Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Slade had been hired to do something very simple, perhaps too simple for someone like him, but hey, if someone was willing to pay his high prices for him to do something easy, he wasn't about to complain.

So he got a list with the names and directions of the poor bastards he had to kill for owing the wrong people too much.

He went through the list with no problem, killing everyone there without much remorse, until he finally reached the last name on the list, some alpha named "Willis Todd".

He arrive to the direction, finding himself in front of a small house of one floor, almost looking as if it was about to crumble.
And after watching the place for a while, he realized that the man was the only one at home, so he didn't bothered with stealth.

He kicked open the front door, and soon from a room, the man came out, staring at him with wild eyes.
Slade saw Willis glance briefly at the couch, where a gun was laying there, but Slade didn't even gave him a chance to get it before he was already plunging his swords on his chest, ending the man's misery.

After that, Slade took a moment to look around, and the scent of the place told him that the alpha was the only living there currently, because even if there was a faint sweet scent that probably belonged to a omega, it was already stale, showing that the person who it belonged too haven't been around in a long time.
And then, he went to check the gun on the couch, noticing a single bullet loaded in it, so Slade assumed the man was probably planning to commit suicide. If he had come a few minutes later, he probably wouldn't have had to do anything.

Slade was about to leave, when he heard such a loud crying that stopped him in his tracks, he had been convinced that there was nobody else in the house.

The sound was coming from the room where the man had came from.
With heavy footsteps, he approached the room, and when he walked in, he saw a small crib, with an even smaller bundle of blankets moving inside, but the worrying thing was the big pillow on top of his face...

The man had tried to kill the baby?... If Slade had arrived a free minutes later, the man would probably have succeeded, he had interrupted him...

Slade removed the pillow and grimaced at the sight of the small red face covered in tears and snot.
He didn't particularly liked puppies, most of them looked like small aliens, but the little one there just reminded him of his own pups, Grant and more recently Joey.

He hadn't seen his pups in a long time, Adeline had forbidden him to ever get close to the pups ever again, and honesty, he agreed with her, it was better if he stayed away from them, there was nothing good he could give them, he would only make it harder for them.

He removed his mask and reached with a finger to poke gently at one of the cheeks of the sobbing mess as he unconsciously rumbled at him comfortingly.

The puppy started to calm down, still sobbing, but it was a little bit more controlled, and that was when a pair of huge blue eyes stared at him as little hands reached for his hand, closing firmly against his finger.

"You got shitty luck didn't you little one?" Slade asked him softly

Slade sighed triedly, what the hell was he supposed to do now? He doubted anyone would be looking for Willis Todd anytime soon, how long will it take for the pup to be found by someone? And what were the chances of him being found by someone good with no ill intentions?

The pup was really small, and looked really thin, but Slade couldn't tell if it was because of malnourishment or because he was premature, because he was sure that the pup couldn't be older than a few months, and both Joey and Grant had been bigger, with a healthy weight and with chubby cheeks, contrary to the puppy in front of him.

Slade contemplated the idea of just turning around and leaving the house, the pup wasn't his responsibility. But he soon discarded the idea, the weigh of leaving the pup behind would be too much trouble to carry with.

"Hmm... You just made things harder for me..." he grumbled in annoyance, but the pup just stared at him in awe

Slade ended deciding to take him with him, at least until he could make him someone else's problem.
He reached for the pup in the crib, and he went easily with him.

He was really light, Slade worried for a moment that the could crumple the baby if he wasn't careful, so he held him close to his chest gently before taking one of the blankets to cover the pup with it before leaving that house behind...

So now Slade had a pup...
Not for long tho, he first needed to find out if he had any family and to have him checked by a doctor, he didn't know if the pup almost being suffocated by a pillow had caused him any lasting harm.
But Slade didn't had many options... Of course he knew many doctors who worked in the low ground, but that wouldn't do, he wasn't about to take the puppy to that people.

But that didn't left him with many options, he couldn't just go to any doctor as Deathstroke, it would be too much trouble...
So that just left him with one option... The only legal doctor who he knew could keep a secret and wouldn't ask too many questions. The only reason Slade didn't frequent her was because she was more on the "good guys" side, but she would do.

And that's how he found himself in the back door of the consultory, under the scrutinizing eyes of the beta woman.

"I hope you didn't forget that I told you I would not be giving you any information about my patients, criminals or not" Leslie reminded him with a serious expression

"This time might be necessary" Slade said and showed her what he was carrying in his arms

She widened her eyes at sight of the puppy, but soon recomposed herself "Come in" she moved to the side and invited the mercenary inside, making sure nobody outside had seen anything

Leslie locked the main door and stared at the mercenary. She didn't know much about Deathstroke, she had heard must of the details from Bruce, and Slade himself had come just a few times to her, mostly looking for information she wasn't willing to give, but the man never showed to be a threat to her, so they mostly kept out of each other's ways, so for him to come to her, something important must be up, especially considering the pup on the man's arms.

