Our Time in Reverse – Chapter 3: New Outlooks
/
He wouldn't stop sobbing. Not until the got to the safe house in another city did Slade stop hearing the sirens. Stop hearing the boy whimpering 9ver his shoulder that his mentor might never forgive the nine-year-old youth.
"…. Zit……zi…"
Slade placed the boy onto a sofa within his safe house here in Central. Blud was closer, yet so was the bat. "You want, use your words, boy."
Slade wiped his nose onto his sleeve and sat to stare around at Barre walls. "My…. mom's…. she, she's not here…" His lip wobbled until Slade stood up and was looked to the next room. Right, the swiped toy he had promised. Slade really did feel like a kidnapper. He rubbed the rough armor on his back, mask off and his finger out to tell the boy "just one second."
Dick sniffled and attempted to bob his locks in agreement. He scrunched his small fingers into sofa cushions as Slade swiftly retreated to the room where the man's newest robotic creations and prototypes had been programmed to drop off the boy's possessions. Anything, including a toy for comfort in adjusting to his new life… Joey had a stuffed bear, Grant wasn't a fan like Slade. The idea of having fun with real animals was more soothing. Not that Slade was going to go out and adopt a puppy. Dick didn't have time to for any of that. His instincts were to assess his surroundings to knowing was safe to come out of his cocoon, the one the bat had shoved the boy into, long enough for Slade to drag him out of his mindset of good and evil. Some lives were better not missed, but that wasn't why the kid was crying. To him, Zucco meant nothing, yet behind the logic was empathy for the man who had played that same sympathetic tune.
Slade despised it, wanted it gone. He plucked up the plain, beanie butt laced little elephant and wondered if Will might think to patch up the dirty old thing. Then, the kid might finally fit in around the mercenary. Do what their bargain expected of the boy.
Maybe the doll could be useful…
/
Dick sat on the sofa with his childhood mini Zitka, as soon as he'd seen the floppy thing starehis way, he began to babble. Nonstop. It was a coping mechanism, Slade told himself as he got a meal going for the both of them. Dick spoke about the circus. Mostly Zitka the real elephant this toy was based on. Slade hummed and even conversed thanks to his enhanced hearing.
"Dad used to tell me not to roll around in the hay in the summer, especially." The boy returned to a time of peace, but then. Tears had started to show up, and just while the adult was cooking onions to going his steak.
"Dick?" The man moved and reduced the heat of his food. "What's wrong. Talk to me kid." Slade put a strong hand to his shoulder as Dick looked over to the kitchen, gripping his 5oy before he nearly got up. He pointed to the steak with big eyes still wet, yet now distracted. "Mr. Wilson! Your food!"
/
Slade didn't mind the steak. It wasn't dry, yet Richard's piece and the potatoes onions and greens didn't exactly turn him on at first to the rather dense supper plate. "Mr. Wayne didn't have time to sit and eat with Al and me…" Dick tensed in his seat as Slade just raised a brow and jutted his fork gently to the meat in front of him. "I'm not Wayne, as I told you. So don't let my hard work go to waste. Eat what you can, for tonight."
His eyes and movements became less restricted. Dick nodded and started to cut up his potatoes before smiling at the flavor. Home cooking was always best when you had others to share it with.
/
To bath, or….
"Umm, Mr. Wilson?"
Slade didn't ask Dick to call him sir yet. That would take some adjusting as well. "Yes, Richard." Slade pit the last cleaned plate in the dishwasher. "Ah, I kind of smell. Can I…. use your bathroom?"
Right, the sweat of a killer. Poor kid. Slade didn't tense. The kid was Grant's age if not a year younger. "Sure, right this way."
Slade went to the hall closet and pulled out two towels for hair and well, everything else (not a slash!!)
"Put these when you are done into the hamper by the bedroom hall. Down there." He pointed at the one white wallet area of the home. "That hall leads to the room I have set up for you. Your clothes are in there and anything else you'll need for the time during our stay. If you need anything at all, make sure to ask me." Slade tried to sound less demanding, not at all to jail the kid in. This was only a temporary spot. His estate was much roomier. More areas to practice hitting a can with a bb gun.
City life, wasn't for this one.
