Disclaimer: wow! you'd think with all the previous disclaimers I've put up you'd know I don't own these characters by now. Teen titans and the awesomeness of the world's finest aren't mine. Too bad.
Okay I was hoping to finish this chapter on new years but some awesome writers caught my eye so I stayed up too late reading instead of typing. oh well. The title for this chapter should make it clear who's in this one. Lots of chatter to fill travel time. Fun.
Slade Plan B
Ch. 10 – World's Finest
Clark Kent was barely out of the cab when the Wayne jet landed on the North Metropolis Airway. He accidentally gave the driver more than he should have and practically ran to the gate, barely keeping his bag in hand. Clark was a bit clumsy, mostly from keeping his strength and speed in check, but that day he couldn't do one of his trips or slips. Bruce Wayne was technically his employer, though one who rarely had any interaction with his employees, especially in Metropolis.
He barely managed to make it to the plane at six on the dot. A charismatic Bruce greeted him with a cheery smile, but Clark could see through the make-up (and he did wear make-up) on his face and knew the man hardly slept recently. The cover-up was rather thick.
"Mr. Kent!" Wayne offered his hand in merry greetings. "It's so nice to meet you again. And may I say, your article on that giant robot last month was phenomenal."
"Thank you Mr. Wayne." Clark accepted Bruce's hand and heard Bruce's barely audible whisper from the corner of his mouth.
"Private jet. Alfred and I are flying. There's a lot to learn on this flight." Back in a normal tone, Wayne released his hand and put it on Clark's back friendly like, leading him into the plane. "Now don't 'Mr. Wayne' me. Call me Bruce! 'Mr. Wayne' makes me feel old. Now, about Dick and this program his school's doing."
"I'm afraid I haven't heard much about it."
"Then I'll tell you everything Dick's told me. Have you had breakfast yet? There's some lovely poached eggs waiting for us inside." Quickly they were in the jet, and anyone who may have been watching or listening was immediately cut off. Bruce immediately let go of Clark and went straight to business.
"No one's seen nor heard from Robin in Jump City for two weeks," he started. Clark put his bag into a familiar compartment in the plane before sitting down. He knew the dark knight would waste no time talking on the ground. They were flying to Jump, to the opposite side of the country, and they were going to do it in style. "And other than a few rumors in Gotham, no one knows Dick Grayson lives in Jump."
"He's Robin all the time?" Clark gaped at Bruce who nodded. Truth be told, Clark would go insane if he had to be Superman all the time. Other than the fact that Superman was the one with the powers and not Clark, they were pretty much the same person. Clark was just Superman kept under control, extreme control.
But Bruce had completely seemed to split who he was in two. It was almost as if his real identity was Batman, but put him in the same room as Dick or Clark and he'd settle somewhere a little lighter. Bruce's true personality was kinder than Batman, but still the skeptical paranoid man they knew well, and criminals feared.
Robin on the other hand was, as Dick explained, the braver, stronger version of himself. It was a protective front. Dick Grayson was his true face, and he was a brave boy to begin with. Add an even tougher and braver façade, and you had the boy wonder: kind, brave and daring to laugh.
But keeping up that face must be hard on the lad. Bruce continued. "If he reveals his identity to anyone in his team, in Jump, it'll expose me as well. I agreed to leave him and the Titans alone so long as he keeps his identity secret, and therefore is protecting me and in consequence the League."
"No pressure on the kid." The plane started taking off and the two of them settled into chairs, buckling themselves in.
Bruce gave him a small glare. "Dick's hardly a child. He's legally able to have a job now and he's done a fine job in Jump as the Titan's leader."
Clark threw up his hands in defeat. "Not saying he is. Just that, you're not exactly giving him as much freedom as you say you are."
"You try running a multi-billion dollar empire and raising a stubborn kid with a level head. Just a small slip from either of us could cost millions of people their jobs. And then there's our other jobs." Bruce's eyes kept their glare, but seemed resigned. He grew up in a very similar environment to Dick, but didn't have Batman as an outlet or a secret until adulthood. Dick led a triple life: circus kid, rich kid, and hero.
"Is that really fair to him though? Having to keep everything secret from his friends?"
Bruce shot a darker glare to him, still strapped to his seat by the g-force. "Ever tried to stop him? He's more hardheaded than I am, just with a smile on his face."
