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Dick sighed softly as he took a deep breath in of the perfectly brewed zesty citrus earl gray tea. He had taken to drinking it nearly every day after finding out that he was pregnant. It replaced his morning coffee even though he was drinking the decaf version. It made him feel better when he saw everyone else in the station walking around with steaming mug of coffee. He missed it, missed caffeine really. Finding this tiny shop that opened between his apartment and the police station though was a total life saver. Glancing around he realized someone was watching him, he could feel it like a physical caress and it was uncomfortable.
Taking a sip finally he nearly jumped when the cup came down with no other then Catalina Flores, Tarantula, standing in front of him. He nearly dropped his cup in his surprise.
“Catalina?” He glanced around honestly wondering if he had gone a little crazy on all of the hormones. It wouldn't be a normal reaction to pregnancy but his wasn't normal by any means. Normal pregnancies didn't start with a seed grown by a super villain (though he didn't think Ivy meant any harm with maybe half her creations. Maybe.) planted in his urethra before getting sold in an auction was not a normal way to start the whole pregnancy venture. While many of his symptoms would be considered normal there were some that were very unique to his circumstances.
“Dick Grayson?” Her expression looked surprised but her eyes didn't reflect the same putting Dick on edge right away. “I didn't realize you were in Blud still.”
Dick knew that was a flat out lie. The news behind her was even talking about his alter ego, which she knew well. It had been months since he went out but Jason had made a few appearances in his suit while his other siblings helped protect the city while he laid around like a beached whale. A lot of it had cleared up seemingly over night thanks to a certain mercenary. Word had gotten out quickly that Deathstroke was going after anyone causing trouble in the city and it very quickly stopped most of the trouble makers. It was only a temporary hush but it was nice to have peace even if only for a while. Some of the smaller things were still happening but his siblings worked reduce that as well.
He suddenly realized he wasn't paying attention and that had not passed her notice. “Sorry I've had a lot going on recently,” he offered as an excuse with a charming but sheepish smile.
“Is that why you've let yourself go so much,” she asked very obviously looking him over, focusing on his stomach for a moment before meeting his eyes again.
Dick could feel the frown pulling at his lips as he reached up to lightly caress his stomach to sooth the child rolling around in his stomach. He knew that he hadn't really gained any weight, outside of the tiny menace brutalizing his insides but as things stopped fitting he became self conscious of it, something he tried to hide from everyone. “Uh yeah. Been on desk duty for a while now. Its been a process trying to rebuild after Blockbuster.” Her focus went back to his stomach unsettling him even more which just seemed to agitate his son.
“Officer Grayson, don't you have to get to the station,” one of the woman that worked with the cafe called out to him. She always remembered his name and order, comping most of his drinks saying officer discount even though he didn't need it. He appreciated the gesture though.
Dick felt a wave of relief flow through him at her reminder that he had somewhere to be and a way out of the conversation. “I actually do have to get going before I'm late for my shift. Are you going to be staying in town or just passing through?”
“Passing through unfortunately.” she said after a moment of hesitation. “We'll likely be coming back through, maybe we can talk more then.” She had a smile on her lips but her eyes were uncomfortably blank. He could tell whatever she was doing wasn't good.
“Sounds good. Easiest way to find me would be at the station.” He offered even though he knew she would likely try to track down his home. It wouldn't be easy for her as Slade had insisted he move to a more protected penthouse that served as one of the man's safe houses. Dick was now very grateful for the man's paranoia.
“I'll see you around Dick,” she said as he turned away to leave the little cafe with his now cooled tea.
Seeing her brought back bad memories, his son kicking in protest of all the stress. “I'm sorry little bud, we'll be at the station soon. You like it there.” He took a sip of his drink as he walked trying to stay aware of his surroundings as he walked on auto pilot. He got there just as the morning meeting where the chief had started going over assignments for the day. Some of the people he was friendly with greeted him with smiled or nods while the chief greeting his belly with a little pat before greeting him.
After everything with Blockbuster his relationship with the woman had changed. She knew his secret night time activity and had covered for him, even taking him back onto the force once things cooled down. She had even been told about his run in with Ivy's seeds, well at this point the whole station knew but she knew what actually happened not the extremely watered down version. She had even offered to go after everyone involved, even Slade if he wanted to press charges. Dick had even thought about accepting the offer at first even if it would just be an annoyance to the man.
That was before telling Slade he was pregnant though. He had thought he was going to be raising a child on his own and it scared him. He hadn't been ready to ask his family for any help.
