sylph_fics (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sylph_fics) wrote2006-09-19 08:35 pm
sylph_fics) wrote2006-09-19 08:35 pm
Entry tags:
- a darker path,
- dc,
- dick,
- dinah,
- fanfic,
- lady shiva,
- roy,
- slade
A Darker Path AU fic: Crossed Lines and Revelations
All previous parts of the "A Darker Path"-verse can be found here. It was getting to be kind of a long list.
Here's the newest part.
Title: Crossed Lines and Revelations
Characters: the Wilson clan, with a guest star
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nah.
Disclaimer: I wish these guys were mine, they'd be treated better than DC does. But they're not, DC still owns them.
Summary: Old shames and old lies are never as far away as their holders hope, and the truth always hurts like hell when it comes out.
Notes:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
merfilly wrote Dinah and Slade, and Rose. I wrote Dick and Roy, as seems to be the standard.
The woman moved with precise intent, as if she were on the hunt. The man called Deathstroke in most circles had reason to be cautious as he monitored her. He was certain she had not yet tracked her quarry to his care, but he wanted to avert any violent repercussions of his decision. He really had not been pleased when his network had informed him of the woman's presence, so close to his home turf. He had occupied his household with training, and then slipped away to drive the few hours to intercept her. He had no wish to face her at the manor, and have it compromised. Once he was positive she was not being trailed by either a Bat-brat or one of the Birds Oracle employed, he opted for the most direct approach.
"Lady Shiva," he greeted, using full professional courtesy. The man was dressed in casual clothing, presenting no immediate, outward threat. He had no urge to draw full attention to himself today.
"Deathstroke." Her eyes studied him, appraising the man who had so recently been testing the young Batgirl. "Why are you in my path?" The path of destruction that Shiva carried in her whims was not an enviable place to be, and few stepped willingly into it.
"I have business with you." He kept his voice neutral.
"I have doubt of this."
"You may find different. I know you are seeking someone, perhaps a student?" Slade could play his cards close, but did not have time to ghost around the issue very long. She eyed him sideways as they walked down the broad sidewalk together.
"What do you seek in return for the knowledge you possess?" she asked him directly.
He smiled a half smile. "I'm here to make you a deal, concerning the Society. I know you refused them. I know they will keep sending annoying representatives to persuade you, annoyances that take time away from your other pursuits." He saw her nod once. "I can stop them, if you drop your search. The bird is of use right now, and is not available for finding."
"Threats? I suppose next, you will intimate that more serious petitioners will come, eventually with an offer that cannot be refused and still allow me to live," she said, amused.
"That depends." He was not smiling now. "Tell me, specifically, what your student is worth to you."
Shiva paused their walk, considering what he had asked. "There is a matter of honor between she and I. She is not of a caliber to discharge that, which I seek to remedy. Then, I am sure, she and I will cross paths one last time, to see whose ideals are the better foundation." She inclined her head briefly, considering. "So she is worth a small portion of my honor at this point."
"Then my offer is this; you walk away, and I will see that she comes to no harm by another's hand. I may even be able to see to improving her caliber." He could see the potential, begun by raw talent, shaped by this woman and others, which he could mold further. "Once her purpose is at an end, I will deliver her into your hands only." He kept his ideas of the time frame involved to himself.
"I have one further stipulation, Slade Wilson." Shiva pinned her eyes on him with unnerving intensity. "Should she come to harm, before the end of her usefulness in your plans, you owe me a new student."
Deathstroke considered that. He had the unpleasant feeling that she would only accept a female student, and that meant Rose…or Lian. A slow warmth filled his one eye, and he nodded. The thought of Lian being trained by Shiva for hand to hand, himself for marksmanship was one that bore entertaining.
"Deal." He nodded to her, ready to part ways.
"And Deathstroke?" Shiva added, making him pause. "I choose not to tell Huntress that we had this conversation."
"Courtesy between peers," he said with a smile, but she shook her head.
"No. Interest in seeing how you might break her from her principles." With that, Shiva left him, considering all her final words implied. He began walking back to where he had left his car, his mind on her words in view of Rose's recent vision. Dick had immediately thought of Dinah, and dismissed her, but now Slade wondered just what it would take to win her loyalty.
`~`~`~`~`
Canary had just thrown Rose as Slade came in to lounge in the door. He noted she was only using her own style against his daughter, which blended boxing with her martial art almost seamlessly. The girl got up and immediately attacked with raw power, only to find herself sitting on her butt quite harshly. The next attempt relied on speed, and again, she wound up on her tailbone. Canary was breathing hard, but her years of experience were making her a more than adequate teacher. Slade wondered just how long they had been practicing from the signs of exhaustion creeping into the Canary's form, and the fact it was pushing close to midnight.
Rose maneuvered to attack one more time, trying for guile, as she employed more subterfuge in her body language, bringing a small smile to the lips of her teacher. When Rose sliced the blade in on the left, Canary slapped the flat of it down, and was caught by a cunning sweep that followed it. When she regained her breath from the fall, she came to a kneeling position, holding her broken arm up as a signal to stop.
"Very good. Thinking it through is better than overpowering or rushing," Canary said. "We'll get to a point where you'll know which of the three to use against what type opponent, and even work to blending them, but anytime your opponent is experienced, the mind comes before the body."
"How are you so able to anticipate me? You don't have that meta ability," Rose accused.
"She has experience, with some of the fastest fighters the heroes have ever offered, instead of the meta advantage," Slade said, breaking into the training.
Canary tried hard not to scowl at the man, and focused instead on her student. "Rose, I think that's enough for today. My arm is killing me," she said, cutting a small look Slade's way. He merely met her gaze unrepentantly, but nodded to his daughter to go. Once Rose had cleared out of the training room, Slade closed the door and sat on one of the benches, while Canary eyed him warily.
"I handled the matter of your former teacher." He carefully watched her face, seeing the fall of hope, though she quickly tried to hide it. //She knew.// That thought angered him, reminding him of both her duplicity in Light's case, and her stubborn streak of independence. "In case you wish to keep anything else from me, remember this; I've promised her a student in your place if I decide you are no longer necessary," he growled.
The fact she paled almost immediately told him his threat was aimed true. She had immediately thought of Lian, in Shiva's hands. "I did not 'keep' anything from you. I suspected my teammates would have thought she was responsible. Whether she investigated further…"
"You knew she would, after I warned you she did not need to come near this household," he stated. "Do not let this happen again."
Canary considered his words a long moment, actually being both still and quiet. She then nodded. "Fine, Wilson. Whatever you say." The harsh tone belied the words, anger rolling off her in waves. She was not going to push a fight, not now, when she was backed up to a wall, figuratively. "I'll be in my damn room." She strode out, jarring her arm with the angry steps she took, but he said nothing to stop her. In truth, he was rather pleased to see her angry rather than cowering; he saw it as a part of the spirit he had once respected, one of the traits he wanted instilled firmly in both girls.
Only when she slammed the door in leaving did he decide that she would need lessons in self-control. He had a good idea of what needed to be done, to start bringing her in line. All he needed was to have a small conversation with Dick and Roy.
`~`~`~`~`
Roy shut the door behind them, stretching fit to pop his spine as he sighed. "What a day. I'm glad she's finally down..." It felt so strange to be just talking with Dick, with so much hanging between them... but it was nice, too.
"Me, too. And Dinah's got Rose, so we're safe from her..." Dick arched a brow and looked towards the bed--and Roy smiled at him, shaking his head just a little. "I love you, you know that?" How screwed up was it that only in Deathstroke's home could he be that honest about how he felt about Dick?
"I... yeah. I do. I wonder how we survived, sometimes, but..."
"We're too stubborn to let go," Roy reminded him, the same words he'd used when he finally told Dick he'd forgiven him for the… difficulty of that first night, admitted he'd protested but never called his safeword, never put Dick to that final test. Dick's smile was the same joyous expression, and Roy just curled against him, kissing him for a while before finally pulling away. "Hey, speaking of Rose."
"Yes?" Dick asked curiously.
"I spotted something while she was sparring with you. Crawl in with me, and we'll talk it out," he invited, stopping just long enough for Dick to slip his collar back around his neck.
~*~*~*~*
Slade glanced at the large grandfather clock at the end of the hall, and then nodded. He was fairly sure his boy was in Harper's room, and headed that way. He twisted the knob, opening the door and leaning in the doorway, to see his boy laid back on the bed, Harper's head on his thigh, as they spoke quietly. Both were still dressed, with Roy looking rumpled from a hard day of chasing Lian.
Dick glanced up as the door opened, bright smile flashing across his lips as Slade came home unharmed again. The move and the smile alerted Roy that Slade was at the door--he remembered that smile entirely too well, remembered how Dick's face used to light at the very sight of Bruce... He shifted to sit up, and the touch of Dick's fingertips against his shoulder stopped him. He gave Dick a curious look, and waited.
"Slade, what is it?" the lack of an immediate summons made him wonder, and they'd been right in the middle of talking about a problem they'd both noticed in Rose's form. "Do you need me?"
"Both of you." Seeing Harper had cinched Slade's suspicions on how to best clip Dinah's wings. "We need to discuss some of the events influencing the current power plays."
Dick pulled his hand away from Roy's shoulder, letting him move as he cocked his head curiously. "Here, the office, or somewhere else?"
Roy twisted around to look at Slade, still disturbed by his apparent preference for casual wear at home.
Slade inclined his head to the hall. "I think it might be best to do this in my office." He turned to walk out. "You two need to see some files."
Roy slid to his feet, immediately followed by Dick, and side-by-side they trailed Slade down to the office and inside. //What in the heck is he planning?// Roy wondered. In sharp contrast, //He's finally going to tell me, he's finally going to tell me,// was the main thought on Dick's mind.
The man in question had gone to a file cabinet, and opened it removing three files. He slid these onto the desk, opening them to show images of Dr. Light from three very different time periods. The ones in the middle were very familiar to Roy and Dick, as some were telephoto shots of him fighting a younger team of Titans. The ones before that showed a man involved in far worse crimes than the Titans had ever stopped before. The final shots were of a nervous, broken man pleading with Slade, Luthor, and other powerhouses of the Society. "You recognize that this man is in three different mindsets, from three separate time periods?"
"Yeah, that's easy enough to see... I mean, that first set looks like the Light we fought last month, I remember these second ones, how on earth--never mind; but those last ones... There's so much difference here..."
Roy's lips skinned back from his teeth in anger at the sight of images of the man that had beaten his father, tried for his little sister and then nearly kicked the ass of every last Titan... but he studied the pictures, pushing it down. "I'll give you that those don't look like the same guy, sure."
"He hired me, to protect him. That was unusual in itself; I don't do the bodyguard scene." Slade's anger boiled up, laced his voice as he pointed at the pictures of Light speaking to the Society's heads. "But his story, once he told it, made me drop my original asking fee."
"You... dropped the price on a contract?" startled voice from Roy. He knew Slade, after all.
"Why?" Dick asked, cutting to the more important question. "What would be a good enough reason for you to take that on?"
Slade took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring with the anger he was barely containing to tell the facts as he knew them. "He was mind raped. That's what changed him from being a fairly competent, if distasteful criminal, to an idiot that barely fumbled through meetings with a bunch of half-grown kids."
Blue eyes and green snapped to his with a combination of indignant anger at the insult and complete shock, "What? Who by?" came from Dick, who had much more right to question Slade's announcements.
Roy's skin crawled at the very idea, bad memories crawling through his mind. It wasn't as if anyone that'd ever been a Titan didn't have plenty of experience with telepathic //or empathic// villains.
Slade met Dick's gaze evenly, then turned to Roy, knowing where the break point truly was. "The Justice League," he said, with a note of complete disdain.
Roy shook his head, "No way. Just, no way... That's not--I mean, that would've had to have been way back in the day, to make Light a moron when we were kids--you sure he wasn't lying to you?"
Dick didn't want to believe, either, but there were very few people that could lie to Slade--and Light was certainly not one of them.
Slade growled his answer. "Your precious mentors did this to him!" With a clenched fist, he pushed back away from the files, moving around his desk to sit in the chair there, to control his anger. He had always worked by his code, expecting the heroes to abide by certain rules as well. This, though, had shown him, shown them all, that the so-called heroes were not above using Nazi tactics for their own purposes.
"Bruce--"
"Ollie--"
"--would never," the instinctive defenses snapped from both of their mouths in an uncanny stereo--and a heartbeat later Dick was on his knees in front of Slade, eyes wide and apologetic, "I'm sorry, I believe you, I just... I don't want to believe that..."
Slade's anger relented somewhat, as he caressed Dick's face. "I don't lie about this, or other things so important."
Roy was torn between defiant anger and the sure-and-certain knowledge that Slade was, actually, telling the truth--//as he was told it//. Seeing Dick like that shook him badly, but he hung on to the anger. "I know you don't, and if you're saying it you believe it, but not everyone has your code, and I just... I can't believe it. I can't..." If Slade knew his history, the damned mercenary would understand why...
Dick pressed his cheek against Slade's hand--and froze in pure terror as Roy kept arguing. //Roy, stop, please... please just stop...//
Slade raised his gaze back to Harper's face, rage fighting his solid control. "Why don't you go ask, then?" he asked in too soft tones.
