A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also ans the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
R-R-Rewind!
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Lucien wakes up in bed surrounded by beautiful naked won. Hey, what else is new? Grinning a little at his own joke, he takes stock of the situation. It’s the night before shit hit the fan… which is crazy to think about, because the events of the next twenty-four hours feel like they took place over the span of months.
He’s just gotten done fucking Koriandr, Komandr, and Tara. They’re all asleep now, curled up into his sides. Even knowing what he now knows about Tara’s allegiances, he can’t help but feel a bit of affection for her. She was just a scared young woman in over her head at the end of the day.
Still, he’s co back to before he incorporated Raven’s demon DNA into his physiology. Now he knows better. Now Lucien knows that he won’t just be incorporating her half-demon physiology, he’ll be literally making himself a son of Trigon in the process, which connected him to the bastard and maybe made all of this happen in the first place.
Except… Lucien’s brow furrows as he rembers what Tara had said while she was being interrogated by the Titans. Slade had been having her spy on the Titans for a while… but the Titan he’d been having her spy on in particular was Raven. Did that an Trigon was always going to try sothing with his daughter around this ti?
Only Lucien didn’t rember shit being nearly as bad in his previous life. He definitely would have recalled a mont where the sky turned red and portals from a Hell Dinsion opened up to discharge demons down onto their heads. The fact that that hadn’t happened when Lucien wasn’t involved ant that it was his involvent that had caused things to grow as ssy as quickly as they did.
More than that… he looks over at Blackfire with a hum. Him giving her back her mories had imdiately set Raven off. They’d never truly resolved that either, because before Raven and Starfire could actually hash out the issues between them, Terra had stolen the show by admitting she was a spy. From there, Raven had been left to stew in her own emotions, forced to just bottle it all up inside while she and the rest of the Titans had gone off to confront Deathstroke.
No wonder it all went to shit. Not only were they not facing off against Slade Wilson with anything close to their usual cohesion and level of teamwork, but they’d also been unaware that they were sitting on a ticking ti bomb. A ti bomb that Lucien had clearly set off in more ways than one.
… He’d co back to after he’d incorporated Beast Boy and Terra’s biology into his own physiology, but before he’d done the sa with Raven’s half-demon DNA. Obviously he wasn’t going to touch that with a ten foot pole now that he knew it would make him an artificial Son of Trigon and connect him to the Demon Lord in the worst way possible.
Still, it was frustrating to have co back to before he gave Blackfire her mories back, allowing for them to make substantial progress in her and Starfire’s relationship. Unfortunately, he couldn’t in good conscience do things the sa way again, not if that was one of the things that had lit Raven’s fuse.
Lucien needed more information. He needed answers to the nurous questions that he had because while he was aware of so things, there was a lot he didn’t know. Like what the fuck Slade Wilson had to do with Trigon, and how things got so bad for the Titans when they went to confront the bastard.
Fortunately, Lucien had an ‘in’ didn’t he? Tapping both Kori and Komandr with his fingers, he makes sure that the two Tamaranean Princesses won’t wake up until morning, no matter what. Then, he slowly shifts his way out from under the both of them, climbing up out of the bed. This in turn wakes up Tara of course, but that was intentional. With one hand bringing a finger to his lips to shush her and the other beckoning her to follow him, Lucien lures the blue-eyed blonde out of the bed with him.
Together they move quietly over to their things, getting dressed with Lucien leading the way. The geokinetic looks eager to follow though, perhaps because she wants to impress him, or perhaps because she hopes to get so one on one ti with him now that they’re leaving the other won behind.
Lucien isn’t so full of himself to think that it was his dick alone that persuaded Tara to flip on Deathstroke. Raven herself had said that the blonde actually ant it when she said she was sorry and that the Titans were her only friends. Tara’s guilt must have been eating away at her for quite so ti before now, even as she’d been reporting on Raven to Slade.
That all said, he hoped that this plan of his would still work. He needed to understand the enemy better. And if he was going to understand the enemy better, he needed to confront the enemy.