"So, who's this?" the beta asked as she extended her arms towards the pup

Slade handed him over to the woman "I found him after I finished with one of my targets" he answered honestly

Leslie frowned at that, she didn't liked the way Slade referred to people so frivolous, but she didn't said anything about that.

"So you killed his parents?" she asked, allowing some of her annoyance on her question

"Only the man I assume was his side, and it was probably for the best" he answered with a shrug

"For the best?" The doctor questioned, glancing at him

"The man was probably about to commit suicide, he was probably going to kill the pup first" Slade explained "I found him in his crib with a big pillow on his face"

Leslie bit his lower lip and started to check the heart and the lungs of the puppy with his stethoscope.

"How is he?" Slade asked after a few minutes

"He seems to be breathing fine" she said before taking him to weight, grimaceing at the results "He is a little bit underweight, and assuming he is just a few months old, he is quite small"

Slade nodded softly in acknowledgement "So now what?" he asked, still feeling quite reluctant to leave the pup with the doctor without knowing exactly what was going to happen to him

Leslie's expression darkened a little at the question as he stared at the small sleeping pup.

"I'll call child services and let them handle everything else, see if they can find any relative and if not, they'll put him up for adoption" she explained, sounding almost defeated, and Slade knew why...

Slade had looked into Gotham's system when he was considering to leave Grant there, hoping the pup would have a better chance with another family. What he found hadn't been encouraging at all, pups got lost in the system all the time, and more often than not, orphanages got involved in human trafficking.

"Puppys this young usually are luckier" Leslie muttered, sounding more as if she was trying to comfort herself

Slade wondered if it would have been better to just leave the pup on that house to starve to death, that was starting to sound more merciful than handing the pup to the CPS in Gotham so he ends in some fucking maniac hands or permanently abandoned in an orphanage.

"Can't you keep him?" Slade asked Leslie, taking a step closer as he saw the pup starting to stir on his sleep

"I can't... Pups require a lot of time and attention, and my job is too time consuming, I can't take care of a pup" she shook her head, caressing softly one of the pup's cheek

Slade was quiet for a moment, he didn't even know why he cared so much about that pup. Maybe he missed Grant and Joey more than he would like to admit and this were just his instincts trying to make up for it, for not being there for them.

The mercenary sighed deeply, he probably was going to regret this in the morning. He had left his own pups behind because he was sure they would have a better life without him near, and Adeline believes that too... And now he was going to do one of the most stupid things ever in his life...

"I'll take him..."

Chapter Text

Leslie looked at him with a mix of surprise and reluctance, glancing from him to the pup.

"Why?" she asked, squinting at him

"I don't have fucking idea" he admitted

Leslie seemed to think about it, what would be best for the pup? Or in this case, which was the lesser of the evils? Leaving the pup to his luck in the adoption system of Gotham? Or leaving the pup under the care of Deathstroke?

"... I'll let you take him, but you have to bring him for a check up every few months, if you don't present for those or you do and I see that you are not taking good care of him, I'll report you, I'll make sure you don't ever see him again" she warned him with a serious expression

And Slade knew that she would definitely make good on that threat no matter what it took, so he nodded firmly, he probably was getting into some deep shit, but be would figure things out later.

"... Alright..."

Leslie allowed him to take the pup, hoping to not be making a huge mistake, hoping that by letting the man to take him, she would be giving him a chance to survive, to have a good life, and to hope she wasn't actually dooming him...

Slade took the pup back to his apartment, trying no to think much about the stupid thing he had done, but once he arrived, he realized something... He didn't have shit to care for a pup...

He placed the pup on the couch and surrounded him with pillows and blankets to avoid he fell on his sleep, and then he took his phone out and called the only pero he could think of.

"Wintergreen, I need you to get some stuff..."

Almost an hour later, there was a knock at his door, and when he opened it, he found his friend on the other side, carrying a bunch of bags and staring at him as if he was insane.

"What the fuck Slade? Care to explain why the hell you called me at 4 in the morning to buy this stuff?" he asked, putting the bags on the counter in the kitchen, until he perceived a soft milky scent

He looked around and his eyes stopped on the tiny body in the couch, covered by a bunch of blankets with his face barely visible.

"Is that Joey?" he asked unsure since the pup didn't looked anything like he remembered him

"No..." Slade answered simply "I found him after killing my last target, I took him to the doctor Tompkins"

"With Tompkins? Isn't she associated with the bat-crazy man?" He looked at Slade with a raised eyebrow

"Yeah, but what else was I supposed to do? Going by who he was with and where they were living, the chances of him being found before he starved were really low, so I took him to Tompkins, she checked him and then it was sending him to CPS or taking him with me" he explained ending with a tired sigh

"And you decided to take him with you, because..." Billy looked at him, hoping he would complete the sentence

"Because I guess I've gone fucking insane" he answered with annoyance, he was getting tired of being asked the same question he didn't had an answer to

The pup stirred on his sleep and slowly his eyes opened, looking around before pouting and starting to cry.

