Whumptober 2021- day twenty-one
That's where the blood's supposed to be
Bleeding through the bandages, pressure, blood-matted hair

Slade rescues Dick Grayson from he collapsing wreckage of the Nightwing, much to the young officer's annoyance.

this is omegaverse, so there's your heads up.

The sails of the Deathstroke snapped in the air, Slade's crew members rushing about the deck in panic. The Monstrous whirlpool, the Boar's eye, was still a safe distance away, but even at that safe distance, the water was turbulent. As the ship grew ever closer to the collapsing Nightwing it became more and more affected by the drawing and sucking waters trying to drag them close enough to the maelstrom that they couldn't escape. Slade had done the measurements; his ship could get to the Nightwing long enough for him to drag the one person he wanted off the vessel and onto his own and then fuck off elsewhere before the current got hold of them.

His crew were sceptical and hesitant, but they were not only the people who worked for him but also his pack, and they knew exactly why Slade was willing to go this far to get a hold of the famous Captain of the Nightwing. And none of them would stop him any time soon. Especially not when they all agreed with Slade's endearment to the man.

Slade had only had the pleasure of truly meeting and speaking with the great Dick Grayson a handful of times. Twice in a neutral trading city, where Dick was not expected or able to assert his place as a naval officer and attempt to arrest Slade. Twice on the open water- once on good terms, when the two ships had been attempting to save the same neutral vessel from Reavers; once on bad terms when Slade had been going after loot that Dick's crew was ordered to bring back to her majesty. The final time was when Slade rescued Dick from an attempted kidnapping, just before he was appointed an official officer, and had then promptly dumped him on his father's doorstep. But not before he had a fun chat with the scowling captain and all his crew members had had a chance to decide they liked him.

He hadn't endeared himself to Dick in that rescue. Slade had previously thought he'd gotten all his prestige from his father. He'd then figured out that Dick had earned every bit of respect given to him. after leaving him on his father's castle doorstep he'd also then figured out that Dick Grayson had more guts than he thought.

He'd make a very good pirate.

But that was neither here nor there.

The other times Slade had come in contact with Dick Grayson was on the open sea when Slade had tried to pick fights with him just for the thrill of watching him in action.

Right now, however, Slade was just trying to get to his ship and get him off it before he was pulled into a ship-killing whirlpool or sucked down with broken debris into the water.

The Nightwing was a beautiful ship. Not just aesthetic wise, with its grey and blue hull and perfectly maintained ropes and sails with the gleaming coat of arms of Bludhaven's royal family. But also in every other way. Genuine care was given by the crew and Captain, and before it was split in two by whatever supernatural cause and left to slowly sink or be drawn into chaotic watery doom, it was intricately put together to be an effective and impressive vessel.

And it was captained by Dick Grayson, which just made it even better.

Watching it slowly succumb to the waves was mildly unfortunate. If the Nightwing was going to be destroyed, it deserved to be destroyed in a vibrant firefight.

The dying and screaming crew of the Nightwing were too distracted trying to find some way to survive that they didn't notice the Deathstroke pulling up beside them till the sails were casting dark shadows over them.

Slade's crew remained on board, making sure the vessel didn't fall prey to the currents. Meanwhile, Slade dropped a plank on a collapsing piece of the Nightwing and strutted on board. The plank eventually was lost behind him as he picked his way through the running crowd, who had more important things to worry about than Slade's appearance, and the weak boards of the deck.

Dick was in the middle of it all, rushing about between people and shouting orders and helping where he could. In his defence, the ship was taking a long time to die, a lesser captain would have allowed his crew to fall apart and his ship with it at least an hour ago. But the Nightwing would sink, and regardless of Dick's attempts that wasn't going to change.

Dick turned as he noticed Slade in his periphery. Slade would admit, he had a competency kink buried down somewhere past his control and Alpha superiority, and the uniform Dick wore was a good look on him, even though it was askew. Dick was, of course, wearing scent blockers, and Slade noticed the exact moment he was hit with Slade's full scent.

He scowled at Slade, and then strode straight past him with a growled, "what are you doing here, Slade?"

The growl had no effect but Slade knew that wasn't really the point.

"Call it a favour, little bird," Slade said, following Dick as he picked his way up the deck towards the raised level, "I think you could do with a different ship to stand on."

"I don't need your help Slade," Dick said, "I have people to dig out."

And he did. Slade now noticed the raised level of the deck where the steering wheel was. It was no longer raised, however, because it had collapsed into the captain's cabin.

