Teen Titans – Side Stories and After – Snippets; Foxes Upon Foxes and Magical Girls Galore
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Continued: Page Turner; Knights of Bludhaven – Part One: Healing
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Waking to the smell of eggs and something, citrus…
Dick's eyes fluttered open as he didn't bother to withhold a groan. The painkiller had worn off. He did feel a pounding in his skull where the brick…
"Shit...What… Was –
He sat up and shouted. The biting sting from his stitched -up shoulder; that was enough to wake to, as he bit his tongue and tried to seethe through the agony. What had happened?? Was it just like….
He'd dreamed of a fall, a tall one. And he'd survived.
Slade Wilson's unmasked face peered from around the room by the kitchen flat's island. His false eye never waivered as this "Mr. Nurse" returned to Dick's side to see to his progress.
And, when did he need someone to hold his hand because of a few measly stitches? The older male tutted at his handiwork. A mess, how rude. Slade had patched dozens of soldiers up, even himself. He was a doctor of all things and yet had NEVER witnessed –
Well, this was Papa Grayson. He had a few soft spots as Gotham's former boy wonder.
Too much smiling like a clown, not enough preparing for the worst.
Slade worked, yet did not speak as he quickly reached inside of his computer desk's drawer for a fresh set of dressings. Hem*. For the vigilante's many sore areas.
Back, neck, chest, and forehead. He had to work on this poor man like a science fair project. No breaks, all on a deadline.
"There. You can quit your whining now, Richard." Slade finished with the wrappings and took to finding a new painkiller to slip into a smaller syringe. "Pills might be difficult for now. I think your ribs are healing, but the blood you lost, that will show up –
"How…" Sitting up, the unmasked Grayson looked Slade in the eye with a nearly worrisome quality to his needy nature.
He was independent, so this did come as a blow; he'd not recalled helping Slade in the months before.
Slade had been very discreet, having tried to leave as soon as their luck had run dry. That was right before Dick had returned to Bludhaven. He'd been unprepared for the prophecy of some kid taking away him freedom. And Shoji and Kori…. Poor guy. Like with Jericho's time, Slade knew that leaving Addie might have been safe at the time…but, it wasn't the wisest course of action. Not long term for the Titan's Jericho, or for Rose who'd taken up Grant's old title to become a Titan and double agent for Mrs. Waller.
At least in Dick's case it was being possessed by real demons. Roku was a slippery sort of character that lingered within the hero's consciousness. Try to tug it away, he'd break. So, Bludhaven made it possible to find a side to himself that didn't involve a prophetic child or the end of the world. A real way to hide from his paternal failures.
Dick was in pain, and Slade was connected to that pain for having caused it in the first place. (New beginning and arcs afterwards.)
That wasn't why he'd decided to keep the hero by his side, it was of a reassurance that Dick might see him as a teacher or even…a comrade on occasion? Maybe, just staying within his company was too much to ask.
One way to defy ole' Bruce was to get into the lives and minds, of those whom he trusted. Tim was still young, not yet ready to leave the Batman's side. Barbara was on her own. She was also going to be a later target of some dangerous clowns. Jason, had donned a new look. Or on occasion had a different persona in Bludhaven while their backs were far from turned.
However, none could replace the golden boy. None had ever, not since.
Sighing, Richard was still keen in mind and form, even after his third child was yet to be…
Was this alright?
"Are you, alright?" Slade tried to see past the hero's longing eyes. He knew it. Dick wanted to head back to Kori and the kids. He would, with time.
"I'm not letting you walk out that door until your wounds are fully healed up." Slade forewarned the hero that the "cop off the floor," wasn't yet at the level of a meta - nor would he fully have such a gift.
Just a touch, as a thank you from the hero's old nemesis.
"I'm better off with… –
"And what? Would you walk through this city and be discovered by the men who tried to blow us up? Would you have the strength to keep going if you aren't –
"Spiral…. they, don't know about this….do they? –
"To hell with them." Slade scoffed. "You're better off not instigating things as it is." Slade shook his head and in went the painkiller - right through Dick's exposed side. His ribs needed this a lot more than his skull. Bones reshaped a bit and muscle just twitched below the skin. He'd have the serum done a few more times into the month. That way, it would prevent any…. unnecessary side effects. A bit of both, his regenerative abilities would be short lived. That saying, they would wear off in a few months. As long as nothing showed up on any tests to bash at the mastermind's prior findings.
"Did you….?" Dick leaned back as Slade coaxed the hero to rest a bit longer. His sofa was Richard's, as long as it came back to him in one piece after his visit was through in a few more months.
"Three months. You've only been here the whole day, today was…...well, it is morning. I have little to do but will work on my reports and a few documents just for today. You'll be bored, and I don't carry books or magazines on my trips. Sorry. You'll have sleep or get creative."
