Hello, readers! My apologies for the wait! Okay, a quick overview of what is to come. I think I am going to finish this story up in this chapter. Don't worry though! The reason for this is I would like to expand the story and go into deeper detail with it, so I want to rewrite it from the beginning and change some things. I didn't want to leave you forever though, so I will finish it up here and then work on delving deeper into my characters. Okay, thanks, guys!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything DC

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Dick sat up in bed and looked around. Everything was dark and silent and his alarm clock's red numbers blazed 1:22 a.m. Dick sighed and pushed the covers back, standing up. He ran to the dresser and pulled out some clothes, quickly changing from his pajamas into black pants and a dark t-shirt. He took sneakers from the closet and pulled them on, then tugged his trusty baseball cap over his curly hair. It was time to explore the rest of this fortress and see if he could escape again.

Dick carefully pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway, taking silent steps just as Bruce had shown him. He carefully walked back towards the conference room and through the hall to the door he had first escaped by. The bolt was still in place and Dick wouldn't be able to reach it without a chair. He had no plan of escape so didn't want to risk getting heard quite yet. First, he wanted to know if there was any other way out.

Turning to go, Dick stopped when a terrific crash sounded and the door smashed to the ground. Dick yelled and jumped backwards, hitting the wall and looking fearfully at the door. He started yelling again as something stepped into the room, but stopped immediately when he saw the familiar black cowl.

"Batman!" he gasped. "Bruce!" he shrieked, running at the man and throwing his arms around his neck. Batman picked the boy up, practically crushing him against his chest. "Alfred, I've got him," he said, his voice shaking.

"Oh, thank heavens," came Alfred's exhausted, relieved voice.

"Dick," whispered Batman, holding the boy close. "I've got to get you out of here, chum."

"Not so fast, Bat."

Batman spun around and he and Dick stared in horror as a figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Put the boy down," ordered the voice.

"Deathstroke," growled Batman.

"Slade?" whispered Dick.

"Batman, what's going on?" came Alfred's voice into Batman's ear.

Slade laughed, his Kevlar armor clinking as he stepped towards them, "I see you have decided to fight me once again, Batman. Apparently last time wasn't enough for you."

"Last time?" whimpered Dick, still clinging tightly to Batman.

"Why did you kidnap my son?" asked Batman, his whole demeanor suddenly changing from a scared, worried Bruce to the dark, sullen Dark Knight. He held Dick behind him.

"Your son?" laughed Slade from behind his mask. "He's your ward, Batman, your ward."

Batman growled, his deep, rumbling voice cutting through the darkness, "He's my son and you have no right to him."

"You cannot beat me, Bat," said Slade, his voice dripping with pride and evil. "Last time I broke almost every bone in your body and never got a scratch."

"What last time?" whispered Dick, clinging so tightly to Batman that his fingers were beginning to hurt.

"I have been waiting for you," said Slade, as he and Batman began to circle to room, staring each other down. "I saw you coming down my tunnel and knew it wouldn't be long. I had truly hoped you would do a better job bringing up children, but your ward is truly a handful. How ever do you handle him?"

"The boy is to be left out of this," said Batman, never taking his eyes off of Slade.

Slade laughed, "Oh, no, you don't understand, do you? The boy is this. He is the reason all of this is happening! Did you not see that from the beginning, Bat?"

Dick clung to Batman, staring at Slade. The man was so different in his suit. His whole attitude and presence changed to an arrogant, cocky beast. This was not the man that had been holding Dick closely the night before, comforting him as he cried for Bruce. This was a monster thirsty for blood. Batman's blood. Bruce's blood.

"Slade, if I fight you," growled Batman, "it is without the kid."

"Of course," nodded Slade. "Dick can easily be dealt with. Wintergreen!" The old man stepped from the shadows and nodded to Slade. "Take the boy into the conference room and do not let him get away. I have a bat to defeat."

"Come on, Dick," said Wintergreen, stepping towards the boy.

"Batman!" shrieked Dick, his grip tightening.

"Richard," said Batman, spinning the boy around so he could see his face, "I will not leave you again, but for right now you have to trust me. Go with Wintergreen. I know who he is and he won't hurt you."

"I know him, too," Dick whimpered, "and I'm not afraid of him. But I can't let you. You'll get hurt!"

"Trust me, Richard," said Batman. His eyes full of fire melted as he looked tenderly at his young ward. "I love you, Dick."

"I love you, too, Bruce," Dick whispered, laying his head on Batman's chest. "I'll go, but be careful. I need you."

"Don't try to escape, Dick," said Batman. "Promise me. I'll get you and bring you home when I can."

"Yes, sir, I promise," nodded Dick. "I love you." Wintergreen put his hand kindly on the boy's shoulder and the two went down the hall to the conference room.

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Batman groaned, rolling onto his side and struggling to stand up. Slade laughed as he stood above the man. "You have improved, Bat!" he said. "You lasted an entire twenty minutes this time. Before it was, what? Approximately three? Very good. But now good enough. The boy is mine now. And you are dead." Slade raised his gun, but Batman swept his leg out, catching the man off guard.