"What did you do?" Slade asked, approaching them with a frown

"What!? I didn't do anything!" he excused himself before thinking a little bit more about what the pup might want "Maybe he's hungry" he suggested

Slade went back to the bags in the kitchen and got everything he needed to feed the pup. He remembered what to do from the time Grant had been a newborn, even though Adeline did most of the work, he at least knew what to do.

Once he had the bottle, he took it to the living room, he took the pup in his arms and started feeding him.
The pup stopped his crying immediately, drinking the content of the bottle greedily.

"So... You are keeping him?" Billy asked him after a few minutes of awkward silence

"... I guess. I'm already carrying enough shit on my consciousness to add abandoning a pup to it" he said, looking at the little one on his arms

This felt to delicate, to gentle... None of that fit Slade at all. He started to wonder if he could really do this...

Big blue eyes stared at him with curiosity, and then a small toothless smile was gifted to him...

Slade wasn't sure if he could do this, but there was not going back anymore, he was going to take care of that pup, he wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt him.

"If you are keeping him, what's going to be his name?" Bill's question brought him back to reality

Slade was thoughtful for a moment. Adeline had chosen their boys names, so Slade never had to think much about it, but now that he was tasked with that, he wanted to choose something decent, he was sure that he was going to fuck up many things for the boy, the least thing he could do was to choose and acceptable name.

"He kind of looks like a Peter" Billy suggested, leaning closer to take a better look at the pup, but when he did that, the puppy frowned deeply at him "I guess he doesn't particularly likes me..." he grumbled, seeing with annoyance how the pup smiled again the moment he pulled away

Slade snorted and stared at the pup, until the name just got to him, it was like it just clicked, it seemed to fit the pup well...

"Jason" he said softly

Bill nodded "Jason Peter Wilson" he said with a smirk

Slade rolled his eyes, but didn't said anything, he supposed it didn't sound too bad.

"Shitty luck you had Jase, hope you survive to get to your 3rd birthday" Billy said with fake pity, making Slade growl slightly at him

Slade might not be the best parent, but he couldn't do that much of a shitty job... Right?...

Chapter Text

Raising a pup turned to be even harder than Slade had first thought...
First he had to turn one of his rooms into some kind of nursery, which turned into a pretty shitty one, poorly decorated with a terrible color scheme and not more than the necessary furniture and a few toys.

And Jason was so much time consuming that Slade didn't had any time to go out as Deathstroke, there were a few times when he would leave the pup under Billy's care to go to take care of some small jobs, but it wasn't more than that.

The pup really had changed his lifestyle tremendously.
Before he barely got any sleep because of his job, now he barely got any sleep because the pup had no perception of time and believed he could bother and demand attention whenever the fuck he wanted, which was annoying, but at least Slade didn't needed much sleep anyways.

Before, Slade dedicated himself to all kinds of works, from guarding to killing, but now he was dedicated to feed and to change dippers that he was convinced could be used as a biological weapon.
Things had changed so drastically because of the decision he had made, but as the days passed and turned into weeks, and the weeks into monts and the months into years, Slade realized he didn't regret it...

"What's that?" A small hand reached for one of the parts of the gun he had disassembled and was cleaning

Slade allowed the pup to examine the piece since it wasn't nothing to small that he could end loosing or nothing that would cause him any harm.

"It's a part of the gun" Slade answered calmly

The pup climbed into the couch, sitting next to him, by now Jason had recently turned 5 and seemed to be more interested in anything Slade was doing.

Slade wasn't planning to keeping his job as Deathstroke hidden from the pup, he thought that it would be better if he knew, because being related to Slade already put him at risk, so Slade wanted him to be alert, to be prepared.

Of course, right now he wasn't going to tell the pup that he ran around decapitating people, those kind of details would have to wait until the boy was older, but meanwhile, he could start desensitize him to the guns and weapons, but to show him how to handle them so he would never get hurt with them.

"Want me to show you how to assemble it?" Slade offered and the pup nodded with an excited smile

Slade showed him how to do it, and then he disassembled it again, handing the pieces to the pup and guiding him to the process, helping him at times when his small clumsy fingers failed in some parts.

"I did it!" Jason exclaimed in excitement at his success, raising the gun on his hands and pointing at Slade

The mercenary patiently moved the gun so it was pointing away from him. The gun was unloaded, so it couldn't cause any harm, but it was better to teach Jason what to do and what not to do regardless if the weapon was loaded or not.

"Never point a gun at someone you are not planning to shoot" he warned him

The pup widened his eyes and nodded firmly, looking more cautious as he pointed the gun away from Slade.

After the curiosity of the pup had been satisfied, he went back to his room to play with more adequate things for a boy of his age.

Slade picked everything up and locked it up in a trunk in his room, all separately from where he saved the ammunition, not wanting to take any chances in case Jason managed to open that trunk and get to the guns.
He might be a terrible parent to allow his kid anywhere near those things, but he wasn't as shitty to just let them carelessly around for the pup to get hurt.