"Can't you spare a newspaper or…just, something? That, is evil. Wow, Slade…" Richard was trying to have him relent to a request to know the year and date. Was he that paranoid? Oh, but the humor was there.
"I'll tell you what." Slade got up and headed back to the kitchen to look for a few things. He'd run low on the same supplement brand he'd used during that last attack. Worked wonders with a passion. But… the gas (a minor side – effect from the internal stuff,) wasn't the only fun part.
"You'll stay, heal up and when you are feeling well enough to move around, I'll GIVE you something to keep you busy."
A catch, as the younger man's one brow went up.
"Too typical." Dick chuckled, recalling how the older man ran his cut – throat business.
"I'm not asking you to do any grunt work. I'm on leave as of the next three months as part of our agreement –
"What agreement? I don't remember any –
"Gotham; the Bat needed a medic and I just happened to see you in the city?" Slade looked at the hero as his mouth dropped open to interject.
Slade, wanted however to finish.
"Snooping around while at war with some "owls" which certainly had your hands tied. They got to me, but you took the liberty of removing their claws from my ribcage and even slowed the bleeding. You did that, for me and the Bat. I was impressed, and you probably learned that trick –
"Bruce, he knew how to clot blood in a different manner."
"I know. It's a war tactic. Slows things a bit, like how you're nearly able to talk in full sentences without sputtering blood in my face."
"That's..."
"See? Calling that a mere coincidence makes our relationship seem, hollow as it were. Less than genuine. I see it as a doorway…if you'd –
"I said I'm not interested in what…. Cough*... Damn…. not ready…."
"You're still not. Not with those broken ribs, anyway. The painkiller soon won't be necessary." Slade returned to see to the hero's wants as he went to turn towards the kitchen. He rummaged into the fridge and when he'd finally returned, he brought a glass of something that looked like chocolate milk up to the hero's eyes.
"Drink. You'll need to recover what strength you can while your body works with the rest of you…well, you were not burned alive, at least." He joked, earning a glare from Dick's direction. "Too grim, I saw that. Oh, well. Drink."
Slade watched as the ebony male took the glass from him and tried a small sip. His mouth puckered up at the unfamiliar taste. Slade snickered with a snort. "Are you just trying to make my day, Grayson?"
"That. Is the most disgusting shake I've ever had." Dick begrudgingly gulped down a larger sip as it made his eyes squeeze shut. The amplified taste of raw cacao had an impression of…Yuck! No way, it was not the real thing. No chocolate tasted like dirt. Raw, but not this iron supplement smoothie. The last thing Slade wanted to do was to feed the hero a helping of highly – process and dried to ground up and powdered, chocolate. It was plant based and no – it did not rupture your intestines from the inside out.
"Amino acids, a few fortified vitamins. If I gave you the broth I use for my easy days, you'd say it tastes too much like black coffee."
"What else is new…ugh…. Never, try to sell this off as, food…. Holy…"
"Are pizza and burgers still on the menu for you no – name vigilante types?" Slade took the empty glass from the man as he frowned at the cylindrical vessel. It wasn't poison. He shrugged. Had he just never taken to a blander diet before? Dick was a rich brat. Even Indigenous nations knew better than to desensitize their taste buds well before their time. Typical.
Dick scoffed and pulled a few pillows over to his side, closer under his head. The drug wasn't that fast – acting. Guessing…. Slade liked to see him…squirm.
"We try to stick… yawn*……to the basic food groups…. Bread and meat…. are cheap staples…. Thanks…"
"Could have fooled me." Slade shrugged and left the angsty papa to nap off into his fabricated paradiso.
"Call me back if you need anything, even if you fall –
"Oh, should have been quicker!" Dick almost had fallen from the sofa with a labored groan. "You'll need to sit up. I won't have you wasting my good bandages all in one week." He chuckled softly; a very unfamiliar feeling, as Dick forced his body to stay and do as the man had requested of him. The last thing he needed was to be swaddled by the madman…Kori would rip his arms off…
"There. Now, I just need a stapler and a bungee cord. You'll be as tight on this heap as a submarine."
"Heh…or a bale of hay…"
"Humoring, yourself? Well, if it's to distract from the pain then I'll allow it." Slade nodded and saw that his work was almost good enough. He'd be there to stop another fall with his sense of danger on and at the ready by tonight. You didn't have to be a psychic to predict THAT outcome.
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Day Four: was filled with a sink full of dirty dishes. Mostly soup and protein shakes, but it would have been unwise to leave them. Richard was already able to hold onto a few walls on his way to the kitchen. Walking was becoming easier. Slade worried though, that the dose of serum couldn't be stopped until the end date. If he stopped the shot too soon, Richard's body might collapse.
That meant, he'd done something irreversible for the sake of being a hero. Anti – hero, but still.
