Thief and Leper
John Grayson smiled to himself, his plan was a success, Slade had fallen for his red herring. There was no time to celebrate, he had to take down the Court of Owls, and he knew exactly how. Money, it powered everything in their organization. They depended on money to pave the way for their influence to grow and thrive.
He left the warehouse and Slade, scouring the city for Powers Industries. He knew that he could find their dummy accounts that linked them to the Court of Owls, and he had to find that money and destroy it.
John smiled to himself; the Grayson family was not a paragon of virtue. Both sides of the family had their secrets. John's was he came from a line of assassins, Mary's was her past as a thief, her hatred of rich people and all the crimes she'd committed in Paris as a teenager.
Still, the past did not define who they were or what they would be. That was part of how they continually moved forward.
He activated his comm., "Casey, I'm ready. Is everyone else?"
"John, you're our only way in," Casey Washington warned him. "I've got the others covering your activities by staging a bank robbery. Unfortunately, that means we'll have to deal with the Titans."
"What about Calvin Rose?" John asked.
"He'll keep them busy while you get me into their bank accounts."
"You ready to do this?" Casey Washington asked him.
"Steal the Court's money? Anything to slow them down," John replied.
He left for the nearest bank; he had to meet up with Casey and the others.
Nightwing was enjoying the movie with his friends, life was nice and quiet for once.
That didn't last long however, right as the credits rolled the alarm went off, showing them a bank robbery downtown.
The group took the car and arrived at the bank and saw a man waiting for them out front. He was dressed like an owl.
"Who are you?" Nightwing demanded.
He didn't say anything, Calvin Rose might have not been close friends with Dick Grayson at Haly's Circus but there was always the risk of being recognized by his voice.
Calvin Rose rushed forward, punching and kicking at Dick with a quick series of strikes that the Aerial Avenger easily blocked.
The fight began to escalate as Calvin slammed his elbow into Nightwing's face. Nightwing somersaulted backwards to regain his senses.
Nightiwing kicked his attacker in the gut, sending him staggering and just as he was about to move in to take him out, he saw the flash of gunfire. Nightwing managed to avoid it as Raven raised up a barrier to deflect more incoming fire.
Beast Boy charged forward, transforming into a T-Rex, he charged forward, the mysterious owl figure backed away from him.
Nightwing threw his escrima stick and hit his opponent in the face.
Calvin Rose spoke into his comm., "Did you get it?"
"Yes, John's got me into the mainframe system; I'll be done in less than a minute."
"Good," he replied. He began to retreat, throwing down a smoke bomb.
Nightwing charged after him, so did the other Titans, Calvin Rose led them on a spectacular chase throughout the city. He'd done his job perfectly, John was on his way back to Casey Washington, their mission had been a success, the Court had been drained of most of their funds in Jump City.
John wished he could sneak into one of their meetings; it'd be a joy to hear their terrified voices when they realized they'd lost their precious money. Unfortunately, he'd have to settle for a small celebration with the misfits he'd met, people who battled the mythical cabal of the Court of Owls.
Samantha Vanaver adjusted the mask concealing her face, but for some unknown reason, it made her feel uncomfortable, being around the members of the Court.
"Miss Vanaver, Grandmaster…" the masked man spoke to her, "Begin the meeting!"
Samantha Vanaver sighed, "We're here to discuss the rouge Talon that emptied the funds we had in Jump City, we'll have to send someone to deal with him."
"From the footage we saw, it looked like Calvin Rose," Sebastian Clark told her.
"He's not the one who stole the money; he was the decoy, who of our Talons is missing?"
"John Frederic Grayson, Grandmaster, he's a poor substitute for his son, Richard Grayson, he should have been the next one."
Hearing those names made her feel uneasy; it was nothing, just her imagination.
"And what about our money? How are we supposed to grease the palms of politicians without it?"
"We have plenty of money to spare, put yourselves at ease, ladies and gentlemen," John Wycliff reassured them.
"And what about Deathstroke? Someone's turned him onto us! He was seen snooping around Securitus Industries, our recent acquisition!"
"We'll deal with him soon enough, just like the Titans, the H.I.V.E. and everyone else in this city."
"And just who are we to send after John Grayson?" the other members asked.
"Let me hunt him," Samantha Vanaver offered. "It will ease my boredom. It's been far too long since I had a real challenge."
"As you wish, Grandmaster," Sebastian Clark bowed to her.
Samantha Vanaver adjourned the meeting and left, signing in disgust, but she couldn't explain why she was disgusted, it was just a natural feeling that came over her when she attended the Court's meetings.
She utterly loathed all of them, but could not explain why. She began walking back to her mansion.
"Marie," a voice called to her. She stopped, and turned, but why? That wasn't her name.
She turned and saw a Romani man staring at her, she noticed his hands and realized that at one time, he had leprosy. Still, she stood there unafraid of him, but what did he want with her?
"Marie, you don't remember me do you?" he asked.
"Should I? You've mistaken me for someone else," Samantha Vanaver told him.
"You are Marie Lloyd, you and I were friends, you were the only person who wasn't afraid of me. You helped steal the medicine that I needed for my leprosy, you were the only person who ever cared about me at all."
"You're mistaken, that's not who I am," she told him flatly.
"You didn't trust authority, you hated the rich people who made empty promises and didn't deliver. You stole from people who owed us what we deserved!"
He shook his fist at her, "You didn't live with a silver spoon in your mouth, you always looked out for the downtrodden people, people like me!"
Samantha Vanaver turned and walked away, but she didn't protest against what he claimed she was, still his voice was familiar.
"You never forgot about me Marie, you named your son after me, you named him Richard because of me!" Richard called to her again.
She shook her head; Samantha Vanaver had a lover, but no children. She didn't need children; the Court of Owls was the most important thing in her life.
