EDIT: thank you Winter Cicada, who pointed out that I had put Slade's eyepatch on the wrong side. He couldn't see a thing, the poor dear... ;)

Happy b-day Rainyhart! Well… will be on the 1'st of August, but, as with the last drabble, I'm posting it the day before because I'm working tomorrow… ;) It IS the b-day of SLadinForever, though, so a shout out to her as well if she's back to reading my stuff... ;)

So, I promised Rainyhart a b-day drabble months ago… She, after all, introduced me to "Slady-kins" and I have a lot of fun reading the transcripts from those conversations that she has posted on dA and also conversing with "him" myself… (I'm talking about an "intelligent" conversation program called "cleverbot" which can be found on cleverbot (dot)com… You can converse with this program, and if you, like we have done, pretend that you are talking to Slade, it can be absolutely hilarious… well… if you are a bit twisted in the head, and we are… for example, Slade seems convinced that he is actually a girl, sometimes named "Tiffany"…)

Well, so I made the promise, but, as she said "my birthday isn't for a long time". "Well," I said, "tell me what you want when it's getting closer". And then I forgot about it.

Then, the other day, I saw a message on dA. She asked for something Black Sheep, which I couldn't deliver, since I'm still thinking about a possible future for that universe and didn't want to eff things up in it, so she got back to me with another wish.

"Pirates" she said. "And oh, my b-day is in three days".

I blanked out.

All I could think of was that Titan's Tail's comic I made where Red X tells a good night story about pirates… and chicken… I think… and I couldn't do anything with that, of course!

But, the next day, on the train to work, everything cleared and, at work that day, I wrote it.

It's not that long, but it has pirates!

Freestanding story

Completely AU

OOC-ness is to be expected.

Shiver Me Timbers!

"Lord Grayson! Pirates!"

The young lord looked up sharply and then turned his head into the direction the deckhand was pointing. His blue eyes narrowed as he focused on the flag. Each pirate had his or her own design, and this, a black, one-eyed skull on orange background, he knew very well. They all did.

"It's Deathstroke!" someone yelled and a wave of panic spread through the crew.

"Please excuse me, but is this man… bad?"

Lord Grayson turned to a young redheaded beauty, a princess from the rich Tamaranian Islands, and nodded.

"I'm afraid so, your highness. You and your lady-in-waiting should hurry below deck." His eyes shifted to the other woman, the quiet one with the eyes that seemed to see right through your soul. She nodded and put a hand on her lady's arm.

"Captain, is this true? Are we in danger?" the Tamaranian asked, turning to a taller, bulkier man behind the young lord.

"Aye," the man said. Captain Stone's skin was dark, he had lost a leg and a rather bad scar was marring the left side of his face, which had made him wear an odd half mask in public. His strength, however, was evident, and his knowledge about his ship and how to handle her was the reason he was entrusted with not only the royalty, but the lord as well, when the parties needed to cross these treacherous waters. "Do not worry, though, your highness. Just go below deck and let the men deal with it."

Grayson saw the Princess's hands clench for a moment and met her Lady-in-waiting's eyes with a small grin. He knew that, in their culture, many of the women fought as well as the men did, but he also knew that the lady was trying very hard to learn the rules of this society and to fit in to it. Purple eyes glittered back at him in understanding, and then the women disappeared below deck out of range of stray bullets, if not danger.

"He has the wind on his side, we can't outrun him without changing the rigging, and there's no time," the captain said curtly.

"Is… is it true he kills everyone who fights?" Garfield, the young cabin-boy stuttered, shivering like a frightened animal.

"Aye. Although many say that if the crew gives up, they, and sometimes the ship, will be spared."

"It's true," Lord Grayson nodded, and, when he noted a curious look from the captain, he shrugged. "That's what I've heard, anyway…"

"Well, I'm a fighter, my Lord, and we have young ladies on board," Stone said. "Although their souls might be doomed either way. What say you?"

"I'm merely a passenger, Captain, but I am by no means a coward," Grayson said firmly. He could see the healthy eye of the captain scrutinizing his slender frame and rather short stature and come to his own conclusions about how much aid the nobleman would be in a fight, but he choose to ignore it, especially since the man seemed to think he would only last for a few minutes. At most. "However," he continued, "my guardian Lord Wayne sent me out to study these miscreants, and it would do no good if I am killed this early on. If this Deathstroke-fellow follows his own rules, as I have heard he does, we should have nothing to fear."

"But the young ladies!"

"I will speak to the pirate. I'm sure he is a gentleman at heart and wouldn't let anything befall them," the lord said firmly.

The captain sighed at the young lord's nativity, but there was really nothing he could do, as Deathstroke's ship was closing in quickly.

"I will raise the white flag, then, and announce our surrender to the crew."

"Good man," Lord Grayson said, his eyes on the pirate-ship.

Captain Stone sighed again. The lord seemed almost eager, but, Stone figured, he was sure Deathstroke the Pirate would deal with that eagerness and, hopefully, whip some sense into the lad. A few weeks of being marooned on an island, waiting for help, might also do the trick.

The flag was raised, the crew ordered not to fire or raise weapons and a tense waiting set in. The wait wasn't long, however, before the pirate-ship drew up beside them.

"Prepared to be boarded!" a young redheaded man, the first mate by the looks of it, yelled and soon the ships were secured together side by side.

