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Slade didn’t do things for free, he wasn’t a man of kindness, one to go out of his way to help someone without some sort of personal gain and yet- Something in him had screamed he help. He hadn’t meant to follow through, hadn’t meant to go barging into the alley but he had and some part of him would grow to be glad..
“Lemme go!” The voice screeched , high and young. Gotham was terrible, Slade knew as much, despite Bats and his little flock, there was only so much good they’d do and well, only Red Hood really came into the depths of Crime Alley anyway. Slade figured the brat was the only one who’d tolerate Slade slinking through the depths of the city too. He wasn’t a welcomed sight. Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
“Stop squirming, you little shit.” A voice snarled, a second laughed.
“Thought you liked fighters, babe.” The second voice was a woman. Slade didn’t falter because it wasn’t just the men in this cesspool that were trash, he’d had enough run-ins that that infernal Quinn woman to know that women in Gotham could be equally as fucking terrifying.
He didn’t discriminate, after all, Adeline was probably the scariest person he knew.
“I do, hon but he’s a biter. I wanted to hear his pretty sounds but gon’ have to gag him.” The man sounded upset and Slade, creeping through the darkness, finally found the sight. The kid was tiny, a scrappy little thing, filthy and clearly homeless, dressed in ragged, too large clothes, face dirty but the prettiest blue eyes between strands of long knotted black hair.
“G-Get off- Get-” The kid snapped, struggling and fighting, getting a good kick into the man's shins who dropped him. The kid looked gleeful, spinning on his heels to get another good kick in between the man's legs. Slade almost winced when the man crumpled, the woman looked furious, pulling a knife out from god knows where-
The woman attempted to lunge, the kid ducked with ease. Slade found himself impressed as the woman overshot.
“You fucking little bitch. I’m going to fuck you raw with this knife for that-” She hissed which yeah no, Slade wasn’t going to listen to that shit.
“Excuse me, but I’ll be taking the kid, thanks.” He rumbled, stepping out of the shadows.
“Over my dead bod-” The woman never finished because Slade took her words to heart. It was with ease one of his Katana’s cleaved through her neck, separating head from body, letting her corpse drop with little remorse. The man, still struggling on the floor, clutching his dick let out an inhumane noise of fear and Slade rolled his eyes under his mask when the smell of piss radiated even stronger from the alley.
“You’re pathetic.” Slade clicked his tongue and turned away. The kid could do whatever he wanted with his newfound freedom. He wasn’t Slade’s problem anymore. He reached for the closest fire escape, hauling himself up until he was on the rooftop. He was behind schedule now, for meeting an informant. Rooftop travel was quicker but more likely to have him run into a bird or bat-
Well, needs must.
“Thanks Mister.”
The voice scared him. Slade, Deathstroke the Terminator, getting the drop on by a kid-
“What the fuck.” He deadpanned because the very same blue eyed kid was beside him on the roof. How had he gotten up so quickly and quietly?
“Thanks for saving me, even though I totally had it handled. I mean- She wasn’t even holding the knife that very well, I could’a knocked it outta her hands- But thank you!”
Slade only stared as the kid rambled, on and on and on about how he could have won the fight he had been winning in an accent that didn’t feel like a Gothamite… If anything, Slade could detect European traces in the kids' words.
"What's your name? You do have a name right? My name is Dick… Well I mean my name is Richard but that's so stuffy! So call me Dick or else!" The kid wouldn't shut up. Slade could feel a headache coming on. Why had he jumped in… Well okay, he knew why he'd jumped in, he wasn't going to let some random street kid get raped.
Slade let out a noise of irritation and turned to jump over to the next roof with ease, thinking surely he’d escaped. No normal kid would try jumping such a-
“Do you not want to share your name? Can I name you myself?” Dick asked because the kid had just so effortlessly cleared the gap, topped with a fucking flip of all things-
Slade didn’t regret saving the kid…
But did he really have to follow him along like a duckling after Slade had decapitated a woman in front of his eyes.
The kid didn't seem phased and instead kept following Slade over rooftops with ease. That was another point of concern. The kid was flipping and dipping and vaulting over the roofs like he'd been trained… Like…
"You a Bat?" Slade found himself gruffly asking because the moves did have some similarity to Batman's multiple little birdies, albeit Redbird had never done such performance-based moves, the first bird had a bigger stick up his ass then Bats himself.
The second bird, a Cuckoo if Slade remembered right (which gee talk about a self-punishing name), was the one prancing around as Red Hood now, which showed that he was a better parent than Batman… sure Slade's sons were dead and his daughter hated him but at least she wasn’t dressed up as a mass murderer, she was with the Titans of all things… Part of him was almost proud.
And the newest bird, Bluejay was an absolute little shit. A true Gothamite street rat who riled up Slade’s nerves so badly. He was a good kid though. Dick reminded him most of Bluejay.
"No? I'm a human duh. Why… Are you a Bat? You don't look like Batman… Are you in disguise?" Dick asked, going a handspring, bouncing along. Slade skidded to a stop. Okay so the kid wasn't a Bat.
"No I'm not Batman. I'm Deathstroke…. The Terminator… you heard of me?"
"Nope. Sounds scary. But you're not scary, you saved me. Can you teach me how to fight? I'm pretty bad at it, I usually just dodge and bunch and then I’m good at escaping. Sometimes if I talk enough people let me go, isn’t that hilarious?” Dick giggled, a high chiming noise that sounded surprisingly innocent for a street kid who’d almost been in a terrible situation. Slade couldn’t understand the kid. He made no sense.
“Positively.” Slade rolled his eyes and deadpanned. “I’m in stitches.” He added for dramatic effect. Dick only giggled again.
“You’re funny.” Dick smiled and kept following.
Slade didn’t have the heart to send him away, even if he was an annoying kid… if he could keep up, he could stay. Slade figured what harm would it do if he gained an apprentice-
He regretted that decision ten minutes later when he felt a headache coming on from the kids' non-stop talking...