A/N: Hello! Thanks for all the reviews and for all the understanding! Glad to know people are still reading out there.

Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

Chapter 35

Shadows

He had a shadow following him.

It was an odd sensation, and Slade had to force himself not to turn around and check if the owner of the second pair of footsteps was still there. With every step, the man felt like the shadow would suddenly disappear and dissipate into the darkness of the night.

Slade resisted the urge to sigh. The night had been unsettling to him – too many memories haunted him. They were memories of a past life, and lately they had been lingering too close for comfort. Perhaps that was why he had vainly tried to shelter the boy. Because the memories had started whispering to him, taunting him.

It would happen again…

It always did.

Slade shook the thoughts off as a growl escaped his lips. Gotham was a dangerous city in more ways than one. Besides the crime that tended to run amuck throughout the streets, the filthy little hole of a civilization always seemed to bring out the worst in everyone.

Even the Bats had a mean streak.

As the odd pair trudged along the streets, Slade grew more and more restless with his thoughts. Why had he dumped the boy off in the hands of one of his men? Robin had been surprisingly compliant so far, so why had he tried to keep the boy away? Why did he feel the need to protect his shorter shadow when Robin was more than capable of handling himself?

Slade couldn't understand what had changed. He hadn't felt this way when Robin previously had been his apprentice. In fact, he had dangerously placed the boy in far more intense situations without a second thought. But suddenly, Robin volunteers for the position and now the man wanted to keep him as far away from everything as possible.

And that had backfired beautifully.

The masked man honestly hadn't realized he had been trying to shelter the boy and that perhaps bothered him even more about the whole situation. If there was one thing he'd been able to piece together about Robin from the past few days, it was that Batman had messed up. Somewhere along the line, the Caped Crusader had destroyed their relationship so much so that Robin had run away to Jump to start a new, separate life.

Don't do what Batman did to me.

The words echoed in Slade's mind.

Being compared to the Bats was a good ten steps in the wrong direction. Slade ground his hands together as they rounded another corner. Whatever progress he made with the boy always managed to unwind itself in less then a few hours, and Slade was beginning to feel that perhaps this had been a hopeless endeavor from the start.

He wasn't Batman...

The masked man risked a glance behind him.

A haunting thought crossed his mind as Robin's form clung to the depths of the night. The boy seemed to sink within the night's inky shadows with its claws never far behind.

Perhaps…

Robin looked up, a question on the edge of his lips. Slade could imagine the blue eyes behind the mask, untainted by the darkness of the world.

Perhaps….

The masked man simply shook his head, turned, and kept walking.

Perhaps he was worse than Batman…

The thought was like a blade in the man's side and as the blood of memories rushed down his fingertips, Slade couldn't help but feel more lost than ever.

The pair approached a rusted doorway and for the first time since he had left with Slade, Robin hesitated.

"Are we really going through the front door?"

Slade shrugged, casually brushing the comment away. "Why not?"

Smack.

The door swung open with a loud bang. Smoke swarmed Robin's nostrils, and Slade stalked ahead of him, walking through the heavy smoke without a second of hesitation. Robin was aware of a collective, rancorous swearing ahead of him.

"Wouldn't shoot if I were you."

Chills crawled up Robin's spine as Slade's words slid through the space. The man's entire countenance had changed within the span of a few footsteps.

The swearing intensified but relaxed in its urgency.

"Don't you ever knock, Deathstroke?"

"No."

Robin stood to the right of Slade as the expanse of the room came into view. Four figures hung a few yards back from Slade, guns hanging loosely from their hands. Cigars littered a table behind the odd conglomeration of mercenaries.

"Who's the kid?"

The closest of the men, gestured to Robin. Said man was practically massive – a giant brute if Robin had ever seen one. A large scar ran down the length of his face, slicing down his eye and to the edge of the smuggler's jaw. He swung the gun casually to Robin, and the boy suddenly felt himself seizing up.

"He's with me," Slade answered smoothly.

