The Mall

It was a typical all American Mall. Yes, even Gotham had a mall for the teenagers to hang out at. It was filled with different stores, from places to buy clothes to places to buy jewelry to even places to buy sporting goods. The mall was two storey, with five anchor stores. Besides the five bigger stores, there were an additional 125 stores and kiosks. And, unlike some malls in America, this mall had every spot filled with a store.

In the center of the mall, on the lower level, there was a food court, filled with a dozen different options for a meal. It was all fast food. But if a shopper was interested in more of a sit down restaurant, there were two restaurants attached to the mall. But inside the food court, you could get Asian, Mexican, subs, or even a hamburger and fries.

It was not a place one would normally see the best killer for hire, but that was where Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke, was located. One could say, he even dressed for the occasion. Since his normal uniform of a black suit and orange and black mask would draw too much attention, he instead wore a black turtleneck and dark blue jeans. He pretended to drink a cup of coffee – and just because the shop charged over five dollars and gave it a fancy name, did not make it a good cup of coffee – and read a newspaper. While he originally grabbed the newspaper to be a part of his attempt to blend in, he did have to smirk at one article:

Gotham Police No Closer to Finding Art Thief!

A couple of weeks after the opening of a new art exhibit, a painting was stolen. The thief had only stolen one painting. It wasn't a famous painting, which was why the police were baffled. No one would get any amount of money if they sold this painting on the black market. The only reason why the painting was getting any attention was due to that the show had been funded by Bruce Wayne, Gotham's richest man. But, as much as this article amused Slade, his attention kept focusing across the food court.

Halfway across the food court, Slade watched as Richard Grayson sat down with two other teenagers. The killer had seen the red head before, at the restaurant where he had revealed to Grayson that he knew that the boy was Robin. From the red hair to the large amount of food the boy ate, Slade guessed that the boy was Kid Flash. The blonde sitting next to the red head was around the same age as the two boys. If Slade were to make an educated guess, the killer would say the girl was Green Arrow's sidekick, Artemis.

Of course, all the teens were dressed in civilian clothes. All three teens wore jeans and sneakers. The boys wore blue t-shirts. Grayson's shirt almost matched his eye color, while the red head's shirt was much paler. The girl wore a green t-shirt. The would-be heroes appeared to be sharing a plate of french fries but each had their own drink.

Slade continued to study Batman's partner. He still hadn't decided what to do about the boy. His original plan was to attack the boy, hurt him, and leave him for Batman to find, which is what he did do. What he didn't expect was that the boy would impress him. Richard had held his own against him.

At first, Slade had been easy on him and the boy had escaped all his attacks. Then, Slade increased the speed of his attacks. While Richard hadn't dodge them all, he still proved himself a good opponent. In fact, it wasn't until Slade lost his temper with the boy that the boy was outclassed.

The thought of an apprentice had occurred to Slade a few times since his original meeting with the boy two months ago. But, with Deahstroke's recent involvement with the Light, the killer didn't have the time. He knew he would have to spend many hours breaking the boy before Richard would be ready. Wasn't there a saying, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs? The boy would make an excellent heir for Deathstroke, after Slade broke him down and rebuilt him.

Another option had also occurred to Slade. He could kill the youth. The only reason he had gone after the teen was to punish Batman. What better way to hurt Batman than to kill his partner? But, whenever the thought crossed his mind, he would just remember how well the boy had handled himself. It would be such a waste to kill the boy without trying to turn him into his heir.

…...

To say that the teenagers were sharing a single plate of french fries would be wrong. It was actually three large orders of french fries that were in the middle of the table. And, it was more like Dick and Artemis were sharing one plate of french fries, while Wally was eating the other two. Wally was also drinking a large soda, since he needed the sugar as much as the food, while Dick and Artemis both had an iced tea.

"Glad you could get out of the house, dude," said Wally, as he shoved fries into his mouth.

"Me too," replies the dark haired teen. It did not escape Dick's attention when Artemis made a disgusted looked toward Wally and his lack of table manners. "Bruce has been...protective."

"That's one way to put it," replied the blonde, turning away from Wally, as the red head shoved more fries into his mouth. "I'd use the term 'control freak', but I don't live with him."

Wally started laughing. "What?" demanded Artemis.

"I'm just thinking about you living with the B Man," replied Wally, before taking a large sip of his soda.

Smiling, Dick took a fry and ate it. As he slowly chewed the french fry, the dark haired teen felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Tightening his shoulder, he quickly glanced around.

"Don't do anything stupid."

Quickly, Dick turned back to table and looked at Wally. "What?"

"I said, don't do anything stupid. You know, about your dad being so...protective," replied Wally. He waved some french fries at Dick while speaking and than promptly shoved them into his mouth.

"Do you think he's going to runaway or something?" demanded Artemis. She glanced at the red head before looking at the other boy. "I can't believe I am saying this, but I agree with him. I know you think you're all badass, but the guy cleaned your clock. You're safer with us. Or your...dad."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don't plan on taking off," replied Dick. As much as the dark haired teen wanted to pretend nothing was wrong, he couldn't let go of the feeling of being watched.

…...

Slade knew the moment the boy became aware of him. The killer watched as the boy's shoulder stiffened and he looked around. The boy knew he was being watched. Slade slid the newspaper more in front of his face. Yes, it meant that the killer couldn't see the boy as well as before, but it meant Richard wouldn't be able to see him. A few minutes later, Slade could see out of the corner of his eye the three teenagers leave the food court. With a smile, he turned down the corner of the newspaper to stare at the dark haired boy.

What should I do with you, Richard? thought Slade, just as the teen left the food court.

Almost as if the hero had heard the killer's question, the dark haired teen stopped and looked back into the food court. It appeared that he was scanning the room. For a moment, Slade thought the boy had spotted him, but the teen turned away from the food court and followed his friends into the mall.

With a smile, Slade came to a decision. The killer stood from the table and walked toward a trash can to throw out the newspaper and coffee cup. With one more glance in the direction the teen had left in, Slade left the mall.

…...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I did base my mall on a mall that I have been to in America – specifically New England area. Bonus points if you can guess which mall it is... :)