Roy blinked at him, then understanding crossed his face, "Yeah, Dinah would've been on it then... I... tell me the rest, tell me why you're so sure it's true and I will."
Dick relaxed, tension flowing out of his shoulders as that dangerous rage wasn't targeted on his lover, and his ears were wide open as he listened.
"Certain...acquaintances were maintained even before the Society was conceived. We might have dismissed his story, if we had not come to see the pattern in others. Most notably, the Top." Slade drew in a deeper breath, stroking Dick's face and hair almost absently.
"The Top? Fleetfeet's pain-in-the-ass, the crazy one? The one that tried to make Barry crazy?" It had taken Roy a minute or two to process the name, longer yet to remember who it was...
Dick shifted closer, leaning against one of Slade's legs, wishing he could see Roy.
Slade coaxed his boy into laying his head fully on his thigh, caressing that hair, the line of the neck and feeling his icy calm come to him fully. "The Top nearly broke the Flash, apparently. And The Flash...the real one, Harper, retaliated in such a way that the Top went to the other side for a time. Before going insane."
"Retaliated... Flash didn't have that kind of skill, how could he have screwed with somebody's head?"
Dick swallowed hard, having already thought that League roster through. "Zatanna, Roy. Zee can do damned near anything... that's who you mean, isn't it?" tilting his head up enough to look up at Slade's face.
"That's what Light remembered, who he feared nearly most of all." Slade looked at Roy with a cocked eyebrow. "Nearly." He left it hanging, pushing at the redhead's curiosity.
Roy gave up and bit, "Nearly?" //Oh, yes, let him bait you...//
"One of the men apparently pushed the young witch quite a bit," he replied, before looking back down at Dick. "But, as you said, Harper, this is all as I have been told. I was not there."
"No way it was Ollie," Roy told him, head tossed back, clearly revealing the black leather band Dick had left wrapped around his throat and still completely defiant. "No way in hell."
//Bruce wouldn't, he wouldn't, not ever, not in a million years he wouldn't...// Dick pressed tighter against Slade's leg, unable to even consider it rationally.
"Anyway, no matter who it was, tell me why. What could ever have made the League decide to play god with someone's mind?" Roy couldn't help thinking about the televised accusations against the League, that they'd stolen his dignity... He'd taken that as the ravings of a madman, not the truth...
"Fear, I suppose." Slade ran a finger down the exposed part of Dick's neck. "Light admitted to getting to the Watchtower, learning who they were."
Cold lanced down Roy's back--he knew what Wally had had done, how frantically some of the older heroes protected their identities... "No. No, damnit, that's not enough reason... I... I've got to talk to her," his voice shook with the stress and the disbelief and all of the fear that this just might be true, and Dick shifted, neck pressed to Slade's light touch as he looked back at Roy, understanding in his eyes. They flicked up to Slade for a moment, checking, and when he saw permission, they flicked back to his beloved. "Go find out, Roy."
"Always two sides to a story," Slade conceded. "She was there, so get her side." Slade then tapped Dick's shoulder. "She should not, however, have to see her son's ownership so clearly."
Roy knew absolute, naked gratitude was standing in his eyes as he looked at Slade. He couldn't remove it himself, and the sight was likely to throw Dinah into too strong a rage to reason with. The older man inclined his head marginally, returning the gratitude with acceptance.
Dick slid to his feet with a nod, going to Roy to pull him hard into his arms, holding him tight for a long moment before he could slide his hands up to unfasten the collar, lifting it so very gently away from his neck, tucking it into a pocket. "I should've thought of that. Sorry, my own." He kissed him, hot and sure, then slowly let go.
Roy flashed a smile at him, shrugging a shoulder. "It's fine, Dick, she'll see me in it eventually. I'll be back..."
Slade watched the kiss, then Harper leaving before focusing on his boy. "Come here, kid," he ordered in a gentle voice, flicking on the monitor closest to Dinah's room. She was sitting in her armchair, feet tucked under her as she held her face in her strong hand, the broken one tucked close.
Dick went to him, studying Slade's posture for clues to where exactly he was supposed to put himself, then settled in, watching the monitor with a small, amused smirk, though he wondered what had gotten to her this time.
Slade kept one hand on Dick the whole time, adjusting the volume and camera angle once Harper reached the room.
Roy rapped once against the door, hard, then pushed it open, his eyes wide as he located her, "Dinah, tell me he's wrong, please, tell me he's lying..."
Dick curled back against Slade, watching the monitor, body tensed as he listened to the beginning of this. The mercenary watched the blood drain from Dinah's face, the look of knowing just what Roy was speaking of.
"How will the bird sing?" Slade knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, he would kill her if she tried to lie. He would just have to pay Shiva's claim with Harper's daughter.
Dinah had slipped from her chair, rising and turning away from Roy, her entire posture defeated. "Never meant for anyone to be hurt...."
That single phrase ripped through Roy, making him reel, slamming a knife through everything he'd ever believed about the life he'd lived, "oh, god. ...he's not. You... you all really... That's..." he stuttered with the pure force of his disbelief and shock.
Dick pressed tighter to Slade's body, closing his eyes tightly. //God damn it... the bastard was telling the truth, all along, and I refused to believe it... I wanted it to just be the ravings of a madman, and it wasn't...//
"She's not denying it," he said approvingly. It helped him be more open to what she might say. His touch was consoling in its own way to Dick, knowing the boy had grown up worshiping the people in question.
Dinah had been silent a long moment, then turned back, her eyes full of tears. "They voted, we lost the vote...Had to follow it."
"What the hell, Di? Explain to me what would possibly cause the Justice League--" and all of his shattered faith was in those two words "--to vote to Rape. A. Man's. Mind. Tell me it wasn't just the identities. TELL me."
Dinah reacted as if slapped. "Roy...God no!" She looked horror struck. "If it had been just that, we might have argued them down...." She shook violently. "But after what he did to Sue..."
"Sue? Di, tell me WHY," his voice begged her, even as his heart leapt at the confirmation that it wasn't something so petty.
Dick tensed, eyes snapping open. There was more to this story than anyone outside that League had heard before.
Slade leaned forward, face dropping into the frown of concentration, reading the lines of his prey's body for truthfulness.
Dinah clung tightly to herself, her eyes closing and spilling those tears of pain. "He ...she was so...." She swallowed hard. "Worse than what the Slasher did to me..." was all she managed, knowing Roy could understand that.
"He raped her. Raped Sue," Roy's voice was a soft, harsh hiss. Non-powered, non-hero, sweet, gentle Sue, who's death had nearly ripped them all apart... he'd attacked her?
Dick bit at his hand, fighting to stay silent, to make himself listen to all of this without reacting emotionally.
Dinah nodded slowly, her entire body shaking as she remembered finding her like that.
"Two sides," Slade whispered, so softly that Dick knew his lover had not known.
Roy was so utterly torn, between going to hold Dinah tight and the knowledge that she might reject his touch and by the fact that part of him was too angry and shaken and hurt to even consider going to her, and all of his words got trapped in his throat.
Dick's eyes were darkened with anger and grief. They'd all liked Sue. He'd helped hunt her killer as eagerly as he'd ever hunted Gotham's rogues... And only the fact that Roy had never coded him to stop, and had now willingly forgiven him, kept him from sinking into an utter ball of self-hate. He fished for one of Slade's hands, feeling their whole world reel from what was being said. //Who knew? Who didn't? Who was in on this?//
Slade was tense, too tense, but he did grip his boy's hand, thinking hard. In his eyes, what Light had done was inexcusable. Had she been an active hero, able to fight him on his level, that would have been one thing. But Sue Dibny had been collateral damage, a civilian too close to the ongoing battle. The sharp distinction between fair game opponents and civilians came to mind quickly. It was a rule he had discarded in the past, but always with a clean death. There were things far worse, and what Light had done was one of those.
Dinah did not have the words to reach out to Roy; she found herself moving away from him, feeling the fact she had done this horrible thing all over again. A hundred years might pass, but she would never forgive herself for having failed her mother, her father in living the way they would have been proud of.
"Dinah." From somewhere Roy found the strength to speak, "Okay. That's... unconscionable, no question. You know what I think of rapists, Di, and not just because of you... but how could you be part of raping someone's mind just as much as he'd just raped her? How could they, could you, cross that line? Weren't you the one that always tried to teach me that it was justice, NOT vengeance, we served? That the only thing that made the difference between us and them was that we didn't take vengeance?"
Slade made a low noise in his throat. Half a dozen encounters with the blonde, and he began to glimpse just how much bravado had poured across in her incessant verbal sniping at him. She had always been careful to never show him weakness, and that now had the taint of a woman who had clawed her way up from a very low place. He continued to seethe at her involvement in the event, though, filing away the information for later to research.
The small frame shook as if he had physically assaulted her, before Dinah turned back to Roy, angry hurt on her face. "I didn't want this! Ever! But you don't go against your... DAMMIT!" She could not help the hint of the Cry; she was too emotional, and the mirror on the wall trembled from the power echoing in the room.
"Don't go against your what, Dinah?" Roy was trying to understand this, "Make me understand, Di, please."
She dropped her eyes, her voice falling in volume, and going toneless with the recall of it all. "Seven of us, Roy. That's how many got there, saw...her. Found Light who was threatening all of us... our loved ones. Knew who we were, who our lives touched." She slowly sank to her knees, sobbing. "Roy...I voted against it! We did, and if Barry had been with us like usual...."
Roy couldn't hold out against her agony--not Dinah's, not with what she was to him--and he went to her, kneeling at her side, hands going out to her. "Tell me, Di. Tell me everything..." his voice was gentle as a hand brushed lightly over her hair. "C'mon, Di, sweetheart, let it out..."
"I've never seen her like this..." Dick's voice was shocked. All the years the Canary had been around, all fearless grace and strength and quick, sharp mind... he'd never guessed how much that was hiding.
Slade nodded. "No." The woman had been foe and ally both over the years, but this was a side of her well hidden.
Dinah flinched from the touch, every sign in her body language one of being repulsed, but not by him. She did not want him to touch her, to dirty his hands by doing so. "It was less than six months after Iris... do you remember her, Roy? Barry's love?"
"A little--y'know, I didn't see her much, but I remember what that did to Wally..." Roy pulled her in anyway, pulling her tight against his body.
Dick watched his boy pull his 'mother' close, and worried for him. God, this was hurting him so badly... He was more angry than hurt, the fact of the League's guilt now unquestionable.
"Will he be able to pull her together?" Slade questioned in a neutral voice.
"I... I'm not sure," Dick admitted.
Dinah began through a shuddered sob, calming some. "We had just lost her. Barry was still a wreck from it." She grew silent a long moment, violently tense. "We wanted justice, but we had to find some way to protect all of you. You kids, girlfriends, all of it." She started to cry again, but bit her lip hard, focusing on that pain to fight it down. "Hal and Ollie were adamant. I backed them; no matter how sickened I was, how scared I was, I believed we would find a way to have justice and see you all safe from him."
"Okay... so what happened? What changed? If you were saying no..."
Dinah looked up at last, her eyes haunted. "We voted. Zee...she had been so hurt, and there was Carter, pushing her, telling her she had the ability to fix it all. Atom had his wife, and would have done anything to protect her." She gave a harsh, bitter laugh. "Then you had team green and blonde. I think even Carter was sure we had the vote, as solidly as Hal and Ollie spoke. Barry never went against us when we agreed like that. He was a cop...he knew..." She brought her fist up to her mouth, pressing the knuckle hard to her lips, the pain flaring sharply. "He couldn't stop thinking of Iris."
Roy held her, trying to get this image solid in his mind, "So... Hawkman pushed her? Hotheaded son of a bitch... and Ray and Jean were still--" he tried NOT to think of how that all had ended, "And you and Ollie and Hal were fighting it?" He paused a moment, hearing himself say that, shoulders shaking with relief, //thank gods,// "You should've had it, you were right... But I don't understand how Barry could..."
"Zoom knew everything about Barry. Every little detail. He had already seen what could happen, and lost his soul's mate," she managed, around small shudders. "We lost the vote, and had to abide by it...back then, it seemed so simple. You did not go against your team...and Barry...he was one of mine. My damn leader." She tried to pull away from him, struggling with it. "I trusted him to lead us right. So much like Dad..." She was shaking again, the coiled tension snapping out in the flex of her hands.
Roy held her crushingly tight, absolutely unwilling to let her go, knowing all too well what that moment when your leader broke and betrayed you felt like--and he was still following Dick through hell. "Di... god, Di, I get that... I, do, but... someone's mind, someone's soul? How could you let a vote justify playing god like that?"
Dick waited for her answer to that, wondering what possible justification she could see for that kind of an action.
Slade considered the information being revealed from his own perspective. To be betrayed by a team leader was a very difficult thing to overcome, he would admit. And he almost saw the way the losers of the vote could not have broken ranks. It would have broken the corps fidelity. Still, Roy had a strong point.
The blonde shook her head. "We had no right. Not a one of us. We turned into our worst enemies, took away all the justice from it by doing that." She flinched again from her memories.
