Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To wolfclaw1098 – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you're liking it! I hope you like this chapter too!
To Denial – Thanks for your review! Yeah, I'm a sucker for Dick angst stories too, even though it pains me. Batman and the Team won't be coming in for a little while yet, but they are coming. Hope you like this chapter!
Enjoy!
Dick was starting to get bored, and really worried. He had no idea how long he had been a prisoner, but he was sure it had been a few weeks now. And yet, he hadn't been able to escape yet. Almost every day now, Slade would bring him 'breakfast', give him time to eat, then bring him back to that room to train. When they were done, Slade would bring him back to his cell, chain his ankle and leave him alone with nothing to do. So far, the deal that if he was able to get out of the building he'd be free remained, but he failed every single time. And when he failed, he was beaten up again. Some of his injuries were starting to heal, but not as well as they would be if he had actual time to fully recover.
The only break in this routine was the day after Slade had whipped him. He had whipped him until Dick lost his voice from screaming and nearly passed out. Slade then gave him a sedative and when he woke up, he was back in his cell, lying on his stomach on his mattress with his back bandaged. As badly as the whipping hurt, according to his captor, the wounds weren't bad enough that they needed to be stitched up. For the whole next day, Slade left him alone. He only came in to deliver food, which Dick barely ate.
Though Slade only gave him 'breakfast' and 'supper', Dick didn't eat that much. His appetite had been shrinking almost daily now and while he knew that he needed to eat, he just couldn't bring himself to. He didn't know if it was because he was constantly in pain or if he was getting depressed, but he didn't really care. What he wanted to know, was where was Batman? Where was his team? Why haven't they found him yet?
Dick wasn't sure how much longer he could keep doing this. He wasn't anyway closer to agreeing to be Deathstroke's apprentice, but the constant fighting and the beating he'd get afterwards when he failed was getting to him. It was so strange to him. He had been beaten and tortured way worse than this but there was something different about Slade. The assassin was more, methodical. And there were times he tried to be sympathetic and gentle with him. Dick knew that he was just trying to manipulate and brainwash him, but he'd be lying if it wasn't starting to have an effect on him. He missed Bruce, and Alfred, and his friends. And during the few times Slade tried to comfort him, he had a hard time pulling away. Of course, the fact that Slade would try to get him to address him as 'Master', quickly reminded him of what he was trying to do. At times, Dick thought about actually doing that just to get Slade to stop and leave him alone, but that was what Slade wanted and he couldn't do that.
Suddenly, Dick heard footsteps walking towards the door to cell. Slade was coming, and he wasn't going to be happy when he saw that his captive hadn't finished the food he was provided with this morning. Over the last few days, Slade was starting to get annoyed when he saw that Dick wasn't eating as much as he should be, to the point of beginning to threaten him. Dick didn't want to be tortured, but he still couldn't bring himself to eat.
The sound of the lock being undone drew Dick's eyes to the door. Silently, Dick watched as the door opened and Slade entered the room. The older man was in his Deathstroke uniform but without his helmet, like always, allowing Dick to read his face. Of course, there wasn't that much to read. Slade's poker face could rival Batman's. When his eye landed on the half-full plate of plain scrambled eggs though, he frowned and stated, "Again, not eating much, are we?"
"Not that hungry." Dick mumbled, bringing his knees up to his chest defensively.
Slade nodded, an understanding expression coming upon his face as he walked to the middle of the room and said, "Pain does make people nauseous. However, you still need to eat. Need to keep up your strength, especially if you are still holding onto your delusions of escaping."
"I will escape." Dick insisted with a stronger and angrier tone of voice, glaring at the man over his knees.
"Then you need all the strength you can get." Slade replied as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Despite Slade's somewhat agreeing with Dick's possibility of escaping, the boy ignored that and scoffed. "If pain is why I don't have an appetite, then maybe you should stop torturing me."
"Or I could just force the food down your throat." Slade suggested, causing Dick to freeze.
He knew there were ways to get food into people's stomachs that didn't involve them actually putting the food in their mouth and chewing. After he had almost been killed by Two Face during his first year as Robin, he had had a tube down his nose in order to make sure he got the nutrients he needed until he recovered enough to eat himself. He was unconscious for most of it, but he did remember what it felt like and he hated it. And his uncle, who was in a nursing home due to the injuries from the fall that killed Dick's parents, aunt and cousin, had a tube in his stomach to help him eat. Dick couldn't imagine that being very comfortable either. He didn't even want to know what it would be like having a tube stuffed down his throat.
"Listen Richard." Slade started with a gentle voice as he walked closer to the boy and crouched down in front him. "I know that this is difficult for you, this process is never enjoyable, but you will soon see that it's for the best. I'm trying to help you."
"How the h*ll is torturing me helping me?" Dick demanded, still glaring at the man. Slade immediately frowned before giving him a quick, but not hard, slap across the face.
"Language boy." He warned before answering. "And it's teaching you what not to do, and helping you get stronger. Giving you more pain tolerance. The higher your pain tolerance, the more you can keep fighting. The higher chance you have of surviving."
