Disclaimer: I don't see any cash around me that I got from owning or creating Teen Titans. So I don't own them. I didn't create them. I can't buy them either. I also don't own Deathstroke the Terminator.
Author's Note: Wow! I finished this in like a day's worth of time! I'm on a roll here! Thanks to all you reviewers by the way. So now you get Slade's side of the events. Right now, I can't think of what else to say that won't spoil this chapter. On to Chapter Ten!
What?
Chapter Ten
"Master Wilson, Master Wilson."
"Hm," I groaned. My eye was shut tight.
"Master Wilson, I must insist that you get up," Wintergreen told me along with turning on the lights so they dimly lit the room up.
I groaned again, "Five more minutes, Wintergreen."
I rolled over in the silk-like sheets. I was too tired to want any of this to register. I buried my head into my pillow, a gesture to Wintergreen to let me rest. It didn't help that the room was an ice box and I had ignorantly not slept with a shirt on.
"You want to sleep in, Master Wilson?" Wintergreen inquired quizzically.
"Yes," I growled out, not nastily, but more so in a way that said 'I really, really don't want to deal with this right now'.
"What have you done with Slade?" he asked in a joking tone. That got me up. I looked up from my pillow and propped myself up on my elbows.
"What are you talking about?" I asked still groggy from waking up.
"You who barely sleeps is asking me what that was all about?" the British gentleman asked.
"Oh, give me a break Wintergreen," I rolled back onto my back and rubbed a fist against my eye for a moment, "I have to catch up on sleep sometimes," I retorted.
"If your true intentions were to catch up on sleep, then you wouldn't have checked up on your new young apprentice last night," Wintergreen calmly conveyed to me.
My eye widened slightly as I raised an eyebrow, "And how did you know about that?"
"You weren't in the main room. There weren't any new marks on the walls of your gym this morning. The code to your room wasn't activated any earlier then normal. And you just got Robin, the Boy Wonder to be your apprentice. Where else would you have been?" Wintergreen laid out for me.
I chuckled, "I can't get everything past you, huh Will?
"True, Slade, true," my friend said with the roll of his eyes. He brought a tray of breakfast over to my bedside table.
I leaned into my mattress. It was true. I don't sleep all that often. And when I do, I normally keep it to a minimum. I barely have time for it anyway. This time, though, was one of the rare times that I did want to sleep. Last night's dream wouldn't leave and a feeling of guilt was slightly attached to it. Not just guilt though, failure accompanied the dream as well. I knew why those feelings were attached to the dream. It was attached to the beginning content.
The ending of the dream was what was confusing to me, partially confusing anyway. I wanted it to make sense. I replayed the events, what had happened, over and over again just trying to get something out of it. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck.
"What exactly was the cause of your extended check in with the boy?" he asked in his crisp British accent, bringing me out of my train of thought. I let out a low sigh as I closed my eye, just to relax a bit.
"He was having nightmares," I stated bluntly.
"I suppose that might be expected," Wintergreen said almost without emotion. However, there was a slight hint of concern.
"Time will diminish the vividness of his nightmares," I told him. Even as I said it, I knew that that time expanse would be a very long time. I might be able to help change his attitude fairly soon. Just remember that I'm a very patient person, so 'soon' could be anywhere from two weeks to a month to two months to half a year.
The problem with dreams is that they can be triggered unconsciously by past memories, just as my dream was last night. Yes, I have memories that initiated parts of last night's dream. But I am not about to start thinking about that right now. I have much more pressing matters and issues to occupy my time with, such as planning out how the day will unfold for me and my young apprentice.
I can't help by smile as I think about that; Robin, MY apprentice.
Wintergreen once again yanked me away from my thoughts, "May I dare to voice a few...concerns for your apprentice then, Slade?"
"Concerns?" I prompted as I put my hand behind my head.
"Yes, concerns, Slade. I wish to caution you."
"How so?"
"This is all rather new to the boy, Slade. He has nothing that is his own in his mind. Even when you just take away a man's worldly possessions, he becomes angry, enraged. He is almost blinded by that rage. Even so, Slade, he will see, search, dig around for your weaknesses. You shine a flashlight in someone's eyes and they will grope around for the off switch."
