A shocked and stunned silence filled the room after Dick Grayson had finished explaining the world situation into which they had been catapulted.
If their situation was already bad, now it was a thousand times worse.
"Let me get this straight." Slade Wilson irritably and annoyedly pinched the bridge of his nose and fixed the younger man with a look that clearly said he hoped he would refute his next words. "In this world our heroes are villains and our villains are heroes?"
Dick nodded somberly, his lips curling downward in a half incredulous half anguished frown.
Slade could not blame his former student for being so stunned and grief-stricken, knowing full well that Richard regarded the Justice League as family.
And now seeing evil versions of them surely would not have been healthy for the boy. And surely beating the evil version of his father savagely had not helped much.
Slade noticed how Richard's face had lost color and how the acrobat was mentally broken, as if he might collapse without warning at any moment.
The super-soldier shifted his gaze and noticed that Talia was also examining Richard's mental state, and he had to suppress a smirk, knowing it would be inappropriate and unsuitable.
Unlike popular belief Deathstroke knew tact.
Slade knew that Talia, even though she would never admit it, was beginning to worry about the first Robin and falling victim to Grayson's charms, as had happened to him after all.
But Grayson's charms were affecting Talia in a very different way than it affected Slade, and the mercenary did not see the time when the daughter of the Demon's Head would realize it.
He absolutely should have had the first place in line: he certainly deserved it.
But for now Slade needed to direct his thoughts elsewhere, namely toward his kiddo before he fell into a spiral from which he would not be able to get out.
Before he could say anything (what, even he didn't know: he might know what tact was but that didn't mean he knew how to comfort a hero from problems bigger than a fucking canyon), to his surprise and shock (and secretly relief) Talia fucking Al Ghul preceded him.
Talia rested a hand on the acrobat's left arm, which was shaking slightly, and the younger man's head snapped toward her, his blue eyes widening slightly as he met the woman's green eyes.
"They are not the people you have come to love and regard as family, Richard. They are merely heartless monsters who kill for no real reason. They are not the heroes of our world and never will be: they are just corrupted and distorted versions of your heroes." she spoke in a calm and comfortable voice, her posture as gentle as possible.
Talia did not know the exact reason that prompted her to comfort Richard but seeing him so downcast, his blue eyes duller than usual... sent a painful pang to her heart.
If someone had told her a month earlier that she would find herself comforting Grayson she would have laughed at them and immediately killed them on the spot.
Yet here she was, trying to lift the last flying Grayson's spirits.
Richard remained silent, and just as Talia mentally panicked fearing she had said something wrong (what the hell was happening to her?), Nightwing snapped forward and wrapped his arms around her figure.
Talia stiffened at the physical contact.
Richard... was he hugging her?
And wasn't she mutilating his arms?
What the fuck?
Not knowing what the hell to do she turned her panicked eyes to the mercenary who was clearly enjoying the show and at her questioning look he shrugged with a smirk.
"You just have to return the hug." Dick murmured, his voice slightly rougher than usual but containing a hint of amusement.
Talia swallowed the sarcastic retort she was about to say, and instead of insulting him and telling him to go to hell, she awkwardly wrapped her arms around Richard's body.
The embrace... was not as unpleasant and disgusting as she thought, after all.
It was rather pleasant and enjoyable. The warmth that Richard conveyed was pleasant, and she found herself enjoying it thoroughly.
She felt heat making its way into her chest as well, along with an emotion that she could not successfully identify.
Whatever it was... it was not bad.
She had never felt this sensation before but it was nevertheless deliberately welcome.
Talia decided that she liked this warmth but would never admit it out loud, of course.
Be that as it may, people would begin to call her a fool and weak.
Talia's head snapped toward Wilson when she heard a suspicious click and gritted her teeth when she saw him take a picture with his disposable cell phone. Talia immediately broke the embrace, openly ignoring how she already missed the warmth, and stared fiercely at Wilson trying to push aside the slight embarrassment.
