Chapter Two

Playing the Bait

Slade's POV

Slade liked to think of himself as a man of many hats. In his life he had been a soldier, a family man, a mercenary, and a villain. What he wasn't was a petty thief, he never had been. And yet, his current situation found him robbing a museum. His time in Jump City and dealings with the Titans had made Slade a large proponent of the phrase, "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." As entertaining as it was to torment the Titans with schemes and lesser villains, they had proven themselves capable of taking out some of the best criminal underlings Jump CIty had to offer. And Slade wasn't willing to risk failure this time around.

It was a gem he needed, and he needed it without the interference of the Titans. There was no criminal underling he could hire to get the job done, there was not thief among them who possessed the ability to outwit Titans.

Except for one, Slade mused. He frowned at the thought of his previous apprentice and the way that endeavor had ended. Yet another reason he had to do this himself. Dealing with the Titans' usual theatrics was an obstacle he was unwilling to put up with today, so he had taken an extra precaution. He had armed himself with a firearm. Admittedly, there was little Slade knew of the lives the Titans lived before Jump. It was only Robin he knew held any experience in the being hero prior to the formation of the Titans. The rest were all seemingly newcomers, and newcomers were easy enough to scare off.

No better way to silence a room, Slade thought as he stood in the archway of the exhibit, gun in hand, effectively blocking the only exit. While the Titans were fun for a game of cat and mouse, their team was only playing at hero. There were never any real stakes. If they wanted to stop him this time they would be forced to learn saving the day isn't always as simple as they had been led to believe.

"Sit down."

Slade looked out across the room, while he liked to believe himself above taking hostages, desperate times call for classic human leverage. The hostages were scattered throughout the room, all had quickly lowered themselves to the ground, and now sat silently, beside themselves with fear. Except for one. Locking his eyes with Slade's, a teenaged boy slid his back down the wall nonchalantly until he was sitting along with the others. If Slade had to guess, the boy was around seventeen or eighteen years old.

Amused by the boy's arrogance, Slade made his way over to where the boy sat. As he did the teen's demeanor changed. Instead of the fear and cowering Slade had expected, the boy narrowed his eyes narrowed and flared his nostrils, his posture seemed to tense and he looked directly at Slade with a fierce hatred. And then, as if realizing himself, the boy quickly schooled his features and relaxed his posture.

How odd, Slade thought as he stopped inches away from the boy. Odder still was the brief flash of recognition he'd felt upon closer examination. The boy's dark hair and toned, tanned skin felt familiar, but Slade couldn't pin where the recognition came from. As he stared down at the teen, the teen stared right back up at him, blue eyes never wavering.

"Is there a problem?" Slade asked, daring the boy to respond.

The boy bristled at that, scowling, but stayed silent.

Thought as much, Slade thought as he turned his back on the boy, reexamining the room. He had a gem to steal.

Dick's POV

Dick fumed with rage as Slade made his way across the room. Of course it was Slade behind this, it couldn't have been Mumbo or Control Freak or any other kooky villain. No, it had to be the one who posed an actual threat. Had it been any other robbery, he would have been the very picture of a compliant hostage, any other robbery he would have tried to blend in with the crowd, but this was Slade. He had outsmarted the Titans too many times to count, and with the added threat of a firearm in a room full of civilians Dick felt he'd lost control of the situation before he'd even begun to get a handle on it. Any other robbery he wouldn't have played the hero, any other robber he would've held his tongue.

"Yeah," He called out to Slade from across the room, he regretted it before he even opened his mouth. "I've got a problem."

If it had been any other villain, he thought, any other villain. But this was Slade, with a weapon, in a room full of hostages. He couldn't let these people get hurt, even outside the suit he had to do something.

Slade turned around, dropping something into his belt.

"Oh?" He said in an amused voice, "And what exactly is that?"

"I've got a problem with hostage situations," Dick responded, "Never really been a big fan you know how it goes."

He gave Slade a smile laced in arrogance. If he could just distract Slade from the other hostages he could make sure the others made it out OK. He was all the hostage Slade would need to get out of here, if he had play the role of bait so be it.

Slade POV

So the boy has a backbone afterall, Slade thought as he made his way back towards the boy, maybe this will be more fun than I thought

"Get up." He gestured at the boy with the gun. "What's your name?"

The boy stood, a cocky smile splayed across his face, "Dick"

"And what Dick, do you propose we do about your problem? Hmm?" Slade prompted. "Do you think I'm going to let you go just because you're fool enough to challenge me."

"No," The boy-Dick-said, his casual demeanor abruptly changed to that of complete seriousness. "I propose you let all the other hostages go, because I'm Dick Grayson. I'm all the hostage you're going to need."