Disclaimer: Property of DC.
Rating: T for language and violence that includes descriptions of gore.
AN: Thank you Mister Corey for beta reading.
Edited: 8/29/2020
Gotham Holiday
Chapter Twenty: Truth
The ANNA approached two white, orange streaked planets. One of the planets had a large, dark spot. Otherwise they were identical.
"Have we reached Amparo yet?" Robin asked from his seat beside Alfred.
"No. This is the Forsek System," Slade answered from his pilot chair. "The planets you see are Forsek and Azar. Only a few years ago, both held thriving civilizations like the Earth. Now, the satellites you see in their orbits likely circle the equivalent of mass graveyards."
Robin observed the milky surface of Azar through the small window by his seat. The planet's name struck him as familiar. "You've been here before?"
A warning flashed across the ANNA's main view screen. A spaceship comparable to the ANNA's size sped towards them. The alien ship almost blended in with the starfield due to its black, reflective surface.
"Friends of yours?" Alfred asked in a disquieted tone.
Slade entered evasive commands into the console. "Trucsian mercenaries. They won't kill us before seeing if we have anything valuable onboard."
The alien ship fired a series of blue lasers. The ANNA avoided most of the attack, but two hits found their target, and the ANNA lost its hyperspace abilities and left thruster. The ANNA careened out of control. Warning signals flashed and sounded. Slade managed to right the ship and circled it around to launch his own attack, but his shots bounced off the alien ship's invisible shield.
"We're outmatched," Slade announced grimly. "We'll have to try our luck elsewhere while we can still move."
He then abandoned the battle and directed the ANNA down towards Azar with startling speed.
Robin and Alfred held tightly to their overhead restraints as the alien ship pursued them down through the planet's ceiling of churning clouds. Both ships burst into a red sky full of fiery ash. Robin's hands dug into the restraint. He tried not to scream. The ship's velocity forced his whole body against the seat. He couldn't move his limbs if he wanted to. From his observation window, the world of Azar was laid out below in blotches of barren land, volcanoes, and flowing lava. The abstract shapes of cities poked up here and there amongst the blackened world. Ash began to coat the ANNA's windows, but before it could block out his view, Robin realized Slade was targeting a large, oddly circular area of land.
It was an enormous forest. Remarkably, it existed right in the middle of a lava field.
Robin couldn't fathom how, but the forest seemed shielded from the world's nightmarish environment. He could only hope the ANNA wouldn't blow up upon hitting whatever unseen barrier kept the forest safe from all the lava hugging its edges. He tensed, certain they were about to explode, but the ANNA passed the barrier as if it wasn't there and began crashing through the forest. Robin felt like they were in a giant tin can. He heard parts of the ship breaking off. The front window's thick glass cracked and splintered. The ship banged along until it struck the ground, sending up massive clouds of dirt. The ANNA slid for hundreds of feet, mowing past trees and slapping branches, before coming to rest with a final, heavy jolt.
The ship groaned and settled.
Smoke began filling the cabin.
Robin coughed along with Alfred. The rough entry left his whole body aching.
"Come on," Slade said. "We're not safe yet."
Robin released his seat restraint and reached to help Alfred, but the ship was struck by another blast. Knocked off his feet, Robin yelped as the ship began to roll. He collided with the ceiling and then the console before falling off and hitting the floor.
He awoke seconds later, shocked at the freezing water pooling around him. The sound of it rushing in and the grinding noises of the ship made hearing difficult.
The ship lurched.
Robin clamored to his feet and grabbed the console to keep himself upright.
Nearby, Alfred also leaned against the console for support as he tore off one of his white dress shirt sleeves and used it to bind a bleeding gash on his forearm. Blood seeped through the knotted wet cloth.
Robin puzzled at the injury.
"It's just a nick," Alfred assured him over the rush of water.
The lights began flickering off and on. Each time they flickered off, the cabin was thrown into complete darkness.
Slade finished grabbing items from the supply boxes that were anchored to the cabin floor. He secured them in his utility belt.
"We were knocked into a lake," he explained. "We'll have to swim out through the emergency hatch. They might be waiting outside, so be prepared to fight."
Robin was glad to have his own utility belt and weapons back. "I thought you said they wouldn't destroy the ship!"
"Focus on surviving," Slade snapped. He took Robin by the arm and pushed him towards the emergency hatch. It was underwater and in the center of the cabin floor, but could be manually opened.
The water had risen to Robin's waist. He looked to Alfred as the lights continued to flicker on and off. "I'll get the hatch! Are you ready?"
After Alfred nodded, Robin dove under the water and grabbed the hatch's primary circular handle, pulling it in circles. It clicked and freed a red lever. Robin pushed the lever to release the hatch. This caused more water to rush inside. Robin kicked to keep himself upright and emerged, gasping and treading to keep his head above the icy water.
Slade motioned for Alfred to go first. "Stay under until you reach the edge of the lake. With luck, we'll be able to find cover in the tree line before anything notices us."
After Alfred disappeared through the opened hatch, Robin followed. They were forced to swim blind in the murky water. Fortunately, it didn't take long to for Robin's grasping hands to run into an incline of mushy sand. He clawed along until he breached the water and found himself on a lake's muddy shoreline. Robin stumbled after Alfred onto the brown sand; spitting out foul-tasting water. He knelt on the beach to catch his breath. The surprisingly cool air sent a chill down his spine.