A second figure cocked its head behind the man. Robin's eyes flickered over to the woman who took a few steps forward. She had a thin frame, but a whipcord strength rested just beyond the rims of her eyes. Robin felt the shadows drift around him and resisted the urge to melt away within them.

"Does he have a name?" she asked while running her long fingers down the length of her dark hair. Those haunting eyes swung towards him, and Robin suddenly felt the attention in the room shift to him.

His lips grew dry, and he resisted the urge to turn and sprint out the door. When Slade remained silent, Robin became very aware of the fact that the man expected him to answer. Panic rushed through him as all the discussed options blanked from his mind again. Quicksilver hadn't been such a hit, but the boy for the life of him, couldn't remember what else they had discussed.

"Destructor," Robin grunted, trying to mirror Slade's calm countenance. His voice cracked on the end of the word, forcing a dry cough sputtering out of his throat.

The woman raised an eyebrow, and the hulking brute of a man chuckled next to her.

"Hardly strikes me as the destructive type," another man just beyond the pair remarked.

Robin's cheeks burned, and his mind began running through multiple ways he could simply vanish from the situation. The boy's eyes flashed to the right and found the shadowy recesses of the room to appear quite welcoming; however, he was sure Slade would stop him before he even managed to lift his foot from the ground. Instead, Robin forced himself to remain standing in front of them, riding out the tidal waves of embarrassment with clenched hands. His ears caught a breath of an exhale from Slade. There was no doubt the man was trying to figure out how to rectify Robin's inept mercenary aura.

"Well let's hope we don't have to force the boy to live up to his name."

The last man suddenly stepped forward, and Robin got the sense that this figure was the unspoken leader of the small ring. Nothing struck Robin as extraordinary about the man. He didn't appear to be like the wicked criminals he had thought Slade would deal with. In fact, the man was quite average all the way around. When he smiled, the boy believed for a split second that it was quite possible the man might actually be happy to see them.

"What can we do for you, Deathstroke?" he asked, gesturing around to the desolate warehouse.

Slade stepped forward and Robin felt all eyes in the room zero in on the black and orange figure. Even the air in the room seemed to revolve around Slade as Robin's ears barely caught the faint breathing of the other mercenaries. The masked man had been right. Under the sweeping guise of an apprenticeship and the looming figure of Slade Wilson, no one spared Robin a second glance.

"I need some information."

The leader of the gang frowned.

"Not something we normally deal with, but we can try to help."

Robin could practically feel Slade's smile under the mask, relishing in the control he had. The boy couldn't stop the chills that found their way onto his arms. He couldn't help the frown that creased his face. He couldn't guard against the unease that slipped into his hammering heart.

What if they had said no and refused?

What would Slade have done then?

"Good."

As Robin followed the man further into the room, he realized that perhaps it was better he never found out the answer to his question.

"So, who were they?"

The question burst from his lips before Robin could smother it under his thin wall of self-preservation. Slade paused in his movements, casting a long sidelong glance at the teen. For a few moments, Robin thought Slade might ignore him altogether.

"Smugglers."

"What do they smuggle?"

"Whatever I need them to."

"Well that explains so much," Robin said with a roll of his eyes. He heard another dim sigh from the form next to him.

"Weapons, drugs, supplies. And on the rare occasion – people."

Robin stilled.

"Oh."

A few moments ticked away in silence as Slade continued to type away on his datapad. Just when he started to forget about Slade's background, the man's criminal deeds always came crawling right back.

"How come I've never seen them before?" Robin muttered. It had begun to bother him that there were criminals right under his nose that he had never laid eyes on. Granted he'd been out of Gotham for a while, but the boy felt he should have had at least some awareness of what truly went on in this city. He rubbed his forehead. Did Batman know any of these people?

The resounding chuckle from the man did little to ease his annoyance.

"It appears you don't know the city as well as you think."

"But – "

"And I suggest for your sake," Slade began as he passed the datapad over to Robin, "that you forget the faces you see tonight. If my contacts suddenly disappear when you go back to the Titans..."

