Forgotten Bonds – Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty
A Doctor in the House

November 12th, 2008. Wednesday, 8:13 pm.

Slade carried the boy to his bed upstairs. Dick whimpered and moaned in Slade’s arms. Sometimes he thrashed gently; his head swinging back and forth through his whimpers. Once Slade stopped his walk to the boy’s bedroom and tightened his hold on him, the boy would quiet and rest his head against Slade’s chest again. Slade wasn’t sure how long the boy was trying to remain strong through it. Good grief, the boy was stubborn – Wintergreen, too.

What really surprised Slade was that the boy was light as a feather. It truly attested just how young he was. Fourteen wasn’t all that old, if one honestly thought about it. True, the boy was a bit smaller for his age, but it still amazed Slade just how small the boy was in his arms.

Like a little child.

Helpless, even.

But Dick certainly wasn’t helpless. He was a powerful kid and one who would stand by Slade’s side as his heir. Slade smiled silkily. Yes, he might be young now, but one day the boy would grow into an all powerful young man – the perfect partner, the perfect heir, the perfect assassin; Slade had no doubt.

The boy was perfect.

At least that’s what Slade had thought. But as three days passed since the boy had fallen ill, Slade was seriously reconsidering some things – temporarily, of course. He hadn’t ever come across something like this before and he was just about ready to go crazy.

The boy was a right little devil!

He was terrible; a right little devilish terror. There was no doubt about it: Slade was ready to throttle him. But, of course, that wasn’t really conducive to Slade’s plans if his apprentice in training wasn’t among the living.

But good grief.

The boy was not cooperative at all with Slade’s attempts at helping him through this confounded cold. In fact, he was terribly difficult. Everything was a fight or battle with him. He never would eat the food that Slade brought him, not until Slade threatened five times to blend it all up and force him to drink it.

Wintergreen was better by the second day that Dick had fallen ill, but he wouldn’t take a turn at the cursed position of nursemaid to the spawn of the devil. Wintergreen expressly felt that this was a perfect time for the two of them to bond.

Slade seriously doubted that – especially since he was about ready to kill the little brat. He could only bet that Wintergreen just didn’t want to deal with this terrible little boy.

Wintergreen gave Slade a number of antibiotics including some herbal remedies. Slade was literally handed a basket full of vitamins. As he looked through everything, he couldn’t make heads or tails of the crap.

He never needed this kind of stuff. It wasn’t that he never got sick; he did, rarely. But such sicknesses lasted a day at the most. Trying to figure out this stuff was like trying to figure out a woman’s mind.

Impossible.

So, he chose four out of the ‘billion’ that had been offered. He knew Vitamin C was a good one so he chose three different kinds of Vitamin C; some packets called Emergen-C – pink lemonade flavor, a bottle of crystals, and some standard tablets. Then, he chose something that Wintergreen swore would cut the cold by fourths. Some over the counter thing called Oscillococcinum.

Slade didn’t even bother trying to pronounce that.

But as he tried to get the boy to take the blasted things, he was met with absolute resistance and just plain petulance.

“Leave me alone, Slade,” growled Dick for the fiftieth time that day. The boy’s voice sounded extremely hoarse and he was coughing occasionally. Slade closed his eye; trying to draw on all his strength for control. He was about two seconds from ripping the boy out of that bed and pounding his sick backside for an hour or two.

Yes, that would be most satisfying. Couldn’t kill him, after all.

But Slade refrained from doing so. The boy was sick – he didn’t need more misery on top of it.

“Dick, I am trying to help you. Just take the blasted pills already,” said Slade in an exasperated tone. “Let them dissolve under your tongue.”

“No!” cried Dick childishly, his voice cracking as he tossed the small tube of the Oscillococcinum pellets across the room. “Leave me alone already! I just wanna be alone!”