"Sure, but…what do I do for fun around here? We always woke up to a routine and Mr. Wayne installed the gym-
Slade stooped him to think, to plan. "We'll keep you active, once we have your identity covered. Remember; Wayne will be looking to take you back. I won't let you break your promise, Dick." Slade nudged his head to direct the boy to the bathroom, quickly. "It's late. Shower off, or do you need help with the –
"NOPE!" The boy furiously shook his head. "I'm good, thanks!"
/
He certainly liked to keep thing easier for Slade too. As the kid stepped out, wrapped in crisp white, he padded in his leisure to the hall and opened the last door ay the end.
Good, Slade smiled as he leaned to the side and surveyed.
He was learning faster than originally hoped. In some cases, he was already a fan of some decent structure.
Though Slade thanked the parents, not the bat for that one.
/
By morning, the kid was looking to the window while Slade opened it to see Dick dressed and ready for a wa –
The man saw tears trickling slowly down the boy's face. "Dick…"
"Dad went for morning jogs, sometimes I went. Mom cooked us all food when we got back. It was a family thing…Bruce let me sleep in on the weekends. When I first, got there…we had a lot of fun together…then, his work…"
The boy hurried his head into his knees. Slade opened the door a bit wider "Want to try for a morning run with me? I'm all ready by four for anything you can throw at me."
/
The kid had energy. Slade had to jog a bit slower however as the boy was still a bit behind on his fitness from those days down un the dumps. It was a brusk morning so he brought water and Dick's jacket with a modified ski cap to prevent anyone from. recognizing the lad; even at five am, he still was cooped up and needed this knee than anything. The memory of his father's strut was in every step, his very smaller feet putting as much punch into those puffs of air as they made it to the next couple of miles out. Dick was finally panting, flushed cold and pink in the face as Slade handed him the water bottle he'd now made room temp by his own heat. "Still want to try for another couple of miles yet, you've got a good number of obliges left to go." Smiled the man as the kid waved at him to wait until the boy had his breath back. "Five, seconds. ..I'll kick your record to the curb, da –
Dick stopped himself and looked up. On a big screen in the square was a menses report. And fliers on buildings that…
"Let's go back." Slade coaxed the boy to look away. His eyes still glued to the screen as the merc didn't try to imagine what might be going through Wayne's spoiled little mind right about now. "It's fine, we'll go someplace quieter." Dick nodded as they found an jn – city park and sat on a bench. Slade went off to get a small pastry at a cart that morning and the best warmed nut mixture far from NY's top ten best trucks. Bu far…he kissed this sort of feeling, just a little as the boy smiled up to him as he was handed the warm pastry instead. "I'm not really a big fan of sweet things. Make sure to floss when we get back."
Taking a big bite with his cheeks exploding on flavor, a bit of powdered sugar giving the impression of the boy having grown a mustache with zero effort. Quietly, the boy happily smiled up at the merc. The sugar was a distraction at least, albeit, not a healthier one. In the future, those things would have to be earned. Slade gnashed on his sweet tooth treat with reduced calories, and Dick dud the same as the two quietly recharged on the same park bench. Both trying to think of something other than those missing posters and report on the wide screen display for all to see and hear.
They took off no sooner after, while Dick stayed like a duckling and by the merc at all times. Joey was the same, Grant even more so. They came back to the safe house as Slade opened the door and Dick hopped right into the shower once more. Squeaky clean, Slade made the boy sit down while he prepared a bit of brunch and lunch later, for the two. "Mr. Wilson?" The kid kicked his legs restlessly under the kitchen table as Slade looked back over his shoulder from by the small pantry. "Yes, Richard?"
"What do you do so you don't, you know….forget how to do your job? If you, get rid of people when you get a call from slme big companies….then why just relax all day? Running is good, but what about a gym? Or –
"Have you ever heard the saying "your body is a weapon" before, Dick?" Slade turned wkth his arms crossed and waited for the kid to answer. He shook his head instead. "No, but you can make things into weapons if you're smart enough. Like everyday items. I saw it in a comic once. This spy –
"In a way, what I do is very similar." Slade interjected. "Espionage, reconnaissance missions, assassination at the top of that list and being a body guard for those that have my attention enough to keep my interest." Slade nodded. "I'm what your comic book logic might call, an Anti – hero. A borderline threat as well as help to society." Dick was already nearly leaning over the table, more interested in this man's career path than he knew what to do with, before sitting back down and biting his lip. Eyes shifting to the side in thought. "Mom and dad were killed by a gangster…" The boy looked up at Slade with cerulean eyes capable of seeing right through s person's heart, or so Slade believed he could. "Are you, ever hired by guys like that?"