The man paused as his gray eye sought out Robin's attention. The boy had one hand on the datapad as did Slade.

"Well, I know where to find you."

With the threat hanging in the open, Slade released the object and stepped back. Robin glanced down at the map on the screen in his hands, allowing the words to wash through him. While the boy had no doubt that Slade would make good on the threat, the normal rush of fear was missing. What would the masked man do to him exactly? He wasn't sure he really wanted Slade to clarify, but the thought lingered in his mind. Would Slade harm him after all that had happened?

With a sly glance up at the towering form next to him, Robin felt a familiar prickle of fear lightly tap on his shoulder.

It was a befuddling paradox to the boy. He should follow through and pursue the criminals when he went back to the Titans, but at the same time, it would betray Slade's trust and hurt the people who were indirectly helping him find Batman – even if those people were criminals who deserved to be behind bars.

Robin's eyes scanned over the map of Gotham on the datapad. The smugglers knew nothing of the Joker's appearance in Jump, but that was beside the point to Slade. According to the smugglers, certain suppliers of chemical compounds have either gone missing or suddenly have no inventory left to sell. Robin recognized a few of the names from his brief time as Red X when he had been tracking down Xenothium; on occasion, he had made a few treks to Gotham to try and find the necessary supplies. Slade on the other hand recognized every one of the names. The man had even marked their locations on the map much to Robin's bitter annoyance at his lack of awareness for operations in a city so close to his homebase.

"I mean it, Robin."

The boy sighed, looking up.

"I know, and that's what bothers me."

The last thing he wanted to deal with around the Titans was one very pissed off Slade. And besides, the idea of simply ousting Slade's criminal underground network when the man didn't even have to bring him along in the first place felt wrong.

Slade hummed to himself as he tapped the screen, seemingly satisfied with the response.

"There is one person in particular I want to pay a visit to first."

Robin looked at the screen, recognizing the name with a frown.

"I have a feeling he won't be happy to see you."

The man moved forward, glinting in the dim lighting. Robin flexed his hands trying to ease the tension away from his body.

"Let's be honest," Slade said as his voice slid through the air. "No one is ever happy to see me."

Robin couldn't help but agree. The boy rolled back his shoulders, trying to relax the knots that had started to form.

"Why's he even in Gotham?"

Slade shrugged, unconcerned by the fact. "Let's go find out."

Robin just barely managed to hold back the sigh from his lips. Things had been going well so far – almost too well. Slade hadn't asked him to do anything too drastic, and they had managed to avoid an all-out confrontation with Gotham's criminal. Besides Robin's numerous name mishaps, they were oddly doing fine.

Deep inside, however, Robin knew it couldn't last forever. Trouble always seemed to find him – it just did. How much had Slade truly changed? How would the man react? How far could Robin go before the man snapped again?

Slade stepped forward, but before the man could move further, Robin mirrored the movement, coming alongside of the towering form. There was something the man had said that had deeply troubled the boy. There were a few things Robin could temporarily turn a blind eye too in order to keep the odd pair's tentative truce, but this wasn't one of them.

"Hey, Slade?"

Moonlight followed the black and orange form as the masked man turned. With a sharp exhale, Robin released the troubling question into the air.

"When uhh – when have you needed to smuggle um…people?"

Slade paused, staring down at the boy. For a brief second, Robin considered retracting the question as his nerves started to creep in.

"Only once and only one," Slade said as he met Robin's masked eyes. "Couple years back I retrieved a kid from a hostage situation. I couldn't exactly waltz into a police station myself. So, they got her back to where she needed to be safely. More of transporting than smuggling per se."

Of all the responses Robin had expected, this had not been one of them.

"So, they just helped you save this girl?" he asked incredulously.

"Does that surprise you?"

Yes.

"No – Maybe – I just thought –" the boy stammered, trying to come up with the dregs of an answer. Since when had Slade cared about a hostage situation? Maybe it had been the daughter of some mob boss that he had been paid off to save. But then why would he have needed to take her to the police station? He could have just plopped the girl in the hands of the mob boss with no questions asked.