You and me both, boy…

Slade swiped a hand over his face. He was going insane. It was rare when he felt homicidal – his contracts never even brought that out of him – but at that very moment, he was overwhelmed by the feeling. It was terrible. How could this fourteen year old brat bring out this side of him? Slade had to think of something that would keep him on the ledge of sanity.

Slade pinched the bridge of his nose briefly.

That’s it. He was going to keep track. That would keep him sane. Yes, that would do it. He was going to count how many times the boy earned himself a good hard swat. Although Slade seriously doubted that the boy would ever be able to sit down after all this.

So, this was definitely one. Yes, indeed.

Slade took a cleansing breath; trying to calm himself down. He could do this. It was just a bratty little child, after all. He had handled worse than this little devil. With another deep breath, he took another small tube from the package and stalked back to Dick’s bedside. He pointed a hard finger at the boy.

“Listen up, boy, and listen good,” said Slade in a complete, sharp tone that meant business. “You will put this under your tongue. You will shut up and let it dissolve. The faster you get this cold over and done with, the faster we can be finished with this nonsense. Now, are you going to do it yourself or am I going to have to manhandle you? Oh, and believe me; I will do so.”

Dick narrowed his eyes as he stared at him. Slade could tell the boy was weighing his options. Slade merely matched his stare with a harder one of his own. He was not going to let this sick, cranky brat win.

“Fine,” snapped Dick, snatching the small tube away from Slade irritably. He popped the lid and set back his head to pour the small white pellets underneath his tongue. Once he was finished, he set a glare onto Slade and handed him back the tube.

One out of four, that was.

Luckily, Slade could combine the pink lemonade with the C crystals, but that would probably make it unbelievably tart – the boy would have a conniption fit. Probably shouldn’t do that… Would seriously make life just a little harder for Slade, now wouldn’t it?

“All right, now take these,” said Slade, handing Dick five of the Vitamin C tablets after he was sure the boy had finished the other medicine. Dick growled again and turned his head obstinately away. Slade repressed a sigh mixed with a growl and continued to proffer them.

“This isn’t up for debate, Dick. Take them now,” said Slade.

“Why don’t you eat them?” griped Dick, flopping back onto his pillow. “I don’t wanna pop so many pills like a drug addict.”

“These aren’t drugs; they’re vitamins – antibiotics to speed the process up,” snapped Slade in a low hiss, trying very hard not to blow a fuse.

“Don’t care. Not taking them,” said Dick flatly. Slade growled deeply. The boy just stared at him, not even flinching. Well, that probably wasn’t healthy behavior for the boy – watching wasn’t producing healthy behavior in Slade, either. Slade bent down and forced the boy to sit up; depositing the five tablets into his hand and wrapping his fingers over them.

“Take them. Now,” said Slade; sending the boy a dark glare. Dick sent Slade a matching scowl and grabbed a cup of water from off the end table. He downed the five pills in one shot and then slammed the empty cup down.

“Jerk,” muttered Dick under his breath as he flopped back down.

Well, that just did it.

“That’s two,” said Slade, grinding his teeth.

“Two? Two what?”

“The number of swats I plan to apply to your disrespectful backside when you get better. I’ve decided to keep track of your outrageous, obstinate, childish behavior,” said Slade, letting a sadistic smirk lift his mouth. Dick groaned and slumped the covers over his head.

“Being sick isn’t enough? I have to be tortured, too?”

“Pretty much. Look forward to it,” said Slade, still unable to wipe the smirk from off his face. Mmm, that was just too much fun. He was rewarded with another low groan as the boy wiggled under the covers. Torturing the boy like this just might keep said boy alive. Well, served the brat right – being such a complete terror.

Who knew the boy was this difficult with a simple cold? Not even Will is this bad.

Slade took a deep breath. Now for the real fun.

Slade grabbed a packet of Emergen-C and ripped it open. The acidic, powdery substance tickled his nose as he poured the contents into another plastic cup of water that was on the end table. The pink liquid fizzed noisily for a few moments before settling down somewhat. Then, after pulling the covers back down, Slade handed the fizzing drink to Dick, who merely stared at the cup with contempt.

