Teen Titans; ReBeL Yell – If I Had Stayed A Renegade

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Came up with hilarious idea of Slade getting sass from his after a year now protégé, Dick being later carted off on a mission that involves jumping from a malfunctioning plane thousands of feet above sea level. Dick again protests and Slade doesn't take kindly to the boy's disobedience a second time. Turns into an unintentional bonding moment. And angst ensues!

The joke's on him, so look alive! On a roll, five days at work just makes me more fired up…and kinda thirsty…here we go!

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Without a Parachute

"Not even close."

Dick groaned and sat up at his makeshift desk.

"Why do I need to know how many kilometers, again?"

"Ehen?"

"Ah, right… Master." Dick let the title slip out quickly. Leaving the heroes to keep Slade from going trigger happy made it seem like he'd never have a good ounce of his own time to work to his aim or just, relax.

Slade was ex – military from what he was capable of. Still, the math department for Dick had always been a breeze.

Until Slade made Dick's star Mathletes badge dimmer by his super – powered concoctions written on a white board that was definitely not finished…

"Batman never went this hard on me –

"He didn't use the same formulas of a sword wielding mercenary." Slade frowned. "You should already know how to solve it."

"So, what if I do? That board is taller than Bane and Killer Croc combined – sir…"

Dick watched as Slade's arm flopped to his side. He was considering his options.

Not good.

"Is…if the rate of travel is –

"We're done. For today."

Dick snapped his head up from his text books. Ten in all, four plus hours muted, but did he win?

"You may return to your quarters until I call for you again." The man said, his back to the boy as the sixteen-year-old had less of a clue as to why the man looked so…sullen. Had he actually wanted to do this as…an enjoyable part of their master and student relationship?

No, Slade was faking it. He liked to pull the wool over your eyes until the trap snapped shut.

Dick shuffled around the room and didn't eye Slade until he was out of the kid's hair. With a labored huff, Dick leaped over to the magnificent and messy equations' wall as he got to work solving each that he could.

Maybe, if Slade didn't have a bi – polar episode in his sleep later.

There.

Dick nodded at his work, a light going off on his wrist as he checked the time.

Late noon.

~ We're being called in for a job. Pack up and meet me at the entrance. ~

Dick nodded as Slade reduced the link to black and grey. The boy ran a gloved hand through his hair as he wondered if this was the life of an assassin that Slade had never bothered to tell him about.

/

The trip would be by a rather large armored craft, as Dick peered up at the size. Twice that of the Bat Wing, he didn't think he'd ever find himself behind the wheel of such a monstrous piece of machinery.

"Isn't she a beaut?" Slade sighed contently and today being MASKLESS, lugged their gear up to the ramp of the craft as Dick followed gingerly right behind.

"Is it safe?" Dick gulped, noticing this whirring catastrophe could gut a large jet out of the air if it collided like the Titanic had into an Atlantic iceberg.

Sending his glance over the man's shoulder but barely, Slade knew he'd be able to teach his little delinquent to pay attention before long.

"Better. It won't sink, if that's what you're implying." He replied curtly, as Dick just ignored every word in that last sentence.

"Unsinkable…right…" Renegade grumbled under his breath. "I feel safer already…"

/

They had their seats, their coordinates as Slade's hands roamed for the controls in the very front of the craft. Dick just braced himself and reminded his sorry traitorous rump that this man was a weapon of mass destruction that could show him mercy or…well, he wasn't going to see the equation's answer until they got back. Dick hated leaving his homework for later, Bruce had taught him to be ready for –

The craft jutted as Dick didn't bother to feel his heart leave past his throat. Slade just set their course and warmed up this airborne death machine.

"We'll be there in less than two hours, plenty of time to go over those –

He saw from behind that Dick was curled up and…. asleep. Cute, but it was a pointless way to hide behind his angst – fueled walls.

Oh, no no. That simply would make things harder if he napped during the entire process. With a toothy grin the mercenary got to work with his next step in today's lesson plan.

In never breaking from protocol.

/

The hour had passed and Dick awoke with a parched throat. He tiredly got his water bottle and dense granola bar out of a bag right beside him, right before…

"Slade! What happened to the controls!?!"

He gasped and saw the man trying to extinguish too many sparks that now littered the craft's front panel. Dick's water nearly spilled onto his lap as he hurriedly capped it back and rushed over, riskily willing to help the man.

