Wow, people are good guessers!

34 - Recovered

Bruce led Zatanna solemnly back to her car. She gave him a mournful look, disappointed with herself. "I'm really sorry Bruce. I can't locate him and some kind of talisman is making it difficult to even contact him. I'm afraid tonight was a one-time deal."

The CEO shook his head slowly. "You have nothing to be sorry about Zanna. You've done more than you think."

"But he's—"

"You gave me a chance to talk to my son." He gave her a vulnerable smile, sad and thankful. She never saw that look on his face, and she knew him when he was a teenager. "I haven't heard his voice over two months. And just seeing him again…" He closed his eyes, mentally chiding himself. "I shouldn't have looked away. Maybe I could have—"

"You would only have heard his voice." She sighed heavily, tightening her coat around her. "That's the nature of the spell. You didn't see or hear anything other than Dick and what he was directly touching. As soon as his attention shifted from you to whoever came in, the spell was bound to break. It was only your strong connection with him that made it possible to communicate in the first place.

"Bruce," Zatanna looked into her old friend's eyes, conveying her sympathies, "I'm really sorry you saw him in that state, but it's also the easiest to reach someone. And a downside is—"

"He's not likely to remember, I know." Bruce ran a hand through his hair, stressed beyond belief. "There was only a slim chance this would have worked either way. But Dick needed to see me just as much as I did. I just wish…"

"Everyone wishes for more time with the ones they love." Her eyes conveyed how much more time she wanted with her own parents. Currently she was searching for her father, one of Bruce's old teachers. This stop over at his place was mutually beneficial. The detective had given her a solid lead as payment for that night. "Are you sure this has helped?"

He gave her a sad hint of a smile, nodding once. "I'm certain. I have leads now, and I will find him."

"I hope so." She ducked into her car, ready to go. "When he comes back, I want to meet your boy wonder. Hard to believe you've had eight years with him and I've never seen him."

Bruce smirked sadly, a promise in his eyes. "I'll throw a party. Be careful driving."

The woman smiled and nodded, revving up her engine. "Ecurb thginot llew peels."

"What?"

"Nothing. Later Bruce." And like that the woman was gone. Bruce watched her go for a while, seeing a good friend from his past leaving him. Her spell gave her much to think about, more to consider, but most of all it gave her hope. Getting her a lead for Zatara took a couple days, but if it gave him fifteen minutes with his son, it was worth it.

Besides, he had more to go on now, and he would find his son.

Everything was a blur really. Dick's head hurt a bit from whatever he went through recently. Fever, concussion, it was hard to tell. For a moment he felt safe and warm, he knew that. Probably from some kind of dream about the good days, before Slade decided to take over his life. Right then though, he just felt sweaty and hot. Suffocating really. What was this heavy thing on him?

It took a minute for his eyes to open then even longer to see clearly. A heavy comforter laid on top of him, blankets tucked right up to his chin and ended up at his eyelevel, making it hard to see where he was. It had to be his room inside the bunker; the bed was proof of that. Funny, he couldn't really remember going to bed. He laid there for a long while, just trying to figure out what had happened.

'Headache, lots of blankets, sweat, dry mouth... Clothes still on and I don't feel any bandages... Arm's sore... aching all around... Stomach's empty... Okay... been sick a while. How long? Oooohhh... I really need to go to the bathroom.' It was this thought that pulled him upright, blearily looking around the room. The low lighting made it easy for him to see without it being uncomfortable, so he knew it wouldn't be a problem getting up and taking care of his bladder.

He tried to ignore all the aches, cracks, and pops from his joints as he turned towards the edge of his bed. He really had been in there too long. As he put his feet on the ground, out from under the warm covers, a voice made him freeze.

"And just where do you think you're going Renegade?"

His stomach suddenly didn't feel so empty. Slowly Dick brought his head up and saw his captor sitting in a chair not too far off. He was in street clothes that hadn't been washed in a couple days and it looked like he hadn't moved from that spot in a while. A small fold out table with a large bowl of ice water, a water bottle, some pills, and a stack of saltine crackers on top stood next to him. A large manual on a recently designed fighter jet was propped onto his lap, over half way completed. How long had he been there, waiting for him to get up?

"Uh... Bathroom?"

The man eyed him for a long moment in silence, then folded over a page to mark it before closing the book. He set it aside and walked over to Dick, a hand raised towards him. He did his best not to move, flinch, or wet himself (his bladder was very full) as his hand got closer to him. Did wince though on reflex as the back of Slade's hand rested on his forehead. His callused fingers flipped to his palm as he proceeded to check the boy's temperature.

