AN) Enjoy! Me no own!

Three head jerked up. Three sets of eyes fell on the small boy. How he tensed. How he looked away. How he was breaking slightly.

"Dickie!" Megan cheered, her heart soaring as Wally lead the kid into the living room. All day they had worked on this project. It would help so much. "We've missed you."

"It's very good to see you again Guppy."

"Hey."

"H-Hi." He smiled weakly. His time spent wherever Red X had taken him had done something. Something good.

"Are you feeling better?"

He nodded. Connor patted the couch next to him.

"We wanna show you something."

Breakline

A stack of cards were placed on the coffee table in front of him. Wally leaned back against the couch, Connor sat to his left. Megan next to him, Kaldur in a chair next to Wally. They prompted him to look at them.

Notecards. Black, gray and writing covered them. Usually one or two words.

Worthless. Stupid. Useless. Fool. Insignificant. Meaningless. Freak. Weak. Pathetic. Failure.

So many more. Tears pricked at his eyes. Was this really what they thought of him? Were they really saying that he was?

Wally took the cards. "These are wrong." He waved the stack in the air. "That's what Slade used to call you. And he was so wrong."
"Whatever he said. Doesn't matter to us."

A ripping sound filled the air. Wally now holding two torn stacks of cards. He smiled at Dick, as he passed the cards to Connor, who ripped them more. Megan crumbled them, before passing them to Kaldur. The Atlantian picked up a water bottle, soaking the papers so the ink ran together.

A new deck was placed in his hands. The ink this time was bright and colorful. Little smiley faces and hearts covering each card.

Worthy. Smart. Helpful. Genius. Important. Meaningful. Special. Strong. Wonderful. Blessing.

And there were so many more. More kind words. Thousands more than the harsh words. More hearts and smileys. More love. More—truth. He looked up, tears brimming in his eyes. They meant it. Every word they had written they meant. They thought he was smart and strong. The believed him to be important and a blessing.

Our baby brother. We love you more than ice cream and cookies. More than movies and beach days. Way more ways that we can ever say.

They smiled at him, a tear running down his cheek. He looked to Wally, the ginger looking near tears himself.

"Really?"

"Of course."

He hugged him. Wally held on tightly, feeling Dick shake slightly with sobs. It had worked. Megan wrapped her arms around Wally, Connor joining her. Even Kaldur. Until the small boy was cocooned in a circle of love. Wally swayed slightly, nuzzling the little boy's hair. He felt the child's grip lessen after five minutes, Wally slowly loosening his grip.

"Hey—"He smiled as Dick looked at him, Wally wiping the tears off his face. "This wasn't supposed to make you cry! This was supposed to make you happy!" Dick laughed softly, Wally chuckling with him. "Guys," Wally still held Dick in his lap, "Dickie has some big news. Go on, tell 'em."

"I'm getting adopted!" He rushed out hurriedly, blush growing up his cheeks. Megan squealed, Connor grinned, Kaldur clapping the boy on the shoulder.

A volley of questions followed. Who was it? Was Dick excited? How long would it take?

"I was going to save this for later—but in light of recent events I think we should have a little victory party." Wally smirked. "Get ready Dickie—you're about to witness some of the best modern movies of all time! Dim the lights and pop the popcorn, we're having a marathon. Tonight's topic—"

Breakline

Awe. Complete and utter fascination. Question after question. Dick fired them off, Wally answering best he could—pausing the movie to explain something if need be.

Wally loved the enthusiasm. How Dick watched in wonder. He loved movies. These movies were Wally's favorite. Great characters, detailed story lines. He loved how they could all tie together. Dick would have to love these too! Since he was connected to the superhero world.

Dick connected to the movie more than Wally thought. He saw his friends in the characters. He understood the protagonist's actions completely. In awe of them.

It was reaching the best scene, in Wally opinion. The rescue. It was an awesome display of friendship, and a super cool plot point. He wasn't ready for the question.

"W-Would you be my Steve?"

Wally looked at Dickie. The little boy looked back up slightly. What did he mean? Was he asking Wally if he would protect him?

He saw Master in Hydra. What if he was taken away? Would Wally come racing after him? Would he want to save him, even if it could spell certain doom? Did he mean enough to Wally for that to happen?

"Would you be my Bucky?"

Would Dick always be his friend? Would Dick stand with him through hard times? Wally knew Dick was mature for his age, he could take care of himself in battle—would he protect Wally when he couldn't protect himself?

"Yes."

"Then I'd be honored to be your Steve."

Breakline

She tapped the pencils eraser against the notebook. Math had been getting way too hard. This project she was supposed to do was going to be the death of her. It should've been easy, but for some reason Drake had decided he wanted to work alone. He had been giving her the cold shoulder all week, it was actually a little scary. Tim was usually really friendly—offering help to anyone who needed, and now he never gave her the time of day. She wondered why he was so cold.

Things had been going downhill for the past week. Her mom's therapy hadn't gone well, no breakthrough. Her grades were dipping, not extremely but enough to make the teachers raise an eyebrow. The clique of popular girls had started after her again, simply because she didn't have a brand new phone. And then her mom, the fight they had was horrible. A lot of screaming. Name calling, some crying on her mother's part.

Did she feel bad about making her mom cry? Yeah—no one wanted their mom to cry. And the past week, Grayson had been on her mind often. It didn't seem exactly fair to yell at him like that. He had gone through the same style of training as she had. But—she wasn't trying to kill people!

"Artemis." Her mom called from outside her door. "Someone is here to see you."

Well—that was unexpected. She really didn't have any friends. Besides Gordon, her dad wouldn't let her out this late. Closing the notebook, she readjusted her hair-tie, pulling it tighter.

