Befriending The Enemy

More Than Him

After getting dressed into his tactical clothes. He made his way downstairs where the others were already awakening. Deathstroke has already told them what happened but Dick still couldn't seem to shake off how easy it was for him to get in.

Deathstroke walked over to Dick, putting his hand on Dick's shoulder. "Will you be okay during this?" He asked.

Dick nodded stiffly. "I should be." That didnt sound convincing at all and even Dick knew that. His side hurt and seeing Batman shook him slightly.

Deathstroke sighed, squeezing his shoulder much more tightly. "If you can't do it Grayson, don't force yourself. Do we need to wait longer?" He asks.

Dick gulped. He wanted to get this mission going, being on bed rest was driving him insane. Plus the fact that Bruce is egging them on made him want to prove a point, but was it worth it?

Dick sighed. "It hurts a lot. But I can't get over Batmans arrogant assumptions that we cant do our job correctly to the point he wants us to team up." Dick snapped.

Deathstroke nodded, leaning against the back of the couch. "If you focus on what he said, you give him the satisfaction. You are injured still and if it hurts, we are putting the mission on hold. I said what I said out of anger. If we must wait a little longer, than we can."

Dick looked defeatedly at his armor, but knew Deathstroke was right. "I think we should wait. As much as I hate it, running back onto the field will only result in me getting injured or reopening the wound." He says.

Deathstroke nods, turning back to Jason and Sportsmaster. "Looks like we are waiting. In the meantime, we must come up with a plan." He says.

Dick walked back upstairs, changing out of his tactical armor and throwing on his armor shirt and pants. He made his way downstairs, ignoring the constant throbbing in his side. When he made it to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed Jason, Sportmaster and Deathstroke standing around the kitchen table, discussing.

Dick walked over, seeing blueprints with writing and circles. Deathstroke turned to Dick, pointing at the map. "You are agile enough to crawl through vents. We need you to enter the southwest side of the building near this vent. It will lead you straight to the control room where you will knock out the guards and use this to disable alarms and any other alerting machinery. After that, lock the door and meet up in the main building. This is where the real mission will begin." He says.

Dick folded his arms, one of his hands rubbing his chin gently. "Theres still the matter of the trap." He says, looking over at Deathstroke. "It could happen before the mission or during. We don't know what it is."

Deathstroke nods. "It'll most likely happen during the mission. Luckily we are an observant bunch we will catch anything they try." He explained happily.

Dick nodded, turning to face Jason. He nodded an encouraging urge that they will successfully win this time. With the plan concluded, Jason and Sportsmaster decided to make their way to the basement, leaving Dick and Deathstroke alone.

"Im sorry about earlier. I didnt mean for you to waste unnecessary energy getting ready." Deathstroke says.

Dick shook his head, taking a seat at the table. "I got caught up in the moment too. We both wanted to show Bats his words can't affect us, but we need to take our time. Its a mission. This is why my old team always failed a mission. We rushed in without thinking. Thats whats different." He explained.

Deathstroke nodded, turning to the kitchen. "Want to help me make some breakfast?" He asked.

Dick let a small smile appear on his face, getting up. "Of course!" He says.

With that, Dick and Deathstroke shared a moment of cooking breakfast together. It was only around 4 in the morning but getting sleep wasn't going to be on their agenda much today. It was mostly prep work and trying to get back to healthy status.

Dick paused, cutting strawberries to put on top of the pancakes, which Dick knew Deathstroke was only making to cheer him up. "I gave it thought you know." Dick says.

Deathstroke paused for a moment, flipped the pancakes, before turning to him. "About?"

Dick turned his head. "Batman is acting like a spoiled rich boy, which he is but you get my point. He thinks you have some sort of mind controlling on me to make me choose you instead of him. He doesn't realize that I chose you. Hes throwing a fit because he can't get what he wants. I care about you more than him. I care about all of you more than them. If they can't see that, than I have lost all respect for them. They can try to take me back, fight for me all they want, but in the end, I chose who I want to be for the rest of my life. I chose my path." He says, looking up at Deathstroke with a bright smile.

Deathstroke was taken off guard for a bit, looking at Dick with new found respect and love. He never really has given much thought to it, but if Dick hadn't come into his life, where would he be now? Where would Dick be?

He placed a hand on Dicks head, ruffling his hair. "It means a lot to hear you say that. Go get the others. Breakfast is ready." He says.

Dick quickly finished cutting the strawberry he was working on, before shooting out of the kitchen. Deathstroke watched him disappear, before smiling. A genuine, wide smile. To think he could have grown so soft for that boy. He doesn't regret a thing that has happened in the past. He will fight for Dicks freedom, that is a promise.

After breakfast, they made their way to the basement, readying their stuff. Dick on the other hand, was starting to feel the effects of the pain killers he was given, and fell asleep against his desk. It took the others a good couple of minutes before they spotted Dick, sleeping with his escrima's pulled apart and his mask on the table.

Deathstroke shook his head, getting up from his desk and walking over to collect Dick in his arms. With the help of Jason, they got him upstairs and back into Deathstrokes bed.

While Dick snored away, Deathstroke looked over at Jason, handing him a device. Jason lifted a brow. "Whats this for?"

Deathstroke ushered him to follow and they made their way to the rooftop where the vents were. He bent down next to the bigger vent, pulling it off. "I'm guessing this is where the Caped Crusader came in. I want you to attach this device carefully to the side." He says.

Jason nodded, dropping to his knees, he inspected the vent, looking for a good place to put the small device. When he spotted a small break between the metal, he bent down, with Deathstroke holding onto him and placed the device. He heard it beep, flash red before going silent and dark.

Jason was hoisted back up while Deathstroke closed it, wiping off his hands. "What does it do?" He asked.

"The device will tell me if anyone enters the vents. Any of the vents. This way we won't be caught off guard again." He says.

Jason nodded. "I can understand that." He says, making his way back to the house with Deathstroke on his heels.

"Get everything you need done. Once Grayson is healed we will be heading out first thing." He explained, walking into the house.

They spent the next few hours getting things ready while Dick slept off his pain killers. Everything was looking up for them.

A/N: so yes. I realize its a bit late and I do apologize about that. I've been sucked into life and just recently got time to do some updates! I hope you guys like it!