"Think this thing will make him stop?" Clark was like many of the League members in their opinion on Robin. Great kid, but kids shouldn't be doing this no matter how awesome they were. Bruce gave him an are-you-really-asking-me-that look and Clark sighed in defeat. "Guess not."
"Back to the subject." They weren't quite up far enough yet to leave their seats, so Bruce had to settle for talking at the moment. "Dick's missing. His teammates only know him as Robin. He isn't answering his communicator, it's probably dead. After we've made the necessary acts as Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, we're visiting the tower and finding out what those kids know."
"Any idea what happened?" Clark turned his head easily to look at Bruce, not sure at the moment he was being called in. Moral support? Dick was just missing.
Bruce's eyes narrowed dangerously forward and Clark recognized the look. He knew exactly what was going on, but couldn't tell him at that moment. And he didn't like it at all. "There's… a possibility… that Robin was…"
The grim line of a mouth on Bruce's face put some fear in Clark's heart. He mentioned a program on his computer before. Was it something Clark had to see himself to understand? Or was it something used to make sure Bruce knew where to pick up his boy's body?
After a nearly agonizing minute, Bruce finally spoke again. "Robin has a particularly… frustrating… enemy in Jump. They have quite a history now. I'm certain I only have part of the facts, since Robin wouldn't tell me about him straight out and ask for help. He set up a program to activate and call for help should… a certain… scenario… repeat itself between them."
"What kind of scenario?" Dread hadn't left the man of steel, but knowing the world's greatest detective didn't think the kid was dead was good. But there were fates worse than death.
"An apprenticeship."
Clark blinked in surprise. "What?"
"That's what he referred it as." Bruce took a deep breath before continuing. "Six months out in Jump, he attracted the attention of Deathstroke the Terminator, calling himself Slade. This Slade coerced Robin, by using his friends lives, into being his… protégé. His apprentice. Robin was forced to work for him for a month before he managed to get out of it. That was when he set up the file on my computer in case Slade did something again. Slade's a very determined person."
"How did Robin escape?" As far as Clark could tell, apprenticeship seemed to the equal to kidnapping. And most times, Batman was the one rescuing Robin in those cases.
Bruce didn't respond. So Robin's methods weren't to his liking. Finally another thought clicked in the reporter's head. "Wait, you think this Slade's kidnapped Robin?"
"Pretty sure." The light changed above them signaling the all clear to move around. Instantly Bruce left his seat and touched a compartment in front of Clark's. A screen appeared, starting to boot up at the man's touch.
"Bruce! You should have told me that first! I would have—" Bruce didn't look at him as he continued as if nothing was said.
"Last month Robin updated his emergency file, informing me of Slade's recent return and his renewed declaration to make Robin his. As good as Robin's gotten at computers, I've kept tabs on the file since a month after it was made. He updates it frequently, or whenever a particularly frustrating event in this life occurs. When he just feels like talking," the screen reached the main page and Bruce tapped it a few times to bring up a few files, "he leaves a video. Everything Robin has on Slade should be in this program, but there's three vids you need to see. You have to know what this Slade is, at least to Robin."
"I can already guess." Clark glared at the man. "Why haven't you done anything until now? Why wait?"
The billionaire looked solemnly at his friend. Silence stood between them and Clark already knew it wasn't his choice. "Watch his messages. Read up on Slade. He's a slippery one and all the Titans together haven't been able to stop him. I'm going to need experienced backup with him."
Bruce quickly left the chairs to the private bedchamber further in the jet. Clark swiveled his head around to stare after the man. "Wait! Aren't you going to stay and watch? I mean he's—"
"I've seen them." There was a touch of pain in the man's grey eyes. It warned his friend not to press this matter, and gave him an idea of the video's contents. If Bruce didn't want to see his Robin in these vids, than these were the most painful for the man to watch. If it caused Bruce pain, it only meant Clark wouldn't want to see these on a normal day either.
The dark knight slipped into the dark back room to try and rest while the man of steel, concern taking control of his face, turned back to the screen. He tapped the earliest dated video and settled in for a depressing airline movie. "Bruce, if you're seeing this, then it means I've been forced into Slade's apprenticeship again. What I mean by again is-"
The earliest vid was enough to explain Bruce's late actions. The last one gave him reason to hope. The one in the middle though, it was enough to make the man of steel cry for the little bird. Slade haunted the kid's thoughts, terrorized his nights, and tore him up inside without ever having to touch him. How could any man do this to such a sweet kid?
