Teen Titans Presents Robin – Torn Legacy of a Prodigal Son –

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Chapter 46: Animals

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Dick's breakdown had indeed changed his perspective over having a team, friends, all in Slade favor no less. It was a few days after their arrival to Metropolis that Slade believed it high time to find out if the boy was equipped to take on the role that Grant was sure Slade would fail at teaching the former boy wonder.

Slade drove them out a way to a clearing in the country's backroads. A few tall signs were pointing to a range that wasn't for cattle.

But guns.

Expert in the fact, Slade was finally sure that his snub nosed protégé, who's nose had remained upturned to the concept of killing for months, was finally cracking enough to reseal those shaking breaks with something that did belong in the kid's hands. Since day one, Grant's comparison had sobered up. Dick was to himself, heck! He'd change his name and face if the man told him to.

"Why did you bring me to this place, sir. I'm useless to you, aren't I like this?"

"You won't be this way forever, Dick." The maskless man today turned to pull into the parking lot on the grass as the car stalled, stopped and they hopped out on both accounts. Dick frowned at the building; it was for those who supported gun laws as a recreational thing, why bring him here and not in the woods?

"The next location is far enough as this one was, Richard. Stay beside me and let me work. Only speak when I expect a response from you."

"A – yes, sir…" Stuffing his hands into his pockets, the boy's detective mind was alight with the desire to survey and scout, yet that wasn't going to happen. Not under Slade's eye, never.

/

Dick saw how Slade knew every term that he hadn't recalled from the bat's risk training. Putting together and apart a gun had to be second hand, even for any officer of the law. He was against it, the idea that anyone needed a gun to have a swell time, he snorted and threw his hoodie's hood up, but just before the worker beside Slade as they chatted noticed the kid's moody appearance and broke his peace of mind.

"Hoodies aren't alright to wear in the station, kid. You in charge, sir?"

"He's my family, troubled kind so I thought a bit of what I'm good at might urge him to do better with his studies."

"Ah, are you going to join the force, boy?" The gruff - bearded idiot didn't take well to tantrums, he bet. "Ah, no. I'm going to be a cop one day like my dad who went and left my mom for som –

"Ahem, you think he should be out on the field with that attitude?"

"Trust me when I say." Slade interjected with a lone eye at the blinking associate. "That this isn't the first time he's learned to take orders."

/

Rose's hand went to her cap as she listened to the three squabbling over whether a moody fifteen-year-old could fire a couple of practice rounds. "All clear." She spoke by the comm in her ear, the rest seeing what she saw through special contact lenses back at their hideout. "As it looks through my eyes, Dick is putting up as much a resistance as you said, but I'm not buying the act. Something else is going on." She turned to covering her identity and her dark-haired pony tail was thankfully laced on pretty tight. "I'm back on, don't wait up." She moved like a fox into a hen house to the box where she'd be shadowing the boy once Slade's new pal had relented in letting the troubled teen have at his row of individual posters.

Targets that she knew Dick would never hit without puking his guts up in front of –

She saw him walking, something hollow and dark in his now stony blue gaze as Slade led them to the booth, specifying where she'd been on that same boat before. She got into doing the same prep, only slowly. She wanted to see if he'd spot her past the wall.

She held the gun up, the pistol heavy to an ameture as Rose had been taught by a second best before finding her own way in the same industry. Kill or be killed, she licked her lips, aimed, and released the lock to fire right into the target's skull. Point blank.

Slade took a good look from the corner of his eye at the shot; Dick freezing up until Slade identified his faults, trying to fix what he'd already broken as she went again. Slade's head shot up like a deer in the tall grass, head turning before shaking it, knowing her stance as if she were a phantom in his mind at that time.

"Remember the recoil." He told the boy not to hold himself back, that this had to happen because he did want to change.

Rose shot a bit longer, two in one as the flimsily dummy made Dick tense up.

Now Slade was getting distracted, enough to talk to the other?...

He instead adjusted Dick's arm carefully and then, the release was too satisfactory as she'd feared.

No mistakes, but no; he wasn't a sharp shoot as she chuckled and fired again. The bulky headphones on her head a single sequence as he was still keeping Dick from his pain with expert arms aside, just like her first lesson inside of that boot.

