Disclaimer – Own nothing!
To wolfclaw1098 – Thanks for your review! Yeah, that would be smart, but I was feeling very evil and Dick was feeling pretty done with Slade. Hope you like this chapter!
To Asilla – Thanks for your review! I do too so we both have the same problem lol! I hope you like this chapter!
To Guest – Thanks for your review! You find out the answer to that in this chapter. Hope you like it!
AN – Sorry about the lame title. I legit couldn't think of anything that won't give any kind of spoilers. Hope you guys liked this chapter though!
Edit* - Forgot to warn you guys that this is the second chapter that made me wonder if I needed to up the rating because Slade is more vicious. Let me know if you guys think I need to!
Enjoy!
Dick didn't think he was unconscious for long. When he woke up, he was still in the plane, tied to his seat. However, some time must've passed because all the lights in the plane were on, though it wasn't much, and Slade was in front of him. By the time he realized that the criminal was actually untying him from the seat, he had finished and threw him over his shoulder. The young hero tried to kick him, but in that position, along with realizing his feet were tied together with tape as well as his wrists, he could barely move.
Slade was silent as he carried him, and a large bag he grabbed that was sitting by the door, outside the plane. Freezing cold air hit Dick's skin fast and hard, causing him to start shivering. Turning his head around, the blue-eyed, raven-haired boy saw that the ground was covered in a thick layer of snow. It was also snowing all around them. Dick was beyond confused. It wasn't snowing in America. Not yet. Where the on earth were they?
Because he was draped over Slade's shoulder, he couldn't see where they were heading, but it must've been some building because over the loud wind, he was able to hear the sound of a rusty, metal door being opened. They went inside and Slade pulled him from his shoulder and threw him to the ground harshly.
For a few seconds, Dick thought he was going to black out from pain. He had landed on his side where his burn was, and he hit the floor so hard that he wondered if he dislocated his shoulder. As the pain started to die down though, he tried to examine his new surroundings. The room, no, building was small compared to the warehouse and seemed to be made entirely of metal. Besides the door they came in, there was only one other door and only two windows. There was an old-style, metal desk against one of the walls with nothing but an old toolbox and radio, while in the far-left corner of the room was a cot completely bare of sheets, blankets and pillows. In the center of the room, stood a metal beam that probably helped keep the roof from collapsing.
"Where are we? Antarctica?" Dick asked as he struggled to sit up.
"None of your business." Slade answered, locking the door to the metal shack. Near his feet sat the bag he had brought in. Dick wondered briefly what was in it but forced himself to stop. He had a sick feeling that he was going to find out soon enough.
"Considering you brought me here, wherever we are, I think I have the right to know." Dick pointed out. When Slade turned to face him, a calm expression on his face but anger burning in his eyes, he began to think he was going to regret egging him on. However, he wasn't going to stop. Not just yet anyways.
"Information is a privilege, apprentice." Slade told him as he grabbed a long chain link from the bag before coming to stand in front of him. He then reached down, grabbed Dick's arm and pulled him over to a metal pole. Pushing him against it, he started wrapping the chain around him and the pole. Dick tried to move even though he knew it wasn't going to work.
Not happy about that, Slade slapped him across the face and said, "Now shut up and quickly moving."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I kind of suck at being still and quiet. Batman has been trying for years to do that." Dick informed him as Slade finished tying him to the pole, pulling on the chain to tighten the loops around Dick's chest, making him gasp in pain as the metal links dug into his skin and ribcage, making it difficult to breathe.
"Maybe the problem is his methods." Slade suggested, using an old-style lock to secure the chain as tightly as he could. Once he finished that, he quickly untied Dick's wrists only to restrain them behind the pole as well.
"I suppose you could make that argument, but then that would mean he would have to be an abusive, sadistic jerk like you." The young hero responded while he glared at his captor.
"You've got a lot of confidence talking like that to an 'abusive, sadistic jerk'. Especially the one who owns you." Slade said, grabbing Dick's chin in a grip strong enough to leave bruises.
Despite the hold on his jaw, Dick hissed, "You don't own me. You might be my kidnapper, but you don't own me and you never will. Soon I'll be free and you'll be in prison."
"And here I hoped that you finally learned." Slade said with a disappointed tone of voice, letting go of Dick's chin as he stood up. "Guess we are just going to have to try again."
Batman's partner tried not to flinch at his kidnapper's implications. As much as everything Slade put him through sucked, he didn't fully outright torture him. Sure, when he was first taken he was beaten up a bit and went through at least two hours of having his senses taken away. But aside from that, and being branded obviously, all of his injuries were technically from sparring. They still hurt, but the idea of actively being tortured was something different. It was a person trying to hurt you as much as possible for a reason, whether it was to condition someone, extract information, or because the torturer was just sick. And after seeing how rough Slade had been on him without completely torturing him, he didn't want to know what he was going to do.