"Not everyone I work with is out for blood, Robin. They may be criminals in your definition, but they're still people in mine." The masked man reached down, adjusting a strap on his boot.

The boy paused at the statement, allowing the words to sink in. Moonlight shone like a beacon over his form as he watched the man trudge off. Something dark hung over the Slade's countenance as if he didn't like being reminded of the story. There was an icy edge in his demeanor, warding off any questioning eyes.

"Slade?"

The man grunted in acknowledgment.

"Who hired you to save the kid?" Robin asked. His voice was low in a vain hope that perhaps the quietness would help it slip past, undetected among the man's reticent defenses.

A few seconds ticked by in an ominous silence.

"No one."

The words thudded against Robin's chest. Slade stepped forward, but then paused and turned back around.

"And Robin," Slade paused as the moonlight caught his eye, "Perhaps try another name this time."

The door crashed to the ground with a loud bang that echoed through the dismal space.

"Not much on subtlety, Slade."

"Not big on wasting time either."

Robin blinked trying to peer past the smoke that surrounded his eyes.

"Drop."

The command burned in his brain, and Robin instinctively dropped to the floor as a few bullets flung into the air. Robin recognized the flash of Slade's katana blade and the sound of the few, well-placed bullets glancing off the slick blade. The boy was about to roll forward and draw his bo-staff when Slade whirled something over his head.

Blood rained down on Robin's gloved hands as a sickening slurch echoed in the space.

"Call your men off, Chang," Slade's voice boomed in the space. The next words were spoken with a deeper malicious undertone and their claws wrenched their way into the vast space, "Unless you want them all to die."

Another slurch.

A body dropped to the floor.

Robin stared at the blood on his hands.

"Sl-slade."

The man ignored him and stalked forward; a silence settled through the space as the gunshots tapered to a halt. Slade swung his sword to his side, causing more drops to splatter across the floor. Robin shifted forward, hoping that perhaps his eyes were deceiving him. Slade couldn't – the man wouldn't – His hand reached out, pressed through the blood, and landed on the man's neck, desperately checking for a pulse that he couldn't find.

As the smoke faded around their figures, a man enveloped in the hulking beast of a laboratory suit slunk forward, eyeing the pair cautiously. His thick fingers adjusted the goggles around his eyes as he peered forward.

"D-Deathstroke?"

Slade stepped forward, the blade glinting under the blinding, exposing lights of the lab.

"Chang."

The word whipped through the air as the professor stumbled back. Slade stalked forward, vengeance licking his heels. A handful of men around the laboratory raised their guns, and Slade stopped in his place.

"N-now Deathstroke whatever it is – " Professor Chang stammered as he nervously continued backpedaling until he had placed a large metal table and a few more men between himself and the menacing specter. A giant tank rested just beyond the professor's form and dark purple and blue liquid rushed through it, unsettling the boundaries of the professor's outline. Deathstroke simply stared, his eyes narrowing at the husk of a man.

Robin closed his eyes as the form under his hands grew colder. One dead and no one in the room cared. He stared at the unmoving body of the guard. The man's armor hadn't even done anything. It had taken Slade a mere second to extinguish his life like a cold pair of fingers snapping around the wick of a burning flame. Robin leaned back, closing his eyes as the masked man's dark words hummed in his ears.

I never said it was right…

But some just aren't worth saving.

In Robin's mind, he saw the sword hanging from Slade's hand and the red liquid that dripped down to the floor. Everything had been tainted and stained.

At the slight movement, Professor Chang's eyes gradually narrowed, homing in on the shadow hidden beyond Slade's form.

"Who's the kid?"

The question slunk over the room, making its way to Robin's feet. He gradually opened his eyes as the silence wrapped around his throat. All eyes in the room rested on his small frame, but there was only one the boy cared about.

Striking gray met a shielded domino mask.

