A/N: Hi! I'm back a bit later than I expected but hey better late than never right? I'll be updating again soon. Hopefully like in a week or so, but no promises. I do have a legitimate excuse for this one though. My dad has been in the hospital for some time now and I was busy helping him out. The good news is that he's all better now, but I really should have posted this sooner. For that, you have my sincerest apology. Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and please review because it really inspires me to write more.

Disclaimer: Young Justice does not belong to me

The fact that his son felt a need to make his own tracking implant is a testament to how truly far he and his family have strayed from the normal workings of a family. Now was not the time to be thinking about that, though. Bruce snapped into focus almost immediately after the message ended. He turned and started barking orders to the other distraught parents. This might make him look like a cold-hearted bastard to other people, but he really did not care. He knew, along with all the other occupants in this room, that this was the only viable course of action if they ever want to see their children alive. That was a morbid thought, but then again, they have been leading abnormal lives for decades.

"Flash. Run over to the apartment Dick owns in Blüdhaven, see if you can find his computer there." He barked at the speedster. Barry was gone and in his place was the Flash. The fastest man alive was gone in a blur of red, the gust of wind blowing was the only sign left of his presence in the room.

"Arrow, find any and all intel we have on Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke." The Emerald Archer nodded his consent with a steely determination in his eyes.

"Selina, take Iris and Dinah and head over to the cabin the boys built." The ex-thief turned wife nodded and left with all the grace of her namesake, two worried but fierce mothers trailing behind her.

"Hood and Robin, the three of us are going to find the safe house where your brother was hiding out in and see if the computer is there. Dick had several computers and we don't know which one has the file he was talking about. Meet up back in the Batcave in an hour." Batman was nothing if not thorough. He could make a plan for anything and everything at any time. His son's life was on the line and you could be damn well sure he would do just about anything he could to find and save him, and the two boys he has come to consider as his nephews.

Everyone left the hospital room with a sense of urgency that was seen in only the most dire of situations. They would find their missing family members, and their hearts screamed for the blood of the bastard known as Deathstroke.

Jason's head was having a war of its own. One side was hell-bent on just forgetting all of the morals his father-figure pounded into his head and murdering the monster who dared to even set his sights on his beloved older brother. Another side was frantic with worry for what could be happening to said brother. He had reported to Batman that Roy and Wally had mentioned that a team led by Aqualad had almost found the safe house where the distraught boys had taken refuge, and they were currently on their way to that general area. It may have been broad daylight, and they may have been in a city not of their own, but they could still blend into what little shadows remained and no one was the wiser.

The three vigilantes landed soundlessly on the pavement of a quiet block, somehow managing to remain unnoticed. Surprisingly enough, there were no civilians passing by. They would have blamed it on the early hour, but that was highly unlikely. They came to an agreement not to look the gift-horse in the mouth, but to remain vigilant all the same.

"They could be anywhere within a mile radius from here, maybe even farther." Robin said factually, his emotions have carefully been detached from his alter ego. Any other way would leave him unable to function at all.

"Dick was smart. He wouldn't have just bought a house and then call it a safe house. He would have added certain features; distinct ones that would make the house a fortress. We have to be able to track at least one of those features." Red Hood brought up.

"You're right. One of those things is lead. I taught all of you from the start that lead can be used to hide a number of things from Superman. It's a long shot, but if we can find the house with the most traces of lead, then it could be the safe house that the boys used, " Batman deduced.

Both boys nodded and got to work. Robin fished out two x-ray vision goggle and handed one to Red Hood, just as Batman brought out one of his own. They made their way up to a good vantage point with a partial view of everything in the neighbourhood. They formed a triangle formation and started scanning. It only took a few minutes, but eventually Red Hood found a residential house with far too much lead for it to be an art-oriented choice.

"I think I may have something." He said as he pointed out to the house. Acknowledged by both his father and younger brother, they silently jumped from roof to roof until they reached the roof of the lead-lined shelter.

"Proceed with caution. Knowing Nightwing, this house probably has security protocols in place," instructed Batman.

"Move in."

Dick sat up straight in his chair when the door slammed open. The ruckus did nothing for the concussion he no doubt had, but he was pretty sure that was Slade's objective when he unnecessarily announced his presence in the most annoying way possible. Dick didn't even turn his head anymore. He hated seeing the bastard and decided to prolong the inevitable. Contrary to what people might think, Dick was not a ball of sunshine and optimism. He knew that he was going to die here, but if he was going down he was damn well going to make sure that he didn't drag anyone else but Slade down with him.

Slade's footsteps seem to echo throughout the room. Somehow he managed to make even his footsteps sound like one of a smug bastard's. Or maybe he was biased. When he came into view, his usually pristine uniform was covered in blood. Dick sneered at Slade, thinking of whose poor soul it was that had to endure the mercenary's wonderful company.

"Honestly Wilson, couldn't you have bothered to change? I don't need to see the blood of the poor souls that you tortured." Beaten and broken, Dick still had his mouth on him. He was going to make this as difficult as possible for Slade.

Slade seemed to smirk at the comment. "Oh?" The tone of voice sent chills down Dick's back. It was terrifying and had haunted him for years in his dreams. "You might change your opinion on that. After all you're very acquainted with the poor souls I tortured." He parroted.

Dick's blood ran cold. No. No, there was no way he had them. He had to be bluffing. "If you're insinuating what I think you are, you better be bluffing." He responded with a gravely voice.

The chuckle he was greeted with seemed to reverberate around the whole room and Dick wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug smirk of the monster's face. "You'd like that wouldn't you? You want to believe that your precious red-heads are safe and away from me. But they're not. They're here. I made them bleed." Dick was steadily getting more worried, and even angrier with each spiteful word coming from Slade's mouth. He was doing his best to hide his emotions, to put up a strong front, but it was a losing battle.

"How does it feel, Apprentice, to know that you are the reason for all their suffering? And let me tell you, they suffered. I can still hear their screams." Dick let one tear drop from his eye, and then he looked directly at Slade's eyes. He showed him the burning rage that was there, because pretences be damned.

"I. Am. Not. Your. Apprentice. I never will be. Mark my words you you satanic son of a bitch, you and I are going to go down and meet the devil himself, and if I have to rot in hell to make sure you stay there, then so fucking be it."