Taking a seat he lightly rubbed his belly as he sipped his tea. He was on light duty given his condition. Pregnancy was not easy on him, Ivy's seeds didn't make him female they just gave him some female organs but in a way he was enjoying it. Being on light duty and not able to do anything though was so boring he wanted to climb the walls. He was even helping the detectives with their cases but it wasn't the same as going out and interacting with people, which he missed.
Two Nights Later
Dick watched the news a lot more now that he wasn't running across rooftops on his off time, it was a way to pass the time while staying informed. He also found it funny to watch the segments about him or any one else in the vigilante community, most of the time. Really any time the reporter wasn't basically doing a hit piece on one of his friends.
Slade slid onto the couch next to him offering the cup of tea Dick had asked for. “Anything interesting,” he asked as he sat back with his tablet to look over things he would need to know for his coming contract.
“Nothing so far.” He said at first. “Oh, it's going to rain hard the next few days. Sounds like some flights might get canceled.” He slotted himself against Slade's side as he lightly sipped his tea.
“Its my last one until the baby comes, little bird.” Slade lightly draped an arm around Dick. He was finding it surprising how easily they fell into such a domestic flow. It hadn't even been that long since he moved Dick into one of his safe houses. The apartment wasn't going to work, it had no easy access when he was suited up, it was far too small and the security was basically nonexistent. So here they were in one of his safe houses that had plenty of rooms along with excellent security and access. All his needs met.
It had been understandably awkward for the first new days as they got used to being around each other on a regular basis. They had both been a little paranoid sharing space given their history. The tension had finally been broken after a completely stupid fight over something neither of them remembered afterwards. It ended in multiple rounds of wild sex that left Dick a boneless mess that barely remembered his own name. After that they found a rhythm that worked with Slade even joining him for some of his appointments between contracts. Sitting together watching the news was one of the most domestic things Slade had ever done but he found it enjoyable with the boy.
Slade glanced up from the information Wintergreen sent him about his contract to focus on the screen when he felt Dick tense next to him. “Something interesting?” The news man was talking about a dead body found not too far from them where the woman's throat had been slit. At first he didn't think much about it until he saw that she had been wearing the uniform of Dick's favorite cafe.
“I knew her,” Dick said softly as he looked over at Slade looking a little pale.
“I'm sorry, little bird.” He gently stroked Dick's arm in an attempt to comfort him. “You know that everyone can't be saved, so don't start thinking it was your fault.” Slade had watched the young man blame himself for things he had no way to prevent. Something he had decided Dick needed to work on.
Dick seemed almost startled before looking away still super pale. “I know that I can't save everyone but I knew her. I was talking to her just a few hours ago.”
“You couldn't have saved her,” Slade said it again. He wanted to drill it into Dick as much as he could whenever he had a chance.
Dick looked up at him with wide eyes and a pale face though he seemed to collect himself fairly quickly. “Of course.” He focused on the tv again though his mind was racing over his most recent interactions with the girl. It hadn't been that long ago, just hours ago really. One thing that he kept coming back to though was his chance meeting with Catalina. She had mentioned she was leaving that day though, why would she to kill the woman if it was connected to that. It didn't make sense but that chance meeting combined with the woman turning up dead gave him a sense of foreboding.
A few days later
Dick couldn't help himself as he walked down the isles of baby supplies. He had a baby shower at the manor already but he still felt that he needed more. Slade wasn't a big fan of it all, saying it wasn't needed but he still gave Dick his card whenever he wanted to shop for more. The man had been surprisingly supportive through his whole pregnancy, or the parts he was there for at least. He was still taking contracts so he was gone from time to time but it wasn't for months at a time. Normally no more then a week away at a time, even if it was only broken by a few days of the man at home.
Finding little super hero themed onses he fawned over them for a while before putting at least half of them into his cart to head for the check out. Dick was in there so often that he knew most of the people working there by name, greeting them as he passed. He actually winced a bit seeing the total but handed over the card anyways. Sure he had money of his own and didn't need to use Slade's but the man put him in this situation so it was only fair he pay for it.
Getting out to his car, another thing Slade insisted on which Bruce oddly enough backed him on, was simple enough but he started to get the feeling he was being watched as he walked. Stopping at the car he popped the trunk where he stored one of his escrima sticks and a loaded pistol (not his idea). Dick glanced around as he stuffed bags into his trunk. Not seeing anything immediately he slipped the stick up his sleeve before closing the trunk to get in the car. He knew something was wrong the moment the door closed.