"Stay back. She's done for." Slade warned in a wary tone of voice. "Could be a slight malfunction with the power supply." He lied, Dick's shriek being justice enough as the man was twice the actor Bruce would ever be.

"We have to jump."

" What ??" Dick near coughed up his bar of oats and dried fruit from only moments ago, pounding his chest as Slade gave his pupil a condescending glance from the side. He walked to their only exit and, KICKED.

Hard.

The armored door swung off its hinges as Slade scanned the room for a few parachutes…which he had purposely NOT packed since this was not really a real contract, but a life lesson in respect.

Dick didn't need to know that until they were back at the base.

Maybe, or he'd drag it out to have his kicks.

"I think, that we'll be in a tough pickle."

Dick seethed up at the merc and hugged his arms to his chest, as the gusts made him feel oh so safe.

" What pickle?? You said this stupid machine was unsinkable!! We're going to fall and combust at the same time! I'm not –

"Ever gone sky diving with that bat of yours, kid?"

Slade wasn't….

Dick grunted and looked out the window; the shocks from the monitor bursting, as he clung to his mentor's armored arm like some dumb child.

"You…had better let me get some shut eye after we land… so I can forget all of this."

"After your homework, boy. Now, we'll jump it. Hang on."

"What? I never –

" Waa!!!!!!"

They went, now the craft DID explode as Dick was in a panic but still taking in air to not pass out. He had to hit the ground, they were way off course, and it….

The thing below was not exactly a ramp, but pretty close as the space looked to be an air force base with all of the trimmings. The uniformed people below were as ants as Dick clung to Slade for dear life and screamed when he'd heard a crunch, of what looked to be plates of metal right below his master's feet.

Dick was tossed at the last moment, caught in the dirt as he rolled onto his side. Not very high…as Slade's body jutted up and bounced over to a second craft before lying flat in the dirt.

Motionless.

Dick's instinct wasn't to run, he still had his family to think about however…so he ran to aide his current keeper. His hands shaking as he checked for a pulse.

"Sir! Wake up! Can you hear me?? I'm sorry! We didn't…. we didn't end up safe and sound…It was just like the Titanic! Damn it, Slade! Don't you die on me!!"

/

The few hours it took, Dick stayed with the men on the base that Slade hadn't told the boy had given him the plane to teach his kid a few ops style lessons. "Older models are no good, we just got funding from good old Sam and the new ships are up and functional. An' the old Colonel wanted the most defective one at full price? Can you believe him!"

Dick cussed under his breath as he went into the med room, where Slade was up and chatting with one of the on-staff nurses.

"You…. you set this whole thing up ??"

"Got a few extra pillows, Connie?" Slade asked the personnel as she nodded and dove away to retrieve Slade's fluffy ammo.

"No, no more napping and pulling this…bull!" Dick demanded and stomped his foot angrily. "We are going BACK, Slade. Because this time? You screwed up! For the world's supposedly "second-best" tactician, you should have checked your intel back at the haunt before pulling this bonehead move behind my back." Snorted the kid, his lip curled up as he looked for something to chuck at this condescending bonehead of a teacher.

"I did the math, all of it - but you just HAD to go a turn into the world's biggest –

"Watch your tone with me, boy."

I can't! So, why shouldn't I be your damn Wintergreen right now??" Dick shouted as Connie tossed four fluff protectors to the older man atop the Gurney.

"You want to take your anger out on something, why not these?"

"Are…. are you seriously suggesting I punch a pillow?? Seriously?? I'm not wrong. You won't get to see my answer to your board if you keep playing the bad guy." Dick reprimanded this idiot, but like all good men in history? They weren't all so golden at the best of times.

Slade did his best to avoid pulling a few ligaments, yet the pillow he threw made a dent in the wall anyway as Dick grabbed the thing from said hole and grinned devilishly at his master.

"You are so gonna apologize, sir!!"

Back and forth until the room was full of knocked over equipment and wall dents from Slade's inhuman tosses, until Dick was sweating through the collar. Slade had already healed well enough to leave his bed mattress as he went to confront his enraged protégé.

"Let's go. You're beat, so am I." With a warm hand to the kid's shoulder, the boy sniffled and nodded eagerly. "I'm done…I just want to go home…"

/

Slade let Dick tire himself out as any parent should a riled-up teen. It wasn't until he'd gotten to see the board Dick was talking about that it had hit him. Wintergreen entered the room and seemed even more so upset.