She went again, and shot again, Dick doing the same before coughing and having to hold his skull at the guilt of having tried. Anyone cpuld try, but he had to finish or Slade would try again until he got it. Regardless of what h –

~ Are you sure you don't need to rest, Dick? ~

Rose's mouth fell open. What the fuck?? Was he changing for THAT? He never did that for anyone but Terra, and she was a deranged looney like all of Slade's children. Dick was, definitely here for any other reason as he again went to stare coldly at the dirt. Ah, there it was.

Rose understood. Some bad news had leaked into the boy wonder's scope and his morals were being manhandled by the wrong therapist.

She shot another round as Slade watched Dick return his grip to the thing that he'd wasted his years in trying to stop. "Again." He rasped to his teacher, who initially expected a "let's go home."

"Alright, this time I want your eyes where I tell them to be, now."

/

Dick retched over the bowl back at the haunt until Slade was sure that this transformation would take a few more weeks or a month at best. His meeting with Luthor had to be this week, which meant Dick either dragged his feet in those doors with his worried master, or he stayed locked up and possibly suicidal by the look of his scowl having gotten a tad worse.

The boy wiped everything from his lip and reentered the living room with Slade by the dining chairs, his frame massive within their even more comfortable flat so far. "I'm taking you out on a contract, to observe and have my back."

Dick didn't deny that he believed he wasn't ready, yet the man didn't have anyone else to keep a close eye on his pupil. Will was in Jump City, and no one else was qualified or not willing to sell him to the highest bidder behind the merc's large back. "I don't know if I should –

"Not up for debate; that's for your master to decide, Dick. You'll be given a false I.D as Thomas Ward, son to one of the employees of his company. We're going to meet with Luthor around one, today."

"Then, I'm really not sure if I should be present at all." Dick shook his head, the idea of being spotted with only a name change and no other alterations seemed amateur for the mighty Stroke. "He could recognize my face, that would –

"Luthor knows, boy." Slade brought his hands behind his back and walked towards the prodigal ex hero.

"Even with Terra at my side, he had to for my control to have any effect. The small dot sized device was our little side project. He endorsed it; now, the military and even black market will have the opportunity to profit for their own benefit."

"On murder."

"An agenda; to each is their own, as long as I get paid in the process." Smirked the merc, knowing the kid didn't need to be pampered as much as the papers always claimed. "You did very well at the shooting range, keep that attitude up and I might just have a whole new surprise waiting for us back at the new haunt."

"It's still not ready, sir?"

Slade turned away and looked at his watch as he replied, "All in due time, my apprentice." His silken tone was thinking of some other event. Dick could tell by the man's focus that time, was certainly right now on their side.

/

"His pulse is steady…. he should be waking up."

A groan from the cot had both Titan, bat child and former Gotham thief all over the side of the billionaire's medical wing bed. "Easy, Bruce. There are a lot of bruises still…. Alf? Should we get him to sit up?"

"Right, Miss Gordon. Timothy?"

Tim moved from his corner of the room as Selina made sure he wasn't texting his new Suicide Squad pals. The two teenagers helped to elevate the man as his heart monitor stayed at the proper range. Raven waited in one seat beside Beast boy and Cyborg, who'd just had a sendoff for the fifth of their now nearly disbanded group. Of course, none of that was the case at all! The tabloids like readers to follow even falsely printed trash as Lois Lane had rejected the idea of the kids leaving behind their comradery even for a second – thanks to Clark's few words of wisdom steering her from the corner street gossip.

"What can we do, Alfred?" BB asked the butler who smiled weakly to them as if to say nothing at all. "You and Miss Kyle for now are here for the moral support of the Batman's alter ego. That is the most important job of all, don't fret." He turned back to Bruce, who'd opened his eyes a bit more out of his supposed coma for about three weeks. "Dude! Way to outlive the –

"Ow!"

"Don't say anything that might trigger a relapse, BB." Cy whispered to his teammate, despite the bop on the curious kid's head a few seconds ago. "Mr. Wayne is, fragmented on what happened." Raven explained. "When he does find out about how much time has passed, he may not react like we'd hoped so we have to be prepared."

"Uh…oh…. not about the –

"Especially not about the attacker in India." Raven's serious gaze fell onto the youngest Titan. "Got it….so, no corny jokes either…"

"None, we observe and don't speak unless we're supposed to put in our two cents." Cy ended that discussion as Gar reverted into the form of an iguana. A lazy looking one that batted its eyes very slowly. "Why that one, B?"

