Sometimes calling for help doesn't always work out

Dick was getting suspicious about the sweets he was being given. Granted they were a nice treat after being overworked and roughed up during training but he knew there was probably something bad about them. He'd decided to maintain blissful ignorance for a majority of his time with Slade and was going to continue until he was sitting in his room one day with the lemon sweet in his hand. It was at this point he noticed how the powder wasn't sealed inside the sweet as it usually was. He put some of the powder on his fingers and put some of it in his mouth, cringing when it hit his tastebuds. "That's so not sherbet," he muttered. Although he knew it wasn't sherbet, that didn't mean he was clueless as to what the powder was. He remembered one time he was desperate for sleep and took one of Bruce's sleeping pills. Then came the question of why he was being drugged. Probably to keep him out of trouble. He was being trusted to walk back to his room and most of the time he'd eaten the sweet on his way there. He wondered if the sweet made him sleep so he couldn't plan things or if he wanted to run away, he wouldn't get very far. So here came the question. What if he didn't take the sweet? He wrapped it back up in the plastic as he thought about his next move. His original plan of waiting for Slade to trust him enough to get to a computer wasn't happening anytime soon and he really wanted out of this place ASAP. He leaned back against the wall. This was the biggest thing he'd ever dealt with. Surprisingly, he didn't have any training in escaping an impromptu apprenticeship plan before he developed some kind of Stockholm syndrome. He had this time now to think over what his options were. Option one: escape the room and just running until you find something. Stupid plan. The room only had one exit, he had no idea how this place was laid out nor did he know if they were on an island. That would only lead to failure. Option two: escape the room and contact Batman. He knew how to set up a video link to the Batcave but he didn't want to risk escaping the room. Option three: never go back to the room and contact Batman. Now, this was his best bet. He was usually left alone to return to his room and he remembered seeing that Slade's office was only down the hall from where they trained. There had to be a computer in there with a camera. It would be more helpful if he could actually remember a phone number but that wasn't nearly as helpful for pranking. So option three it was. Only he had to actually do it and he didn't know how bad the punishment would be if he was caught. Then again, if he got through to his family then that would be an issue. He nodded to himself, deciding on the last plan. "Game on Slade."

After another laborious training session with Slade, Dick was given his sweet and was told to return to his room. He nodded and put the sweet in his mouth to avoid suspicion then began walking down the hall. Once out of sight, he spat the sweet out and his it in his sock which was incredibly gross but he'd rather be gross than risk suspicion. He continued to walk down the hall, checking if he was being followed at all, then paused when he was outside of Slade's office. He took one final look behind him to see an empty hallway then checked in front of him to find the same. With a deep breath, he put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. The door opened with a soft click and he quickly slipped inside. He pushed the door to a close carefully to make sure it didn't make a loud noise then looked around the room. It looked so ordinary for a villain but then again, he'd only dealt with the likes of Joker and Poison Ivy who had themes. Everyone in Gotham had a theme. His eyes landed on the desk where a computer sat and he smiled excitedly. Bingo. He ran over to it and knelt on the office chair so he could reach the keyboard then moved the mouse to find that the computer was already logged in. He breathed a sigh of relief and started looking for something he could use to call his family. Eventually, he found something, typed in what he'd remembered and waited anxiously for them to answer his call with his eyes quickly darting over to the door. That training session had been particularly taxing on him as he'd grown tired. He was sporting a split lip and a few other bruises which he hoped didn't worry them too much. He just wanted to have them find him.

---

It'd been over a week since their last lead. They'd spent all that time trying to break through the protective coding Slade had in place but they hadn't had much luck. Once they broke through one line of defence, they'd unknowingly set off another that wouldn't know until they got to it. The process was taxing, to say the least, and none of them had slept very well. So when they heard the call of someone trying to get through to them from an unfamiliar source, they thought it was just some sort of hallucination brought on through sleep deprivation. Yet when they recognised they'd all heard it they quickly took the call. Within seconds they were greeted with Dick's face, bruised and flushed but still, he was alive and well. He took a second to realize they answered but when he did he grinned excitedly. The smile warmed their hearts but their anxieties weren't quelled by seeing him somewhat healthy. "Dick, stay on the line," Bruce instructed immediately. In the time they'd spent searching for the young boy, he'd felt that dad instinct kick into full force. Once again, his boy was in the hands of that criminal and he couldn't let there be a repeat of last time. He'd allowed the apprenticeship beforehand, even if there was no way he could've known it was going on, but he wouldn't allow it again. "How long for?" Dick asked.