"You'd better delete that picture Wilson!" she hissed menacingly.
Slade's smile increased in size, which angered her even more.
Dick smiled at his former mentor. "You'll have to send me that picture, Slade."
The mercenary nodded with a smirk and fiddled with his phone.
Talia growled at both men. "Don't you dare-"
She was interrupted seconds later by the acrobat's phone ringing. "Done." smugly declared the super soldier.
"You're just idiots." muttered Ra's daughter, crossing her arms.
Dick chuckled amusedly, and Talia was relieved to see him return to his former self.
Not that she was worried of course.
Deathstroke smiled before turning serious again. "Now that we know more or less how this shitty world works what the hell do we do? I doubt any of us three know a way to get us back to our Earth."
Talia nodded distractedly before turning to the hero of Bludhaven. "Is there any hero in this world?"
"Give me a moment." he muttered as he started typing on the computer again. "There is mention here of a group of people who have tried unsuccessfully to take on the Injustice League but it does not say who is in it or what it is called."
"We should get in touch with them to see if they can help us." reflected Talia.
"However, we don't know how to contact them or how they are located. Nothing else useful is written here." reported the acrobat with a frown before brightening considerably and snapping his fingers.
"He had an idea." noted Slade amusedly.
Dick ignored his comment and turned toward the two assassins, an excited smile on his face. "If the roles are reversed in this universe that means that Slade Wilson and Talia Al Ghul of this world are good people and perhaps belong to the group that plans to stop the Injustice League!"
Silence fell in the room with Dick looking smilingly at the two rather stunned assassins.
"You may be right. Great idea, Richard." praised Talia.
Dick turned back to the computer hiding the slight blush that spread across his cheeks and began to type.
Talia did not notice it but Slade did and he merely smirked.
Soon, however, Dick's bright, joyful expression quickly fell away and the acrobat growled angrily and annoyed. "There is no information about Slade Wilson and Talia Al Ghul from this world! It's as if they don't exist at all!"
"Damn it!" grunted an equally irritated Slade.
There was another silence this time broken by Talia. "What about you?" at Dick's confused look she explained. "The Richard Grayson of this world?"
The last Flying Grayson grimaced. "Since the roles are reversed it is very likely that I am a villain."
"You weren't on the list of villains you made just now, though." Slade pointed out.
"And you haven't found any adopted children of the Bruce Wayne of this world." Talia added helpfully.
Talia and Slade insisted some more, and finally Dick relented, starting to write his own name on the Internet. A few seconds later Richard shockedly widened his eyes, opened his jaw wide, and muttered incoherently to himself.
"It can't be." he continued to mutter.
Slade and Talia exchanged a glance before the mercenary moved closer to read more. What he read made his one eye open wide in horror, and a bad feeling stirred in Talia's stomach.
She was sure that whatever happened to this Richard, she would not like it.
"Wilson?" asked Talia questioningly and slightly worried.
Slade shook his head to return to the present and stared at Talia, his gray eye becoming expressionless. "In this world to be killed by Tony Zucco who sabotaged the trapeze wires were not Richard's parents but Richard himself." he declared in a somber voice.
It felt to Talia as if the air had been taken out of her lungs, preventing her from breathing. It was as if someone had ripped out her heart and then jumped on it.
The news was so upsetting and shocking to her that she staggered backward dazed, nausea beginning to rise. Talia swallowed heavily and forced herself to throw the bile back down.
The thought of a Dick Grayson, dead fallen to the ground with all his bones broken, then only eight years old was completely nauseating and frightening even for a woman as strong as she was.
Talia did not know why this news had hit her so hard; it was not that she and Richard were best friends. She began to think that perhaps the reason was because in the last period she and Richard had grown slightly closer reaching a kind of mutual respect and she had begun to see him in a different light with him gaining her respect.
Yes, that was probably the reason.
Talia's heart clenched painfully when she saw tears falling from the acrobat's eyes. "Richard?" she called uncertainly and worriedly.