"I try not to associate with, under - qualified buyers." Slade sighed out a breath. "Zucco could never afford me. Maybe, Bruce. If he needed help saving the world."
"Did, did you two ever meet up? As partners…?"
Slade looked to the side too now, a little whistle of a snort out his nose as the toast dinged. "We'll be having tuna on rye. And maybe something else if you can stomach it."
Something after their meal was not dessert. Dick saw Slade pull out what looked to be a set of smaller hand weights. "You hang around like a chimp on almost anything; I know it, but can you adapt to your environment." Slade handed Dick the hand weights as he told the boy to do some basic exercises woth them down the long hall. After that, they did some interesting forms that Dick just had to ask about. "I, don't get what that was for but I know how to use those a little. Most of my acrobatics didn't need to much lower body. It was my whole body my mom said that carried me to do what I was taught."
"Smart, but as clever as that is." Slade moved into a stabce that confused the boy before Slade struck the sir like a viper.
"WOW! HOLY WOW! YOU CAN BE A NINJA??"
"I'm trained in numerous types of martial arts. Some more difficult, some work by their foot work, but for today." He pointed to Dick's arms. "We'll see if you can endure another round of warm ups, as I like to call them."
Warm ups were stretches in Dick's mind. It wasn't a terribly small place to work out, but the rug made Dick feel like he had some disadvantages while Slade knee the halls inside and out.
He was starting to feel anxious, so the rest ended with a bow. "How do you feel? Refreshed?"
"Those moves, are in intense.. " Panted the kid. "That's what you call a warm up?? That was hard!"
"You didn't shy from gaining some marks as a beginner. That was Jiu jitsu by the way." The man cracked a grin at the kid. ( Robin centric from 2003 style fighting.) "That is one of the deadliest forms of martial art to master, and your form is perfect for allowing it to guide you. You've earned an hour to do as you wish."
"Shower. In ten and…" Dick looked around but saw no TV. No computer. He frowned. "Got any board games?"
/
Slade had one he loathed. One he liked, but it was a travel sized piece of crap he'd only gotten as a distraction for a flight that was non stop. Babies crying, kids kicking the back of his seat.
Not always in first class, economy made him feel like luggage sometimes. "I know how to play that. My tata taught me." Dick pointed to a deck of cards on the table while Slade was reaching for the chess board. Maybe later. The kid needed to adjust, and that was working do far. "Would one hand be satisfying for this time, then later we can play this instead?" Slade putbthe chess board onto the coffee table while reaching for the deck of cards "These have an interesting history to them. I got them after I won a bet. And a sword."
"You. Used to gamble? That's not a good thing, my mom told me." Dick frowned and shook his head at the merc. "Cards have a nature of their own. Madame Crowley read mine once. Said I was super important but I didn't believe her."
"I would." Slade started to set up the spread of rummy as the boy turned his head to thevside curiously. "Unless you can beat me at one game, I'll even make sure you don't have to play my game later this evening. We can go see a movie instead." As taunting as he was being, that was earned once again. This was just teaching Dick that the man could be fair but not a push over.
"Deal." Grinned the boy as he sat on the floor across from the merc while they started up their engines. "I'm going to ask for the worst film you'd never see. About some dill learning that it just became a person and has to stop men from screwing up its world. Saw the trailer. Did you?" Grinned the little trickster.
Slade shrugged. "I heard the actress is a bit of a humanitarian at heart. Too bad, because she played a mass murderer in her last film. See if you have it in you kid. And you'll get your wish."
