"Finish it!" The talon screamed at the young boy in front of me. "Pull the trigger now!" Sirens were all around the apartment complex and my fellow heroes were viciously battling against the on slot of assassins.

His little muscles trembled as he tried to make his finger tighten around the trigger. An owl shaped mask covered his eyes and most of his face; leaving uncovered no distinguishable features I could use to recognize him. He whimpered and closed his eyes to steady himself before trying again to make himself pull the trigger. "I can't." He whispered quietly, lowering the gun. "This is wrong."

"Do it! Do it now or I'll report back to the elders and they will deal with you. You know what happens then." The talon threatened before Superman flew over and knocked him out with a few well-placed punches.

The boy winced and bit back a sob, raising the gun back to its former position against my forehead. Small tear droplets slipped under his mask and ran down his cheeks. The boy could not be older then thirteen or fourteen, still a child really. He was wearing a skintight black suit, covered in gold armor, carefully shaped to look like feathers. His boots were golden with black steel plaiting.

"You don't have to do this you know." I calmly said, eyeing him sadly.

The boy startled and fell over terrified. He scrambled back on his hands and feet when he realized he was right next to me. "Shut- Shut up. You're a hero; you have no right to talk to me. I'm gonna be a Talon and you will die to show the rest of the world not to mess with the Court of Owls." He tried to bring himself to pull the trigger.

"You don't have to be a Talon. You don't have to do this. You don't have to listen to them, pretend to be like them." I insisted. "You could get out of here and become something different."

He eyed me skeptically. "You just want me to let you go. You know nothing. I'm stuck here- I chose to be here because this is where I belong. This is what I've been trained to do since birth, the only thing I'll ever be good for. It all starts by killing you." He shakily raised the gun again.

"You're lying to yourself." I told him, slowly getting up from where his mentor had knocked me down. He flinched when I walked over to him, but otherwise didn't resist. I slowly kneeled down beside him so I was eye level. Around me the battle was winding down, but I ignored it, focusing completely on the poor boy in front of me. "You don't want to be a Talon, having to kill someone just because some old man who should have died a long time ago wants you too. You don't want to see blood on your hands every time you close your eyes to sleep. You don't want to constantly live in fear of messing up, with the knowledge of knowing what will happen if you do. You don't want to never know who to trust and where is safe." I gently reached up and pulled the gun from his trembling hands. "You don't want to be a Talon, and you don't have to be."

"Yes I do." He whispered brokenly, glancing down and refusing to look at me. "I have to be a Talon; I have nowhere else to go."

I lifted his chin up gently to make him look at me. He flinched but did not draw back from the contact. "Sure you do. You could come with me." I said and his masked eyes widened.

"Really?" He said curiously, his voice full of childish wonder and hope.

"Yes, really." I told him. "You could come with me and get far away from the owls, leave them behind. You could be someone new, become something new."

He smiled a little before it faded and his face twisted with hurt and suspicion. "What do you get out of it? You want to use me to get to the owls don't you? I should have known." He jumped up before freezing and looking around at the other heroes who stood around us watching the young boy. All of the assassins were down and being tied up, except for the few who had managed to escape.

"No." He whispered, his voice full of pure terror. A few of the heroes winced upon hearing it. "No, no, no. This cannot be happening to me. No, no, no. I did everything right, oh their going to kill me!"

I slowly stood up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He yelped and spun around to round-house kick me in the stomach. I caught his foot and he starred wide eyed at me for a few moments as He processed what happened. Then he scrambled back, mouthing soundless apologies. He screamed when he bumped into Wonder Woman and tried to take off before I grabbed his wrist. I glared at all of the superheroes and motioned my head towards the stairs down from the roof top. They nodded and left.

He slowly sat down, breathing hard and watching me like I was a lion about to eat him. He was still mouthing apologies and flinched whenever I moved. I slowly wrapped him in a hug, and held him tight.

"Ahh! No! Let me go, let me go! Please! I'm Sorry! I'm Sorry! Let me go!" He sobbed struggling against my arms trying to get away.

"Shh. You're okay. Nothing's going to hurt you anymore. I'm not mad, you're fine. Shh." I hummed rocking him slowly. His whimpers slowly died down and he leaned against my chest too exhausted to fight anymore. "It's okay; everything's going to be okay." Eventually he just leaned against my chest listening to my senseless words of comfort. A while later I spoke to him again. "What's your name kiddo?"

"Robin." He murmured sleepily, head tilted angelically in the fading light.

"Do you want to come home with me Robin?" I asked him seriously.

He hummed out a positive response and yawned. "You feel nice." He mumbled before snuggling into my arms. He lifted one of his heavy limbs to try and pull the mask off of his face. "Can you get it?" He murmured tiredly.

I nodded and slowly pulled the uncomfortable looking black and gold owl mask from his head. Bright sapphire eyes blinked tiredly at me before closing again. The boy sighed again and snuggled into my arms, falling asleep. I stared at him amazed at his trust in me until I heard the footsteps approach.

"Hey." Superman said, announcing his presence loudly as to not panic the young assassin.

"Be quieter." I snapped at him. "The boy's asleep."

A small smile wedged its way onto the man's face. "Congrats Bruce. Looks like you have this whole father thing down pat."

I glared at him before rising to my feet, still holding the kid. "Of course Kent, I'm Batman. Unfortunately the same could not be said for you about this whole 'father thing'."

He gaped at me before sighing. "You're right as usual Bruce. I'll talk to... Conner when we are done with the mission. Lord knows I've avoided the problem for too long." He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly before looking back up at me. "However, that's not the problem right now. What are you going to do with the kid?"

I eyed the sleeping bird in my arms before making up my mind. "He's coming back to the manor with me. After we have worked something out, he can join Young Justice, if he wants too. They could use another, more experienced, member."

He nodded. "It would be good for him, hanging out with kids his own age. Wally will love another person to hang out with, and he can relate to Artemis quite well I think, given their similar backstories." I nodded, zoning out on the useless chatter. Sensing this Kent skipped to the point. "What's his name?"

"Robin."

He nodded sadly. "Do you know if that's his real name or the one the Owls gave him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'd lean towards the latter as all of the Court's Owlets are named after a bird off some sort, but his name seems too innocent to be chosen by them. I'll get around to asking him when he wakes up."

Superman nodded. "Keep me informed. I want to meet him properly when he recovers a bit from the shock."

I nodded, my mind already elsewhere. Kent smiled a bit before nodding his goodbye and flying off in the direction of the mountain. I stood up, carefully holding the young assassin in my arms. He shifted a little when he was jostled but settled back down soon enough. I pulled out my grapple and jumped off of the building, still managing to maintain my hold on the young bird. It was only later in the bat mobile heading back to the cave I spoke again. "Oh no! What am I going to tell Alfred and Selina?"

Read and Review Please! I want to know what you thought of this. Also, do you guys want a sequel to this? I'm thinking about making a story along these lines but it might be a while until it comes out.