A/N

Thanks again for the reviews and ideas, you guys have given me a lot to consider so thanks XD keep the ideas coming. Who should be Dick's friend? A similar aged Damian, a grown up Jason/ elder brother (Thanks for the great idea RJG Lover, I hadn't thought of that) or both. Leave me a review to let me know.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing

Chapter 3 (Due to my inability to come up with chapter names)

000-Dick Grayson-000

Location: Unknown

Date: 8th July 2013

Time: 9:45 AM

Dick was deep in thought; he didn't know what to think. This man was offering him a home – that was very much welcomed. He had only been on the streets of Gotham for a few hours and he could safely say he never wanted to again. This man was a murderer though; he couldn't stay with him, could he?

No. Slade hadn't done anything to hurt him as of yet but someone who worked as a killer had to have problems. Normal people didn't do things like that.

Part of him understood – hell even agreed with Slade. Part of him wanted to put Zucco to justice and part of him knew that the only way that would happen would be through ending him. Permanently.

But still, only a small part of him believed that. The part held the grief stricken boy who had watched helplessly as his parents fell to their deaths. The rest of him knew killing was wrong. If he killed, what would there be separating him from Zucco.

Nothing, Dick thought, and then I would be just like him.

Still –No.

Zucco needed to be put to justice, but not like that. He would not become a killer. What would his parents think?

They're dead Grayson. Remember you failed them. The least you could do is avenge them. The darkness within him urged. He had been hearing from this side of him since he woke up, never when his parents died. It was like their deaths had unlocked the demon inside of him. The demon voicing all of his hidden doubts, the demon who at times could be so convincing, the demon he never knew he had.

No. shut up! Dick's inner voice screamed.

I'm only saying what you're thinking, what you're too afraid to admit.

No!

Coward.

Shut up!

Thankfully the voice stopped, unlike Dick who had been too busy battling his inner demon to realise Slade had stopped and walked into him.

Ow. Holy brick that hurt, Dick thought.

"Sorry…" Dick mumbled bashfully.

The man nodded, though Dick noticed the small smirk on the man's face as he moved to the side allowing Dick to see a brightly lit Kitchen and dining area. The room was open plan with the kitchen at the far side. The room seemed very homely with a breakfast bar and stools at one of the kitchen work top. The walls were a pale orange and the tiles in the kitchen were white. The worktops held a vast number of cooking utensils and spices of all kinds.

I guess this guy likes orange, Dick thought with a smirk.

What really hit him was the smell, it was absolutely mouth-watering and it took all of Dick's self- control to stop himself running to the source.

Shyly, Dick peeked around Slade's side to see an old man bustling around in the kitchen. He looked up at Slade not quite knowing what to expect from the man and hoping Slade would provide an answer. As a response Slade placed his hand on Dick's back – easing him forward. Dick resisted slightly still a little nervous.

"It's alright Dick – this is Will." Slade introduced.

The man turned around and waltzed over to them at the sound of his name. He looked at Dick and smiled warmly.

"Why hello young man; no need to be shy – I don't bite, Slade on the other hand…" the man trailed off with a mischievous chuckle; extending his hand to Dick.

Dick looked back up at Slade who rolled his eye and shook his head. Dick looked back at Will and smiled softly at him; the man seemed nice enough so Dick returned the gesture. They shook hands for a moment before Will released him.

"Now why don't you sit yourself down and I'll bring you some breakfast. Slade, don't do anything to make our guest uncomfortable will you?"

Slade smirked and chuckled under his breath.

"Haven't you got something more important to worry about, our current supply of washing powder for instance?" Slade said wryly.

The old man shot Slade a stern glare causing his smug smirk to grow in strength. Dick bit back a giggle to no avail. He flushed as the sound escaped his lips.

"Well, at least someone appreciates my sense of humour." Slade mused

"Well, someone is bound to." The man said in a disinterested tone, shooting Slade a dry look.

"Jealousy is not a desirable quality, Will." Slade drawled as he reached down to ruffle Dick's hair, Dick pouted. He didn't like it when people messed up his hair.