What the heck? Dinah stood in her small living room. She was wearing a white blouse with a navy blue jacket. She looked like she had just gotten off of work.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you."

"Obviously." Her mom sent her a glance, glaring slightly.

"I just want to know your reasoning behind last Friday's events."

"I would like to apologize for her." Arty rolled her eyes.

"It's alright. But we do need to figure out why what happened happened."

Artemis really didn't want to talk about it. But the fact that Mom had invited Dinah to have a seat and was now parked next to her told Artemis would be in for a long night.

"Artemis, have there been any confrontations before Friday before between you and Richard?"

"No, not really."

Dinah nodded, entering therapist mode. "How do you see Dick?"

"He's—kind of annoying. I mean, everyone acts like he's some prince." A nod.

"Is there any particular reason you see him that way?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because I went through villain training too. No one threw a hoopla over me."

"Artemis! We have gone over this! I am sorry, but that is no reason for you to act harshly toward others now! I have tried my best to help you, but you must try as well."

Her mom's same old speech. Sure, Mom had tried to make up for it. She loved her mom, but things weren't perfect. Dinah had watched the situation with a careful eye. She hoped she wouldn't have to do this, but Bruce had given her permission to if need be. And it just might do the trick.

"Do you think your past situation worse than his?" Artemis nodded. Her father and sister betrayed her. "I'm not trying to undermine you, your past has its downsides as well." She began to stand. "But I do believe that you're judged what actually happened to Dick too quickly. I've brought my laptop with me, would you mind if I showed some video footage?"

"Of course not." Artemis was interrupted before she could protest.

Dinah quickly crossed over to the small entrance way, where her coat and satchel were hanging. She returned with a slick laptop. Setting it up upon the coffee table she inserted a thumb drive.

"I do warn you, this isn't pretty."

Artemis raised an eyebrow as the computer booted up, a few mouse clicks later the video feed started playing.

Dick looked very small, he stood in front of Slade, his hands folded together behind his back. The two appeared to be in some sort of classroom. The walls were a pale white. A book shelf covering the lower half of one. The books upon it were large. A map hung from another wall, and a whiteboard was fixated on a third. A single desk sat in the middle, Richard stood beside that. His eyes fixed on the ground.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary. Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping. As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door— only this and nothing more."

Was he quoting Poe? He looked like he was six!

"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; and each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow. From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore Nameless here for evermore. Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; so that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—"He trailed off. Artemis saw him tense.

"Again boy?" Slade sneered.

"Apologies M-Master." He whispered, a strong blush burning against his cheeks.

"The sixth time boy. You've recited this passage six times. And yet you forget that line?" How could Slade be so picky? How could he expect Dick to know all of that?

"F-Forgive me—"A sharp crack rang through the air, Dick was knocked off balance as Slade slapped him. His head banged against the desk, as he sunk into a heap. A small cry escaped her lips, Artemis watched on in a small terror.

"Pathetic." Slade sneered down on the boy. Dick didn't move from the ground. He was conscious, but he didn't dare stir. "I expect you to have memorized this by now. You will not leave this room until you do so."

Dick raised his head, his forehead bright red, along with his cheek. The worry in his eyes.

"Or would you like to have more?" He shrunk back, shaking his head. Slade ignored this. "Jump City layout." The man's voice was icy. "Tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock."

"B-Both?" He squeaked. Slade leaning down, gripping his chin.

"Yes, both. Are you that stupid?" Dick lowered his gaze, such shame in his eyes. "Pathetic waste." With those harsh words, Slade dropped the boys chin. He straightened, turning to leave. "If you don't, you will be punished."

Dick remained on the floor, tenderly touching his sore cheek.

There appeared to be some sort of time skip, as the screen slipped to Dick sitting in the desk, his head rested on an open book of maps. He appeared to be asleep. Something told Artemis this was going to end in violence.

Slade entered, stalking over to the boy. Lording over his sleeping from. Suddenly he gripped his shoulder, Richard gasping bolting upright. He gawked at Slade.

"M-Master I-I-I—"

Slade threw the boy from his seat, Dick grunting slightly on impact.

"I believe it is safe to say that you have neither completely memorized?" Dick stuttered, Slade's boot connecting with his gut. Artemis wearily eyed the whip hanging from his belt, Dick eyeing it as well. "Shirt off." Slade commanded, Dick looking so resigned to his fate. "On your knees."

Oh God…oh God the scars. Too many. Too many scars on such a little body. Artemis felt a scream rise from her throat as Richard bowed his head, his hands clenched as the whip snapped over his head and tore across his back. A small tear crept from her eye as Dick struggled not to scream. As blood trickled across his back, pooling around his knees. Fifteen lashes later Slade kicked him over, leaving the boy on the floor.

"Clean your mess." He sneered. Not. Fair.

"Y-Yes Master." Dick whimpered, closing his eyes for a second. After a moment he began to shift to his knees. Grasping his t-shirt, he began to use the white cloth to soak up his own blood.

Dinah turned the feed off. Artemis leaned back in shock. He had been whipped. Called stupid when he was clearly a genius. And she had—oh God no.

"I'm sorry." She had ruined his life, she couldn't do that anymore.

Breakline

He had watched from the shadows during the little meeting. Smirking as the girl gave him exactly what he needed. Sneaking away through the shadows he fled. Once he was away, he pulled the com link out.

"Hey—"He chuckled slightly, though his corresponded wasn't amused. "You may want to look into that Young Justice group a little more."

AN) Dun dun dun! Dang it Sportsmaster get out of here! Things are heating up! Review!