“Sit up and drink it,” commanded Slade.

“What is it?”

“Vitamin C,” said Slade, trying very hard to ignore the ornery tone the boy was taking. “It will help you get over this blasted cold faster.”

“Don’t want it.”

“Don’t care. Drink it.”

“No.”

“Dick—”

“No!”

Slade growled deeply. “That’s number three. Now—” Slade grabbed the boy by the shoulder and forced him up. “Don’t make it four and drink it!”

Dick clenched his teeth as he grudgingly grabbed the cup from Slade. He took a moment to inspect the drink before he experimentally tested it.

He visibly grimaced.

“Ugh! What is that?” groaned Dick, pushing the cup away from his mouth and holding it out for Slade to take away. “It’s so awfully sour. Yuck! It burns my throat!”

“Drink it. It’ll help you get better, Dick,” said Slade, pushing the hand away and directing it back to Dick’s mouth.

“No way!” cried Dick, turning his head away stubbornly. Slade repressed a growl. Good grief, this boy was a pain in the butt. Slade forced the plastic cup back to the boy.

“Drink it now, boy,” said Slade. Dick looked at the drink and then, lifted his eyes to settle on him. Slade noticed a strange light entering the boy’s eyes. It was something he hadn’t ever seen before. A second later, he understood why.

Dick threw the plastic cup at Slade, thoroughly drenching him in the Vitamin C drink. Slade’s jaw clenched as he opened his mouth in pure shock and anger. The boy gave a decided huff and flopped back down onto his pillow; turning to the wall with his legs curled up.

Oh, no he did not just do that.

But as the strong, rank smell of the Vitamin C wafted over him with the silent beads of liquid dripping onto the carpet, Slade was fully aware that the boy had most certainly done that. Slade closed his eye; trying very hard not to rip the boy out of bed that second and give him a very good reason why he shouldn’t ever do something like this again.

But the boy was sick – not to mention an absolute mess. He looked like a complete disaster. He was miserable and was obviously not right in the head – nonetheless, Slade was going to count this one for sure. The boy usually had enough self preservation not to do something so childish and obstinate. Who knew the Boy Wonder was a holy terror when sick?

So, that’s four – no doubt about that.

Slade whirled around on his heel; striding out of the room quickly. He wasn’t going to be able to think properly with the terrible smelling crap all over him. Fifteen minutes and a great deal of hot water later, Slade had showered and dressed in a new set of clothes.

Now to go back and deal with the diseased Boy Wonder of Holy Terror.

This was now war. That’s right; the dear boy had issued a declaration of war against Slade. There was no doubt about that. Well, Slade was a war veteran. He’d survive `Nam. Let’s just see how far the boy can get against fighting him. Dear, lovely, adorable Dick was in for a very rude awakening.

Slade walked into the kitchen and prepared his weapon: a water bottle with a fresh supply of the pink lemonade Vitamin C inside. Just for spite, Slade doubled the amount; also adding two healthy, generous scoops of Vitamin C crystals. If the boy thought it was tart and sour before… Heh, the boy was about to make the funniest face known to man.

Armed and ready for the upcoming battle, Slade marched back down the hallway; shaking the bottle vigorously. He entered Dick’s room slowly, watching the bed where the boy was lying. Dick was tossing and turning; murmurs of grumbles escaping his lips. Slade knew he was miserable and he did feel just a tad bad for the boy. But honestly, Slade was only trying to make the cold go faster. If the blasted boy just cooperated, he’d realize that.

Slade grabbed the chair and settled into it; bringing the chair right next to the bed.

“Dick, look at me,” said Slade. There was a long groan and after a moment, Slade was graced with two sparkling blue eyes that were washed over with complete misery.

“Now,” began Slade. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Slade held up the water bottle and smirked condescendingly. “You drink this like a good little boy and I’ll give you a treat. Otherwise, I’ll force feed it to you.”