"I'm not saying to be entirely cruel to the boy, but I'm also not saying to be entirely sympathetic to him either. Just be...cautious in your actions towards him. It's not hard to see that Robin feels like a prisoner here, Slade. You said that eventually he'd learn to like it here. Don't assume, Slade, that adrenaline rushes will keep him here and happy. Adrenaline keeps the body happy and to some extent the mind as well. However, while those may thrive, his emotional side and his mind will dwindle in starvation, drown in sadness, and die to depression. He'll run from you, Slade."
"Give him the support of a mentor, Slade. Not the high-end pressure of a coach. He doesn't need that right now. The boy will crack unevenly if you do. And I know you don't want that now, do you? Train him long and hard, but don't neglect to feed other areas of his life as well. Robin is human, a teenager for that matter. Destroy those parts of him, those parts of his soul and you have something no better then those mechanical contraptions you call your Sladebots. I guess what I'm trying to say here, Slade, is to be...good to the boy in the ways that you can." The advice ended.
I was quiet. It was quiet. I sat up and got out of bed, grabbing the glass full of a health shake as I went. I walked over to my dresser and began to pull out my clothes. Wintergreen stayed in the middle of the room, but turned to face me. I chose my words carefully.
"Robin is in for his ups and downs here, Wintergreen. I am fully aware of his situation and understand that he is likely to resist. You tell me to be good to him, Wintergreen. Are you afraid that I'll mess up?" My friend said nothing, but looked down and away from me as though I was already ignoring his advice, "I plan to be. I'll teach him, train him, but I won't starve the person inside. If you think about it, he was already starving himself all to 'stop' me. As though he could." I chuckled.
I began to put on my clothes and armor, "There's a lot more reasons for why I choose Robin to be my apprentice, Wintergreen. I've said that I wanted someone strong, but that wasn't just because I wanted them to be able to steal and fight and win. They would need it for their training too.
"Robin's weakness doesn't just stop at the fact that he'll give himself up for the sake of someone else. He's also...lost. Very lost. And through many methods, I will be able to secure the lost little prey. Toying with someone only has a point if the turn around is what one wants, Wintergreen."
"When you shine a flashlight in one's eyes they dance around to try to get out of it for a long while. During that time, the light shines and the heat beats down on them until they are tired and sweaty. By the time they reach for the light, they are disoriented and confused. To reach the switch they have to come closer, but the longer they stay blinded the harder it will be to find. Eventually, they're blindness will be permanent. They will need a guide."
"Their guide will train them to see without their eyes which they were once so dependent on. Once they learn to find their own way, their closeness to their guide will not be cut by their new found ability. If anything gratitude will emerge, a loyalty. Picture me as the guide in that little metaphor, Wintergreen," I ended and gulped down the shake.
"And what if he reaches that switch, Slade? What if you let him too close?" He asked, without even moving. I put on my mask.
"It won't, Wintergreen," I told him, "I won't let it."
My friend remained silent and his face was blank, but I could tell that he wasn't convinced, "What more reassurance do you want, Wintergreen?"
"I'm not sure, Master Wilson. I'm not sure."
"Things will turn to my favor this time, my friend," I said.
"That's what you said when you decided not to tell Adeline and look what happened," he gestured to my right.
"A mistake on my part, Wintergreen, but rest assured, it will not happen again," I said as I started for the doorway, "Bring Robin his breakfast and be sure to get him ready for hand to hand combat practice."
"Is this to make up for Grant and Joseph? Or is this because you want another chance?" he asked suddenly.
I stopped dead in my tracks. There wasn't a noise and neither of us moved. I broke the silence with my answer, "I'll let you know when I know my answer is definite."
With that I left the room.
When I went into the main room, the gears were still turning and steam was still being released into the air. No surprise, the gears were always moving. I went over to my desk and pulled up some recent computer files. I tried to focus my energy on finding what old fight would provide the best examples of where my apprentice could improve. His movements had fluidity to them most of the time. It seemed that Robin was accustomed to using Jui Jitsu very often, a style of martial arts that has my favor as well.
He was just a teenage boy.
Wintergreen's words were echoing in my mind and with them everything was struggling to burst out. I brought a hand to my head as I propped my elbow on the desk.
'In a hospital, I watched a little boy on a bed. He was breathing ever so slowly. A large amount of bandages were wrapped around the little boy's neck trying to keep the wound underneath from bleeding so that it could heal. Next to me, also watching was a woman with curly locks of brown hair reached barely past her shoulders. The expression on her face was a mixture of sadness, anger, and something else that was festering in her eyes. I turned towards the doorway to leave. She was angry at me. We had been arguing practically all night. I had a job to do and I was late enough as it was. The little boy was so pathetically ill. I shouldn't have turned to leave.'