Slade sighed as he watched Dick, on his own, ready himself to attempt at digging out whoever was down there. Everyone else was scrabbling for the emergency boats, getting them in the water and making sure they hadn't been destroyed and trying to get them away from the pull of the sinking ship and the nearby whirlpool.

Slade grabbed Dick around the middle and pulled him away from the collapsed part of the deck, and Dick elbowed him in return and wiggled free.

It was times like these Slade laughed at people who thought Dick became the youngest officer of Bludhaven's navy because his father was king of Gotham, the neighbouring kingdom. The neighbouring kingdom that Dick had run away from so as to earn his place, ironically enough.

(or there were those who thought he spread his legs for the promotions, both types of people were equally ridiculous and had obviously never met the tempest that was Dick Grayson. Omega or not, he was a force to be reckoned with)

Slade wasn't letting Dick say no to this rescue, though. His crew's emergency boats wouldn't last, the nearest land was too far and the currents were too strong. They'd be pulled into the Boar's eye.

Slade wasn't about to let that happen to Dick.

He grabbed Dick again and threw him away from the wreckage. The man lost balance for a moment but found it quickly and glared up at Slade full force.

Slade was going to say something witty but the ship shuddered and there was a crack, and the creaking deck began to completely split. Slade wobbled and reached out for the balustrade nearby to gain purchase, but Dick had nothing to lean on and even though Slade had seen him sword fight whilst balancing on the rails, not even Dick Grayson could hold balance as the ground gave way beneath him. he tripped backwards and landed on the cracking floorboards, and his weight broke them entirely, sending him falling through into the hull. Slade heard a crash, and Dick's scream, and then nothing.

Slade's heart leapt into his throat and he was jumping down to save Dick before he'd even thought twice.

Dick blinked and he was in the water.

He'd hit his head on the way down and he could already feel the concussion oncoming, but he had no time for worrying about that.

His lungs were already burning, and he'd exhaled as his head hit whatever the fuck it hit on the way down. Logically, he knew that he had no hope of getting to the surface. The ship was directly above him, not the water surface, and debris in the water was pulling all the current down.

That didn't mean he was about to give up. He kicked in the water and struggled to move upwards. He pulled the overcoat of his uniform off, the weight off his shoulders helped a little but not much and he was far too exhausted to manage much. He wanted to breathe in, he needed to breathe in, but he couldn't let himself do that when all he'd get was a lungful of saltwater.

He gritted his teeth, pressure pressing on his ears.

He hadn't seen his family in a long time, the only communication they'd had was letters from him. He couldn't even receive letters, always moving as the Bludhaven queen found new things for him to do. He appreciated the constant busying of his mind. The Queen had understood his want to get out on the sea and help people. However it had an obvious backlash, and Dick was so sorry to his family because the only thing they'd get was a killed in action letter.

He didn't get to decide if he breathed or not, his lungs screamed and his brain overrode his control and all of a sudden he was burning on the inside.

He'd cry if he didn't know there was no fucking point. The only person he could give his tears to was Davy Jones. He tried not to struggle, to draw this out longer than it had to be. He was unlucky to have not blacked out as soon as he inhaled the water. It was training, Dick knew that, but he wished he could be weak just once.

His eyes flew open when he felt hands on him, but he- his vision was spotting already and his head ached and the pressure-

It was too dark, but he could just barely see the shadow of the person holding onto him. a rope tied around his waist and Dick flinched, but the person didn't think twice as they grabbed hold of Dick tight.

Something in the back of Dick's mind knew it was Slade, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. not only because it was complicated but also because he was lightheaded and-

Yeah, he was blacking out.

Slade didn't care about getting oxygen into his own lungs, about getting rid of the cold, soaked clothes stuck to his limbs. All he cared about was getting Dick onto the deck of his ship and starting chest compressions.

He didn't take note of anything else till Dick spluttered awake and started retching the water out of his lungs onto the deck.

His crew was watching, way too close, and the smell of other alpha's nearby was irking him as Dick tried to breathe. Dick's scent patches had been pulled askew, one of them starting to come off, and Slade could catch the slightest bit of Dick's scent, and it was skyrocketing his protective instincts. He had to remind himself that Dick wasn't his. No matter how much he wanted him to be.

"Slade," someone hissed from behind him, and Angelica settled by him, reaching for Dick, "he's injured, he needs medical attention."

Dick was panting against the deck, shaking, and Slade looked him over head to toe.

There was a bloom of red on his side, and that alone sent dread down Slade's spine, and then he noticed where diluted red liquid was beginning to drip from the bottom of his hairline.