Overhead, Robin was just as surprised to see a sky full of stars. He considered if perhaps the barrier protecting the forest extended like a column all the way up through the atmosphere. Glancing around, he saw that the giant forest completely surrounded the lake. He spotted their initial path of destruction hollowed out through the trees and the impact the ANNA had left in the sand before being blasted into the lake.
Slade sloshed onto the beach. He paused a few feet behind where Alfred stood and Robin knelt.
"Don't move," he ordered quietly.
Whatever he saw, Robin could tell Alfred had noticed it, too. Robin scanned the beach quickly for the danger. It suddenly became clear as the alien ship shimmered into existence, and Robin realized it had already landed on the beach. He figured it possessed a cloaking ability, like he'd seen in science fiction movies. Beside the ship waited two humanoid aliens. They were dressed in bulky body armor that hid their faces. Each also held a big gun-like weapon trained on Robin, Slade, and Alfred.
"I was wrong," Slade said from behind. "They're not mercenaries. They're exterminators. ...Leftovers of the intergalactic army that devastated this planet."
Robin's mind raced to make sense of Slade's information and how the man knew so much about the planet's history. He eyed the attacker's weapons.
A deep, guttural noise sounded from the forest's shadows. Robin didn't know what to compare it to, but the sound made his skin prickle and his heart race.
"Don't move," Slade repeated with urgency, "and don't look at it."
The two aliens began firing at the tree line.
A shape burst out. It was a creature with gemlike eyes that glowed a brilliant red.
Upon seeing it, the two aliens appeared to be paralyzed with fear. Both stood with their weapons aimed, but did not fire again.
The creature screeched and moved fast. It tore one alien in half, leaving a spray of blood and viscera across the sand before leaping on top of the other. It clawed the second alien as if destroying a hated doll. It through the alien's body at the ship, and the attacked the ship itself; its huge claws tearing through the hull. The shield protecting the ship sparked against the monster's skin, but failed to stop it from quickly gutting the ship of its engine core and other integral parts. The creature seemed to know exactly what it was doing in making the ship inoperable within seconds.
Then the creature swept its gaze towards Robin and the others.
Robin remembered Slade's order, but it was already too late.
He tried to retrieve his bo-staff from his utility belt, but his body didn't respond.
He couldn't move.
He understood then that the aliens hadn't been paralyzed by fear. They'd been petrified by the creature's gemlike gaze.
The glow of its eyes illuminated the rest of its humanlike face, but its mouth opened far wider than a human's to reveal a toothy grin. Its hair was long and dark. Instead of clothes, the creature's sculpted muscles were shaped in some areas, such as its arms and legs, to mimic armor. Its skin was translucent across its torso as if the same red light the shined in its eyes glowed from within its chest cavity. Smaller specks of light were scattered along its arms and neck. Otherwise, the creature's skin was black with gold bands asymmetrically ringing its face, waist, and limbs. Little spikes coated the back of its large hands and ran up the creature's arms and over its shoulders. Its fingers were long with gnarled joints and very sharp, red claws. It looked around the same height as Slade.
"I can't move," Robin told his allies, shocked that his voice worked.
"When it breaks its gaze, look at the ground," Slade told him. "Then run for the trees."
Robin could only watch as the creature stalked towards them; blood dripping from its long hands. It seemed zeroed in on him or Alfred.
Robin wasn't sure if Alfred could move.
A flash disc flew past them from behind. It collided with the monster in a bright snap of light and electricity that sent the creature howling back into the trees.
Alfred snatched Robin's arm with both hands and hauled him up, pushing him ahead towards the forest. They both hurried into the trees.
Slade ran after them.
Relieved to have control of his body back, Robin ran deeper into the woods. As he fled, he checked over his shoulder to make sure the others were still behind him.
Within minutes, Slade called for them to stop.
Robin stumbled to a halt. His heart thundering as he turned to check on Alfred.
Alfred placed a hand against the thick truck of a tree for support. "Are you sure it didn't follow us?" he breathlessly asked Slade.
Slade studied the screen of his handheld device. "Relax. It ran off to regroup with some others east of where we crashed. It seems they're already hunting something else closer to their location."
Robin shuddered in relief. He turned on Slade. "What was that thing? How did you know not to look at it? And how is this forest even here?"
Robin gestured at the giant trees that curved and bent over in interlacing arcs around and above them. The trees and much of the ground were covered in thick moss. The ground was a tangle of large tree roots.
Inside the forest, it was much darker than at the lake. Robin looked up at the stars again. He'd never seen such a starry sky. He didn't want to think about how dark the forest would be without such bright stars shining down on them.
"This is the ancient Forest of Azar, or what's left of it," Slade explained. He started walking north.
Robin and Alfred followed him.
"That device you carry detects those creatures?" Alfred asked. "I'm quite curious as to how it works. I suppose it has its own power source?"
"It's Amparan technology. Be grateful that it works, or we wouldn't stand a chance here."
"What was that thing?" Robin asked. Even though Slade made it seem like they were safe, he couldn't stop checking the trees for sign of a red glow or a large, clawed hand.
"A Bixbite. A creature that once protected the Temple of Azar. Now the Bixbite seem to work to annihilate whatever's left on this world instead."
Robin brushed his fingers back through his damp hair. "Azar... That name is familiar."
Slade led them down a steeper part of the forest. They used the tree trunks and some of the larger roots to keep their footing as they descended.
