Work Text:
“What’s the point of all this?”
Slade looks up from his files and to the teenager a few feet away from him. The teenager that’s supposed to be going over blueprints, but is looking at Slade with furrowed brows and a downturned mouth instead. Slade raises an eyebrow and turns his attention back to the papers in his lap. He doesn’t miss the way blue eyes flash with annoyance.
“Elaborate,” he says.
The kid huffs out a breath. The attitude is unwelcome. Slade would think after the last few weeks he would have learned to watch it, but he supposes that’s just another thing he’ll have to add onto the training list. It grows longer each day and Slade knows that this endeavor is a little more work than it’s worth, but he’s determined. It’s only what’s right.
“This, meaning the apprenticeship. What’s the point? What’s your endgame?”
Slade flips a page and scans over it. The job offer is not incredibly lucrative. The questions are amusing. Cute. Always looking for answers like the little Bat he is. Slade looks over at him.
“The word apprenticeship is self-explanatory, but since you need it broken down - you’ll learn from me and then you’ll follow in my footsteps.”
Dick lets out a frustrated noise. “I don’t want to do that.”
Slade sighs. He turns away and goes back a few pages to double check a figure. No, not lucrative at all. In fact, it’s laughable that he’s expected to do so much work for an offer so cheap. He pinches the bridge of his nose.
“You sound like a five year old. This arrangement is not contingent on what you want.”
He shuts the file and looks at the kid again. Dick’s face is furious and a little scared.
“But it’s such a waste of your time! Do you think I’ll ever stop fighting you? I’ll be stubborn and disobedient for the rest of my life if I have to. I will constantly toe the line to piss you off and it’ll just be a waste of your time and resources. So what is the point?”
He sounds desperate, his eyes searching Slade’s face frantically for an answer. Slade stands and walks over to where Dick is sitting. He crooks a finger under Dick’s chin and tilts his head up. There’s a moment where Dick goes to pull away, but something about the expression on his face must stop him.
“The point,” he says, “is that you killed my son.”
Dick flinches like he’s been hit. His face crumples and he looks so painfully young. Grant had been young too. He’d been young and scared while he died in Slade’s arms. Too far gone to do anything beyond gasp in pain as his heart gave out. Slade has no sympathy for Dick’s fear. Not when it looks so similar to Grant’s.
“No- Slade, please. We didn’t I swear, I don’t know what-”
Slade frowns and Dick stops talking.
“He died fighting you and your friends. You’re all children, I wouldn’t expect you to understand how an ill placed blast or starbolt can end a person’s life, but I will hold you responsible.”
Dick is shaking now, those blue eyes glassy with tears. He looks ready to try and protest, but Slade pays him no mind. Grant hadn’t died because of any direct action by Dick and his little friends, but if they’d been less of a nuisance, if they’d been smart enough to realize something was off , his child would be alive right now. But he’s not, so Dick gets to pay for it. Slade meets his gaze head on.
“You can leave anytime you’d like, but I will murder your friends, I will make you watch, and then I’ll kill you too. Slowly. Painfully.”
Slade lets his hand drop and he stands. “Get back to work.”