“Start the car,” a deep male voice said from his back seat with the cool metal of a gun pressing against the side of his head. The male had been laying down so Dick hadn't seen him until he looked up into his rear view mirror.
“You don't have to do this. Take whatever money you want but I'm not starting the car.” He kept his tone calm even as his heart raced.
“Start the car or I start shooting,” the man growled with the gun he was holding dropping down to press against Dick's stomach. “Now!” He snapped.
Dick's hands shook as he slowly reached forward to press the start button. He knew it was risky to leave the parking lot with this man but he couldn't risk losing his baby. He would just need to figure something out along the way. Reaching down with his free hand he pressed the panic button on the side of his seat letting his family know that he was in trouble.
“Good, now drive. Get to the main street and head south.”
Dick started to drive as instructed as he continued to try thinking of a way out of this. If it was just him he might even just risk the gun instead of participating in his own kidnapping. That hard pressure against his stomach though had him ridged with fear. He might be able to survive a gun shot, had on multiple occasions actually but his unborn child might not.
“Where are you taking us,” he asked as he drove the car as instructed.
“Stop asking questions and just drive.”
Dick would normally be hard pressed not to keep talking but the pressure on his belly was keeping him oddly silent. They drove for almost 20 minutes before getting more detailed instructions that lead to the warehouse district by the bay. It made him even more worried but he had faith that his family would be able to find him. He had to hold onto that as he was ordered out of the car. Walking into the warehouse he felt his fear edge into pure terror.
Catalina stood by a table with a number of instruments on a tray almost looking like a back ally hospital.
“Catalina, what's the meaning of this? If you wanted to meet up you just had to ask.” He managed to make his voice sound a lot more casual then he was really feeling.
“I was thinking that we should have a more private meeting that I didn't think we would be able to get with your new guard dog.” Catalina made a face as she crossed her arms just under her breasts pushing them up and forward. “Shacking up with Deathstroke of all people.” She sounded disappointed in his choice of partner.
“He's not horrible when he's not trying to kill people in my city.” Dick defended Slade with a bit of a frown on his lips. It wasn't even just that he was defending the man but he honestly felt insulted on Slade's behalf.
“Is that what it takes? Not killing people in your city?”
“Its a good start but he also stops when I say no so that's a plus.” He crossed his own arms over his chest.
“You enjoyed it just as much as I did,” she said in her defense seeming to be truly convinced that he had wanted it just as much as she had. “Then again maybe I didn't have the right parts for you to say yes.” She gave his stomach a pointed look. “I heard rumors that Nightwing was purchased by Deathstroke and now you're living with the man? And apparently pregnant?”
“He was there for a contract and stepped in to save me knowing he would be paid for his services.” His jaw tightened as he made an effort to not reach down to place his hands on his large belly to shield his son.
“Those services include getting you pregnant and living with you?” Her gaze kept dropping down to his belly again which was making Dick very nervous.
Dick lost the fight he was having with himself as his hands moved down to his stomach like he was trying to shield his baby from her gaze. “My pregnancy wasn't intentional and no matter what people say Slade loves his children.”
“Enough to get them killed?” Catalina focused fully on his face when she asked that, a slight smile pulling at her lips when he winced. “That man is a curse to his own children and you know it. You trained most of them after all.”
“You're right, I trained Ravager and Jericho when Deathstroke asked me to.” Dick could see some of the men around them tensing at the mention of three powerful metahumans that were related to his child. Two of which were known to not have an issue with killing an enemy and the last that was once a Titan.
“Never thought you would be the type to name drop.” She glanced around at the men to get a gauge on if she might need to change her plans.
Dick's eyes narrowed a bit, his gaze more intense as he scrutinized her body language. “Unexpectedly getting pregnant changes a person.”
“So I see,” she responded before making a gesture to one of the men behind Dick. Two of the men surged forward to roughly grab Dick by the arms. He was pulled deeper into the room before more joined them to wrest him onto a cold metal table as he struggled against them. Dick got in a few good hits, even knocking one of them out before he was fully strapped to the table.
Catalina stepped up to the table and reached out to touch his stomach. “Do you know what it is yet?” Her tone was casual as she lightly stroked over the painfully stretched skin.
“Get your hands off me,” he said through gritted teeth. Dick struggled hard against the restraints but felt very little give from the thick leather restraints. He watched her turn away from him before turning back with a pair of trauma shears. “What are you planning to do Catalina?”