"Azar was a powerful sorceress," Slade said, "or maybe something more like a goddess. She founded Azarath, Raven's home world... but it isn't the only place she set down roots. This planet was named after her thousands of years ago when she saved it from a calamity. The Temple of Azar in the center of this forest still houses one of Azar's most powerful weapons."
Robin watched his feet to make sure he didn't get snared in the tangle of roots. "It's obvious you've been to this place before. How'd you get past those things last time?"
"I was rather demonically gifted at the time," Slade admitted. "The temple once kept two of the Rings of Azar. Now it only has one. The remaining ring likely accounts for why this forest isn't a lava field. The ring is powerful enough to shield at least the sacred woods. The rest of the planet hasn't been so lucky."
"Why would this ring permit our entry?" Alfred asked as they reached level ground again.
Slade scanned the trees and his device before leading them onward. "The rings seem to repel the harmful environment you witnessed beyond this forest's borders. It doesn't ward off invaders. It did nothing to stop me the last time I was here."
"You stole one of the rings in case Trigon betrayed you," Robin guessed, but his brow furrowed. "Why didn't you just steal them both?"
Slade guided them up a small hill of roots and moss. "One was enough... With the ring that's left, we may be able to find a way off this planet. At the very least, it will protect us from the Bixbite. Should they choose to hunt us as a pack, I doubt our weapons will ward them off for long. There were dozens of them lurking in the woods the last time I visited."
Slade led them to a massive cliff wall covered in vines. Amongst the vines was the dark shape of a cave's mouth.
"What if one of those things lives in there?" Robin asked. He frowned at the trees. The forest seemed to grow darker and closer every minute.
"There isn't." Slade held aside the curtain of vines and peered along with Robin and Alfred into the cave's darkness. It was small, but all three of them would easily fit.
"Trapping ourselves in here may be akin to packing the Bixbite a sack lunch," Alfred said. "Perhaps we should keep moving towards the temple?"
"No," Robin said. "You're barely keeping up. You need to rest a little." Still speaking to Alfred, Robin shot Slade a hard look. "I'm sure if you'd known you were getting kidnapped, you would have worn something other than dress shoes."
Slade ignored the barbed comment. "The old man is right. We can move faster without him."
Robin's eyes narrowed. "I'm not leaving him. And if you hurt him again, I'll never forgive you."
"Your assumption that I would care is almost adorable," Slade said dryly. "Get in the cave. The creatures still pursue something else... Animals... Or perhaps other unlucky survivors on this planet. We can afford a break. For now."
Slade and Alfred bent to avoid hitting the cave's low ceiling as they moved to sit on opposites sides. Robin sat by Alfred. The slanted wall was cold against his soaked costume. Only Slade's handheld device provided any light in the darkness, casting their features in a faint, blue glow. The narrow space of the cave had them seated so close their shoes almost touched.
Robin knew it was too dangerous to start a fire or do anything useful towards drying their clothes. Across from him, Slade's attention was on the device. Robin watched him a few minutes before asking:
"Slade, why are you doing this?"
Slade's blue eye flicked up to meet his gaze. Slade glanced at Alfred before focusing on Robin again. "You need a reminder?"
"I need the truth." Robin shook his head. "And don't say it's because I'd make a great 'apprentice'. This," Robin gestured with both hands to imply their situation, "has to be about something more than passing down your skills to some apprentice you deem worthy. You said at LexCorp we'd talk about this seriously. Now is as good a time as any. I want to know the truth, Slade. Why me? I just want to know why you're going through all this effort. I don't want any mind games. I just want the truth."
Slade watched him with an intensity that made Robin uneasy. "Have I ever lied to you?"
"You've deceived me, but you haven't lied," Robin admitted. "You just let me believe what I wanted to think was true."
"Truth always comes with a price." Slade took a deep breath and broke their gaze a moment, glancing at his device before meeting Robin's eyes again. "Are you sure you're ready to pay it?"
Robin leaned forward; his face barely visible in the cave's darkness. "We're in the middle of space somewhere stuck on a planet with horrible monsters I'm not sure we can defeat. There's no guarantee we'll reach the temple or the weapons inside. The truth is, we might not be alive this time tomorrow. This might be my only chance to find out why it's come to this. I want to know why you've been stalking me, Slade, and for how long. And, I want to know why you're so dead set on me being your stupid apprentice when it's obvious I don't want the job, and you could easily find someone else who's way less trouble."
"It would be wise to wait until we're in the safety of the temple."
"We're not guaranteed the next ten minutes," Robin said. "Just tell me the truth."
Slade thought for a moment, then asked, "What have they told you about my past?"
Robin shared a look with Alfred before saying, "I know you were in the army, but you left at some point to become a mercenary and... eventually an assassin. And that you left your family."
"Close enough," Slade said. "I joined the army when I was your age, but this story takes place much later… less than a year after I married."
"To Adeline," Robin remembered.
Adeline Kane, according to Batman's file, had been Slade Wilson's commanding officer. Robin knew that they had two sons, Grant and Joseph. Robin had learned from Slade that Grant was Red X and that Slade had just found out about a third child that Adeline had hidden from him, a girl named Rose. Hijack had found out that Adeline was going to have Slade and Rose meet in person on Christmas Eve. That had been the catalyst, it seemed, for Hijack's betrayal and annihilation of them all.
"Adeline," Slade confirmed; the subtle grief in his tone not lost on his audience. "We'd only been married for six months when she decided we needed to take a vacation from each other. ...So she accepted an assignment in Alaska and changed her phone number."
Robin arched an eyebrow. "Adeline dumped you after only six months?"