Once he and Terra are fully dressed in their costus once more, he beckons her over again and scoops her up with an arm around her waist. Terra lets out a quiet ‘eep’ at that before blushing and going wide eyed as she covers her mouth with her hand. She looks back at the bed, but neither Starfire nor Blackfire wake up to the noise thanks to Lucien’s powers.
Giving her an amused shake of his head, he lifts them both off the ground and takes Terra to the nearest window, letting the two of them slip out of the Tower without anyone being any the wiser. Flying her away from the tower and into the city, he heads sort of in the direction of where the big black pillar had risen out of the ground, though not directly towards it.
Even still, he can feel Terra tensing up in his arms as they enter the city’s warehouse district. She doesn’t ask him to stop or anything like that, but she becos distinctly uncomfortable, even as Lucien brings her down onto the roof of one of the warehouses.
“What… um, what can I do for you Lucien? W-Why did we need to co all the way out here at this ti of night?”
Her eyes dart down to his crotch and she licks her lips.
“U-Unless you wanted to… but we could probably find a cleaner place than this, right?”
She’s cute, but he’s not so easily swayed. Smiling thinly, Lucien gestures to his masked up face.
“I’m Redy right now. Just like you’re Terra.”
“Oh… right! Sorry! … sorry.”
Shaking his head, Lucien just sighs.
“I want you to take to et Deathstroke.”
Terra freezes in place at those words. Her reaction alone gives her away to be honest, her eyes widening as she stares at Lucien in disbelief.
“What? I-I an… I don’t know what you’re t-talking about?”
Lucien tilts his head to the side and smiles.
“Are you asking or telling that, Terra?”
“T-Telling! I really don’t know why you would say sothing like that!”
Stepping forward, Lucien looms over Terra, using his larger size for its intimidation factor for a mont.
“Because I know you’ve been spying on the Titans for him, Terra. You can cut the crap. I know everything.”
Terra shakes like a leaf, staring up at him with a quivering lower lip.
“You… you do?”
He didn’t, but she didn’t need to know that. And he definitely knew enough that it didn’t matter what he didn’t know. At least as far as Terra was concerned anyways. Lucien lets his smile widen a bit.
“You’re working for Slade Wilson, Terra. But he’s not working for himself. He’s a rcenary who’s working for soone higher up on the totem pole.”
That information is clearly news to Terra, who gapes for a mont in surprise before quickly swallowing thickly.
“I… I didn’t know.”
Lucien shakes his head.
“Of course you didn’t. It’s simple compartntalization, darling. I work for the sa boss that Slade works for. And I need to speak with him so I’m using you as an interdiary. Make sense?”
Slowly, Terra begins to nod before stopping her eyes suddenly widening as she looks at him in a new light.
“W-Wait… yours and Slade’s boss… is he…”
Lucien makes a show of shaking his head sharply, his eyes growing flinty.
“Don’t pry, Terra. Just do as you’re told.”
Terra squeaks.
“O-Okay!”
She definitely believes him. Because she thinks she’s just ‘cracked it’. After all, he hasn’t told her his last na yet, but she’s seen his face and she’s clearly managed to put two and two together thanks to the familial similarities. She knows Lex Luthor is his father and now she’s convinced herself that he and Deathstroke are both working for Lex.
Shoulders slumping in what might be both defeat and relief, Terra just hangs her head.
“Co… co on. I’ll take you to him.”
Perfect. Lucien lets Terra lead the way, the two of them moving down to ground level so that she can get her bearings and find the right warehouse. After flitting through the district for a little while, they eventually arrive at the right place with Terra hesitating for only a second before leading him inside.
Lucien’s guard is up, his every sense on edge as they walk into the darkened warehouse. The mories of Slade Wilson cutting through the Titans like a scythe through wheat are still fresh in his mind’s eye even if it never actually happened. If Slade was already empowered by Trigon, Lucien didn’t know what he would do. Probably die again, at this rate. But at least he’d have a bit more information and could-
“Terra. Who is this? Treachery, girl? After all the help I’ve given you…”
Deathstroke’s voice echoes through the warehouse, alerting them to his presence even as both Lucien and Terra stop where they stand. Clearing her throat, Lucien watches as Terra steps forward even as he throws out his senses, trying to get an idea of where Slade is. Unfortunately, the rcenary is too good at what he does. Not even Terra’s geokinesis allows for Lucien to figure out where the man is… which makes sense given Slade would be prepared for such a thing since Lucien had brought Terra with him.