"Only thing that I'm going to use that for is getting away from you." Dick told him, his voice just as resolute as it was on the first day of his captivity.
Slade couldn't deny that he was bit disappointed at how much the young teenager was fighting him. While there might be some people who think differently, he did not enjoy torturing people. Unless of course those people had gotten on his bad side. Then he had no problem being sadistic to them. This boy however, was not one of those people and still was, just a child. A child that did remind him a bit of his own two sons, before one passed and the other went with his mother that he no longer had contact with.
Of course he forced those thoughts away like he always did. He wanted Richard Grayson as his apprentice and to do that, he had to do a bit of breaking first before molding him into that. It was clear though that it was going to take longer and more effort than he wanted. That didn't matter though. All this resistance only showed how strong this boy was, and strength was definitely something he wanted in an heir. He was just going to have to push further.
Standing up, Slade said, "I'll be back soon. When I return, I expect that plate to be empty," then walked over to the door.
"Even if I don't escape Slade, Batman and my friends will find me." Dick added before Slade could leave the room, deliberately using his name to remind him that he wasn't his apprentice.
"It's been weeks now Richard. If they really wanted to find you, they would've by now." Slade responded, turning around to face the boy. He watched the fear and doubt begin to sink into his captive's eyes for a few seconds, then walked out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
Dick's heart started hammering in his chest. Slade was lying, right? Of course he was lying. His teammates cared about him and would obviously be searching for him. Unless of course they didn't actually like him and had been lying to him just to spare his feelings. No, no, they were friends. And Bruce and Alfred loved him. He knew that they would do anything they could to find him and bring him home. Though, they never did actually say that they love him. But Dick knew they did. And they would come as soon as they figured out where he was. He just had to be patient. They were coming.
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Slade waited a little over an hour before he went to check on his apprentice. He was already in a sour mood with the knowledge that the boy wasn't eating as much as he should be. Though starving someone was a good way of breaking them down, that would make this whole process take far longer. This way was allowing him to train the boy far more efficiently than if he was suffering from starvation. However, as he entered the cell again, it was clear that Richard had not taken another bite of his breakfast.
"That plate isn't empty." Slade growled, wondering if enough time had passed that Richard had become scared of his anger. He soon realized that he had not when the boy answered sarcastically, "I'm aware Captain Obvious."
"Well, if you refuse to eat the food I give you, then you don't eat all." He informed him, hoping the threat might be enough to make him eat. He might have threatened to tube feed him about an hour ago, but that was pretty invasive and would be a pain in the butt to do. He'd much rather intimidate the boy to eat than that. However, if the boy still refused, he would have no other choice in order to avoid malnourishment.
"Fine with me." Dick muttered.
Slade almost flinched at how emotionless and uncaring the boy sounded. The only little bit of feeling in there was some anger, but on the whole, it actually seemed like Richard truly didn't care if he starved or not. There was a chance he could be faking in order to see what kind of reaction he would get, but the former military sniper had a suspicion there was more to it than that. Had he actually given up hope of escaping or being rescued that he thought it would be better that he died instead of risk becoming an assassin? If so, that was an extreme reaction. Slade could see some heroes doing that, but from a boy so young? So impressionable still? If that was the case, then that was a bit unnerving and made Slade question if the boy could actually become his apprentice.
"Do you think you can starve your way out of this?" Slade questioned, letting his voice sound concerned and confused as he walked over to his captive's side, crouching down by him like he did before. "I don't see any other reason why you would do this?"
"Maybe I'm just not hungry." Dick replied, looking down at the ground. To his surprise, Slade actually brought up a hand and started running it through Dick's tangled, black hair.
"Oh Richard, I know it's been hard for you. And despite what you might think, I don't enjoy doing any of this, but your lessons with the Dark Knight have been ingrained too deep in you and you need to be re-taught." Slade gently explained, carefully working out that knots in the boy's hair. He could tell that as much as this unnerved Richard, a small part of him enjoyed it. Being touched was basic human need and so far, the child hero hadn't had any touch that didn't result in pain. Until now.
"No, I don't." Dick immediately denied, inwardly wondering why he wasn't pulling away from Slade's affection. He hated this man. Why was he suddenly letting him basically comfort him? Why was he finding himself hoping that he'd continue?
"Yes you do. Batman has been too soft with you." Slade objected. "I'm not all that surprised. You are young, were even younger when he first took you in and began your training. It's hard to train someone so young, so innocent, and teach them the harshness of the things they will face. Especially when you care for that child as though it were your own. But because of that, he was too gentle with you. You need to learn the tolerance, the ruthlessness it takes to survive this kind of life."
"You're acting like your life as Deathstroke is the same as his life as Batman. It's not. He fights criminals and brings them to justice. You just blindly do whatever someone pays you to do. And it's always criminals who hire you." Dick argued, now pulling his head away from Slade's hand.
"First off, I don't blindly do what I'm told to. I am very selective with the jobs I take. And I have actually gotten myself a well-paying position in a very exclusive and powerful organization. An organization that I think will be very interested in having you by their side." The older man responded.
"The Light?" At Slade's stunned expression, Dick smirked and continued, "That's right, I know things. And, wait they don't know about this?"