One of Robin's hands was still pressed against the body of the guard as Slade's seeking, gray eye swung over his form. The boy stared. Any trace of warmth was gone. The man's eye was devoid of any emotion except for the stillness of death. Robin remained trapped within his gaze. He had asked for this. He had asked Slade not to shield him, and the man, unlike Batman, had honored the request.

For the briefest second, the man's eye cleared, and he glanced down at the body under Robin's hand and then back to the boy's mask. There was a flash of something, but Robin wasn't sure what he saw within the bounds of the man's eye.

He could leave.

The thought caused Robin to freeze. This wasn't real. He wasn't trapped like the last time. He could leave. He could disown Slade and slink out the back door without a word. He could detach himself from the haunting mercenary and leave the question forever unanswered. He could remove himself from the blood that had been shed. As if understanding this, the boy watched as Slade's chest deflated just a bit; the move was hardly discernable, but Robin had gotten good at reading the man's actions over the past few days. Slade turned, and Robin realized what he was about to do. The masked man was about to dismiss him, giving him a way out.

Time seemed to slow as he glanced down at the blood on his gloves and at the back of the masked man.

They may not deserve to be dead, but the world is better off without them.

Slade's voice hummed in his head and leeched into the room.

"My apprentice –"

The boy stood as the name came to him. There was no panic this time as it seeped from his lips and into the stillness of the room.

"Renegade."

The masked man snapped around, and Robin merely raised his eyebrows as he moved forward. The two locked eyes for the briefest of moments before a devious glint entered Slade's gray eye. The masked man turned around, and Robin knew there was the ghost of a satisfied smile under that black and orange mask.

And for some reason, Robin couldn't resist the thin smile that broke past his lips too.

Professor Chang nervously looked at the pair as the mercenary's shadow stalked forward.

"So," the man rubbed his hands together, shrinking behind the mound of equipment on the table, "What do I owe this unexpected pleasure to?"

Robin resisted rolling his eyes at the words. The professor was in his typical white, bulky laboratory outfit decked out from head to toe with all sorts of miscellaneous gadgetry.

Slade took another step forward and Robin recognized the hauntingly familiar sound of multiple guns lifting into the air.

"Word on the street is you sold out, Chang."

Chang's eyes grew even wider at the statement. "Now, D-Deathstroke, perhaps we can talk about this."

Slade swept his eye around the space. The lab was large and had a lofty, open, upper level around the perimeter of the space. There were about ten men, stationed at different intervals and in different sections of the lab. Slade jerked his head to the closest guard.

"Tell your men to back off."

Professor Chang hesitated a few moments as he gauged his options. Robin watched as the man glanced back between his men and Slade's ominous form. The boy frowned. The professor knew his men wouldn't survive the fight, but perhaps he would try anyway and make a run for it during the distraction. The grip on his holstered bo-staff tightened as Robin narrowed his eyes. The man wouldn't get very far if he tried.

"Do as he says."

As the guards gradually lowered their weapons, Robin couldn't help the thought that lingered into his mind. While Batman had been intimidating, with Slade, the boy could practically see the fear that washed over the room. Everywhere the masked man went, he controlled the room. While Batman had to fight his way to achieve an ounce of deference from the villains of Gotham, Slade simply breathed, and everyone stepped out of his way. The power the man had was intoxicating.

"Renegade, take care of anyone who takes a step forward."

At the words, a rush of adrenaline leeched over Robin's body. His hands pulled out a few bird-a-rangs from his belt. Blood rubbed off his hands onto the cold metal.

I expect you to play the part.

Robin's eyes scanned the room. He watched as the guards shifted, suddenly wary of the small form in the center of the lab. It was then the boy realized that they were afraid of him too. It was an odd sensation. The power had spread to him.

A numbness settled through the boy as he watched Slade stalk forward. He vaguely reminded himself that this was all an act. He wasn't really Slade's apprentice. He didn't really have to listen to the man.

"Now Deathstroke – "

Professor's Chang's words were chopped off as the masked man leered forward.

"How much did you give up, Chang?" Slade hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about – "

Slade's gray eye narrowed precariously.