~ I'm not gonna make people freak, and Wayne can tell I'm not a threat, and…. I couldn't think of any animals that won't get sat on that aren't noisy. ~ He admitted bashfully, before lying over two seats, his head and tail atop the two Titans' laps partly. "Whatever, just don't bother them. They need to be by his side more than we should…." Raven removed her hood to not frighten the recovering CEO, his mental state from what she was reading had more than a few nicks and cuts lefts there from their previous run in with Deathstroke. Slade wasn't one for a new mercy killing if it wasn't the bat's blood on his hands while his apprentice partic –

"He's awake, look!" Babs saw the beeping monitor pull through as Bruce finally witnessed his whole family surrounding him. Yet, he knew who he was as he scrunched his dark brows and let out a hard sigh.

"Alfred…. how many….hours, days –

"Approximately the length of three full weeks, sir." The butler never even batted an eye as Bruce did that for him, a hand to his temples as Selina scooted over. A face by the door as the timing might have been a tad too soon to see too, Tim left with his hands in his pockets as Gar moved quickly before anyone could stop his in time.

"Wait up!" He bounded after the thirteen-and-a-half-year-old, the kid's pockets still clutching his next getaway from this puzzling world he'd stumbled into.

"Terra…how is she?"

Tim stopped, thumbing the device as his lips went flat. "She's on their team too, you can't tell her not to do it." The boy wonder looked back before Bb flew in front, batting a crow's wings in Tim's eyes as Gar landed to block the preteen's path from escaping his full question. "Where is she? You know, don't you. Did Red Hood get inside your head and tell you that killing's not wrong? D –

"I saw my dad die, Bruce took Two – Face to jail and ever since then?" Tim shot at the green hero. "He's gotten out again and again, hurting more innocent families, just like how he hurt mine. Dick is wrong, he's the one making a bundle of cash on killing just like those men did to my dad…Slade is corrupting him and no one is getting inside his head far enough to flip that Robin switch back. He's not a machine, people don't work that way. But Jay told me -

"Jason wants to kill, he wants revenge but you want justice."

"I want both." Tim huffed and shoved Gar's arm, before he turned bonobo and said otherwise. ~You're not going to them; I still outmatch you and you don't wanna hurt your mentor. He's –

"A loser. He won't fight back, all because Dick is there in the way. And all because if he fights to kill, you all die."

Bb turned back to his human self, his mouth falling open with wide eyes. "You, really care about this whole thing, but Slade wants us to fall apart!" Gar shouted. "He WANTS you to go over to his side and do what he does without knowing what's right anymore!! Slade, he messed with Tara and Rose and her brother are doing the same thing. This is insane and you –

"Can you save your leader without the help of a hero like Batman and Robin?" The teen crossed his arms and asked. "Will you get him back if you play nice like a bunch of little kids, like I am? Cause news flash; we're teenagers. That means in a few years, we get to act like adults even if the law says we shouldn't. We can save him, but not if Slade is still around."

"What about his kids." Gar grunted. "Can you really trust anything they say? And, dude. I smelled how into Slade's son Jason is, he's a puppy in love so he can't upset him…"

"Because they share a similar pain. I think it is the best thing that's ever happened to this family."

"Stop it, Timmy." Gar turned into a German Sheppard and growled at the kid. ~I'm only holding back because you're Dick's family. I can't hurt you. ~

"Maybe, that's why he's in this mess in the first place!!" Tim grabbed a collapsible bo staff from his pockets as the puck sized metallic rod extended to hit at the green Titan. Gar escaped the blow and flew after Tim as his eagle talons caught hold of the staff, the two in a tug – of – war over which Robin was going to betray his role next.