"Addie..." I had lost more then an eye that day. I shook my head. This was not the time to think about that. Or maybe it was? No. No, it wasn't. I was not going to go into that now. And by no means was I going to bring the fact that I had chosen Robin to be my apprentice into that mess. It was already messy enough. But what if I had wanted Robin to come into my allegiance as something more than as an apprentice? Was he to replace what I had lost? Can one truly replace the influence of people in one's life with others?
I was going to keep this strict... for now. I'm not going to distract myself with this non-sense past of mine. Wintergreen is right. I'm going to keep this strict. I'm his mentor. That will be all for today. I decided to run a play back of the fight on the roof top that he had with the robot of me.
I went up to my chair to wait for Wintergreen to bring Robin in. I didn't have to wait long. Soon I heard steady footsteps coming down the hallway. I saw their outlines come up to the round light that beat down on my chair and the surrounding area. I remained still. I saw Robin in front of Wintergreen as he stepped into the light. I smiled. He was dressed perfectly for combat and it was clear to me that he was trying his best not to look up and acknowledge me.
"Your apprentice, Slade," Wintergreen stated.
"Thank you," I said and he left.
Robin continued to stare down and away, "Robin, it's impolite not to look at your elder."
"I'm assuming that you were told that we'd be going through some hand to hand combat today," I continued.
"Yes, I was told by him," I waited. He had something more to say... or ask, "Um, what exactly is his name?"
I guess he deserved that. I had told Wintergreen that his name was classified to anyone he is to meet while with me, unless I said otherwise. "His name is William Wintergreen and he is a long time associate. He serves as something like a butler around here."
"Why?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Why shouldn't I ask?" I grinned. 'Wonderful response, Robin. You ask until you get your answers.' It's a trait that has its advantages in certain situations, here being one of them.
A reward, "If you must know, we have an...extensive past. In short, he basically owes his life to me," he didn't seem to agree with my logic on that.
"Let's begin with training today," I said as the screens became active with the rooftop fight. Time to be the mentor.
"Your style itself is a combination of many different Martial Arts, but with Jui Jitsu as your main source, am I correct?" he nodded and I continued, "It's a very good method offensively, but you've lacked in training yourself to really defend yourself. Things like turning your back to your opponent when you don't have an attack planned and not being able to take a hit to your diaphragm for example."
"No one can take a hit to their diaphragm. You can't breathe," 'That's a highly misunderstood concept, apprentice.'
"Maybe that's where we should start then," I got up from the desk and lights lit up the room. The screens were set on replay. I walked to the center of the room and Robin followed with a look that read 'Are you nuts? Take a hit like that?' It is very possible to take a hit like that. I do it all the time.
"Take a hit at me, Robin," I told him.
"What?" he asked.
"Hit my diaphragm any way you'd like. I'm not going to attack you back," I assured him. I wasn't going to attack him.
"Fine," he ran with a yell and hit me, but stumbled back shaking his hand as though trying to get the pain to slip off it as though it were dirt. Robin looked at me, in particular, my armor I think. It really didn't hurt me too much. I was used to taking hits like that and with my guards on, it really felt like almost nothing. 'Must not like having no armor himself while fighting.'
"I believe it is possible, Robin," I told him calmly.
"I bet you can't attack right away though. You have to have time to recover," he shot back.
"You want to bet on that? Try again and this time I will attack back," There was the warning.
A bit frustrated, Robin did the same thing. After he attacked, I swiftly rammed a fist into his shoulder which caused him to fall to the floor. He got up and shook the attack off. He looked bewildered as though he had never seen anyone do that before.
"It's the principle of training one's self to be prepared for the attack as well as being accustomed to the attack so as not to be caught off guard," I went up behind him and brought my hand to the bottom of his rib cage. Robin started to try to pull my hand away, but I quickly halted his attempt.
"Calm down, Robin. I just want you to feel how your diaphragm moves as you breathe," Obediently the boy complied and breathed in and out, just paying attention to his breathing, "You feel your diaphragm contracting as you breathe in air?"
He nodded so I continued, "Knowing this is the key, Robin. I want you to shut your eyes and just think about this. Which would hurt more? When your muscles are tightening? or loosening?"
