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Slade squints at a very knocked-out Batman and Robin in front of him. Sighing, he begins the tiresome process of tying them up in such a particular way as to hopefully buy him the allotted amount of time needed for his assignment.
Why did he accept this case again?
Oh, right. Because someone was not only able to track where he lived, but hack into his private phone just to give him an assignment that only ‘he could do’ apparently.
Slade just sighs again.
The money is worth it , he repeats to himself like a mantra. This is one of the weirdest assignments he’s ever received, but it is low-risk and worth a lot of money. Very weird, but regardless, worth it.
He notices the barest of flinches coming from the kid.
If the kid’s awake then that means the Big Bat is already awake, and since they’re both awake the show can begin.
Sitting down casually on a third chair next to them, so they’re in a triangle formation, he crosses his legs and rolls his eyes.
“Great. Now that you two are awake, we can begin.”
They open their eyes to look at him, but he isn’t very concerned with the acidity pointed towards him. After all, he’s gotten used to Batman’s and the kid’s- well Robin’s - just doesn’t hit as hard when he’s used to the more personal anger of the previous one.
He should check on Nightwing as he’s calling himself these days.
Opening the letter that showed up on his pillowcase this morning, seriously what the fuck? How did someone break into his phone AND his place?
Maybe he’s getting old. Or complacent.
He starts reading off the letter, “ Good evening. You don’t know me, but I know you .” Creepy. Nice. He ignores the confused looks from the two in front of him. “This isn’t from me, obviously,” he clarifies, which clears up the confusion even if not the anger.
Slade just shrugs. “ I’ve hired Deathstroke, AKA Slade Wilson, to kidnap you without harm and take you to Warehouse 14 by the East Docks. He is being paid to read this letter to you, and then after he will leave, again, without any intentions of harm.” The kid looks at him dubiously, but Slade doesn’t have much of a response.
That is what he’s being paid for after all.
“ I’ve chosen Deathstroke for three reasons. 1. He will take any assignment as long as the money is proportional to the desired work,” Which yeah. That’s true, he’s a merc after all.
“ 2. He has no personal ill will towards any Bats and affiliated,” Which again, yeah. Everything he’s done has been for fun or for an assignment. He shrugs as the two others trade a look.
He pauses before growing a little still at the third reason. Tilting his head, “ 3. He is already privy to your secret identities- how does he know I know that?” He asks a little flabbergasted.
Batman and Robin in front of him twitch in what he assumes is shock.
“Like obviously he’s right, but this guy is weird. He shouldn’t know that I know.”
“What the hell do you mean you know who we are?” Batman demands gruffly. Which is pretty funny since he’s… you know…. Literally tied to a chair.
Slade just waves his demand off, “I’ve known for years. Never told anybody since it isn’t relevant. I’m more concerned about how he knows.”
“Who exactly is the one who wrote this letter?” Slade pauses and looks behind Batman to see that he’s already cut through a layer of rope. Rolling his eyes, he quickly adds a few extra layers of duct tape and takes the knife out of his hand. He’s sure he has more, but he doesn’t need to keep them for long, just long enough.
“ I have no idea,” He answers as he sits back down. “Whoever it is, they hacked into my private technology and left me this letter on my pillowcase . Good money though.”
They look at him with wariness.
“Anyways. I needed to pass on sensitive information as well as a warning to Batman and Robin, however I knew trying to hack into the Batcave or trying to drop off this letter would only lead to my identity being revealed, or in the worst case scenario, have my information be pushed away or ignored. In this case, a third party seemed the safest to pass this information on. No offense, Mr. Wilson. Your security was amenable.” They all take a moment to look at each other.
“Honestly, I’m a little offended,” he says genuinely which makes Robin snicker and Batman give him a warning glare.
“The information I need to pass on should be shown to Robin first, and then Batman, ” which makes an eyebrow lift, but Slade shrugs at the very specific request even as Batman gets ever warier while Robin looks even more confused.
“ Slade, please show Robin the photo included in the envelope, then Batman, and after they've both taken the time to recognize the scene, continue the letter. ” Slade gives the letter a dubious look, but pulls out the photo regardless.
He sees Robin- the current one -on a rooftop about twelve feet away from a man who looks like he either tripped or fell on purpose. The kid is reaching out towards him, but is very clearly too far away to do anything about it. If he cared, he might have felt a little sympathy about not being able to save the guy, but he doesn’t really care about the kid let alone some random guy.
Leaning forward, he shows Robin the photo. The kid tilts his head in confusion for just a moment before stilling, and then leaning forward to stare at the photo with much more purpose. Definitely recognizes it, Slade thinks with a sort of satisfaction he can’t really pinpoint .
He looks up to glare at Batman with some sort of vindication that honestly seems a little disproportionate considering they are both, in fact, tied to chairs. Batman seems to look back with a look Slade can only call constipated which Slade can't help holding back a snort as he looks at the kid for confirmation that he can show the photo to his Dad, now.
“Yes. Show him, please.” The repressed anger and hurt flowing from the kid seems a little strong, but what does Slade know? Nothing about any of this apparently.
Batman seems to give it just as an intent look before visibly twitching once he seems to recognize it, and nodding to Slade that he was done. He seems to give Robin a searching look that seems a little undecipherable to Slade, even as Robin seems to glare at him even harder.
“I’ve gotta say that I’m very curious about what’s going on, but I will continue now regardless. In the most unlikely chance that one or both of you don’t recognize the scene, I will briefly go over it. Why thank you random stalker,” Slade adds to himself in curiosity… while ignoring the pointed looks he gets from his little forced audience of two.
