Slade and Robin reached the top of the mountain they were on.

And Robin could see for miles!

Unfortunately for him though, everywhere he looked, there was only one town several miles away.

And Slade's haunt was on the opposite side of the town, and the mountain. 

So, Robin knew he DEFIANTLY needed to take Slade down for a few hours.

Slade was super fast. 

And with that few hour head start, Robin maybe- JUST MAYBE- might make it. 

It would take more than a few hours to reach the town though. 

If he took Slade out, he needed it to be long.

Richard bit his lip in thought.

If he just killed Slade though...

NO! 

He couldn't think like that!

Not after what happened to the Justice League.

If he killed Slade, Wintergreen might also do something.

Right now, Wintergreen was an unknown factor. 

"What are you thinking about?" Slade asked as he opened a bottle of water.

"The Justice League." Richard said.

"Why?" Slade asked, curious. 

"Just...we had a fight before you took me." Robin answered honestly.

"What did you do to get into a fight with the entire Justice League?" Slade asked.

"I killed someone." Robin said.

Slade spit out his water.

He choked a few seconds before catching his breath.

"You actually killed someone?" Slade asked, surprised.

Robin drunk it in; It was VERY rare to surprise Slade.

"Yep. Shot him." Robin said.

"Where did you get the gun?" Slade asked.

"One of his comrades." Robin said.

Slade nodded.

"It came instinctively. You taught me well." Robin couldn't deny that Slade was a good teacher.

"What happened afterwards?" Slade asked.

"It's a large blur. I remember yelling. Then Batman tried to arrest me. I ran." Robin gave a short laugh, "I ran away like a criminal. Not only that, the man I looked up to; who's like a father to me, tried to arrest me! My life's messed up." Robin shook his head.

"You don't have to worry about any of that now. You're mine, remember?" Slade asked. 

"How could I forget? You push it in front of me every day!" Richard yelled.

"Scream all you'd like. No one will hear us." Slade said.

"This is your fault! ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Richard screamed and went to punch Slade.

Slade grabbed his fist.

"Are you done now?" Slade asked calmly.

"FUCK YOU!" Richard tried to kick him.

Slade backhanded him.

"You can blame at me, but don't you EVER disrespect me!" Slade shook Robin.

"You're stuck with me. And trust me, I can make this apprenticeship MUCH more hard on you." Slade said.

"Like you haven't before?" Richard snorted.

"No. Before, that was just roughness. Imagine what I'm like when I'm angry at you." Slade's voice dropped to a whisper at the end of his sentence. 

Robin's eyes widened.

Slade dropped his fist.

"Come, we'll eat lunch here." Slade said and took a seat on the mossy ground.

Soon, Slade and Richard were eating chips and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"Richard, this apprenticeship takes effort from both of us. And I know you don't want to be here. You've made that very clear, however, you are here. So, you have two choices; keep acting the way you do, or you can be better." Slade said.

"I want to be free." Richard said, staring longingly at the ocean of trees. 

"You signed a contract with me. Remember? You work for me, and I don't hurt or kill your friends and family." Slade said.

"I know! But I made a mistake!" Richard yelled suddenly.

"Oh?" Slade's eyebrow hitched up.

"I want to keep them safe, but I don't want to be your apprentice! I want to be free! A-And I want to help people, not hurt them! I made a mistake when making that contract! I didn't ask for anything besides that you keep away from my friends and family. I should've ask for a part-time apprenticeship or something!" Richard burst out.

"Well...you didn't." Slade hissed, "Now suck it up." 

Richard looked down as a few tears slipped from his eyes.

"Slade Wilson. I hate you." Richard said, looking up with hatred and tears falling.

"Slade fucking Wilson. I hate you." Addie said, looking up hatred in her eyes. 

She was holding the body of what remained of their son.

"I hate you. Get. OUT!" Addie screamed.

Slade looked at Richard.

"That's fine." Slade said, but his voice was off.

Like, he wasn't paying too much attention. 

But...he also looked uncomfortable. 

Richard wasn't sure, but he felt like Slade didn't care, or didn't see what was in front of him.

"Lets go." Slade said suddenly, getting to his feet.

"O-Okay." Richard was startled at the fast movement.

He just yelled at Slade, and instead of hitting him, Slade just wanted to walk.

So, they walked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wintergreen greeted them when they came back.

Both Robin and Slade looked unconformable. 

Will raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Robin went to his room and took a shower.

Slade did the same.

When Slade got out however, Wintergreen had his arms folded over his chest, waiting by his desk.

"Uhm...Will." Slade said in just a towel.

"We need to talk." Will didn't look at him.

Slade slipped his clothes on really fast.

"About what?" Slade asked.

"What happened today? It was supposed to be fun, but you two come back looking really uncomfortable." Wintergreen said.

"Uhm...he yelled at me. The way Addie did." Slade said, swallowing a lump in his throat.

William unfolded his arms.

"What else happened?" Will asked.

"We talked. He misses the Justice League. But he didn't leave because he wanted to. I told you how I found him surrounded by his friends. They were apparently arresting him." Slade said.

"Why?" Wintergreen asked.

"He killed someone." Slade said.

Will gasped.

"When he yelled at me, it reminded me of Addie. That's why I was uncomfortable. He's probably uncomfortable because he burst out crying. And yelling. And let a few facts out." Slade said.

Wintergreen pinched his nose.

"I'll be fine. He probably needs someone to talk to; who isn't me." Slade said and laid down on his bed.

Will pursed his lips.

He knew this had to stop. 

And as always, he had to be the one to put the pieces back together.