Chapter Text
Once he heard the snap of the rope, everything was a blur. Climbing down to his parents, screaming, arms around him, tears, running, hands grabbing at his arms and wings, the dark of unconsciousness. Dick didn’t even have time to process what happened to his parents before he was chained to the wall in a grim room.
His eyes had just adjusted to the dark when the door opened and let in bright light that hurt his eyes.
When Dick finally looked up, he saw the man who had threatened Mr. Haly. He walked over and poked at Dick’s wings with his cane. Dick tried to pull away, but he just grabbed his face.
“Hey, you’re lucky, you’re young, and when you eventually get real feathers and start molting, you’ll be too valuable to kill. You could’ve joined your parents in death.”
He kept probing the fluffy brown wings, but once he was satisfied, he left Dick alone again. He carefully stretched his wings; they were still small wings and too sensitive to be touched this much, even preening isn’t done in one session. His wings ached with pain; all he could do was curl up in the corner and hide, covering himself with his wings.
Dick knew time was passing, but couldn’t keep track of the days. The room was dark and didn’t have any sort of way to tell time, and going from time zone to time zone didn’t help with his internal clock.
He was unsure how long it had been since the man had been in the room, but the room flooded with bright light. Dick stayed very, very still, trying to pretend he was asleep. He couldn’t help but hope he would be left alone, but he wasn’t that lucky.
Footsteps came closer, and an angry voice said, “Get up, runt,”. The order was emphasized with the smack of something hard against Dick’s wings.
He whimpered and curled further into himself.
“I said get up!” Another hit came, harder this time. Dick gasped from the pain emanating through his wings before warily poking his head out.
“Good job, runt. Now listen here. Those wings of yours aren’t worth anything yet, which means I gotta keep you fed and take care of ya ‘til they are. But that don’t mean I can’t get any money for ya yet. Now up!”
Dick was harshly grabbed by a different man dressed in all black and dragged into a different room. This new room had a bed and lights. It was a nice change, but Dick didn’t want to get too comfortable after what… Zucco, he thinks he remembers Mr. Haly saying, after what Zucco said.
It didn’t take long for the door to open again. A tall, lean, Latina woman stepped in. She watched him intently as she walked to the bed and sat down.
“Come here,” She said kindly as she patted the bed.
Dick was nervous, but the sharp ache in his muscles from the floor and from being hit made him get on the bed next to her.
“Hello there,” She said, “You certainly are a pretty one, aren’t you?”
Dick didn’t like the way she looked at him, the way her eyes roved over his body like a predator stalking her prey. He was suddenly uncomfortably aware that he never had the chance to change out of his skin-tight show costume.
“My name is Catalina,” She purred, putting a hand on his shoulder, “What’s your name?”
He darted his eyes around the room before squinting at her, “My name is Dick.”
A chuckle burst out, “Oh! Well,” she giggled, “an odd name. But…” There was a glint in her eye that made Dick want to run away, “I don’t mind.”
That glint got brighter as her hands started to wander, and he wished he were back in that dark room again, because this was worse than that ever was, so much worse.