Chapter Text
“You couldn’t have just told me?! Using your words can’t be that fucking hard, Bruce.” Dick yelled, holding his hands together tightly so that he didn’t punch Bruce.
“You were in space,” Bruce replied blankly, “it would have compromised the mission.”
“The mission?! My fucking brother died! That’s more important than the stupid fucking mission.”
Bruce rolled his eyes. “You were barely around anyways.”
Dick clenched his jaw. “God Bruce, the only reason for that was because we kept arguing. You were supposed to be watching him, and you weren’t.”
Bruce turned on him, and Dick only registered the punch once his neck had turned. “Don’t you dare blame me for his death!” Bruce yelled.
“Maybe I wouldn’t be if you weren’t at fault!” Dick yelled back. Maybe later he would feel bad, knowing that it wasn’t all Bruce’s fault, but right now he didn’t care for that.
Bruce punched him again, his eyes hard. “Get out.” He practically growled. Dick stilled. “Get out!” Dick could only nod dumbly as he forced his feet to move.
He didn’t even register when he left the Manor and ended up walking the streets of Gotham. He cursed as he remembered he left his bike there. He’d have to go back and get it later. But for now he continued walking. He wasn’t reading any street signs, nor paying attention to buildings as he walked. He wasn’t even sure he had a destination in mind.
He paused out of habit as he heard a shuffling sound in an alleyway. He didn’t plan on looking into it, but then the noise came again, and his feet started moving unconsciously. He expected a lost pet, or maybe a street kid, depending on how close he was to Crime Alley.
What he didn’t expect was a pair of golden eyes knocking him out before he could turn away.
Talon watches from the shadows of a rooftop. Its mission is completed, but for some reason it is still standing outside. It had not been commanded otherwise for this mission, but it is unsure as to why it feels so certain about this loophole. If it is caught, it will have to spend a week in the freezer. Talon does not like the freezer.
But it watches anyways, for something. Maybe it is just watching Gotham. It does that sometimes, watching the city for no reason other than simply watching. It has no clue why it feels so strongly about doing this. Maybe it has something to do with Before. Talon does not remember its Before. It knows that it has one, a time from before the Court, but it does not know anything about it.
Talon hears a scream from below. It does nothing about it. It stays in the shadows where nobody can see it. It doesn’t breathe and it doesn’t blink. It simply watches. It hears the noises from below and observes as the Batman tackles a man. Talon stands still in the shadows. It is not allowed to interacted with the Batman.
It watches as the Batman ties the man’s wrists together and holds a hand up to his ear. Talon hears the Batman say something about police dispatch. The Batman walks towards a woman crouched on the ground and holds his hand out for her. She takes it and thanks him. The Batman nods and then takes out a grappling hook from his belt. He points it at the roof across from Talon and shoots it. Talon walks into the shadows as the Batman does the same.
Talon walks into the Court blankly, like always. It does not feel, it does not talk, it does not die. It is not human. Talon kneels before Grandmaster, awaiting its next instructions. “Did you complete the assignment?” Grandmaster asks. Talon nods its head once. “Good. You are dismissed.” Grandmaster does not ask about what took Talon so long, so Talon does not tell. Instead, it stands up and nods before exiting the room.
It walks down a hallway until it reaches a small room with a door. It opens the door and sits in the empty room. Talon has no use right now, so it will sit until it has use. Sometimes, Talon is commanded to observe. This is not one of those times, so it simply stares blankly at the wall.
Talon never knows how much time it spends in the room. It does not matter when eventually an Owl comes to let it out of the room. It follows the Owl until it is stopped outside of a door. The Owl opens the door and Talon walks inside. Grandmaster is standing at the front of the room. Talon kneels before him.
“You have been given a new assignment, Gray Son,” Grandmaster says. Talon straightens. Being called the Gray Son for an assignment means it is of utmost importance. Talon will not fail this mission. “You have been assigned to kill the Joker.” Talon ignores the way the name sticks out in its mind. Talon simply nods.
It is not given any other requirements, but Talon leaves immediately anyways. It does not plan on killing the Joker right away though. Mostly because it is pretty sure that the Joker is still locked away in Arkham Asylum. However, Talon decides to use this time to view the city.
It sticks to the shadows once it exits the labyrinth, hovering closely to the brick walls of the buildings. It hears a noise from down below and watches a purple figure kick a guy to the ground. Talon tilts its head. It has not heard of a purple figure before.
The purple figure folds their arms, seemingly scolding the man on the ground. Talon watches as they tilt their head back, the hood on their head not falling but revealing their blue eyes. Their mouth and nose are covered by a black face mask. Talon watches as the purple figure zip ties the man’s wrists together before leaving him on the floor.
It reminds Talon of what it witnessed the night before with the Batman. But Talon was never informed of a purple Batman. Only the shadow and the brightly colored Robin. Talon does not understand why its heart aches when it thinks of Robin.