Ignoring him, Slade continued. "In the meantime, I got bored and joined a search and rescue mission in Eastern Europe."
The woods were an overgrown mess of trees and thick brush that ran alongside a small mountain range. Slade drove a truck he'd rented along the uneven dirt road that wove through the old forest.
"Tell me the truth, Slade." William Wintergreen grinned from the passenger side. "Why'd she kick you out?"
Like Slade, Wintergreen was dressed for travel and combat, wearing dark forest colors and survival gear strapped to his back and waist. A rifle hung from its long strap over his shoulder and rested against his knee. He was an older man with white hair and a moustache. His eyes were blue.
Slade scoffed. "Who can ever know what's in that woman's head."
"Well, I'm glad you agreed to join me. We should be upon Black Louie and his crew any minute."
"Fifteen thousand to bring a little girl stateside seems ridiculous." Slade scratched the back of his blonde head as he kept his eyes on the winding road. "Even for a princess."
Wintergreen agreed. "Considering her father was eighth in line for a throne that doesn't even exist now, one does have to wonder. Princess Neary... Ten-years-old and already got a massacred family and a bounty on her head."
"Price of royalty, I suppose," Slade said without empathy or malice.
Soon they found Black Louie's crew waiting inside a white jeep with a camouflage net strapped over its roof. Black Louie slid out of the front passenger seat—a beefy, red-headed man with a thick moustache. He carried a rifle. Three other men made up his crew. Louie took a map from one of them as he approached Slade and Wintergreen, both of who were out of the truck and waiting to greet him.
"Wilson! Wintergreen! Glad you're on board."
Louie slapped the unfurled map against their truck. He drew a red circle around a big, wooded area. "The princess should be hiding in an old Roma community somewhere around here. We need to find her before the death squad hunting her beats us to it. They're the same ones that took out Samson's group. I paid Samson and his crew to sneak the girl over to relatives in Thailand. For some reason, they trafficked her all the hell way up here instead. Samson survived long enough to contact and fill me in on the location. He felt pretty confident the Roma would keep the princess safe and secret until more of us showed up to escort her out."
Wintergreen took off his hat and pressed it to his chest. "I knew Samson. He was tough and smart."
"He didn't know what was coming for him," Louie said with bitterness. "The death squad has around twenty people. I don't know who sent them, but they're led by Jeremy Tell. He's a metafreak mercenary with a pretty freaky parlor trick. You'll know him by the playing card tattoos he's got all over his body. If you see him, shoot him in the head. The princess has a rich aunt in the States who's footing the bill now. We just need to get her home to auntie, and then we can all have a good payday."
"Later in this misadventure, I discovered Princess Neary was a metahuman," Slade told Robin and Alfred. "She possess the power to turn ordinary rocks into precious gemstones. I suppose that's why they were all after her. ...It explains Tell, at any rate."
"I've heard of Jeremy Tell," Robin said. "Kid Flash told me about him a while back. He's that gross card trick guy. Doesn't he peel them right off his body?"
Slade nodded in the dim light of his device. "Be glad you'll never have to see such a disgusting trick."
It took a few hours to find what remained of the Roma settlement. Every building had been lit on fire and reduced to smoldering debris. Near the houses, Slade and the others found bodies of men, women, and children of all ages. Most had died from the fires or were else riddled with bullets, but several bore evidence of a much more gruesome death. Slade knelt alongside one of these corpses to observe the playing cards embedded partway through the young woman's head. Blood streaked from the base of the cards down the contours of her smooth face.
"Now that's just disgusting," Louie said, standing beside Slade with his gun ready. "Most of the folks were in their houses and died trying to get out. I'm thinking this attack came late at night."
Wintergreen scanned the scene of death and destruction with grim eyes. "But it doesn't make sense. In doing this, they risked killing the princess."
"They must have already had her," Slade said, standing, "or else knew she wasn't here."
A child coughed to the their left.
The men spun towards the sound.
A little girl, probably five, panicked and fled from her hiding spot behind a partially burned car. Seeing that they'd spotted her, she scurried with a cry towards the safety of the trees.
"Wait, little one!" Wintergreen called. He hurried after her, rushing not far into the forest to find the girl clinging to two other, slightly older girls. All of the kids were in their pajamas. They screamed at the sight of him.
"Leave them alone!" a woman ordered.
Slade, Louie, and the rest of his crew caught up just as the woman stepped out from behind a tree, aiming a rifle at Wintergreen. She had long, black hair and brown eyes. The girls ran and hid behind her. The smallest one cried silently while clinging to the woman's tattered, sky blue night dress.
Wintergreen held up his hands. "We're not here to hurt you or the children. We were sent to help the princess. I'm sorry about what's happened. Are there any other survivors?"
The woman passed her skeptical glance among the men. "How do I know you're not working for that monster and his goons?"
Slade met her gaze. "We're just here for Princess Neary. Your people promised to protect her. We need to know if she's among those children you've managed to keep alive, or if Tell and his men have captured her."
The woman hesitated, but tightened her grip on the rifle. "Why should we trust you? How can I know you're not working for those murderers?"
"You're alive, aren't you?" Slade asked in a dry tone. "Do you really think you'd be able to kill us before we got to you? You're not even holding that weapon correctly. I doubt you've ever held a gun before... Much less killed with one."
The woman's dark eyes widened a fraction.
Wintergreen stepped closer with his hands still raised. "Ignore him. He's just likes scaring people. Listen to me instead. Samson, the man who trusted your community with Neary's life, was a good friend of mine. He called us here to finish rescuing little Neary."
