing confused. "Where are the others? Eddie? Wonder Girl? Bart? They hiding on me?"

Another moment of silence, and then Nightwing sighed. "They're... all in the memorial room now."

It only took a second for Rose to understand. She slowly lowered her head. "Oh... guess I've been gone a long time, huh?"

Neal listened as Rose went on to explain her story, it was definitely not quite the one that Neal had been expecting to hear from her. She apparently had been captured and failed to remember the last several years of her life. What could be strong enough to make her forget that much of her own life? Neal had no idea, but whatever caused it obviously wasn't a good thing. What had been the goal? Why would someone want Rose that badly?

Neal decided to not ponder these kind of questions. Neal had no idea what Rose was even capable of, didn't even know what her hero name was.

As she glanced over at him Neal just crossed his arms. "My name's Fade, but feel free to call me Neal" he said with a small smile. He had no idea what happened to Rose, but if she was once a Titan that was good enough for Neal. She needed their help, and that meant that they were going to provide it right?

As Rose seemed to realize how long she had been gone, Neal glanced over at Nightwing once before looking back towards Rose. "So you're here........what is it that we can do to help you?" he asked curiously. Maybe she just wanted a place to stay and get back on her feet, or maybe it was something else. Neal just wanted to know.

"Well, a place to crash would be great," Rose replied. "I don't have another home, and it turns out all my bank accounts were cleaned out, so I can't go rent a place. I would like to find out who those bastards were that kidnapped me, but I don't really know where to start looking. I guess maybe in Gotham where they were holding me, but I don't remember whereabouts in the city that was... I was a little too concentrated on escaping. And I'd like to know what happened to Joey... but again, no idea where to start looking."

Nightwing folded his arms and glanced at the other Titans. "Alright, Rose, you can stay... but as long as you're living in this tower, you're an active Titan again. No exceptions. We'll help you out as long as you're here, though."

Rose raised an eyebrow and frowned at him. "Fine, fine, whatever you want. Consider yourselves lucky to have me back again," she said with an amused smirk. "So, who else is left around here, anyway? Where's the little green one?"

"Beast Boy is in metropolis right now," Raven answered. "Starfire is still here, though. And we have one other member, Sarah, the current Green Lantern."

Rose let out an impressed whistle. "Shit, you got a Lantern on the Titans? How'd you swing that one? Shouldn't she be in the Justice League or something?"

"Sarah got her start as a Titan," Cyborg explained. "She was offered a position in the League, but chose to remain here."

"I see... well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving," Rose said, starting to swing her legs out of bed. To Neal, she added, "hey, cutey, hows about you grab me something to wear and then show me around the place? I'm sure it's changed a bit since I was last here."

Neal heard her request, it seemed like a fair one. She just wanted a place to stay and rest without having to worry about where she'd have to wake up. Considering that she couldn't remember anything from the past few years, it was probably something that she desperately wanted. Neal was glad to hear Nightwing say that they would help her out, but it would cause her to be an active member of the Titans again.

Neal still couldn't help but wonder what there was to this girl. She didn't act like your typical Titan, but perhaps that was just who she was. He also wanted to know what made her a Titan, did she have a power? Or was she just a skilled warrior like Nightwing or Batman? He didn't ask in the moment, figured it'd be rude since she had only just woken up.

Neal raised an eyebrow as Rose suddenly addressed him, wanting him to find her some clothes and perhaps show her around a bit. Neal wasn't quite sure what to say. "Um.....yeah. Sure, I guess I can do that," Neal said as he wasn't sure what else to say. She had a point, she couldn't just stay in the hospital gown all day. "I'll be back," he said before heading out. He would return a few minutes later with a pile of clothes and set it down next to Rose. "I'm sure you'll find something in there that will fit you"

As Neal set the clothes down, Rose began sifting through them, searching for an appropriate selection... well, appropriate for her, anyway. Eventually, she chose the short gym shorts and the midriff exposing T-shirt with a low cut top. "Well, this should work," she said, starting to remove her hospital gown. SHe stopped a second later though, glancing up at the others. "Some privacy would be nice." With a sly look at Neal, she added, "Unless of course you want to stay."

Raven cleared her throat and began to walk out of the room, as did the others. She grabbed Neal's arm along the way, making sure he didn't get any ideas. When they were all out of the room so Rose could change, she folded her arms beneath her cloak and looked back at the door, then Neal.

"Be... careful around her," she stated. Raven knew that woman's ways well, too. More than one of them. There was no telling what her return might actually mean.

Rose appeared a moment later, walking out the door and grabbing Neal's hand. "Well come on, no use standing around here all night."

Raven watched as the two disappeared down the hallway and sighed, bowing her head. "I'll be.... meditating, if anyone needs me."

When everyone else was gone, Cyborg glanced at Nightwing. "Considering Neal's... experiences, you think we should tell him?"

"It's not ours to tell," Nightwing said. "It's bound to come up anyway... I just hope no one loses an eye when it does."