"Then I suggest you start remembering."

"I don't – "

"The Joker," Slade snapped. Professor Chang was now pressed up against the very large tank. The liquid danced around his form, creating a haze around the figures. His small form appeared even more miniscule when trapped by Slade's hulking presence. The man remained silent at the name and instead turned his head away.

"Ahhh so you did sell to him."

"I-I – "

Slade's hand suddenly appeared around the professor's throat. Robin watched as some of the guards shifted and breathed a sigh of relief when none of them raised their weapons. He paced closer, angling himself between a guard and Slade's back.

"Lie and that's the last thing you'll ever do," Slade whispered as he cocked his head to the side.

"What did you give to him?"

Professor Chang's eyes grew wide as he whispered, "Everything."

Slade froze.

"What do you mean everything?"

"I've been trying to rebuild my supplies for the past two weeks – There wasn't anything I could do – "

The hand around his throat suddenly wrenched the man up and thrashed him against the back of the tank. Robin swore as the guards lifted their weapons and pointed them at Slade. He instinctively pulled out his bo-staff and waited. If they decided to open fire, there wasn't much Robin could do about the bullets hurdling towards Slade's back. His eyes flickered around. They needed to be careful.

"Coward," Slade hissed as he stepped closer to Professor Chang.

"You're really quite worthless, professor. You controlled the most expansive stockpile of chemicals in the country and lost it all to a clown."

A few wordless seconds ticked by and suddenly Slade moved closer, pausing only inches away from Chang's face.

"Perhaps I should just do everyone a favor and dispose of you myself."

A knife appeared under his throat and alarm racketed every inch of Robin's body. The guards started to move, and Robin wasn't sure if he would be able to move fast enough before a stray bullet hounded Slade's way.

"Slade," Robin yelled, allowing a drop of fear into his own voice.

Slade glanced behind him, and Robin stared at the man for a few breathless seconds. The guards wouldn't be a problem to incapacitate, but Slade needed to be aware of the multitude of bullets that would be headed his way. Their eyes met, but Robin couldn't recognize Slade Wilson in the dark, gray eye. No, the boy only saw the eye of a mercenary set on his target. A few more moments ticked by and Robin was painfully aware of the armed guards' weapons leering down at them. His fingers twitched, waiting to see what the man would do. Slade suddenly blinked, taking in his surroundings. The man was evaluating, considering…calculating. Robin held his breath as the bo-staff grew heavy in his hands

"A shame really," Slade said at length. He dropped Professor Chang to the floor and paced away. "But maybe next time."

The scientist was stuttering, trying to come up with something – anything – to say.

"I'll need a list of all your suppliers before I leave, but that shouldn't be a problem, correct?"

Slade glanced back at the form who was now scrambling to his computer.

"No, no," the professor mumbled as he rubbed his neck precariously. "Not at all."

Slade's eye turned back to him, and Robin stilled under the hulking presence of the mercenary.

Get out while you still can.

"Let's go, Renegade."

Robin exhaled as he rushed a hand through his hair. The cool night stung against his skin as he absorbed the dark night around him.

"Chang's an idiot. The Joker has everything in his control to create an entire army of clones."

The boy swung around, staring incredulously at the man before him.

What the heck had happened in there?

"Do you think he really will?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Slade paused as he stared out into the skyline. Robin's eyes traced the outline of his tall form.

It had felt so easy…

"Let's split up and investigate. We can cover more ground that way."

"But – "

Slade held up his hand, forestalling the torrent of objections from Robin's lips.

"If Chang's suppliers have gone missing, you shouldn't run into any trouble. Just some simple reconnaissance to figure out how and what went missing. We need to know what the Joker is using and how much he has. It will go faster if we split up."

Robin nodded in agreement, but he couldn't help but feel the weight of the armor grinding against his arms, the chalky hairspray riddling his raven locks, and the slight platform of his boots burning into his feet.

…being Renegade.

A hand fell over his shoulder, and the boy looked up.