Once he was sure everything was locked, he was going to go and check on Jason, but just then his phone rang, and when he answered, he was greeted by the voice of Billy.

"Slade, everything is ready, got all the papers and all the legal shit you could need" his friend informed him

Last time Slade had taken Jason to Leslie, the doctor had told him he should start taking him to school, which he wasn't against to, but that required a lot of paperwork, especially considering he hadn't adopted Jason the legal way, so he and Billy and a bunch of contacts had to work in that, to make it seem as if Jason had always been his so nobody would ask any questions.

"Good, send everything to me when you can" he asked and after receiving an affirmation from the other man, he hung up

Slade went to Jason's room, finding the pup sitting on the carpet with a book on his lap.
The book was more pictures than words, but at his young age, Jason seemed to already have picked an interest in reading.

Slade found himself smiling fondly at the pup, but soon erased the expression from himself, he was getting too soft, maybe it was time to take another job...

Jason started to go to school, and Slade felt some kind of pride when he realized that his boy was quite brilliant, all the teachers always had praise to tell about him, although there were also some complains about him being to rough when playing with the other kids, but they could work on that... Maybe...

Jason kept growing fairly normal, or as normal as one can grow up while being raised by a mercenary, but as years kept passing, Slade was starting to dread something, and that was the arrival of Jason's presentation, he wasn't mentally prepared for that, he didn't know what the hell he was going to do if the boy turned to be other thing than a beta. Maybe if he presented as an alpha it wouldn't be too troublesome, he had himself as experience on how to deal with that, but an omega? Yeah he didn't even wanted to think about that.

"Alright Jason, that would be all" Leslie told him once she was done weighting and measuring him

"Did I grow more?" The pup asked hopefully

"You've grown 2 cm since your last visit" she informed him as she handed him a lollipop

Jason pouted a little but took the candy "At this rate I won't be able to catch dad..." he grumbled

Leslie chuckled fondly "Don't worry sweetheart, I think you are growing quite fast, I have no doubts you might grow even taller than him" she encouraged him, to what the pup beamed at

"So, everything alright?" Slade asked her once she walked away from Jason

"Yes, he's a healthy pup" she answered, glancing with fondness at him "Considering the size he had when you first brought him here, he's actually growing more than what I first expected"

"Good, and about his presentation?" he asked, trying to keep his anxiousness out from his voice

Leslie snorted at that "You really are stressing about that? He's 8, the earliest presenters are at 12, and latest at 17, I think you still have time before you have to worry about that" she said with amusement in her voice, who would have thought that one of the deadliest man in the world would be so worried about that

Slade just grumbled under his breath and looked at the boy "Kid, let's go" he called him and Jason hurried to his side

The pup said goodbye to Leslie and they both left.
And once they were on the car, Slade noticed the pup fidgeting with his hands on the backseats.

"What is it?" he asked straightforward

Jason startled at that but after seeming to think about it, he decided to talk "There's going to be a play at school in a few days... I'm going to be in it..." he explained, avoiding Slade's eyes in the rearview

"Hmm" he just hummed in acknowledgement, he had an idea what the pup might want to ask from him, but he wanted him to say it.

"Well... I was wondering if you could come to see me?" he asked and offered a shy smile when he finally met his eyes

Slade thought about it, he didn't had any particular plan the next days, Bill had mentioned something about a new contract, but nothing was set yet.

But a man like him was prone to draw attention in a school... But the kid rarely asked much from him, he could at least give him this.

"Yeah alright" he accepted and saw the pup beam at that

He was probably going to regret this later, but even if he would never admitted it, he was weak to that smile...

Chapter Text

It was another normal day in school for Jason, the play would be tomorrow and he was excited, but he was also kind of nervous, he wanted to do a good job, he would hate to embarrass himself in front of everyone, especially his dad...

But those thoughts were cut short when a kid he hadn't seen before walked in the classroom. He was smiling but Jason could tell he was nervous.

"Kids, this is Richard Grayson-Wayne, he'll be your classmate from now on, be nice to him" the teacher presented him, before glancing at him "Why don't you tell us more about yourself?" she asked him with an encouraging smile

"Alright, my name is Richard, but you can call me Dick, I like it more" just as he said that, the class erupted in laughs

Dick's smile erased from his face, turning into a frown of confusion, he didn't know what he had said that everyone thought it was funny...

Jason felt pity for the kid, but he couldn't blame his classmates, like who the hell presented themselves as "dick"? It was kind of ridiculous.

" Hey! Everyone quiet now, be respectful" the teacher quieted them all before looking back at Dick with an apologetic face "You can continue"

"Right... Well... I'm 9 years old, I've recently started to live here in Gotham" he said, but he sounded quite sad now while he spoke "I like cartoons, elephants and gymnastics..." he concluded, looking down at his shoes, and squeezing tightly the straps of his backpack

"That's good sweetie, you can go ahead and sit there behind Dean" she pointed to the seat and Dick went to sit quietly

Jason stared at him as he took the seat in front of him. Now that he was looking at him with more attention, he realized he recognized the boy, he had seen him on TV before, he was sure it was the circus boy that Wayne had adopted.