/
In the end. It was chess, bed and one last meal that made sure to balance out the kid's intake for the day. "You ran a course of seven miles today, ate about slightly more thanks to that added caloric bump from the sugar after said run. You had two total hours of a work out in the home, and….rest should be at eight sharp. Nine, if I can tell you're not trying to stay up after its lights out." Slade checked his watch as Dick made sure to floss like he'd been asked to earlier. "We're going to be up early again tomorrow. You'll be accompanying me, Dick."
Dick turned from the room as Slade called back to him down the hall. "Dress in what you have hanging up. Breakfast is going to be a bit smaller than the last day. Right now, we're meeting a client and then groceries. Last." Slade told the boy. "So, to bed."
/
Dick had to admit he was nervous; this was his first time inside anywhere other than downtown and the park. He was going to be….inside an office. With those fliers up…Slade had told the boy to wear a special set of contacts he'd bad flown in by drone. Dick hated them at first yet was told not to rub his eyes or it would only hurt more. They were brown. He didn't like seeing himself in the glass of that upscale waiting room, yet what could he do?
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Defarge."
The assistant had Slade up, while Dick stayed put with some magazines, a water cooler and Slade had even picked up a deck of cards from the house for the boy to play himself. Instead of just playing solitaire and winning once, he decided to try his band at a tarot spread that Madame Crowley had used in her deck.
It was a triangle going up, as he did exactly on memory what she had, the receptionist looking over once or twice out of instinct purely. The boy knew something no normal kid would, but who was she to judge the client.
Harmless, right?
She thought it was, until the boy began to cry. The cards face up. Half revealed in reverse, and the rest…
Right side up.
The dual act was how he read it. The tears did stop once the door had opened. Slade saw Duck cleaning up his cards as he nodded to the client. "We'll be in touch, Mr. Smith."
Dick was able to collect himself as he followed Slade back out onto the street, past a few people who saw his tears and misread the boy's emotions. Slade wouldn't do the same. Would he? He knew things but, the cards had to be wrong. He was doing it all-
"Dick, stop."
Slade saw the boy still as they stopped walking a sec. "I can hear your hear rate. You're not alright. Talk to me. Come on, we'll sit a while."
/
Dick was handed a handkerchief as he told Slade about the cards and how anyone who saw him doing it now would think.he was up to no good, or worse. "It's what my family did a long time ago. Madame Crowley was super interesting if ya' didn't know her. She drank weird teas and talked really deep. I almost never got half of what she said. But….the night before Zucco killed mom and dad, I went to her for advice and she said to stay with them. Don't run no matter what happens. But…did I? Did I get cursed or something?"
"Card reading was an ancient form if folk therapy to anyone that understands its history, nothing more. Your emotions made her see you as afraid, so she told you to take comfort and trust your instincts. It was as good she understood the real you that your parents took for granted –
"They didn't though! How would I have told them in time, anyway…they wanted to……" Dick balled up his hands into his lap and Slade handed him a second rag to blow his nose in. That was a good call too. The boy was reliving the guilt of having let them go. Thankfully, not Wayne….
"I should have told them not to jump. I almost…."
Which meant, as Slade was handedness back the forties eag.
Dick almost would never trust that bat with his happiness.
Just a bit longer, and his future would be secured. Easy as child's play.
"I think the day is getting too long just sitting here. Would you like to accompany me to one more spot before we bring our worries homeless with us?"
/
Central city was no Tokyo, not Gotham either. It was big but not as clustered in as the cities Dick had seen while traveling with his parents. The doors opened as the two stepped in through to a cooler spot. A shopping mart with the grocery as the main component. "This, is a mall too??" Dick looked at the space. It was even more play than that morning had been the day before!
"City center." Slade told the kid calmly. "Stay close to me and I promise you won't have them worrying about you in the great beyond." Part of the man wasn't a fan of thinking that way. It was for the kid as he tried to pretend a little instead of speaking in a mocking tone about the kid's version of any afterlife. Over time, science and the return if all things into nothing was what would chance the boy's idea of whether someone lived or died. It simply was, and that was all.
"I don't get to try on clothes, or do they have a sports section?"
"This whole place is a galleria." Slade started walking as Dick caught up. His hand shot out as he gripped the man's larger fingers like a child, pretending he wasn't too embarrassed. "It's loud, and busy. I don't wanna lose you too."