"At least five minutes. Think that's possible?" Tim asked, already working on tracking the signal.

"I hope so. I kinda snuck in here. He was drugging me with sweets," he explained briefly. He put his attention on Damian and seemed relieved to find his fellow Robin fighting fit. "Dami, you're okay."

"Of course I am. A measly clone wouldn't get the best of me," he responded, gaining a giggle. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, this?" Dick replied, pointing to his split lip. "Slade's been training me. I forgot to dodge."

"Are you eating? Drinking water?" Bruce asked. He nodded. "We're going to come to pick you up soon chum, I promise."

"Okay B. Should I do that delety thing you taught me once you've got a signal?" he inquired, referring to whether he should delete evidence of him making the call. The hero nodded, almost smiling at how he'd phrased it. 

"Everything's gonna be okay. We'll get you home and we'll fix you up. Alfred has missed you." 

"I missed you guys too. Even though I don't really know most of you." The brothers rolled their eyes at him. "How long have I been gone?"

"About two weeks now," Jason told him. He nodded slowly upon receiving that information. That was a long time and they all knew it. Hell, they'd been working themselves half to death to shorten the estimated time of a full month yet there he was. He'd given them the only lead they needed. "We never stopped looking for you."

"I knew it. I'm way too awesome for you guys to let go of, right?" They laughed softly.

"You've done so well Dickie. Once you're home, we'll work out how to turn you back and then we can put this behind us," Bruce assured him.

"You'll still act like my dad, right? Even if I'm older?"

"I will. You have my word."

They continued to chat like this was just a video call and Dick was on a trip rather than stuck with some criminal until Tim found the location of the call. He gave the nod to Bruce as he copied every piece of information they needed and the older gave a heavy sigh. As much as he loved seeing Dick pop up, they simply couldn't stand around. "You've got to hang up now Dickie but you'll see us soon. Quicker than you think I'm sure." The boy welled up and put his hand on the screen. It ached Bruce's heart to see him upset so he put his hand on the monitor too. "You'll be okay."

"And we'll play as much hide and seek as you want once you're back, Goldie."

"It'll take us half an hour tops to get to you," Tim added. Dick nodded and wiped his eyes. "Remember to delete everything."

"I will. See you soon?"

"Sooner than you think, chum," Bruce told him. He let out a tiny sigh and wiped his eyes as he clicked end call. The Batcave fell into silence.

---

Reluctantly, Dick ended the call and went about deleting everything. He didn't want to delete everything. It felt like he was deleting his lifeline even if they did know where he was and promised him that they'd come to get him. He'd been missing for about two weeks and it wasn't the least bit comforting to undo what he'd done. Luckily, he was just about done when he heard footsteps. In a panic, he turned off the computer and hid under the desk where he tucked in the chair to hid him more. He did his best to keep his breath even as he heard the footsteps grow closer and closer. Then there was a click. The door had been opened. He couldn't see anything from under the desk and he almost didn't want to see anything. He wanted to pretend this was a bad dream or just some monster that he could make go away if he squeezed his eyes closed and thought happy thoughts. The footsteps paced around the room, taunting him with how close they got at times. They'd stopped right by the desk at one point and he'd regrettably flinched away. The flinch made a noise and he hoped the person hadn't heard that. His heart had jumped to his throat when he first heard the door open and remained there the entire time, blood thumping in his ears. The sound muffled the footsteps somewhat but not enough for him to feel relief. The person continued their tour around the room until there was another click of the door followed by silence. Dick breathed a sigh of relief and waited a moment just to make sure there was no further noise. When he heard none, he assumed the coast was clear and he slowly pushed the office chair away from the desk. He crawled out from under the desk and as he did, a hand wrapped around his ankle and pulled him up off the floor. He let out a loud yelp and struggled against the hold, kicking his legs as hard as he could and yelling but it was no use. He looked to see who'd gotten the better of him only to find Slade's harsh yet familiar glare fixated on him. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing!"

"Liar!" He was let go of, crumpling to the ground only to be grabbed by his hair and forced to stand on his feet. "What were you doing?"

"I was waiting to use the computer. I didn't do anything I swear!" Slade narrowed his gaze as the boy burst into tears. He tutted at him and glanced at the computer. Finding that it was turned off, he thought about if it was even possible for Dick to understand the technology he was faced with. "Please, I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, but you have. You've gone against my rules and I won't stand for it."

"Please-"

"Enough! I've been kind to you up till now but I'm not afraid of discipline." Dick gulped. What did he just do?