The class went on normally, but Jason noticed that some kids were muttering among themselves while stealing glances at Dick, and Jason was sure that Dick had noticed that, but was trying his best to ignore it.

When lunchtime arrived, everyone left the classroom to head to the cafeteria. But once Jason had his tray with food, he was about to go and sit with the usual group of kids he spent time with, until he noticed Dick sitting alone in a table in the corner.

He sighed deeply, he shouldn't care, but he couldn't just ignore the kid, so he went and sit in front of him.

Dick jumped on his sit slightly, not expecting anyone to sit with him, but he offered a shy smile at him.

"Hey..." he greeted Jason almost in a whisper

"Hey, you mind if I eat here?" he asked, not really waiting for an answer to start biting into his apple

"It's fine, I don't mind the company" Dick assured with a smile, his voice starting to sound a little but more secure

"I'm Jason" he presented himself nodding at him

"I'm..." he was about to answer but ended stopping mid sentence, grimacing after remembering what had happened

"... Dick, right?" Jason hid his smile behind his juice box at saying his name, he didn't wanted to make him feel bad, but he still found it funny

"Yeah!" he smiled at him and nodded happily "I don't know why everyone laughed when I said it" he pouted

"The word dick is a slang" Jason answered with a shrug "But don't mind it, everyone will get over it in a few days, if you like it, use it" he encouraged him, the thought of the boy changing how he liked to be called just because his classmates were immature wasn't his fault, and he shouldn't change because of it

"Okay" Dick accepted easily

After that, they talked about different things, Dick even told him some stories about his time on the circus, which Jason thought they were pretty fucking cool, growing in a circus sounded really fun, but Dick also told him about his life now living with the famous Bruce Wayne.

"Wait, so you were allowed to perform in the trapeze even when you are just 9?" Jason asked him with amazement

"Yeah, I've been doing it practically since I have memory, I can also make a quadruple flip!" he explained with a proud smile, he seemed to really enjoy talking about that stuff

"That's pretty cool!" Jason praised, even though he had no idea what a quadruple flip looked like

They kept talking like that until the bell rang and they had to head back to their classes.

At the end of the day, they said goodbye to each other as a butler in an elegant car stopped by to pick Dick, leaving Jason to wait for his dad.

And once Slade picked him up, he told him about all the things he considered relevant that had happened in his day, including his new friendship with Dick, which Slade told him back in the day before "dick" Was a slang, it was the way people used for short for Richard.

The next day, it was Jason's play, and he was allowed to skip classes to go to the last rehearsal before the big show.
And a few hours later, the time had arrived, the parents and other members of the pack were starting to arrive, and Jason was starting to get anxious when Slade hadn't arrived yet.

"Alright kids, get ready" their theater teacher instructed them

The play started, and when it was Jason's turn, as he walked out to the stage, he glanced to the crowd, hoping to see Slade, he shouldn't be hard to spot, the Alpha had white hair, an eye patch and it was massive, but Jason couldn't find him...

Feeling a wash of disappointment, he started to say his lines, he was sure he probably sounded like a robot, repeating everything by memory, but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

And suddenly, the doors opened, and a tall figure walked in, Jason perked up at that, smiling when he noticed it was Slade indeed, he looked a little bit disheveled, as if he had been in a hurry, but he was there now and that's all that mattered, so Jason took a deep breath and put his all in his lines and on his performance.

At the end of the performance, Slade was glad it had finally finished.
Don't take him wrong, the boy was doing an amazing job, but he was starting to get tired of the stares and all the gossiping about himself was hard to ignore with his enhanced hearing, so the moment it was over, he went to reunite with Jason and they headed out of the theatre.

"You were late" Jason reproached him

"I got stuck in a job" he explained "But I was on time for your part wasn't I?"

"Yeah, I guess you were" the pup rolled his eyes but Slade could see a small smile on his lips and the contentment in his scent could not be hidden

Slade was thoughtful for a moment and opened his mouth to say something, but at the end seemed to decide against it and didn't said anything, deciding to keep a silent promise to himself 'I'll always be there for you when you need me'...

Chapter Text

After his play, something had picked up Jason's interest, and it was that when he looked around, he noticed that most of the other kids were being received by more than one person, who Jason assumed were their parents and siblings, but there was something specifically that had Jason thinking, the moms...

Jason knew where babies come from, or at least had a general idea of what he had been taught in school, and he knew for a fact that you needed a mom and a dad to have a pup.

Jason had his dad, but then, what about his mom? He must have one, but where was his mom? Had they died? Had they abandoned him?...

He had talked with Dick about their packs, and he realized that currently they were very similar. Jason had his dad Slade, and Dick had mister Wayne, and Jason also had his uncle Billy who came to visit sometimes and even took care of him for a few days while his dad was out; on the other hand, Dick had the butler, who he had told Jason he considered more a grandpa.