"Let's start with this." Slade broke the silence, pulling something out of his bag and turning around. Dick felt his heart start pounding at the sight of the lead pipe in his hand as the criminal stalked back over to him. "Acting out, leads to punishment."
Instead of using the pipe as a weapon like Dick's expected, Slade got down on his knees right by his bound legs, laid the pipe on the ground and started pulling up his pant legs, exposing the long limbs. He wasn't wearing any shoes or socks, hadn't been for a while. Slade had taken them off when he first kidnapped him. However, he had a feeling if he did, Slade would been taking them off too.
"What are you doing?" Dick asked, trying to keep his fear from revealing itself in his voice.
"Since you seem so determined to try and escape, I now have to make sure that you won't be able to." Slade replied, grabbed Dick's right ankle in both hands and snapped it to the side.
Dick's howl of pain overshadowed the loud cracking of his bones. His lungs quickly ran out of air, but could barely breathe. Everything inside of him wanted to keep screaming. It was at least a few minutes before the pain started numbing and he could finally catch his breath. Then, before he could actually open his eyes, having closed them only a second after the assassin broke his ankle, he felt something thwack into his left knee and heard another disgusting crack.
That time, he knew he briefly blacked out, after another pain-filled scream. He was grateful for that. Being in shock wasn't always a good thing, Dick dimly recalled, but it meant that he wasn't in as much agony as he otherwise would be. With his body slowly growing numb, Dick blinked his eyes open, only now noticing the tears running down his face and looked up at his captor.
"And for good measure." Slade added when he saw his future apprentice looking at him before moving back to Dick's feet. He dropped the pipe, crouched down like he did minutes earlier and grabbed three of his toes on his left ankle. He then slammed them back as hard as he could, breaking them easily.
The young teenager couldn't keep from whining in pain, his throat now far too sore to produce another scream. He barely felt Slade pat his leg but he definitely heard him say, "There we go. That should do it."
For a moment, Dick stared at his broken limbs. Even if he could get out of the restraints, there was no way he was walking out of here. Not with a broken ankle, broken knee and broken toes. And though he tried and actually seemed capable of it, Robin, Dick Grayson, couldn't fly. He was pulled from those thoughts though when he spotted Slade grabbing the pipe and standing up.
"What are you doing?" Dick whispered, unable to hide his fear this time.
"Did you not hear what I said?" Slade questioned, tilting his head to the side. Moving closer to him, Slade added, "Acting out leads to punishment, and you have been acting out a lot."
Without any warning, Slade slammed the pipe against Dick's ribs. Dick gasped in pain while at the same time, losing all oxygen in his lungs. He barely had time to take another breath before the pipe again hit him in the ribcage. And again, and again. With each strike, the teenager could feel his ribs fracturing, breaking in his torso. When the pipe landed on the brand mark, shock flooded his body and the pain receded into the background, again briefly blacking out.
Dick wasn't sure how many times Slade hit him with the weapon, having lost count when he went into shock, but he was glad of it as he slowly came back to awareness. He was still struggling to breathe, his lungs taking forever to re-expand fully from the blows. The pain was still hiding, which Dick was also glad for, but he knew it would soon return. Right now, Dick felt a bit like he was floating, along with being dizzy and nauseous. He hoped he wouldn't actually throw up. That would definitely cause the pain to come back in full force much faster. However, if his nausea did get the best of him, he hoped he threw up on Slade.
"Look at me Richard." Slade ordered with a gentle tone, grabbing Dick's chin again, but not as tightly as before, and turned his head so they were eye to eye again. Once they were face to face, he said, "Despite what you might think, I do not enjoy this."
"Could've fooled me." Dick responded, trying to sound sarcastic to hide the agony in his voice.
"I have found that pain is a very strong teacher, and you need to be taught." Slade informed him, letting his hand drop.
"Doesn't matter what you do to me Slade, I'm not going to be your apprentice." Dick told him, using any bit of courage and strength he had left.
"You have a very strong will, I'll give you that, but everyone breaks eventually." The older man said, standing up to his full height before heading back over to his bag. Grabbing a piece of rope, he walked back over to the boy. He didn't stop beside him like he did before though. He walked until he was behind the post his apprentice was tied to and got down on his knees. "You are in my care now Richard. You belong to me. I am in charge of you. I decide when and what you eat, what you are allowed and not allowed to do, to know. I even decide if you are allowed to breathe."
Suddenly, Dick saw the rope being brought in front of his neck and pulled back from both sides, acting like a garrote. As Dick struggled to breathe, Slade said, "You might not be following my orders just yet, but I am still in control of you."
