Disclaimer – I own nothing.

AN – Hey everyone! I'm back! So this is the prequel of Wings of the Night and is about Slade trying to make Dick his apprentice. Warning you all right now, this is probably going to be my darkest story yet. I guess it would have to be since Slade is involved. If I could, I'd label this story high T for how badly I'm going to torture Dick, but not only can I not do that because of the way the rating system on this site works, but I'm not sure yet how graphic I'm going to get. I will be posting warnings on any chapters that have it though just in case no one wants to read that. I hope you all like this story and chapter!

Enjoy!

As Dick approached the phone booth near the alley in Gotham, he quickly examined his surroundings. The last thing he needed was someone seeing Dick Grayson, adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, walking into a phone booth and disappearing in a flash of light. When he saw that he was completely alone, he walked inside and punched in his code. The zeta tube immediately lit up and transported him to Mount Justice. To his team. The automated voice announced his arrival and as the light vanished, Dick found himself in the Mountain. Wally was also there, dressed in civilian attire, apparently waiting for him.

"Rob!" Wally exclaimed when he saw him and ran over to him. Not at his top speed, thankfully.

"Hey man." Dick said with a smile as they hugged. When he pulled away, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing much. M'gann's making cookies with Conner. Roy is using the computers to track down the real Roy Harper." Wally answered. He kept his arm around Dick's shoulders and started leading him into the Mountain.

"Didn't he already follow every lead he was able to find?" Dick questioned, furrowing his brows. For the last several months, Roy had either been out searching or using the computer in the Mountain or the Watchtower to look for new leads.

"Yup. That's why he's looking again." Wally told him.

"What are the odds that he's even still alive?" Dick wondered as Wally dropped his arm.

"Probably not that good." Kid Flash replied.

It had been almost a year since the Light had invaded the Watchtower. For the most part, the heroes had all recovered from it. However, they still didn't know what happened to Batman, Superman, Hawkwoman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman during those 16 hours or what happened to the real Roy Harper. Roy and Oliver had immediately put together a timetable to figure out when exactly the real Roy and clone Roy had been switched and started their search from there. As much as they tried, every lead they found was coming up empty. It was starting to look like the real Roy was dead.

Dick, and everyone else, felt horrible for what the Arrows were going through. To find out that the boy you raised wasn't the boy that you took in and that he was still in enemy hands. Or dead. And to find out you were actually a clone, created to replace someone to infiltrate the people who were your friends. They could only imagine what that felt like. Everyone did their best to be there for them, but it was getting harder as more time passed. Dick quickly brushed those thoughts off though the moment he and Wally entered the kitchen and saw M'gann checking on something in the oven.

"Hi Robin." M'gann greeted the young hero, looking up from the oven.

"Hi M'gann. Smells good in here." Dick commented with a smile before looking over the room. Conner was standing at the counter wearing an apron and seemed to be mixing something in a bowl, which made Dick grin. M'gann had been trying to teach him how to bake the last few weeks which usually ended up in a mess. Kaldur and Artemis were both sitting at the table, the former looking over some files and the later reading what appeared to be a magazine. Besides Kaldur, they were all in their civilian clothes.

"Thanks. They are almost done." She informed him. Dick grinned and was about to say something when he noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Zatanna?"

Artemis looked up from her magazine and said, "She's on a special mission with Dr. Fate to hunt down Klarion. Rocket went with her."

"Oh." Dick tried not to sound disappointed but he clearly didn't succeed because Wally scoffed. "What? Are we not fun enough without your girlfriend?"

"If you came and saw Artemis wasn't here, wouldn't you ask?" Dick questioned, turning back to face him.

"Point taken." Wally conceded.

Not long after the Watchtower was infiltrated, Dick and Zatanna started dating. Well, sort of. They would hang out together and would kiss, but they never managed to go on a real date. She, and most of the Team still did not know his real identity. Only Roy and Wally had that privilege despite how long they had all been working together and how much Dick trusted them. It made his relationship with Zatanna very difficult.

"I'm going to go check on Roy." Dick informed the others, then made his way out of the room and down the hall towards the monitor room. He didn't really expect Wally to follow him but he did. Probably wanted to check on the archer as well. Despite the fact that he was a clone, they had all grown up together. The two younger heroes still considered him one of their best friends.

"Hey Roy, how's it going?" Dick asked as he entered the monitor room to find Roy sitting in front of the large computer, his back to them.

"What?" Roy snapped back with a frustrated tone. Dick almost took a step back. The Red Arrow was clearly in a mood, but he was still his friend and wanted to make sure he was doing alright and offer to help in any way that he could. Wally however, stayed outside near the doorway.

"I asked how's it going?" Dick repeated, coming to stand by Roy's chair.

"Useless. I can't find any new lead." Roy answered, still not even bothering to look at Dick. The younger hero grabbed the back of a nearby chair, intending to sit down as he asked, "Want some help?"

"No, I'm fine." Roy responded, causing Dick to freeze before he could sit down.