But the difference was that Dick was adopted, he knew who had been his parents, who he came from, but Jason had no idea about his mother and Slade had never mentioned them, so Jason decided to ask him directly...

Slade had been on the living room, going through some papers when the pup walked in, he was fidgeting with his hands and looked nervous.

"Everything alright champ?" Slade asked him

Jason sighed and sat next to him "Dad, who's my mom?" he finally asked him directly, just like his dad liked it

Slade froze for a moment. Since he had taken Jason, he had been dreading the moment the pup asked about that because he had no idea what the heck he was going to tell him.

Should he tell him the truth? That he had practically kidnapped him after killing his sire?
But what was the alternative? To lie? What could he even say? That his mom had died or abandoned him? He might want details, even a photo, but he wouldn't be able to give him any of that, and lying might eventually come back to bite him in the ass if the pup realized he had been lying to him.

So he made a decision. It would do not good to hide the truth, but that didn't mean that he had to tell the boy all the details, at least not yet.

Slade patted the space next to him, inviting the kid to take a seat, and when the kid did, he took a deep breath before talking.

"You see kid, I... Don't know who's your mother, because I adopted you" Slade wished he had more tact when speaking, because he really didn't know if being so direct was the right way, but it was the only way he knew

Jason's eyes widened in surprise "...Oh..." was everything that he was able to say

The silence extended on the room for a few more seconds until Jason finally looked at him with a sad look on his eyes

"So you are not my dad?" he asked with a small pout on his lips

"Now, wait right there kid, I did not spend the last years of my life pulling all nighters for a crying pup, changing toxic diapers and going to school plays where everyone stares at me for you to think I'm not your dad" Slade started to say firmly and placed his hand on the pup's shoulder "I might not be your sire, but I did raise you, so I think it's fair to say I'm your dad"

Jason's eyes started to shine with tears and threw himself to hug Slade.
Slade was a little awkward at first, but eventually he hugged the pup back and unconsciously started to grumble to soothe him.

This pup was his pack now, and there's nothing in this world that he wouldn't do to keep him safe, and if by some chance someone managed to hurt him, Slade would make sure there was hell to pay...

Suddenly, Jason seemed to remember something and pulled away, staring at Soade with wide excited eyes.

"By the way, Dick invited me over to his house tomorrow after school, can I go?" he asked with pleading eyes

Slade frowned slightly. He knew that Dick was Wayne's kid, and he knew that Bruce Wayne, was the bat...
He had gathered all the information he could on the man the moment the Bat had started to get in the way of his business, but if he knew his real identity, it was likely that Bruce also knew his, especially since he wasn't as secretive as him, and that could be a problem, the last thing he needed is for the Bat to know more about him.

On the other hand, it would probably do good to Jason to have a friend and to spend more time with kids his age, considering if what Jason's teachers had told him about his boy being a little bit "rough" with the other kids was true.

Besides, if he told the boy no, then he would want a reason, and what was he going to tell him? That no because his friend's father is his enemy? Yeah, that would have to be a conversation for when the pup was older.

"Fine, but I'll be picking you up before dinner" he let him know

"Yes!" Jason stood up from the couch with a jump and gave him a last hug "Thanks dad" and after that he ran to his room

Salde could only hope that he would not end regretting his decision...

The next day, when Jason entered his classroom, he headed directly towards Dick to let him know he had permission to go with him after classes. Both kids were excited, and could barely stay quiet about it during the rest of the day.

When the classes finally ended, both kids ran to the exit to wait to be picked up, and after a few minutes, a man in am elegant suit and a fancy car parked near them.

"Alfred! This is Jason, the friend I told you about" Dick presented him to the man while he climbed inside the car, being followed by Jason

"Is nice to finally meet you young sir. Master Dick has been telling us a lot of good things about you" the man said with a gentle smile

"Nice to meet you too sir!" Jason said politely but soon turned all his attention back to Dick to keep making plans of what they would do once they arrived to the manor

And when they finally arrived, Jason had to take a moment to admire the impressive building.
The apartment where he and his dad live is really big and luxurious, but nothing compared to the imposing manor in front of him.

But Jason's awe was cut short when Dock grabbed him by the hand and excitedly pulled him inside the house.

"Don't go far Master Dick, lunch will be ready soon, after that you both will be free to go play" Alfred let him know before the kids could run away

"Alright" Dick nodded with a small pout until he remembered something "Is B going to join us?" he asked hopefully

"Yes, Master Bruce promised he will" Alfred nodded before heading towards the kitchen

With that answer Dick smiled widely and turned to look at Jason "B can look intimidating sometimes, but don't worry, he's cool" Dick assured him

Jason could only assume that this "B", was the famous Bruce he had heard so much about.

Both kids spend most of the time on the living room talking and watching TV, until Alfred called them to the dining room to eat.
They both took their seats and Alfred was serving them their food when someone walked in.