Slade hit the ground with a terrific thud and Batman was instantly on top of him. "No ones takes my boy," he growled, before landing a smashing blow the man's ribs. Slade groaned but flipped over, trapping Batman beneath his heavy armor.

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"He'll kill him," moaned Dick, shaking in fear. Wintergreen held the boy tightly.

"Dick, settle down," he ordered, calmly but sternly. "Honestly, you have more panic attacks than anyone I've ever seen."

"Batman!" cried Dick, twisting to free himself, but Wintergreen, even in his old age, had a stronger grip and in the boy's hysteria, could hold the young fighter tightly. Dick was shaking so hard and sweating so much that Wintergreen was afraid he was going to blow a blood vessel.

"Kid, you have got to get a grip," he said, exasperated, "come on." No sooner did he get the words out, when Dick's eyes slowly closed and he slipped into unconsciousness, brought on by his hysterical sobs. The old man sighed and sat down in one of the huge conference chairs, holding the boy on his lap.

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"Before I kill you," laughed Slade, his gun pointed at Batman's head, "I will tell you what will happen to the boy." Batman took a deep breath, searching his body for any remaining strength to push himself up. He could find none. "First," said Slade, setting his foot on Batman's chest, "I will train him to be the best assassin the world has ever known. He will kill as second nature and make a bloody mess when he does. Second, I will tell him lies about the past...lies that will boil his anger and rage towards Gotham. Innocent people will die, and I will have won. Third, I will make him forget all about you, Mr. Wayne. He never loved you. What ever made you think he dd? It was the money, Wayne. Yes, even at thirteen-years-old a boy knows what money is. You think he stayed with you because he cared? I doubt it. After all, he ran away more times then you can count, did he not?"

Batman let out a gasp as Slade's foot pressed harder on his chest. "Why, Slade?" he moaned.

"Why, Bat?" said Slade, cocking his gun, "Because I can. That boy if rightfully mine anyways. I am the closet family he's got."

"Fourth cousins is hardly close," sputtered Batman, feeling his shoulder crack as Slade pressed harder on his chest.

"Closer than a playboy billionaire racking up points in the social world with a charity case," sneered Slade. "Face it, Wayne, it was all a gag. For looks, was it not?"

"I have the papers at home on my desk," gasped Batman. "Before he went missing, I had them drawn up. I was going to adopt him."

"Oh really?" laughed Slade, "well, how inconvenient all this was for you. But at least you can die knowing he'll be in good hands, right?"

Something snapped inside Batman. Something he had never felt before. It started in his stomach and rushed up through his chest and into his brain, filling his entire body with a warm, tingly feeling. It was similar to what he'd felt when his parents had died and Alfred had held him close, telling him it would be alright and he was still loved. It was a feeling that burned deep into his soul and screamed to be let out to the world. In a final desperate attack, Batman swung his leg around, yelling in pain and he connected with Slade's armor, but the man was not expected the move and flipped over, landing beside Batman.

Once again, Batman scrambled on top of him and in a quick movement, yanked the gun from his hand and jumped back, holding it at arm's length. Slade laughed and sat up. "You can't shoot me, Wayne," he said. "You don't believe in killing. Isn't that true? Batman never kills."

"Batman, you have to! For Richard!" came Alfred's voice over the piece in Batman's ear.

"Oh, Bat," chuckled Slade, slyly, "you can barely stand. Don't you see? This is the end. The boy is mine, you have lost. I have been fighting you for five years now and I have finally won. By quite a lot of points, I might add. And you can die with the knowledge of something he told me the other night. I injected a truth serum into him and asked him all about your operation and what you do. I also asked him a very personal question. One I'm sure you've longer to know the true answer to."

"Shut up, Slade," growled Batman, but he teetered and put his hand against the wall to keep from falling. He was sure he had quite a few broken ribs and was probably bleeding internally.

"I asked him if he really love Bruce Wayne," said Slade, stepping closer. "And do you want to know what he said?"

"Don't come closer!" ordered Batman, almost doubled over now from the pain.

"I'll tell you," said Slade, almost withing arm's length of Batman now. "He said..."

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Dick slowly sat up and rubbed the tears from his face.

"Well, welcome back," smiled Wintergreen. "Are you alright?"

"Where's Bruce?" the boy asked, shakily.

Before Wintergreen could answer, a shot rang out. Dick's eyes widened and he sat on the old man's lap, frozen. Then, before Wintergreen could react, Dick bolted off his lap and raced from the room, screaming for Bruce.

"Bruce, no!" shrieked Dick, sliding into the room Slade and Batman had been in. "Bruce..." Both Slade and Batman were lying side by side the hard floor in a pool of blood, neither moving.