“Shove off, Slade. I’m not a baby,” scowled Dick; jerking his head away grumpily. “Leave me alone already.”

Oh, that delightful phrase. Slade was ready to rip that one right out of the boy’s mouth if he could. It took a moment for Slade to take a deep breath and not lose his temper yet again. The boy was sick; therefore, he had a perfectly good excuse for being a complete brat. That would be another swat when he was better. Oh, yes. The boy was up to five now. With one final heaving breath, he smirked. Looks like the boy chose the fun way.

“Well, all right, then,” said Slade. He stood from his chair and sat on the edge of the bed; turning to face in the same direction as the boy. He curled an arm beneath Dick’s back to force him to sit up. Slade came across opposition to this.

“No—Stop, Slade! What are you doing?” cried Dick, thrashing in the bed and trying to move far away from Slade’s grasp.

“Force feeding you. I said I would,” said Slade. He gave the boy an incredulous look. “You doubted my words?”

“Geoff me!” struggled Dick fiercely. Slade merely forced himself further onto the bed; coming to sit at the head and behind Dick. With a strong left arm, he curled it around the boy’s chest; clamping down his arms as he did so. Slade pulled the boy directly against his own chest. Slade noticed that the boy was quite heated to the touch; his skin lightly damp with perspiration from the fever. Dick thrashed ferociously, but there was no escaping Slade’s iron hold on him.

Slade popped the lid of the bottle with his other hand. The boy honestly should be thankful he didn’t have any baby bottles around or Slade would’ve used that to complete the entire effect. Ah, well. The sports bottle would have to do.

The boy wouldn’t hold still; his head wildly swinging back and forth as he voiced his protests viciously and loudly. Since Slade had decided not to get angry over the complete foolishness, he was beginning to find it mildly funny. It was pretty comical to watch the boy thrash uselessly in his arms.

In fact, it was getting to be downright hilarious to Slade.

“You better hold still, Dick. You don’t want me to miss and get this stuff in your eyes,” warned Slade lightly, his face completely lifted into a smirk.

“No! Geoff me! Get—the—heck—off—me!” snarled Dick as he thrashed back and forth. Slade just waited for a moment; watching the boy’s movements. Then, with a sudden strike that would put a cobra to shame, Slade got the bottle’s tip into his target – Dick’s open mouth.

Dick stilled suddenly; going completely rigid.

Slade gently squeezed the bottle and there was a small gagging noise from Dick. He lifted it back slightly to give the boy room to swallow. Slade watched from above as Dick’s face scrunched up over the horrendous sour, tart taste that he was no doubt experiencing. Slade could see some of the liquid in the boy’s open gagging mouth.

“Swallow,” said Slade in a deep voice. Slade felt the boy obey his command. Immediately, there was more gagging as Dick’s body spazzed from the sour taste. The boy grimaced harshly, his tongue writhing in his open mouth.

Ooh, Slade was enjoying this.

“Holy warheads, Slade,” grimaced Dick as he gagged again. “That stuff is the sourest crap I’ve ever tasted. What the heck did you put in that?”

“Double strength,” drawled Slade in a low undertone. “And you’re going to drink the whole bottle.”

Payback for dousing me in this nasty stuff earlier.

There was a low whimper from the boy. He shook his head rapidly, burrowing deeply in Slade’s chest away from the bottle.

“Please… no,” murmured Dick in a desperate plea. “That stuff is awful.”

“Trust me, it’s better than castor oil, I assure you. Will would’ve shoved that into your mouth without hesitation.”

“But… isn’t castor oil… a laxative?” asked Dick anxiously.

“Precisely,” said Slade; smirking heavily. “Taking excessive amounts of Vitamin C has a similar effect.”

Dick dropped his head back against Slade’s chest and groaned deeply.

“What did I ever do to deserve this?” bemoaned Dick. “Why this new form of torture, Slade?”

