Disclaimer and other stuff: see first chapter
Chapter Two
As Richard awoke he found himself alone. It appeared that he was in a cell of the Jump City Prison. He then heard something that made him shiver and cringe: the voice of his guardian, Bruce Wayne, talking in a rather annoyed voice with someone else.
"… was covered in blood, a right mess your kid made there..." The unfamiliar voice spoke. Richard had to assume that it was a police officer and began to listen harder.
"Did Tony Zucco survive?" Bruce didn't sound happy, even more so than usual, and that meant bad news for his ward.
"No, the boy killed him," There was a brief pause. "What are you going to do now, Mr. Wayne?"
"Do you know if Richard intended to kill the man or was it an accident?" Upon hearing his mentor say "kill" Richard shuddered, knowing that for once that word pertained to him.
"Looks like clear murder to me sir, but surly your lawyers can try for mental instability. Still, the press are going to have a field day with this when the story leaks out…"
"Your station will get an anonymous donation in a few days, will that be sufficient?" As Bruce said this, Richard felt sick. The man had to stoop down to bribing, all on his accord.
"Thank you sir. Any wishes on how the boy should be treated?"
"Keep him in solitary confinement for the time being, I need the discuss the situation with a few people."
"Anything you want, sir." The voices died down and Richard was left alone with his thoughts.
Was he glad that Zucco was dead? Proud even? Had he really killed the man? Did Bruce think of him as a common murderer? Was he a murderer? Should he be disappointed that his guardian left him alone or should he be more disgusted with himself? What would his parents think of him? What about his friends, his team? Was there still the Teen Titans, or did Batman make sure that he would never be a hero again? Did he deserve to be a hero still? Did he… Richard groaned slightly at all the confusing thoughts that were making his head spin; he felt drained. Another nap sounds so nice right now…
There was a noise and Richard raised his head slowly, only to meet the eye of the newcomer. Singular on account of how the man had and eye-patch over where one of his piercing gray eyes should have been. The man wore informal clothing; jeans and a black t-shirt. The way he carried himself and his impressive build screamed soldier. Or rather, seeing the shocking white hair, ex-soldier. Richard shifted under the gaze of the man, he seemed to look straight into his soul, and it was highly disorienting. The smile which slowly bloomed on the man's face didn't help either. It was the kind of smile a surfer saw on the face of a shark that was followed by a quick and painful death. Shaking his head to lose eye contact and clearing his throat, Richard started the conversation.
"Umm, hello Mr. …?" The teen paused, realizing that he didn't know this strangers name. A slight chuckle escaped the man. Sure, laugh at my situation, you bastard! Richard thought dully.
"Wilson, and I'm here to make you an offer Richard. I can call you Richard, can't I?" The question sounded fake, but Richard really couldn't refuse without appearing rude. The feeling that the man was aware of this didn't help either.
"Sure Mr. Wilson, what is this offer you're talking about?"
"In a moment but please, answer a question for me first; did you ever think about what would happen once you met Zucco?" The white-haired man leaned against the bars and Richard looked down. He hadn't thought about it, not because it had never occurred to him, but rather because he refused to think about it, always with the excuse that Zucco was in prison and therefore already judged.
"No I didn't." The teen finally spoke.
"Do you have plans on what you'll do now?"
"No."
"Well let me help you," the man's smile seemed predatory. "There are a few possibilities for you now, but first tell me; do you fell quilt for causing Zucco's death?"
"I…" Did he feel guilty? Did he wish Zucco was still alive? Would he change what had happened to him? No. Fuck, the man was really nothing but a murderer, wasn't he? "I don't feel guilty for killing Zucco."
"Excellent," Richard jumped a little as Wilson's word choice but the man kept on talking. "This leaves you with four choices."
"Four choices?"
