CHAPTER 45: "A Compromise And A Date"

*Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, Somewhere In Western Africa

Slade was sitting on a collapsable chair near the front of the shacks he and James had lived in the past few months.

'I am getting soft...' he thought as he had let the kid go check on his family.

'Or you can't say no to John's kid.'

That thought made him chuckle and feel sorrow for lost friends. 

The night sky in Africa showed a brilliant display of stars and nebulas, one of the few advantages of this desert part of the world, no light pollution.

It was also quiet, a peaceful ambiance only disturbed by the sounds of crickets and the soft wind flowing through the sand.

Nearly 2 decades prior Slade and John would meet for the last time, not too far from this exact location. They had originally been rivals in the mercenary world, Slade had even punched him hard enough to knock him out during a graduation party. A year later they would work together on a job in Mozambique which bonded them.

Nothing like a firefight and being bloodied to forge bonds with someone.

From there they continued to occasionally do jobs together, even with the addition of his wife Sarah to the mix of their team. Hell, she was more dangerous than John on any given day. And though it took a while, he even warmed up to her. 

Sarah was analytical and sharp, she typically was the strategist for the duo. When working she was stern, serious, and very much hyper-focused on the mission goals. Get her away from work and she turned into a laughing, jokester with a fondness for classic 30's and 40's films.

Perhaps that is what drew John to her?

John was quiet, stubborn, and rarely cracked a joke. There was a certain intensity to him when speaking with him. Undoubtedly in part due to his military record and jumping into mercenary work at a young age. John seldom spoke in meetings rather living to the idea that actions speak louder than words. The only time this solemn, quiet persona broke was when he was with Sarah. 

The two of them were insufferable together and yet somehow worked brilliantly despite some noticeable differences.

The amount of times they had saved his life and theirs. It bonded them past the usual mercenary working relationship.

Their deaths had sent a ripple in the mercenary community, with the rest of the world being none the wiser. It was a fate deemed for most people who worked in the business they did, save for those who turned the safety of anonymity into foolish notoriety.

John and Sarah had angered something big, something that even scared Black Adam, a literal demigod. He had originally assumed it was the ultra-secretive Light and spent years infiltrating them to confirm only to discover there were things that even the Light feared...

And so it was the same for his two friends. The last time he saw them they had seemed panicked, no, downright terrified at what was chasing them. John looked sleep-deprived and Sarah was exhausted with a swollen pregnant belly.

It would be years later and only after he had children of his own that Slade realized their fear was not derived from their safety, but that of their child.

They made him promise should anything happen that he would keep an eye on the boy and if necessary help him grow to protect himself. Looking back, he wondered if they knew what their fate would be. Their last actions had taken them to Gotham seeking help from one of the few men who could hide them, Penguin.

That had been an interesting conversation to have all those years ago with the soon-to-be underworld King of Gotham. It cost Penguin a few of his goon's head but they both reached an agreement. The boy would stay with Penguin for his youth, and Slade would mentor him later should he follow his parent's path.

Things had not gone exactly as they had planned, the boy had made a bigger splash in Gotham than they both would have wanted. But so far it seemed the Order was unaware of the boy...

'Matters not,' Slade thought, 'The boy's growth is good, now he just needs the Shadows on his side.'

Stretching his legs he stood up to go to sleep. His back turned he began to walk through the shack's door when he dropped low and spun.

SWOOOOOOSSSSHHHH CLINK

He didn't bother to look at the embedded projectile that had missed him and sunk into the wood behind him. The sound and short glimpse he got of the dark yet gleaming sharp metal told him all he needed to know.

Staring out into the darkness the stars and moon illuminated lightly the sandy hills. That and Slade's already impressive night vision gave a clear sight of most of the area where his attacker would be.

Yet, he saw nothing.

Keeping his eyes straight and scanning the area, he reached to his left side and pulled out a short blade with a sharp recurve inward of the blade.

"Come on out!" He shouted into the darkness.

Keeping his eyes sweeping the area he said, "I can't imagine you have decided to forgo your usual no-kill rule..."

Slade kept his knees bent but stood up straighter, with his blade lowered slightly.

"Let's not drag this out any longer shall we?"

From some of the smallest shadows, Slade saw a movement that quickly revealed the appearance of a man merely a dozen yards away from him. 

'How he can blend in seamlessly is such horse shit!'

For many years he had believed like many in the criminal world that the man had a meta ability or some magical ability. But no, to all their annoyances it appeared to be purely a skill that could defy even the best of assassins.

Standing in front of him Batman stood in his trademark black armor. The moon gave him the appearance of some ghoul in the night, which for criminals was not far off.

Slade took on a mocking welcome tone.

"Care to sit?"

Batman just stared at Slade.