The woman hesitated again. "Samson... He really was your friend?"
Wintergreen gave her a sad smile. "He was. I'm William, and this mean bastard is Slade, but he's not here to hurt you. These others won't hurt you, either. What's your name, Miss? You don't sound like you're from here."
She swallowed and licked her lips.
Having help arrive after a night of such horror probably felt too good to be true.
She considered them a final time before lowering her gun. "My name is Lili. Neary is here. I was in charge of her when it all happened. I got her and these two other girls out of the village. We waited until morning to come back to see if anyone survived. I didn't know where to go. I'm not from here. I'm from Star City. I'm just visiting. My brother and I... we were just visiting relatives... We didn't expect all of this..."
Tears slipped down her face. She wiped them away as if they irritated her.
"We're here to escort Neary to the United States," Louie said. "She's been granted asylum with her aunt there. We can take you and the other kids, too, if you promise to keep up."
Slade's blue eyes scrutinized the three cowering children. All were dressed and appeared much the same. If one of them was the princess, she blended right in. The only difference was that two of them were older children. Slade pegged the older girls to be around nine or ten, which was the right age for Neary.
"When Neary first showed up," Lili said, "she came out of the woods by herself with blood on her clothes. She was exhausted. Dehydrated. A group searched for her family, but they just found a campsite full of dead men dressed like you, and Samson. Those murderers showed up looking for Neary not long after. Everyone swore they'd never seen her. Nobody gave her up."
Lili smiled with a mixture of sadness and pride. Her smile faltered when she continued. "They stole some hostages and threatened to kill them if we didn't hand Neary over the next morning. But they came back last night and started setting houses on fire and killing everyone but the children. I think they've been watching us. They knew which houses had children. I saw them taking the girls and throwing them in vans. They went south, deeper into the woods."
"How many hostages do you think they have?" Wintergreen asked; concern adding more wrinkles to his forehead.
"They took three adults the first time they came. The community's leader and two other men that tried to make them leave. Last night it was chaos. I don't know how many children they grabbed. I don't want to think about what they're doing to figure out if any of those kids are Neary, but it gives me hope that maybe the three adults they kidnapped are still alive. They'd need the adults to identify her, right?"
Slade waved off a mosquito. "The hostages are probably all dead."
"No." Lili shook her head. "They can't be. We have to at least make sure. What if those men are hurting them?"
"It's not our job," Slade told her. "We were sent for the girl. You're lucky there's so few of you. Too many, and none of you would be allowed to tag along."
"How could you say that?" Angry tears pricked at Lili's eyes. "How could you say we're lucky? Didn't you see what happened?"
Louie sighed. "Unfortunately, Slade's right. It's nothing personal, Miss. Lili. Those people are a lost cause. We'd be risking our lives, and Neary's, probably for nothing."
Louie gestured at the girls. "Speaking of, which one is her highness?"
But Lili kept on. "But there are children! They may not be royalty, but they're not trash either."
She strode forward and grabbed Slade's forearm; not caring about the danger she saw in his blue eyes. "Please, we can't abandon them. No one else is going to help. Not the police. Not this government. They don't care about us. But you could at least try. Or give me some of your weapons. I'll sneak up on them, shoot the bastards, and save the others myself. I know I can do it, but I need more firepower. This rifle only has two bullets left."
"You'll just give them another hostage," Slade told her, unmoved by the desperation in her dark eyes. "Soon enough, Tell will realize he doesn't have what he came for. The hostages will be executed, and he'll resume hunting for Neary just in case there's a chance the girl is still within his reach. Tell will kill all of you unless you take this opportunity to escape."
"They have my brother," Lili confessed; searching his eyes for any spark of empathy. "His name is John. Please, I can't leave him behind. It's my fault he's even here. We're Americans, but I wanted to get to know our relatives here. I talked him into coming. It's my fault he's in danger."
Slade studied her.
Her eyes weren't just brown, but had flecks of green.
They were very beautiful.
In them, he could see that she wasn't just a dumb girl who'd bumbled her way into surviving a night of terror. Her gaze spoke of a woman who was compassionate and brave.
Softer, he said, "We weren't hired to save every lost lamb encountered. We're leaving. You can come with us or choose to stay."
Lili let go of him with a frustrated huff and turned away. It took her a moment to reign in her emotions. Then she straightened her back.
"Neary!" she called.
The tallest of the three children broke from their huddle to walk over.
Lili faced Slade again as she placed a comforting arm around the girl's slim shoulders.
Neary reached up and held Lili's hand.
"Here she is," Lili said. "Thank you for saving her and the other children. I'll rescue John and the others on my own."
The girl, Neary, watched Slade as if he were a monster fresh from the closet.
Lili kissed her on the forehead. She told the other children to be safe, and shot Slade a final glare before stomping off into the woods, heading south in her nightdress.
Slade watched her go.
He almost laughed.
The woman wasn't even wearing shoes.
Right away the three girls began crying. Neary debated running after Lili rather continuing on with a bunch of strange men, but fortunately, Louie succeeded in calming them all down.
All the while, Slade kept his eyes on Lili's retreating form. Her sky blue dress was easy to pick out amongst the trees. She was heading back to the village, perhaps to "borrow" shoes and weapons from the dead. That would be the sensible thing for a woman in her situation to do.
Then again. Perhaps she didn't have any sense.
