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Wally ran through the streets of Washington, going so fast that any possible bystanders wouldn't have even seen a yellow blur as he passed them. At times, he forced himself to slow down so that he could truly look at his surroundings. However, there was no sign of his best friend. Dick was just, gone. So was Deathstroke.
After he, and the rest of the Team, realized that Deathstroke had disappeared and had taken Robin, they called the Justice League. Within minutes, Superman, Batman and the Flash met up with them and demanded to know what happened. To say they were unhappy with what occurred would be an understatement. But thankfully, they decided to hold off on yelling and punishing them until they found Dick.
It had been a few hours now though and there was still no sign of either the young hero or the murderer. Finishing his search, Wally headed back to the alley where his teammates were to meet up when they finished their own searches. And like always, Wally was the last to arrive.
"Any sign?" Artemis asked out loud as Wally joined them.
"None. They're just gone." Wally answered, sounding a mix of confused and fearful. He just didn't understand how Deathstroke could've gotten away so fast, especially with Dick. After all, Wally and Conner weren't gone that long before they found the rest of their team on the ground and realized that Robin was missing.
"Why would Deathstroke even take Robin?" M'gann questioned. "He was gunning for the senator."
"Leverage maybe?" Conner suggested with a shrug. He couldn't think of any other reason why the assassin would abduct the young hero.
"Where is the senator?" Kaldur changed the subject, reminded of the man they were charged with protecting by M'gann's question.
"Safe with the police." Wally responded, to which Conner nodded.
Honestly, Wally had no clue if the senator was still there or not. Since discovering that Dick was missing, his sole focus had been finding the acrobat. They knew that the politician was most likely still alive and was safe. They didn't have that reassurance with Dick.
"Does Batman have any theories?" The Martian wondered, looking Kaldur and Wally. As the team leader
"No clue. He's still out there looking." The redhead speedster answered as he turned his gaze back to the streets. He had just spent two hours running all around the city, but he still wanted to go back out and look for his best friend.
"Has he or Flash or Superman found anything?" Artemis chimed in curiously, hoping that maybe the more experienced heroes would have located and saved their missing team member by now.
"As far as we know, they have not." Kaldur informed her with a regretful tone.
"If they haven't found anything yet, I don't think they will. Especially Superman." Conner told them. As much as they all didn't want to believe that, they knew it was the truth. With his x-ray vision and hearing, Superman would probably have been the one to find Robin. If he hadn't yet, then Robin was most likely nowhere nearby. And Deathstroke probably wouldn't be stupid enough to stick around with Batman's protégé.
"You know, if we don't find Robin soon, Batman's going to kill us." Artemis suddenly realized, her eyes widening in fear. The others all tensed up, knowing that the blonde archer was right.
"I'm a little more worried about Robin than us right now." Wally responded. Though he did agree with Artemis's words, he didn't care much about that at the moment. He knew deep down that Batman wouldn't actually kill them, but he had no assurance that Deathstroke wouldn't kill Dick. He might've already killed him and left his body in a sewer or something which is why they haven't been able to find him yet.
Suddenly, a figure in red appeared beside him. Everyone turned to face him as Wally asked his uncle, "Did you find him?"
"No, not yet. Batman wanted me to tell you all to head back to the Mountain. He wants to discuss everything that happened." The Flash informed them sadly.
"We're so dead." Artemis mumbled, already hearing Batman yelling at them in her head. Though they didn't know much about Robin and Batman, they all knew the two were close, close enough that it was strongly believed they were actually father and son, and that Batman was extremely protective over his young partner. Now, they lost him and were going to be yelled at instead of being able to continue looking for him.
"Let us know if you find him?" Kaldur requested, looking up at the original speedster with pleading eyes.
"Of course." The Flash immediately agreed.
With that, the remaining team members started making their way to the zeta tubes to head back to the Mountain, hoping that wherever Robin was, that he was okay and would be found soon.
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Dick came to very slowly, his head pounding. His limbs felt heavy and his brain was foggy. Classic signs of being drugged. And the added throbbing in the back of his skull, just above his neck, made him think he was also knocked out with a blow to the head. Due to his training with Bruce and his many experiences being kidnapped as both Robin and Dick Grayson, he was very familiar with being knocked out due to drugs and blunt force. It was really annoying, especially since both versions also messed with his memories a little. Not sure where he was or who had taken him, he kept his eyes closed and continued to pretend to be unconscious, not wanting to let his captor, or captors, know that he was up just yet.
Using all of his senses besides his eyes, he tried to figure out where he was. He could feel that he was sitting on a hard, metal chair. There was something that felt like wire wrapped his wrists, keeping them down on the arms of the chair. They were also around his ankles, keeping him secured to the chair. That was annoying. He knew how to escape from rope, zip-ties and handcuffs, but wire and duct tape was extremely hard to get free from.
