Blood Ties

Chapter 19 -Marionette-

Dick, regardless of destiny or linage, of curve balls and trials that life mercilessly threw at the boy, Dick was a gentle soul.

To everyone but himself.

Pride was never part of Dick's vocabulary. Even when he got cocky on the field it was gone as quick as it came, not by a reprimand from Slade, no, the boy himself would become sullen and almost scared after any display of pride. The child was hyper aware of himself, hyper aware of everything really, it's what made him a good mercenary. But it was not okay.

Slade had tried smoothing that out of him for years, of relaxing the tense muscles that became rock hard when the boy said anything positive about himself. But the mercenary couldn't break it. He tried as many ways possible, complimenting, encouraging, especially physical affirmations. But the boy's insecurities, his pride, it was all shot, jumbled up and mish moshed then stuffed into the gangly acrobat Slade knew.

The boy dreaded himself, if it not were for the serum running under his skin Slade was 100% positive the boy would have taken his own life by now. The boy would not allow himself pride because of what he was, of what he was meant to become. Of the inevitable.

His boy was a walking mess of anxiety he could not comfort, because there was none.

Slade had tried to be as painless as possible, that boy didn't need anymore grief and guilt on his plate. Slade's training shied away from hard unforgiving rules and punishments, and even then he barely had to use any sort of discipline at all because Dick was already so cautious and careful. The old solider never meant to use that fear in his training, but he couldn't say it wasn't helpful. That fire that lurked under his caution was potent and deadly, and most surprising, driven by his unrelenting need to be compassionate.

That's where the Court made their mistake, the secret behind Dick's skill was not anything like malevolence and thirst for power that all other villains had, it wasn't even revenge or self preservation, it was a need to do good. Slade didn't want to say it, but because they were so hard on him is what made him into such a resilient boy today. His will alone overrode any of their attempts of brainwashing him into compliance.

Maybe that was why Slade was always so wary of using Dick, he was a true and tried hero. Slade... Slade didn't want to lose him. All his training, all the late nights and compliance with odd requests from the boy was to fix what the Court did to break him, to make him ready. Although he didn't foresee growing attached in the process, something he was paying for now.

Dick would know what was happening, Slade had been warned himself the spare few times when he became The Courts marionette. Slade didn't care much if he warned the heroes or not, because either way, after this they would know he's dangerously unpredictable. It would both stop The Light's plan to use him and make him a victim in the heroes' eyes, because when the strings were loosened Dick would beg forgiveness as he always did. However hard it may be for either party, Dick would be safe with them.

And that's all Slade wanted.

That was his rational for the atrocity he was about to do.

He was about to be the puppet master to Dick's limp strings. Something he promised he would never do because of the anguish it caused the boy, even though he really had no way to be in control until Sportsmaster decided to litter his apprentice with muscle controlling nano-bots.

Slade stood in front of the screen in his 'scheming' room, the keyboard was up and he held his recently bought VR headset in his hands. His single eye was staring at the screen, live security feed of the young heroes 'secret' base. Since Dick's return to the mountain the heroes had dragged him off to the trapeze they set while he was gone.