Chapter Text
The next day, Dick huddled listlessly as Slade entered, bringing fresh food with berries, which Dick was allowed to eat this time, as well as ointments. Seeing how he had already lost some weight, Slade had no doubt that he had not been well fed in recent days, and without the berries his condition had probably worsened.
Dick perked up and sniffed hopefully, smelling the fresh sweet and bitter scent of the berries. Slade pushed the plate over to him and watched as he devoured it all. His gaze fell on Dick's damaged back, hidden under bandages where his wings had once grown.
Dick eyed him warily, but made no protest as Slade unlocked the cage. Slade touched him with surprising gentleness as he followed the doctor's instructions, washing and bandaging his injuries. Dick sighed in relief as the cool balm eased the pain. Other times he winced in pain.
Their eyes met. Dick saw no malice in Slade's harsh features, and a kind of mutual understanding settled between them. He would not hurt Dick, and as long as Dick did not attack him, he would remain his protector.
From now on, every day, Slade carefully tended Dick's wounds, his rough hands guided by a delicate touch. After a week, Dick seemed stronger, nourished by the proper food Slade provided. They usually sat in silence, Slade not daring to speak to the fairy and offend it, and the fairy just watching him, seeming to study his actions and never speaking to him either.
But that day, Slade felt the need to speak, perhaps to lighten the burden on his shoulders.
"That other fairy... Damian... What was it - I mean, who was he to you?
Slade wanted to know. Somehow he couldn't stop thinking about the boy's death, and he couldn't manage to use an impersonal pronoun, it felt weird.
"He was my little brother. A lively and energetic fairy, always doing what he wanted, always willing to give his best. I..." Dick's heart tightened and he lowered his eyes, unable to continue.
His family. Maybe the big red-winged fairy was part of his family, too. "I have three children." And Slade didn't know why he said that. He was the one who had taken away Dick's freedom. It was his people who had taken away his little brother.
By telling him that, Slade had only shown Dick his weakness. If the fairy wanted to kill his children, he could do it in the blink of an eye. But Dick would never get out of that prison, would he?
With curious eyes, the fairy looked up. Slade saw no hostility in them. "I never knew how humans lived. Do your children grow up fast? We fairies live about three hundred years."
Slade smiled. "But you age the same way, right? I remember seeing you fly many years ago, you were tiny. You seemed to grow at the same rate as my eldest son, Grant. But I suppose once you reach adulthood it begins to take longer?"
Dick nodded. "Yes. Can you imagine if we had to stay children and teenagers for over fifty years? Damian hated being treated like a child, he couldn't stand it!" Dick laughed sadly.
"How old was he?" Slade didn't know why he kept hurting himself with questions.
"Fourteen." And Slade winced. He couldn't help thinking about his two youngest kids and how he would feel if something happened to them. "He liked to tend to the wounded creatures of the forest. Often it was because of human attacks. Damian always wanted to fight to defend us all, I guess one day it turned against him..."
The last words had barely escaped his lips when a heavy silence fell over the room. Dick's story, told in a trembling, hesitant voice, had just ripped a piece of Slade's soul out.
Slade watched Dick, and all he could see were eyes glistening with unshed tears. His hands, still cuffed in his lap, began to tremble slightly. He took a shaky breath, as if trying to hold back the storm of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. The void left by the loss of his beloved brother was slowly creeping into him.
Dick fought not to cry in front of Slade, this stranger he was telling his story to, biting his lower lip in a desperate attempt to keep control. But the tears finally rolled slowly down his cheeks, reflecting the immensity of his pain.
It was the first time they'd had a conversation, and Slade's heart clenched. This was why he preferred to stay away from his victims. Or preferred them dead.
Slade shouldn't be so affected.
But it was so human. In that moment, Dick and Damian seemed so human, and Slade found himself questioning his actions. He had been blinded by his own ambition, willing to sacrifice the lives of innocent creatures for personal gain. But now, faced with the consequences of his actions, he felt so terribly guilty. He was used to being cold and indifferent, but family always struck a chord with him. Even though Damian's death was not his fault. He imagined Dick, alone in that cage, grieving for days without any emotional and comforting support.
After a few minutes, Dick took a deep breath. Perhaps more out of a need to talk than for Slade's sake, Dick told him stories of his home. He painted vivid pictures of the lush, magical forests teeming with life, the songs of the fairies that echoed through the trees, and the dances that stirred the air with their ethereal grace. Through these stories, Slade glimpsed the beauty, complexity, and unity that existed within the Enchanted Forest and wondered how it could be so different and yet so close to humanity.
***
The next day, Slade asked the king to remove Dick's handcuffs and chains; the king was unsure, but once again trusted Slade. The king rarely visited Dick, preferring to see his wings in a large display case. But he still wanted the fairy to live, and he trusted Slade's judgment.
Slade's presence now caused no fear, and when he arrived, Dick awoke and greeted him with a small smile. A smile crossed Slade's face in return - the first Dick had ever seen from him.
Slade entered the cage and closed it behind him. As he began to remove Dick's handcuffs, Dick frowned, not understanding, but let him. He found himself free to move; as free as a fairy could be without wings and in a cage.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Slade's tone was indecisive, and it was another feeling Dick had never seen from the man before.
"I miss the stories my brothers and I used to tell each other at night. You have books, I believe? Do you have any fictional stories? Or are they all about war?" The tone could have been accusatory, but it was obvious that Dick was really asking the question. After all, that was how fairies saw humans.
