Obligatory Renegade Fic

by MittenTroll

Summary:

After a massive argument with Batman, Dick left Jason and Bruce behind in Gotham to help his team in Jump City. Now he’s captured by Deathstroke the Terminator and being forced to turn against everything he believed in previously (again).

Notes:

This fic has been sitting in my drafts for a while. I planned on it having more chapters, but I ran out of juice for it. For now it will be a one-shot, but if I get more ideas for it in the future I might add to it!

Chapter 1

Dick welcomed consciousness with a massive headache and cottonmouth. He instantly cataloged it - drugged. He kept his eyes shut as he tried to take in the sounds around him. He heard the faint beeping of a heart monitor, felt the digging into his skin of some kind of restraint, and he heard the sound of someone nearby pushing a cart.

 

As he opened his eyes he could see that he wasn’t in a chair, like he was with most kidnappings, but laying horizontally on a table. A figure had started walking around to his side. As he moved his eyes to follow, he caught the thick leather cups encapsulating his ankles and wrists. When he finally was able to see the black and orange clad mercenary in front of him he noticed an IV behind the man - likely keeping him docile.

 

“Deathstroke” Dick put as much malice as he could into the name as he addressed his capture.

 

“Nightwing” Deathstroke nodded as though they were exchanging pleasant greetings. He brought a hand up to Dick’s hair and moved a few pieces out of his eyes before he turned to a cart behind him and grabbed a small solution. “We can drop the formalities here” Nightwing tried to turn his face away as the bottle was brought to his face, but Deathstroke’s hand gripped his chin and kept him still as a few drops hit around his mask. The touches were gentle as his mask was carried away, “Richard Grayson”

 

Dick froze as he realized that Deathstroke the Terminator knew. If this was how the mercenary found out or if he’d known a long time, he didn’t know. All he knew was that the man holding this sacred Bat-knowledge was a well trained killer. That was all he needed to feel chilled to the bone.

 

“You can call me Slade” the mercenary then removed his own mask which revealed an almost possessive smile, “but you will be calling me ‘Master’ soon enough”

 

Dick struggled against his restraints, “Are you still on this whole apprentice spiel? Thought the Titans and I taught you how bad of an idea that was!” 

 

Slade clicked his tongue at Dick’s resistance, but didn’t seem to rise to anger like he had during his previous attempt to make Dick his, “The Titans and you just informed me that I needed to go about this in a…different manor” 

 

When the mercenary turned his back again, Dick took in the rest of his surroundings. He still couldn’t see what was on the cart that Slade was grabbing items from, but he could see a camera resting off to the side. It wasn’t a security camera and likely wasn’t for security purposes as that position was being filled by the blinking red light in the corner of the room above it. Slade must’ve turned around at some point and followed Dick’s gaze.

 

“Do you have the energy to send a message now?” Slade sneered.

 

“W-what?” Dick’s throat dried even more at the cryptic statement, “a message?”

 

“Yes, I was going to give you the luxury of a final message to daddy-bats” 

 

Dick cringed at the name, but dread filled him shortly afterwards. He didn't exactly trust himself to send a message to Bruce without breaking down. Especially after the last time they ‘talked’. Then his brain started spinning at the words ‘final message’.

 

“F-final message?” he choked out.

 

Slade stood up and grabbed the camera that was lying off to the side, fiddling with it, “As my apprentice you won’t be doing much speaking. Especially with your former…associates” he smirked as he said the last word. Then he seemed to finally turn on the camera, “Now, you may speak freely and I promise there will be no consequences”

 

With the blinking dot staring back at him, Dick froze. His mouth stayed open, but with no words falling out, until his bat training kicked in and he found his ability to speak, “D-dad? I- I’m sorry…this is probably a scene we’re both way too familiar with” he couldn’t help the lone tear that streamed down his face as he attempted to joke. Slade stepped forward, zooming in on the tear it seemed, trying to capture Dick breaking. He then promised himself he wouldn’t let this ‘message’ - especially if it was sent to Batman, which he doubted, be one of him breaking. 

 

It was a promise he thought he could keep as he kept prattling on, trying to give any information he could through the twitch of his fingers - morse code. During his speech to the camera, Slade had started setting it up on a tripod and moved towards a sink. Dick’s voice started petering off a bit as confusion and nerves filled him. 

 

The snap of latex gloves broke the quiet, “Now, keep rambling to your father will you?”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Dick could see Slade flicking the side of a syringe filled with a strange liquid, “Wh-what’re you doing?”