"Yeah." Roy couldn't argue, wouldn't disagree, not when she was so damned right. "But it'd happened, and for whatever reasons you couldn't change the vote, couldn't change their minds..." he shook his head, holding onto her, "Di... please tell me that was the only time? I mean, between the rape and that he knew and his powers I can understand the need---Ollie should've just put a broad head through his heart, but I can understand the need... as long as you tell me it was just that once." He needed something to cling to so very badly, some proof that it had been an extreme situation, not something they did regularly...
"Ollie hadn't killed yet, then...and it was Carter's wish to kill him, and Ollie arguing that down..." She wrapped her good arm around her knees, looking for the entire world like a scared kid.
Slade leaned forward sharply. "She's evading," he growled, all his anger coming back again.
Dick caught that too, caught the shift in her posture and the tone of her voice, "It's not the only time, or she'd have said so... gods, who else?"
Roy winced, closing his eyes at the sudden memory of hearing of his "father's" first kill, contrasting the world they'd left so far behind with the blood on his own hands. "No, he hadn't... god, that's so Ollie... Di, please..."
She flung herself away from him, moving with the speed that came from being a world-class martial artist, and only stopped at the far wall. She would not turn around, would not look at him. "They...we...were interrupted. Someone came up, before Zee finished. I...I'm not sure how it really came about; I was still reeling from what they...we...were doing."
"A hero?!" the startled exclamation ripped from Dick's lips.
Roy froze, kneeling on the floor with his arms still open, eyes tracking up her legs and back to her shoulders, "oh. god. di, no..." his voice as small as she'd ever heard it. //No, no, Dinah, don't tell me you did this to one of our own...//
"Roy, every night I've seen him, worked alongside him...I wished I could just..." She broke it off, hanging her head further. "You have no idea how much he has done for me over the years. And I always come back to that, to the second vote, and what was decided." She was almost whispering. "Working in his city...so glad when she moved us out...it was too much."
The hand in Dick's squeezed, painfully, as realization broke for Slade who she was referring to.
"Even working past it, now that he knows...I'll never be worth his notice."
"Oh that fucking bitch!" low, savage hiss as the Bat's child stared at her image from Renegade's cold eyes, incandescent, seething fury lashing through him, "That backstabbing, lying, deceitful little bitch... And they've both kept coming on to him for how long?!" Dick fought the urge to curse like a sailor, eyes going dark and hard. "The League fucked with Bruce's mind? God, I knew he wouldn't be part of that..." Too much relief in that last for his own tastes and he turned to press a kiss along his lover's neck, body saying, //yours, still yours, no matter what.//
Roy tilted his head, not understanding, not for long, long seconds, then 'she' and 'moved us out' and 'His city' and 'done for me' all registered and "BRUCE? You... they screwed with Bruce's mind?! Di, how could you?!"
"It was not my conscious choice!" She turned back, her eyes desperate that he believe her. "It all happened so fast."
Slade held his boy tight to his body, the timeline immediately presenting itself to him. He knew Dick's history so intimately, and had tested himself against Batman for years. There was no doubt in his mind that what had been done had led to the evolution of the son of a bitch he had stolen Dick away from.
Roy forced himself to his feet, watching her, more than half-broken by what she'd revealed, by what the heroes he'd grown up worshipping had done, not only to an enemy but to one. of. their. Own... "Di... Bruce? Wait. What exactly did you do to him?"
Dick shuddered in Slade's arms, hands fisting in his shirt to make himself keep listening...
She shuddered. "We made him forget what he had seen, what we had done." She shook her head. "It was a panicked reaction, and one I know I always regretted. He was not the same from that day." She fought the urge to breakdown again. "He should hate me," she whispered.
"They... took. his. Memories?" low, shaken hiss as the little boy he'd once been tried for a moment to rejoice at the thought that it wasn't all Bruce's fault--but yet, a few moments of stolen memory shouldn't have so utterly destroyed their partnership. No matter what the League had done, he shouldn't have... That shouldn't have been enough to sever the bond between Batman and Robin. "Oh, god..." soft, low moan.
Roy flinched back, winced, for the first time understanding the reasons behind the protocols the Bat had built against their metahuman allies--right now, they frightened him...
Dinah showed that uncanny ability to think with someone, especially one so close to her. "Batman remembered, at some level. He had to have, because the man I revered would never have engineered the means to take down the League otherwise."
"Dick," Slade began, his voice hard and cold. "They will pay."
"No... oh god, Dick... this is gonna kill him..."
Dick purred harshly, eyes hot and hungry, "All his warnings about playing god, he knew all along, even if he didn't...." He shook his head violently, twisting around, looking at Slade with desperation to even the scales blazing in his eyes. He might not be Bruce's son anyone, not with the amount of shed blood and betrayal between them, but this still cut deep.
The mercenary was watching the drama in his guest room more intently.
"It all started to come out, when Light....when he was our main suspect. The others wanted to know why, and even though Ollie tried...Carter still would not let anyone admit it." Dinah clenched her fists so tightly her nails were cutting skin. "I told Ollie, and we both were going to lay it out...but then it all blew up anyway."
Roy tilted his head--the Outsiders had been just a little busy lately, running desperately to keep up with the surging villain activity, so he wasn't sure what she meant. He hadn't even talked to Mia recently, let alone anyone else.
Dick settled back against him, hands flexing with his desperate desire to move...
Dinah shivered. "We went to fight Light. And the truth came out after ...after he beat us, guarding the bastard." She winced, remembering how easily Deathstroke had beaten them. "It was the original six, and Flash." More tears tracked her cheeks. "I hated that he had to find out like that, but I was damn glad when Br...Batman did. I could live with his hate."
"So he does know," Slade said. He thought to the night he had taken Dinah, remembered seeing her and the man on the roof. Batman had not been unwilling in that kiss.
"That's why Fleetfeet called and warned us, he knew... god, he knew and he didn't tell Dick..." he bit at his lip, shaking his head, "So he knows? That's why he left the League, not just the thing with Diana?"
"I... I can't deal with this..." Dick shuddered, trying not to struggle in Slade's grasp, but he needed to do something...
"Go." Slade released the boy, knowing it was best. His own anger was just under the surface. Part of him wanted to go take over the questioning, to learn everything, and the other part knew Roy was actually gaining far more honesty from the lying bitch than he ever would.
"He was struggling with it, Roy. Barry was his world. The man was everything to him. Imagine if it had been Ollie." Even she physically flinched from that. "Who had done something so against code...remember your initial reaction to him killing the Slasher. What that did to your image of him."
Dick flung himself up out of the chair and went, out of the office and down to the training room, taking a spot in the center of the training dummies before he exploded into motion, envisioning certain heroes faces over the blank dummies as he let himself flow through routine after routine, the hard, jarring impacts disturbingly pleasing...
Roy closed his eyes, nodding slowly, "I... yeah, you're right, Di, he would've been... And I don't have to imagine, it was Ollie. And Hal. And you, Di..." his green eyes dark with pain. "Damn it. I didn't want to believe him..."
Dinah lowered her eyes again. "He's always been an honest man, by and large," she said, following his thoughts of who had told him. "Roy..." her voice broke. "Please, believe this one thing...I've never regretted anything more in my life than letting myself bend that day." She paused a long moment, then continued, "Not even letting Ollie go."
Roy looked back at her, eyes still shadowed, "I... believe you, Dinah. But... when I'm taking Slade Wilson's moral side on this, when I can't even think of the 'justice league' without feeling revolted... there's something deeply, deeply wrong."
She nodded, wiping the last vestiges of tears from her face. "I gave myself to Oracle so strongly, away from the League, to the JSA, to try and make amends. But I can't. What I took part in is unforgivable." Just as she had faced Batman, she faced her son/brother/friend, refusing to make excuses for herself, even as she had tried to point out the reasons her friends had failed. "You...you are strong, Roy. And no matter who you work for, you have the right heart for this, the way to decide what is right." She turned away, making it plain in her silence that she knew she did not.
Roy walked to her, then, "You used to, Di. Who do you think taught it to me? You gave me that. I just... hope what I may have to do doesn't break your faith in me... I don't know what's going to happen--and I don't know how much they'll let me tell you, but I could see in his eyes that he's planning something..."
Dinah reacted to that with a wide-eyed look. "God, Roy..." She gripped his hand. "He..." She cut herself off, clenching her jaw.
In his office, Slade wondered just what the woman had started to say, not sure he had read the look in her eyes just right.
"What, Dinah?"
"He can't want a world where that...Society rules with a clenched fist. Won't be good for business, at the least," she said softly, a tang of bitterness in her voice. "Just be a voice of reason to him, Roy. He's got a better code than we did, apparently."
"No, I can't see him wanting that either--I could be wrong, but I doubt it... That code of his... it's not such a bad way to live, not really--I mean, god, he ran with us Titans for how long?"
Dinah shook her head. "There was a time when I did not really..." She stopped herself again. "Much as he's done that is inescapably wrong; I'll still back him over Carter, a hundred times over. But the ones he works with?" She shuddered. "Not that nest of vipers."
"I can just guess who's leading that unification charge, and it scares me to death," Roy agreed.
Dinah shook her head. "Oracle had definitely pinpointed Talia's handiwork. Hard to hide that from a bat."
Slade's eye narrowed as he ran over the words again in his head. He supposed Rose might really have seen Dinah in her vision, and it made him set some small part of his anger for the League aside, in her case. If she wanted to find redemption, he was sure he could find a place for her to work toward it in his plans.
"Yeah, maybe just a little..." he laid a hand on her shoulder gently. "Di... You fought it... and that helps. It... means you're still my Dinah..."
She was tense, vibrating almost as badly as Wally could. "No, Roy...That Dinah fell to the earth years ago, when she lost sight of what was right."
"So what, you're going to curl up broken-winged in a cage and die? That's not the woman that dragged me kicking and screaming out of my addiction, that supported me and pushed me and fought for me, don't you dare give up now!"
Dinah shook like a leaf, and then buried her face in his chest. "He gave me this cage; what else am I supposed to do? I have to behave, for you, for our little girl!"
Roy found his arms wrapping around her again, whispering to her, his voice soft, low and gentle. "Oh, Dinah... You might have to behave, but that doesn't mean you get to just give up…"
She kept her face pressed to his chest, her tears soaking through his shirt now that she was not fighting them. "He's not going to trust me, Roy. I know that beyond the shadow of a doubt. Even if he has a plan I could conscience, I'm irredeemable."
He couldn't stand to hear her say that, not about herself, not now or ever... "No, you're not, Di. You've done too much good for too long for this to be the end of it, for the worst decision you ever made to be the one thing people judge you by..."
"Why not? These decisions have had the harshest impact of any I have ever made in my life, Roy. I helped …I helped destroy a man I respected, saw to the rape of a man's mind, which led to where we are now, and kept silent on both decisions," she told him, the bitterness mixed in equal parts with defeat.
""Yeah, you did... but that's not who you are--and if you think it is, try telling that to everyone you ever saved, Dinah. You look me in the eye and tell me what you were forced into invalidates the fact that you saved my life and my sanity!" His hands locked hard on her shoulders. "Hal might've pulled me out, but you're the only reason I'm not dead in an alley with a needle in my arm."
She slowly brought her face up, her eyes completely lost with her guilt now that he knew. "How could I turn my back on you, baby? Ever? You were hurting so bad."
"You couldn't, you wouldn't. Because that's not who you are. It never has been... and don't you dare make yourself some that would because you're drowning..."
Dinah drew away from him. "Roy, I..." She shook her head. "I think I need to be alone, Roy."
"And I think that's the last thing you need, but if you want me to, I'll go..."
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He hugged her tight, gave her a long, worried look, and slowly turned to leave, hating it so very much. Despite everything, she was still Dinah, and leaving her aching and so broken ripped at his heart.
She did not move from her position as he left, did not call him back. She just stood there, longing for a view of the outside, hugging herself tight.
Roy stopped outside her door, leaned back against it and closed his eyes, shuddering. The taint of this was spreading throughout the world, had spread, and the knowledge that his "father" and his "uncle" and... and everything Dinah was to him, mother and sister and confidante and friend... that they'd all helped in this... He felt unclean.
Slade stared at the monitor as Dinah slowly sank down on the floor, shaking her head in denial at all of it. She gave a few silent sobs, hand up over her face. He was about to stand, his mind on ways to make both the League and Light pay, when he saw her jerk violently and scan the ceiling.
Roy forced himself into motion, making himself go back to that office, feet kind of slow, however. He didn't want to do this--hell, he wanted more than anything not to have to go make this 'mission' report to a man that would gloat so much over being proven right.
"No, son of a bitch...no," Dinah cursed, before collapsing against the carpet, racked by sobs and shuddering spasms yet again, as she realized just what she had betrayed in her conversation.
Slade sat back in the chair, his eyebrow arching as he saw her newly broken state. "Forgot my eyes were on you, Little Bird?" he mused.
Roy made it back and rapped at the door, not willing to walk in without Slade's consent.
"Enter," the mercenary called, not removing his gaze from the monitor.
Roy stepped in, his eyes snapped to the monitor, and anger overrode almost every lick of his self-preservation instincts, "You bugged her room?!"
"Don't be stupid, boy. I monitor all aspects of my household." Slade continued to watch a moment longer, then turned back to him. "Well?"