Did he want Slade to tell him a story? But when someone is locked in a cage with only a little bit of sky to look at through a high but small window, it wasn't surprising. Slade could do that. "We have all kinds of books." Slade told him a few titles, avoiding sad stories. Dick didn't need those in his life.
"Could you read me one? We speak the same languages, but our writing systems are different; I have no idea how to read human books."
Murderer, kidnapper, healer and now storyteller. His father would have laughed at how much Slade had changed, but maybe Slade thought he wasn't going down the wrong path anymore.
***
He brought back a number of books and Dick chose one. The fairy was completely absorbed in the story, often interrupting as if to help the main character, while at the same time worrying about him. Slade could remember reading books to Rose and Joey not so long ago. He hadn't always been a very good father, but those were the kind of memories that made him feel good, and he would always remember them. In return, Dick told well-known stories from the world of the forest. This time it was the story of the little goblin and the fairy.
It was the story of a curious little fairy who found herself trapped in a spider's web because she thought it looked bouncy so she could use it as a trampoline, and the more she struggled, the more trapped she became. Fortunately, a little goblin saw her and carefully cut away the web, freeing the little fairy, and together they managed to outwit the spider and escape. The story was longer, but the lesson was that nature's secrets were vast and beautiful, but we had to learn to approach them carefully. Spider webs could trap us, as could our own desires and goals.
Slade continued to bandage Dick's wounds, which were beginning to heal nicely. He'd followed the doctor's instructions, and when he wasn't sure, he'd given the doctor a detailed description to make sure he was doing it right.
They continued this way for some time until one day something happened to Joey.
***
Slade had told his two youngest children, Rose and Joey, not to go out alone far from town.
When they both ran into the house and slammed the door, out of breath, their clothes torn and bloody, Slade felt like his heart would stop.
"What happened?!"
Rose stammered, tears in her eyes: "We... we tried to catch a fairy in the forest to make you proud... But it fought back and... and it cut Joey's neck!"
Joey, his neck wrapped in a bloody cloth, shook his head in pain, unable to speak.
Slade's heart was racing and he nervously checked the deep wound on Joey's neck, the torn skin and dripping blood, worried about how bad the injury was.
He looked at her angrily, but also very concerned and guilty. "I warned you about the dangers of this forest! Why didn't you listen?" he scolded, his voice shaking.
Deep down, Slade blamed himself for putting his children in such danger. With Grant now an independent fighter and Slade a household name in the city, it was no wonder his children wanted to be heroes. Slade had been too busy with Dick to keep an eye on his own children; he'd failed them.
Slade felt angry as he thought about the fairy responsible for these injuries, but he knew it was really his children's fault for going out looking for trouble. They wanted to do what he had done. Dick came to mind again. The fairy had spoken so highly of his friends, and Slade knew that fairies were much more peaceful than humans. Even the red-winged fairy, who seemed more violent than Dick, hadn't really attacked Slade, just tried to scare him - even though he'd lost both his brothers, one of which was Slade's own fault.
"What did you do to make them so angry?"
"Nothing, it attacked us for no reason!"
"Rose, don't lie to me, do you think I was born yesterday?"
Rose looked down hesitantly before speaking in a shaky voice, "When we saw the fairy, I... I told it that our father was a famous fairy hunter and that he took their wings. I told it that Joey and I would do the same to it, that we'd bring it back as a gift to the king to bring honor to our people and family..."
Slade sighed deeply and rubbed his tired face. He was very disappointed in his daughter's defiance, though his heart ached to see the fear and guilt in her eyes. "You could have been killed, both of you. Your attitude is what made them attack, and now your brother is badly hurt."
Slade shook his head, trying not to get too frustrated. "I can't believe you acted so recklessly behind my back. You're going to have to be a lot smarter in the future if you want me to trust you again. You're not going out again without my permission, understand?"
Rose cried. "Yes, Daddy.”
The room was silent except for Joey's heavy breathing. Slade took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He had to take care of his kids and keep them safe, everything else could wait. He began leading them to the front door to see the doctor when Grant, the oldest son, burst into the room.
"What the hell happened? I heard people on the street saying Joey's going to die?!"
Before Slade could stop her, Rose quickly told Grant about Joey's neck. Grant looked very angry.
"I'm going to kill it!" he shouted, clenching his fists.
Slade held up his hand and stopped his son. "Absolutely not, Grant. Violence will only cause more violence," he scolded him sternly.
But Grant didn't back down. "Then maybe we should go after that fairy you locked up in the castle," he said with a wicked look. "We could torture it and make it pay for what the other one did to Joey!"
Slade felt his anger rise at the suggestion. "I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt, end of discussion," he said firmly, his eyes flashing.
"But it's a monster! A disgusting creature, did you see those horns? They're demons! They shouldn't even be kept in a cage, they should all be slaughtered!"
"Enough!"
Slade needed his calm back and Grant only made him angrier. He understood his son. Maybe he would have reacted like this before. He couldn't blame Grant. Slade had taken time to learn from his mistakes, and he was still unsure, still learning.
"The priority is Joey. Nothing you do will improve his condition, so focus on what's fixable."
Father and son glared at each other, the tension in the room palpable. Slade wouldn't budge, determined to keep the situation from escalating further, and Grant finally gave in and nodded. But Slade knew that the problem had only been postponed for now.
"We're going to the doctor, I..." Slade lost his emotional stability again; he could feel his body shaking. "Let's go."
Joey's voice was definitely gone, but his child would survive.
***
TBC
