krikanalo: Oh my goodness! Thank you for the awesome review! I'm so glad you're liking the story so far! I knew Slade had to make an appearance somewhere, and Daddy Bruce had to be involved! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Slowly, he began to unravel. It was slow at first. He would lose seconds of time, but thought nothing of it, because he would always tend to space out. The voice in his head he thought he'd knocked out was back, and kept screaming at him that his father was abandoning him. He tried block out the voice, and most of the time he did. There were still some nights, however, where the voice became too much, and he'd cry himself to sleep at the thought. Every day the voice got louder, and stronger. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and clinical depression by the institution.
In reality, though, he was only depressed.
Slade was a brilliant man. No one would dispute that. He was made to be the perfect military soldier. He knew every trick in the book. Therefore, Hypnotizing the Boy Wonder into hearing voices that told him to come work for him was merely a matter of positioning himself. He would have his apprentice. The fact that the boy was already in a mental institution was simply a fortunate coincidence. He gave it two weeks before the boy would come here. Until then, he would ready himself for the boy's arrival.
The first time Bruce visited Dick after the diagnosis, he'd been scared out of his wits.
They'd been having a perfectly normal conversation when Dick's head had shot up like a rocket. It was as if a demon from his past had popped up beside him and spoken. Dick had clamped his hands over his ears and buried his face in his knees, becoming as small as he could. He'd begun to shake and sob quietly as the voice criticized him, yelled, and told him that his father was leaving him, and that he should join Slade.
Bruce, although not knowing the problem, had wrapped an arm around his child and spoke in soothing tones. Dick leaned his head on his father's chest.
"It's okay, Dickie. Daddy's here. You're okay." he soothed.
Slowly, the voice dwindled down to a whisper, and he was okay again.
"Make the voice stop." He whimpered.
"Voice? What voice?" Asked Bruce, holding his son out in front of him.
"The voice. The voice inside my head. Always talking. Always yelling. Always telling me you don't love me. Always telling me to work for Slade." He said, gloomily.
"Dickie, that's ridiculous. I always love you, no matter what. Do you understand?" He said, quietly.
He nodded and a nurse came in to give him his medication: an antidepressant and an a first-generation antipsychotic.
He sat there and lay his head in his father's lap, suddenly devoid of all energy. Bruced held onto him until he fell asleep. He kissed his son goodbye and headed out on a mission.
Batman was going to have a talk with Slade.