"You did make a mess all on your own. I heard everything; this blasted training exercise was unnecessary and you must realize –

"Yet, I'm the one he depended on then, Will. And he certainly has progressed further than I'd hoped." (part two apprentice) Slade traced the written formula with his fingertips as Will just shook his head. "He has no other choice. The Titans are who yet again, he'll be loyal to even if you want Robin to look at you as a perfect example. You're pushing him as before. It's not advised that you don't let the boy fail here and now…yet…Don't let your thoughts drift off." William warned. "Let the young man rest."

Slade agreed with a solemn shrug. "For a bit, I have an even better idea to make it up to him."

Will rolled his eyes and readied to wander back off. Getting lost in a maze wouldn't do any good at this point. His friend needed him like another shot to the eye. "Should I prepare to increase the use of more medical ointment and bandages, sir?"

"Won't be necessary, Wintergreen." Slade replied, earnestly. "I'm just going to pay him a visit once he's up …. long enough for a small chat."

"Good luck then, sir." Will snorted. "Maybe I should revoke his pillow privileges for a few days?"

"I'll keep it in mind." Slade nodded before squinting at one number out of place on Dick's well decorated poster of excellence.

"Almost there, Grayson." He sighed to himself. "Almost there."

/

Dick had romped against the pillows as Slade saw cotton and feathers about the floor; the boy was still half awake and somewhere else entirely.

"That was a dirty trick."

"It was a test, and…you may have been right about one thing." Slade shut the door slowly from behind as he took something out from behind his back. Dick rose barely with his disheveled bed head and matted tear-streaked face. "What are you doing here?"

"Apologizing, the best way I know how." Slade said in a softer tone to keep the child at ease. "You've never done covert jobs before –

"Not when falling to my death. Or seeing you almost…"

Dick swallowed. "You, didn't have a pulse."

"It's a military trick...might teach it to you some time." Slade fibbed, pulling out his peace offering with his mask coming off just so the boy could see his sincerest expression.

"First time you did that, was when I found out what you did for a living." Dick murmured into his last pillow that he hadn't beat the stuffing out of.

"Well, I thought it was the right time to apologize. I saw the answers you put on the whiteboard in the main room. You're definitely almost at the Bat's level."

"Huh." Dick huffed softly into the downy mound below his chin. "Thought you hated his guts."

"I respect him enough. I was trained to kill, and he…has his thoughts I suppose." Slade let the words faintly expire as he placed the leather-bound journal onto the kid's bedside, right in his line of sight. Dick blinked and turned over to examine the parcel until he sat up and rubbed his eyes, the engraved wolves and other silly totem creatures making this gift feel…

"It was something I thought we could try. I'm not very strongly opposed to alternative, tactics when it comes to dealing with an outburst or two. Anger is a dangerous drug, Renegade. Like that event, if I had been…understanding enough, we'd have been left to dwell back here in the haunt. I think this experience opened my eyes as I hope it has yours. You're welcome to write as much as you can and I won't ask to look until you're ready."

Dick gaped at his luck, no. At…

"This, this is the first time you…. what if I write up…new battle tactics –

"We can always improve your composition, until you are ready."

"Escape plans?"

Slade paused to think. "You know what you can and cannot do, Renegade. You're a smart boy, I don't need to tell you that much."

Dick swallowed, still feeling a need to quench his thirst once he was back to centering himself.

"Thank…thank you, sir."

Slade knew that Master was a step not to be forced, not unless a mission called for Dick to act so willing to betray his former team and the bat.

"You are very welcome, my apprentice." As he should be, Slade was his keeper and his caregiver until the time came for Renegade to make his mark without the man's help. A few years later, that journal would become a laminated passage in his growth as Slade's successor.

"Take your time, I'll call you for supper or Will can. Up to you for today."

"Either, is fine." Dick took in a breath. "Sir, sorry. Hope the equation was…sort of, ok?"

Slade put a hand to the doorway.

"Almost, Renegade." He'd hinted as Dick cocked a brow at his teacher quietly.

"Almost there."

/

Wolves in healing medicine are naturally teachers, so Slade is using this symbol to show how he feels about the rest. That Dick will better himself and learn in the future, ah! So, what say you? Any more bright ideas, and no pirates yet! I'm not a buccaneer yet who's to say? Until next one shot! They've gotten lately, too dark so I decided to experiment. Almost like the earlier one shot of Slade and Renegade fighting Bane. Less of a real depth and more hurt and comfort between their current dynamics.

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