"You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure." Roy practically shouted, slamming his fist on the table. Dick instinctively back away, a little scared that the archer would punch him or something. A year ago, he'd never ever think that Roy would lay a hand on him, he was practically his big brother, but his temper had definitely gotten worse ever since he learned that not only was he the mole and was being controlled by the Light, but that he was also a clone.

Not wanting to bug him, Dick said, "Okay," and walked back towards the door where Wally was waiting. As soon he joined him, the two headed down the hall back to the kitchen.

"He's been cranky to everyone lately." Wally told him, then paused as he thought about his words before he said, "Well, crankier."

Chuckling, Dick said, "No kidding. Come on. Let's go get some of M'gann's cookies."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Wally responded excitedly, moving a little faster, clearly anxious for food. After only a few steps though, he glanced over his shoulder and asked, "Should we save some for him?"

"Yeah, we'll bring them to him later. Maybe by then he'll be in a better mood." Dick said. At the very least, Roy needed to eat. The older redhead had been overworking himself to the point that he'd sometimes forget to eat.

"We've been waiting for that for almost two years. I'm now convinced he's going to be a sulky teenager for the rest of his life." Wally informed him.

"Maybe, but at least he's not as childish as you still are." Dick replied and started laughing as Wally threw him a mock-insulted look as he brought up his hand to his chest and said, "Dick, you hurt me."

"Shhhh." Dick quickly shushed him, smacking his arm for good measure before looking around to see if there was anyone nearby who might've overheard.

"Sorry." Wally said sheepishly, rubbing his arm. Usually he was pretty good at making sure he never called Batman's partner by his real name, as he was one of the few superheroes who knew it, but every now and then he slipped and had to be reminded. "When is Batman going to let you tell the team about your identity?"

"I have no idea." Dick answered, turning his attention back to his best friend when he saw that there was no one around.

The matter of his secret identities was a conversation that he and Bruce had had many times since they started the Team. No matter what happened or what Dick said, Bruce refused to let him. Even when Dick and Zatanna started 'dating'. He tried to convince his adopted father to let him at least tell his girlfriend, but no. Bruce even brought up his current 'relationship' with Catwoman as proof that they didn't need to know their secret identities. And when Dick pointed out that his relationship with the thief wasn't really healthy, Bruce told him to shut up and that his answer was final. It was beyond frustrating.

"Come on." Wally said, throwing his arm around Dick's shoulders again. "Let's get to the kitchen before the others eat all the cookies."

YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ

Dick sat quietly in the front seat of the Batmobile as Bruce drove them towards the Manor. After they had left the Mountain, they did a quick patrol but found that it was slow night and decided to go home.

"You're quiet." Bruce observed, pulling Dick from his thoughts.

"Just thinking." Dick answered.

"About?" Bruce prodded, causing Dick tense, wondering if he should actually tell him. If he did, he was probably going to start a fight. However, if he stayed silent, Bruce would start worrying or something and sic Alfred on him and that was sometimes worse.

"I want to tell the rest of the team my civilian identity." Dick revealed and tried not to react at how Bruce clenched his jaw and both of his fists.

"No."

"Bruce,"

"We've talked about this Dick. The answer remains the same." Bruce cut him off, using his 'Batman' voice.

"Wally and Roy already know and it hasn't been a problem." Dick pointed out.

"That we know of." Bruce responded. "We still don't know yet what Roy all did when he was under the Light's control. He could've told them who you really are."

"You might've too when you and the other members of the League were being controlled." Dick replied with a smirk. Bruce tensed even more than he already was, making Dick start to feel just a tiny bit guilty. He knew how much his adoptive father was still worrying about those missing 16 hours even though it had been almost a year since it happened. But if Bruce was going to pull the old 'being controlled argument', then Dick was allowed to as well.

"Dick, I said no and that's final." Bruce growled, refusing to meet Dick's eyes.

The young teen frowned angrily, but ceased his arguing. He knew the older vigilante would never change his mind unless he was proven wrong. He didn't actually give Dick permission to tell Wally and Roy. Dick just did it, and got an hour-long lecture and two weeks of being banned from patrol for his trouble. If he went ahead and told the others without permission, he'd be in even worse trouble. No, he had to wait for an opportunity where Bruce would let it slide, which might not ever happen, especially if Bruce had his way.

Turning back to look out the window, Dick resisted the urge to groan and scoff. It wasn't fair. Besides Barbara, the Team were the closest friends he had and they didn't even know who he really was. Not even Zatanna. It was hard and annoying never being able to be truly honest with them. It wasn't fair.

AN – So, random question. There was this story on this site that I apparently read on this site that I took a picture of in 2019 because I loved the quote used in the beginning, but now I want to read the story, but the picture I took didn't include the story's title and my phone history doesn't go back that far. The chapter title was called 'Terror in the Night', and apparently includes Dick's brothers and the quote at the beginning was "When you're drowning you don't say, 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come help me.' You just scream." By John Lennon. Any chance any of you guys know it? Just thought I'd ask.

Updates will be twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Hope you all liked this chapter! See you next time!