Inner thoughts of Dixie

Family.

I finally have a family .

A family who loves and cares about me .

It's all that I wanted for the past five years .

I hope that I will never lose a family ever again .

However , I can feel it .

The time is drawing near .

For the world's demise .

By my own hands .

Soon .

End of inner thoughts

Normal POV

After the long awaited hugging feast , we relocated to sit on the couch and chairs . Slade and Addie sat on the couch with Dixie sitting between them . Rose and Joseph sat on chairs in front of them . Wintergreen excused himself to bring some refreshments before sitting on another chair . They all stared at Dixie , who shifted uneasily . Wintergreen cleared his throat . " Ladies and gentlemen, would you all be so kind as to stop staring at the poor child and eat ? It would be such a waste for the food to go cold , wouldn't it ? " Everyone blushed and started eating . Joseph looked at Dixie and signed something with his hands . Dixie replied . " I had searched up information last night to get to know you all better . That's why I already knew all of your names and faces . " Joseph widened his eyes and signed something again . " Yeah , I do . " The others looked at them stunned . Adeline spoke up . " Sweetie , you know sign language? " Dixie replied " Yes , I do . I learned it when I was nine . "

Rose whistled . " Wow , little sis . Joey here finally has a buddy to communicate with . Anyway , I think we should introduce ourselves to get to know each other better . Starting with you , Dad . " Slade cleared his throat . " Alright . I am Slade Wilson , also known as Deathstroke or Slade . Before becoming a villain , I was an army general during the World War Two . " Dixie leaned closer in delight. " Really ! That's so cool ! " Slade smiled fondly . " Well , Princess . I guess I was . I met Adeline during the war . It was love at first sight for me . She was a general too . Will was my mentor then . He was the one who taught me all the army skills . " Slade rubbed his goatee in thought.

" After the war ended , Adeline and I married each other . I joined a secret military project and was thought to be dead . After escaping from the lab , I became Deathstroke a few weeks later and then reunited with Adeline . A few years later , our first son was born. His name was Grant . After that , Joseph and Rose were born . Ten years after Grant was born , something tragic happened. You were just a month old then . Grant somehow leaked information that I am Deathstroke . Some criminals heard that and kidnapped Grant and Joey . They asked me to join them and become one of them . I refused ." Slade bent down and held his head with his hands , looking troubled . Everyone had grim expressions on their faces , expect Dixie who looked worried .

"They ... they cutted Grant into pieces and ... and mailed him to our address in a box . There was a timer and an address of Joey's location in the box . When I arrived at the warehouse , I was too late . Joey's neck was sliced and the ... the monster managed to escape . I was horrified. I rushed him to the hospital . While there , I received a phone call from Rose's school that a bomb had exploded there and Rose had died in the explosion . I swear I felt my heart stop beating . Then , I received a call from Adeline that she was being attacked . I was so afraid ! After that , I rushed home to find Adeline hurt with a gunshot wound in her stomach and having a breakdown . She told me something that has been haunting me for years ."

" The monsters had left me a message . It read :" Deathstroke, you have dared to defy us . The price for your disloyalty is your youngest daughter . She is now one of us . " .Adeline was furious and taking advantage of my shock , she stabbed my left eye . The ambulance came and took us to the hospital . The doctors were able to save Joey's life , but at a cost . His vocal cords were damaged too much and Joey was rendered mute permanently . My eye was not able to be saved . Adeline's wound was bantaged up . My whole family was torn apart . It was all my fault . "

While they were all deep in their grief and painful memories , a tiny voice whispered out . " Who were they ? " They all looked to Dixie who looked close to tears . Adeline replied . " They called themselves the court of owls . " Dixie gasped loudly and her tears fell . She turned to Slade so quickly that her neck might have snapped . " They ... they wanted to ... turn you into a talon ? " Wintergreen spoke up . " You ... you know about them , dear ? " " Yes ... I do ... I ... used to ...live with them years ago ... before I escaped . " More tears were running down her face . Everyone (except Dixie ) felt their world turn . So , Dixie really was with them , but for how long ? Rose stuttered . " W-what ... ? " Dixie sobbed . " ... I ... was only t-there ... for f-five y-years . Then...I ran away and ... the circus was ... n-nearby and I w-was ... adopted . " Slade and Adeline felt terrible . Their little princess was with those MONSTERS FOR FIVE YEARS! Why oh WHY did their BABY had to SUFFER THAT LONG!

Painful sobs filled the silence from a shaking curled up girl on the couch . Slade and Adeline felt their parental instincts flare up and then tried to confort their daughter . Slade lifted Dixie onto his lap and hugged Addie and their baby tightly . Joey and Rose were conforting each other with Joey crying in her chest and her hugging him back . Will sat in shock with tears also running down his old wrinkly face . After a while , they all calmed down and drank some lukwarm tea , with Dixie still on Slades lap .

Adeline puts a gentle hand on Dixies tiny hand and squeezed it . Dixie felt loved . She hadnt felt loved so strongly ever since her adoptive parents deaths . " Sweetie . I want you to know that we all are here for you , no matter what . Alright ? " Dixie nodded her head . Will spoke up . " My dear , how was it like living in the circus ? " Dixie perked up and unconciously shifted to sit more confortably. " Oh , it was wonderful ! I had a pet elephant named Zitka. She was really fun to play with . Everyone at the circus were like my aunts and uncles . Pop haley , the circus owner , was like a grandfather to me . And , and Mami and tati and I would fly together like we were birds . We were called the flying graysons. Usually , every performance , tati would fly first , then mami will fly and then it will be my turn . It was really exiciting . I still try doing aerobics without them , but it just doesnt feel the same . Also , mami used to call me her little robin . "

" After they died , I lived at juvie for about one week . - " Rose spoke up loudly . " Wait , what , why were you , a - how old were you then ? " " Six years old . " There was a loud roar of " WHAT! " from Rose and Addie and the two woman were muttering death treats so horrible that they could have possibly scared the joker . Dixie quickly said . " It's ok , really ! It wasn't as horrible as you think . " The ladies calmed down . Dixie continued her story . " I was then taken to live with Bruce Wayne. The kids there treated me as if I was a part of their family . Then , four year later , Bruce and I had a fight and I left to Jump City . "

Dixie shifted nervously at how they were going to react to her superhero identity . " Um, I'm not sure if Slade told you all or not , but I guess it's better if you all knew . " Joseph signed : ' What is it ? Come on , tell us . ' Dixie spoke quickly . " I'm Robin , the leader of the teen titans . " There was a mixture of "WHAT " " NO WAY " and several others that were not mentionable from the women . While Slade sat in surprise that Dixie actually told her secret identity to them , Joseph signed to Dixie . ' Did you know that I am actually Jericho ? ' Dixie signed back . ' Yes , I did . ' Rose then ran over and hugged and lifted Dixie off the couch . " OH MY GOSH , MY BABY SISTER IS A SUPERHERO ! "