Dick could feel the rope biting hard into his skin. Digging into his trachea. His blood started pulsing so bad that he could feel it in his ears. His heart pounded in his chest, lungs burning from lack of oxygen. Tears of pain welled up in his eyes, as if he hadn't cried enough yet. It hurt. It hurt so badly and he wanted it all to stop. He wanted to breathe.
"Do you want to breathe Richard?" Deathstroke asked in a hushed voice. "Do you?"
Yes, Dick desperately wanted to breathe. But he didn't want to break to Slade's will. Even though the only thing he had done before was call Slade 'Master', it still felt too much like giving in. The realization that his Dad and friends were coming, that they hadn't given up on him, fueled him with hope that he will be free. That he didn't have to break in order to survive this, but now he doubted it. Before he could force himself to come up with an answer, the rope loosened, allowing him to take a deep breath.
"There you are. You can breathe now." Slade actually managed to sound compassionate and caring, as though he wasn't the one choking him. It made Dick sick. Well, even more sick than he already felt.
"Not going to say 'thank you'?" The criminal questioned as Dick struggled to catch his breath.
Dick managed to lift his head and glare at him as he hissed, "You're a monster."
"I'm well aware of that. But I'm still in control of your life." Slade stated, moving back behind the pole and grabbed both ends of the rope again. This time when he pulled, he didn't pull as hard or as fast like he did before. Soon though, Dick could no longer breathe and the pain in his neck, head and chest returned.
"Stop, please." Dick choked out, tears again filling his eyes.
"Please?" The monster questioned. Dick squeezed his eyes shut, causing the tears to start running down his cheeks again. He knew what Slade wanted from him. He didn't want to do it but he wasn't sure if he can endure this much longer.
"Come on, you can say it. You've said it before." Slade pressured, leaning his head closer to the boy's ear. When the boy didn't respond, he pulled the rope tighter.
Dick's attempts to breathe grew weaker as he whispered, "Please."
Sighing in slight annoyance, Slade let the rope go slack again. He didn't want to cause any permanent damage or knock the boy out, not just yet. As his apprentice tried to catch his breath, he moved to the side so he could see Richard's face and said, "You are a stubborn one. It's very frustrating, but it will make breaking you all the more enjoyable."
"I'd rather die." Dick growled as much as he was capable of with his nearly ruined voice.
"I'm sure you would. But I'm not going to throw your life away just like that. Your life is far too valuable." Slade responded with a smile, patting the boy's cheek. He then moved back behind the post and grabbed the rope. "Now, shall we try again?"
More tears started flooding Dick's eyes at the mere thought of being strangled again. He was a little surprised that he had any tears left in his body. However, he stayed silent as the criminal grabbed both ends of the rope again and pulled it against his neck. Dick started choking almost instantly, his chest burning, begging for air. He was about to pass out when he distantly heard a loud explosion and a strong gust of air hit him.
Slade stared up in shock. The explosion, more of a blast really, destroyed the door to the building, creating a larger opening. In that opening stood six young heroes. Heroes that Slade recognized. Superboy, Miss Martian, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Artemis and Red Arrow, formerly known as Speedy. Questions swirled in his head. Where did they come from? How did they find them? How did they catch up to them so fast?
"Get your hands off him!" The clone of Superman shouted as his eyes took in what the mercenary was doing. Slade dropped the rope, unsheathed the sword strapped to his back and charged at the heroes, leaving his apprentice gasping for air and on the cusp of passing out.
Dick wasn't sure what was all going on. His sole focus was getting oxygen to his lungs, but suddenly, he felt hands on his face and a voice nearly identical to Wally's say, "Robin? Robbie? Look at me."
Blinking away the darkness threatening to overtake him, Dick's vision slowly cleared. As it did, he saw a redhead dressed in a bright yellow suit with a lighting emblem on his chest. The figure, Wally, seemed a little relieved when he looked at him, but then looked him over and mumbled, "What did he do to you?"
"K-KF?" Dick croaked, his brain finally realizing what was going on. His team, his friends had come for him. They finally found him.
"Right here." Wally said with a small grin that Dick couldn't help but return. His friends were really here. He could go home now. He would get away from Slade.
From the corner of his eye, Dick spotted another redhead, one dressed in a red uniform with a bow and quiver of arrows rushing over to them. Roy. He was also here, even though he wasn't part of the Team. He came to help, and Dick was glad.
As the archer crouched down beside the speedster, Roy asked, "How is he?"
"Bad. We need to get him out of here." Wally answered, barely glancing at the older teenager before his focus went back to Dick, who was closing his eyes. It looked like he was about to pass out.