Slade didn't seem to notice as he lowered his hand to Dick's shoulder to lead him over to a large wooden table.

Slade sat down at the table Dick jumped up onto the chair next to Slade and examined the table, it had been engraved beautifully. It seemed unreal that a criminal could live here. He had always pictured them living in some old run down ware house; this place seemed very welcoming.

His eyes once again caught sight of the patch over his right eye. Dick could only wonder what had happened to it – he certainly wasn't going to ask the man. Along with his short white hair, slight stubble and muscular build the eye patch only added to the man's all powerful image.

The man screamed out complete and unchallenged authority and dominance. Dick certainly didn't want to get on the wrong side of him – nope.

Unfortunately, it was not uncommon for Dick's brain and mouth to disagree with each other, a battle that Dick's smart mouth, more often than not won causing no end of trouble for him at school. It wasn't that Dick was cocky; he just found it hard to resist giving sarcastic answers to stupid questions. His teachers just didn't seem to appreciate his ability to unravel things they said and make them look foolish.

Dick's eyes met with Slade's good eye, the man seemed to be studying him carefully; he ducked his head in embarrassment.

"You can look at me you know." It was a statement not a question.

Dick looked back up – his cheeks burning. Boy he felt stupid.

"Um … yeah, right – I…." Dick trailed off – at a loss of what to say; gee what was it about the guy that made him nervous. It wasn't like he was scared or anything.

He doesn't scare me. Dick tried to assure himself, not very convincingly – not even he believed himself.

You're a terrible liar Grayson, The voice rang through his head, he scares you because you know you're not strong enough to stand up against him.

Dick managed to push his inner thoughts away as Will placed a full fry-up in front of him before sitting on the seat opposite him.

"So, you're the boy who has impressed Slade? You should be proud – he is rather picky." Will said in an attempt to spark up a conversation.

Slade rolled his eye and glared at Will, Dick found it funny to watch those two interact, they seemed like close friends yet brothers at the same time.

"I am not picky; I just have high standards." Slade murmured before tucking into his breakfast. Dick followed suit.

He took a bite out of the sausage. It was delicious, soon they had all finished and Dick had come to a conclusion – Damn that guy could cook.

"Thank you sir; that was amazing!" Dick said beaming up at the man, his eyes sparkling.

"Don't mention it Richard, really Slade could do with taking a leaf out of your book you're so polite. Please it's Will." the man replied with a warm smile.

It was funny how such small things could warm Dick's heart after everything – even the way Slade had wiped away his tears made him feel a little better. Well until he remembered who the man was, then he felt ashamed; accepting comfort from a criminal.

Could he be happy here?

In a way, Dick was glad that Slade took – well kidnapped him. Not that he would admit to it but the man was right; after running away – in Gotham of all places, he was lucky to be alive. He had been stupid and reckless, sure he had been angry but that didn't excuse him. He was seven years old for crying out loud.

If Slade hadn't showed up –

"Dick, I'll show you around while Will goes out to get you some clothes"

Ok. This seems permanent if they're getting me clothes. Don't I get a say in this, Dick thought, apparently not.

"Um… yes sir." Dick said as he stood up. Slade smirked at the title.

Why did I say that? You're an idiot Grayson; you've successfully boosted his overly large ego.

Slade turned to walk out of the room and Dick followed him.

The first thing that Dick discovered was that the place was huge, not only that but the number of winding corridors made the place like a maze. He could easily get lost if he wasn't careful and he didn't figure he would memorise the routes any time soon.

As they walked down the halls Dick was shown the living room, though he already knew where that was, Slade's study and a library though none of these interested Dick particularly. There were however three rooms along the main corridor but Dick wasn't going to ask.

They had just gone down to the basement and Dick saw two big doors on opposite sides of the hall, it almost reminded him of the two doors riddle they had done at school where one door led to death and the other untold riches. Each door in the riddle was guarded by an officer, one lied and the other told only the truth and the idea was to choose the door that led to the riches only asking one question. The riddle had caused a lot of problems at school, but Dick had always been quite a logical thinker so had decided that the best question would be to ask which door would the other guard say held the riches, and the door would be the one neither pointed at.