 

“Just stay calm and talk it through with dear old dad” Slade spoke calmly as he pushed the drug through the IV. No matter how much Dick struggled, it was to no avail.

 

As the drug hit his veins, it burned and Dick couldn’t help, but let out a scream.

 

Slade gently shushed him as he moved the cart around and came in view of the camera, behind Dick. He took what felt like a pen or marker to the top of Dick’s head and started drawing something. When Dick’s squirming became too much he stopped his doodles and started strapping Dick’s head in place so he would stay still, “I promise, it will all feel better if you talk to your Dad through all of this” he gently brushed Dick’s cheek, wiping away the tears.

 

It came crashing down on him that the camera wasn’t there just for a sick message to Batman, sure that was probably part of it, but it was also there as a sanity measure for Dick. So, he started talking to him, “M-my patrol d-didn’t go so well…” he started giving his usual report that he’d give when they were back in Gotham. He detailed everything that happened before he was brought here. Trying to fight back tears as the serum continued to burn.

 

Dick was able to keep from screaming. Until he heard something being grabbed from the cart that was out of his view. His brain kept on trying to guess what was happening until he felt it. His vision burned white, but whatever had been injected into the IV kept him from losing consciousness, but didn’t keep him from feeling the pain of the scalpel cutting into him.

 

“ Dad! ” Was all he managed to scream for a bit. His vision blurred from the tears that soaked his face.

 

All he could hear apart from his own thrashing and screams was Slade’s calm and gentle voice from behind, “Just keep talking to Brucie. It’s going to be all right soon”

 

“I- I’m sorry. I’m sorry” he blathered in the direction of the camera, unable to see it anymore through the tears, “I- I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m sorry. I love you and Jason. I’m so sorry” he just kept rambling. 

 

As he felt Slade playing neurosurgeon all he could think about were his regrets to his father. In their last meeting he’d been upset about how Batman was getting a new Robin. Robin, the legacy he made from his mother’s nickname for him. It was being given to Jason. Sure he loved Jason, but it felt like a betrayal. That’s when he fought with Bruce, packed up, and left for Jump City. He had cut off all contact with his father and brother and now felt immense guilt for all he’d done.

 

That was until the final piece was severed. All the guilt and pain he felt regarding his…what had he felt so weird about? He- Where was he? Who was he?

 

“Renegade?”

 

An unfamiliar voice called out a name from behind him. He tried to look behind him, but something was keeping him stationary. He cried out in fear and struggled against the restraints holding him.

 

“You’re alright my little Renegade. I’ve got you”

 

“R- Renegade?”

 

A face came into view. It had a gentle smile on it as a warm hand touched his cheek, “Yes, Renegade. That’s your name. Or for short, I can call you Ren if you wish”

 

He realized a restraint had been loosened as he nodded, “Yes…Ren”

 

“Okay Ren, my little bird. Let’s get you all cleaned up” the man undid all of Ren’s restraints and picked him up gently. Renegade leaned in and the man’s smile widened, the creepiness of which unfazed Ren.

 

“Wh-who are you?” he whispered.

 

The man gave Ren a small kiss on the forehead before he responded, “I’m your father, but you can call me Master”

 

“Master” Ren tried out the name, it felt weird, but he didn’t care much as the other man nodded his head.

_ _ _

 

Eventually Renegade came to learn he was sick. After his second seizure his father had told him he could stop calling him ‘Master’ until he was better to be sent on missions. He found out that he had needed surgery, but something had gone wrong and he’d lost all of his memories. His father however, seemed to do his best to make up for it. 

 

As he walked into the kitchen he saw that his dad was making a bigger than usual breakfast, “Good morning to you sleepyhead. You know, early birds get the worm” his dad jested.

 

Ren grunted tiredly as he slumped in his seat at the table, trying to catch a few more seconds of shut eye after an alarm he hadn’t set woke him up, “What’s up with breakfast?” he mumbled.

 

Slade rustled his hair, which got another grunt, “Well, it’s been a year since your last seizure” he started and put a big plate in front of Ren, “So I thought that maybe it’d be time for your first mission”

 

Renegade’s head shot straight up, “Wait, really?!”

 

Slade chuckled at the clear excitement to get out of the house. After the surgery, R had been largely apathetic to everything. The only thing that seemed to bring up emotions was the prospect of going outdoors. Something Slade had been adamantly against as he helped Renegade heal from surgery. 