“I plan to cut it out of you. People would pay a lot of money for a young metahuman that is sure to be very strong, if a little unstable.” She grabbed his shirt and started to cut it off. She didn't stop there though, she cut all of the clothes off his body. Taking her time she examined his body making comments about his slightly swollen chest and how it still looked toned though it was likely he would produce milk. She grabbed one lightly to give it a squeeze, a smile pulling at her lips when he hissed softly. “Everyone talks about your ass but I always liked your firm tits.” She gave it another squeeze before moving on. Moving past the stomach she focused on his crotch. “That's interesting.” Dick squirmed when she grabbed his balls to examine the slightly green veins that had formed there as a side effect of the seeds that changed him. “All of the stories where very vague about any changes here. It is a little cold in here though.” She gave them a squeeze drawing a soft pained moan from him.
Dick looked up at the ceiling to avoid letting her see how much the changes had been effecting him. The pregnancy had been a little rough on his self-esteem, specifically the sexual changes. When she started to stroke his cock though a blush started to creep up his cheeks as it did nothing but twitch a few times. He was simply too uncomfortable with his son using his internal organs like training dummies and hormonal to get hard. Something he learned not long ago with Slade.
“Seems your tastes have changed a lot.” After not getting a response she switched her attention to his stomach looking disgruntled.
Dick pulled at his restraints as she started to stroke over his large stomach. The position starting to make him feel short of breath as the baby pressed on his organs.
Catalina shifted her body so he couldn't fully see what she was doing. He felt something wet before feeling pressure that quickly crossed into intense pain. At first he just groaned but it quickly crossed into a scream, soft please leaving him between screams. It was easy to understand why it hurt so much when she shifted to better be able to use both hands that were covered in blood, his blood. Dick struggled against the restraints as she cut the child from his body.
Dick strained against the restraints even as he felt a weight lifted from him followed shortly by a short sharp cry. Soft sobs left him from the combination of pain and his baby being so close but out of reach. “Catalina please,” he begged between sobs. “He did nothing to you.” His vision was swimming as he watched her start to walk away from him with the squirming pink form that was his child.
“You're right,” she said as she turned slightly in the doorway. “I'll make sure he knows you're to blame for this, if he survives.” She turned back around and left with the now quiet baby in her arms.
“CATALINA,” Dick screamed at the slowly closing metal door. Heavy sobs left him as the men that had been in the room cleaned up what they thought was important before leaving him still cut open and bleeding.
Almost 5 minutes later Dick heard the door open with a loud bang. He had managed to get his hands free but not his feet. His hands were trying to keep pressure on his abdomen knowing his family would be following the tracking device in his car. The bleeding was heavy leaving him light headed and his hands weakened as he pressed on the wound.
“Slade,” he sobbed softly as the man's face swam in his vision.
“I've got you little bird,” the man murmured as he lightly ran a hand through Dick's sweat slicked hair.
“We need to get him to a hospital now,” another familiar voice said from a short distance away with hands working to get a better seal on his stomach wound.
“J-bird?” Dick's confusion was obvious as the two men unstrapped him from the table before Slade effortlessly lifted him off the table.
“I'm here Dick,” Jason said softly, his voice slightly off because of the Red Hood mask on his face. “You drive,” he said to Slade as he opened the back of the borrowed Batmobile where he got in the back. He wouldn't admit it out loud but Slade had the better reflexes to drive way faster then Jason did and he wanted to get his brother the help he needed as fast as physically possible without a speedster.
Slade reluctantly handed Dick over to Jason in the backseat where the man could continue to render any aid he could. Getting into the driver's seat he was privately thankful for all the times Dick had shown him the different controls when any of the birds borrowed it to cover Bludhaven. And out of all the bat siblings he had the least faith in Jason's driving.
A hospital was thankfully very close to where they found Dick. It didn't take long to get him there and even shorter to get him into the hands of the ER staff. One of the doctor's stopped him from following them into the operating room looking like he really didn't want to be stopping a fully armored Deathstroke. Jason grabbed him arm before he could intimidate the man into letting him in.
“Deathstroke, let them do their job.” Jason's face was covered by the mask but his tone was clearly a warning and a reminder that he was armored with his mask on. Not really something they wanted to be associated with Dick Grayson, former ward of Bruce Wayne. Giving an annoyed huff he pulled his arm away and stormed out of the building.
Jason followed him out though his hand was lifted to his ear like he was listening to something before focusing on Slade again. “Get in. Tim is bringing a car and change.” He kept his tone low so any others that might be listening casually wouldn't know what they were saying.