He listened and obeyed. He focused on finding the right answer. He was calm. During this, I noticed something about him. He could become that little kid in my dream when he tried to please. Robin had that child-like complexion whenever he relaxed. It was as though, if he relaxed, the wait of the world was magically lifted from his teenage face to reveal that innocent little kid.
"Loosening?" He found his answer, but kept his eyes closed.
"For now that is correct. When your muscles tighten, you potentially could make it as though your opponent is hitting a brick wall. That's actually what I did when you attacked me."
"You what...?" he started off irritated, but I stopped him.
"I only did it because I could and as you get used to it, tightening your muscles will be the easiest thing to do. For now though, it will only hurt you. It doesn't hurt me because I've trained myself to be resistant to it. You however are right in that for you, loosening your muscles would be the best thing to do. It's because the force of the blow travels slower when you exhale then it would when you inhale. It's really just physics and biology put together," It was true. If you had taken high school physics and biology then you could put two and two together.
Once he nodded, I walked off and snapped for a Sladebot to appear. I wasn't going to be the one attacking him. I'd probably knock him out for longer than needs be if he got me going at him. He stared at the thing and waited for instructions. Time to practice.
"Let it hit you, Robin. Let's see what you took from that lecture," I instructed.
"Wait, wha..." I turned to me, not paying any attention to the Sladebot that was running straight at him. Wham! The fist hit its target. Robin stumbled. He looked light on his feet, but his face expressed pure panic. His body twisted and he tripped over his own two feet to the floor. His lips were trembling and I could tell that the cavern in his mouth had lost its constant breeze.
He gasped and coughed as oxygen started to flow through again. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back up and onto his feet. He looked disoriented. I wasn't all too pleased. Did I just talk to nobody while giving that lecture?
"Do you really forget everything this quickly?" I asked him. I walked out of the center and didn't give him time to answer me, "Again."
As I snapped, I saw his face turn to the Sladebot. 'At least his focus is on his opponent this time,' I thought. He dodged and I frowned. Is he ignoring everything and just trying to do this all on his own?
He dodged again and I found him backing into my chest. He looked up at me with wide eyes clearly saying, 'Oh great.'
"You aren't to dodge this, Robin. You are to confront it," I ordered him as I pushed him into the Sladebot which once again hit him hard in the gut of his stomach. He leaned over and, not at all gracefully, fell to the ground. He rolled onto his back and started flailing his limbs about in his panic. This wasn't Robin's logical side that I was seeing, this was human instinct side. It's odd. Sometimes human instinct, which is meant to protect you, can kill you. I wanted that logical side of Robin to show.
In that instant, he lost consciousness and his body ceased to move. I walked over to him and waited. It took about twenty seconds, but Robin's eyes fluttered open. He saw me and tried to roll away. Not going to happen. I pressed a foot on his chest. He made an attempt to rid his restraint, but with no success. He showed his frustration plain and clear. That makes two of us.
"You really don't listen, do you?" I said as I picked him up by his arms. I got him on his feet and, while he struggled, I turned him to face the Sladebot.
"There is a reason I wanted you to feel how you breathe, Robin. Now, you are going to go through this until you understand how to do this," I told the boy wriggling in my grasp.
The Sladebot came closer, "No, no Slade, don't..."
He doubled over, but I kept him standing up. Slight spasms coursed here and there. When he recovered control of his body, he looked up at me. This was exactly what he had to control; his body couldn't run out on its own while his mind focused on the air he wasn't getting. He had to learn that his body was what his mind needed to control and to let the back of his mind worry about oxygen.
"Slade, what was...? There's no point in me doing this," he put out.
"You have to be able to control yourself, or if not all of yourself, part of yourself. You have to maintain control over your limbs and mind. They control if you live while you can't breathe for those short times. You almost died when you fell off of that building and you can be sure that there will not always be one of robots there to save you. Your lungs may not be in your control or giving you oxygen, but you still have the energy and nutrients in your blood to allow you to control yourself."
"Slade this is mad..." Not enough time. He got punched hard. I felt him try to escape my grasp in quiet a few ways, but I wasn't about to let that work.
The Sladebot came again, "Slade, don't..."
After recovering from the kick, "No, no no, stop!"
"Slade... no..." he said between hits, "Slade...stop..."
He wasn't getting this. In between hits, he'd wail out for it to stop. What made him think that because he wasn't getting this would stop? It should mean the opposite. He is bright enough to understand the concept. How did that flying rodent teach him? Give him a break with every step? It must have taken forever to teach him if that was the case.
