fandomtrash74 wanted some slade angst with YJ

So in this universe TT does exist and this would be set twoish years after the situation - i worked out that this time frame would fit the YJ timeline not seamlessly but it was the best I could do

EDIT: TW BLOOD//THAT SLADE STORYLINE BUT INTENSE

Slade held a handful of Nightwing's hair and pulled his head up so he could place the cool metal of his knife against his throat. Robin stopped and held up his hands. He gave the nod for the group to copy him. They held their hands up and Slade smirked. 

"You taught the kids well. It's a shame you didn't take on my teaching also," he stated. Nightwing grimaced in response and tried to struggle but the knife was pressed against his throat, drawing blood. "Now now settle down. You're making me think you don't want them to know of our time together."

"You make it sound like it was a holiday," he spat.

"Slade let him go," Robin ordered. 

"Protective of big brother are we? I bet Batman would flip if I took him for another training session." None of them missed the brief look of terror on Nightwing's face. He quickly wiped it off his face and replaced it with an uneasy smirk.

"Didn't fare well for you last time," he commented. His hands moved a little but they couldn't tell what he was doing or if it was an attempt to do anything at all. He could just be trying to calm his nerves but they liked to think he was preparing himself to do something. 

"What's he talking about?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Beast Boy will remember, won't you?" Slade stated. Eyes fell on the green hero who had since paled and gritted his teeth. He didn't answer but they knew if he had it wasn't good. "That brand I did, is that still there? It better had be, I paid good money for that to be made just for you."

"I suppose I should feel flattered," Nightwing mumbled. He was trying to figure out a way out of this mess but he couldn't concentrate if he was going to keep bringing up bad memories. He was wasting time squashing them down. He was wasting energy trying to keep his expression unbothered. Slade tugged on him as they walked back towards the edge. "You've got nowhere to go," he commented. 

"It would seem like that wouldn't it?" Slade replied. He didn't like how unbothered he sounded. He wasn't worried in the least, it wasn't just an act. That meant he had a plan. Perhaps he was stalling or maybe he was already working his way through the plan. The knife dug a little deeper into Nightwing's skin, making him pause. 

"Don't hurt him!" Impulse demanded. 

"Or what? You're fast but you're not fast enough to stop me from slicing his neck open," Slade replied matter of factly. 

"He's right," Blue Beetle confirmed. "It's not worth the risk." In the distance, they could hear a helicopter. 

"Let's make a deal. I get on that helicopter and my old apprentice lives till we see each other again," he offered. Nightwing squinted his eyes at him. He didn't trust this at all but then again he didn't trust a lot of things. 

"Don't do it, he's probably got ngh-" he was cut off by a sharp tug on his hair. 

"My my, where's the obedience gone from our time together?"

"Probably hanging out with all the fucks I give for this situation."

"Fine. Just let him go," Robin announced.

The helicopter hovered overhead and dropped down a ladder for Slade to grab onto. He grinned at the team as he slowly slackened his grip on Nightwing. 

"What was your biggest fear again, birdie? Falling, right?" he stated. Nightwing's eyes widened but he didn't have time to react much more as he was flung over the edge of the building. Slade scaled the ladder and got away within minutes as the team ran to the edge. 

Luckily, the shock of being launched off a roof had faded quickly and Nightwing was able to grab his grappling gun and shoot it. It caught the edge of the roof and he was left hanging over a 70 ft drop. He gave the relieved teenagers a smirk though he'd paled considerably from the adrenaline. He pressed a button on the gun to bring in the line and was helped back onto the roof. 

"You okay?" Robin asked. 

"Fine. Wonderful. Nothing like being thrown off a building to really get the heart pumping," Nightwing replied. Beast Boy latched onto him once he was stood up, burying his face in his torso. He nearly knocked him back off the roof with his momentum but the older returned the hug without a second thought.

"I thought he'd take you again."

"I'm alright BB. Always have been, always will be." The younger mumbled something no one caught the exact words of but they knew it wasn't good. Nightwing petted his hair, trying to give him as much comfort as he could while they were still on a mission. "I'm not going away again."