He knew it was stupid, but the riddle made him apprehensive about entering; never the less Dick swallowed his fear and continued. His father had always told him that being scared wasn't a weakness; it was one of the biggest strengths. The power of fear allowed you to do things that things you normally thought weren't humanly possible, run faster, fight longer and harder. What was important about fear was that you didn't let it control you, you couldn't let it win. You were a stronger person if you could overcome your fears than if you didn't have any to begin with. At first he had thought his dad was joking, everyone would want to be the brave hero who could face anything. Back in that alley he truly realised that his dad was right; he was scared witless but that made him stronger, he fought back, he might have even won if he wasn't so small.

Dick became aware that Slade had opened the door on the left. Dick's face instantly lit up as he looked inside; there was a huge indoor swimming pool. He was ecstatic, he began to fidget, he always did that when he saw something he wanted to try. It brought out the daredevil side of him.

"Whoa! That is awesome!" Dick exclaimed, it truly was. He loved swimming but he never got to go much, the circus was always moving. That was why he couldn't go to public school, they never stayed in one place for more than a week at the most, he had to make do with the circus tutor. He was decent enough but never taught anything particularly challenging. What use would a circus kid have of advanced math and science?

Dick was intelligent and he loved a challenge, but never really got one there. He wished he could of gone to public school or at least be taught more interesting stuff. That was where he differed from the other circus kids, he liked to learn.

"If you look over there," Slade said, directing Dick's gaze to some sort of built in room with a big glass window at the front "that is the control room; it allows me to control waves and temperature to stimulate different training scenarios." Slade said rather smugly.

"That is sooooo cool!" Dick proclaimed, he was practically buzzing with excitement.

"If you'll follow me," he must have noticed Dick's hesitance. He didn't want to go he doubted there would be anything better that the pool, "don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to come here, under supervision of course." he said the last part with a wry smirk.

Dick looked up with what he intended to be a scowl, though he was pretty sure it came out more as a pained pout. His eyes didn't help, his father had always joked that he couldn't take Dick seriously because of his eyes. They supposedly sparkled with innocence.

"Well I can't have you drowning, now can I kiddo?"

"I am a great swimmer!" Dick exclaimed at the top of his voice. He was a pretty strong swimmer for his age.

"That may be the case, but how responsible would I be if I allowed you to swim unattended? Besides Will would have my hide." Slade said dryly. Dick wondered how an old man like Will could possibly take on a guy like Slade.

"He can beat you?" Dick asked, confusion evident in his voice. Slade smirked again.

"No, but I wouldn't hear the end of it, Will can be quite persistent when pointing out things he disapproves of." Slade chuckled.

"Does it stop you – I mean other people's opinion on things you do?" Dick asked curiously, he would be lying if he said the man didn't intrigue him.

"You ask some good questions for someone your age, you know? You have a sense of understanding of the world that most grown adults have. I like that; as for your question – would you?"

Dick looked down for a minute, concentration etched deep in his face. Would he let other people's views stop him doing what he wanted to do?

Dick looked back up at the man. He was waiting patiently for Dick's answer.

"I suppose it – wait you can't answer a question with another question!" Dick exclaimed, that didn't answer his question. Not in the least.

"Touché," Slade replied "wisdom beyond your years Dick, most children would have answered my question." He reached over to tousle Dick's hair. Dick tried to avoid it but wasn't fast enough to avoid the impending dishevelling of his hair.

Why do grown-ups have a weird obsession with messing my hair? Dick thought. It was strange; they always seem to coo about how soft his hair was. He just couldn't figure out what the big appeal was. Maybe he was missing something.

"Stop messing my hair up!" Dick whined. Slade smirked and looked at him with great consideration, not removing his hand.

"Why, does it annoy you?" Slade asked feigning mock innocence.

