"Colour me surprised, kid," the voice hums thoughtfully under their breath, causing your spine to stiffen at the intrusion. The shock of adrenaline passes as swiftly as it had come, once you realise who the disembodied voice really belongs to. "Not the kind of dream job I imagined you'd have."

There is no need for weapons - from the both of you. You hadn't seen Slade in what felt like far too many years, a foe that you had detached yourself from as your life moved on. When you were still a small child, running around in brightly coloured spandex under the training of the Teen Titans, you had once innocently prided yourself as a hero, the art of saving lives a task you had deemed yourself obligated to. As you grew older, those dreams seemed to disintegrate, like they had never existed at all, like it had been a fickle childhood dream that was left in a fairy tale. But now, you'd made a new name for yourself, as a gun for hire. It wasn't something you assumed your old teammates would approve of, but you thrived as a mercenary and absorbed everything it gave you. You supposed it was only a matter of time before you crossed paths with Slade once again, an old foe your former self had been driven on taking down.

He prowls forward, and you can tell he's assessing you intently. You have no intention of a fight, but you can never be too careful while out on a job. You've learned just how dangerous this life is compared to your old one as a Titan.

"Look at how much you've grown," he mused, as if you'd sparked a trip down memory line for him. Once, you had been barely above his waist and throwing everything your tiny body could give to put him away, vouching for the justice of the world. Well, look at how far you'd fallen. He couldn't say he wasn't impressed. "You were a little dot the last time I saw you."