"Okay, can we cut the cryptic crap? What's going on here?" Lagoon Boy asked, growing impatient at being left in the dark. 

"Fuck off," Beast Boy snapped. He sent the hero a sharp glare to prove his point and held onto their leader a little tighter. 

"Hey hey, no need for cussing bud. I'll talk about it when we get back. Robin, did you secure the files?" The younger nodded. "Great. I'll call Miss Martian here and then we'll just forget this all happened, yeah? Yeah."

The flight back was tense. Most of the team were anxious to learn about what happened. It wasn't often that a secret of a bat was shared with someone who wasn't part of the family nor was it often that they agreed to spill the beans. Whilst they waited in anticipation, the pair that did know could only hope that they somehow forgot about it on the way home. Nobody who already knew liked talking about what happened because it wasn't something you'd be happy for everyone to know. It wasn't something they were happy to know. Beast Boy stayed close to Nightwing on the flight, giving him a worried look whenever he zoned out for a little too long. He'd lightly tap him and receive a small smile. 

"You don't have to," Beast Boy told him. He couldn't get his voice above a whisper. Seeing Slade freaked him out. He got too close this time. This could've ended with Nightwing being snatched away. Maybe they wouldn't find him as quickly. He could disappear for good. 

"It's fine. It was a while ago anyway," Nightwing replied. 

"Doesn't make it any easier."

"They should know. God forbid this happens to them, I want them to have some hope."

"At your own expense?" The acrobat went silent for a moment, his eyes focusing on something that wasn't there. He went tight-lipped before finally saying something. 

"I'll be fine. We're a team, they deserve to know things that can affect our work." 

"Says the guy who avoids checkups whenever he can," he mumbled.

Nightwing stayed true to his word. They chose to sit in the therapy room since it gave them all a sense of ease. That and Nightwing already had bad memories laced into the vibe of the room that one more wouldn't hurt. He waited until everyone was comfortable and kept an eye on Garfield. This wasn't just his story, it was Garfield's too. 

"So you're probably confused about what happened back there," Nightwing began.

"That's one way to put it," Bart muttered, getting a harsh nudge from Jaime. "Ow." 

"Back when I lead the Teen Titans, Slade was our biggest enemy and I was a little-"

"-a lot," Garfield corrected.

"-fine, I was very obsessed with him. I guess you could say he felt the same. We got called to this place, a bomb was supposedly inside. On the way there, I got caught up fighting Cinderblock but the team carried on," he explained. "We later found out that was just a distraction. So the team goes to "bomb" that's supposedly is going to stop time and it "goes off" but nothing happens. Then a laser fires at them, knocking them into the water." He checked Garfield for any sort of reaction. He didn't look happy but it wasn't to a level Nightwing thought was too much. "They just thought it was a fluke since they're all okay and they leave thinking this was a job well done." He glanced down at the floor, needing a minute. He didn't like explaining the bad things that happened to him but that wasn't important. His team needed to know that if this happened to them, it's not the be-all-end-all. "I get lured to Slade's base. He tells me that the "bomb" was a distraction and a laser infected my teammates with probes that'll kill them at a push of a button. The only way to stop this was to become his apprentice." 

"How long were you there for?" Robin asked. Even he was unaware of the past. He didn't like to delve into Nightwing's stuff. There was always something sad to be found and the job could be emotionally taxing as it was without knowing about the torture a previous protege had gone through. Nightwing glanced over to Garfield. 

"Two weeks at least. We searched day and night for him so the days blended together. Eventually, we found you on that rooftop," the younger answered.

"Slade had me steal some things for him. Stuff he knew he needed someone like me to do. On a night I was sent to steal, my team found me. We talked, I tried not to hurt them when I was told to fight but Slade told me to use a gun he'd fitted for me. A gift if you could even call it that," he explained, a certain disdain in his voice. "I refused to use it so he tested out the probes. Seeing my friends in pain, slowly dying, I had to agree so I used it."

"We were so confused after that night. We thought he'd gone insane or was mind-controlled but we eventually figured out about the probes. From there, we guessed Slade was the culprit and we went to get our leader back."