"Yes." Dick replied hopefully. Maybe he'll listen.

"I'll keep that in mind." Slade said seriously before ruffling his hair once more before withdrawing.

Dick sighed, will he hell.

Slade turned to leave the room, Dick trudging close behind as they walked to the door on the opposite side of the hall. Slade opened the door and walked in. Dick followed.

He honestly didn't know what to say – he was utterly gobsmacked. Before him was a vast, expanding room filled with various training equipment and Dick began fidgeting again. He felt like he imagined most kids felt like in a sweet shop. He just wanted to try everything, then and there. There were also racks full of gadget and weapons. What really stood out for Dick was a compound bow. He had always been a fan of Robin hood so had always wanted to try archery.

Dick looked up at Slade in awe, his eyes wide open and his mouth slightly agape.

"Am I right to assume, by your inability to speak and rather dumbfounded expression that you like this room?" Slade asked wryly; a smirk lifting his lips.

Dick could feel himself heating up. Oh great he was blushing. Dick quickly averted his gaze by turning to focus on the bow.

Slade must have noticed because he walked over to the rack and grabbed the bow before returning to Dick.

"I noticed you were looking at this," Slade stated as he turned the weapon over in his hands examining it carefully, "You ever used a bow, Dick?"

"No-"Dick began.

"Hmm," Slade said with great consideration putting the weapon back, "I can teach you if you like."

Dick looked up him with wide eyes; the man would teach him how to use a bow, that was an amazing offer. Was he serious? His mom had always said it was too dangerous.

"Are you serious?" Dick asked, trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

"I am."

"Wow. Thank you – thank you – thank you!" Dick exclaimed with a grin.

Slade ruffled his hair, but surprisingly it didn't bother him; he was just too ecstatic for the act to extinguish his mood.

"Don't mention it kiddo," The man smiled before slipping his hand on Dick's shoulder, "come on. There's one more room I want to show you."

Slade used his grip on Dick's shoulder to manoeuvre him out of the room and up the stairs. Soon they were outside one of the rooms Dick had been wondering about. He directed him to his and will's room using a gesture.

"This," Slade started as he typed in a combination on the keypad. Dick heard a clicking sound before Slade opened the door, "is your room."

With that, Slade leaned against the door frame, giving Dick space to enter.

Dick looked around; it was fairly big with a double bed in the middle, with a dark blue cover, the walls were a soft, baby blue. Opposite the bed was a desk and chair and to the side a door leading to an En suite bathroom. On the wall with the door was a dresser and on the other wall, a fairly large bookshelf. All in all it seemed pretty comfortable.

"I'll leave you to settle in; Will should be along soon with some clothes. It's almost 11:30 so I'll come and get you in half an hour for lunch, then we can have a go in the training room, have a go with the bow. Sound good?" The man asked

"Yeah!" Dick beamed at the man.

"Well alright then" Slade smirked ruffling Dick's hair before leaving – shutting the door behind him.

Dick sighed; sitting down on the bed, which was incredibly soft. Dammit Grayson, focus, Dick thought. He didn't know what to think about Slade, the apprenticeship or any of it. On one hand, it was better than being alone in Gotham, but then again the guy was a criminal.

Should I really accept this from a criminal? Dick asked himself.

He lay down, utterly confused. God he wished his parents were there; they would know what to do – then again, he wouldn't be there if they were. He kicked off his shoes and pulled his knees up to his chest. He reached into his pocket to retrieve his photo of his family, he clutched it tightly. He wrapped his arms around his knees as he buried his head against them.

He didn't know what to do.

Did he do something wrong? Did someone hate him? Why did everything have to be so complicated?

He couldn't break down. He couldn't cry. He had to be strong, for them.

A single tear slipped passed his defences.

A/N : so what did you think? Leave me a little review to let me know. Ideas are more than welcome, any big mistakes bothering you? Tell me, I did go over it but it can be astonishing the things I miss in my own writing.

Next chapter: Dick gains first-hand experience when training with Slade( featuring Grayson angst YAY)

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