“Have they been able to find out anything about the people that took him,” Slade asked as he got in the passenger seat knowing that it made sense to take these precautions even if he hated it.
“Not yet. Oracle and Billy are still looking into it.” Hood sounded just as stressed as he pulled away from the hospital to find a place for them to meet Tim.
30 Minutes Later
Slade looked up when one of the doctors that had been there when he walked in with Dick entered the waiting room taking only a moment before fully focusing on him. The man seemed to hesitate before approaching. “Are you here for Mr.Grayson?”
“Yes.” He stayed seated not wanting to intimidate the man knowing that technically he had no real ground to stand on hen it came to getting the information he wanted without more attention then he wanted at that moment.
“He is coming out of surgery right now, they were just finishing the final stitches when I left. We were able to stop the bleeding and get everything back where it should be to the best of our ability given his condition.” The man looked mildly uncomfortable when talking about it.
“I should be able to shed some light on that,” Leslie Thompkin had just walked in when he first started talking about Dick's condition.
“I'm sorry, you are?” The doctor looked between her and Slade with a questioning look.
“Dr.Thompkins, I've been Dick's primary doctor since we learned of his condition.” She had a sweet smile on her lips as they shook hands. “We would like to move him when he's stable to better be able to care for him.” She glanced over at Slade for a second before focusing on the doctor again. “What of the child?”
“It was cut out from what we can tell. There is no way to know the child's condition from the little information that we have available to us right now. Who ever made the incision though had at least a marginal amount of medical knowledge.” The doctor did look a little uncomfortable with the next part though. “We would need some kind of release to transfer him to another hospital.”
“Of course,” Thompkin jumped in immediately. “I have the paperwork already set up for it and Mr.Wayne is having a chopper sent to facilitate the transfer.” She dug in her hand bag a bit before producing the paper work that would be needed to have Dick transferred. As the doctor took the paperwork to make sure everything was in order she turned her attention to Slade again. “It sounds like Oracle has a lead. Dr.Villian is already at the manor preparing for Dick's arrival.”
Slade stared at her for a minute before giving a slow nod. He glanced over at Tim and Jason who had also been waiting for any news on Dick's condition. “I want someone not a doctor with him at all times. We don't know who did this or why yet.”
The two batlings looked at each other for a moment before both standing with Tim moving to stand next to Leslie. “I'll stay with the doctor and Dick.”
Slade stood, gave the two a nod and walked out of the hospital with Jason in tow. The two took the car that Tim had showed up in to head for the apartment he shared with Dick. As soon as they were in the car Jason got Oracle on the line.
“So I wasn't able to find much but what I did find might be very useful. Jason do you remember the vigilante Tarantula?” Oracle started speaking before the first ring had even completed like she knew exactly when they would call.
“Yeah that was around the time Blockbuster was trying to destroy Bludhaven, specifically going after Dick.” Jason frowned at the mention of the woman that he had a deep hate for. He knew a bit of what had happened with her but it wasn't everything, probably not even the worst of it. “I thought that bitch was dead.”
“Apparently a lot of people did. She wasn't dead though,” they could hear the typing in the background. “She got pulled into this black book group working for the federal government. About two weeks ago though they went AWOL. Her whole team.”
“Sounds like Waller's little group of pets,” Slade's tone didn't hide his disdain for the whole thing.
“True but the big difference is this group was not being controlled by micro bombs in their heads. They're mostly low level mercs or heros that got on the wrong side of the law.”
“You mean more then just being a vigilante?” Jason said in a dry tone.
“Yes. They all have a rap sheet a mile long with murder on each one. They have all been charged and convicted but joined this team as a way to reduce their sentences.”
“I can see the connection to Dick but how do we know she is connected to this in particular? Cutting open the person you claim to be in love with to steal their child seems a little out there even for her.”
“It's not. The other day Dick got upset that his favorite barista was found dead. He had been acting a little off a few days before it showed up on the news.” Slade's eye narrowed as he focused on driving. “He ran into her at that cafe.”
“He didn't mention anything I'm guessing.” Jason agreed. “So do we know where she is or have any way to track her?”
“Yes we do. I have her current location and its not far from you right now. I'm calculating her trajectory to be a small air strip between Blud and Gotham. I've already sent Robin and Ravager is going to meet him there. Wintergreen is pulling in some favors to keep them grounded. Jericho will meet you at the apartment.”
“Where is B?” Jason seemed mildly confused about the man's absence. He hadn't been happy to find out Dick was living with and having a baby with Slade but he wouldn't stay out of something like this.
