A/N: Hey guys! I'm really sorry I haven't been updating Infiltration or Lockdown, so here's a short consolation fic for my updating schedule. I've been busy working, traveling, and getting some original work done. Enjoy this short AU of an AU!
The air tasted crisp, though the snowmobile's gasoline tainted the cold mountain air. The snowmobile jerked underneath him as he slowed to a stop in front of the cabin and behind Slade.
Slade allowed him to drive a snowmobile, which felt bulky. Much more difficult to drive than the R-Cycle. Not in terms of operation, of course—the Batmobile put every other mode of transportation to shame—but because of how he had to throw around his body weight to get the damn thing to turn. He thought about crashing it into one of the trees, or driving off somewhere, but he only had so much fuel. And besides, the thought of being stuck under three feet of snow wasn't too appealing.
The cabin looked a lot different than it did during the summer. Buried in snow. It looked more like a prison than ever before. The creek had frozen over. If the Titans were here, he'd suggest playing some icy hockey or broomball to pass the time.
"Park over there," Slade said, gesturing to the area in front of the cabin.
Was there anyone else up here at this time of the year? There wasn't that much distance between here and the other cluster of cabins at the bottom of the hill. Dick took off his helmet, shivering as snow trickled into the collar of his jacket.
"There's a shovel in the shed," Slade said. "Clear out the front so we can get to the door."
As Slade dealt with their luggage, Dick shoveled away snow. The faster he did it the faster he would get inside.
It was frigid once he got inside. Almost felt warmer outside than it did inside the cabin. Dick dumped his luggage on the floor. Wintergreen had declined to join them—couldn't imagine why. Guy was probably enjoying a cold one on the Jump City beach. His breaths came out in puffs of mist as his teeth chattered. Despite his many layers the snow still soaked through the tops of his boots and into his socks.
"Well, don't just stand there." Slade nearly punched the air as he gestured towards the fireplace. "Unless you want to freeze your ass off."
Despite the technology Slade had installed in this place, it was still very old-fashioned. The pipes had frozen, and they needed to be thawed out before water would flow, which meant that he couldn't take a crap until he crawled underneath the foundation and turned on the hot water. Maybe they were here to build character. Hah.
Just as it had been before, there was an air of calmness in here, despite the ever-lurking tension that simmered just underneath the surface of everything going on these days. This place was less mechanical, less of a villain's lair than the Haunt, and if Dick wasn't careful he could be lulled into a false sense of security.
There wasn't much to do outside, though Dick suspected that was Slade's intention. Running away was a bit difficult in five feet of snow. Though he suspected that they were up here for some wilderness training.
And the cold was a bitch.
Escaping meant taking one of the snowmobiles. But where would he go now? New snow settled over the cabin overnight, and left everything in a thick layer of snow.
And here they were, in a cabin in the woods, with feets of snow to muffle his screams. A serial killer's dream. Just as with everything Slade did, Dick was certain that they were up there for a reason. Or maybe Slade just wanted to go on vacation. Everyone had to, right?
They dug out a pit in the snow, right down to the icy ground. If the situation hadn't been dire, Dick would have found it cool. Like being inside a big igloo, the kind he always wished he could build as a kid.
There was, much to Dick's dismay, plenty to do up there. The Sladebots didn't take the cold so well, and Slade wished to test his modifications out in the freezing cold, and left Dick for the grunt work. Plenty of them locked up in the cold, and he had the glamourous job of hauling them back inside and thawing out their icy cold hearts.
After three days the cabin had warmed enough to feel like a normal summer day in Jump. If it weren't ten degrees outside he would crack open a window to make it cooler. Dick sat next to the window, watching the snow fall for a moment as he worked on the Sladebots.
"Don't worry, we won't be here for too long," Slade said. "I just wanted to test out some new modifications on the Sladebots before we go to Russia."
"Russia?" He hated how stupid he sounded, repeating Slade like that. "Why?"
"You'll accompany me on a contract." Slade's brow furrowed. "You don't want to."
He didn't state it as a question. He knew that it wasn't.
"I'd rather not leave the country," Dick replied.
"Well, too bad. Once the modifications are done we'll pack up the bots and head to Moscow."
It was just like Slade to do this. To take Dick out to the middle of nowhere, someplace he couldn't escape easily, and drop this on him. The Haunt, with its large common room, was big enough to make Dick feel like there was just barely enough room for both of them. But here, in this natural prison, he felt as if the roof would collapse from the freshly fallen snow.
He wrenched the door open and stepped outside.
It had stopped snowing, and the night sky was beautiful as the clouds swirled around the stars. The cold seeped through him, the air biting his exposed flesh. Dick hadn't bothered to put on a jacket. He thought again of escape, and remembered the last time he tried here. If he couldn't do it in the summer, then he wouldn't be able to do it at all.
"You don't have to kill anyone, if that's what you're thinking." Slade had opened the door. "Just keep the bots running in the damn cold."
Dick looked at the ground, finally feeling the numbness tingle down his arms and into his fingertips. The more time away from Jump City meant less time with the Titans. Less time in the US meant less time with Bruce, if he ever showed up to rescue him.
"You should get inside," Slade suggested. "Now."
As Dick turned around and back into the warmth, he wondered if he could find a way to make the Sladebots worse in the winter, but that wouldn't do anyone any good. Not when they were lives at stake.