The man nodded, trying to hold a steady lope in the walk as Dick didn't say much except for gawk and smile at the many shops that they'd passed.
He saw one storefront that made his eyes grow as he nuzzled his head into Slade's arm. The older man patted the kid's head soothingly and then looked up at the massive sign.
A batman themed shop, complete with the best money could show of such a fitting example. "We're almost there, stay close to me."
The little, shy duckling nodded as they kept on walking. At least he was able to listen. Slade would hate to lose his new apprentice as well…
/
The grocery trip was enjoyable for Dick at least. Once he saw that he could do for more planning around what they'd eat, he'd even learned that Slade had gone to almost every country the entire fruit isle had out- mangoes, banana, even dates and tomatoes. Rome, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Somalia, anyplace he'd only heard of going but never had the chance. It sounded, at first like a non stop fun time, until the war stories came.
Dick had to whap his own face to keep from falling asleep. "The jungles aren't so bad, minus the snakes, water quality in rural areas and the militia groups that are after whatever they can get out of a passerby. It's best to know hour environment. "
The story was that Slade was a decorated Vietnam and Korean vet with a secret; he had met his wife snd she'd trained him to fight! It was like a movie, really and Dick wanted to know just once.
Once, who were his kids. Why was he so far away from them…
"My boys are better off with their mother. She was quite clear on keeping me away and my work."
The man's eye was gone because of his wife, Dick had deduced. "Yeager, but they miss you too. Why couldn't you promis le to take them on a no kill week." The question earned him a chuckle and some time to feel better with a piece of tasty fruit in whipped cream with a special flavor. Maybe, cinnamon?
"When you are ready, and I feel right to tell you, maybe one day you'll get to meet my son Joseph. That is, as long as we're on good terms."
"Why wouldn't you be? You were just trying to protect him. The job, even if you were in the army that could have happened. Right? Alfred said some circumstances are unavoidable. You just, were one of the unlucky ones like me, I guess."
/
That comment had Slade up all night guessing, as he stared at the ceiling and for that nice of an end…
Awoke to a crying scream down the hallway.
/
He first cane it to see the boy half thrashing in his sleep, beaded wkth sweat as he curled up into himself and sobbed loudly into the pillows. "n…no….stop…..mom….mama!!"
He gasped and sat up. Slade was there wkth the discarded Zitka as Dick waited until the adult was by his side. Keeping him close to his chest as he tried to get out any tensions he'd had bottled up. "You're ok here Dick. Your mom knows that, I promised her too."
"So did he, so did everyone else…you won't go anywhere, will you?"
Slade moved and saw the opportunity to show the boy. No matter how much he'd bleed, just why Slade wasn't lying.
"Wait right here, don't move." Slade went to his pouch of "instruments and the first pocket knife cane to mind he had ever used on a live body. It would have to do. The boy needed to be reassured that he had his promise kept.
Returning to the room, the boy had his knees hugged unto his chest. He turned his eyes to Slade with the knife; his heart beat like a baby fawn's as Slade moved it to his own upper hand, the easier of the places to cut and sliced right through so that his red blood showed crimson.
Dick nearly crawled off the bed to stop the man from harming himself, yet he stopped as his eyes got even WIDER. "You….you're sealing…how?...it's not…."
"When I was in the army, the higher ups had a plan to make a solution that could work against enemy truth serums. At a cost, I was the prize. I did well, but my development was uncanny to those who had created it. Meta – healing, commencing at a rate that takes a few moments to hours depending on the part if the body; that was why I told this to you, my eye never grew in because…of many troubles with our relationship. Our pain sometimes never allows all of our wounds to heal, yet I expect your wounds to seal up nicely, in time as my apprentice." He tapped the spot with the butt if the pocket knife. "That will take the most time out if the both of us if you don't get some well deserved rest."
"Sir, yes sir!" Dick grinned and fell back under the covers. Down to sniffles, Slade had a good feeling, up until he was about to head back to bed. Sleep, was much more restricted on his watch. The boy needed to be monitored a bit further, to see if these episodes were going to stop over the course he was expecting them to or not.
"S…Slade?"
Side raised an ear as he relaxed his shoulders by the exit to the boy's temporary room. "Yes, Dick."