Clark guessed this video was the one he didn't want to see again. Ever again. But Clark had to see it, to make it clear this wasn't a normal case. Even taking a break from reading the files now, every second of the boy's message was clearly played in his head. It was haunting him, just like Slade's memory haunted the kid.
Robin's uniform was in tatters. He looked like he'd fought a gorilla and barely won. And despite knowing the kid's habit of keeping up a brave face, there was no hint of a smile there. Judging from this tussled hair, he'd tried to sleep but failed and had to get whatever he was thinking off his chest, right then and there.
"Hi." The weakness in his voice started the kyptonian's water works. Never had he heard the boy sound so dejected. "Had a… fifteen years old and I still run to you for nightmares. Pretty pathetic."
The teen didn't want to look at the camera. He wanted to curl up in a hole somewhere and pass out without anything to occupy his mind. Clark watched him with baited breath, waiting for the boy to tell him what happened.
"Could say I've had this nightmare all night, and I was awake for it. What happened is…" Robin kept hesitating, seemingly to fight the fear and pain inside him. He slowly took a look around the room for a moment, then took off his mask. His emotional blue eyes weren't near as bright as they usually were, and one was going to be black in the morning. With nothing to stop them, tears rolled down the boy's childlike face.
"He got me. He completely got me. Slade did it again. He bested me again." For a long fearful moment Clark thought this Slade had won, had destroyed Robin and the Titans, but took a deep breath of relief as Dick continued. "That mask of his, the one we grabbed after Terra… there was some kind of hallucinogenic dust and… somehow I breathed it in when I was just looking at it. It attacked my nervous system and… I really believed…"
The boy just sat there, holding himself and trying to collect his thoughts. Pain and fear were clear on his face, his breath halting from time to time. "You'd think after Scarecrow and Joker I'd be used to those kinds of things. Immune or something. But…"
He kept stopping, not sure what to say. It was clear he wanted to talk, but didn't know what to say or how to say it. What the boy really needed though wasn't talking, or that small video connection. He wanted the person he trusted most to come in and tell him everything was going to be alright. He may have been fifteen, but Dick was still a child at heart. He needed some security right then, and Batman was on the other side of the country. Clark didn't know why he didn't go to his friends for the emotional help he wanted. Pride maybe?
Clark was wrong. Bruce gave the kid too much freedom.
Dick started talking again, controlling himself. "During a fight, I saw him. Only in my mind, but it was as clear as day. We fought, we argued. He told me of his plans to destroy the city. That should have been a clue it wasn't real. I'd thought of his plans long ahead of time and knew what to do. He slipped right past Star, and I should have known then it could be just in my head. There were no bombs. Star isn't that careless.
"Not listening to anyone… heh, sound familiar? I just… I went back to Slade's old haunt and…" He hesitated again, taking a breath, then pulled through. "We fought there too. I was being beaten to a pulp by nothing but my imagination. I don't even know how I tore my clothes or got these injuries. I just did.
"I was so angry with my team…" Dick's pained face became sorry. He really didn't want to hurt his friends. "I wouldn't listen to them. I kept shouting at them and… Star had to knock me out, and they strapped me to a bed to run some tests. As soon as they were gone…"
Clark already knew what would happen after that. Dick hated being left alone when he was little, especially after they fought a particularly difficult enemy. There was always an insecurity in the boy in regards to this. He was scared to lose people so much he'd cling to Batman's cape while the rest of the JLA had a meeting. Some members thought it was cute, others annoying. Batman only endured it until the kid was twelve, and by then the kid had other ways to keep himself busy during the meetings.
Being left alone while in that state would only mean his nightmare would return.
"I escaped. Ran away from my friends and put the tower in lockdown. I was done fighting Slade, really I was, but he just kept…" Dick gripped his head, trying to fight the fear within him. "I should have known! I really should have! There were too many inconsistencies! He'd vanish in the blink of an eye and he was only there when it was dark."
The boy sopped for a moment, breaking his near-uncle's heart to pieces. The kid was so scared and lost, disappointed with himself. He shook on the screen, unable to stop.
"I didn't win. Raven somehow got into my head and tried to clear it, but it only added to the hints I couldn't see. To me he was real. But only to me. When I finally put all the pieces together, I…"
This time he stopped and looked up, a little hope coming to his face. Obviously an idea came to him, then he looked back down, ashamed of thinking of something. "I turned on the lights. Gah… there's no way I'm using a nightlight again. What if Star or Cy found out? Ugh…."