She walked away, letting Richard's voice fade away.
Richard scowled, she'd remember soon enough. The Court's brainwashing could be broken. Marie's hatred of the corrupt rich was in her very being. It couldn't be changed with mere brainwashing.
Samantha Vanaver entered her mansion and shut the door locking it. She glanced up at the figure waiting for her, Alton Carver, the Talon.
He moved to embrace her, he smiled. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes," she lied to him. She didn't want to think about Richard and the strange conversation they had.
He kissed her, pulling her to her room to her bed.
"Alton…"
"Shh…You need this, we both do," he kissed her again, "You are the Grandmaster…you can have whatever you want."
He pressed her into the bed and began to remove her clothes. She wasn't thinking about anything else, except this moment, and that was what he wanted right now.
Alton Carver scowled at the sleeping figure of "Samantha Vanaver". He glanced up as the real Grandmaster of the Court of Owls, John Wycliff entered the room.
"You enjoyed yourself, Alton," he sneered.
"She's good in bed, why else does she have a child?" Alton spat. "Her child, my successor. Is that why you made me her lover in this charade, to spite me?"
Alton Carver smirked. "Perhaps you should have played the part of lover; you share her husband's name after all."
"I'm too old for that, you know," John laughed. "Why would I risk her remembering her suppressed memories?"
"You should go, you have work to do," John told the Talon. The man bowed and left.
"John, it's dangerous, letting her go after her own husband, what if she regains her memories?" Sebastian Clark asked the Grandmaster.
"With how we broke her mentally and physically, there's no way she'd ever be the person she was before she died. It'd be impossible for Mary Lloyd Grayson to return from the dead."
"Her family has always been stubborn, she's a Lloyd after all, a family of thieves, thieves never change."
John Waycliff glanced at her.
"Such a pity the real Samantha Vanaver is dead, but you'll do as her replacement, won't you, Marie Lloyd Grayson, or is it Mary since you changed your name? The so-called "Skydancer" who stole from the rich in Paris. It's an ironic prison we've put you in, surrounding you with people you hate."
John Wiclyff smiled to himself, "We can't have you getting in the way, not with your husband as a loose cannon. As for your leper friend Richard, we'll deal with him soon enough."
The Grandmaster of the Court of Owls turned and left, she'd be a suitable puppet for the Court, and once she was completely under their control, she'd bring him the greatest prize of all, her son, the perfect Talon.
Samantha Vanaver awoke from her heavy sleep hearing a window open, she glanced over at her side, Alton Carver was gone, but she could see a smaller figure approach her safe. He was as stealthy and quiet as she's seen in awhile.
She slipped into her clothes and silently moved to observe the figure in black.
She watched the figure approach the safe and use something on the utility belt he was wearing to open it. It was some chemical compound called Xenothium.
How interesting, a wannabe thief.
She watched him open the safe, he was so intent on emptying the safe that he didn't notice when she'd undone the belt and taken it from him.
Samantha Vanaver was amused, Amateurs. Stealing things for her was like breathing, was this Richard really telling her the truth about who she was? If he was how was she going to find him, and what was she going to do about the Court?
"Sticking it to this rich bitch does make me feel good."
"If you're going to steal from someone while they're sleeping, Mister X, you shouldn't talk to yourself out loud."
A light switched on.
"Huh?" Red X moved to activate his weapons only to look down and find his utility belt missing!
"You're that notorious thief, Red X, isn't that right?" Samantha asked him, curious.
"You're good, lady, but what are you going to do? Call the police?" Red X asked.
"I have a proposal for you Mister X, why don't you come and work for me?"
"Why should I take this generous offer?" he asked, this wasn't what he'd expected at all, he expected screaming, crying for help and insistence that he not take her precious jewelry.
A partnership was a surprise, but what was in it for him?
"I have a lot of rich associates that I don't particularly like, I can give you information on them, and you can help yourself to their things. In exchange I want you to find out what they did to me, I have heard them say something about my memories. If they did tamper with them, I want to know why."
"And the cut? What's my take?" Red X asked.
"90/10, my cut is the information you'll be giving me about what's going on. Does that suit you?"
She held out her hand to him. Red X pondered this for a moment; she was offering him a "job". Hey, why not?
He shook her hand. "You got a deal, what do I call you?"
"Samantha Vanaver, but if anyone asks, say you work for Skydancer."
"I like it, sounds flamboyant," Red X laughed. "Who's my first target?"
"Joseph and Maria Powers, they're a bunch of hypocritical rich people, they have a vacation house in the city. Help yourself to whatever you want."
'And what sort of info do you want?" Red X asked.
"Any financial assets they have, and anything about Samantha Vanaver," she replied.
"Why would you want info on yourself?" Red X cocked his head, curious.
"If they're playing me, I want to know why," she smiled at him. "You bring me what I need to know and you'll have enough cash to buy plenty of Xenothium from Professor Chang."
"How do you know about him?" Red X asked.
"I know everything about this city," Samantha replied.
Samantha tossed Red X his utility belt. "Meet me at the docks tomorrow night for my cut."
"Nice doing business with you, Miss Vanaver," Red X grinned under his mask.
Tonight had been an unexpected surprise, he'd been wanting to steal from a rich, stuck-up snob, instead, he'd found a master thief and had a job of all things! This woman made him very lucky, and now he had more things to grab. He could hardly wait or his next "assignment".
Samantha Vanaver watched him leave, all the things that nagged at her remained in the back of her mind, and then she'd have to sleep again, she hated sleeping, because she'd have that dream again, she was falling, and the only thing she saw was the agonized face of a little boy, and his face ripped her heart to shreds, but she couldn't remember his name or anything about him. She hated many things in her life, but she hated that dream most of all.