The two men continued the stare down for what seemed hours but in reality was just a few seconds. In that time they both could see the various scenarios of the fight that would commence, some saw Slade's victory, and others showed Batman's.

Finally, Batman spoke, his low voice, "What are you doing here Slade?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Slade said as he began to lean against the doorframe of the shack.

Taking a step closer, Batman seemed to grow in front of him and the cowl with the shadows became more sinister. Despite being about the same size and height, Slade felt small next to the Dark Knight.

Or at least he would if he didn't know exactly what Batman was doing.

Slade laughed, "Your intimidation techniques need work, Batman. I am not just some random street thug who believes in your superstition."

"We both know you bleed don't we." 

The two men continued to stare at each other before Batman's eyes darted around the shack, analyzing details and aspects. Slade could feel the headache he was about to have.

"You have multiple water canteens that suggest multiple not a single person lives here. Based on the structure it also can host multiple rooms which would defeat the purpose of you being alone and minimalistic if you were out here solo. Before I confronted you I found bare traces of footprints not of your own but rather slightly smaller but not petite enough to be female suggesting a male."

Slade kept his face straight and set as stone, he dared not say or do anything to provide a clue to Batman. For many the skills of Batman were primarily in his combat and advanced equipment. But Slade knew what truly was terrifying was his detective and analytical skills. Whoever Batman was had to be a genius intellect that would challenge Luthor for his money.

"But that is where things get murky and circumstantial..." Batman continued.

"You taking a break as long as you have with no contracts is an anomaly that hasn't been seen before. Even when you were training your apprentices you would pause their training and take contracts. So why are you taking time now?"

At this point Slade had stopped leaning against the doorframe, he had reverted to a combat stance. Batman could not take him in right now, nor could he be allowed to investigate further.

"Unless..." Batman also took a combat stance seeing Slade's.

"Unless you were severely injured but there have been no jobs with your trademark. So not that then, perhaps prep work for a bigger job?"

Slade flung himself forward and swung his Kukri intending to catch him off guard and behead him but Batman merely jumped back.

From there the two men engaged in a spur of hand to knife combat. Slade pressed his advantage of having a weapon against his opponent. With no armor, he was faster but more vulnerable to hits from the Dark Knight.

Batman with his armor took a defensive stance and used it effectively to deflect and block Slade's knife attacks. His slower speed though made it difficult to press an offensive.

"But I did not come to talk about why you are on vacation Slade!" 

Batman despite the fight kept his one-sided conversation going. It was an unusual tactic for Slade to see from the usually stoic vigilante. He strongly suspected it was meant to trip him up by revealing something. And while he was not dumb enough to blurt out something like a random henchman while fighting Batman would possibly pick up on small physical reactions from his probing. Another reason to hate and fear the Dark Knight, he could decipher things far too easily.

Slade swung his kurki in a downward swing which Batman responded by using his gauntlets to trap the blade locking both opponents close to each other.

"I want to know what the Light is!?" Batman growled.

Slade laughed before kicking him in the chest forcing him back a few feet.

Batman allowed himself back a few feet before throwing down smoke pellets obscuring the area.

The smoke was thick enough to even hide the moon limiting the already darkness of the night.

Slade's eyes darted left and right failing to discern anything.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. He kept his stance low, his blade arm held back with his other out in front prepped to deflect a blow. 

His hearing seemed to grow as even the sound of his heartbeat became noticeable. The flow of wind, the rustling of the tin shack, the shake of the dried reeds, it all could be heard from his position.

Then to his left, a soft movement of sand sounded.

Immediately he deflected a blow with his free hand and with that same momentum swung his blade across Batman's overstretched arm that had just tried to punch him.

To Batman's credit, his armor resisted well against the blade before it sliced through.

Both combatants backed away from each other, the smoke pellets' effectiveness had at this point dissipated leaving a hazy but clear field of view.

Batman kept his gaze firmly on Slade who looked smug from damaging his rival's armor. No blood was leaking and he doubted he had even nicked the skin, but it always was nice to humble Batman.

Silence prevailed between the two for nearly a minute until Batman spoke.

"A Compromise"

Slade gave him a narrow look, "Compromise?"

Batman relaxed his stance, "If we continue this fight, you will hurt me... badly... but I will win."

Slade wanted to argue but Batman beat him to it, "You know it is true, your pride is just in the way."

Keeping his combat stance, Slade said mockingly, "Not quite like you to allow your prey to run away Batman... getting soft in your old age?"

"No, just have more important things to do rather than spend a few weeks in recovery," Batman ignored Slade's jab and responded calmly.

"Let's consider this a one-time deal between us Deathstroke. You give me a clue to the Light... and I will let you... and Krios go this once."

Slade's only thought at that moment was, 'shit.'