 

“You won’t be alone, I’ll be in your ears on comms in case anything goes awry. It will be a simple theft. We’ve been contracted to steal a shipment being traded between two of Gotham City’s major gangs” Slade watched Ren’s face, still always checking for any signs of the previous person he’d cut out of Renegade. As always though, no recognition was shown on his “son’s” face, not even a sliver of apprehension.

 

“What are the two gangs?” Was the only response that Slade got as Ren started eating his meal with vigor. Some things never changed - missions always came first.

 

“Penguin and Two-Face. Neither should be present however. So, it should just be goons, but there’s the possibility of the bats showing their faces”

 

Ren rolled his eyes at the mention of Batman and his sidekick, “Child's play” he said through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

 

That comment actually got a laugh out of his father, which made him smile before he was told off lightly, “Don’t speak with your mouthful” 

 

The way the boy nodded and followed instructions made Slade smile. Sure the surgery had its side effects - the seizures, but he liked how it had gotten what he wanted for it all. Ren was a lot like Robin. In their training sessions Renegade had quickly learned how to even beat Slade, though it was only half of the time. The boy didn’t seem to bat an eye at the prospect of murdering or hurting others. He didn’t even put up a fight like the Boy Wonder would always do to each simple command. Everything was perfect. It was just time to show off his project to the world.

_ _ _

 

The suit Master had given him was largely black, but accented with orange. He liked how much he resembled his father as he put it on. Unlike his father's suit though, it was highly flexible. His dad said he’d trained him to compliment his more brute style, but when questioned more he’d said he preferred seeing him able to dodge out of harm's way rather than seeing him just take a hit like he always did. 

 

Ren always wished he could remember his father’s love from when he was younger. He wondered if it would bring up some semblance of happiness or joy rather than the blank emptiness he felt now. Maybe it would be similar to the joy he felt as his father and him exited their house. The cold air hit what little skin was exposed and he smiled from behind the mask.

 

“R? Testing, testing. Are your comms on?” Master’s voice rang through his comms. 

 

“Yes, Master. Comms are on and I’m ready”

 

He saw his father pull his own mask over his face, covering the smile that held on his face, “Okay then. Let’s go”

 

The two made their way to the docks. When he had gotten in position to wait for the trade, his father brought their foreheads together in a goodbye. Then he disappeared, trusting Ren to complete the mission. 

 

The wait felt like forever, but Renegade knew better than to move from his position. Something in him burned to move more, but he didn’t want to risk having to sit out on more missions. He wanted to prove to his father, Master, that he could be trusted with more missions - more reasons to get out of the house.

 

From his place in the shadows, he saw two groups approach the trade site from opposing sides. From his father’s training he could identify which group belonged to which Gotham villain. His hearing, which was bordering on a meta’s, picked up on the talk between the two. Nothing of it was of interest until he saw Penguin’s men move to reveal a crate. A representative of Two-Face’s gang moved forward and opened it, inspecting the contents.

 

Ren was about to move through the shadows when he noticed a strange shape shift and a ball rolled across the floor, under the gangs’ feet. He heard some shouts of confusion before a hiss and smoke filled the room.

 

Renegade tapped his comms in their code to signify the bats were here before he moved in the shadows to use the chaos to his advantage. He heard fists hitting flesh and shots being fired as he navigated the fighting towards the package. His mask kept him from choking on the smoke and made it easier to see, if only by a little. 

 

He quickly grabbed what had been in the crate and started making his escape. He had been successful when he heard someone shouting after him and something sliced his calf. He tumbled forward, somersaulted, and kept his momentum. The drug his father had given him gave him a healing factor that had the cut already healed by the time he was back on his two feet and running. 

 

Ren jumped up the side of some of the warehouses at the docks and started running along the roofs. He was steadily making his way to the rendezvous point. That was until the sound of a grappling hook in front of him was heard a bit too late and a body launched itself into him. 

 

He was brought onto his back and a weight held him there. He looked up and saw a boy, who must’ve been younger than him, glaring down at him from behind a mask.

 

“Who the hell are you?!” the boy barked at him. He was distracted however at the R that sat on the boy’s heart. It resembled the one on Renegade’s own costume. It felt odd and familiar to him for some strange reason, “Who do you work for?!” the boy on top of him continued to question him.

 

While he was familiar with Batman’s sidekick, Robin. He wasn’t familiar enough with the costume he wore. The pictures that Master had shown him didn’t show the R well enough. If it had, he probably would’ve asked his father why his own costume resembled it. The boy on top of him wasn’t pinning his hands down. So, while one stayed clutching his own R the other gently pressed against the other boy’s R on his chest.

