Title make sense now? Enjoy!


49 - End of the Tunnel

Dick made it to the rafters and catwalks, a part of the building that wouldn't explode for a few minutes, and the exit strategy his master set up weeks ago. Never hurt to be prepared. And knowing this beforehand made it very easy to corner the guy before he made it out of the building.

And sure enough within a few seconds the injured assassin, with his mask half off, was running around the corner. Seeing the man surprised for the first time was a rare treat. "Renegade…"

Dick was perched on the catwalk's railing, seemingly expressionless. Like he was the entire time he was obedient to his 'master'. It made the man drop his guard a little. "See you've chosen sides wisely. Let's get out of here."

"No." The teen's voice dropped to dangerous levels, despite the explosions around and underneath them.

"What was that?" The anger in the man's voice normally would have scared the kid, but this time it only added fuel to the fire burning within him.

"I'm not going with you. I just thought you deserved to hear a secret." Twisting and snapping the rail he was on out of place, he lunged at the man who terrorized him for so long. Slade was not expecting a vicious attack from him, at least not then and there. He barely managed to block the makeshift staff from cracking his skull open.

"Oh?" Deathstroke managed to keep his voice level, despite having to twist and toss the attack to the side as they talked. He barely dodged another blow as he leapt back a step, taking out his own collapsible staff. "And what would that be Apprentice?"

"I didn't learn how to fight from you." Dick bounced from rail to rail, diving at the man again, poising his staff into a thrust. It was sidestepped, boy and all.

"I already know that." He aimed an elbow at the boy's back as he passed, but he twisted at the last moment, throwing a powder from his belt into the man's eye, effectively blinding him. He bit back his pain as they continued fighting, the acrobat rolling back to his feet to lunge again. "How about something significant?"

"Did you ever ask where I learned? Why I learned?" Anger boiled within him, but he kept his voice level. Alfred would be proud of his acting. It kept his opponent guessing. He swung his staff against him, each blow parried and turned away as they danced in their fight.

"From Wayne's tutors no doubt," Slade managed between blows. "For your protection."

"Wrong." Taking advantage of the guy's momentary surprise, Dick crashed his poll into the guy's hand, smashing his fingers and forcing him to let go of his staff. A quick punch with the man's other hand forced him to retreat for a moment, flipping backwards. "Bruce taught me everything."

"Oh? So that man isn't entirely useless." The assassin lunged forward, swiping his staff at him with one hand. Not near as effective but managed to push the kid closer to the edge. The catwalk shook from the explosions around them, forcing both of them to readjust their balance before throwing any more punches.

"He did it to channel my anger after Zucco killed my parents." Dick leapt upwards, swinging his staff towards the man's shoulder to incapacitate him, but Slade stepped out of the way a second too soon. Didn't stop him from jabbing the poll into his abs just after landing. "Didn't work."

"Couldn't tell." Sarcasm dripped from the man's lips as he aimed a kick at the boy's ribs. The kid arched backwards in time with it, only receiving a slight scrape from the man's boot. His own boots managed to knock his armor out of place, enough to make it uncomfortable. He knew the man already had a bruise there from an earlier blow. "You seemed so content in Gotham."

"That was because of the real secret. My secret." The acrobat glared death upon the man as he lunged at him again, landing a kick into his chest, his head, and falling to the ground for a swipe kick so fast it could only be called a single move. "Batman didn't take down Tony Zucco eight years ago!"

Slade fell backwards, landing poorly and dislocating his shoulder as he knocked against the railing then the ground. Dick propelled himself into the air with his staff and landed on the man's chest, purest rage on his face at last. "I did!"

The teen pointed the staff straight at his captor's face, making his point clear. Everything was seeping into the man's brain at long last. Dick's big secret. "I was the one who tracked him down and beat him senseless! I chased after him! I made him fear God! He had a heart attack and died because of me!"

'I killed him.' The unspoken words passed through their minds, their eyes linked for that one moment. Dick's big secret, the one thing he didn't want getting out, even if it was only an eight year old's logic taken too far.

"You have no idea how I felt after that." He swiped the poll across the man's head, knocking him unconscious. Dick glared at his captor, remembering his feelings back then and his feelings now. There was no one he hated more than those two men at that moment. They had caused him so much pain… tore him away from his family… killed solely for profit… One never faced justice properly. He could end this one so easily right then and there.

A slight screech rang in his ears, reminding him who he was.

Gritting his teeth, the teen boy let go of his staff and ripped the metal 'S' off his shirt, throwing it next to the guy's ear angrily. He grudgingly pulled the knocked out man to his feet, half carrying him, half dragging him, over to the secret exit he was originally headed to. "You're only alive because I never want to feel that again."

Around them the building exploded and everything fell to pieces.


"Where is he?!" The Teen Titans were safely outside the building's total collapse, but their main reason for being there wasn't. Neither was Slade. A crowd was starting to form, mostly interested warehouse workers and a couple squad cars, but nothing big yet. Wonder Girl and Cyborg were working the cops while the rest searched the rubble for a sign of their targets.

So far not a single sign of either of them.

"You do not think…" Starfire worried as she flew over each and every angle of the place, some parts larger than others. It was a fairly big building.

"He has to be alive!" Kid Flash fretted about, looking everywhere he could. Beast Boy ran around as a hound dog, sniffing for clues while Speedy and Aqualad ran around the rest of the lot. Maybe they were fighting outside somewhere when they weren't looking. Raven was meditating, trying to find them her way. "His dad'll kill me if he isn't! And my uncle!"

"Calm down!" Speedy insisted, knowing he was right and could add quite a few more names to the list of would-be murderers. After learning who Renegade was and who else was in danger from KF, he was even more determined to get to the bottom of this. He was going to save his friend. "He's here somewhere! Gothamites are resourceful! If I know anything about this guy he'll-!"

About twenty feet away from where the front door used to be, they saw the top of a metal plate shift. They watched with baited breath as it lifted and upturned itself, revealing an exhausted and dirty Renegade. They all tried to converge on his position, wanting to call out to him, but all the debris made it difficult to get there. And what name would they use? He leaned down and picked up the man who kidnapped him ages ago and wreaked havoc on the city for so long, carrying and dragging him out of the rubble.

The teenaged heroes nearly gaped at him, trying to run interference, as he took the villain through the debris field and walked straight over to the policeman closest to them. He dropped the man at the officer's feet before any of them could reach him, breathing out slowly before reaching to his face. The Titans jerked forward, wanting to stop him, but none were fast enough to prevent him from taking off his mask.

Eyes and face revealed, Dick looked at the officer, expressionless. The man in blue honestly did not know what to do when the kid put his hands in front of him, towards the officer. Only two words escaped his mouth.

"I surrender."


A/N: Liked the fight? I worked hard on it. The only reason Dick won was because of the place they were fighting and Slade's injuries from the Titans. Also Dick's held back in the past so Slade never saw his full potential until that moment. What I really liked though was the secret of Dick's. My head cannon has parts from Dark Victory where a young Dick tracked down Zucco and scared him so badly he had a heart attack. Batman revived him in this version, but then he had a relapse in the ambulance where he was arrested, then died. In Dick's 8yr old mind, he thought he killed the man. It's a mindset he has trouble with, but not near as much as him knowing he ended Batman. So Dick's already carrying a lot of guilt before anything happened. Silly boy...

And in the end, DIck turns himself in. The others were planning on just taking the guy home and making him a victim while Renegade disappeared. Dick on the other hand decides to just turn himself in. Bruce kinda foresees this and will react accordingly. Now we get into the legal system, based off of millions of TV shows. X3 Hope you've enjoyed!