Nightwing; A Series of Doubts – Give and Take
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Chapter 7: Yesterday's News
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Slight warning in this for partial grooming, asphyxiation and gas lighting. And Slade looking hotter than Richard. You hath been warned! So, here we go!
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Slade was one to his word, he even had let Dick take his own ride to the mall while Slade hid and watched the kid fall into his web of even more hidden agendas.
~ He still has qualms with Red Hood and the Archer. She's going to be trouble if I don't think of a plan to slip in and sever the bond between those heroes for good. ~
Slade rubbed his chin as the machine in form eyed him back from its glassy display case. "I think I should take another peak…" He said to himself. "To better understand what I'm being given to work with…"
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Lights, sounds and a new skate park in this part of the mall had the eighteen-year-old woozy. He'd already lost some sleep despite staying in bed, but the thought of Slade sneaking up –
"Excuse me."
The teen twisted his neck around to see if this wasn't just his imagination; that the chiseled, white-haired man with a glass replica of his first blue eye, was not…
Dick's mouth pursed into a fine line. "You're not following me." Even if he was dressed like a playboy, Slade wasn't. He was too modest for that, and Dick was finally wearing less cargo as of today.
"You don't look like the "Holleestre" type." (Copyright.) Slade scratched his cheek and acted aloof in front of the hero.
"Babs said the same, said I'm better in something the eighties coughed up." The boy wonder turned and spied a directory. "What abo –
"I have a better idea." Slade dragged the kid by the back of his collar towards the directory board, and sent his pointer to land on the best money could buy.
"I can't afford to shop there! I'm –
" I'm paying for today." Slade smiled and tried to keep the kid calm while they were stuck in this upscale outlet den of future criminals. "You'll just pay me back, later. You need to scream less "California Sunshine" and more minimalist casual if you ever want to blend into this city's high society one day. To get a better feel of how they work separately from Gotham's finest elite crowd."
"I hope, that you never have grandchildren to put into camo. They'd hate you too, you know for that." Dick sniffed as rich brats did and shoved Slade off of his shoulder, heading for the place his "mentor" saw as better suited for being a suit.
Slade clenched his fists, but remembered to be at a distance. "You'd think wearing red, green, and yellow was an understatement." The man chuckled and the mood dispersed, just until Dick saw where they were headed.
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"It's too big."
"You do have a lower muscle mass due to your history and level of fitness." Slade sighed with a pair of jeans swept over his arm.
He was NOT a living coat rack.
Dick stayed behind the curtain as the shop wasn't a fan of hard wood like the teen shops. (pun)
This place was for future generations of the highest class. He had to get used to trying to push for feeling less than cheap again. At times, he would need to lay low, yet that sort of wardrobe would be an easy one to procure. This, was on a different level.
Slade glanced down at his wrist watch. Almost time, he noted…. but, why was Grayson taking forever to try on a pair of upscale Revi's? (Copyright.)
He tapped his foot unhappily and grumbled, before putting the items on his arm to the side and…
The kid was not able to remember how to tie a damn tie.
How quaint that the little prince had lost this much faith in himself. Slade did withhold a portion of his cunning grin, knowing it could spike up the kid's heart rate to call security on him.
Why not lighten the load for the poor boy? After all, he was here and very invested in this kid's future for the long run.
"Dick? Are you alright?" He called, much softer than normal through the curtain as he heard the boy's heart skip by his mentor's presence.
" I'm fine!" He was a liar, by how his body moved and those shoeless feet seemed to shift all, too often.
"What is he doing in there." Slade clicked his tongue. Now or never.
"Are you sure you do –
" Don't. I've got it."
Dick was really biting off more than Slade could swallow, so the man shrugged and quickly yanked back a portion of the curtain, forcing the kid to still it as he put a finger to his own unmasked lips. The curtain lay flat again, none of the staff suspecting a thing.
"Get out of here!" Hissed the boy in an angry whisper, through clenched teeth. He was still in his new pants, and they were a bit big.
"We can always just tailor those." Slade hummed as Dick clutched a now crumpled white button down to his chest, balling in in frustration as Slade's arm shot out to spin him round in front of the mirror, other arm taking the shirt to settle and relieve it from the hero's touch.
"You're too tense, Dick. This is supposed to leisure trip." The man lied of course, as he had his arm out; the shirt was woven round to stay spread out wider. Slade assisted, gripping the worried boy's right arm as his mentor led one arm to find the shirt's hole. Dick's unmasked eyes remained shaken and wide as he saw himself being dressed against his will in the changing room mirror. "One down –
"I, please let –
"And waste more time on your, fussing?" Sniffed the elder as he kept his grip on the kid's other arm, maneuvering as it needed to go into one more hole of the shirt. "I don't think you deserve my thanks enough."