“This isn’t my doing, boy,” said Slade dubiously. “Blame Will. He’s the one who got you sick. I’m just trying to get you well within a week or so instead of a month or two. Now enough stalling. Drink.”

Slade brought the bottle to Dick’s mouth. There was a little resistance as the boy grimaced and whimpered heavily; turning his head side to side and trying to avoid the bottle. But finally the boy gave up and reluctantly opened his mouth submissively. There was another squirt and another entertaining gag.

And they had barely even started yet.

Twenty minutes later, the bottle was finally all gone. Dick was breathing heavily, thoroughly exhausted, as he rested against Slade; a few stray tears sliding down his cheeks from the harsh, acidic taste he had been forced to experience. Slade had to admit, once the boy finally calmed down he did pretty well. In the middle of it, Slade tried to remove himself from the bed and let Dick drink it on his own; however, the boy began to protest again and refused to obey.

But once Slade was back into position, the boy was perfectly submissive and didn’t fight at all. It puzzled Slade greatly. So, he tested it again, which only produced the same result.

So, finally, Slade tried something else. He stayed behind the boy, letting him rest against his chest, and handed him the bottle. Dick did this obediently and struggled to down the acidic substance. There were times when the boy couldn’t go on and Slade would put an encouraging hand on his arm.

It worked every time.

Slade was pensive through it all. The boy was calm only when there was a comforting hand to guide him. Slade’s mere presence behind the boy was enough for Dick to struggle through the nasty bottle without protest – only multiple gagging, groaning, and grimacing.

It was becoming more and more apparent to Slade that the boy truly did best with human contact. It was the strangest thing to Slade – he hadn’t seen anything like it before. It wasn’t completely his style to offer such things either; granted, he was one to ruffle a head of hair here and there or one to clasp a shoulder sometimes. But he definitely wasn’t one to be soft and cuddly like a puppy.

Just wasn’t going to happen.

But it seemed that deep down Dick was weak against such things. He completely melted with a simple hand on the shoulder. It was becoming clearer and it was obvious that it didn’t matter that it was Slade giving such things – human touch was something Dick hadn’t had; thus, he was extremely weak to it.

Not just that, the boy craved it.

Slade was in such a deep thought process that when he came out of it, he hadn’t noticed that the boy had fallen asleep. His chest rose and receded slowly in his sleep. Letting a smile cross his lips, Slade carefully pulled out from behind him. With strong hands, he laid Dick onto his pillow. The boy whimpered once in his sleep; but as Slade ran a few fingers across his sweaty and hot brow, he quieted contentedly.

As Slade lifted away, he put his hands on his hips as he observed the sleeping boy.

What a strange child.

ooOOOOOoo

November 21st, 2008. Friday, 7:13 am.

It had been quite entertaining for Slade over the past week. Once he calmed himself down and let the boy be, it was really funny if Slade were honest with himself. Twice every day Slade had to force that tart, beyond tart Vitamin C down Dick’s throat. Once they got through the whimpers and the whines – not to mention Slade having to coddle the boy by sitting behind him – it was the most entertaining thing Slade had ever seen.

Plus, the darts to the bathroom were also quite hilarious.

Dick was still as terror worthy as a little devil through it all, unfortunately for him. Not even the count up of swats did anything to curb his bad temper and tongue. By the ninth day of being sick, the boy had ranked up fifty-three points in the swatting department and Slade happily took every happy opportunity to remind him of it. This would get him another entertaining round of groans, whimpers, and hiding underneath the covers. Well, Slade had to do something to keep himself amused through all this, or else he would’ve probably strangled the little terror.

It had been a long time since Slade had nursed a child back to health. It was certainly a strange feeling. But Slade managed to use his chuckler quite a bit through all this. It was interesting to him that his patience level was rising lately. Things that would’ve infuriated him two months ago, now merely made him raise his eyebrow sternly. He couldn’t imagine that he was really changing at all. He knew it wasn’t possible – not with who and what he was.