When he stayed silent, Dick started chuckling. "Oh Slade, you could be playing a dangerous game by calling so much unneeded attention to yourself. What would the Light say about you kidnapping Batman's partner?"
"They wouldn't say anything, because there hasn't been any attention." Slade finally spoke, smacking the boy on the back of the head. He then pulled out the key to the shackle on Dick's ankle and said, "Now get up and follow."
With an annoyed grunt, Dick got to his feet. He took a step forward and nearly collapsed. Due to all cuts and bruises he had now from his earlier fights with Slade, his limbs were weak. Slade put a hand on his shoulder and gripped it tightly before he gently pushed him forward, apparently aware of how weak he was. Dick purposely tripped once they were near the door though. As Slade leaned down to help him up, Dick brought up his elbow and slammed it into Slade's nose.
Unfortunately, Slade wasn't as affected by the move as Dick hoped. He didn't even take a single step before he felt a hand grab the back of his ripped-up uniform, right by the neck and was pulled back. Once he was close enough, Slade twisted him around and forced him to the ground. Lying on his stomach, he felt the other man pull his arm and dig his knee into his spine, effectively pinning him down.
Considering that he tried to escape every single time Slade brought him out of his cell, he knew that the assassin would be ready for it. Still, he kept trying. Dick also knew that repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results was a definition of insanity, but he didn't care. Insane or not, he had to. He had to fight to get free.
"Haven't you gotten tired this by now Richard?" Slade asked, sounding exasperated and annoyed as Dick struggled beneath him.
"I could ask you the same thing." Dick shot back. Slade sighed, but pulled him to his feet and continued leading him to the room with the exit.
As soon as they got there, Slade pushed him to his knees and came to stand in front of him, blocking the door. Dick quickly got back to his feet and grabbed the sword, his sword, that was leaning against that wall while Slade took his own sword out of its sheath across his back and said, "Alright right then. Let's see if you have actually learned anything."
Holding the sword tightly in one hand, Dick waited for Deathstroke to charge. Most of the time, he would charge first, his desperation clouding his judgement. It took a minute, but Slade rushed at him and they started fighting.
After so many spar sessions, Dick was able to fight back decently. Only because Slade was somewhat taking it easy on him. He supposed he should be grateful for that. With all of his injuries, there was no way he could take the man if he was going as hard as he could. The movements he was making now pulled at the wounds on his back. However, even if he was in top condition, Dick doubted he could actually beat him. As much as hard as he tried to fight, as much as he hoped, believed he would get free, inwardly he wasn't so sure anymore.
"You're being more cautious, good." Deathstroke complimented when they broke their swords away from each other after about five minutes of fighting. "Haste makes mistakes."
Dick growled, but resisted the urge to let his anger control him again. Instead, he swung his weapon at Slade's feet, forcing him backwards. Slade smirked, then came at him again, much faster than Dick was prepared for. Before he knew it, he was disarmed and had his back pressed against the wall. Right in front of him, stood Slade with his sword up against Dick's throat.
"I must admit, you are doing well considering your age and your condition. But you know you aren't getting out of here. Soon, you will be calling me 'Master'. You, belong, to, me." Slade told him, emphasizing his last sentence.
"I belong to no one. Especially not you." Dick hissed, then kicked his leg out hard, right in between Slade's legs.
That got a reaction out of him. Even with his enhancements, Dick had a feeling that a kick there would weaken any man. Slade bent down in pain, allowing the younger boy to punch him in the face and break away. Dick ran straight for the door, hope filling his chest with every step he took. Suddenly, he was right in front of it. Not wasting a moment, he opened the exit door and froze.
He wasn't sure what exactly to expect. He thought the door probably led to another hallway which would take him to another exit, though he was hoping it led straight outside. But it was neither. It… it was a closet. The door, despite having an exit sign above it, was to a closet. His one hope of freedom that he had, that he had been betting on for weeks, was gone. Just like that. His whole plan hinged on this door, and now it was all gone. Adding to his horror, Dick felt his eyes fill with tears as his heart sank down to his feet.
"Close, very close." Slade taunted, coming to stand behind Dick and placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you didn't think it was really going to be that easy, did you?"
"It doesn't matter Slade. Even if I don't get out of here. I'll never be your apprentice. I don't belong to you." Dick again insisted, not turning around so Slade couldn't see the few tears he couldn't hold back run down his cheeks.
Suddenly, Dick felt a needle puncture his neck before he heard Slade whisper, "We'll see about that."
AN – So, here's what I think about Slade. I've read some stories and I know there's a lot more out there where Slade is basically a sadist and a creep. While I can see how some people come to that conclusion and of course, as it being fanfiction, can do what they want, I don't really see Slade that way. While I do agree he's a villain and in most (all I think) versions is abusive, I don't really get the vibe that he actually enjoys torturing people, unless there's an actual reason. He's just a villain and knows it's basically the best way to manipulate and brainwash people, but he does have a heart, somewhat. At least when it comes to kids, hence his somewhat caring about Dick which I tried to show. Hope you guys liked this chapter! See you all next time!