Talon watches the purple figure climb to a rooftop and wait there, tapping their fingers impatiently against their arm. It watches as a slim figure clad in black lands on the rooftop behind the purple figure.
The purple figure does not notice that they are being snuck up on. Talon looks at the scene and comes up with twenty ways to take out the purple figure if it were the other one. But is does not seem like the black clad figure is planning on attacking them. Instead, they lay a hand on the other figure’s shoulder and say quietly, “Spoiler.”
The purple figure – Spoiler, Talon assumes – jumps back. “Jesus, Batgirl, do you have to do that every time?” Talon tilts its head at the other name. It did not know there was a Batgirl again. It stills as the thought. Again? It did not know there was ever a Batgirl. Was that something it knew Before?
Batgirl’s shoulders shake, likely with laughter. “Be more aware.” She says. Spoiler shoves her gently. “Oracle says time is up.”
Spoiler groans. “Oh but Robin gets another hour? Come on!”
Batgirl shrugs. “Oracle says. And also Batman.”
“Yeah but Batman doesn’t care if you push hard enough, he barely counts.” Talon finds itself agreeing. It has no idea why. “I bet I could get another thirty minutes in if I just say I was slow in getting back.”
“No,” Batgirl shakes her head. “I will tell. Also, Oracle will know.”
“Oh but Red Hood gets to patrol for however long he wants!”
“Red Hood is an adult.”
“Barely!” Spoiler throws her hands up.
Batgirl smacks her on the head. “Fledgling is getting… cranky.” She says. Talon tilts its head. It has not heard the names Red Hood or Fledgling, much like the other names.
Spoiler rolls her eyes. “And that’s my problem why? Just let B-man deal with the kid.”
“No,” Batgirl says before grabbing Spoiler’s arm. “Now.”
“Jeez fine,” Spoiler groans. “Maybe you should be named Spoiler.” She grumbles.
Batgirl just laughs. “The purple is better on you,” is the last thing Talon hears before the two leave the rooftop.
Talon watches the rooftop to see if they will come back. When they don’t, it turns back into the shadows. Now that it has more information, it can plan more for its current assignment. Knowing there is more to look out for will be beneficial for killing the Joker.
Talon waits and observes for a week before making its move. The Joker has escaped Arkham, and none of the Bats have been seen all week. Talon would wait another day to make sure that stays the case, but it has already waited a week.
It stands in the shadow of a building, watching. It has not kept track of the Joker so far, but it likely won’t be hard to spot him. Talon can search from the rooftops in the meantime. It moves until it reaches the docks and stands on the roof of a building before the warehouses.
It hears hushed whispered and boxes being dropped before there’s a sharp laugh. Talon tenses on instinct. It watches as amongst the clown masks, a man with green hair and white skin makes his appearance. The Joker has arrived.
Talon crouches and plants its hands on the gravel below it, ready to pounce. It has to wait for the crowd to dissipate, but once they’re all gone, the Joker will be eliminated. So Talon waits and watches as more boxes get moved and the warehouse gets filled with shrill laughter. Talon’s nose wrinkles at the sound.
Finally, the warehouse empties except for just the Joker. Talon jumps across the rooftop and slips through the window so it is in the rafters. It watches the Joker set up some contraption, but Talon does not care what it is. It’s not like the Joker will get to use it, after all.
Talon falls to the floor silently and follows behind the Joker until it can breathe down his neck if it wanted to. “Joker,” Talon rasps. “The Court of Owls has sentenced you to die.” Talon doesn’t let him get a word in before it slides a knife across his neck. Talon stares at the dead body and frowns behind its mask. It should have been a longer death.
Before Talon can think about why that thought came to mind, it hears scuffling along the floor. It turns to shrink into the shadows only to come face to face with the Batman. Only this Batman looks different. His shoulders are wider, just barely, and he holds himself like he uses more strength. He isn’t looking at Talon, but instead at the dead corpse at Talon’s feet.
“You killed him.” The Batman says. He sounds conflicted. For some reason, Talon cannot make its legs move. The Batman jumps and only then is Talon able to unstick its feet from the ground. It ducks to the side just as the Batman throws a punch. Talon kicks to distract the Batman from the knife it throws. The Batman blocks both.
The Batman goes to punch Talon again and it jumps up, using the Batman’s outstretched arm to push up and jump behind the Batman. Talon gets a kick in but the Batman centers himself before Talon can go for its knife.
The Batman is pulling punches, Talon notices. He is not trying to harm Talon like he would with other criminals. Talon can’t help but wonder why. That is why Talon is thrown off when instead of a punch, the Batman reaches a hand out for Talon’s mask. That is why Talon is unprepared for the Batman ripping its mask off.
Talon freezes as the cold air hits its face. The Batman is frozen too. He is staring at Talon’s face, searching for something. Talon’s legs won’t move. “Dick?” The Batman says hoarsely. Talon feels like it should know that name. It does not know why it doesn’t.
Instead of answering, because Talon does not speak, it tries to back away. But it does not expect the Batgirl to be there to knock it out.