"Relax. The comms will be up the entire time," Slade said.

The boy nodded again, licking his lips against the dryness in his mouth and brushing his hand against the communicator in his ear. This had all been an act – a game. He was Robin, the Boy Wonder, but the figure in front of him was not Batman – not at all.

"Take the north half of Gotham. I'll go South. Start at the far side, and we'll meet in the middle."

"Can I have the south half?" Robin asked quickly. "It's just…" The boy's eyes danced over the skyline. "I know it a bit better than the north side of Gotham." There was something distant in the boy's words, but the masked man wisely chose not to press the request.

As Slade nodded his agreement, Robin couldn't stop the thought that crept into his mind.

No, Slade wasn't Batman, but perhaps…

The black and orange mask gazed steadily back at him.

Perhaps, the man was better than Batman.

There had been another reason Slade had wanted to split up.

There had been someone the man had wanted to see and dragging Robin to this meeting had not been an option.

Slade had grown accustomed to silence. He had gotten used to discerning the unspoken intentions behind the quiet and was rarely - if ever - unnerved by the lack of noise. There was the occasion, however, where the silence felt deafening and where the man couldn't hear anything besides the loud roar of uncertainty.

This happened to be one of those times.

The gentle clink of a glass echoed in the man's mind as he gazed at the figure across from him. The room was small and quaint, furnished with all the ornate necessities. Slade watched the dark, golden liquid swirl in the glass. The man reached out and brought the glass to his lips, allowing the sting of alcohol to burn into his senses.

"Tell me Wilson, what's your obsession with the Detective's son?"

Slade resisted giving into the prickle of annoyance that stabbed through his body. Ra's al Ghul always had that effect on him. There was something about the man that always kept Slade on edge. Perhaps it was the whole Lazarus pit resurrection and live forever nonsense. The unmasked man couldn't quite fathom why someone would want to live forever with the monstrosity that was an excuse for humanity.

Said person would have to be partially insane.

And when one mixed insanity with obsession, Ra's al Ghul was the result. Of course, Ra's would know that he had been helping Robin. The man had an unquenchable obsession with anything to do with the Caped Crusader, and if anyone knew anything about the Bats whereabouts, it would be him.

Slade raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware Batman had any offspring." The glass landed on the table with a clink as he eyed the slim form. Harsh eyes, shadowed by inky, black hair, gazed back at Slade.

"Not biological of course."

The words were as smooth as the alcohol running down Slade's throat. The folds of the assasin's garment hung over the table as he leaned forward. The thick, gold-trimmed fabric sunk like chains on the polished wood.

"Tell me, how long will it take for the dye to wash out of Grayson's hair?" Ra's said with a light smirk embedded deep within his cavernous eyes.

So, the man had been watching. Slade set the glass down on the ground, disliking the shift of the conversation. Upon seeing his hesitation, Ra's smiled, his white teeth glinting like fangs from a predator.

"Did you really think I wouldn't have noticed?"

"Perhaps…"

Slade hated Ra's, but he respected the man. He was cunning, smart, and adaptive.

"So, he's abandoned his friends to work with you now?"

"Temporarily yes."

"What game are you playing, Wilson?"

"A mutually beneficial one, Ra's. I find Bats, get him back up to speed, and you're good to go."

Slade leaned back, running the smooth wood from the chair under his hands.

"Ahh yes, all the while you manipulate the boy to your side?"

"An unintended consequence, perhaps."

Ra's stood as a smile spread on his face. He extended his hand, his robes spreading and revealing the full elegance of their designs.

"Word of Advice then, Wilson," the man said as he leaned over, fixing the man within his steely eyes. "The Detective doesn't take it too kindly when others mess with his offspring. Mess too much with Grayson and you'll have hell to pay."

Slade only smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind, Ra's."

A/N: There's a lot of things going on in this chapter, so let me know whatcha think! A few new characters and I'd love to here your thoughts on them - dw they aren't playing a major role. In fact, I'm still undecided if Ra's will show up again...

With that, have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for reading.