Dick froze, staring at the two men. He took a step backwards, his mind reeling and his heart racing. Everything seemed to start spinning and he could barely breathe. "Bruce!" gasped Dick, dropping to his knees. He stayed still for a minute, trying to focus and regain control of his breathing. Weakly, Dick began to crawl towards the two men. He stopped just above Batman's head, and stared at him. Was he breathing? Dick couldn't tell.

"Richard."

Dick ignored Wintergreen and slowly reached out a shaking hand. He placed it on Batman's shoulder and slowly inched himself closed until he was sitting next to the man, almost in the blood.

"You can't die," whispered Dick, gripping Batman's shoulder. "I need you. If you die, I die."

"Slade!"

Dick ignored Wintergreen as the man knelt down by Deathstroke.

"Slade, Slade, say something!"

Dick slowly looked up at the frantic Wintergreen and the old man's gaze met the boy's. "Dick, Slade...Slade's dead," whispered Wintergreen.

Dick barely understood what the old man had said. He looked back at the Batman, almost in a daze, and then moved onto his knees. With all his strength, he rolled Batman over and slowly peeled off the man's mask. "Bruce," whispered Dick, leaning close to his guardian's face. "Don't die, Bruce. Don't do this to me."

"Dick," whispered Wintergreen, kneeling beside the boy. He picked up Bruce's arm and pulled the leather glove from the man's hand. Pressing his fingers against Bruce's wrist, Wintergreen closed his eyes and was silent for a few seconds. "Dick, he's alive."

The boy stared at the old man, then completely lost it and burst into violent sobs, a mixture of relief and absolute terror over the whole situation.

"Help me!" sobbed the boy, looking at Wintergreen through tear filled eyes. The old man nodded slightly and slowly lifted Bruce's head onto his lap.

"Bruce," said Dick, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. He bent over and whispered into the man's ear,, "Bruce, if you leave me now I swear I'll go back to the manor and break everything you've ever bought over two thousand dollars."

"Oh, really," mumbled the man.

"Bruce!" shrieked Dick, jumping up. "Oh, Dick, you're alive!"

Bruce's eyes slowly opened and he smiled painfully, "Hey, chum."

"Bruce!" cried Dick. "Oh, Bruce!"

Bruce winced slightly, "Keep it down. My head is pounding."

"Oh, sorry," said Dick, immediately dropping his tone. "Bruce, where does it hurt? Can you feel this? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Twelve," said Bruce, sarcastically. "Yes, I'm fine. Help me get up."

Dick and Wintergreen quickly moved to help Bruce, and began pulling him up. Bruce winced as his sore body moved, but finally, he was on his feet. He leaned heavily against both of them and nodded.

"Alright," he said, "the Batmobile is outside. If we can get me to it, Dick and I can got home. It will drive itself back automatically and Alfred can take care of me."

The walk to the elevator was slow and very painful for Bruce, but they managed to make it and get to land. Bruce summoned the Batmobile with a button on his wrist and Wintergreen and Dick slowly eased him into the driver seat.

Dick stood and turned to the old man. "Thank you," he said. "For everything. You were always good to me."

Wintergreen nodded, "Slade was wrong to take you. I'm sorry about everything that has happened; but I'm sure going to miss you, kid."

"What about Slade?" asked Dick.

Bruce spoke up, "He isn't dead and Wintergreen knows it."

The old man looked down and nodded, "I just said that a minute ago to get your mind off of him. He'll be alright and probably come looking for you."

"He won't get very far," growled Bruce. His voice softened and he sighed, "Thank you, Wintergreen, for watching out for him."

"Sure, Wayne," nodded the old man. "I'll see you, kid. Hopefully not by Slade's hand."

Dick nodded, "Thanks. For everything." He went around and slid into the passenger seat and Bruce closed the doors. He told the car to drive home and they sped off.

"Bruce," whimpered Dick, leaning against his surrogate father. Bruce let his hand drop onto the boy's shoulder and set his chin on Dick's head.

"I'm here, buddy," he whispered. "Its okay."

"Bruce, I thought you were dead," said Dick, a tear rolling down his cheek. "I thought you left me."

"I won't ever leave you," smiled Bruce. "I got you back and I'm keeping you this time."

"Bruce, when you get better are you going to thrash me?" asked Dick.

"Thrash you?" asked Bruce. "Why, Dick."

"Cause I ran away," responded the boy. "That's why Slade kidnapped me. You promised me a spanking if I ran away again."

"No, I'm not going to spank you," chuckled Bruce. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm never running away again," promised Dick. He snuggled closer to Bruce, "I realized I love you too much to be gone for very long, Dad."

Bruce was quiet for a minute. He remembered Slade's words "He said he had never truly loved you. Only played it up so you would keep him on as a ward" Bruce smirked. The boy in his arms was no ward. Dick was his child. Bruce grinned and gently kissed the top of Dick's head, "I love you, too, son."

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Okay, there it is! In all its rushed glory... Anyway, I'll work on a longer, enhanced version that will hopefully introduce each character more thoroughly and take the story farther! Thank you so much for sticking with me and reading! It means so, so much! Thanks, all!

Review :)