The woman had, after all, just turned down a miraculous rescue opportunity to run off in her night gown armed with two bullets and a gun she clearly had never used.
"Imagine having a brother that's actually worth throwing away your life for," Slade muttered to himself.
Overhearing, Wintergreen smirked. "Is it just because she's pretty, or does the prospect of divorce have you feeling reckless? You're going to help her, aren't you?"
Louie looked at Slade to see if it were true.
Slade met his surprised gaze. "Don't wait for me. I'll make my own way home."
"I'll come with you," Wintergreen offered.
"No." Slade was already leaving them. "Escort the princess. This shouldn't take long. This mission was turning out to be too easy anyway..."
Wintergreen called after him, "And what if the old ball and chain changes her mind and puts out the word for you?"
Slade paused. Without turning back, he said, "She won't. Adeline doesn't believe in apologies, and honestly, I'm not ready to figure out what the hell is wrong with her yet."
"She's probably busy shooting things and pretending they're you." Wintergreen laughed.
"Who knows." Slade continued on.
"Well, in that case, have fun rescuing the damsel's brother. And try not to get shot!"
"To cut a long, long story short," Slade said to Robin and Alfred as they listened across from him in the cave, "the whole affair ended up being a blood bath. I did, however, manage to save Lili and her brother. The other hostages weren't so lucky. Tell slaughtered all of them by the end of it; even his own men. It took about two weeks of hiding and fighting for us to escape Tell."
"How?" Robin asked.
"I shot him in the head," Slade replied. "If he survived, he's managed to stay well off my radar."
"Oh..." Robin shifted uncomfortably against the cold stone. He scratched the back of his head. "Great story, but what does it have to do with me?"
"Patience." Slade checked his device before continuing. "After we returned to the United States, I eventually reconciled with Adeline. She was pregnant with Grant. Apparently, the whole separation had been her way of deciding whether or not she should even keep the child. ...As for Lili, I kept in some contact with her and her brother. After all we went through with Tell, I counted them as friends. Lili ran a brothel in Star City, and she had an open door policy for the wounded who weren't welcome at the local hospitals. She saved my life on more than one occasion. A night came when she called and asked for me to come to her deathbed."
Robin was still trying to wrap his brain around the idea of Slade having friends outside of villains like Two-Face or Penguin. He frowned. "She died?"
"From poison called Serpent's Gold. There is no antidote." Slade's shadowy form shifted. "When I arrived, she was minutes from dying. Her brother and his family were there."
John stood just inside and to the left of the bedroom door with his blond, petite wife, Mary. She held a very young child. Slade and John exchanged a quick nod in greeting.
Lili smiled as Slade took the chair pulled up to her bedside. The sweat covering her forehead and the dark circles under her eyes did nothing to diminish her beauty.
"You came..." Lili hands were clutching the blanket at her sides. "I'm so relieved. I had to tell you about the baby... This brothel isn't a place for babies..."
Her dark eyes lost their focus for a moment. Regaining clarity, Lili cleared her throat and met Slade with a serious expression. "Mary and John always took care of him for me. The baby, I mean."
Slade's brow furrowed.
Baby?
What did that matter?
She was dying.
Perhaps the poison had already gotten to her mind.
"He's your son, idiot," Lili added.
Slade looked at the couple again.
In Mary's arms wasn't a baby, but a dark-haired, blue-eyed toddler—probably two based on his size.
Slade's shocked brain did some mental math.
Definitely two.
To Lili, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
She laughed, though the sound could have been confused for a painful grimace. "What would a man like you do with a baby? ...He was safer with John and the circus..."
"I had a right to know." Slade looked at the child again and did not miss the way Mary tightened her grip around the boy, or the slight half-step John took to put himself between them and the assassin kneeling by his sister's deathbed. Though he'd spoken to him, Slade had not seen John even once in the two years since they'd first met in Europe. He appeared to have finally grown some muscle as an acrobat.
Slade met Lili's gaze again. Her breathing became hitched. Her eyes were red from illness.
"Adeline probably would have drowned the kid anyway," Slade told her.
Lili laughed again; wincing at the pain it caused her. "That's not… true… You never described her as that kind of person."
Slade took Lili's hand. "I'll kill whoever did this to you, and I won't be kind. I'll find them," he promised.
Lili's pained smile returned. Fresh tears came to her eyes. "I know."
"What's the boy's name?"
"Richard." She closed her eyes and shuddered as pain ran through her body. She then gave her brother a desperate look. "John, I love you. And Mary... thank you."
John stepped forward. "It's not too late. We should call an ambulance."
"Yes," Mary agreed. "Please."
"No." Lili shook her head vehemently. "It's okay. I feel tired more than anything. And it wouldn't do any good..."
She focused on Slade, swallowing hard. "Now that you're here, and you know the truth, I'm done fighting it... You're right. You had the right to know. I'm sorry I kept it secret… It wasn't fair."
"Perhaps not..." Slade agreed as she closed her eyes. "...but it was right."
"I told John to keep you," Slade said to the stunned boy sitting across from him. "It seemed a better life. Of course, then came the night Tony Zucco murdered John and his wife. You were around seven."
"I know how old I was," Robin said, the words tumbling out. "I remember everything from that night." He has to be lying.
"By the time I learned about it, you were already Bruce Wayne's ward. I almost stepped into your life then, but considering Wayne's resources and, as I came quickly to find out, his nighttime activities, I again saw no reason to intervene. Zucco fled to Dakota City. He never left."
