Blood Ties

Chapter 3 -Scrambled-

Dick wrenched open his eyes, however much his lids didn't want to listen.

His sight was blurry for a moment before it focused, his room was dark, and being that there were no windows he couldn't tell what time it was without looking at the clock. The wild ebony hair shifted as the boy twisted his tired body to look over his shoulder at the clock on his haphazardly neat desk.

11:17 A.M.

Dick blinked slowly and shifted to a more comfortable position, snuggling into his pillow and closing his tired eyes. He began to stretch his legs out, a tired sigh escaping as he did so. Then it sunk in.

11:18 A.M.

"Crap." The acrobat shot out of bed, a nearly panicked look in his sky blue orbs.

Dick threw the covers to the side, he thought he had set his alarm last night, maybe Slade snuck in and turned it off. Whatever the case, he had a mission in less than an hour and he had just woken up!

Dick winced when a pounding headache made itself known, nearly forcing him back onto the bed. He wavered where he stood, closing his eyes and raising a hand to his head as if that would make the pain go away. He clenched his jaw and moved off anyway, headaches were minor, he wasn't going to let a mere headache keep him from the mission.

The ebony haired boy ran to flip the light switch, flinching at the sudden bright light, and ran to his desk which had his dark Renegade suit draped across it. As he reached for his suit he remembered Slades words, he had said this mission was in civilian clothes, which was odd, but Dick wasn't about to question it, Slade would explain when he thought Dick was ready. The acrobat redirected his hand to the belt slung over the chair, he clipped it around his waist under his clothes, he should probably change considering he had slept in this but he was on a time crunch. As fast as his pounding head allowed, Dick scoured his room for socks and grabbed his shoes, tying them a little too tight.

He stood up fast and slightly became dizzy, he waited for a few precious seconds for the world to stop spinning and wracked his brain for anything else he might need before going to get brea-lunch. He seriously couldn't think of anything, but Slade would remind him if he did forget anything, so he figured he was safe.

Dick ran out of the room, shoes lightly slapping against the stone floors, he ran a hand through his hair but knew it was utterly hopeless to tame his hair. He latched onto the lip of the wall that rose into the arch that separated the kitchen from the hallway, he used the edge as leverage as he spun into the room.

"Cutting it close are we?" Slade asked, rising a cup of coffee to his lips the moment he saw Dick enter the room.

Dick was a little out of breath with his panicked running, he let out a huff of indignation. "My alarm didn't go off, would you know anything about that?" Dick asked as he went straight for the fridge, giving a side glance at the casual shirt and pants his mentor was in, clothes he didn't often see the big bad mercenary in.

"Are you suggesting I would sabotage my own apprentice?" Slade asked as he put the cup down, eyeing the back of the boy's head, slightly amused by the obvious bed-head. 

Dick threw open the fridge and grabbed the milk, looking over his shoulder to his mentor and then froze in confusion. Slade was eating eggs, why was he eating eggs for lunch? Dick knew their schedule front to back, he could probably do it in his sleep, he had even done it with his eyes closed once, Slade was not for mixing up meals, though he would skip them sometimes.