After the top was buttoned up, Slade came over with a proper tie delicately atop his palms and perfectly unwrinkled. Dick was trying to iron out the wrinkles his worries had left with his now free hands, not wanting to be lectured to death in the dressing room and miss his reunion lunch with old associates.
"This one would look better. Though, you are more suited to black than blue." Slade made his move as Dick felt the man move behind him, turning his student yet again to face him away from the accursed mirror. The tie was too tight as Dick tried to dig his fingers into Slade's roughened knuckles. "St…op…."
"Why won't you learn, Grayson…" Slade brought the kid to him with another yank, making the kid shudder by that hot breath at his jaw and then ear, as Slade slowly let his hands loosen the knot.
"There." He grinned and admired his work. "You've been out of practice, but don't worry." Slade reassured as Dick was forced to see himself in a newly suited look. The pants here were a bit more to suit another outfit, which meant Dick had lost the knack to know "fashion" since he'd shut himself away as well…
Great, more life lessons from his sociopathic teacher to come.
"The pants can be tailored so they won't encompass your waist in the wrong manner. That, top is…" He hummed again, that damn look making Dick bright red as he attempted to tug off the tie.
"Stop."
"I'm done." Dick huffed to the man. "This stuff makes me look like a little kid; I should be shopping for –
"Your height will change; I saw your future. Or, did you forget?" Slade leaned over the kid's head as that looming nightmare must have been doing what delusional groomers did.
Believe that their image was ungodly as all else.
Sicko. He'd get the work done when he had the time. Fucking tell Slade to keep his paws off, for one…
"We have to go and meet your brother." Slade stated as he looked back at his beeping wrist watch. "Pick up the outfits and I'll pay the rest. You can say thank you when we return home."
"Whatever." Dick snobbishly grabbed the items off of himself, now having permission to strip before –
"May I please have some privacy, sir?"
Slade was one to his word as he left the kid to gripe while this benefactor took care of the whole tab.
Two pairs of pants and a top and two silken black ties. The kid was not a spend thrift, so whatever he could do, Slade would have his protégé's honesty the next time.
Next time, before he crumpled anymore high-end fashion pieces into a ball like that.
Even and extra tie, for when Dick aged and grew a bit taller by his next birthday.
He licked his lips. This was going to be a fun break up for his "experiment" to partake.
Couldn't wait to cheer his little brat on from the side lines. Just like the future "face" had said.
~ He wore his heart on his sleeve, and it was crushed then and a dozen more by the ones he had claimed to love…. ~ (Talking about Nightwing.)
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They went back to the section of the mall that stood out a bit, the Ferris wheel in the backdrop being a very nice touch.
"Goldie!!!"
Minus a screeching red bird who'd swooped in to ruin it.
As Slade stayed incognito and away from his poorly dressed vision of a successor, the whooping delinquent known as the Red Hood or just Jason Todd for today, came bounding over while making rock music look corny.
"Aw, it has been a long time since I saw you, bro. Hey, you remember Kori? Course ya' do! You two used to –
"Jay, it's nice to see you, but…Star? Are you s-
"Are we not allowed to "stay in the close" proximity and to keep in touch via our cellular devices?" She asked crudely. Her hair was down as always while she wore a pale denim mini skirt and a top with her cleavage just peeking out before a button-down tied top.
Was she a model or something else? Or, still mistaking the weather in Blud for Jump city or Star city.
"I came here due to the fact that you were a hero now, and I wanted to know how you took down the evil terror- ist with your wits about you."
"Ah, I….it was….a stretch?" Dick answered as by the café a few feet back, Slade with a baseball cap on and a macchiato at his seat, before he made a face plant to that answer. While he was actually applauding Dick for being too awkward. That would make things easier in order to push away his future lovers.
"Let us then find a decent table…. the eatery across the way looks very nice!" She drifted over to the smell of high-quality crepes as Slade made a note to have Dick run laps later.
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Kori had learned to eat a modest portion since working with Red Hood and the Outlaws in her spare time, she told her ex. "I have fond thoughts of Roy not getting to upset when I cook my Tamaranian version of the panned cake." She beamed. "The "Snorfleglech Urrichle"
Both men just looked down at their plates and tried to imagine a world without a waffle house.