"You killed Tony Zucco?" He's lying.
"I happened to like John Grayson," Slade replied. "He didn't deserve death at the hands of some third-rate hustler. Just as your half-siblings didn't deserve to die at the hands of an idiot like Hijack."
"Grant and Rose…" Robin wondered what either of them looked like. He wondered if they looked anything like him. "...You never told me the other one's name. Your other son that Hijack killed." It doesn't matter because it isn't true.
"Joseph. You knew him as Jericho." Slade scoffed quietly. "An honorary Titan, of all things…"
Robin looked at his gloved hands as if they held the answers to all the questions flying through his mind. "I... recognize the name…"
He helped us defeat the Brain…
He would have been at the Tower… at the party Beast Boy threw to thank everyone…
He was there, and I can't even remember him.
"He was your younger half-brother," Slade added.
"He was a blonde, curly-haired boy," Alfred supplied to Robin. Alfred cleared his throat to make his own voice more steady. "Hijack recorded each murder, including his attempts at murdering you, Sir. Batman and I identified Jericho as one of his victims, though we had yet to tell the Titans, having witnessed their reaction to young Terra's death."
Robin shook his head and turned a challenging scowl on Slade. "If any of this is true, why didn't you just tell me everything in the beginning when you first showed up in Jump?"
"You would have never believed me." Slade studied Robin carefully. "Besides, telling you the truth then would have done more harm than good."
Robin raked a hand through his damp hair. "So, instead you decided to introduce yourself by sending a giant, magical fire monster to destroy the city?"
"Considering all of the metahumans and aliens around, I figured the monster would be defeated," Slade replied with nonchalance. "Anyway, if it isn't obvious to you by now, dear boy, I could care less about Jump City."
Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask. "Right. Of course. Why just talk to me when threatening to destroy the things I care about makes so much more sense?"
"I was testing you. Believe me, before Hijack set about slaughtering our family, I held no intentions of ever telling you that you're my son."
"I'm not your son!" Robin snapped.
"Like it or not, you are," Slade's tone sharpening as his patience with the subject waned. "Lying to yourself will probably just lead to a mental disorder. You might as well accept the truth for what it is."
"A total sociopath has no business lecturing anyone about mental disorders." Robin got up to exit the cave. "I need to think. Can I walk ten feet away without you torturing Alfred? Are those things nearby?"
"It's still safe, but don't go far," Slade warned. He watched him go, listening to make sure Robin didn't charge off.
Satisfied, Slade faced the dark shape of the butler.
"He handled that suspiciously well," Slade said, more to himself than Alfred. "Perhaps the boy has suspected all along…"
In a heated whisper, Alfred said, "He has no choice but to handle it well! You've put him in a position where even a well-deserved outburst could get us all killed."
Slade suppressed his irritation by checking his handheld device. It showed none of the creatures near their vicinity. Four of the monsters were chasing another small group of dots to the east. Slade wondered if the people the monsters chased were native to the planet or if more mercenaries had come down from space.
Alfred's voice was tired. "You should have told him everything the moment you intervened in Hijack's pursuit of him. We could have all worked together to bring your half-brother to justice. You could have accomplished your goals without causing such death and misery."
Slade scoffed. "Even if I hadn't further involved Gotham, we both know Batman and the Titans would have turned against me the moment Hijack was no longer a threat. I would have been forced to terminate at least half if not all of them, and then a relationship with the boy would be completely out of my control."
"Relationships based on control and manipulation cannot hope to succeed," Alfred insisted. "You have no faith in him. It's a pity you've chosen to strip him of his supports and allies to serve your own needs rather than be a mentor. Robin would not have believed you at first, but after taking time to investigate your claims, he may have given them serious thought. Instead, you've kidnapped him and threatened to kill his friends. And now you've gone far beyond with every choice—culminating in dragging him to this forsaken deathtrap of a planet. Enough is enough. You must end this and take responsibility for your crimes. If you know a way to get us out of this mess, act on it."
Slade listened, hearing movement, and recognized with relief that it was only Robin pacing outside.
To Alfred, he said, "As I said, when he first left Gotham, I had no intention of ever telling Robin the truth. Clearly, his training with the Dark Knight had peaked. The best solution was to make him my apprentice and finish the job myself. It really is a shame I didn't find him before he forged a bond with the Titans. The Hand of Fate had other plans, I suppose…"
Robin ducked back into the cave, picking the conversation right back up as if he hadn't just spent minutes outside brooding.
"Assuming you're not lying, did Grant know about me? Did any of them?"
Slade considered the question. "Possibly. Adeline did."
"And Hijack?" Robin asked.
Hijack was my uncle.
The thought made Robin nauseous.
Slade smirked. "Knowing he'd failed to kill you, once he knew who you truly were, hurt him far worse than any of the physical pain he suffered before I killed him."
"Great," Robin said. "I want to talk to Alfred."
Slade, for whatever reason, decided not to provoke him.
"Be ready to move," Slade said as he left.
Robin sat next to Alfred with a big sigh. In the cave's darkness they were two shadows barely visible.
"Alfred, he has to be lying."
"We must entertain the possibility that he isn't," Alfred countered, a reluctant voice in the dark. "It would explain a lot. There is also the fact that when you became Master Bruce's ward, there was no legal proof of your existence. No social security card or birth certificate. Of course, much of this was remedied by lawyers."