Neal just watched as Rose picked out a selection of clothes, quite revealing ones at that. Of course, what Neal didn't expect to happen was for her to start changing right in front of all of them. Something about the girl just seemed so strange, she was so open and flirtatious. It wasn't in the same way that Power Girl had been. Something about her was just off, and Neal couldn't put a finger on it.

As Raven grabbed him, Neal couldn't help but feel like Raven didn't trust him. As she spoke to him, he couldn't help but narrow her eyes. Why was she acting this way? Raven was the one that had been avoiding Neal. She had nothing to worry about, Neal wasn't going to let this girl do anything so long as he was still with Raven. Neal might be shallow at times, but he wasn't the kind of guy that would cheat on his woman.

Before Neal said anything though, Rose came out and grabbed his hand before leading him off somewhere. Neal was cut off from Raven before he had a chance to say anything. He walked with her, although he did try to pry his hand away from hers for some time. "So what exactly do you want to see around the tower? I don't really believe that much has changed around here, other than some new rooms have been since Sarah and I joined"

"Well, to be honest, I really just wanted to get away from the others and spend a little time getting to know you," she explained. "I know the others, I've spent years with them. You're knew. You're interesting. So, I'm curious, you could say. Tell me a little about yourself. How'd you come to be on the legendary Titans? What can you do? Got family? Hobbies? Anything will do, just want to take my mind off my recent fiasco."

"I see," Neal said as Rose revealed that she just wanted to get away from the others and learn a bit more about him since she had never met him before. She probably never even heard of him. "Well, I joined the Titans because I was a hostage in a bank robbery. The girl I was next to was Sarah, and she was injured in the attack so Raven healed her. It was when Raven realized that Sarah had the potential to be a hero but hadn't discovered it yet. To make a long story short, Sarah wanted me to come along and so I did, Raven ended up healing me at one point and helped me to discover that I had powers too"

"I have two powers really. I'm called Fade because I can cast illusions upon your mind, make you see and feel things that aren't really there ya know? Along with that I have a very sharp mind, which allows me to basically learn anything if given enough time. I'm trained in hand to hand and weapons," Neal said as a summary of what his power was capable of.

"Got my parents and younger sister back home in Oregon. I'll call my sister every now and than, but I don't really stay in touch with the parents. But that's a story for a whole other time. Along with that...............I have a steady girlfriend," he said as he glanced over at Rose.

Rose's eyebrows lifted at the mention of a steady girlfriend. "Ohhh, guess you're taken, then huh? Should stop considering making a move on you then. Probably." She chuckled, then leaned against a couner, gazing out at the rainy night. "Hand to hand and weapons, ae? Now I'll definitely have to see that sometime. Those are kind of my specialties, too. Is the old combat room still around here? Maybe we can stop by there." She was quiet a moment, then pursed her lips. "Sorry to hear about not keeping in touch with your folks, though. But at least you've got your sisters. Joey was the only real family I had, too, and I don't even know where he is... Never really knew my mom that well, and my dad... well, my dad's a bastard, plain and simple. A real cold blooded killer... literally. Doesn't care about me or family, or anything like that. Just money."

"Yeah, probably shouldn't do that," Neal said with a weak laugh. He wasn't sure if it was the kind of thing that you should laugh about or not after all. As Rose mentioned what her specialties were Neal looked at her in surprise. "Truly? Well you and I will have to hold a spar sometime, maybe you can teach me some new moves or something," he pointed out. "And yeah the old combat room is still around. My second day as a Titan and they had me fight Beast Boy......the dude kicked my ass. In my defense I was nowhere near as strong as I am now" he added with another laugh.

As Rose mentioned her family Neal got a bit quiet. "I'm sorry about your family Rose," he finally said as she mentioned never knowing her mom and mentioned that her dad only cared about money. Greedy huh? There were always dads like that, they always ended up hurting the family somehow. "We will do what we can to help you find Joey. I'm sure the League has some connections that might be able to help you"

"Don't be," Rose replied, at Neal's comment about being sorry about her family. "I've long since passed the point of being sad about my heritage, I don't really much care. The only thing I do care about in regards to my family is Joey. Well, that and finding my father so I can wrap my hands around his neck and make him pay for everything he's ever done to us, me, my brother, our friends, the Titans... calls himself the world's greatest mercenary, what a crock of shit. The only thing he's the world's greatest at is a being a delusional psychotic. And a dick."

Neal just stood there and listened as Rose spoke about her family and how she had moved passed it. However, with every word she spoke Neal began to feel something in his chest. He wasn't sure what it was, but the way she began to speak about her father it all just sounded like someone that Neal knew far too well. At the mention of being a mercenary, Neal couldn't hold it in anymore. "Wait a second," he said as he looked right at her. Could it really be? But it didn't look like there were any similarities between them!

"Are you the daughter of Deathstroke?"

Rose blinked as Neal stared at her and asked the question. Eventually, she sighed and just threw up her hands. "Yup, that's me, Deathstroke's Daughter. They loved to refer to me by that title back in the day. Like that's the only thing I'd ever be to them, just the daughter of a killer. Well guess what, I'm my own person, and I'm nothing like my father! Do you know what he did to me? Do you?! He drugged me, you know, with some kind of special serum. Sure, it enhanced my physical strength, my speed, all that, but it let him control my mind. He used me like a puppet! Made me kill for him!" Letting out an angry yell, she punched the glass of the window, cracking it and causing her knuckles to bleed.