 

This seemed to freak Robin out who immediately grappled Renegade’s wrist and held it tightly. He cried out in a bit of shock before he came to his senses. He’d done poorly letting himself get distracted like this while on a mission. His father would surely be disappointed. Those were his thoughts as he kicked Robin off of him with his feet and got back up to run. 

 

When he turned back in the direction he was going, he saw the looming and dark figure of Gotham’s one and only Batman. The caped crusader looked confused for a bit at Renegade and he used that to his advantage as he flipped across to an adjacent rooftop and spoke into his comms, “Being followed. Will attempt to lose them before heading back to you”

 

He didn’t have time to hear his father’s response before a foot hit him in the back, hard . He came crumbling down and turned around to see Batman standing over him. He turned away to avoid hands grabbing him to hold him down. However, the sidekick was able to make up for it by grabbing Ren roughly by the back of his suit and then slamming him into a wall which made him let out a yelp. 

 

He could hear a concerned voice in his ear call out for him to check in, but he couldn’t as his body refused to listen after hearing the word that came out of Batman’s mouth, “Robin”

 

As he was held to the wall he couldn’t help as his head lulled to the side and his arms started jerking uncontrollably. The Robin holding him seemed to look confused as the Bat behind him started looking concerned. That was before Batman called out and a sword nearly took off the hands holding Ren up. 

 

A person gently brought him down to the ground as he continued to seize. He couldn’t move his head to get a better view, but the person appeared to be Master. Renegade smiled as he knew he’d be taken care of as his Master battled it out on the rooftops, defending him. 

 

It took a bit, but while the battle continued he slowly started to regain control of his body. He felt tired and sick as he stood up, but he knew an escape would be easier if his Master didn’t have to carry him back home. He saw Robin trying to sneak up on Master and grabbed a knife from his own belt and charged into the fray.

 

Renegade and his Master stood back to back, defending from Batman and Robin, their slight advantage in the battle was squashed as he joined.

 

“Renegade, what are you doing?” Master asked when he felt his presence beside him.

 

“I’m fine, Master, but we should get going soon” he looked over his shoulder when his Master didn’t argue back, but nodded. 

 

He backflipped away from a punch from Robin as Slade threw Batman backwards with his own momentum. Renegade dropped down from the rooftop while his Master ran across the rooftops. They both disappeared into the night.

 

Back home it felt like Ren was getting babied. At first he worried it was a punishment for failing, but his father quickly reassured him it was anything but. He even brought home movies. A gesture that confused Renegade.

 

“How To Train Your Dragon…Finding Nemo? Dad, what’re these?”

 

“Well, I thought it’d be a good way to stay off your feet. So I rented these from the library”

 

Ren traced the art on the cases and gave his father a puzzled look, “Don’t I usually just have homework or training to do? Why am I now being given movies?”

 

His father sighed and looked at the DVDs himself, “Do you not want them? I- I just thought it’d be a nice surprise after your first mission”

 

“N-no…it’s not that it’s a bad surprise, it's just…I did bad on this mission. Why am I not being punished?”

 

Slade kneeled to his level, “Ren- Son , I’m not going to punish a medical emergency. Alright? You did wonderfully” he kissed his forehead before continuing, “If you feel like you need to be punished though…consider bedrest so you get better a ‘punishment’, but know I’m not mad or even disappointed” he ruffled Renegade’s hair before getting up to prepare them lunch, “Now, I’m making a salad and mac n cheese for lunch, any requests for dinner?”

 

“Pizza?” He asked tentatively, knowing his father usually didn’t like having ‘unhealthy’ food in the house.

 

Surprisingly though, Slade responded quickly, “Sure, I’ll grab it from the place across the road. You’ll be okay alone for about 15?”

 

Ren responded with a smile, which Slade matched in kind, “Of course!”

_ _ _

 

“Who the hell was that?” Jason asked whoever would respond in the cave as he punched a dummy.

 

Batman grunted from the computer before giving an actual response, “It seems that Deathstroke has taken on an… apprentice ” he uttered the last word with a lot of distaste and Jason even shivered a bit at the word.

 

Both of them had been filled in by the Titans, years ago, when Dick had originally been grabbed by the mercenary and made to become his ‘apprentice’. However, the word now just brought back the knowledge that the Titans had been disbanded and most had disappeared, including his brother. He hated how time didn’t seem to mend that wound. The wound his brother had made when he cut off all contact and ran back to the Titans after Jason became Robin.