Roy bit his lip until it bled, "I showed up to tell you you were right--but you already know that," eyes glaring at the monitor, then the realization hit. "Oh, god, where's Dick?"
Slade inclined his head to the door. "Training room, most likely." The voice was cold, fully under control in the way Roy had heard too many times in the heat of a battle going against Slade's wishes.
Roy nodded, turned to go, and Slade spoke. "Harper."
That voice dragged him up short, but only for a moment. "Was there something? Or can I go try and coax my lover back to something that vaguely resembles sanity?"
"He would hurt you right now. Your association with her is too strong." Slade studied Harper for a long moment. "I suggest letting him work thorough it fist, until he is no longer violent."
"…he's that flipped? What'm I saying? Of course he's that flipped." He stopped, shook his head, scrubbed his hands over his face, "I... jesus. Effing. christ, this is..."
"Where do you stand now, Harper?" Slade asked, while the man was still disoriented. "Does your answer remain the same as when we discussed it?"
A million responses ran through Roy's head, 'I can't back the League, not now' collided harshly with 'I can't go against the Titans", and screams about the idea of a world where the villains ruled flung themselves hard against his control... "I still stand with Dick, yes," he managed to answer--hopefully before Slade could get pissed off at him.
The mercenary nodded sharply. "Very well." He glanced again at the monitor, where Roy could see Dinah was neither moving nor making any sound now. "Don't make him regret that." It was the only warning Roy would get from him, and had the feel of a dismissal.
Roy shrugged a shoulder, then nodded. "I'm going to go hang around the training room and pray he stops before breaks something else..."
Slade let him reach the door. "Harper, tell Rose to go assist her teacher," he added.
"I figured she'd gone to bed, this late," Roy said, "but I'll go tell her."
"I sincerely doubt she is asleep." He knew his daughter. "Be ready to go operative tomorrow or the night after." He was pulling files close, sorting through them, as he prioritized his work in view of the new information he had.
Roy froze for a moment, then nodded once. "All right. I'm gone," and he did just that, walking down to rap his knuckles against Rose's door. The sound of a stereo turning down accompanied a call that it was open.
Roy sighed and pushed the door open, just knowing he was walking into more trouble. "Rose, are you decent?" he asked once he had the door open about halfway.
A girlish giggle preceded her answer. "Am I ever?"
"Okay, fine, are you dressed? If not, get that way, your dad wants to you to go take care of Dinah."
There was a pause, and then she was standing there at the door, dressed in a pair of sweats he recognized as Dick's and one of his shirts from the wardrobe he had been given. "Is she okay?" The detached tone was at odds with her eye searching his face for clues.
"No. She's not. She's... really not. Be... be careful with her, Rose, she needs someone--and since she won't let it be me, maybe you've got a chance..."
She reached up, patting his cheek gently. "I'll be good to her." She slipped past him, heading down the hall in the direction of Dinah's room.
"Thanks, Rose," he called after her--then realized what she was wearing and wondered how in the heck she'd gotten to their clothes. And why... but there were other times to try and get answers to those. Right now, he was going to go wait for his lover.
Here's the newest part.
Title: Crossed Lines and Revelations
Characters: the Wilson clan, with a guest star
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nah.
Disclaimer: I wish these guys were mine, they'd be treated better than DC does. But they're not, DC still owns them.
Summary: Old shames and old lies are never as far away as their holders hope, and the truth always hurts like hell when it comes out.
Notes:
merfilly wrote Dinah and Slade, and Rose. I wrote Dick and Roy, as seems to be the standard. The woman moved with precise intent, as if she were on the hunt. The man called Deathstroke in most circles had reason to be cautious as he monitored her. He was certain she had not yet tracked her quarry to his care, but he wanted to avert any violent repercussions of his decision. He really had not been pleased when his network had informed him of the woman's presence, so close to his home turf. He had occupied his household with training, and then slipped away to drive the few hours to intercept her. He had no wish to face her at the manor, and have it compromised. Once he was positive she was not being trailed by either a Bat-brat or one of the Birds Oracle employed, he opted for the most direct approach.
"Lady Shiva," he greeted, using full professional courtesy. The man was dressed in casual clothing, presenting no immediate, outward threat. He had no urge to draw full attention to himself today.
"Deathstroke." Her eyes studied him, appraising the man who had so recently been testing the young Batgirl. "Why are you in my path?" The path of destruction that Shiva carried in her whims was not an enviable place to be, and few stepped willingly into it.
"I have business with you." He kept his voice neutral.
"I have doubt of this."
"You may find different. I know you are seeking someone, perhaps a student?" Slade could play his cards close, but did not have time to ghost around the issue very long. She eyed him sideways as they walked down the broad sidewalk together.
"What do you seek in return for the knowledge you possess?" she asked him directly.
He smiled a half smile. "I'm here to make you a deal, concerning the Society. I know you refused them. I know they will keep sending annoying representatives to persuade you, annoyances that take time away from your other pursuits." He saw her nod once. "I can stop them, if you drop your search. The bird is of use right now, and is not available for finding."
"Threats? I suppose next, you will intimate that more serious petitioners will come, eventually with an offer that cannot be refused and still allow me to live," she said, amused.
"That depends." He was not smiling now. "Tell me, specifically, what your student is worth to you."
Shiva paused their walk, considering what he had asked. "There is a matter of honor between she and I. She is not of a caliber to discharge that, which I seek to remedy. Then, I am sure, she and I will cross paths one last time, to see whose ideals are the better foundation." She inclined her head briefly, considering. "So she is worth a small portion of my honor at this point."
"Then my offer is this; you walk away, and I will see that she comes to no harm by another's hand. I may even be able to see to improving her caliber." He could see the potential, begun by raw talent, shaped by this woman and others, which he could mold further. "Once her purpose is at an end, I will deliver her into your hands only." He kept his ideas of the time frame involved to himself.
"I have one further stipulation, Slade Wilson." Shiva pinned her eyes on him with unnerving intensity. "Should she come to harm, before the end of her usefulness in your plans, you owe me a new student."
Deathstroke considered that. He had the unpleasant feeling that she would only accept a female student, and that meant Rose…or Lian. A slow warmth filled his one eye, and he nodded. The thought of Lian being trained by Shiva for hand to hand, himself for marksmanship was one that bore entertaining.
"Deal." He nodded to her, ready to part ways.
"And Deathstroke?" Shiva added, making him pause. "I choose not to tell Huntress that we had this conversation."
"Courtesy between peers," he said with a smile, but she shook her head.
"No. Interest in seeing how you might break her from her principles." With that, Shiva left him, considering all her final words implied. He began walking back to where he had left his car, his mind on her words in view of Rose's recent vision. Dick had immediately thought of Dinah, and dismissed her, but now Slade wondered just what it would take to win her loyalty.
`~`~`~`~`
Canary had just thrown Rose as Slade came in to lounge in the door. He noted she was only using her own style against his daughter, which blended boxing with her martial art almost seamlessly. The girl got up and immediately attacked with raw power, only to find herself sitting on her butt quite harshly. The next attempt relied on speed, and again, she wound up on her tailbone. Canary was breathing hard, but her years of experience were making her a more than adequate teacher. Slade wondered just how long they had been practicing from the signs of exhaustion creeping into the Canary's form, and the fact it was pushing close to midnight.
Rose maneuvered to attack one more time, trying for guile, as she employed more subterfuge in her body language, bringing a small smile to the lips of her teacher. When Rose sliced the blade in on the left, Canary slapped the flat of it down, and was caught by a cunning sweep that followed it. When she regained her breath from the fall, she came to a kneeling position, holding her broken arm up as a signal to stop.
"Very good. Thinking it through is better than overpowering or rushing," Canary said. "We'll get to a point where you'll know which of the three to use against what type opponent, and even work to blending them, but anytime your opponent is experienced, the mind comes before the body."
"How are you so able to anticipate me? You don't have that meta ability," Rose accused.
"She has experience, with some of the fastest fighters the heroes have ever offered, instead of the meta advantage," Slade said, breaking into the training.
Canary tried hard not to scowl at the man, and focused instead on her student. "Rose, I think that's enough for today. My arm is killing me," she said, cutting a small look Slade's way. He merely met her gaze unrepentantly, but nodded to his daughter to go. Once Rose had cleared out of the training room, Slade closed the door and sat on one of the benches, while Canary eyed him warily.
"I handled the matter of your former teacher." He carefully watched her face, seeing the fall of hope, though she quickly tried to hide it. //She knew.// That thought angered him, reminding him of both her duplicity in Light's case, and her stubborn streak of independence. "In case you wish to keep anything else from me, remember this; I've promised her a student in your place if I decide you are no longer necessary," he growled.
The fact she paled almost immediately told him his threat was aimed true. She had immediately thought of Lian, in Shiva's hands. "I did not 'keep' anything from you. I suspected my teammates would have thought she was responsible. Whether she investigated further…"
"You knew she would, after I warned you she did not need to come near this household," he stated. "Do not let this happen again."
Canary considered his words a long moment, actually being both still and quiet. She then nodded. "Fine, Wilson. Whatever you say." The harsh tone belied the words, anger rolling off her in waves. She was not going to push a fight, not now, when she was backed up to a wall, figuratively. "I'll be in my damn room." She strode out, jarring her arm with the angry steps she took, but he said nothing to stop her. In truth, he was rather pleased to see her angry rather than cowering; he saw it as a part of the spirit he had once respected, one of the traits he wanted instilled firmly in both girls.
Only when she slammed the door in leaving did he decide that she would need lessons in self-control. He had a good idea of what needed to be done, to start bringing her in line. All he needed was to have a small conversation with Dick and Roy.
`~`~`~`~`
Roy shut the door behind them, stretching fit to pop his spine as he sighed. "What a day. I'm glad she's finally down..." It felt so strange to be just talking with Dick, with so much hanging between them... but it was nice, too.
"Me, too. And Dinah's got Rose, so we're safe from her..." Dick arched a brow and looked towards the bed--and Roy smiled at him, shaking his head just a little. "I love you, you know that?" How screwed up was it that only in Deathstroke's home could he be that honest about how he felt about Dick?
"I... yeah. I do. I wonder how we survived, sometimes, but..."
"We're too stubborn to let go," Roy reminded him, the same words he'd used when he finally told Dick he'd forgiven him for the… difficulty of that first night, admitted he'd protested but never called his safeword, never put Dick to that final test. Dick's smile was the same joyous expression, and Roy just curled against him, kissing him for a while before finally pulling away. "Hey, speaking of Rose."
"Yes?" Dick asked curiously.
"I spotted something while she was sparring with you. Crawl in with me, and we'll talk it out," he invited, stopping just long enough for Dick to slip his collar back around his neck.
~*~*~*~*
Slade glanced at the large grandfather clock at the end of the hall, and then nodded. He was fairly sure his boy was in Harper's room, and headed that way. He twisted the knob, opening the door and leaning in the doorway, to see his boy laid back on the bed, Harper's head on his thigh, as they spoke quietly. Both were still dressed, with Roy looking rumpled from a hard day of chasing Lian.
Dick glanced up as the door opened, bright smile flashing across his lips as Slade came home unharmed again. The move and the smile alerted Roy that Slade was at the door--he remembered that smile entirely too well, remembered how Dick's face used to light at the very sight of Bruce... He shifted to sit up, and the touch of Dick's fingertips against his shoulder stopped him. He gave Dick a curious look, and waited.
"Slade, what is it?" the lack of an immediate summons made him wonder, and they'd been right in the middle of talking about a problem they'd both noticed in Rose's form. "Do you need me?"
"Both of you." Seeing Harper had cinched Slade's suspicions on how to best clip Dinah's wings. "We need to discuss some of the events influencing the current power plays."
Dick pulled his hand away from Roy's shoulder, letting him move as he cocked his head curiously. "Here, the office, or somewhere else?"
Roy twisted around to look at Slade, still disturbed by his apparent preference for casual wear at home.
Slade inclined his head to the hall. "I think it might be best to do this in my office." He turned to walk out. "You two need to see some files."
Roy slid to his feet, immediately followed by Dick, and side-by-side they trailed Slade down to the office and inside. //What in the heck is he planning?// Roy wondered. In sharp contrast, //He's finally going to tell me, he's finally going to tell me,// was the main thought on Dick's mind.
The man in question had gone to a file cabinet, and opened it removing three files. He slid these onto the desk, opening them to show images of Dr. Light from three very different time periods. The ones in the middle were very familiar to Roy and Dick, as some were telephoto shots of him fighting a younger team of Titans. The ones before that showed a man involved in far worse crimes than the Titans had ever stopped before. The final shots were of a nervous, broken man pleading with Slade, Luthor, and other powerhouses of the Society. "You recognize that this man is in three different mindsets, from three separate time periods?"
"Yeah, that's easy enough to see... I mean, that first set looks like the Light we fought last month, I remember these second ones, how on earth--never mind; but those last ones... There's so much difference here..."
Roy's lips skinned back from his teeth in anger at the sight of images of the man that had beaten his father, tried for his little sister and then nearly kicked the ass of every last Titan... but he studied the pictures, pushing it down. "I'll give you that those don't look like the same guy, sure."