Slade moved to pick Dick up, and as soon as his hand brushed Dick's skin he flinched, scrambling away. He stood as quickly as he could and then promptly collapsed. Wintergreen was nearby, thankfully, and caught him. Dick didn't give him any appreciation, instead just struggled to stay on his feet, shaking and looking around him at the people spread over the deck.

He looked over at Slade and glared as best he could when he was swaying on his feet, "You will take me to the nearest port and return me to-"

Slade stood, hands out ready to catch Dick, "we can talk about that later, little bird, but right now I need to-"

Dick avoided him and tried to keep the glare going, but it was quickly fading, "You will..." he swayed especially far and had to catch himself, his hand pressing to his side, but he kept on, "return me to..." he looked like he was about to throw up and then promptly fell forwards into Slade's arms.

Slade scooped him up and turned towards the hatch into the hull, Angelica at his side and ready to crack open the first aid kit.

"Billy," Slade said in Wintergreen's vague direction, "make sure nothing gets set on fire."

Angelica had removed Dick's scent blockers at some point while helping Slade patch him up. Alongside the smell of iron was also Dick's salt-caramel-strawberry scent. Slade wanted to bury his head in Dick's neck and breathe it all in, it would relax the fear in him that had been roiling in the back of his head since he'd seen the Nightwing about to succumb to watery death.

"Okay," Angelica sighed, "that's the most we can do. He should be okay, but he'll be out for a while."

Slade nodded, pulling a chair up to the medical cot and settling in.

Angelica snorted, "I'll leave you two alone, then."

Slade shot her a glare and then settled his gaze back on Dick.

He needed to remember that Dick wasn't his and dial the protective instincts back before Dick woke up and shot him that annoyed look and made Slade remember.

Dick's hair was matted, blood stuck in the black strands, and Slade wanted to wash it out. To cradle Dick's head in his hands and massage at his muscles till Dick melted. Slade remembered his navy days, he couldn't believe he'd stayed so long with all their ridiculous rules, he didn't understand how Dick was still sticking it out.

The nearest port owned by a country allied with Bludhaven was almost a month's sailing, that was plenty of time for Slade to try and turn Dick's head. He'd figure it out. Even if Dick didn't fall for Slade he could at least pull him out of the navy before they had a chance to ruin him.

And if he could get the little bird into his bed then he'd never be happier.

Dick's breathing changed and Slade looked up to find him blinking around at the room in confusion.

"What?" he said, blinking over at Slade, "where am I?"

"the med bay on my ship," Slade said, "how are you feeling?"

Dick tried to sit up and Slade lightly pushed him down, "easy, little bird, you don't want to pull your stitches."

"I- there'll be a search party-"

"You're not a captive," Slade sighed, reminding himself that Dick's concussion was going to exacerbate his confusion and make him entirely clueless to the fact that he wasn't in danger, "We'll get you to land, but it'll be a while."

Dick blinked at him, "where's my crew? Are they okay?"

"Honestly? I didn't check," Slade said, "but I think you're smart enough to guess."

Dick scrunched up his face then winced, his fingers brushing against his head, "ow."

Slade chuckled, "yeah. Ow. Now get back to sleep."

Dick groaned, practically pouting as he relaxed his head into the pillow, "I hate bed rest."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

"'m not sure if that's mean or funny," Dick said, eyelids drooping.

Slade couldn't help it, he reached a hand out and carded it through Dick's hair, beginning to carefully detangle it and separate the strands stuck together by dried blood.

Dick leaned into it, closing his eyes. His scent spiked as he purred under Slade's hand, beginning to lull back into sleep.

Slade didn't want to get his hopes up. Dick was confused, tired, injured, and Slade's scent was dulled with comfort and care, a calming alpha offering bedside vigil.

Dick's scent was so absent of anyone else. There was a vague impression of an alpha tinged by pack, most likely Bruce Wayne's ghost of fatherly scent, and a background to that smell that suggested siblings. But it was all so vague, just barely there, and nothing else suggested Dick had a pack.

The stupid Navy and their stupid regulations. It wasn't against the rules to scent your crew, to have relationships with them, but it was extremely warned against, especially if you were a captain. You had to remain impartial. If you weren't in your personal quarters you had to wear blockers. The deck and hull were full of nothing, sanitary chemicals used for cleaning and the salt of the wind and water, nothing else.

Slade's crew was his pack. He wasn't a touchy person, he believed in actions over words, but even he preferred the environment of his crew over the emotional distance of the navy. How had Dick managed to survive it?

And if Dick didn't get his head out of his ass and see that the navy was going to ruin him, then Slade could always decide to drop him at a Gotham port. Maybe his father could talk some sense into him.