"Am I going to be like Zucco, or like you….I mean, you still kill people a lot…can I ever get over doing that to someone?"
"That's up to whether you want to truly live, Richard. Good night, my boy."
/
Stepping into a few months after, Dick had gone brunette to keep the bat off their trail. He truly believed in that straining fact that Bruce wasn't just mad but obsessed in finding him. He saw how it was; big superstar wants what he wants and gets it. Dock wasn't a what, and add treated him like his son. Did Bruce ever tell Rapunzel to ditch the braid and have a good time? No.
At age eleven, he was learning a bit more each day. Knife throwing cane naturally, his studies made him feel more superior to any snobby rich kid. The serum made Slade durable as titanium, so he wasn't prone to breaking his back even when Dick used his foot strikes in places that could limit one's mobility.
"We'll take on a new topic today, apprentice." Dick looked over the information Slade handed the boy. He frowned at the paperwork, then at his teacher. "A school? No way. You don't kidnap anyone –
"A random for a rather hefty price tag." The boy was shown to have Dick's original features. "Timothy Drake. Our captive, in Gotham Prep. Age seven, and his father is in deep water with some investors at his tech company. I think this is more to help Drake than to stop whomever is putting this into my hands."
"He…hey, you think we could be brothers, I mean he looks just like me! See?"
"What are you gabbing on about, apprentice." Slade snorted at the kid's question. "Pay close attention. We're only here to remove him from the area before others get hurt by the one responsible for this assault. There are children present and I won't dare break code as you said. However –
"Why don't we tell him to join us so his dad can buzz off? He's going to get his family hurt or extorted by the looks of it." Dick cocked his head to see just who this Drake fella was. "He's not a good guy, so you could –
"Another Batman isn't in the cards. You were an exception, remember it." Slade pointed to the times, the rest being that Dick was going to lead the kid away so th….
"Are…. are you coming back for me? Sir…"
Slade looked at the boy. Great, he was clingy today.
"I said you won't get lost during this; I meant it. No one is losing today. We gain a few dollars for protecting this boy. For all it takes to get his father to change for the better or not. The judge and the boy's mother can wise up." Slade put away the folder and Dick sat while contemplating those words. "What if Batman shows."
The older man stopped to listen, to wait for the rest of the kid's question. "What if he's one step ahead of us? Bruce isn't just loaded, he's crazy smart. Fast…but with Zucco, he didn't want it to stir anything where I'd get hurt. I did, his judgment blows and he should have let me –
"It's done. We'll proceed as planned." Slade currently had to think in his room, while Dick was left to do something he'd warned himself might only lead to trouble.
Find a fire escape and find a way to look at the sky in this city. This city, that was not Central anymore. It had to be a big fat insult as the kid climbed up from the apartment right in London to see a big stretch of sky and the foggy morning air. This, was going to be an interesting time to grow by. He smiled, seeing his distance apart from the big cathedral and then the next step….
He moved down to the window and closed the latch.
"Dick."
The boy hopped down, hands at his sides and knowing who was calling him back to their world. "Come here, boy. Now."
Dick moved gingerly to the living area as Slade sat with his tablet and a few more folders on his side of the sofa. "We don't stand out, what have you been up to. I know you know what this entails…"
"Yes, sir…sorry, but I'm so used to –
"It's not about you getting hurt."
That, felt off…
"Not all of it, you're still on the run until Wayne has his moment to realize that you aren't changing your mind. Just as I am not letting you jeopardize our position in London to any heroes that might like to watch birds hanging around apartment roofs. They've got plenty. As your punishment, I want you to sit here and not make a peep. Understand? Learn something while you can, this is very important."
"Sure, sir…" Dick said sullenly. Slade's eye turned as Dick ducked his head and looked ready to pout. "As you were, sit."
Slade noticed it first and foremost, but by age eleven going on twelve, the boy was more Grant than Joey.
Officially a pre teenaged terror. And now, said terror was going to learn when it was best to follow or flee for the second time in his still young life.
"We pack in the morning, so by tomorrow this place will be vacated for the rest of our time. We're headed to Gotham prep. You might recall the outlay, but don't get so full of ideas."
"I know, sir," Dick sighed. "Because he will probably be watching us too…"