“He got called away for JL business before any of this happened. He's off world from what I've been able to gather so he's completely in the dark about this situation.” Barbara sounded mildly annoyed with the whole thing.
“That's good actually. He can't get in the way from off world.” Slade's tone was dark with the barely contained rage visible in his eye.
Oracle made a soft sound of disapproval. “You can't just kill everyone.” Jason winced as she said it knowing Deathstroke well enough after months of interactions to know this was going to be a blood bath no matter what Batman's rules were.
“I can and I plan to do exactly that.” Slade stopped the car and climbed out not caring that it cut the call off at that point. They were at the apartment but without the opener from one of their cars he couldn't get into the garage leaving them to go in through the front door. The two men were met at the elevator door by a fully suited up Jericho fidgeting with nervous energy.
“Pops!” The young man hurried over to pull his father into a hug needing the comfort as much as he wanted to offer it. “Is Dick ok?” He pulled back to look between them.
“Dick will recover. The baby was cut out of his stomach.” Slade returned the hug to the point he could feel Jericho's bones protesting. “We have a lead on the child.” He pulled away from his son and walked into one of the side rooms that held the secret entrance to his personal armory. Jason gave a whistle of appreciation as he followed the man in.
Slade pulled on the suit quickly before starting to load up on weapons. As he was strapping on his thigh holsters he glanced over at Jason who seemed to be in heaven with all the weapons available. “Take what you need. Rubber bullets are going to do no one any good.” He could see the conflict in the younger man's eyes but almost as soon as it happened it was replaced by a dark glee that colored his eyes lazaras green for a second.
“You're right.” Hood still had most of his suit on under his clothes so it was simple enough to strip the loose shirt off. He selected a pair of Desert Eagle L6 in matte black over most of the body with gold on the barrel, sights and trigger. “These will do nicely.” Jason checked them over before strapping them to his thighs fully loaded with a number of extra clips fit on his belt.
Slade gave a soft snort when he looked over to see which pistols Jason chose. “Poetic.” When he got questioning looks from both a twisted smirk pulled at his lips. “Rose gave those to us when she found out Richard was pregnant.” He finished tightening a strap on his thigh before turning to leave while he pulled on the mask.
Short Time Later at the Airport (Ending 1/Grant Ending)
Catalina ran toward the plane she had arranged to take her out of the hell hole that people called Bludhaven. She could hear shouts coming from the hanger as her men fought against the baby hero Robin (not the one she knew either) along with a woman that he called Ravager with long white hair flowing around her as she sliced through people. She had been sure that her men could handle whatever the bats threw at them but she hadn't been expecting the woman or the complete lack of care for human life. It had always been a weakness in her eyes to refuse to kill an enemy. Now she was seeing proof that she was correct. The woman was ripping through her men with Robin doing nothing to stop her even if he wasn't actively killing anyone himself.
Before she could actually make it to the steps a scream left her as a bullet tore through her knee. Falling forward she threw her hands out to slow her fall. A sharp pain shot through her arm as her bones protested all her weight coming down at such an odd angle. Looking down she nearly screamed again seeing the mess that had been her knee. If she survived this it as likely she would never be able to walk right again judging by how mangled the flesh looked with white bone mixed in there.
Looking up at the sound of slow foot steps she was not surprised to see Deathstroke walking toward her with a sniper riffle resting on his shoulder. She had been expecting him but seeing Red Hood at his shoulder with pistols drawn did surprise her a bit. The last few screams could be heard from the hanger as he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs towering over her.
“What do you want merc?” She snarled as one of her hands attempted to put pressure on the bloody rags of her knee. “I have nothing for you.”
“Where is my child?” His voice was deep but easy to hear even through the dual toned mask.
“You're too late,” she said with a snarl curling her lip. “It was sold already. You're never getting it back.”
Red Hood surged forward like he wanted to hit her but Deathstroke's hand to his chest stopped him with a casual show of strength. “There is no way she is telling the truth. There is no way a she found a buyer in that time.”
Catalina gave a sharp bark of laughter as the obscure notion that she showed up without a buyer already planned. “He's already paid and left. You're never finding the kid.”
“Don't let Hood and Robin's presence confuse you, you are not dealing with the bat right now.” Slade lifted a hand to his mask. “Ravager scrub through their systems with Robin, loop Oracle in to help.”
“You wont find anything,” Catalina spit the words out like they were poison.
