Delusions of Love

Summary: The Court of Owls resurrects Mary Grayson, hoping to use her as their new assassin, she escapes and heads to Jump City, but an old flame's twisted feelings for her jeopardize her reunion with her son.


Author's Note: There are a lot of people in the Teen Titans fandom who want Slade to be Robin's father, I'm not really down on the idea because I love Dick's ties to the Court of Owls and William Cobb his great-grandfather, much more than Slade being his birth father, but I can have a ton of fun with the idea of him being obsessed with Mary.


Prologue: Passing Fancy

Mary Elizabeth Lloyd wandered through the crowd at Haly Circus; she was headed back to her trailer.

"Might I trouble a beautiful lady for a picture with me?" a deep voice asked.

Mary turned around to see a handsome blonde haired man standing before her. He was definitely a handsome fellow, she could see he was wearing a military uniform.

"Thank you for your service," Mary smiled respectfully at him.

"You're welcome, Miss—"

"Mary Lloyd," she smiled at her.

"Slade Wilson, Private," he grinned back, shaking her hand.

"it's nice to meet you, you sure know how to charm a girl," she laughed.

""Only the pretty ones," he smiled. He took out his camera, and they took a picture.

"Are you deployed?" she inquired.

"I won't be deployed for another year, still going through basic training."

"I see," Mary smiled at him.

"I have to be going, I enjoyed your performance," Slade turned and left.

Mary looked down at her hand, he left her his phone number, usually it was the other way around. She smiled. It'd be nice to go on a date, and he didn't seem like a bad guy. She grinned to herself. Why not?

Six Months Later..

"Slade, you know this is never going to work," Mary told the handsome soldier, he'd been seeing her for six months, she felt relationship had moved too fast, and she wasn't ready to commit to anything, she was in her early twenties, she still had a lot she wanted to do with her life, focusing on her career as an acrobat was one of them.

It's not like she was cheating on him or anything, but he wanted to move into the relationship too quickly, marriage was a big step in her life, and she knew deep down she wasn't ready for that.

She could tell he was smitten with her, but of her own feelings, she was unsure, she cared deeply about him, he was a good man, one who'd willingly served his country, he was everything admirable you could think of when you thought about people to look up to.

"It costs money to travel all across the country to Haly Circus to perform, and I know you're a soldier, you don't get that much money, and I'm not ready for a relationship, long distance or otherwise. You understand don't you?"

"Yes, I understand," Slade sighed, he turned and left.

Mary locked herself in her dressing room, John knocked on the door.

"Mary is something wrong?" he inquired gently, he could see she was deeply upset.

"I…I broke it off with Slade, John, I…I…just couldn't be what he wanted me to be!" Mary opened the door, tears streaming down her face.

"John…is there something wrong with me?" she asked.

He didn't answer her, instead he pulled her into a comforting hug, they weren't seeing each other, but he'd always been there for her.

"No, nothing's wrong with you, honey, if there's anything wrong, it's with him. If he loves you he'll respect your wishes. You've done nothing wrong. It's okay, Mary, it's okay…"

It was in that moment, holding him close, that Mary Lloyd realized that Slade never had her heart, because it belonged to John Frederick Grayson.

"You know I love you, don't you John?" Mary asked.

"Yes, honey, I know you've loved me for a long time, and I love you too." He held her for a few minutes, and he knew that was what she needed now.

Six Months Later…

"You found someone else? Mary how could you?!" Slade paced up and down, kicking up dust in a fury. He was outside her trailer, Mary wasn't letting him into her house, but she wasn't shutting the door in his face either.

"Slade, you know I said that I just wanted to keep our relationship as friends, and I move constantly with Haly Circus, and you're deployed, I didn't think it'd be right for us to try a long distance relationship, I thought you understood that."

"Now Mary, you know I want this to work between us—" Slade protested.

"I know you told me you love me, but they way I feel about you is not the same way you feel about me, I couldn't live with myself, pretending to feel something I don't, I want you to be happy, and I know deep down, I'm not the one who can give you that."

"That's not true! You know that's not true!" Slade started screaming.

"Life doesn't always give us what you want Slade, I can't give you what you want, and that's why I'm ending this relationship, you keep looking back when you should keep moving forward. I'm moving forward with my life and I know that the way things are, you can't be a part of that. Please go!"

She gently shut the door and locked it quickly, Slade's erratic behavior was disturbing her, his possessive nature wasn't something she liked and she wanted to make it abundantly clear that they were over.

Slade headed back to his car, seething, she had turned him down again. What was wrong with her?! Did she think she was too good for him?! Because he wasn't carny or circus folk?!

He'd seen her second boyfriend, this John Grayson, he was strong, handsome and an acrobat like she was, there was no way he was a better man than he was, she was settling for second best, and he'd make her see that.

He drove off, leaving her behind.

Mary sighed and picked up the phone, "Hi John, he came by again."

"Again, I know he had a crush on you, but this is bordering on stalking," John told her, worried.