"So." Todd leaned back and dropped his fork a second to speak up. "How's the new you in Blud? Are you…. handling this new time apart from Cy pretty well?"
"Babs is helping me set up a network for our patrols." That was in the plan, but it still would have some time before Dick was set up in his place as a base of operations.
"You are still called "Robin" by the woman on the news." Kori dropped her fork to ask. "How is it you have not decided upon a new "name of the code?"
"I'm still working on it…"
"Dickie's never been very creative, Kor." Red picked up his fork as the butter was starting to melt.
"He….om…. go….is….mm…. degree…yer?"
"Don't chew, Jay! Have some manners –
Kori however had followed suit, her hunger returning as the entire restaurant of guests and waiters looked their way.
" Alien custom!" Dick apologized. "Shows the chef that the is the best place to get your grub on!"
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After that date of taking him down a peg, Dick was tired. So much so that he hadn't seen Kori pull out her cell as her eyes sparkled, voice so pure…
He felt like shit as Todd came up and whacked a hand on his back. "Hey, don't flip but she's been going steady with Archer. Roy?"
Dick gawked. "Why wasn't I told?" She was blowing him off, after that and…
Mud under her heels, as he glared back at Jason. "I shouldn't be here right now."
"I know, dude. The break up was a bad thing, but she's…she still a friend like you of the Titans. Right?"
Dick let go of Jay's shirt as he rubbed his own arm anxiously, a bit embarrassed. "I hope they still know what I was to them."
"You're forever a stinking hero, bro." The kid clapped him on the back. "And since you and Barbie –
"We are not together." Dick heaved a sigh out, hand over his temples. "She's, my partner. She keeps our careers going and I can do with one more semester until I get into the academy."
"You know that's why she couldn't stand by you. Right?"
Dick blinked. "Because I'd be a cop? How in the hell does that –
"No, because you were so knee deep in your own future that you gave up on theirs. You just, left everybody else out. And it had to be her, she's trying to –
"She let Speedy handle it. To get her to forget about me." Dick puffed out his chest. "I'm going to go talk to her –
"No!" Jay gripped Dick's arm as he forced the older male to reconsider. "She's doing better now! You can't just step in and ruin who she is now. Who the heck are you to judge? You –
"Shut up!"
Slade watched the action as a gasp came from one red head, he'd not want to miss…
"JASON!" She rushed over to her teammate and glared at Dick from beyond thick lashes. "You should not be fighting each of the other, and I demand that you cease this careless action immediately –
" Why did you go out with Roy??"
Shouted the boy wonder, his eyes unmasked of whatever contempt he had for that cocky, copy – cat in red and yellow.
"Excuse the me?" Star blinked up at her ex. "I do not believe there is a need to answer –
"He looks just like me, his I. Q, his combat skills, even his…. you are trying to replace what we had and didn't even tell me???"
"Why should I have to be given "the permission" to date whoever I please!" She shot back at the boy of her last desire.
"Roy has been willing and most kind to the team we manage together. I would have thought you and he were –
"He was my rival; you knew that and honestly…" Dick couldn't. "It was a mistake seeing you again. Goodbye Kori, Jay? I hope you –
"That is not "the ok!" Kori snapped back with her eyes all lit. "You have been fraternizing with another RED HEAD as well! You used to love her more than you EVER cared about "the us!"
"She's, my partner!" Dick defended himself. "We never cheated on you, I'd ne –
"Then what of your teammate, Roy? Has he not been most dishonest to me? When he and Jade left one another, he did not lie. He loves me! You never did…I was…. was…the red – haired replacement!"
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"One down." Slade mentally checked off his list those two, and three only once Roy saw his baby doll in tears.
"Many more to follow…" He smirked and took a sip of his now cold brew.
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Dick withheld his tears for the bed at home as Slade used the front door this time. "She'll get dumped eventually." Slade pretended to remain a constant support, even if this were for his own gain. "That Archer isn't as straight as an arrow…in the future, he might have a baby mama that won't be your lovely princess." With those words thus said, he was out the door as he set Dick's alarm while the boy cried himself off to sleep.
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Recall Roy's drug addiction and his kid with Jade. This, is just Slade cutting all bridges before he torches the boy wonder's path back to civilization. He'd using tactics to break Dick and he can't fight it without being Robin. As the future voice Slade talked about said; Dick is too soft and gets hurt easily by the ones he loves, yet he' already hurt them back just as badly. Definitely find out what Slade plans to teach Dick in future lessons. Slade face planting was fun, but macchiato? Eh, immortal or not, that's not human. Stay curious and read on for more to come.