The lord couldn't hold back a gasp as he saw the pirate captain himself standing perfectly secure on the railing of the heaving ship. He was dressed pretty much like the lord himself, in a white shirt and cravat, with tight trousers and high boots. Where the young lord's outfit was pristine and worn flawlessly, however, the pirate's shirt was half undone, the arms rolled up, and nor the shirt or the cravat could have seen an flat iron in a long time. Still, there was nothing comical about the man, whose long, white hair was whipping in the wind where it had come free from a sloppy pony-tail. The chest, arms and legs were bulging with muscle, and his right eye was covered by a black eye patch. The other one, though, was as cold as the ocean depths, and Grayson shivered as it seemed to settle on him and only him. The lord unconsciously felt the back of his neck where his own black hair was neatly secured with a velvet bow. He also had a frock coat in dark red, something that the pirate lacked. This wasn't a 'best dressed' competition, however, and the lord's heart was beating hard.

Soon enough, without much drama, their crew were gathered and closely guarded by the stern of the ship, while the captain, the lord and the ladies, who had been found below deck, were taken to the bow.

"Ladies… gentlemen…" Deathstroke nodded amiably. "I'm so happy to be doing business with you today…"

"Just tell us what you want, pirate!" Captain Stone spat.

"Of course captain… no need to get rude. At this moment my men are going through your cargo. It should be no surprise to you that we will take what we want from it. Afterwards we will take you and this ship to a very nice island where there's fresh water, and leave you with the supply you will need for a few weeks. Your ship, of course, will be anchored out of reach. I'll send a pigeon, my quickest one, I guarantee you, to my home port, and my lads there will make sure that you are soon rescued. All your lives, and your ship, Captain, will be spared… for the low prize of some cargo… oh, and a night or two with the lovely young ladies."

"No!" Lord Grayson stepped forward bravely. "Take our cargo, but you will not lay your hands on the ladies!"

"And who might you be, little boy?" the pirate smirked down on the young man.

"I am Lord Grayson, and I have sworn to protect these women at all cost!"

"Ah, but it gets so lonely out at sea…" the captain smirked. "And one tires of dirty cabin-boys after a while, does one not, Captain?"

To the young lord's surprise Captain Stone's face turned into an unhealthy, red color. Nooo…? Surely not?

"However," the pirate continued, "as you said 'at all costs'… how would you like to be my little cabin-boy, my lord? A nobility for a nobility, I'm not a fussy man…"

"Do you swear that no harm will befall the ladies?" Grayson asked firmly, his back ramrod straight.

"My lord, you can't-" the captain gasped.

"Oh, I am sure Captain Deathstroke is only jesting. Men of his trade are prone to rude jokes and innuendoes, I have heard," Lord Grayson snorted. " We are both men, after all, I am sure nothing unbecoming will occur. If it will save the ladies, I will gladly play his servant for the night. I'll even provide a bottle from my own wine-selection to pour for him if he so wishes."

The captain stared at the young man. He knew Grayson was naïve, but was he full-out stupid as well? No wonder his guardian has sent him out to sea!

"My lord, I assure you that he's-"

"Enough talking," Deathstroke interrupted. "If you accept my demands I suggest we withdraw to my cabin, young Lord Grayson, to… discuss the details…"

"I'd be happy to, Captain Deathstroke," the lord nodded and followed the man, surprisingly nimbly for a noble-man, over to the pirate-ship.

The door to the captain's cabin closed behind the lord with a decisive thud, and then the lock clicked as the key was turned. Grayson, although his heart was still beating wildly, tried not to show any signs of nervousness as he walked further into the room, studying the desk with charts on it, the rather extravagant dinner table and the built in wide bunk.

He then turned around to face the pirate. There was a short pause.

"Robin."

"Slade!" the young noble flew into the pirate's arms and kissed him passionately. "I've missed you so much!"

"You have to tell me your route more often, then…" the man smirked.

"Ah, old Bruce has kept me busy with paper-work for two months! He decided that my obsession with pirates was suddenly 'unhealthy'."

"Maybe he doesn't buy your 'quest for revenge' anymore?" Deathstroke chuckled.

"After this trip, maybe he will… maybe you could give me a scar or something?"

"And mar this beautiful skin?" the man complained, already busy unbuttoning the younger man's shirt.

The lord chuckled but then hesitated a bit, grasping the man's shoulders.

"The ladies will really be safe, I assume?"

"As safe as they want to be," the man assured him with a leer.

"Slade!"

"Oh, you remember, I think, how you struggled when we first met… a situation very much like this, as I recall… I had to bind your hands until I could convince you that you liked it…"

"Don't remind me… I'm still ashamed that I let myself be seduced by a lowly pirate…" the lord mumbled.

"And for this you have hunted me ever since… you have gotten quite good at falling into my hands, my little cabin-boy…"

"Mmm…. I like your hands…" the 'cabin-boy' grinned. "Use them well, and I'll tell you where the princesses' jewelry is hidden…"

"Why not tell me at once?"

"Well, that comment about other cabin-boys did not please me…" the young lord said haughtily. "And to pick the ladies over me! I'm insulted!"

"Aw, you know I only did it to throw any suspicion off you, little scallywag," the man chuckled.

"The captain thinks I'm as intelligent as a dead cod, he wouldn't suspect me of anything…"

"Well, let's not waste our time talking about women and fish, as similar as they might be," the pirate suggested. "I have a new kind of oil for us to try."

"Yes, please…" Grayson answered with a big smile. "Just… do that thing? Just once?"

"No."

"Oh, please, Slade!"

"No self-respecting pirate would ever-"

"Pleeeeease?"

"Fine. 'Arrr! Shiver me timbers!'" the man growled.

The young lord giggled happily and then started to unbutton the man's trousers.

"Yes… yes, I will…"

The End

A/N: and I cut off before the smut again… but, come on, would a long smut-scene have fitted here? Nooo... so close your eyes and imagine it. GO on! I know you know how!