"Hey Alfred, sorry I'm late" Bruce apologized until his eyes stopped in Jason and smiled softly at the kid "You must be Jason, I'm Bruce" he presented himself to the boy

Jason just nodded in acknowledgement. He thought the man would be more intimidating for what Dick had said, but he had a similar vibe to his daddy, big, serious and imposing, so he didn't really felt intimidated at all.

Bruce sit on his usual spot and waited for Alfred to finish serving everyone before looking at the kids again.
He had heard quite a lot about Jason from Dick, so he had an idea on how the kid was and he seemed nice so far.

"Oh! B, did I told you that Jay was on a school play? He was amazing!" Dick said excitedly, looking back and forth between Bruce and Jason

"Yeah, it was fun" Jason admitted with a smile

"Did your dad went to see you?" Dick asked, but before Jason could answer, Dick turned to look at Bruce "By the way B, Jay has a pack like ours! Just his dad and occasionally his uncle" he let him know before turning back to Jason, waiting for an answer for his question

"Yeah, he was there! Although he got there a little late" he answered with a slightly annoyed face

"He was!? I don't think I saw him" Dick said with disappointment

"How could you have missed him? He's super tall and big!" Jason said while moving his hands to emphasize his size "And he was white hair and an eye patch!"

Suddenly Bruce froze at hearing that description....

It couldn't be right?... He knew a very dangerous man who fitted that description... But... This must be a coincidence right? There's nothing way...

"Oh! That guy? He looked quite scary" Dick confessed with a slightly embarrassed face

But before Jason could say something about that, Bruce decide to ask directly to clear things.

"What's your dad's name Jason?" he asked while trying to keep a relaxed facade

"Oh, his name is really cool, his name is Slade!"

And that was everything that Bruce needed as a confirmation.

Jason's dad is... Deathstroke...

Chapter Text

After lunch, Bruce stayed with the kids while they played for a while.
He was watching Jason carefully, he wanted to make sure that Slade hadn't send the kid to his house with any ill intend behind. But after a few minutes he concluded that wasn't likely since the boy seemed only interested in playing with Dick.

But still, there was just this feeling in Bruce's gut that he couldn't ignore, the feeling that something wasn't quite right, so after leaving Alfred to watch the kids, he headed to the cave to look more into the information he had of Slade to corroborate what he remembered.

And after going though the information he had got when he first had started to face Deathstroke, he found something quite odd.

There were 2 kids officially registered as his. Joseph and Grant, two boys he had with a woman named Adeline, but it seems there's also a girl with his DNA named Rose, who's mother is a woman named Lillian Worth, but how did Jason came into the picture then? There wasn't really anything about him, not a trace of where he could have come from if he was adopted the way Dick had been.
This was definitely weird, but certainly nothing to not be expected from a mercenary, but now Bruce had a bunch of questions and couldn't help but wonder if Jason was in any kind of danger...

The only idea he had to figure out where Jason had come from was by testing his DNA, so he hurried upstairs and asked Alfred to prepare something for the kids to drink while he watched over them.

As he watched the kids, Bruce noticed how they seemed to be playing something where they were pretending to be a cop and a criminal and they were using their hands as guns, pointing them at each other and running around on the garden.

"I finally got you!" Dick exclaimed with a smile when he finally caught Jason, putting his hands behind as if he was cuffing hin

"Then I'll dislocate my thumbs and get out of the cuffs!" And with that, Jason got out of Dick's hold and started to run again

Bruce just started at him with a dumbfounded expression, how and why the hell did the kid knew that? Or why would that be his first idea? And should he be worried that also Dick didn't seem to think much of that?

"Master Dick, Master Jason, I've brought something for you to drink" Bruce's thoughts were interrupted when Alfred called them, carrying a tray with two glasses of lemonade

Both kids hurried to him, taking the glasses and drinking while they talked about the game they were just playing. While Bruce just waited for them to finish, keeping a close look on Jason's glass to know which one exactly was his, and once they furnished drinking, they put their glasses back on the try and that's when Bruce stood up and walked up to Alfred.

"I'll take care of this Alfred, you stay with the kids" Bruce took the tray from him and walked back to the manor, taking the glass from where Jason had drink and taking it to the cave to run a DNA test.

For a few minutes he didn't get anything, until finally there was a match thanks to the DNA samples previously taken from a man when he had been arrested more than a few times.

A man named Willis Todd. He had been charged a few times for theft, for possession of drugs, for getting in a few violent fights in a bar. There were also a few reports made against him for domestic violence, and attempts of sexual assault, but the police never looked much into them so those didn't go anywhere, but this man... This man had to be Jason's father...

Looking further into it, Bruce found out that the man had been found death on his house some years ago, the cause of death being a huge wound on his chest, likely done by a big knife or sword, so it had been classified as a murder, but the culprit was never found.

And just like that, the pieces of the puzzle that Jason was, started to fall on it's place.