"He won't come back, he know that I won't put up with him pulling any stalker stunts."

"Good, but are you sure you're all right Mary?" John sounded concerned. "Slade seems like he could be a nice guy from what you've told me about him, but he doesn't handle rejection well at all."

"I'll be fine, John, I'm just fine," Mary smiled to herself as she hung up the phone.

She went out to the big top, it was time to rehearse, John was waiting for her.

Two Years Later…

John Frederick Grayson and Mary Elizabeth Lloyd married under the Haly Circus bigtop, surrounded by friends and family, even John's grandfather, William Cobb had been there, Mary was stunned to see him, somehow he was still getting around very well for someone who was hitting 90.

Mary had always been curious about John's side of the family; she'd heard that John's great grandfather had been a construction worker for Cameron Cane until the bridge had collapsed on him. William had made money juggling on the street until he'd stopped a thief trying to steal from someone in Haly's Circus, he'd been hired on as a knife thrower, and had become famous for it.

There was some sort of scandal involving him and a rich woman named Amelia Crowne, Mary had never been able to hear the entire story, but she wasn't sure how exactly he was involved with it, but he'd returned to the circus, slowly fading into obscurity.

"Well, I will say, my grandson has good taste in women," William teased her, she chuckled.

Mary thought William was friendly, but something about him wasn't right, but Mary couldn't put her finger on it.

The wedding reception was filled with guests, all congratulating them and giving them well wishes and smiles.

Mary felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder, she turns once again to see a handsome soldier standing before her, this time wearing the insignia of a Lieutenant Colonial, there once again was Slade Wilson, smiling with a friendly expression on his face, a little too friendly, Mary decided.

"John and Mary, congratulations, I'm happy for you both!" Slade exclaimed, smiling at them.

"Slade, what a surprise!" Mary was surprised, she hadn't invited him, but he'd come anyway, she kissed his cheek, "But thank you for coming."

"Ah, Mary who is this?" William asked.

"Slade Wilson, he's an old friend," Mary explained. "My husband's grandfather, William Cobb."

Slade shook the old man's hand, he narrowed his eyes, this man was far from ordinary, and he knew everyone in the room knew it and that they were pretending nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

It dawned on Slade that Haly's Circus wasn't normal. Sure the circus wasn't normal compared to other people's lives, but there was something different about this place, and it was sinister.

He passed by Mary as John mingled with the other guests, he leaned into whisper menacingly in her ear, "You've made a big mistake sweetheart, we had something, and you've squandered that, you. And I won't forget that, and I'll never leave you; not for the rest of your life."

"Slade, please, you need to learn to let go—" Mary chided him gently. Slade roughly grabbed her arm.

"I'll never let this go! Meeting you was the best thing that happened to me, it was destiny!"

"Let me tell you something, Slade, destiny doesn't exist. We decide for ourselves what will happen. Find someone else, someone who will love you as you deserve, I'm not that person, I'm just a passing fancy in your life, it's not that I don't care for you, but I love John Grayson, and I always have. I'm sorry."

"Yes, Mary, I'm sorry too," Slade turned and walked away.

Slade walked away, he saw the old man that Mary had introduced as her husband's grandfather walk over to him. Slade could tell the man was feigning feebleness, he blocked Slade's path slightly.

"Leave my grand-daughter-in-law alone, she was never meant to be yours, no matter what thought you've got in your head!" William spat.

"What's that supposed to mean, old man?" Slade sneered.

"She's very important to this family, someone like you wouldn't understand."

"I suppose not," Slade shrugged. He turned on his heel and left.

Haly Circus was certainly an interesting place, he decided he would investigate this place further; it was concealing more than it led on.

Mary Lloyd looked up as it was getting dark outside, she could spot a white owl with bright yellow eyes staring at her. She'd seen the owls, they flew around everywhere, they were an unsurprising sight as they were native to Gotham City.

Mary didn't see the man in the suit staring at her and John, didn't see the white owl mask peering at her from the darkness.

William Cobb exited the tent. The man approached him. "Is she everything you were expecting?"

"Yes, she the perfect choice for breeding the next Talon," William told him. "To think we almost lost her to some no name soldier."

"It is fortunate isn't it?" the man replied.

"Yes," William Cobb replied. "My legacy is assured, their boy will be perfection, he'll be the next Talon, the one who will surpass me."

"Do you want us to…alter him in any way? We have money; we can easily mold him to genetic perfection."

"No, you won't taint my heir with your scientific mumbo jumbo. Mary Lloyd will be the perfect choice; it's why I made sure to have Harrison introduce them when they were young."

"That's a stretch; you're saying you manipulated their feelings for each other?"

"No, it's merely making sure that my family is the best in everything, whether it's acrobatics or as Talons for the Court," William Cobb left, he had another job for the Court, they had indulged him by letting him come to the wedding, he had to leave, someone had to die, he'd make sure of it.

Mary turned back and reentered the tent. She never saw Slade Wilson or William Cobb again, at least not while she lived as a normal human being…