Robin was not to run away from simple training sessions or even the tougher sessions. He would do it until it was perfect.
I had him repeat the maneuver.
Again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
He struggled.
I held on tight.
He went limp.
The kid seemingly just wouldn't get it. For a good half hour he took the hits. At that point he lifted his head with such an effort to look at his opponent. I let the Sladebot stand there for a minute. Maybe this time. This time. He just needed a small 60 second break to think. Normally, I wouldn't have even given him that. He wouldn't get that chance in a real fight.
I nodded to the robot and it came at him. This time he did it perfectly. I saw him release the air in his lungs. I felt him partially back into me as the fist connected to his diaphragm. He let the force travel through him and out. I felt that hit too. I bore a grin that bared my teeth as I looked down at him. My apprentice was learning.
Not a struggle, a squirm, or spasm did Robin manifest. He was in control of his body. I felt him stand up, supporting some of his own weight without my help. He gasped in precious oxygen. Deep breathing followed. I saw a small, little smile make itself apparent on his face for a small few seconds. He had done it and he should be proud of that. I leaned over his shoulder and moved close to his ear. Time for a small reward.
My voice was barely a whisper, "Well done, Robin."
That's it, Robin. That's it. For a moment I felt him curl up a little, but it stopped. He brought himself back up a bit, but still leaned on me for most of his support.
"It took long enough, but you got it," I said as I released him.
He fell onto the hard floor, but I wasn't too worried about him. In fact, now that he could control himself in that state it was time for a little bit of offensive strategy, "Let's see if you can attack an opponent with a disadvantage like that."
As I turned around I saw him back away from the center, just getting out of a crawling position and starting to sprint off to the locked door. I knew that he'd find it locked so I began to walk over. He looked around and spotted another door. I was partially in the way. He risked it. I grabbed his arm, but due to the speed of his sprint, I was left with the sleeve of his shirt. He yanked at the doorknob, but it was also locked. I know he saw my shadow as I came up behind him. I grabbed his arm and started to drag him back to the center of the room.
"No!" He yelled. In less then half a second, I had the other sleeve in my grasp, but not Robin. I saw him crawling again. I grabbed his shirt and brought him up and onto his feet again.
"Now, Robin, I can't very well teach you if you run away from me," I asked him. He shook his head 'no' as I grabbed his wrists in one hand and pull him towards the center.
"No! Slade stop, leave me alone!" Robin wailed.
"I don't want you to teach me like this! I want out! Please, anything!" He continued. It really wasn't as bad as he was making it.
"I'd hand you over to the police if I could! You're a Low, Disgusting, Filthy, Crimina...!" I was NOT going to have this from my apprentice. He had to learn his place. With a yank I brought him forward and I felt his face connect with the back of my elbow. I released him and he fell down once again.
I looked down at him. He didn't move. He didn't quiver. He just laid there on the ground. That was a nasty hit. I could see that it would leave a bruise. A trickle of blood fell freely from his nose. He was completely still, like the pain was consuming his mind's attention.
In an instance I regretted doing that. He didn't deserve something like that. Not at all. It was a dirty move on my part. Earlier I was thinking he might be here to replace them. How did I just make the same sort of mistake? I wasn't going to lose though. I wasn't going to back out of what I had started. I tugged him up by the hair as I crouched down to talk to him.
"I have my limits, Robin. That was not out of lack of patience, rather it was for punishment. The more you resist, the harder it will be for you. Either way, the end result will be the same. You will still be my apprentice and I will still be your master. You could make it much easier on yourself if you would just change your attitude," I told him.
"Not...in a...million...years..." I looked at him for a moment, then dropped him to the floor.
"Tell you what, Robin, I'll give you a choice. You don't have to come to more practice sessions today. You may do one of two things. One is go get something to eat and go back to your room for the rest of the day. Or you may go and run out of this place. I will even leave every door unlocked and I won't try to stop you," I paused and then finished up, "Just remember, the second you leave the premises, I have permission to destroy the rest of the Titans."
I left him and went for the desk. I did as I said I would. I unlocked everything. I glanced over to him again and then left for the kitchen. Wintergreen was there sipping some herbal tea when I came in. I went for a cabinet and found the small bottle. I handed it to Wintergreen.
"Put this in some broth if he comes in here. Then bring him to his room."
Wintergreen nodded and then looked down at the bottle and its label, "He wasn't good?"
