Blood Ties

Chapter 1 -SURPRISE-

Dick woke up quickly.

He jumped to his feet with his blade in hand. The acrobat glared around the dark room, scanning for danger with only the shift of his piercing blue eyes, the rest of his body being incredibly still.

It was all clear.

He let a smile slip onto his face. Slade had been teaching him how to wake up silently, how to do lots of things actually. Dick looked down when he felt something crunch beneath his foot, he lifted his bare foot and saw his orange and black mask. Oops...

Dick maneuvered around his room, avoiding piles of clothes and papers from his desk, he got to the wall and flipped on the light. His room was honestly a mess, he usually kept it pretty clean (per Slades orders) but he had a busy night and had been too tired to do anything properly.

The grin on his face lifted as he remembered what day it was. It was his birthday, he was turning 13.

Dick hurriedly changed clothes and grabbed his belt, Slade was probably going to scold him for not wearing it but he'd been exhausted last night and had taken it off for a more comfortable sleep. The raven haired teen slid on a green shirt and some jeans, putting on some socks  and clicked the belt across his waist. He ran a hand through his untamable pitch black hair, and, as the name suggests, it was useless to try to tame his hair, especially after sleeping. He put his Renegade suit and mask on the dresser and placed all the random clothes in the hamper at the foot of his bed. Usually Slade would want him in Renegade garb, but today was special.

The raven haired boy threw open his door and began to run, only to think twice and begrudgingly trudged back into his room. Slade usually told him to make his bed before leaving his room in the mornings, Dick was just so excited. He made the bed as quick as he could then dashed out of the room.

He accidentally slammed it on the way out but he didn't care at this point. Today was his 13th birthday, Slade said he was going to do something special for this birthday.

Dicks smile never wavered as he ran down the hall, he did a cartwheel for the fun of it and slowed at the archway that led into the kitchen.

He silently peered over the edge of the wall, his bright blue gaze intense with barely contained excitement.

Slade stood over the stove in his night clothes, something was hissing and the man seemed intent on the food. The warm smell of pancakes wafted through the air, there was only one thing missing.

Dick grew an impish grin.

The raven haired boy slipped silently into the room, he tip toed to the pantry where he grabbed a certain bag from the top shelf. He watched for any movement from the mercenary as he opened the bag, and stalked up behind the large man.

He rose the bag over his own head, barely able to make it above Slades and held his breath.

Slade spun and around and grabbed his arm. Dick froze with his smile still plastered over his face. Slade's single gray eye glared at the child.

Without breaking eye contact, Dick flicked the bag and it's contents tumbled out over the mercenary. Chocolate chips rained down on the old mans head and scattered to the floor and counter.

"I thought we agreed chocolate chips were for special occasions." Slade broke the silence, he also released the boy's arm and turned back to the stove. The hand that wasn't holding a spatula grabbed at some of the chocolate chips that fell onto the counter.

Dick released his breath and lowered the bag, he sidled up next to the mercenary to survey the food making process, finding milk, syrup, a two plates, two cups, and butter next to the stove. On the other side was a bowl with pancake mix remanence inside, a serving spoon rested inside, clearly the device of the mixing.