The Labyrinth

Chapter 8: A Bit Of Fun

The food was given to them in the cages, there were slots in the bars, a small gate at the bottom of the cage that opened from the outside, large enough for whatever dish to be pushed through.

Dick took to hiding his hands just in case they assumed he was cuffed and if they found out he wasn't they would fix it, and he didn't want that. Everyone was quiet, the guards handing out the food only grumbled threats about moving too quickly.

For Wally it was a few cinnamon rolls, which he later admitted was more than he ate at home on a good day. Artemis had pretty simple food, he didn't look much but he assumed this had happened to her before because she dug right in. The water boy was given some leaf stuff through his cages' slot from the top, it seemed to be some type of kelp or something, he seemed to like it enough. Much to Dick's chargain, no one was ever given a utensil sharper than a spoon.

Dick, he thought, was given the worst out of them all. It was humiliating.

He was given a bowl of bird seeds.

Talk about insult to injury.

The worst part was that he loved it. He hated that he enjoyed the nuts and seeds, a sort of trial mix that apparently seemed 10 times better than most normal human food. It occurred to him that maybe throwing up that first time wasn't just a result of dizziness, maybe his stomach had been altered like his eyes had. It made him want to be sick, but he really couldn't, the trail mix was pretty enticing.

The guards left without interfering much, though one banged on the top of Wally's cage and it made the speedster flinch so hard he dropped his cinnamon roll. Everyone glared at that guy as he left, except for Dick, who retreated into a corner within milliseconds and huddled behind his wings.

Once they were all done though there wasn't much to do, they had styrofoam plates and bowls and nothing really to talk about. Dick did tend to nibble on his seeds, something he decided was another bird trait ingrained into his psyche.

Dick liked the silence, it was calm and ignoring his situation was easier. Or maybe not, he didn't really know or care, he was too scared. He was absolutely terrified. He didn't know what was going to happen to him now, eventually that weird man with the lab coat was going to come back and then the bad stuff will start happening. And it wouldn't stop, it would never stop because they couldn't escape, how could they possibly escape?! Sure Dick wasn't restrained, but how long will that last? How long is he still going to be alive?! Was it worth it? Was being an experiment really better than escape through death?

Dick never thought himself suicidal before, and he honestly didn't think this counted, because 1. He had no way of killing himself 2. He didn't have the guts to do it in front of Wally 3. He wasn't sure he had the guts to do it at all and 4. His parents would want him to live, Bruce would want him to live, Wally would want him to live.

But living and being an experiment, a toy, a body to stab at, was totally different. Sure you're alive, but you're not living.

Maybe he wouldn't have to kill himself, maybe the lab guy would kill him, maybe they wanted him dead at some point. Experiments were experiments for finding out how wrong things can go, and if death is one of them, why wouldn't Dick be a part of it?

No, Dick didn't want to die. He didn't want to kill himself. It's a stupid thought. Wally needed him, and he needed Wally. And the others, even though Artemis was more on par with a classroom friend than an actual close friend. And the water guy, he couldn't even talk to them, he just floated there and stared at things. It was kinda creepy.

What he was beginning to really hate was that the concept of time was lost in this place. He had no idea how long things had been, how long ago he first woke up, how long ago he was captured, or how long ago he got turned into a Meta. He had no idea how soon the experiments would start, how soon his life could be over. The scariest part of life was the unknown, and right now his entire future was unknown and not looking good.