"You'll only make it impossible to fix what Slade's going to do to him! I am the smartest, I can figure it out –

~You're just a kid who's way sad that his big bro was abducted by some psychopath. This world needs heroes and killers, but not if they don't wanna die! You're doing this for someone else -

"NO…...I'm…...NOT!" Tim pressed a tab on his staff and sparks made it to both ends fairly quickly. Bb got up in his human guise, the static rolling over his back as he stood to one knee and groaned. "You can't tell me what to do, your team should have never come back to Gotham. Do what you want, but this is my time to get things straight with all of the crooks who've hurt my family for the last time!" Tim rammed the rod into Bb as he fell with a solid lump on his skull. Tim put the weapon away and ran out to find the closest exit, thinking a window like Todd tended to use way too –

He turned to see a whip barely catch his ankle, the cat's tail at his leg as he was forced to crash to the ground as the attacker stood in front now. Shadows didn't hide the fact as the red lipped vixen stood with her tool in hand to torment unruly adults, but never bratty teenagers.

"You're not leaving, Drake."

"Don't talk to me, traitor. You're worse than I ever could be."

"Have such a high opinion of yourself already?" Smirked the cat as she dragged the angry teen up by his collar as she gripped his chin to look at her. "Bruce was taken down and you didn't see the fight. How can one person logically say that they know everything that they've never seen with their own eyes? You're letting Todd's words get into your head, the green kid's right. And if it sounds like a long shot, go with your gut. Your ego can take a back seat." She shoved the boy down as Bb whimpered on one paw over to the teen. Tim's frustration and discontent with being treated as the idiot of the family had him ball his fists and try to hit the cat, yet she was not up for swatting kids on their asses for good measure like some old fish wife. She instead, let her palm slap right across the boy's cheek to wake him up. I was, somewhat effective as he began to cry, letting the strain strengthen him back out as she sighed and helped the kid to the medical room where Bruce would be pleased to know that Selina had never changed her tough love kind of methods.

/

"He's not showing up." Jason put away the unit as the screen assured him that Tim was subdued by the team or had turned away the idea of getting his justice over the matter they were planning. "A little anarchy does the world good if you go about it in the right way." Grant was to the window ledge as he let his boots hit the ground in a cat's pounce. "How did it go?"

"He's out. No Timmy if B is putting his foot down."

"Like he did with the rest of you?"

The dirty blonde's gloved hands trailed down Todd's shoulders as he'd gotten out of his armor to rest and recoop. "I said we could snuggle once I got back –

"This is serious, you idiot!"

Grant was shoved off as his green eyes blinked back at the former bat boy. "You, you think he's got a choice? We can just –

"Stop taking over like that!" Jason spat at his boyfriend and future partner in crime. "I'm not going to mess with my family while Bruce just came out of a coma. You have no idea how manipulative Catwoman can be. She probably already struck Timmy's escape plan down and she'd do it again if I gave her reason to slap my –

"Then, the cat needs a bat on the nose." Grant put a hand to Jason's cheek, the snort his lover gave not at all underappreciated. "You are a sass – mouth that doesn't play it safe and I adore that about you, my wuvly… muffie…."

"Shut…it…." Grant leaned in to kiss the teen's jaw. "Come on, we can send an anonymous threat and unlock the stuffy bat's mansion like a kid's toy." He grinned, Todd giving his brow a quirk as his face got a bit toastier from the assassin's one true purpose. To have what was owed to him. Just like his father…

"I've got the stamina, but you have the keys to get us inside. Save your other brother from dying by staying a wet blanket under that cowar –

"Bruce isn't like that!" Grant sniffed and pulled away, just before his nose could be bitten off by the mutt he'd dragged from ruin. "Fine, come for me when you wanna get over this sentimental bull crap. I've got bigger fish to fry in the meantime."

"So, you got us a gig."

"I did, and guess who's going on Defiance's next mission?"

Todd didn't know as Grant stripped off his gloves and boots before taking that into his room in the back hall. " MY baby – brother…" He smirked, before leaving Jason alone with his head in his hands. They were too young to be doing this…. he was, in love for the wrong reasons but… Jason bit his lip and responded back to the unit on the coffee table.

~Disable alarms, execute…. order. ~

He put down the device and threw a hand to comb through his dark mane. This was it…Defiance would go into the city and take back what was theirs….

One p.m… the note from their leader on the unit said, thinking back to Jay's brother; now on lock down inside his own home.

"Got it, you mother fucker…." Jason dropped his head into the sofa cushions and attempted to imitate a moping ostrich. Head in the sand, while Grant took a shower and wiped off the crusted blood from yet another kill gone right.

"No wonder he wanted to "do" me when he got back…. Damned, prick…"