That won a small smile from the alien. This boy still had his pride.
"Maybe sleeping during the day? Dunno. Once I figured out the light thing, I went back to the infirmary and got checked out. They found the spores and a way to clean my systems. I double checked it worked before leaving the room. That was a few hours ago."
The boy sat there for a moment, still upset and seemingly broken. He said nothing, just sat there thinking. It wasn't an easy silence. Finally, Robin started again. "The others think I didn't hear them, but I did. Old habit I guess. Had to know what they wouldn't tell me. The spores, the dust, whatever you call it. It wasn't a defense mechanism. It was detonated. Someone sent a signal to the mask when I was looking at it. That's why I was affected by it. Why it activated now.
"Slade's still out there, and he's still out to…"
It was clear how scared and hurt the boy was. He wasn't quite as terrified as one time Superman had seen him, that one time they honestly both thought they saw Batman die. It took all of his strength to keep the boy with him where it was safe and it still struck him how much the kid fought to go find his mentor. He didn't stop fighting for a while, all that time tears streamed down his face. It was only when Batman appeared before them both that the kid stopped fighting. He ran to Batman and hung on for dear life. He was just thirteen.
At fifteen, he still seemed easily shaken by some sort of trauma, and that trauma was the apprenticeship and Slade.
Dick bit his lip to stop from crying even more. He took another slow breath before talking again. "I'm sending you the details on the dust tomorrow. Might be handy in the future. I just…" he looked away, ashamed, "I just needed to talk to someone right now. I can't tell the team. I can't… I can't let them see how weak I am."
The boy swallowed, then barely murmured, "Sometimes I wish I never left Gotham. Maybe I should have gone to Bludhaven. Then you could… we could…
"Sorry." The kid grabbed the top of his laptop and slammed it down, ending the video. Each of these must have been live streams to the bat-computer or he'd never let them see the light of day.
Dick said sorry. Robin said sorry to Batman. He wanted to see him, he really did. If Clark learned anything from these videos, besides gaining a complete dislike of Slade, it was how much Dick still thought highly of Bruce. It was just their prides getting in the way between them.
Behind him, Clark could hear Bruce tossing in his sleep. He knew when the man woke and when he came back into the room. It had been a few hours and they were nearly to California.
"Seen enough?"
Clark nodded solemnly. "And so have you. No wonder you didn't want to see them again."
Bruce grunted, smoothing out his shirt. He took a memory stick out of his pocket and handed it to the reporter. "Your exposé information. I'll call White after we're done."
His friend nodded, still thinking of Robin. "Why didn't you go to him after that… dust incident?"
Bruce's face clouded over. He pointed to the date on the file. "Remember what happened back then?"
For a few minutes Clark thought about the date, trying to remember if there was any League business at the time. It took him a while, but he remembered. They were off planet, for a month. This video was done about three days into that mission. Even if Batman had checked on the file while in space, he wouldn't have made it back in time to help the kid. "Ah."
"It's not a matter of not wanting to," Bruce pointed out. "It's that I can't. I almost flew out there when I saw it, but other things kept me in Gotham. I did call him, but he didn't pick up. I'm certain he wouldn't have made that file if he wasn't desperate."
"You remember all those times he thought you died?" Clark gave Bruce a pointed look, making the dark knight nod emotionlessly. "I never had that hard a time keeping someone still. There are just some things Superman can't do, and one of them is give Dick Grayson the comfort he needs. You need to be there for him more. He's not desperate, he just misses you, a lot."
Bruce said nothing, but Clark could tell. Bruce missed Dick too.
A/N: and now I've finished the Teen Titan Slade eps review! yay! *x's out wiki's TT ep listing* I know I made Robin more of a sobbing child than the stubborn fearsome teen in the show, but behind closed doors I can so see Dick breaking down in front of Bruce. And i think the video only would exist if it live streamed/recorded straight to the bat-computer, along with a few others. The vids are therapy for him, but he's still a teenage boy with a lot of pride. I doubt any trying-to-be-tough teen would let such embarrassing scenes exist if he could stop it. Besides, everyone feels bad for Robin after that ep.
Finally we're gonna have some more Teen Titan action. I've already written up some of the dialog for it so it should go by faster. But I'm also working on two other series for YJ. Need to update one badly. Yes, I've got Bat-fluff here too, but I think it's necessary. Love bat-fluff. Enjoy!