"He hired me, to protect him. That was unusual in itself; I don't do the bodyguard scene." Slade's anger boiled up, laced his voice as he pointed at the pictures of Light speaking to the Society's heads. "But his story, once he told it, made me drop my original asking fee."
"You... dropped the price on a contract?" startled voice from Roy. He knew Slade, after all.
"Why?" Dick asked, cutting to the more important question. "What would be a good enough reason for you to take that on?"
Slade took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring with the anger he was barely containing to tell the facts as he knew them. "He was mind raped. That's what changed him from being a fairly competent, if distasteful criminal, to an idiot that barely fumbled through meetings with a bunch of half-grown kids."
Blue eyes and green snapped to his with a combination of indignant anger at the insult and complete shock, "What? Who by?" came from Dick, who had much more right to question Slade's announcements.
Roy's skin crawled at the very idea, bad memories crawling through his mind. It wasn't as if anyone that'd ever been a Titan didn't have plenty of experience with telepathic //or empathic// villains.
Slade met Dick's gaze evenly, then turned to Roy, knowing where the break point truly was. "The Justice League," he said, with a note of complete disdain.
Roy shook his head, "No way. Just, no way... That's not--I mean, that would've had to have been way back in the day, to make Light a moron when we were kids--you sure he wasn't lying to you?"
Dick didn't want to believe, either, but there were very few people that could lie to Slade--and Light was certainly not one of them.
Slade growled his answer. "Your precious mentors did this to him!" With a clenched fist, he pushed back away from the files, moving around his desk to sit in the chair there, to control his anger. He had always worked by his code, expecting the heroes to abide by certain rules as well. This, though, had shown him, shown them all, that the so-called heroes were not above using Nazi tactics for their own purposes.
"Bruce--"
"Ollie--"
"--would never," the instinctive defenses snapped from both of their mouths in an uncanny stereo--and a heartbeat later Dick was on his knees in front of Slade, eyes wide and apologetic, "I'm sorry, I believe you, I just... I don't want to believe that..."
Slade's anger relented somewhat, as he caressed Dick's face. "I don't lie about this, or other things so important."
Roy was torn between defiant anger and the sure-and-certain knowledge that Slade was, actually, telling the truth--//as he was told it//. Seeing Dick like that shook him badly, but he hung on to the anger. "I know you don't, and if you're saying it you believe it, but not everyone has your code, and I just... I can't believe it. I can't..." If Slade knew his history, the damned mercenary would understand why...
Dick pressed his cheek against Slade's hand--and froze in pure terror as Roy kept arguing. //Roy, stop, please... please just stop...//
Slade raised his gaze back to Harper's face, rage fighting his solid control. "Why don't you go ask, then?" he asked in too soft tones.
Roy blinked at him, then understanding crossed his face, "Yeah, Dinah would've been on it then... I... tell me the rest, tell me why you're so sure it's true and I will."
Dick relaxed, tension flowing out of his shoulders as that dangerous rage wasn't targeted on his lover, and his ears were wide open as he listened.
"Certain...acquaintances were maintained even before the Society was conceived. We might have dismissed his story, if we had not come to see the pattern in others. Most notably, the Top." Slade drew in a deeper breath, stroking Dick's face and hair almost absently.
"The Top? Fleetfeet's pain-in-the-ass, the crazy one? The one that tried to make Barry crazy?" It had taken Roy a minute or two to process the name, longer yet to remember who it was...
Dick shifted closer, leaning against one of Slade's legs, wishing he could see Roy.
Slade coaxed his boy into laying his head fully on his thigh, caressing that hair, the line of the neck and feeling his icy calm come to him fully. "The Top nearly broke the Flash, apparently. And The Flash...the real one, Harper, retaliated in such a way that the Top went to the other side for a time. Before going insane."
"Retaliated... Flash didn't have that kind of skill, how could he have screwed with somebody's head?"
Dick swallowed hard, having already thought that League roster through. "Zatanna, Roy. Zee can do damned near anything... that's who you mean, isn't it?" tilting his head up enough to look up at Slade's face.
"That's what Light remembered, who he feared nearly most of all." Slade looked at Roy with a cocked eyebrow. "Nearly." He left it hanging, pushing at the redhead's curiosity.
Roy gave up and bit, "Nearly?" //Oh, yes, let him bait you...//
"One of the men apparently pushed the young witch quite a bit," he replied, before looking back down at Dick. "But, as you said, Harper, this is all as I have been told. I was not there."
"No way it was Ollie," Roy told him, head tossed back, clearly revealing the black leather band Dick had left wrapped around his throat and still completely defiant. "No way in hell."
//Bruce wouldn't, he wouldn't, not ever, not in a million years he wouldn't...// Dick pressed tighter against Slade's leg, unable to even consider it rationally.
"Anyway, no matter who it was, tell me why. What could ever have made the League decide to play god with someone's mind?" Roy couldn't help thinking about the televised accusations against the League, that they'd stolen his dignity... He'd taken that as the ravings of a madman, not the truth...
"Fear, I suppose." Slade ran a finger down the exposed part of Dick's neck. "Light admitted to getting to the Watchtower, learning who they were."
Cold lanced down Roy's back--he knew what Wally had had done, how frantically some of the older heroes protected their identities... "No. No, damnit, that's not enough reason... I... I've got to talk to her," his voice shook with the stress and the disbelief and all of the fear that this just might be true, and Dick shifted, neck pressed to Slade's light touch as he looked back at Roy, understanding in his eyes. They flicked up to Slade for a moment, checking, and when he saw permission, they flicked back to his beloved. "Go find out, Roy."
"Always two sides to a story," Slade conceded. "She was there, so get her side." Slade then tapped Dick's shoulder. "She should not, however, have to see her son's ownership so clearly."
Roy knew absolute, naked gratitude was standing in his eyes as he looked at Slade. He couldn't remove it himself, and the sight was likely to throw Dinah into too strong a rage to reason with. The older man inclined his head marginally, returning the gratitude with acceptance.
Dick slid to his feet with a nod, going to Roy to pull him hard into his arms, holding him tight for a long moment before he could slide his hands up to unfasten the collar, lifting it so very gently away from his neck, tucking it into a pocket. "I should've thought of that. Sorry, my own." He kissed him, hot and sure, then slowly let go.
Roy flashed a smile at him, shrugging a shoulder. "It's fine, Dick, she'll see me in it eventually. I'll be back..."
Slade watched the kiss, then Harper leaving before focusing on his boy. "Come here, kid," he ordered in a gentle voice, flicking on the monitor closest to Dinah's room. She was sitting in her armchair, feet tucked under her as she held her face in her strong hand, the broken one tucked close.
Dick went to him, studying Slade's posture for clues to where exactly he was supposed to put himself, then settled in, watching the monitor with a small, amused smirk, though he wondered what had gotten to her this time.
Slade kept one hand on Dick the whole time, adjusting the volume and camera angle once Harper reached the room.
Roy rapped once against the door, hard, then pushed it open, his eyes wide as he located her, "Dinah, tell me he's wrong, please, tell me he's lying..."
Dick curled back against Slade, watching the monitor, body tensed as he listened to the beginning of this. The mercenary watched the blood drain from Dinah's face, the look of knowing just what Roy was speaking of.
"How will the bird sing?" Slade knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, he would kill her if she tried to lie. He would just have to pay Shiva's claim with Harper's daughter.
Dinah had slipped from her chair, rising and turning away from Roy, her entire posture defeated. "Never meant for anyone to be hurt...."
That single phrase ripped through Roy, making him reel, slamming a knife through everything he'd ever believed about the life he'd lived, "oh, god. ...he's not. You... you all really... That's..." he stuttered with the pure force of his disbelief and shock.
Dick pressed tighter to Slade's body, closing his eyes tightly. //God damn it... the bastard was telling the truth, all along, and I refused to believe it... I wanted it to just be the ravings of a madman, and it wasn't...//
"She's not denying it," he said approvingly. It helped him be more open to what she might say. His touch was consoling in its own way to Dick, knowing the boy had grown up worshiping the people in question.
Dinah had been silent a long moment, then turned back, her eyes full of tears. "They voted, we lost the vote...Had to follow it."
"What the hell, Di? Explain to me what would possibly cause the Justice League--" and all of his shattered faith was in those two words "--to vote to Rape. A. Man's. Mind. Tell me it wasn't just the identities. TELL me."
Dinah reacted as if slapped. "Roy...God no!" She looked horror struck. "If it had been just that, we might have argued them down...." She shook violently. "But after what he did to Sue..."
"Sue? Di, tell me WHY," his voice begged her, even as his heart leapt at the confirmation that it wasn't something so petty.
Dick tensed, eyes snapping open. There was more to this story than anyone outside that League had heard before.
Slade leaned forward, face dropping into the frown of concentration, reading the lines of his prey's body for truthfulness.
Dinah clung tightly to herself, her eyes closing and spilling those tears of pain. "He ...she was so...." She swallowed hard. "Worse than what the Slasher did to me..." was all she managed, knowing Roy could understand that.
"He raped her. Raped Sue," Roy's voice was a soft, harsh hiss. Non-powered, non-hero, sweet, gentle Sue, who's death had nearly ripped them all apart... he'd attacked her?
Dick bit at his hand, fighting to stay silent, to make himself listen to all of this without reacting emotionally.
Dinah nodded slowly, her entire body shaking as she remembered finding her like that.
"Two sides," Slade whispered, so softly that Dick knew his lover had not known.
Roy was so utterly torn, between going to hold Dinah tight and the knowledge that she might reject his touch and by the fact that part of him was too angry and shaken and hurt to even consider going to her, and all of his words got trapped in his throat.
Dick's eyes were darkened with anger and grief. They'd all liked Sue. He'd helped hunt her killer as eagerly as he'd ever hunted Gotham's rogues... And only the fact that Roy had never coded him to stop, and had now willingly forgiven him, kept him from sinking into an utter ball of self-hate. He fished for one of Slade's hands, feeling their whole world reel from what was being said. //Who knew? Who didn't? Who was in on this?//
Slade was tense, too tense, but he did grip his boy's hand, thinking hard. In his eyes, what Light had done was inexcusable. Had she been an active hero, able to fight him on his level, that would have been one thing. But Sue Dibny had been collateral damage, a civilian too close to the ongoing battle. The sharp distinction between fair game opponents and civilians came to mind quickly. It was a rule he had discarded in the past, but always with a clean death. There were things far worse, and what Light had done was one of those.
Dinah did not have the words to reach out to Roy; she found herself moving away from him, feeling the fact she had done this horrible thing all over again. A hundred years might pass, but she would never forgive herself for having failed her mother, her father in living the way they would have been proud of.
"Dinah." From somewhere Roy found the strength to speak, "Okay. That's... unconscionable, no question. You know what I think of rapists, Di, and not just because of you... but how could you be part of raping someone's mind just as much as he'd just raped her? How could they, could you, cross that line? Weren't you the one that always tried to teach me that it was justice, NOT vengeance, we served? That the only thing that made the difference between us and them was that we didn't take vengeance?"
Slade made a low noise in his throat. Half a dozen encounters with the blonde, and he began to glimpse just how much bravado had poured across in her incessant verbal sniping at him. She had always been careful to never show him weakness, and that now had the taint of a woman who had clawed her way up from a very low place. He continued to seethe at her involvement in the event, though, filing away the information for later to research.
The small frame shook as if he had physically assaulted her, before Dinah turned back to Roy, angry hurt on her face. "I didn't want this! Ever! But you don't go against your... DAMMIT!" She could not help the hint of the Cry; she was too emotional, and the mirror on the wall trembled from the power echoing in the room.
"Don't go against your what, Dinah?" Roy was trying to understand this, "Make me understand, Di, please."
She dropped her eyes, her voice falling in volume, and going toneless with the recall of it all. "Seven of us, Roy. That's how many got there, saw...her. Found Light who was threatening all of us... our loved ones. Knew who we were, who our lives touched." She slowly sank to her knees, sobbing. "Roy...I voted against it! We did, and if Barry had been with us like usual...."
Roy couldn't hold out against her agony--not Dinah's, not with what she was to him--and he went to her, kneeling at her side, hands going out to her. "Tell me, Di. Tell me everything..." his voice was gentle as a hand brushed lightly over her hair. "C'mon, Di, sweetheart, let it out..."
"I've never seen her like this..." Dick's voice was shocked. All the years the Canary had been around, all fearless grace and strength and quick, sharp mind... he'd never guessed how much that was hiding.
Slade nodded. "No." The woman had been foe and ally both over the years, but this was a side of her well hidden.
Dinah flinched from the touch, every sign in her body language one of being repulsed, but not by him. She did not want him to touch her, to dirty his hands by doing so. "It was less than six months after Iris... do you remember her, Roy? Barry's love?"
"A little--y'know, I didn't see her much, but I remember what that did to Wally..." Roy pulled her in anyway, pulling her tight against his body.
Dick watched his boy pull his 'mother' close, and worried for him. God, this was hurting him so badly... He was more angry than hurt, the fact of the League's guilt now unquestionable.
"Will he be able to pull her together?" Slade questioned in a neutral voice.
"I... I'm not sure," Dick admitted.