---------------------------------------

*Barbara Gordon, Sammies Grill and Bar, Gotham City

"And then Amir spent the next few hours explaining the plot to about every western he had seen." James laughed.

Barbara laughed with him.

They had both met in front of the restaurant where despite not seeing each other in months almost immediately reconnected. She had expected there to be some awkwardness but then they both saw each other, smiled, walked in, and got seated immediately.

James looked... good.

He had a dark tan which he explained came from walking a lot in Egypt and visiting some of the sights. The walking must have done some good because while he wore jeans and a loose polo shirt she could tell he had lost weight and put on muscle.

The next hour they spent talking about his trip to Greece, Morocco, and Egypt. They also ordered food with her getting a hamburger with fries and James getting a pulled pork sandwich.

James got his order first and though she encouraged him to eat, he waited patiently until her food came. 

It was cute watching him eat as it looked like he was struggling to remember proper etiquette, while also eating a greasy sandwich.

Deciding to spare him she tore into her burger which seemed to encourage him to relax and likewise dig into his meal.

"Amir sounds like quite a character," she said in between her laughter.

James wiped some sauce from his mouth, "Yes he was, and amazingly he always found a way to quickly drop an opinion about American politics. Honestly, my favorite person I got to meet while in Egypt."

He leaned back and smiled at her. 

'He looks nice when he smiles,' she thought while fighting to keep a blush off her face.

"How was the burger?" he asked.

"A little raw for my taste, but overall pretty good," she said.

James laughed, "I will admit I was surprised to see you go for the burger."

"Oh," Barbara gave him an amused look, "Why?"

He looked a little embarrassed, "I just figured a girl like you would have preferred a salad."

"Nope," Barbara emphasized the p, "I was raised as a meat and potatoes gal, that and a lot of fast food with dad working as much as he does."

"Hmm," James nodded understandingly, "How has it been in good old Gotham since I have been away?"

"That is hard to answer," she said while pondering that question.

Taking a moment to think about it she said, "Crime has been down so that has made Dad relax a bit more. Some of the Justice League sidekicks have been patrolling so there are more capes in broad daylight."

She shrugged, "Otherwise the same old same old."

"And what about you?" James leaned forward, "I have been talking about my travel. What have you been up to?"

"Oh not much," she replied quickly trying to think of things besides patrolling and punching crooks.

"I have mostly been wrapping up some of my classes, and preparing for the summer."

She also leaned forward towards James and lightly rapped his knuckles, "I think I caught the travel bug from you. My friends who are in town right now are bugging me to join them over the Summer."

'Covert operations for the Team are not quite study abroad or vacations but at least I will travel,' she thought amused.

"Really?! That sounds great!" James smiled enthusiastically, "You will have to tell me where you guys end up."

"Of course! I couldn't imagine not sharing." Barbara responded equally.

During their conversation, Barbara had rapped James' knuckles and left her hand on top of his. At some point, whether they did it on purpose or subconsciously both hands slowly turned to hold one another.

James smile did dim slightly and a look of sadness passed his eyes.

"I suppose though, that means I won't be able to see you over the Summer?" He said.

"Oh," Barbara said, before quickly replying, "I will still be staying in Gotham! I know we will meet up to go out more."

Realizing what she was implying she blushed lightly. Across the table, she wasn't sure, but she thought she saw James likewise blush.

"I mean, only if you would like to?" She tentatively said.

"Well, I mean..." James spluttered for a moment.

For a second the question seemed to catch him off guard. His eyes showed a certain amount of surprise, fear, and happiness.

Barbara felt her heart beat heavily in her chest. She honestly did not expect things to go so well on this... date. Sure she thought James was cute but an actual guy she would want to date? That certainly was not part of her wildest imagination, yet here she was wanting to explore it.

There was just something about James that Barbara couldn't put her finger on. She found herself comfortable with him and strangely safe. He was quick to laugh, but also willing to engage in an intellectual conversation. When talking with him he would always give her his complete attention and listen carefully asking further questions about her life. He generally seemed interested in her, Barbara, not the commissioner's daughter or the A student, nor that of Batgirl, just Barbara.

It helped that he was good-looking and could always make her laugh. A generally good, nice guy with no complications who seemed to like her for her.

The second passed and James looked directly into her eyes, the happiness in them being clear.

"I would love that," he said softly.

They both found each other squeezing the other's hand. James was still looking at her smiling, Barbara returned it, and they both lulled into a comfortable silence staring at each other.

The moment could have lasted so much longer if not for the waiter who interrupted it.

"Hey guys, can I interest you in some dessert?" The waiter asked.

James looked up at the waiter and then back to Barbara, "I think so, assuming you don't need to get home quite yet?"

Barbara looked up to the waiter, "How about the molten lava cake?"