That was all he could get. He couldn't hear anyone and the only thing he could smell was dust, and some kind of chemical. The only thing left was to open his eyes and actually see his surroundings, but he didn't. He wanted to wait until he was able to remember what had happened. Plus, if he waited, maybe his captor would come and he could find some stuff out that his captor wouldn't want him to know.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, the memories came back. Him and his teammates tasked with protecting Senator Roberts. A bomb going off on the fire escape. Deathstroke showing up. After that, everything was kind of hazy. He was sure that he fought the assassin, and had a dim recollection of being surrounded by smoke, but that was it.
"I know you are awake." A deep, male voice said. Dick sighed and opened his eyes, not seeing any point in pretending when he was already found out.
Opening his eyes, Dick glanced around the room, ignoring his captor for a minute. The room was dark, and a little chilly. There was only two lights and for some reason, instead of giving off a yellow glow, it was red. It was creepy. Then he noticed the door several feet in front of him. It was the only door, only kind of exit he could see at all. Above it, the red words 'EXIT' glowed as well. Then, his eyes had no choice but on his captor who was standing only about five feet away. He was still wearing his Deathstroke uniform with his sword strapped to his back, but his helmet was gone. That wasn't a good sign.
"Where are we?" Dick questioned, eyes focusing on Slade's face. He had white hair and beard, both cut short. What was the most surprising though, was the eyepatch over his right eye.
"Somewhere no one will find you." Slade answered confidently.
"Why am I here?" Dick the wondered, looking over himself quickly before focusing again on the assassin. He was glad to see he was still mostly in his Robin uniform, though he was missing his gloves, boots and belt. He could also feel that his mask was still on which was good. It meant that Slade didn't know his secret identity.
"I wasn't originally planning on bringing you here." Slade informed him, grabbing a chair from where it was sitting against the wall to the side. He dragged it until it was a few feet in front of Dick, flipped it around and sat down, resting his arms along the top of the chair's back. "I was just going to complete my contract, which I will do soon, but when you and your little team stopped me the first time, you intrigued me."
"What?" Dick questioned, confused by what the killer was saying.
"You see Robin, I do work for the Light. They pay very well, but I do have my own career apart from them. A career that will eventually need someone to take over." Slade continued, tilting his head a little to the side.
"Excuse me?" Dick couldn't help but say, growing nervous and shocked by what Deathstroke was implying.
"I want you Robin, to learn to take over my career and legacy." Slade told him straight.
Dick scoffed that before shaking his head. "That's not going to happen."
"You should be flattered. There are several people who would jump at this opportunity." Slade said, sounding almost as though he was actually surprised that Dick would say 'no'.
"Then go ask one of them. I am not interested." Dick snapped, his hands twisting in their binds, trying to loosen them.
"You will be." Slade insisted casually, not appearing bothered at all by Dick's words or his struggles to get free.
"No, I won't." Dick hissed. "I'll never work for you, or be like you. Ever."
Slade stared at him silently for minute, then stood up and said, "Tell you what. I'll cut the wires on one of your hands and let you cut yourself free. If you manage to beat me and get out of here, you're free to leave. I won't chase you."
"And if I lose?" The young hero questioned, not stupid enough to believe that there wouldn't be consequences if he failed.
"Then you're stuck here." Slade told him with a shrug.
Dick was quiet for a moment as he thought about the offer. He knew that escaping wouldn't be as easy as Slade was making it sound, and that he was still somewhat injured so it would extremely difficult to fight the assassin head on, but the offer was tempting. He was small and fast. It made hiding and sneaking around fairly easy. He could probably get out, especially since the exit was right behind Slade. And what other options did he have?
So he looked back up at Slade and said, "You're on."
With a smirk, Slade walked over to him and pulled a small knife out of his belt. Dick instinctively tensed at the sight of the weapon, but forced himself to stay still as the killer reached him. Still smirking, Slade cut through the wires tying down Dick's right wrist, then dropped it on the boy's lap before taking about ten steps backwards. Using his now free hand and the knife, Dick cut off the rest of his restraints and stood up.
Slade stared at him, but didn't make a move and neither did Dick. He clutched the knife in his hand tightly and watched as Slade slowly pulled out his sword. A knife against a sword wasn't a fight that Dick wanted to be in, especially now. He would have to get in close quarters in order to do any real damage to his captor, but Slade didn't have that disadvantage with his larger weapon. And with his injuries, it would be easy for Slade to knock him down if he got that close. Still, a small weapon was better than none. So, with a tight grip on the knife, Dick charged.
Deathstroke let him get close before he stepped to the side and threw his sword out, trying to catch Dick in the back. Sensing that he was going to do that, Dick quickly rushed out of the way. However, he was still fairly close to Slade. Without a second thought, he stabbed the knife into Slade's leg and started running for the door.
He barely took two steps before he felt a hand grab his hair on the back of his head and yank him back. As he fell to the ground, landing on his back, the hand let go. Dick immediately turned so he was on his stomach and tried to get back to his feet, but then a foot slammed into his back and pushed him back down. He tried to push himself up again, yet was stopped when Slade grabbed his arm and twisted it up against his back, crouching down so he was basically hovering over his hostage.
"Nice try kid." Slade said as Dick struggled underneath him. He pushed his arm harder into the boy's back, causing him to hiss in pain, then leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "But you're mine."