Dinah began through a shuddered sob, calming some. "We had just lost her. Barry was still a wreck from it." She grew silent a long moment, violently tense. "We wanted justice, but we had to find some way to protect all of you. You kids, girlfriends, all of it." She started to cry again, but bit her lip hard, focusing on that pain to fight it down. "Hal and Ollie were adamant. I backed them; no matter how sickened I was, how scared I was, I believed we would find a way to have justice and see you all safe from him."
"Okay... so what happened? What changed? If you were saying no..."
Dinah looked up at last, her eyes haunted. "We voted. Zee...she had been so hurt, and there was Carter, pushing her, telling her she had the ability to fix it all. Atom had his wife, and would have done anything to protect her." She gave a harsh, bitter laugh. "Then you had team green and blonde. I think even Carter was sure we had the vote, as solidly as Hal and Ollie spoke. Barry never went against us when we agreed like that. He was a cop...he knew..." She brought her fist up to her mouth, pressing the knuckle hard to her lips, the pain flaring sharply. "He couldn't stop thinking of Iris."
Roy held her, trying to get this image solid in his mind, "So... Hawkman pushed her? Hotheaded son of a bitch... and Ray and Jean were still--" he tried NOT to think of how that all had ended, "And you and Ollie and Hal were fighting it?" He paused a moment, hearing himself say that, shoulders shaking with relief, //thank gods,// "You should've had it, you were right... But I don't understand how Barry could..."
"Zoom knew everything about Barry. Every little detail. He had already seen what could happen, and lost his soul's mate," she managed, around small shudders. "We lost the vote, and had to abide by it...back then, it seemed so simple. You did not go against your team...and Barry...he was one of mine. My damn leader." She tried to pull away from him, struggling with it. "I trusted him to lead us right. So much like Dad..." She was shaking again, the coiled tension snapping out in the flex of her hands.
Roy held her crushingly tight, absolutely unwilling to let her go, knowing all too well what that moment when your leader broke and betrayed you felt like--and he was still following Dick through hell. "Di... god, Di, I get that... I, do, but... someone's mind, someone's soul? How could you let a vote justify playing god like that?"
Dick waited for her answer to that, wondering what possible justification she could see for that kind of an action.
Slade considered the information being revealed from his own perspective. To be betrayed by a team leader was a very difficult thing to overcome, he would admit. And he almost saw the way the losers of the vote could not have broken ranks. It would have broken the corps fidelity. Still, Roy had a strong point.
The blonde shook her head. "We had no right. Not a one of us. We turned into our worst enemies, took away all the justice from it by doing that." She flinched again from her memories.
"Yeah." Roy couldn't argue, wouldn't disagree, not when she was so damned right. "But it'd happened, and for whatever reasons you couldn't change the vote, couldn't change their minds..." he shook his head, holding onto her, "Di... please tell me that was the only time? I mean, between the rape and that he knew and his powers I can understand the need---Ollie should've just put a broad head through his heart, but I can understand the need... as long as you tell me it was just that once." He needed something to cling to so very badly, some proof that it had been an extreme situation, not something they did regularly...
"Ollie hadn't killed yet, then...and it was Carter's wish to kill him, and Ollie arguing that down..." She wrapped her good arm around her knees, looking for the entire world like a scared kid.
Slade leaned forward sharply. "She's evading," he growled, all his anger coming back again.
Dick caught that too, caught the shift in her posture and the tone of her voice, "It's not the only time, or she'd have said so... gods, who else?"
Roy winced, closing his eyes at the sudden memory of hearing of his "father's" first kill, contrasting the world they'd left so far behind with the blood on his own hands. "No, he hadn't... god, that's so Ollie... Di, please..."
She flung herself away from him, moving with the speed that came from being a world-class martial artist, and only stopped at the far wall. She would not turn around, would not look at him. "They...we...were interrupted. Someone came up, before Zee finished. I...I'm not sure how it really came about; I was still reeling from what they...we...were doing."
"A hero?!" the startled exclamation ripped from Dick's lips.
Roy froze, kneeling on the floor with his arms still open, eyes tracking up her legs and back to her shoulders, "oh. god. di, no..." his voice as small as she'd ever heard it. //No, no, Dinah, don't tell me you did this to one of our own...//
"Roy, every night I've seen him, worked alongside him...I wished I could just..." She broke it off, hanging her head further. "You have no idea how much he has done for me over the years. And I always come back to that, to the second vote, and what was decided." She was almost whispering. "Working in his city...so glad when she moved us out...it was too much."
The hand in Dick's squeezed, painfully, as realization broke for Slade who she was referring to.
"Even working past it, now that he knows...I'll never be worth his notice."
"Oh that fucking bitch!" low, savage hiss as the Bat's child stared at her image from Renegade's cold eyes, incandescent, seething fury lashing through him, "That backstabbing, lying, deceitful little bitch... And they've both kept coming on to him for how long?!" Dick fought the urge to curse like a sailor, eyes going dark and hard. "The League fucked with Bruce's mind? God, I knew he wouldn't be part of that..." Too much relief in that last for his own tastes and he turned to press a kiss along his lover's neck, body saying, //yours, still yours, no matter what.//
Roy tilted his head, not understanding, not for long, long seconds, then 'she' and 'moved us out' and 'His city' and 'done for me' all registered and "BRUCE? You... they screwed with Bruce's mind?! Di, how could you?!"
"It was not my conscious choice!" She turned back, her eyes desperate that he believe her. "It all happened so fast."
Slade held his boy tight to his body, the timeline immediately presenting itself to him. He knew Dick's history so intimately, and had tested himself against Batman for years. There was no doubt in his mind that what had been done had led to the evolution of the son of a bitch he had stolen Dick away from.
Roy forced himself to his feet, watching her, more than half-broken by what she'd revealed, by what the heroes he'd grown up worshipping had done, not only to an enemy but to one. of. their. Own... "Di... Bruce? Wait. What exactly did you do to him?"
Dick shuddered in Slade's arms, hands fisting in his shirt to make himself keep listening...
She shuddered. "We made him forget what he had seen, what we had done." She shook her head. "It was a panicked reaction, and one I know I always regretted. He was not the same from that day." She fought the urge to breakdown again. "He should hate me," she whispered.
"They... took. his. Memories?" low, shaken hiss as the little boy he'd once been tried for a moment to rejoice at the thought that it wasn't all Bruce's fault--but yet, a few moments of stolen memory shouldn't have so utterly destroyed their partnership. No matter what the League had done, he shouldn't have... That shouldn't have been enough to sever the bond between Batman and Robin. "Oh, god..." soft, low moan.
Roy flinched back, winced, for the first time understanding the reasons behind the protocols the Bat had built against their metahuman allies--right now, they frightened him...
Dinah showed that uncanny ability to think with someone, especially one so close to her. "Batman remembered, at some level. He had to have, because the man I revered would never have engineered the means to take down the League otherwise."
"Dick," Slade began, his voice hard and cold. "They will pay."
"No... oh god, Dick... this is gonna kill him..."
Dick purred harshly, eyes hot and hungry, "All his warnings about playing god, he knew all along, even if he didn't...." He shook his head violently, twisting around, looking at Slade with desperation to even the scales blazing in his eyes. He might not be Bruce's son anyone, not with the amount of shed blood and betrayal between them, but this still cut deep.
The mercenary was watching the drama in his guest room more intently.
"It all started to come out, when Light....when he was our main suspect. The others wanted to know why, and even though Ollie tried...Carter still would not let anyone admit it." Dinah clenched her fists so tightly her nails were cutting skin. "I told Ollie, and we both were going to lay it out...but then it all blew up anyway."
Roy tilted his head--the Outsiders had been just a little busy lately, running desperately to keep up with the surging villain activity, so he wasn't sure what she meant. He hadn't even talked to Mia recently, let alone anyone else.
Dick settled back against him, hands flexing with his desperate desire to move...
Dinah shivered. "We went to fight Light. And the truth came out after ...after he beat us, guarding the bastard." She winced, remembering how easily Deathstroke had beaten them. "It was the original six, and Flash." More tears tracked her cheeks. "I hated that he had to find out like that, but I was damn glad when Br...Batman did. I could live with his hate."
"So he does know," Slade said. He thought to the night he had taken Dinah, remembered seeing her and the man on the roof. Batman had not been unwilling in that kiss.
"That's why Fleetfeet called and warned us, he knew... god, he knew and he didn't tell Dick..." he bit at his lip, shaking his head, "So he knows? That's why he left the League, not just the thing with Diana?"
"I... I can't deal with this..." Dick shuddered, trying not to struggle in Slade's grasp, but he needed to do something...
"Go." Slade released the boy, knowing it was best. His own anger was just under the surface. Part of him wanted to go take over the questioning, to learn everything, and the other part knew Roy was actually gaining far more honesty from the lying bitch than he ever would.
"He was struggling with it, Roy. Barry was his world. The man was everything to him. Imagine if it had been Ollie." Even she physically flinched from that. "Who had done something so against code...remember your initial reaction to him killing the Slasher. What that did to your image of him."
Dick flung himself up out of the chair and went, out of the office and down to the training room, taking a spot in the center of the training dummies before he exploded into motion, envisioning certain heroes faces over the blank dummies as he let himself flow through routine after routine, the hard, jarring impacts disturbingly pleasing...
Roy closed his eyes, nodding slowly, "I... yeah, you're right, Di, he would've been... And I don't have to imagine, it was Ollie. And Hal. And you, Di..." his green eyes dark with pain. "Damn it. I didn't want to believe him..."
Dinah lowered her eyes again. "He's always been an honest man, by and large," she said, following his thoughts of who had told him. "Roy..." her voice broke. "Please, believe this one thing...I've never regretted anything more in my life than letting myself bend that day." She paused a long moment, then continued, "Not even letting Ollie go."
Roy looked back at her, eyes still shadowed, "I... believe you, Dinah. But... when I'm taking Slade Wilson's moral side on this, when I can't even think of the 'justice league' without feeling revolted... there's something deeply, deeply wrong."
She nodded, wiping the last vestiges of tears from her face. "I gave myself to Oracle so strongly, away from the League, to the JSA, to try and make amends. But I can't. What I took part in is unforgivable." Just as she had faced Batman, she faced her son/brother/friend, refusing to make excuses for herself, even as she had tried to point out the reasons her friends had failed. "You...you are strong, Roy. And no matter who you work for, you have the right heart for this, the way to decide what is right." She turned away, making it plain in her silence that she knew she did not.
Roy walked to her, then, "You used to, Di. Who do you think taught it to me? You gave me that. I just... hope what I may have to do doesn't break your faith in me... I don't know what's going to happen--and I don't know how much they'll let me tell you, but I could see in his eyes that he's planning something..."
Dinah reacted to that with a wide-eyed look. "God, Roy..." She gripped his hand. "He..." She cut herself off, clenching her jaw.
In his office, Slade wondered just what the woman had started to say, not sure he had read the look in her eyes just right.
"What, Dinah?"
"He can't want a world where that...Society rules with a clenched fist. Won't be good for business, at the least," she said softly, a tang of bitterness in her voice. "Just be a voice of reason to him, Roy. He's got a better code than we did, apparently."
"No, I can't see him wanting that either--I could be wrong, but I doubt it... That code of his... it's not such a bad way to live, not really--I mean, god, he ran with us Titans for how long?"
Dinah shook her head. "There was a time when I did not really..." She stopped herself again. "Much as he's done that is inescapably wrong; I'll still back him over Carter, a hundred times over. But the ones he works with?" She shuddered. "Not that nest of vipers."
"I can just guess who's leading that unification charge, and it scares me to death," Roy agreed.
Dinah shook her head. "Oracle had definitely pinpointed Talia's handiwork. Hard to hide that from a bat."
Slade's eye narrowed as he ran over the words again in his head. He supposed Rose might really have seen Dinah in her vision, and it made him set some small part of his anger for the League aside, in her case. If she wanted to find redemption, he was sure he could find a place for her to work toward it in his plans.
"Yeah, maybe just a little..." he laid a hand on her shoulder gently. "Di... You fought it... and that helps. It... means you're still my Dinah..."
She was tense, vibrating almost as badly as Wally could. "No, Roy...That Dinah fell to the earth years ago, when she lost sight of what was right."
"So what, you're going to curl up broken-winged in a cage and die? That's not the woman that dragged me kicking and screaming out of my addiction, that supported me and pushed me and fought for me, don't you dare give up now!"
Dinah shook like a leaf, and then buried her face in his chest. "He gave me this cage; what else am I supposed to do? I have to behave, for you, for our little girl!"
Roy found his arms wrapping around her again, whispering to her, his voice soft, low and gentle. "Oh, Dinah... You might have to behave, but that doesn't mean you get to just give up…"
She kept her face pressed to his chest, her tears soaking through his shirt now that she was not fighting them. "He's not going to trust me, Roy. I know that beyond the shadow of a doubt. Even if he has a plan I could conscience, I'm irredeemable."
He couldn't stand to hear her say that, not about herself, not now or ever... "No, you're not, Di. You've done too much good for too long for this to be the end of it, for the worst decision you ever made to be the one thing people judge you by..."
"Why not? These decisions have had the harshest impact of any I have ever made in my life, Roy. I helped …I helped destroy a man I respected, saw to the rape of a man's mind, which led to where we are now, and kept silent on both decisions," she told him, the bitterness mixed in equal parts with defeat.