Dick was recovering. His memories were intact. Guessing his bathroom breaks were normal, Slade decided he would let Dick up to see how he'd do by himself on day seven. As far as food?
Hungry, and no stopping this gravy train. Getting up, he even took to cleaning some of his messes so that Slade could concoct a new protein – powder drink from the bowels of hell and back. This time it was green and stunk like cabbage. Typical.
As Slade recalled with his serum "experience," soon after he'd realized the changes were permanent, his hunger had become something beastly. Ravaging plate after plate, but never gaining an extra ounce.
Dick was high off the scale from what could have given his caretaker a near stroke, but Slade was prepared for this. He'd keep Richard from worrying Kori. That was, the greatest fear. That he'd make his ex- pupil into a sumo by next month.
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Day Eight: and his body walked well. Too well, and his muscles ached for something to tug at or rip in two. The primal drive would pass. He could train it out of himself. He could even….
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Day Thirteen.
The sudden onset of a fever. Slade made sure to check his sleeping prince's vitals and he found an infection. Wintergreen had called and had even happened to say to Slade, "that he should send the hero back to the Titans."
Slade refused, and waited out the storm. This had to prove it, that Dick wasn't born to fail his expectations.
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Day Twenty.
Rose had come to search for Dick. The Titans weren't so slow after all…Still, she'd not traced a thing, and thankfully there was still time. The fever broke that next morning while Rose Wilson had just left Bludhaven.
Empty handed. And Slade couldn't have been more relieved to see her go.
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Day Twenty-five.
A few break outs and Dick was treating his itchy hives like the plague. A, common side effect. Slade had been littered with veins bulging all over his body. The serum's worst bout was either over or…yet to come. Slade made sure to let Dick use his weights in the meanwhile. Just so that his pillows would stand to have another day of staying in one piece.
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Day Thirty. Slade doubted three months was enough, but he decided to cut the time down to half. Not three. Kori would write up their will at this rate. The Bat was sending his Birds of Prey out every night. Locking your doors was certainly a smart thing for Gotham, but Bludhaven shared this quality all too much for Slade's tastes.
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The month had passed. Dick looked like he'd actually gained muscle, not lost a single bit of his physique in that time he'd been off the streets of Bludhaven or Gotham.
As of that time, Slade put his laptop into sleep mode and turned to the man in his faded black jeans and a dark blue tee. It was all he could do. Swiping Dick's things from his apartment hadn't been a walk in the park.
Yet, to the ends of the earth; it was finally time, to talk.
"So, how do you feel? Are you ready to continue fighting the good fight, Grayson?" Slade turned to his patient and let his fingers intertwine with his elbows to his knees; turned forward in his computer chair towards the other younger man who'd stayed rather silent on his sofa.
"I don't feel like this was…. Something still doesn't click to me…" Nervously, Dick rubbed the back of his neck to admit it.
"You took all of that time, and I still don't remember why; or how you of all people would want to see –
"A favor for another. It's as simple as that." Slade huffed. "Too serious. I thought you'd count this as some well – needed down time from your stuffy office job working at the BHPD headquarters."
"I might have to agree with one thing." Dick put up a finger to point out. " You make one heck of a care advocate. Hands down, I've never been this sick in my life and comfortable at the same time."
"The infection was treatable. I can assure you, but should it worry you I think…." Slade turned his head to the computer, biting his lip. "I'd like you to do something about your wife and kids soon."
"Oh, did you…. They aren't still –
"No. Starfire is still keeping an eye on your reapearance… Bruce is as oblivious as I want him to be. Red Hood and Batgirl? They'd best stay away. You're under my care, but not for much longer. That's why I've decided." Slade sat up in his chair and proclaimed, "You'll be returning to them to continue healing up. But, I'm not –
"Wait." Dick stopped him. "Why not go to Bruce? If I go back there to Gotham, then –
"You were gone for longer than I knew." Slade sighed and Dick's eyes widened a little.
"You…You DID know! About…. Roku and! –
"Mainly not my place to pry, Titan. Or, rather… Nightwing, these days?" Dick felt the sting of that comment.
"Are you going to continue play this "rolling stone" character with that woman you left by the bay, or will you choose another path?" He let Dick take in the seriousness of the mercenary's question.
"I'm still trying to let it go. I thought…that being here for a while would all of change that." Dick shrugged and frustratingly eyed the hardwood floor at his feet. He wasn't Superman. Nothing would burn by his gaze.
"You thought wrong, then." Slade frowned. "I, also have another confession to make…"
Dick lifted up his eyes to the man. The blue in them was deeply troubling. He'd have to stomach the news for now. Sooner or later the truth would be found out by his family and companions.
"To heal you, I had to tweak your…injections. The formula I used works very well in combat, because it is made from my own blood."
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We may spin this into a fic, but less of the prophecy. Mostly, the Nightwing aspect. Let me know! Stay curious and read on for more snippets!