"Yes, four possible future paths, if you will. Well the first one would be that you accept the punishment for killing another human being, and then decide to move on after your prison sentence or possible mental ward. However your future would be screwed because you were a former prisoner, no matter what some of the social helpers tell you. You know as well as me that that is bullshit."
"Okay…" That didn't sound so bad, did it? Richard's mind raced as he thought option one over.
"The second one is that you decide killing, no matter who, is wrong, and what a horrible person you are for not feeling remorse. It ends with you committing suicide."
"Suicide" That was a choice that hadn't occurred him. But maybe it would be the right thing to do, wasn't he a murderer? His train of thought was interrupted by a hand closing around his throat.
"Don't even think about it boy!" Richard flinched at the extremely familiar voice… "I'm here as a representative of the government. You are far too skilled, too much of a waste of a good human resource, to commit suicide." The man withdrew his arm out of the teens cell, making Richard relax a little.
"Excuse me?" Human resource? Just who was this guy? That had sounded rather twisted...
"Your grades child, there was a background check as per usual. Your intelligence level is far above average, and further more you've received different self-defense lessons. You have big potential so don't even think of wasting it. This leads to possibilities three and four. You didn't seek Zucco out previously so you trusted the government to keep him away, didn't you?"
"Well, yes…" Richard began thinking the man's words over. Didn't that seem childish now; trusting the adults to take care of everything? But did he really trust them? As much as he enjoyed being a hero, wasn't it sad that people with more experience than him let an underage kid fight crime?
"Now you can blame the government for forcing you into the role to of facing your parent's murderer and decide that you should prevent others from such a situation. Either by becoming some sort of avenger, fighting crime on your own and killing people, or by improving the government's forces by joining it. Those being options three and four."
"So in one I would be killing illegally and in the other I would be killing legally?" Wilson had to be joking, right?
"I am serious about this, ever heard of mercenaries? There are times when killing is an approved solution. You would be working in less public situations. Well, after you complete your training, of course." Wilson's gray eye pierced through Richard as he absorbed the information he was being given.
"Don't I deserve some kind of punishment?" This all seemed far too easy, almost like a trap…
"Why? The man had a death sentence anyway. A bit of paper work and you didn't commit a crime but rather completed your first mission."
"But I would have to kill again." As nice as it sounded to get off easy, the first path seemed more like it. Richard just needed to get his punishment over with and move on. It wasn't like he could return to his home again. "I'd rather take the first choice, but thanks for your time." Wilson took step closer and was now directly in front of his cell. Subconsciously Richard shrank back towards the other end of his cell. The man seemed furious. Couldn't those bars be bigger?
"You misunderstand me boy, the decision has already been made. You are a criminal now, and are currently under the custody of the government as they believe your former guardian is unfit for such a role now. "
"So what was the whole point of the conversation?" Richard mustered up all of his courage to glare at Wilson. God talking to this guy is annoying, just like talking to Slade…
"The government appointed me as your mentor. I had hoped that we would have an easy start, with you making the right decision," he sighed. "I will have more work than expected, won't I stubborn child? Now come, the car is waiting." With that the man turned his back on the teen and began walking away.
With handcuffs on, Richard was lead by two policemen out of the cell and outside into the bright sunshine. There idled an expensive looking car. Wilson talked for a moment to the driver, an older, pristine looking man. The elder of the two noticed his look and gave him a small smile. "I'm Wintergreen. I work for master Slade as a butler. You must be Richard, he has high expectations for you. Make him proud, won't you?" He said in a British accent.
Richard's mind froze along with his body as he stopped walking. Master Slade?
The man in question chuckled. "Don't scare the boy like that, my friend. We wouldn't want him to confuse me with that upstart villain, Slade, here from Jump city. The fact that he took my first name as pseudonym is insulting enough."
Of course this wasn't Slade, it couldn't be! Slade neither worked for the government nor would he ever insult himself. That calmed Richard down enough so that he could get into the car, all the while trying to ignore the feeling of being trapped with a man that wore a victorious smirk.