""Yeah, you did... but that's not who you are--and if you think it is, try telling that to everyone you ever saved, Dinah. You look me in the eye and tell me what you were forced into invalidates the fact that you saved my life and my sanity!" His hands locked hard on her shoulders. "Hal might've pulled me out, but you're the only reason I'm not dead in an alley with a needle in my arm."
She slowly brought her face up, her eyes completely lost with her guilt now that he knew. "How could I turn my back on you, baby? Ever? You were hurting so bad."
"You couldn't, you wouldn't. Because that's not who you are. It never has been... and don't you dare make yourself some that would because you're drowning..."
Dinah drew away from him. "Roy, I..." She shook her head. "I think I need to be alone, Roy."
"And I think that's the last thing you need, but if you want me to, I'll go..."
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He hugged her tight, gave her a long, worried look, and slowly turned to leave, hating it so very much. Despite everything, she was still Dinah, and leaving her aching and so broken ripped at his heart.
She did not move from her position as he left, did not call him back. She just stood there, longing for a view of the outside, hugging herself tight.
Roy stopped outside her door, leaned back against it and closed his eyes, shuddering. The taint of this was spreading throughout the world, had spread, and the knowledge that his "father" and his "uncle" and... and everything Dinah was to him, mother and sister and confidante and friend... that they'd all helped in this... He felt unclean.
Slade stared at the monitor as Dinah slowly sank down on the floor, shaking her head in denial at all of it. She gave a few silent sobs, hand up over her face. He was about to stand, his mind on ways to make both the League and Light pay, when he saw her jerk violently and scan the ceiling.
Roy forced himself into motion, making himself go back to that office, feet kind of slow, however. He didn't want to do this--hell, he wanted more than anything not to have to go make this 'mission' report to a man that would gloat so much over being proven right.
"No, son of a bitch...no," Dinah cursed, before collapsing against the carpet, racked by sobs and shuddering spasms yet again, as she realized just what she had betrayed in her conversation.
Slade sat back in the chair, his eyebrow arching as he saw her newly broken state. "Forgot my eyes were on you, Little Bird?" he mused.
Roy made it back and rapped at the door, not willing to walk in without Slade's consent.
"Enter," the mercenary called, not removing his gaze from the monitor.
Roy stepped in, his eyes snapped to the monitor, and anger overrode almost every lick of his self-preservation instincts, "You bugged her room?!"
"Don't be stupid, boy. I monitor all aspects of my household." Slade continued to watch a moment longer, then turned back to him. "Well?"
Roy bit his lip until it bled, "I showed up to tell you you were right--but you already know that," eyes glaring at the monitor, then the realization hit. "Oh, god, where's Dick?"
Slade inclined his head to the door. "Training room, most likely." The voice was cold, fully under control in the way Roy had heard too many times in the heat of a battle going against Slade's wishes.
Roy nodded, turned to go, and Slade spoke. "Harper."
That voice dragged him up short, but only for a moment. "Was there something? Or can I go try and coax my lover back to something that vaguely resembles sanity?"
"He would hurt you right now. Your association with her is too strong." Slade studied Harper for a long moment. "I suggest letting him work thorough it fist, until he is no longer violent."
"…he's that flipped? What'm I saying? Of course he's that flipped." He stopped, shook his head, scrubbed his hands over his face, "I... jesus. Effing. christ, this is..."
"Where do you stand now, Harper?" Slade asked, while the man was still disoriented. "Does your answer remain the same as when we discussed it?"
A million responses ran through Roy's head, 'I can't back the League, not now' collided harshly with 'I can't go against the Titans", and screams about the idea of a world where the villains ruled flung themselves hard against his control... "I still stand with Dick, yes," he managed to answer--hopefully before Slade could get pissed off at him.
The mercenary nodded sharply. "Very well." He glanced again at the monitor, where Roy could see Dinah was neither moving nor making any sound now. "Don't make him regret that." It was the only warning Roy would get from him, and had the feel of a dismissal.
Roy shrugged a shoulder, then nodded. "I'm going to go hang around the training room and pray he stops before breaks something else..."
Slade let him reach the door. "Harper, tell Rose to go assist her teacher," he added.
"I figured she'd gone to bed, this late," Roy said, "but I'll go tell her."
"I sincerely doubt she is asleep." He knew his daughter. "Be ready to go operative tomorrow or the night after." He was pulling files close, sorting through them, as he prioritized his work in view of the new information he had.
Roy froze for a moment, then nodded once. "All right. I'm gone," and he did just that, walking down to rap his knuckles against Rose's door. The sound of a stereo turning down accompanied a call that it was open.
Roy sighed and pushed the door open, just knowing he was walking into more trouble. "Rose, are you decent?" he asked once he had the door open about halfway.
A girlish giggle preceded her answer. "Am I ever?"
"Okay, fine, are you dressed? If not, get that way, your dad wants to you to go take care of Dinah."
There was a pause, and then she was standing there at the door, dressed in a pair of sweats he recognized as Dick's and one of his shirts from the wardrobe he had been given. "Is she okay?" The detached tone was at odds with her eye searching his face for clues.
"No. She's not. She's... really not. Be... be careful with her, Rose, she needs someone--and since she won't let it be me, maybe you've got a chance..."
She reached up, patting his cheek gently. "I'll be good to her." She slipped past him, heading down the hall in the direction of Dinah's room.
"Thanks, Rose," he called after her--then realized what she was wearing and wondered how in the heck she'd gotten to their clothes. And why... but there were other times to try and get answers to those. Right now, he was going to go wait for his lover.
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Daaaaamn. I'm seriously disliking the Justice League at the moment. Yeah, yeah, I know. It took me long enough to realize the truth of things. Sue me!
I think I actually <3 Slade. Because as messed up as he is, he has a very strict code of ethics that he lives by, and he doesn't bend it for anybody, whether you're a hero or villain. And I seriously respect that. He's obviously done a better job of living up to his moral standards than some of the heroes.
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I <3 Slade all the time, even when he's evil beyond compare, so that is awesome.
And Yena is keeping us on keel, with the juggling and the time line and the details! I just...throw a few lines in.
And much love to Coldfire for being so good as to write those fics and make Yena's brain go into overdrive.
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*chuckle* but you don't want to dislike them, I know...
I <3 Slade so, soooo damned much, for just exactly that reason, yes. He might be a sociopath, but he's an honorable sociopath.
No, hon. Thank you, for reading--and for GETTING it.
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And yeah, this whole fic was just emotional overload x1million.
And yeah... *wishes there was some way to wipe that IdC bull out of continuity, but there just Isn't, not to write InfC, so...* I' stuck with it.
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I adored the conversation between Shiva and Slade. It highlighted their similiarities well, and showed - in stark, black and white contrast to certain members of the League, damn you, Meltzer - the code of honor that both live.
Also? The image of Lian trained by Slade, Shiva, and Serum!Dick makes my brain melt. A lot.
Also? I don't know which one of you wrote Shiva - but I enjoyed this rendering very much. Lines like She inclined her head briefly, considering. "So she is worth a small portion of my honor at this point." felt very true to me - and made me want to see more of this Shiva, for she rocks.
Also? The tiny detail about the collar and Roy/Dick was fabulous, as was the almost casual way Dick/Roy discussed the flaws in Rose's form.
Dinah's breakdown was painful to watch, and reaffirmed the utter hate I have for Identity Crisis. Considering that Meltzer gave her bare minimum dialogue in that story, it was very easy to imagine that events had unfolded in the manner that she described to Roy- that she had been so very against it, but had been too overwhelmed/caught up in the moment to stop it.
The blonde shook her head. "We had no right. Not a one of us. We turned into our worst enemies, took away all the justice from it by doing that." She flinched again from her memories.
Yeah, Dinah, flinch. Flinch because that's what I do anytime I read the panels involved. Flinch because in that moment in time, the ghost of Uncle Ben needed to find a way to cross dimensions, become corporeal and beat all of seven of you until you apologized for raping not only Dr. Light and Batman, but every one of the childhoods that had ever loved the Justice League or any of the members involved.
*hates Meltzer and the Justice League, all over again and mutters about great power and responsibility.*
"That backstabbing, lying, deceitful little bitch... And they've both kept coming on to him for how long?!"
*chuckle.* I'm really not supposed to laugh at that, am I? And, oh, Dick, honey, I love your Evil! self, and you're completely right about what they've done - but what you're doing? With Slade? And what you're going to do, in the future? And what you've done? Is going to hurt Bruce far, far more than what the League did.
Also? The way that Dick justified and separated *his* rape (because let's call a spade a spade) from what Light did was interesting. They were, of course, different events and Light was far more brutal, but the minute Dick started to get self righteous, the event hung out in my head. . .and I'm glad it's in the back of his.
There was no doubt in his mind that what had been done had led to the evolution of the son of a bitch he had stolen Dick away from. . . No matter what the League had done, he shouldn't have... That shouldn't have been enough to sever the bond between Batman and Robin.
Both true.
Especially the last - because, no, DC, you don't get to blame a decade or so of bad characterization caused by Miller Worship on THE JUSTICE LEAGUEAnd that absolutely hurts."No... oh god, Dick... this is gonna kill him..."
I do, of course, love a Roy whose so very focused on the man that he loves above all else.
I adored the reversal of roles between Dinah and Roy - it was painful, but it spoke volumes about the strength of the bond between them.
"He would hurt you right now..."
I thought Ass!Dick was gone and learned his lesson? *kicks Evil!Dick for not learning that very important thing.*
"I still stand with Dick, yes,"
All I'm allowed to do right now is laugh happily at that line.
Also? I really love the Rose in this universe. I know I've mentioned it already, but I really, really adore her. She's a lot of fun, and I love that she was the one chosen to comfort Dinah.
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Me too...and it did for Slade to...
Also? I don't know which one of you wrote Shiva - but I enjoyed this rendering very much. Lines like She inclined her head briefly, considering. "So she is worth a small portion of my honor at this point." felt very true to me - and made me want to see more of this Shiva, for she rocks.
*Sheepishly raises hand* Was me...had much harder time getting Slade to talk through this than Shiva.
Thank you muchly!
pt 1
*purrs for joy*
I adored the conversation between Shiva and Slade. It highlighted their similiarities well, and showed - in stark, black and white contrast to certain members of the League, damn you, Meltzer - the code of honor that both live.
Isn't Filly amazing? She did such a kickass job with them both...
Also? The image of Lian trained by Slade, Shiva, and Serum!Dick makes my brain melt. A lot.
You're not the only one.
Also? I don't know which one of you wrote Shiva - but I enjoyed this rendering very much. Lines like 'She inclined her head briefly, considering. "So she is worth a small portion of my honor at this point."' felt very true to me - and made me want to see more of this Shiva, for she rocks.
That's all Filly, as I said, who did a splendiferous job.
Also? The tiny detail about the collar and Roy/Dick was fabulous, as was the almost casual way Dick/Roy discussed the flaws in Rose's form.
Dick's not above blatant emotional manipulation, and well, Roy can use the security at this point. And yeah. Well, they both agreed to teach her, so discussing problems with her is a natural.
Dinah's breakdown was painful to watch, and reaffirmed the utter hate I have for Identity Crisis. Considering that Meltzer gave her bare minimum dialogue in that story, it was very easy to imagine that events had unfolded in the manner that she described to Roy- that she had been so very against it, but had been too overwhelmed/caught up in the moment to stop it.
That's what we thought, yes. Glad it rings true
*hates on he-who-wrote-that-garbage*Yeah, Dinah, flinch. Flinch because that's what I do anytime I read the panels involved. Flinch because in that moment in time, the ghost of Uncle Ben needed to find a way to cross dimensions, become corporeal and beat all of seven of you until you apologized for raping not only Dr. Light and Batman, but every one of the childhoods that had ever loved the Justice League or any of the members involved.
Tell me about it, pervy. Though, really, let's hate on the man actually responsible, hmm? (doesn't, actually, mean Carter, though Dinah might) Uncle Ben's ghost has a lot of people he needs to beat, yes.
*hates Meltzer and the Justice League, all over again and mutters about great power and responsibility.*
*grumbles Right along with you* Yeah. You said it.
*chuckle.* I'm really not supposed to laugh at that, am I? And, oh, Dick, honey, I love your Evil! self, and you're completely right about what they've done - but what you're doing? With Slade? And what you're going to do, in the future? And what you've done? Is going to hurt Bruce far, far more than what the League did.
Oh, sure you are, I did, the minute I wrote it. It was kind of nice, but heartbreaking, to see Bruce's boy alive again for just a moment. And yeah, it is... and he kind-of knows it.
Also? The way that Dick justified and separated *his* rape (because let's call a spade a spade) from what Light did was interesting. They were, of course, different events and Light was far more brutal, but the minute Dick started to get self righteous, the event hung out in my head. . .and I'm glad it's in the back of his.
What Roy tells himself to get through the day, and what Dick is so desperate to believe, do not, necessarily have anything to do with objective reality--or with my personal beliefs, as far as that goes. Neither one of them is willing in any way, shape, or form to call that rape, and I suppose that's their perogative--but yes, let us call a spade a spade, and shake our heads in frustration at Dick's capacity for self-delusion.