"Did you go covert?" Jaime asked. Nightwing laughed at him though it wasn't a happy laugh. It was one bittered with hindsight. 

"No, they never did get the hang of covert missions. Slade and I had been fighting. I was sick of being his apprentice and I guess you could say I got cocky because I won a fight against him. Then he subdues me, threatens to kill them for the billionth time and I'm forced to obey. The freak wanted me to call him Master." He shuddered remembering it all. Nightwing and helplessness weren't a good combination. He hated being helpless. He hated not being able to do something more without endangering his best friends. 

"Nightwing?" Cassie called. The hero snapped out of his daze and felt something run down the side of his face. "You're crying." He touched his face and wiped off the tear.

"So I am. Sorry about that," he stated. "Where was I? Right yeah. So Starfire, like the saint she is, shoots a starbolt before I say it and demands I'm freed. I try and get them to leave so I don't have to fight them again but they refuse."

"You weren't the only one who was stubborn," Garfield commented. 

"We go through the same thing as on the rooftop. Slade wants me to fight, I say no, and he starts killing them. Only this time I'm near the machine that sets off the probes. I get my load of it and say if he kills them he kills his apprentice. Slade hates to lose so he stops. There's a scuffle, he escapes, we bring the machine back to the Tower and everyone has no probes. End of story," Nightwing finished. At least he thought it was the end of the story.

He stood up to leave when La'gaan says, 

"But you didn't say what it was like to be Slade's apprentice." 

Nightwing froze, his whole body rigid. People were normally satisfied with the overview. 

Darkroom. It wasn't the therapy room it was the darkroom. It was always so cold in there. Slade liked to keep it freezing. Not enough to kill him but certainly not enough to keep him comfortable. There were no sources of light. The door was closed most of the time. There were the basics of living so he could be thankful for that. He never slept more than an hour at a time. Slade would come in and drag him up off the floor. There was always some fight he had to win. There was always something to prepare for. Even when he succeeded he'd done twenty things wrong. It hurts to simply exist. There's no way he can be comfortable. There are bruises that weren't healing, there were cuts that just kept bleeding. 

Then there was that brand on his shoulder. It hurt so much and his burnt flesh kept sticking to his uniform. Nothing was doing what it was supposed to do yet he pushed himself to perform. His friend's lives were hanging in the balance and if he didn't do something now they'd all die. More blood on his already crimson-covered hands. Slade is yelling at him but by now the abusive taunts are nothing more than murmurs. Was he truly so dead to the world? How much longer until he could see the sun? Was this how Slade felt? They were obsessed with each other but what if that was because they were so alike? They were both driven, both stubborn and they hated losing. Slade would much sooner throw his allies off a cliff than change his goals. Would he become that? Batman didn't train him to be like this or at least the training that said the mission came first was supposed to be pushed to the back of his mind. 

"Dick!" Nightwing blinked a few times and looked to the direction of the voice. Garfield was standing in front of him, squeezing his hands tightly. "You're not there anymore," he said. "You're with us again. I found you, remember?"

"Yeah...yeah, I remember. We celebrated afterwards, didn't we? Rae actually wanted to be there," he replied shakily. 

"Yeah, she did. We had a great time and we got you to laugh. You stopped thinking about him for a little bit and we thought you were feeling better," Garfield continued. It was then that he noticed the teen was leading him to a chair. Since when did his knees feel this shaky? "Sit down, okay? You're safe now." Nightwing let himself be sat down and it took a few minutes before he was fully back. 

"What was that?" Cassie asked worriedly. 

"That's what happens when you trigger him. He would've said something if he was comfortable with it," Garfield growled, his eyes focused on La'gaan. He was fixing him with a harsh glare in the hopes that he'd learn his lesson. There was a soft tug on his hands that took his attention away. 

"I'm fine BB. If they want to know, they can know," Nightwing told him. "To answer your question La'gaan, it was hell. I get nightmares about it sometimes. I suppose it's nice to have a change-up from time to time. I'd rather keep the details between me and the Titans."

From that day on a new hatred for Slade was born in the young hero's hearts. The next time they saw the villain, he was getting hell.