“N-Not treachery! This… this is Redy! He needed to speak with you… about your mutual benefactor!”
Terra’s squeaky explanation causes silence to fall in the warehouse. Slade’s disbelief is palpable, even if he doesn’t say anything for a long mont. When he does finally speak, incredulity stains every word that drops from his mouth.
“Really now… our mutual benefactor, is it?”
Deciding it’s probably ti for him to step in, Lucien speaks up.
“That’s right. I have received dreams from our Lord. He’s told that it’s almost ti for the plan to comnce and on his word I’ve managed to infiltrate the Titans to prepare for the final phase. However, before that can happen, he’s had co here to you… to prepare you as well.”
“Prepare… ?”
In for a penny, in for a pound.
“I’m a healer, Mister Wilson. You’ve done good work for our Lord. Now that things are nearing the end, he has decided to reward you… and to make you stronger for what is to co.”
Terra, bless her heart, pipes up again.
“I-It’s true! He’s healed us quite a few tis since he joined the Titans. He can pretty much do anything with a touch!”
Though at the sa ti, the blonde is giving him weird looks. Lucien can understand why. He’d let her think that the higher power he and Deathstroke were both working for was his father. But now he was calling their boss ‘Lord’ and acting all reverent and shit. Still, Lucien had never outright told Terra that Lex Luthor was behind all of this. She was only assuming and you know what they said about that…
All of the sudden, between one blink of an eye and the next, Slade Wilson appears before them. In that mont, even without touching him, Lucien can tell… the man is already dead. However, the red symbol on his forehead isn’t glowing with nearly the sa amount of power that it was in the future Lucien saw.
Tilting his head to the side, the zombie rcenary looks between Lucien and Terra for a long mont.
“Healing.”
The incredulity is still palpable, even as Slade tastes the word on his tongue. After all, he doesn’t need healing… he needs a complete resurrection. Or at least a guarantee that Trigon is going to let him live as an undead forever. Lucien is prepared for Slade’s disbelief though, smiling and shooting a quick glance towards Terra that she doesn’t notice… but that Deathstroke definitely does.
“Healing cos in all shapes and sizes Mr. Wilson. Sotis it requires… sacrifice. But anything can be healed. Anything.”
Could Lucien bring the dead back to life with his powers over biology? Probably not. Then again, he wouldn’t know until he tried. He wasn’t here to test that theory tonight though. He was only here to deal with Slade Wilson… if at all possible.
As the undead rcenary continues standing there in silence, Lucien decides to make the next move. He takes off his gloves one after the other and then offers a bared hand to Terra. Confused, not quite understanding the implication, the blonde pulls off one of her black gloves and takes his hand in her own.
Then, Lucien offers his other bared hand to Slade. It takes a mont… but slowly, finally, Deathstroke reaches down and removes one of his armored gloves, revealing the mummified flesh underneath it. So of the skin on his fingers is torn, showing bones.
Terra gasps at the reveal, even as Slade’s skeletal fingers reach out to touch Lucien’s. Finally, the geokinetic picks up on what Slade had already figured out Lucien was implying.
“W-Wait, no-urk!”
He can’t have her interrupting, so Lucien paralyzes her with a single though, freezing her in place. Then, he reaches out and grabs hold of Slade’s zombified hand, feeling himself expand through the undead man’s biology in an instant.
He’s still deader than a door nail… but Trigon hasn’t empowered him nearly as much as he would in the future. There’s still a kernel of Trigon’s influence buried in Slade’s body, but this… this is much more doable.
“Well?”
Lucien smiles as he looks up to et Slade’s expectant eyes.
“Have patience Mr. Wilson. These things take ti.”
Then, he gets to work.
-x-X-x- The Vote: [X] Play it safe, try to turn Deathstroke's dead body into dust quickly so Trigon doesn't have ti to react - 79%
[ ] Play it dangerous, try to actually restore Deathstroke to life while at the sa ti cutting out Trigon's influence - 21%
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