There was no doubt in his mind that what had been done had led to the evolution of the son of a bitch he had stolen Dick away from. . . No matter what the League had done, he shouldn't have... That shouldn't have been enough to sever the bond between Batman and Robin.
pt 2
Both true. Especially the last - because, no, DC, you don't get to blame a decade or so of bad characterization caused by Miller Worship on THE JUSTICE LEAGUE And that absolutely hurts.
Yeah. I was okay with hating Bruce for being a bastard, especially given That One's influence... but after IdC, Bats being a paranoid bastard makes sense... and hurts, because like you said, NO, you don't get to do that, DC.
"No... oh god, Dick... this is gonna kill him..."
I do, of course, love a Roy whose so very focused on the man that he loves above all else.
Me, too. I've said, at least two dozen times while writing this series, "God, Roy, Dick doesn't deserve you." And it never ceases to be true.
I adored the reversal of roles between Dinah and Roy - it was painful, but it spoke volumes about the strength of the bond between them.
*happiness* Yeah... they're tight.
"He would hurt you right now..."
I thought Ass!Dick was gone and learned his lesson? *kicks Evil!Dick for not learning that very important thing.*
Um, do please remember that what Slade thinks and what is true are not necessarily the same thing? He is not a telepath nor omniscient, close as he aprroximates them at times, and my Dick wouldn't have hurt Roy, not for the world, not now.
"I still stand with Dick, yes,"
All I'm allowed to do right now is laugh happily at that line.
Yes, that is all you're allowed to do.
Also? I really love the Rose in this universe. I know I've mentioned it already, but I really, really adore her. She's a lot of fun, and I love that she was the one chosen to comfort Dinah.
Filly's Rose is awesome, yes. I adore her, too... and this was yet another of those moments when she was really the only one that could.
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Over-all reactions: Lots of headache, heartache, and stomachache for yours truly.
Reasons for reactions: Reversal of perspective and grudging admission on why Slade doesn't see the heroes as heroic and why he thinks his worldview is important. This time, you've drawn ME into his darkness.
One-word summary: Brilliant.
And let me repeat: Efffing brilliant. This is as a masterpiece.
More later.
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Thank you, and I look forward to you having time to tell us where we hit/missed in more detail.
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Thank you so much! I'm flattered you took the time to read it at all, if you're that busy, and we'll catch you whenever you have time!
Headaches and heartaches indeed.
*Grins* I like drawing ppl into Slade's world, it's fun!
Thank you sooooo much. *glee*
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Going against the titans later on will be interesting. I keep coming back to that scene with all of them against Dr. Ligh, and the thought about how Dick's their leader, and unconciously they look to him. If word about what the JL did gets out prior to the big battle, it makes me wonder how much they'll actually go against Dick and Roy.
God, felt so bad for Dick, having to sit there and learn the people he'd revered mindraped his dad. Felt as bad for Roy, since his family was part of it. Liked that they sent Rose to deal with Dinah. And her wearing Dick and Roy's clothes, so cute.A wonderful addendum to an amazing epic.
might want to re-read this, noticed a few minor mistakes
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"going agaisnt the Titans later on" *nodnodnodnod at you* You have a delightfully clever brain, is all I'm saying.
*nodnod* Yeah... Slade's boy is not having an easy time of it. And Roy... he's got it. so. damned. bad. through all of this. He so doesn't deserve it, either, he didn't do anything!
Rose was the only one that could go, yet again--and it's really funny that the insane one is the only one that's able to be the comforting one. *grins* Filly comes up with the neatest little tricks.
Thank you SOOO much!
yeah, DD mentioned as much, I'll get them fixed. It took so long to write this, and we had to rework some parts so much, that I'm reading right overtop of anything that's not blazingly obvious.
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We've decided that Dinah needs to stay far out of Dick's reaches for a few days.
And Rose...I've apparently got a strange feel of how to handle her, because I see that I write her differently than most. I see her very neediness to be accepted/loved by the Ttians, by her father, setting her up to be this comforting person. And I get the impression her current writer has similar thoughts, looking at how she keeps reaching out to Eddie.
I was helping finish writing this on one hour sleep last night...I'd be surprised if every other word I wrote wasn't messed up.
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You so broke Dinah, into a million itty bitty tiny pieces. I'm so glad Slade had the foresight to have the collar removed before Roy saw Dinah. that would have made things a lot worse. I feel so badly for her. The fact that she was upset enough to reject even Roy's comfort was just heartbreaking.
It was nice to see an emotional explaination of IDC. It doesn't make me like it anymore but it was nice. We just see them do it and we know who is on what side. I can totally understand Barry's decision impacting the others though, especially if you still considered Dinah to be an original JLAer like I do. I hate the fact that they changed it back to WW.
The idea of Lian being trained by Dinah, Slade, and Shiva just sends endless chills down my spine. I love your Shiva by the way even though I don't know much about her character in the books. It would be interesting to see a short AU where Di outlived her usefullness and Shiva got to have Lian. It would destroy Roy but it would make an interesting fic.
At least they both know that Slade watched their conversation. Roy should have realized long before that Slade had everything on tape. I guess ignorance is bliss though.
I'm so glad Slade sent Rose to take care of Dinah. She needed someone so badly and I find it just hilarous that Rose has apparantly stolen Dick and Roy's clothing.
Eager to see what Slade is going to send the boys to do.
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Dinah cannot accept Roy in any fashion because she failed him. To accept his comfort implies a right to be comforted, and right now...nope.
Well, either way you look at it, at this point, Dinah is a JLA year one founder because history has not been rewritten yet... And Barry's decision took on whole new facets as talking to Yena made me see that Barry fits Dinah's daddy issues as well.
I would not be surprised if Slade does not have something in mind to achieve that goal anyway...once the problems are finished.
Yeah, Roy in my head is a little uneasy at Slade seeing him and Dick be together.
You know, I keep seeing Rose as this impish ingenue toward the boys, but she's also partly accepting her place as Dick's little sister, so the clothes stealing works on either hand.
Yena's plan for the boys' first mission sounds great...
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Yeah... Dinah's pretty well shattered. Dick could've kicked himself for not thinking about it, but he was glad Slade did.
IdC sucks and we had to figure out how the heck to make it work--this was how we chose to.
The idea of that Lian is both utterly terrifying and utterly desirable, yes, and Filly rocked at writing the lady of destruction.
Yeah, Roy should've, but he really didn't want to even think about it.
It is absolutely hilarious, yes.
*grins* You'll see.
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THE THINGS I LVOE ABOUT THIS PART.
The insinuation that what the heroes did to Batman was a major screw up to the relationship of Batman and Robin. Made Bruce so much of an ass hole that it was beyond repair. Will give Dick more than enough motivation to hit the JLA.
Dick's love for Bruce still there, though Slade's has replaced it. And Slade understanding that and notholding it against him.
Slade thinking like a soldier, understanding why the JLA did not break ranks just to preserve the peace of the corps.
The meeting between Shiva and Slade. Here is a meeting of Titans (sorry wrong word) The respect for eachother's gifts is there, btu so is the caution and underneah it all an acute understanding of a shared code.
Would love to see more between the animosity of Dick and Dinahover Babs.
The motherly love between Dinah and Roy showing through, even at that darkest moment when the heroes were shown to have clay feet.
And Slade above it all, plotting, manipulating, calculating.
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On Slade: He knows, for all he's shaped Dick over the years, Bruce was there even more. And it is in canon that Slade has at least a professional respect for Batman. His interaction with Shiva was difficult to write because of their closeness in ability and standing. I've been told I make Shiva too honorable at times, but...I only focused on the characters after meeting her in GA one time, and then Birds.
On Dinah: I don't think we're ever going to see a friendship develop between her and Dick now. There's too many little pieces setting them at odds, and Barbara will likely be a focal point. As for Roy...I go with Devin's interpretation that they bonded strongly in the aftermath of his addicition, supported by Kingdom Come's view of Clan Arrow.
Thank you!
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More than the consistency and the characterization, the powerful way by which you tug at our heartstrings, exquisitely painfully, sets a high standards that only few can match. I mean that.
What I ask or write now are questions and scenarios that do require some answering precisely because you have set the bar. It's like the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films. Jackson created a masterpiece - that any flaw (andit had many) was immediately spotted by adoring fans, not to brign down what he had creatd, but in a way said noticing was a complement because it meant that the fans exacted on themselves and on his work those same high standards that Jackson had first of all imposed on himself.
I'm not sucking up. I'm just saying my truth.
What can I say, guys? You make me think - and think hard.
Now here's my crit (beside the overwhelmingly positive ones):
I get it that Slade manipulated Dick's guilt over the death of Blockbuster and now Canary's guilt over the mind-wiping to go "over to his side." I do. These heroes may not see any way out and Slade is offering them a path to some kind of redemption.
Now here's the first question: how long will it last?
I posted this before. How long will it take for Canary to realize that by sparing Lian's life, she's actually paving the way for her grand-daughter to enter an even second death, the life of an assassin? How long before Roy sees that - and is Dick's love stronger than his love for a father? How will these two react if they learn that Slade is eyeing Lian for apprenticeship under Shiva, to be molded as the next greatest assassin-cum-marksman of the next generation.
These heroes value life, yes. But time and again, they've been willing to sacrifice their lives for a Higher Truth to prevail. Is Lian a living assassin much better than a dead but innocent little girl?
True, Rose is sweet, charming, smart - but she's lethal. She kills. This teenager kills. How long before Canary realizes that she's molding her grandchild into a teenager that kills?
Second question: Dick will now have every reason to hate the JLA especially after laernign what they've done to Bruce. This disillusionmetn may even make him think he's right for following Slade, and mayeb Slade is capitalizing on that. But what about the other heroes who haven't compromised? Especially the Titans.
Dick said it best: "The Titans aren't just the JLA saving the world. We're here to fight each other's nightmares." Can he honestly live with himself, knowing that he has become the living Nightmare of his former proteges?
In the Technis imperative, Dick and the Titans fought against their mentors who were willing to "stop" or terminate Cyborg because they believed in their friend. The Titans is more of a family than the JLA ever was. Can Garth and Wally especially do less for their friend who had gone over to the dark side? They might see him as another victim, not necessarily a villain, ruined by evil programming the way Cyborg was.
More on part 2.
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And they all fall under "please watch this fic closely". I hate to leave it at that, but every question you have raised is one I and Yena have discussed, and want to address within the scope of the fic.
Influence is a two way street, is all I can say at this point.
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Let's say that for the sake of argumetn Canary follows Dick's descent into darkness because of all that guilt. The logic being: I'm guilty because I killed or mind-wiped. Ergo, I am a villain. Ergo, the Justice League and heroism are not real because they live in a false reality. Ergo, I will live by Slade's code even if it means killing and raising my kid as an assassin because it's the only honest one. Ergo, that means fighting the very heroes I swore friendship and love and brotherhood to.
In the same way, once exposed, the heroes may feel the loss of their moral ascendancy and buckle down, losing spirit, losing any chance at redemption, losign any guts to face this warped family. Because what right do they have to cast the first stone in the light of IC?
Follow me so far?
First of all, Slade's mindfuckery of Dick is similar to the IC rape - and I wish someone would point that out. Because Slade doesn't have the moral ascendancy here and those heroes have no reason to buckle or capitulate. Everybody may screw up - but you have two choices: go straight the weay of darkness like Slade or turn back at a chance for real redemption. A series of mistakes will not make right one fatal sin committed at a juncture.
And you got one hero who can speak of redemption. And thereis no way you can go Donna Troy on me for this one.
Hal Jordan.
This man killed miliions, billions, practically re-arranged the universe. And, yes, he was mind-fucked by an evil entity. His values were warped and shattered andhe was compelled to do something horrible against his beliefs. Dick's moaning over Blockbuster and Canary's crisis of conscience over IC are nothing compared to what Jordan did, regardless of his own mindfuckery.
But hey, he went back. He was able to go back home. He found redemption - real redemption - and went back into the light.
Hal Jordan is no pollyana like Clark or a manipulator of fear like Batman. Nor he is crispy clean because he has his own share of sins. But he was able to stare guilt, death, and sin in the face - and rose above it to return.
I think Hal would present a more powerful polarity to Slade than Bruce. Bruce like Slade works on fear, and he has his own demons to fight. In contrast, Hal is the only hero who can honestly live by the credo "No fear!" even when staring at his own shadows.
He can call Slade's manipulation of Dick what it is and expose it for what it is. He can tell the other heroes, "Hey, I fucked up - but I came back. You don't have to go this way."
...
And, no, he's not absent like Donna Troy. He's here. He's around in your universe. And just my two cents, the redemption he represents is not easily dismissable.
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And if Roy would remember him...
You raise very valid points. But the guilt is not the only motivator at work here, as is about to be seen. We're just moving past our set up stage and into the 'things happen' stage. If we fall short on character, if you can't follow where we take them, please let us know, but I hope, and think, you'll be surprised at how well Yena plans to shape them from here.
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Wow, this was wonderful, ladies. I loved it.
Poor Dinah, when she realized what she'd let Slade see.
And Diiick.... (hugs him)
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Thank you!
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