“ This man is Felipe Garzonas, otherwise known as the man who jumped all on his own - he underlined it about three times - and the same man that Batman accused Robin of pushing without any evidence to support him-” Slade pauses and blinks for a second before looking up at Batman with an incredulous look.
“He’s Robin.” Like that means anything. It does as proven by Robin’s vindicated look of agreement as he stares Batman down.
Batman seems to slump a little in regret, but not enough to Slade, in his opinion. He may be a bad father himself, but he at least wouldn’t accuse one of his children of killing someone if they’d promised to never kill.
Well. Maybe he wouldn’t. Slade squints at himself. Maybe he should review his own treatment of his children before judging someone. No need to throw bricks in a glasshouse after all.
He’ll call Rose after this.
Anyways.
“ I don’t appreciate Batman accusing Robin, Gotham’s Hope,” the kid seems to blush a little happy at this designation, childish as it might be, “ of taking part in killing someone. While his technique is slightly more physical than the previous Robin, there have been no instances where he has gone ‘too far’. I measure ‘too far’ as what you do on the regular, Batman. So maybe if you think he’s being too violent, you should look in the mirror and see where he gets it from. Cause if you try to blame it on his background, that makes you unintentionally (hopefully) classist. And that’s something you should work on, ” Slade looks up to whistle for a moment while Robin adds a solid, “Need some ice for that burn, B?” Which makes Slade snort and say, “Nice.”
Batman just looks at them with tired eyes.
“ Robin is very kind, and also a huge nerd, ” Robin squawks, “Maybe if you think that he was capable of such violence, you should get to know him better to dissuade you of such notions. I’ve noticed that you missed his last three plays, as well as not accompanying him to the library as often as you used to. Relationships go both ways and as he’s the child in this situation, you are the one responsible for the upkeep and management of your time together in and outside of the cape.”
Robin looks a little embarrassed but tellingly doesn’t say anything against what was said, while Batman seems to sport an uncharacteristic thoughtful look.
“I’ll be honest, for someone who supposedly you don’t know, they know a lot about you… just throwing that out there.” Slade adds bluntly with a wave of his hands.
They look back at him blankly, which Slade will gracefully presume to mean they thank him for the- in his opinion -well needed acknowledgment.
“ Onto my warning. I’ve thought long and hard about this and I’ve come to a conclusion. While Nightwing and Batgirl are both wonderful and In The Know, neither have any sort of authority over you Batman, ” Batman seems to start glaring at the letter at where this is going while Robin seems to look lighter in amusement, “ I take the physical and emotional safety of Robin quite seriously, as do you. So here’s your checks and balances: If you don’t start communicating with your children better- Nightwing and Robin both -I will be sending very detailed letters to two people. Your guardian, who hopefully is simply ignorant of the specific going-ons between you and your children and not unhealthily permissive, along with Superman’s Mother.”
Slade and Robin both bark into simultaneous laughter which ends up doubling when they see the Batman glowering at the letter like a reprimanded child.
Wiping a tear from his face, Slade finishes the letter, “ I understand you have problems communicating. I don’t blame you, but instead of letting things settle with time, try asking your children what they need to feel loved by you. Sometimes guessing and deducing isn’t enough. Words work much faster. I expect to see happier Robins in the future, and wish you luck on your parenting journey.
P.S. I heard Nightwing say something and I can’t help but ask: Are you aware of what the name Robin stemmed from? If you are, and you really didn’t ask about giving it away given it’s personal origin- I am very disappointed in you and I think you should use your very strong Brain to see how fucked up that was. If you’re unaware of the origin, then you should ask and it should shed some light on why he was upset before the obvious notion of firing your child for being too young only to then obtain another child and then let them fight. I am well aware you don’t mean to make Robin seem like a replacement to either of them, Children aren’t replacements after all and I can tell you love them both, but they don’t know that.
P.P.S. To Batman: Look up Love Languages. Spending hours with your children to show them that you love them is great for you. But they interpret this as work, not affection. Nightwing seems more Touch-Oriented and Robin seems more of a Gifts kind of person. But the kind who likes books, food, and cool rocks on the road. Not like a lamborghini. Both seem to appreciate Words of Affirmation. You like research so here’s something you can research and apply as you see fit.”
“Huh. That’s kind of… personal?” Slade questions a little hesitantly as he folds up the letter.
Robin just nods, obviously thinking a lot of things over. Batman’s face seems to be stuck in a look of utmost concentration.
They all look to the side as Nightwing crashes in worriedly, before turning confused, and a little miffed.
“This doesn’t seem like an emergency? You’re already out of your binds?”
Robin just gives a helpful if overly calm for the situation, “We’re fine. Deathstroke was just hired to read us a letter.
Nightwing gives a slow blink at him before giving Batman a passing glance and stopping at Slade, “Who hires a world renowned mercenary to kidnap Batman and Robin just to read a letter?”
Slade just, once again, shrugs, “I have no idea. In other news, do you happen to have my daughter’s current number? I suddenly want to ask her what her love language is so she knows I care about her regardless of our rocky relationship.”
Nightwing blinks hard at him. “No. We haven’t talked in over a year and she changes her number every few weeks or months.”
Slade looks wistfully to the side, “That’s my girl.” Throwing the letter to Nightwing, “Anyways, I’m done. Good luck. Hopefully I don’t see you soon, and if you find out who hired me, an update would be nice. It’s been strange,” he waves to them absently as he walks towards a window lost in thought.
“Bye Deathstroke. It’s been real,” Robin waves at him neutrally, if in a bit of humor.
Slade just snorts as he leaves without any preamble. Stepping out of the building, he gets a notification for the second half of his payment coming in. Neutrally, he looks around without seeing anyone besides some kids in the alley.
He wonders where Rose is.