But like any muscle in life, he was just exercising his patience level. Thus, it had grown – that was merely it. Things didn’t irritate him as quickly, which was good for the boy. That certainly didn’t mean Slade was going to let Dick get away with crap. He still was going to make very sure that the boy was still wary of his control and authority.

Although Slade wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the boy’s current behavior. The past two days, Dick had gotten much better; thus, his attitude improved greatly as well. He only made one mistake to make Slade count another one. It was obvious that while sick, the boy wasn’t in his right mind and Slade wasn’t sure if he wanted to start Dick’s new health with whaling the boy’s hide after he’d been so miserable.

Drinking so much Vitamin C had definitely been torture enough – Slade knew full well. Behind the scenes, he had tried the concoction at its full potential. Slade had never tasted anything so terribly tart and acidic in his life. No wonder the boy put up a fuss – it was enough to tear strips off the roof of your mouth.

Thus, this morning at breakfast, Slade was deep in thought about what he should do. He could tell Dick was thoroughly apprehensive. Slade had told him that the second he was well enough to eat at the table that he’d give him what he earned through it all. Dick knew it was coming and his body language said it all – he was a downright nervous wreck over it.

Once again this proved to be an entertaining route.

The boy was torturing himself with worry and apprehension. It took everything Slade had not to snort with amusement over the whole thing. The boy truly looked so young; almost like a little child. It was almost endearing, in a way – if Slade let himself go that route. No, no, he was not going to coddle the child—boy.

Dick was finished with his breakfast and was finding everything but Slade interesting. The boy refused to look at him. He was also chewing on his bottom lip. Well, Slade still wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do, but might as well enjoy watching the boy squirm himself to death.

“You done?” asked Slade; trying hard not to let a smirk lift his voice. Dick nodded jerkily; still refusing to look at him.

“Well, then,” started Slade, slapping his thighs so that the sound echoed slightly. The boy flinched visibly. “Let’s go.”

Slade stood up and began to walk down the hallway. He gave a tiny glance back to see Dick slowly rising from his chair. His hands were shaking at his side as he stood up. He then dragged his feet as he walked after Slade as slowly as he possibly could.

Good grief, you’d think the boy was about to be executed.

But there was something different. He didn’t look afraid, merely apprehensive. When Slade had beaten him before, there was always fear and terror in his eyes. Now there wasn’t any fear. Sure, the boy was afraid, but it was definitely different than before. Slade wasn’t sure what it was. He just couldn’t place his finger on it.

Oh, bother.

He was starting to feel a little bad for the boy. Honestly, he really did deserve this – especially after throwing that Vitamin C mixture at him. But Slade was beginning to feel that he really should go easy on him. He still wasn’t completely better, but he was much stronger than he had been before. The boy was still coughing as well at times. Slade did not need a relapse. No, the last thing he needed was a relapse. Good grief, no.

Slade opened the boy’s bedroom door and walked to the desk chair; sitting down. Dick was slowly walking inside after him. He closed the door behind himself and then turned towards Slade. Dick’s walk couldn’t be slower, but finally he stood in front of Slade. His head was ducked slightly, but Slade could see his eyes. The boy was literally chewing on his lower lip; his clenched fists trembling at his sides.

All right. All right, then. Slade was going to go easy on the boy. Not because he was going soft. No, eternally, no. Those saddened, repentant baby blue eyes had no effect in wavering his resolve with the boy. Neither did that timid pout that was now gracing the boy’s lower lip. No. No, no, it was the fact that the boy was still a little sick and Slade didn’t need other week from the Boy Wonder that was a diseased little devil.

Well, but there was no reason he couldn’t torture and tease the boy’s psyche. That wouldn’t injure him… much.