"Till the end he was good," I stated, "I'm going out. Put coordinates in the redirections for the Titans so they go to the oil rigs in the ocean."
"I'll have your dinner ready when you get back then, sir."
I nodded and left for my room. I took off my uniform, which I replaced with jeans and a black t-shirt. I went to the door and before I left, I took off my mask and placed it by the side of the door. I grabbed a leather jacket, checked for cash and left.
I walked down the older streets and sections of Jump City just thinking. That kid. That kid. He may have been injured, but he still managed to fight back with that retort. Why on earth did I do that to him? I shouldn't have. It started to rain. I looked around and spotted a Chinese restaurant. I walked in for lunch.
Once I was seated, I looked at the menu with little interest. They brought water, but I didn't take interest in it. My thoughts wandered. Doing things like that. That's what made me lose the most. And I never learned that. I'm his mentor. I'm what Robin needs to see so that he can have a goal. The waitress came. I hadn't decided yet.
So I went with the answer that is used when one doesn't even know why they're there, "Vegetable rolls and your special of the day."
"Anything else, sir?" She asked in her Asian accent.
"No."
She left. I leaned back into the booth. 'Why had I done that?' I kept asking over and over again. I gained nothing out of it. Robin was scared of me. He wasn't learning to like it here. All that had done was make it worse. There wasn't any way that I was going to do that again, unless my reason was sufficient enough. My waitress came back with the food and the check. I actually couldn't tell what the special was, but it looked like lo mein and sesame sweetened chicken topped off with a salad.
As I ate, I kept thinking. I knew that Robin wasn't even going to be able to get out of bed tomorrow. So I wouldn't make him. I'd just give him lessons, things he'd have to remember. My waitress came back for the check. As I pulled out my wallet, the news on the TV screen switched to a news report about the Titans...
"And now switching gears, we turn our attention to the Teen Titans, who seemed to be one short today as they fought off a gang of robbers from the bank today. The Titans actually were hasty with the media, but had this to say:" The reporter stated.
"We're just glad we can help..." Cyborg started.
"But if you excuse us, we have to go now as we are very busy today," Starfire interrupted as she began pushing Cyborg off screen.
"Wait, where's Robin at?" a reporter asked.
"Well we uh... had a run in with Slade yesterday and he just got..."
Raven cut Beast Boy off, "Injured. He's just recovering at the Tower. Now as Starfire said, we do have to be on our way."
"Despite their leader not being present, the Titans didn't seem their best. It took them a good 20 minutes to fight off the 25 gang members. Does this mean the Titans are out of Tune right now?"
The waitress turned her attention back to me and saw the slight smile on my face.
"That will be seventeen dollars and fourteen cents," She said nervously as she took a step back.
I smiled, "If you're worried that I'm that maniac that the Titans fight with, miss, I'll tell you right now that if I were smart enough to build those robots, I'd use that technology to for much more practical purposes."
She smiled in slight embarrassment, "No no, I just..."
"It's all right. That man gives a bad reputation to those of us who only have one lens to see out of." I found the money I needed, "Here you are. And here's a tip."
I gave her a twenty, "Oh, no sir I couldn't..."
"Yes you could." the girl smiled. She looked to be around eighteen or so.
"Tell you what, give me some advice. I have a kid that's just been plain rebellious lately. He's a teenager. What do you think I should do to get him to listen to me and his mother?" I asked casually.
"Well, I know my brothers weren't rebellious when they were busy and when they were, my parents always tried to get them to just calm down when they were around them. They'd play soothing music and were casual, never holding a grudge."
I nodded.
"Now you can take that twenty," I told her.
With that, I got up and left to go back to my Haunt.
A/N: All right, done! How was it? R&R! Did I get Slade's logic across the board easily? And did any of you readers notice that the beginning was slightly similar to a scene in Batman Begins? Cause I got the idea of Slade waking up to Wintergreen while watching it. I was watching that scene where Bruce was waking up from the night before where he had turned in Falcone. I thought it was a nice comparison to show that even though Robin's the apprentice of Slade, some things are similar to his time with Batman while others are entirely different. Oh, and yes; Slade's having inner turmoil! I didn't think I'd go there when I first wrote this. Then again, I only thought I'd post one chapter! Now there's ten. People are right about me. I am a writing addict. Thanks again to you reviewers and Chapter Eleven will be up soon! Later!
Rena