 

“You think he targeted another kid after Dick die-”

 

Batman’s harsh slam on the desk shut Jason up, real quick, “He’s not dead”

 

Jason balled his hand into a fist, “S-sorry” he ground out, “I meant to say disappeared…So, you think Deathstroke found a more willing partner in crime?”

 

“It appears so” Batman whispered as he combed through his cowl’s footage of the fight. He watched back how the apprentice fought, he’d clearly been trained well by Slade. But it terrified him that the boy seemed to be shorter than Jason, and with only that to go off of, he might even be younger than his Robin. 

 

He turned around in the chair and stood up, Jason quickly joined his side, “So, what’s the plan to deal with him?”

 

He looked down at Jason, “Well, we’re not going to be violent with a child” his eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled how Jason had slammed him into the wall and the seizure that followed, “They looked like they could be younger than you. So Deathstroke might be trying to train him while he’s young enough to be moldable. We should handle this with caution and attempt to speak sense to them and capture them next time”

 

Jason stared back, “If you don’t recall, they don’t seem like the talking type”

 

“And I don’t believe you were either when you were first brought back to the manor” Batman saw how Jason stiffened and sighed slightly, “Sorry, what I’m trying to say is that he might need time away from Deathstroke to open up more”

 

Jason nodded with a slight glare, “Fine”

_ _ _

 

It had taken weeks of arguments, but Master had finally relented and agreed to let Renegade take on another job. This time it was another robbery, but this time of Wayne Enterprise. It had been too easy to sneak in, disable security, and grab what Master had needed of him. He sat on the ledge of the building, looking out over Gotham, waiting for the actual core of the mission to arrive.

 

When he heard the gentle landings of his mission behind him he used one arm to stand on and turn himself around to face the bats before flipping himself onto his feet. They didn’t move or flinch as he stepped forward. Neither of them broke the silence first until Ren heard his Master’s voice in his ear.

 

“Introduce yourself Renegade”

 

He took a deep breath and smirked under the mask, “It’s a wonderful night, isn’t it? Batman and Robin” The smaller one’s eyes narrowed at the mechanized voice introducing itself, but what actually received a reaction was the next sentence, “Or should I say Bruce and Jason?”

 

Both stiffened at their real names being used and Jason, being the more emotional one, stepped forward and demanded an answer, “Who the fuck are you?!”

 

“Name’s Ren, short for Renegade. Master thought it’d be good for us to get to know each other”

 

“Master,” finally, Batman spoke, “are you referring to Deathstroke?”

 

“Yes, I’m talking about my father” he knew that Master was watching through his helmet’s camera as he heard him laugh at the confusion displayed on the bats’ faces. 

 

“F-father? You’re Deathstroke’s son?! ” Robin shouted.

 

“I do believe that’s the definition” Ren spoke with seriousness embedded in his voice, he didn’t understand the confusion surrounding Master being his father.

 

Through the banter he was having he heard his father’s voice again, “Now, remove your helmet”

 

“I mean-” he started as he reached to remove his helmet, “can’t you see the similarities?” he joked as his helmet clattered to his feet. He put on his well practiced smile as Batman and Robin seemed to choke on air.

 

“Chum?” Was the only response he got for a moment and Ren’s face contorted in confusion.

 

He opened his mouth to respond until he heard a fourth set of footsteps approach, “I think you mean Ren, Bruce” His father slung an arm around him and he looked up to see his dad also had his helmet off.

 

“Deathstroke!” Jason yelled out and seemed to get into a fighting stance which Ren mimicked, getting between Robin and Master.

 

Slade smiled at the protective stance from Renegade. He put a hand on Ren’s shoulder, “back down”

 

Renegade relaxed and stood next to his father again. His dad put a hand atop his head, which seemed to anger Batman. With his other hand, Slade held a flashdrive, “Here” he tossed it to Batman, “It’s a message for you. Maybe you and your brat might want to watch it. It’ll explain a lot”

 

Slade then gave Ren’s head a small kiss and made a gesture that they needed to leave. Renegade was the first to move. He sprinted off of the roof, let himself fall a bit, before retrieving his grappling hook from his belt and flying away.

Chapter 2: Announcement

This fic is going to be the standalone prequel in my new renegade series. So, please check it out if you enjoyed this fic!!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Obligatory Renegade Series