Dick was trembling. He completely understood that he’d been terrible to Slade while he was sick. Alfred always mentioned that he was horrendous while sick. Dick always had a long lecture at the end of a cold from the old butler. Dick barely could remember some of the stuff he did to Slade over the past week; everything was too much of a blur in the illness – although he did remember throwing a cup of Vitamin C at the man, which he deeply regretted. There was no doubt that in normal times, Dick would’ve been over the man’s knees faster than Kid Flash could pick up a doughnut at the local convenience store.

Still, there was nothing that could convince Dick to really agree to this. He knew he had been terrible, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be subjected to this kind of… reprimand.

Not that he had much of a choice.

Slade’s hands clasped Dick by the arms as he pulled him closer. Dick swallowed the increasing lump in his throat; biting his lower lip again. There was a very serious light in the man’s eye, but there was something else inside that Dick wasn’t sure of.

“Dick, you know you’ve been very belligerent and downright horrible this past week, yes?”

Dick nodded, biting his lip harder.

“You know you deserve to be punished for being so awful when I was only trying to nurse you back to health, yes?”

Oh, why did the man have to make him feel even more guilty? It was bad enough that his own conscious was eating him alive, but now Slade had to throw salt onto the wound and make him feel even worse.

Trying very not to tremble more than he already was, Dick nodded twice.

“Very well, then. This will be a little different than normal,” said Slade. Dick wished the man would just get the whole thing over with already. The wait was twisting inside Dick’s stomach in a horrible knotted mess. He hated the wait just as much as he hated being punished like this. But he knew this was just a little – very little – bit better than getting punched and kicked.

Still…

“I’m going to count out each one.”

Dick nearly died right then and there. The man was actually going to keep track of this? Fifty-three! What was this, slow-torture-Dick-to-death week?

Just hurry up already! Quit torturing me like this! Just get this over with!

Thus, Dick was once again in that same position that he seriously wished he wasn’t in. But at the first count, it took all of Dick’s control not to gasp in surprise. The man was striking harder than he had ever done before. That had hurt… a lot.

Oh, crap.

If Dick had to endure this slow pace for rest of the fifty-one of the man’s hard swats, he wasn’t going to make it. He probably wouldn’t be able to restrain his tears. There was just no way. He seriously did not want to be a sobbing mess. He much rather bear this whole nonsense stoically. But at this rate… Slade was really taking his vengeance for the hard week. Not that Dick could blame him…

When Slade counted for the third, Dick closed his eyes; trying extremely hard to imagine himself anywhere but here. Anywhere but here – maybe a flowery meadow with fluffy, white—wait, why are they green?—bunnies; he honestly didn’t care. This was definitely torture on a whole new level. Why the heck did the man have to draw it out like this? Just hurry it up for crying out loud!

But then, Dick was suddenly righted to his feet to stand in front of Slade. Dick blinked, completely shocked. His chest heaved once from his effort to calm his nerves. But he was standing in front of Slade again. But the man had only given him…

“What–what’s going on?” asked Dick, looking down at Slade as the man’s hands clasped his arms.

“We’re done,” said Slade.

Dick blinked a few times more.

“W–what do you mean? You said—”

“I gave you three. That’s what you earned, after all.”

“But you said fifty-three!”

“Did I?” drawled Slade coyly.

“Yes, you di—” Dick stopped as he stared at Slade, dawning realization flooding through him.

The man had stringed him along all this time! That sly smirk that was all over his face was proof enough! Dick suddenly felt extremely sulky; resisting the urge to fold his arms and huff like a little child. That was totally not cool at all. Slade really did like his psychological torture, now didn’t he?

But then…

Wait, Slade was going easy on him? Dick knew very well that he’d been awful and he was fully aware of the ever increasing number that Slade took great pleasure in reminding him hourly over the past few days. After all that, why would Slade go easy? That wasn’t like Slade at all and it wasn’t like he halved the punishment – he cut off most. While Dick was suddenly eternally grateful for the man’s abrupt benevolence, it still greatly confused him.