“That's ok.” He reached up to pull the mask off showing a wicked smile and an icy blue eye filled with malice. “You're going to tell us.” Slade clipped the mask to his belt before advancing on her slowly with one of his boots coming up to step on her destroyed knee.
She screamed with a clenched jaw as he slowly leaned forward putting increasing pressure on the wound. “Never telling you anything merc.” She glared up at him with her jaw clenched so tightly Slade could hear her teeth grinding together.
“More fun for me,” he growled down at her making her truly start to regret her choices. Even if Dick was a bleeding heart he had not softened Deathstroke, a man known for being completely ruthless to his enemies.
Hours Later
Dick came around slowly, floating in darkness for a time before the constant beeping coming from around him finally forced him to the surface of consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes feeling mildly confused when he was looking up at the ceiling of his bedroom in the manor. Turning his head slightly he saw the machines that had woken him up, heart monitor softly beeping while an infusion machine hummed next to it. Looking around the rest of the room he could see a few chairs that weren't normally in the room pulled around like multiple people had been watching him as he slept.
Only one of the chairs was occupied at that moment by a man that Dick didn't recognize at first. He was holding something in his arms but Dick's attention as fully focused on his face. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the man but his thoughts were like swimming through molasses.
“Finally awake it seems,” his voice was deep though unfamiliar.
“Do I know you?” Dick's voice was little more then a croak as he tried to sit up only to find that was a horrible idea. Pain shot through his body as he collapsed back onto the bed with a soft whine from the pain.
“So easy to forget someone you killed?”
For a moment Dick ran through all the times he failed to save someone before it slammed into him. “Grant,” he said softly with his eyes skimming over the man's face. “How?”
Grant shrugged a bit though it was relatively small movement drawing Dick's attention to the blankets in his arms. “Seems the original formula HIVE used needed to be stabilized. Something apparently achieved with my father's infected blood.”
“I'm glad.” There as real feeling in Dick's words that seemed to confuse the man. “Your family has missed you so much for years, even Rose.”
“Missed me?” Grant's face twisted into an angry scowl. “You mean replaced me. Twice now.”
“What?” Dick looked confused. “Never. Slade doesn't talk about it because the man is more emotionally constipated then Batman but Joey does, all the time.”
Grant gave a snort and roll of his eyes like he was well aware of his father's inability to talk about or express his feelings well. “Yet he decided to have two more after I died.”
“I don't know that decided is the right way to explain Rose or,” Dick's voice cut off by his throat closing around the sudden emotions as his hand went down to his touch his much flatter stomach. A sob spilled from his lips as he looked down at where his stomach lay flat.
“What do you mean,” Grant asked though his voice sounded distant as Dick's thoughts started to spiral with flash backs to what happened filling his mind.
He was so absorbed in his mental break down that he didn't even notice when the man got up and walked over to his bedside. He flinched violently as the man placed a hand on his shoulder to bring him back to the present. Once Dick looked up at him with teary eyes the thing in Grant's arms was lowered to his chest. Looking down as the tiny bundle started to squirm with soft whines of discontent he broke into sobs again seeing the small tufts of white hair on the squirming infant.
“Seems to be fine but I'm not a doctor,” Grant said as he looked anywhere but at Dick's tear stained face.
Dick looked up at him in surprise though his gaze quickly dropped back down to his squirming son that did not seem to like anything that was going on around him. “Thank you,” he whispered not knowing that it was to an empty room until he looked up a full 2 minutes later to find himself alone once again. Reaching over blindly he found the call button that had been laid on the bed next to him, pressing it as he focused fully on his son's tiny red face.
Shortly After
“Oracle tell me you have something,” Hood said in greeting when he answered the woman's call on the first ring sounding decidedly stressed.
“The baby has been found, or rather returned.” Oracle sounded confused but happy to have good news. “Dr. Villian and Dr. Thompkin are looking him over now.”
“Wait, someone just dropped the kid off?” Hood winced slightly hearing another scream in the adjacent room.
“Yes and no. Somehow the kid ended up with Dick. I can see where the breach happened but whomever broke in knew what they were doing.” She sounded mildly annoyed as he could hear typing in the background. “Dick knows more but he's refused to say anything until Slade gets here.”
“I almost don't care,” Hood muttered softly. “I'll let the others know. We will be there as soon as possible.” Jason hung up the call and turned to the hanger feeling a cold sweat start back out at the thought of going back in there. He had never thought of himself as sensitive to violence but something about the things Deathstroke did made him down right nauseous. Squaring his shoulders he steeled his nerves before walking in to deliver the news.