When he turned toward the woman, she gasped as she saw Richard's watery smile and she began to suspect that she was hallucinating.
"Are you smiling Richard?" the mercenary asked slowly, confirming Talia's suspicions.
"Sorry folks." Dick wiped his eyes but continued to sob slightly. "It's just that the first few years after my parents died, I always hoped it was me who died that night."
That confession made both murderers wince.
Talia felt the urge to scream, to shout at Richard that she would not have wanted him to die instead of his parents. Instead she merely stared at him surprised and silent.
"I thought you had gotten over your parents' death." Slade stated bluntly but not rudely.
"I did. I finally did. I would never trade my life in my world for one with my parents, even if it makes me a bad son toward them." before anyone could disprove him he turned sharply toward his former mentor. "When Grant died did you wish to give your life for his?"
Once again Talia found herself impressed by the directness with which Richard addressed Wilson while also touching some sore buttons.
Slade closed his eye, knowing what the acrobat was getting at. "Every fucking day."
Dick nodded, mirroring his point exactly. "That's what I wished too in the first years after their deaths. In the end, however, I overcame it and am happy with my life."
The room fell into silence again and Talia was the first to break it. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you survived."
Dick stared at her open-mouthed before elbowing the stomach of Slade who grunted glaring at the younger man who ignored his glare. "You heard it too, right? Did Talia Al Ghul just confess that she appreciates me?"
"Yes." confirmed Slade with a smirk.
Talia rolled her eyes, a small blush covering her face as she crossed her arms sternly. "It is more accurate to say that I tolerate your presence Richard. Don't feel too special."
Dick suppressed the giggle that threatened to escape his lips. It was like seeing an adult female version of Damian.
Like mother like son. He thought with amusement.
"I know you're growing fond of me, Talia."
"In your dreams." scoffed the woman.
"Trust me, Talia." began with a mischievous smirk Slade, his eye twinkling with humor that neither Dick nor Talia liked. "In his dreams you do more than just appreciate your husband."
It took a few seconds before the double entendre of the mercenary's sentence registered by the fake couple.
Dick was paralyzed on the spot, his cheeks burning bright red as he stared wide-mouthed at his former mentor (very motherfucker, in his opinion).
Why the fuck was Slade so fixated on Dick and Talia?
Talia growled when Wilson dodged her knife with a smirk but she smiled smugly when Richard swept the older man's legs causing him to fall to the ground with a resounding thud.
Slade groaned from the floor absentmindedly massaging his head. "I think I deserved it." he muttered. Then he stared at Talia. "How many fucking knives do you have?"
"As if I'd tell you." snorted Talia haughtily.
Slade rolled his eye and got to his feet with a grunt, ignoring his former student's arrogant grin. "I think we'd better go to dinner so we can go to sleep and tomorrow morning we can establish a plan of action."
The other two uttered murmurs of agreement and the three of them left the room to head for the hotel's mess hall.
Dick, Talia and Slade returned to their room after eating dinner, miraculously without causing any accidents. After all three changed into their pajamas in different rooms, the mercenary threw himself onto his couch by putting his hands behind his back and crossing his legs, staring at the other two. "I can't wait to see you two sleeping together." he sneered.
"Pervert." muttered Talia.
"Which eye are you looking forward to?" asked Dick with a cheeky grin.
Slade stared at him impassively. "Fuck you kiddo."
"Thanks old man!"
Talia lay down on the bed and gave Richard a dirty look. "I will slit your throat in your sleep if you try to sleep on my bed."
"Geez, take it easy." Dick rolled his eyes and then smiled arrogantly at her. "Besides, you've grown too attached to me by now to kill me."
Talia glared at him but did not deny his statement, which made him smile.
The first Robin leaned his back against the wall of the room, a few feet from the bed, and closed his eyes. "Night Slade."
Deathstroke grunted.
"Good night Talia."
"...Night Richard."