"Hm. Nearly normal. Think you can make it on your own?" Looking up at the man in slight shock, he couldn't say anything. It was something Bruce or Alfred would ask him when he was sick or dizzy, not something he'd expect from his torturer's mouth. He almost seemed like a normal... dad. Was he a dad?

After a minute, Dick swallowed and nodded, pushing himself off the bed. Everything still ached from not being used for a bit, but he wasn't dizzy, just sore. When he wobbled at the first step, Slade raised an eyebrow at him, amused. "Are you sure?"

"I'll make it," he persisted, his voice cracking a bit. Opening his mouth now, he could feel how bad his throat was during his illness. That or he plain did not drink anything for much longer than eight hours. How long was he out? "Have before."

Nodding, Wilson took a step back to give him room to move, and he took it. Measuring his paces to keep himself from looking scared, Dick walked out of the room to the bathroom nearby. Slade followed him and waited outside the door like the stalker he was. It was with an exasperated sigh that he sat himself on the toilet to relieve himself, running his hands through his hair. "Okay Grayson, think this through. What on Earth happened again?"

Slowly memories stared to surface. Training, and lots of it. He made it back to the bank of a lake when he just... passed out. Sure he wasn't 100% beforehand, but it wasn't like last time when he sneezed in his master's face. He honestly had no idea what made him that sick. Even being sick was a blur. His fever must have been pretty high if his brain was this scrambled. He was pretty sure he heard Wintergreen say something like altitude and stress induced caused sickness. Freezing liquid temperatures probably didn't help matters. Add to it his many repeated exposure in the cooler and it was hard to believe he hadn't been getting sick more often.

The worst part was, Dick had no idea what he said or did while he was ill. He could tell he wasn't completely out of the woods yet, but if he couldn't recall what he said or did the past day or two, who knew how many secrets he could have spilled. He knew he talked in his sleep; everyone told him so, but with a fever, there was no telling what came out.

'Okay Grayson, calm down. You're probably panicking over nothing. Slept the whole thing off.' If only life was that kind to him. Sighing heavily, he completed his business on the can and started cleaning himself up. After dousing his available skin, he scooped up handfuls of water and drank as much as he could. Had to pee and drink himself silly as soon as he was up and moving. Yeah, he'd been sick for a bit.

"Still conscious?" Slade's voice through the door reminded him he was not alone. Was he checking on him out of concern or because he wanted to make sure his asset wasn't further damaged?

Well it didn't matter. He'd probably break the door down if he didn't answer. "Mostly." Drying himself off, Dick straightened himself best he could and headed to the door. "How long was I out?"

"Does it matter?" Hearing this answer was easier to take with a solid wood door between them. It didn't matter? Slightly infuriated, the teen opened the door and saw the man shaking his head. "You didn't improve until I gave you penicillin, and you were so stubborn I had to give you a shot. Almost more trouble than it was worth.

"Are you feeling better?" His one eye looked over the lad, a question in his gaze. He seemed genuinely interested in his wellbeing. It almost tugged at his heartstrings. Almost.

He turned away, pushing away any feelings or impressions he had right then. Whether he 'cared' or not, Slade had taken everything important to Dick and was forcing him to learn things for all the wrong reasons in order to save lives. He hated and feared this man. Slade's kindness was merely a tool to control him. "Mostly. Not 100%, but I can stand."

"Hm..." His master seemed to be debating something, standing stone still in thought before turning back the way they came. "Not yet. You have another day of bed rest before training can resume. Change your clothes and return to bed. Wintergreen will have something ready for you in an hour. Eat up and take your medicine, or I'll give you another shot. Are we clear?"

Dick forced himself to look at him and answer. "Yes sir."

For some reason that pleased him. He nodded and turned away, headed wherever he needed to go the past few days. He watched the man walk off before starting back to his room. Even if he hated the guy, the teen knew he needed the extra rest. And frankly, he really needed a change of clothes. He smelled horrible and there was no way on Earth he was going to have a "shower" any time soon.

A/N: so Dick's all better now! This may be the last bit of Slade fluff though and things are gonna go darker again soon, so love what you see now. What Zatanna said lastly to Bruce was a spell to get him to really have a good night's rest. He really needed one. Not much else to say about this chapter. There's 21 chapters left and next week the Titans return. Enjoy!