Slade had killed Jason's father and then had kidnapped the boy, and judging by the date when Willis Todd was found, then Jason was too young to remember who was his real dad. Slade had been lying to the kid... But why?

What reason could Slade have to do that? Why take the kid? And even more, why raise it?! Slade could have just left Jason there to be found when the body of his dad was also found, or if for some reason his moral compass stopped him from abandoning him, he could have left Jason somewhere where he could be found easier, like near a hospital or something.

Bruce still had many questions, and looking further into the system, he came across Jason's birth certificate, or at least a fake one, because pretty much all the info there was falsified and no matter how much more he looked into it, he couldn't find any type of document about Jason before he came in contact with Slade. It seemed like Willis Todd never bothered to register Jason, so any name Willis had possibly picked for Jason had died with him.

It seemed like any answers about why Slade had taken Jason, would have to get it directly from the mercenary.

And seeming almost as if he had summoned, he heard the ring of the bell and through the cameras on the cave he saw Slade standing at the entrance, seeming unarmed, but Bruce wasn't betting on that one.

He stood up and headed upstairs, getting to the door before Alfred and facing Slade with a glare.

"Deathstroke..." he said the name with poison on his voice.

Slade snorted at that "Oh, come on Wayne, don't do that with the pups nearby" he warned him and just then a bunch of small footsteps were heard approaching.

"Dad!" Jason yelled with a smile when he saw Slade and ran to hug him, the mercenary picking him up easily.

"Hey champ, did you had fun?" he asked him, ruffling his hair softly, his eyes catching onto something odd on the boy's hair but not saying anything at the moment.

Jason nodded eagerly, glancing at Dick and Alfred who had come to join Bruce near the door "Yes! I had a lot of fun. We played to the cops and criminals and I was the bad guy but Dick couldn't catch me" he explained moving around in Slade's arms in excitement.

"I almost got you but we got interrupted" Dick said, pouting and looking away, staying behind Bruce since he found Slade's presence quite intimidating.

"Can I come play with Dick again?" Jason asked, turning to look at Slade with puppy eyes.

Slade glanced at Bruce with a cold eye "I don't know, only if Mr Wayne agrees"

Bruce clenched his hands into fist but smiled at Jason "Of course Jay, you can come play with Dick whenever you want" he assured and both kids celebrated.

"Alright, thanks for having him, we'll be going now" Slade said and turned around, knowing tonight he was going to have a special visit.

"Goodbye Dick, goodbye Alfred!" Jason waved at them and Dick corresponded the gesture until they got into the car and left.

Once they were home, Slade made sure Jason did his homework and after dinner he got him into his bed.

"You know dad, Alfred makes really tasty food, you should try it" the pup said and yawned, getting comfortable on his bed.

Slade smiled softly "I don't know kid, I don't think I'll get the chance to eat there" he said amused.

"Then I'll ask Alfred to teach me and I'll cook for you" he mumbled and soon fell asleep.

"Goodnight kid" Slade gave him a kiss on the forehead noticing once again something odd there, but having other things at hand, he stood up and then left the room.

He changed into his Deathstroke suit and after making sure the security was on place, he left.

That night, Deathstroke didn't had any targets planned, no, this time as he was standing on top a of a building, he was waiting, waiting for the man who was going to come for him.

"Deathstroke..." Batman landed just a few feet behind him.

Slade turned to face him and put his hands down "I believe you've come here for a talk, not a fight. Am I right?" he asked, a playful tone on his voice that annoyed Bruce.

"What exactly are your intentions?" Batman asked, his voice lower than when he spoke as Bruce.

"I think you'll have to be more specific Bat" he smirked at the clear annoyance in the other.

Batman clenched his fist, holding back the desire to punch the man in front of him "I'm talking about Jason. I know the truth, I know you killed his father-"

"His sire" Slade interrupted him.

"What?" Bruce looked at him in confusion at his sudden intervention.

"I killed his sire. I'm his father" suddenly Slade had gone serious and took a step towards Bruce "Listen, the kids sire was a piece of shit, when I was sent to kill him, I found him about to suffocate the pup with a pillow" the memory made Slade growl, to think that a minute later and the wonderful lively pup in his life wouldn't be there.

"Then why did you take him in? To make him like you?" he asked him, glaring at the mercenary.

Slade scoffed at his words "Look Bruce, we both know that regardless of what anyone says, neither of us want our boys turning like us. I don't have any second intentions with Jason so how about we make an agreement?" he suggested.

Bruce raised an eyebrow questioning at that "An agreement? What kind of agreement?"

"We can hate each other as much as we want. We can fight and get in the other's way. But the kids, the kids stay out of this, this is between you and I. They won't get involved in our shit, agreed?" he asked and offered his hand.

Bruce wasn't fully convinced, he was still worried about Jason and was going to keep and eye on the kid to make sure he was safe, but at least he could agree on this with Slade.

"Agreed" he nodded and shook his hand.

At least for the time being, they had found some middle ground...