"I am not 'Deathstroke's Daughter'. I'm Rose Wilson. The Ravager. A Titan. And I'm a good person... mostly. Yeah, I've done some bad things, but I made up for them. I'm not... I'm not him." She went silent for a few moments, then turned around and bowed her head, holding her arms around herself. "Sorry, I... I didn't mean to... well, you know. It's just... bad memories. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, you didn't know about it." Sighing, she held a hand to her head and shook it slowly. "I take it you've met my father, then?"

Neal just stared forward as Rose seemed to explode upon the question. He supposed that he should have phrased it better, it was clearly dragging up a lot of bad material. Of course what she revealed didn't really surprise Neal. When Neal had met Deathstroke he didn't quite strike Neal as Father of the Year material. Rose's anger was clear evidence of this. Neal just bowed down his head, allowing her to finish her rant before she eventually apologized and asked Neal how he had known Deathstroke.

"Forgive my phrasing, it wasn't my intention to imply that you were like your father. Anyone with a tenth of a heart is nothing like Deathstroke.............I was his pupil once," Neal said before turning and looking at Rose. "Much like you, he used me like a puppet in order to attack the Titans. It was a dark time in my life, and one that I've only barely forgiven myself for. I'm lucky the Titans took me back rather than throwing my ass in jail. Deathstroke was a talker, he convinced me that the Titans were my enemies and that he could make me more powerful than they ever could," Neal said as he looked over towards Rose. "Dick will probably never say it to another living soul, but I was about three inches away from putting a sword through his head once"

Rose looked back at him, then sighed and dropped her gaze to the ground. After a moment, she took to looking back out the window. The steady pitter patter of the rain was soothing. "Yeah, that definitely sounds like him. He's a master manipulator, I'll give him that much. He even found a way to get me to go with him without the serum, once. I still can't believe what a fucking idiot I was to trust him, to think that he'd changed... he hadn't changed, he was just using me again. One of these days I'm going to find him, and I'm going to plant my sword right through his black heart. I swear it."

She went silent again for a few moments, then shook her head and started walking down the hallway. "I'd rather not talk about him anymore, though. It's only going to make me angrier. Let's go to the combat room. I feel like I'm probably a bit rusty. Wonder they still have one of my spare uniforms in storage."

"Yeah, believe me when I say that I know how you feel. I nearly killed someone that I cared about. I couldn't believe how far the other direction that I had been pushed by him. He barely needed to say anything, it was like he could see me and know every flaw and insecurity that I ever had," Neal admitted as he listened to Rose once again. "Well, if you ever succeed make sure to take a picture and send it to me. That's the kind of thing I would hang on my wall."

"Yeah, talking about something else would probably be better," Neal agreed as he began to walk towards the combat room. "I don't know about any spare uniforms actually, worth a look though" he said as they continued to the combat room and eventually arrived. He glanced a look back at Rose though, suddenly remembering a question. "Out of curiosity.......why'd you go by Ravager?"

Rose couldn't help but laugh when Neal said he'd hang the picture on his wall. "You know something, Neal, I like you. Really." She smiled, giving him a pat on the back as they entered into the combat room. When he asked about her codename, though, she just kind of shrugged. "Ravager... it's a long story. Couple people before me used it. My brother, Grant, for one. I never met him, though. See, I'm... kind of an accident. If I were a guy, you'd call me a bastard. But yeah, Ravager is what I became when Deathstroke started to train me, play me... the only reason I keep the persona is to redeem it, wash the stains out so to speak. I try to be everything my father should be, but isn't, his opposite. That, and I couldn't think of anything better. And designing a new costume was just a pain in the ass."

When they entered the combat room, Rose began looking around the back in the storage area. After a few minutes, she shouted a voice of triumph and walked back out carrying her old equipment. She started putting the outfit on. "Glad I won't have to wait to get something knew made. Give me a second to change into it." When she was done, she adjusted it in a few places to make sure that it fit right, then lifted up the mask and stared at it. "Been a while since I wore this, it feels like. Well, better late than never."

"Well I do like to think that I'm just a naturally likable guy, but thanks anyway," Neal said jokingly as he continued to listen to Rose as she explained about the name Ravager and where it had come from. Wow, she really had quite the family history. Compared to her Neal had nothing to complain about, it almost made him wanna call up his parents and just chat for a minute. With all the work he still needed to do though, he would probably forget it by tonight anyway. "Well, I'm glad you were able to come back for what its worth. If you're the opposite of your father, that makes you a perfect addition to the team"

Neal just stood and waited as Rose eventually found one of her old costumes and went to go change into it. Seeing her in it definitely made Neal feel a bit strange, only because the costume was extremely similar to what Deathstroke wore. Neal could begin to see why it would be a problem for some of the League to trust her. Once she placed on her mask, Neal just gave a small nod. "Looks like it still fits, your clearly staying in good shape," he added as he cracked his knuckles.