Robin raked both sets of gloved fingers back through his damp hair. "I did have an Aunt Lili, but she died when I was little. I only know about her from a few stories my Dad told me. It makes sense. But it doesn't. It's too crazy. I don't know what to think. He claims I had these half-siblings I never knew, and now I'll never know them. ...Actually, I did meet Grant and Jericho, but it's not the same… Did they know about me? Did they all just agree not to tell me? If Red X knew, why didn't he say something? And I just can't think of my parents as Aunt Mary and Uncle John, Alfred, they're my parents."
"Of course they are." Alfred's hand rested against his arm in support. "They are the people who raised you until their deaths, and I seriously doubt they loved you as anything other than their only son—just as Master Bruce loves you, and I have loved you as nothing less than a grandson. This new information about your past does not change who you are. If anything, you have learned that your birthmother was brave and kind, and that she loved you enough to let others raise you in a safer, more stable environment than she could provide."
"So, you do believe him..." Robin glanced towards the cave's entrance. "He could be lying. This could be a test to see how gullible we are."
"It is quite the story," Alfred agreed. "Fortunately, we both happen to know the world's greatest detective. The veracity of Deathstroke's claims can be checked once we've made it home."
"Cyborg would be able tell if he's lying. And if Raven were here, she could just read his mind and then we'd know without a doubt."
Robin's chest tightened at the thought of his friends. What would they think about Slade's claims? If it turned out to be true, what would it change?
In his mind, Robin pictured them: Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg.
What would it change? he pictured himself asking the team.
Nothing, they assured.
But perhaps that was wishful thinking.
"Alfred, do you think Bruce would believe him?"
Alfred cleared his throat again in a poor attempt to hide his initial reaction to the thought of Batman learning such information. "I believe he would gather more evidence and then decide. It would not change his course of action regarding Deathstroke, however; the man belongs in Blackgate for his innumerable crimes not only against Gotham but Jump City as well."
"I don't think Blackgate can hold someone like him," Robin said.
"It can't," Slade confirmed, overhearing them as he approached the mouth of the cave.
Robin looked to him, a shadowy figure outlined by starlight. "Slade—"
"We've spent enough time here," Slade said. "Right now, the only thing that matters is getting to that temple. You can't confirm the truth if you're dead, boy."
"If my friends were here," Robin said, "we'd stand a better chance."
Slade didn't respond as Robin and Alfred emerged from the cave, careful to keep their footsteps silent.
"Wait." Robin grabbed Slade's arm. He met his gaze. "Slade, did you bring us here on purpose?"
Before Slade could answer, Robin looked away with a frown.
"No… That's too vague…" Robin thought a second more before looking up at Slade again. "I meant—Did you plan on landing on this planet whether or not some random ship attacked?"
Slade did not hesitate. "Yes."
Even though he'd suspected, Robin couldn't hold back his shock. "Why?"
"To survive..." The corner of Slade's mouth turned up in a smirk. "...my boy."
Robin scowled.
"It's the only way," Slade added. "You know the truth now. Whether you accept it or not, we can't stay here. The Bixbite are less than a mile from our position, and they seem to know we're here. They just began a direct path for us."
"Which way is the temple?" Robin asked with a voice like stone.
Slade pointed north.
"Come on, Alfred," Robin said; refusing to look at Slade again as he began walking north.
Epilogue
Sharp twig snaps and low, guttural noises echoed after as Slade, Alfred, and Robin move wordlessly through the forest. The large trees and tangled roots crisscrossing the ground made the path treacherous. They'd been walking for hours.
Robin glanced at Alfred. It was obvious he needed to rest again, but the butler didn't complain about the pace. Stopping again wasn't possible anyway.
According to Slade's handheld device, six of the creatures now tracked them.
Once the flash discs ran out, Robin couldn't predict how effective their other weapons might prove against the Bixbite.
The forest floor grew steep with thick layers of moss that helped even the ground. They climbed up the rising hill until they reached a wide ledge that overlooked more of the forest hundreds of feet below. The treetops spread out like a vast, dark sea. In the distance, Robin made out a dark shape that differed from the boulders and cliffs jutting up from the trees. It had to be the Temple of Azar.
"There's a footpath over there." Slade gestured to a narrow path that zigzagged down the side of the sheer cliffside they stood upon. "It's dangerous, but also the fastest way I see down. Come on."
Robin looked up at the stars. Alfred glanced at him before following his gaze.
Alfred smiled wearily at them, or perhaps at a memory.
Robin's confusion and anger had settled during their long trek through the woods. He wasn't sure if he believed Slade, and perhaps it didn't matter. What mattered was getting home. He'd decided to just not think about it. Surviving was more important.
Slade started down the footpath.
Before following him, Robin faced Alfred and forced a determined smile. "I know this seems bad, Alfred, but we're going to get through this. Starfire… Raven... Cyborg, Beast Boy… Bruce… I know they're out there. And I know we'll see them again."
-The End
1) Louie/his crew and Sweet Lili are reimagined from the Deathstroke the Terminator comics. The timeline of Slade's past was reimagined for the sake of this story (e.g., Slade not being a metahuman when he meets Lili). Jeremy Tell/Double Down is borrowed from The Flash comics.
2) Thank you for reading and especially for the follows, PMs, favs, fan-art, and reviews. I'll probably keep going back and editing this story to make it better and find grammar mistakes.
3) The next story will be Gotham Holiday: A White Door. I hope that you enjoyed this story and will check out the next one. I'm also writing a mini-prequel called Hand of Fate that fleshes out Slade's misadventures with Lili, John, and Tell.