It had been fine, leaving Bruce. Sure, he'd cared for you or whatever, and yeah Alfred was nice, but the Bat never did enough for Gotham. Red Hood had had the right idea in how he acted, but he refused to partner up, and stupid Nightwing had "morals". So of course you'd falled in with the first bad*ss guy to give you the time of day.

Slade was an excellent mentor, though his method wasn't all too kind. He'd never let it show, but he'd grown to care for you as much as his twisted mind would let him. He wanted you to get better. Faster. More deadly. Not only to be a better little sidekick, but to keep you safe. He wanted to congratulate your progress, but he really didn't want to seem soft. Plus, you were still clinging to your morality, despite claiming not to.

"Get back up. Try it again." Slade demanded coldly, letting no hint of affection seep into his voice. "If you're getting to keep falling over after every punch, you're going to get killed out there."