Luthor's Assassin

Secrets Revealed

Dick sighed in frustration as he grappled toward's Lex's private suite in Metropolis. An alarm had been set off there ten minutes ago, and as usual Luthor had sent him to do his own dirty work. Seriously, he could live with being an assassin and pulling jobs for Lexcorp, but being Luthor's personal guard dog was starting to get annoying- first the warehouse in Bludhaven, and now this.

The suite was nice, to say the least. It was dark, since Lex was rarely actually there, but there was an expensive fountain in the front, and a large garden in the back, two stories high. Dick wondered if Luthor and Slade would let him live here instead of at Lexcorp if he asked nicely enough (it was a nice thought, but deep down he knew it would never work).

He perched on top of the fence surrounding the area and raised a hand to his ear.

"This Renegade. I'm at the suite... there's no outside activity, should I go in?"

Lex's voice came from the other end.

"Yes," he replied quickly. "I want the intruders found!"

Dick resisted the urge to growl at him and silently leaped from his perch, crossing the grounds like a shadow and climbing up to a conveniently open window on the second floor. He slipped inside and found himself in a very nice bedroom.

If he had been anyone else, he probably would have been creeped out by the silent, dark house but if anything, Dick felt comforted by the shadows, hiding him and giving him an advantage. He crept down the hall silently, not yet drawing his sword to avoid making noise that could tip the intruders off.

It didn't take very long for him to discover that the second floor was empty of all life except a couple of spiders lounging around in thick clumps of cobwebs. Lex really hadn't been here for a while, Dick wondered why he even bothered to send him out to guard an abandoned house. It seriously got on his nerves.

"The upper floor is clear," he whispered into his earpiece. "I'm moving on to the ground floor." Without waiting for a confirmation he made for the staircase and began to advance down it carefully, hands resting on his hips for easy access to his utility belt.

Peering through the darkness he wasn't surprised that he couldn't see anything, so he continued through the hallways. Eventually he reached a massive dining room- he could just make out the outline of the huge table.

He stood in the doorway for a second, ears straining for any sound, before he deemed it safe and stalked into the room.

He was about halfway across the room when the lights suddenly burst on.

Dick let out an unintentional cry of shock and pain as the sudden contrast blinded him- he couldn't see anything but white. He covered his face with one hand and grasped desperately for his sword, an explosive,anything, because he was vulnerable like this-

A voice sounded from his left-

"NOW!"

Suddenly he was tackled from behind by someone with a massive amount of strength and bodily pinned to the wall, hands tight over his wrists. Blinking, he struggled in the iron grip for a moment while his eyes adjusted.

Dick did not like what he saw when they did.

Superboy was holding him against the wall, an angry glare etched into his features. From around the room the rest of the team was floating down to the ground from where Miss Martian had been lifting them with her telekinesis- that's why they hadn't made any noise! Dick swore out loud and twisted in the clone's grip, but couldn't free himself.

Aqualad drew near, one hand on his waterbearers.

"Renegade, you are under arrest!" he proclaimed, and Dick glared at him. "We are taking you into custody."