“But why?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you going easy on me?” asked Dick in a soft tone with his head lowered slightly; his hands fingering the edges of his shirt nervously. There was a long moment before Dick glanced his eyes up to look at Slade. The man was looking away before he gave out a tired sigh. For a moment, he looked hesitant.

“Mmm, well,” started Slade, “I tried out some of that Vitamin C mixture I forced you to drink every day. I suppose you’ve been tortured enough.”

“You tried it?” asked Dick, his eyes widening. “You couldn’t take my gagging as a good sign that it was horrible?”

“Mmm, I merely thought you were exaggerating,” drawled Slade.

Dick was thoroughly indignant.

“Seriously?! What part of—” Dick made the familiar gagging sound. “—and—” He made another grimacing noise, scrunching his face up. “—didn’t you understand?!”

Slade broke out into a snorting chuckle. His hands squeezed Dick’s arms once as he shook his head.

“Sometimes you truly are just…” Slade trailed off through his chuckles, shaking his head once more. His amused expression slid away as he observed Dick for a moment; his face going impassive once again.

“Do you have any fluid in your lungs?” asked Slade, his eye serious. Dick shrugged within Slade’s hands. “Will you let me test?”

“How?”

“Wait here,” said Slade, standing up.

As he left the room, Dick sat down on the edge of the bed; wiggling once on his lightly stinging seat. It would only be a few minutes before it’d be gone and he once again felt thankful for not having to endure a full punishment. But it still puzzled Dick that the man had gone lightly on him. Since when did Slade ever go easy on him? What had changed?

Dick waited a bit nervously; playing with the edges of his shirt. A few moments later, Slade came into the room with a stethoscope. He sat back down in the chair; moving it closer to Dick, so that their knees collided gently. Slade put the tips of the stethoscope into his ears and motioned to Dick as he readied the end.

“Lift up your shirt,” instructed Slade. Dick obeyed him and Slade placed the metal knob to the center of his chest. It was extremely chilling to his skin. Slade placed a hand to Dick’s back and pushed him to sit up straighter.

“Sit up straight. Breathe in deeply.”

Once again, Dick obeyed without question. He breathed deeply for the man a few times. On the fifth deep breath, his lungs caught inside and it took him a few moments of coughing to clear his pipes of the phlegm. Slade withdrew the stethoscope, but he kept his hand on Dick’s back; lightly rubbing back and forth.

Finally, when Dick managed to settle down, Slade resumed listening to his lungs. After a moment, he withdrew finally; taking the tips of the stethoscope out of his ears. The man leaned back in his chair, folding his arms as he looked at him. Dick lowered his shirt back down.

“When you breathed before, you rattled,” said Slade, smirking. “But luckily, it seems like you’re past the brunt of the cold. I still can hear a little congestion in your lungs – obviously, since breathing too deeply causes your lungs to want to clear themselves out. We’ll be sure to take everything nice and slowly for the next week or so. I don’t need you passing out on me.”

“I won’t pass out!” cried Dick hotly.

“You might.”

“I will not! I’m not weak.”

“Getting sick has nothing to do with weakness, boy,” said Slade. “Your body is still recovering and I would very much like to avoid having a week like we’ve previously experienced. Don’t you agree?”

Dick slid his mouth to the side slightly in a small sulk, but he nodded his agreement. It felt strange that Slade was so concerned with his health. He could still feel the sensation of Slade’s hand on his back. It had been extremely firm, yet gentle as it rubbed his back when he had been coughing. Dick had appreciated its presence; it had been comforting.

Usually adults rarely ever concerned themselves with Dick. Although Alfred had been pretty observant of Dick through the years he was Bruce’s ward; Bruce himself didn’t really know much about children – that much had been obvious. Slade seemed to know exactly what do sometimes; however, there were other times that he didn’t. But somehow Dick got the impression that Slade had done something like this before.

But that couldn’t be right… could it?

ooOOOOOoo 

Keep Reading –>