"Hey, stay with me Rob." Wally begged, again tapping his best friend's cheeks, trying to keep him awake without hurting him. He was hurt enough as it was. Slade had been so cruel to him during the last several weeks. All because they couldn't find him sooner. Dick blinked up at him, exposing his crystal blue and red eyes. It was strange seeing him without a mask. He wondered how they were going to get him out of here without the Team seeing as they didn't know Robin's identity, but they couldn't worry about that now. Now, they had to get him out of here.
While Roy quickly rushed to stand behind the post, pulling out his lock picks to get the chains off Dick, he ordered the speedster, "Get his legs."
Wally looked down and saw the duct tape wrapped around the raven-haired boy's ankles. He glanced back up at his younger brother, worried about leaving his side even for just a second. Even just to untie his feet. Seeing that Dick was struggling to stay awake, Wally gave him a reassuring smile and reached for his feet. As soon as he got a clear look at them, he knew he was going to have to be careful. One of Dick's ankles was obviously broken and he didn't want to do anything that would hurt him, so as carefully, and quickly as he could, he untied him and rushed back to Dick's side. Using his superspeed, it only took about three seconds.
"I got it." Roy announced as he got the handcuffs around the young teenager's wrists off about two minutes later, having gotten the long chain-link tying Dick to the post off already.
Shaking Dick's shoulder, trying to get his attention again, Wally said, "Okay dude, I'm going to pick you up now. We're taking you home."
The younger hero slowly nodded, but he still didn't seem all that with it. Shaking from fear of causing him more harm, Wally brought an arm around Dick's shoulders and another under Dick's legs. Picking him up, Wally winced at the small, pain-filled groan that escaped Dick's lips but he held him close and turned to face the opening of the building that would lead them to the bioship. Roy hovered nearby, but with both of their focus on Dick, they didn't realize that his kidnapper had seen what they were doing. He managed to twist away from the other heroes attacking him, pulled out his handgun and pointed it at three about to make their escape.
"Watch out!" Artemis shouted right before Wally heard bullets flying near his head. He immediately ducked closer to the ground and held Dick tighter. If he used his superspeed, he could get out with his precious cargo in seconds, but with all the bullets flying at him from behind, there was a greater chance that he would get hit.
Roy was suddenly beside him, facing the assassin and started firing arrows at him, covering his best friends. As soon as he saw that their enemy was getting out of the crossfire, only for Superboy, Artemis, Miss Martian and Aqualad to again jump on him, the Red Arrow grabbed Kid Flash's arm and yelled, "Come on!"
Conner leapt on top of Deathstroke, bringing him down to the ground and disarming him of his gun in the process. He thought he might have him pinned, but Deathstroke was stronger than he thought he would and pushed him off before standing back up. Kaldur was suddenly right there, swinging his water-bearers at him. Deathstroke barely had time to lean back out of the way, but then Artemis was shooting an arrow near his head while M'gann used her telekinesis to throw the cot at him. While they were doing that, Conner checked back on Wally and Roy and Dick, and was grateful to see that they had gotten away.
"They got him! Let's move!" Conner announced through the mind-link so Deathstroke wouldn't hear, even though it was obvious from the way the criminal tried to get to the door that he already knew.
Deathstroke made to run to the door, but M'gann reached out with her mind to throw him into the far corner of the room as hard as she could. When he didn't get right back up, they all ran to the bioship. This wasn't a capture mission. It was a rescue mission, and now that they had gotten Robin out and to the ship, it was time to go.
The door was already open when they got there. Robin, Kid Flash and Red Arrow weren't in sight but they could hear them in the back where the little medbay was. Everyone ran to their seats as the door closed and the ship's engine started growing louder as it began the process of taking off. They needed to hurry because gunfire and mini explosions sounded right outside. Slade was still trying to stop them.
"Is Robin secured?" Kaldur questioned, looking over his shoulder in the direction of the medbay even though he couldn't see anything.
"Yeah, we got him!" Roy answered loudly so he could be heard over the blasts and the bioship's engine.
"Then let's get out of here." Conner said to his girlfriend, who nodded in agreement.
M'gann steered the ship higher into the air and further away. She could see from the monitors and screens that it was indeed Deathstroke firing at them and they needed to get out of his range. She went to pull the shield up, but found it was only at 20% strength. One of Deathstroke's shots must've hit it. The alien's heartbeat sped up at the realization. She didn't think he would have a weapon powerful enough to do that, especially in that little shack.
Willing the ship to go faster, M'gann tried to put the remaining shield power in the back of the ship. That was the area that would be hit if Deathstroke fired another shot at them. She also put it in camouflage mode so that the assassin wouldn't be able to them. Then he wouldn't be able to aim accurately. Only minutes later though, she heard another explosion, a warning alarm started blaring and ship shook uncontrollably.
"Oh no." M'gann mumbled as the ship started steering back to the ground.