“Deathstroke,” he called to the man as he got closer to the corner where he had set up shop. Jason walked past the bloody mess tied to a chair that was Catalina Flores. “He's been found.” He almost flinched when that single eyed gaze fell on him. “He's at the manor with Dick and the doctors right now.”
“You're sure?” The man seemed to be completely unfazed by the blood splattered all over his armor as he set down the pliers he had been holding.
“Oracle just called. They're not sure on some of the details but apparently Dick wont tell them anything until you get there.” Jason looked over at Catalina as the woman groaned clearly coming back around after fainting from either blood loss or pain was unclear.
Slade nodded as he pulled a gun leveling it on Catalina. “Seems you're no longer needed cunt.” He pulled the trigger, already moving toward the door as he slipped the gun back into its holster. Robin and Ravager sat on the hood of Slade's car with a tablet shared between the two so they could be spared the horrors that Slade inflicted on the woman. Both turned toward them once they were almost at the car. Robin's nose wrinkled adorably at the sight of Slade covered in blood but Rose didn't seem even slightly phased.
“Tsk surely you're not planning on getting in the car let alone the house looking like that.” Robin pulled his the ear plugs out as he jumped off the hood not much caring when he heard some scratching that likely meant the paint was damaged. He didn't really care if it was or not.
Rose pulled out her own ear buds while turning off the tablet. “I think I saw a hose on the other all of the hanger.” She got off the hood and walked around to one of the back doors to get into the car with Robin doing the same on the other side. Red hood hesitated before getting into the driver's seat while Slade walked over to hose the blood off his suit while grumbling about delicate sensibilities and no stomach for what needed to be done.
The ride to the manor was uneventful though it gave Jason some concerns about how easily Rose and Damian seemed to be bonding in the backseat. Soon enough they were pulling into the bat cave where Alfred was waiting with a change of clothes that all of them could change into. It didn't take them long to get changed, most of the after care that normally went into post patrol was put off for another time. Slade was the first to get up to Dick's room. He breathed a sigh of relief upon setting eyes on the young man in a nest of pillows.
Dick glanced up when Slade walked in with a small dazed smile on his lips as the doctors fussed around him. “Slade.” His gaze was drawn down to the small bundle in his arms. “He's so perfect and small,” he murmured softly.
Slade made his way over to the bed as the others filtered in to the room so they could see the baby. They were all quickly herded back out of the room though by Dr.Thompkins. Sitting on the edge of the bed he leaned forward to place a light kiss on Dick's head before looking down at the tiny child in his arms. “Have you thought of a name?”
Dick frowned for a moment before looking up at Slade, his brow creased with worry. “I thought I had time still,” he said softly. “I hadn't picked one yet.”
“No no,” he said softly, hand going to Dick's cheek already seeing how upset he was getting. “That's not something to worry about right now. Take your time.”
“You have up to a year to decide,” Dr.Thomkpins advised from the other side of the bed where she was checking his vitals. “Its five days before we have to submit any paperwork.”
“Are there any complications?” Slade asked as he looked over at the woman.
Dr.Thomkpins gave them both a gentle smile. “It would seem the child has Mr.Wilson's healing ability. He seems to be a perfectly healthy baby, far too healthy for a child born so early with no medical intervention until hours after he was born.” She placed a gentle hand on Dick's shoulder before giving them a small nod as she turned to leave.
“I'm happy you're both ok but how?”
“It-,” for a moment he hesitated looking unsure about telling Slade before taking a deep breath to continue. “I don't know how but it was Grant.” Dick knew Slade's eldest was a sore subject between them still. “I woke up and he was in the room.”
“Dick, Grant is dead. I was there when he was buried.”
“Jason was buried too. Its not outside the realm of possibility that he was brought back with something like a Lazarith pit.”
“That is possible.” Slade frowned a bit. “I'll have Wintergreen do some digging and reach out to some League contacts. Did he tell you anything?” He wasn't sure much he believed it could have really been his dead son but he wasn't about the argue that at that moment. Dick's conviction about it being Grant did make him really start to wonder though. It could have easily brought Grant back to life but it was always a crap shoot for what would come out of the pit. “You should rest while you have the chance. Your family is already chomping at the bit to meet the baby.”
“I don't want to sleep.” Dick looked up at him. “What if he's gone when I wake up again?”
“I'll be here the whole time, little bird.” Slade found a comfortable position to curl his body around Dick with an arm around him and the baby so he could sleep.