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Last TIme:
Richard struggled to respond. He looked at Alfred with pleading eyes.
"Gentlemen, perhap-" Alfred started, but was cut off.
"Where's Deathstroke?"
"What did he say to you?"
"Who's Tony Zucco?"
"You muttered William Cobb. Who's that?"
"Gentlemen!" Alfred yelled.
They stopped asking questions.
"Perhaps we should allow Master Richard a moment to collect himself. Being greeted by thousands of questions tends to overwhelm a person." He said sternly.
The bats look a bit guilty and helped Richard up. Jason just sighed and picked him up by the shoulders and told Tim to grab his feet. Together, they carried Richard to a medical bed.
"I can walk." Richard mumbled.
"You just got mindfucked. We're not letting you walk." Jason growled.
Alfred brought Richard a glass of water. He downed it in one gulp before looking at everyone. Bruce was standing at the door, Jason and Tim were at the side of the bed, and Alfred was standing directly next to Richard on the right.
"What happened?" Bruce growled.
Richard gulped.
"I'm a murderer, a criminal."
Jason scoffed from the side.
"You? A criminal?" He joked.
"I'm not being funny. I remember doing things for Deathstroke and William Cobb. I went on missions. I stole things and murdered 7 people. I even helped with some of the Light's and Cadmus' experiments." Richard said seriously.
"Who's William Cobb?" Bruce asked.
"He's an Owl in the Court of Owls. A top dog. I acted as his Talon and a mercenary who worked with Deathstroke. I don't know why they let me go, but they did. He claimed he was my uncle, but that doesn't sound right." Richard said.
His hand was twitching at his side and he put it under his thigh. Of course I'm lying. They let me go so I could act as a spy without even knowing it. Along with project Kr and 'Roy Harper', but the League already knows about them. Richard notices Bruce's narrowed eyes. Shit, he knows my tell. Richard told them about how he got the drive and his encounter with Deathstroke.
"Why would he want us off his ass?" Jason asked.
"It could be that the Light is making a big move. We still don't know that much about them or the Court of Owls." Tim pointed out.
"We have someone who does though." Jason smirked.
All of them looked at Richard. He sighed. Damn it.
"The Light is made up of Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, Vandal Savage, The Brain, Ra's Al Ghul, and Klarion. They do work with Deathstroke, Black Manta, and the Court. Their goal is to allow humanity to evolve by removing the League and other heroes from the equation. We see you as an obstruction that is preventing the needed factors to evolve. I do not know what they are planning now, but last time it was to divide and conquer." Richard said.
Richard realized he said we a moment later, but the bats didn't comment. I am not with the Light!
"Divide and conquer? That must be the time there were two existing worlds. Children and Adults." Tim said.
Bruce nodded.
"What about the Court?" He asked.
"The Court of Owls is made up of workers, Talons, and Owls. The Owls are the top dogs. The Talons act as agents to carry out the Owls orders. Said orders vary from assassinations to thefts to reconnaissance. The Court has resources everywhere, in the government, businesses, law enforcement. They are based here in Gotham. Their goal is to control." Richard droned.
"And you were apart of them? As a Talon?" Jason asked.
"Yes." Richard confirmed.
"Who'd you kill?" Tim asked.
The question received glares from Jason and Bruce.
"What? He did say he was a murderer." Tim defended.
He turned to Richard.
"So, who'd you kill?"
"Darcy Ruth, Tony Zucco, Styles Ramon, Andrew Gibbons, Lara Micheals, Alex Porter, and Luis Calvan." Richard answered. "I'm willing to receive punishment for them." He added.
That took the bats by surprise.
"We're not going to send you to jail. There has to be something that proves that all of this was against your will or you were brainwashed or something, right?" Jason said.
"Brainwashing, Richard was a child who lost everything and then suddenly two adults come into his life and, in fear of being alone, he did whatever they wanted." Tim added.
"Did you say you were related to one of them?" Bruce asked.
"William Cobb, he's my great grandfather…" Richard answered.
"We could so argue brainwashing. It would be so easy." Jason said happily.
"I may have been brainwashed, but that doesn't clean the blood off my hands." Richard argued.
"No, but working as Nightwing might." Bruce said, smirking.
Richard sighed.
"I know you guys want to, I don't know, protect me, but I still broke the law, many times." Richard said.
"You're a cop. In my opinion, you've already started making up for that." Jason commented.
"What pushed you to be an officer of the law?" Tim asked.
"I wanted to help people." Richard answered immediately.
"So no ill will. You were quick to answer the question with that, so your true intentions are to help as much as possible." Bruce deduced.
"Besides, I have killed people." Jason added.
"They were criminals. That's different." Richard excused.
"Different how?" Bruce asked.
"They had broken the law and hadn't been caught. Justice needed to be served and it just so happened that it was one of Red Hoods bullets." Richard said.
"Just because they broke the law doesn't mean their lives mean less than ours." Bruce growled.
"We're not having this argument again." Jason said.
"What if we prove that your victims were criminals?" Tim asked.
"I guess that would make the crime less severe, but I still took a life." Richard said.
"You're a detective. I'm sure you've shot and killed someone while on the job." Jason said.
"I mean yeah, but they were all kill or be killed situations." Richard argued.
"Were they? You worked in Bludhaven and now Gotham, there had to have been a few that weren't kill or be killed." Jason defended.
"No, I know what you're getting at. I'm not and never was corrupt." Richard growled.
"So you're saying you never shot a man who, say, raped and killed a whole family, or a woman who killed her whole family and said they deserved it. You haven't shot someone who did something similar to what Zucco did to your family?" Jason asked, getting heated.
"No!" Richard exclaimed.
"Bullshit, I don't believe that." Jason growled.
"I only pull my gun when deemed absolutely necessary or when I think I need it." Richard defended.
"After working in two very corrupt cities, you have not killed someone when it could've gone another way?" Jason asked.
"For the last time, I have not killed someone in cold blood." Richard growled.
"What about in hot blood? Someone you hated with a passion and in the fray you purposely sought them out and killed them." Jason asked.
Richard hesitated.
"No." He said.
His hand twitched.
"You're lying. Who was it?" Jason asked.
"No one." Richard answered.
His hand twitched again.
"Who was it?" Jason asked again.
"Officer Jackson McKinley." Richard ground out.
"It was even a fellow officer." Jason smirked in victory.
"We were doing a raid and gunfire broke out. Someone had thrown teargas, I didn't see him. I didn't mean to shoot him...but I didn't try to save him. He was the reason half of the organized crime knew when we were coming to raid them. He beat his wife and kid. I didn't think he deserved to live any longer." Richard said cruelly.
"Well look at that. Golden Boy has a dark side." Jason smirked.
Richard glared at him.
"Regardless, I need to know what you remember." Bruce broke in.
Richard told them about the missions, what he stole, who he spied on, who he reported to, and what objectives he had.
"What about the work you did with Cadmus?" Bruce asked.
"It's all on the drive." Richard stated. "At least, I think it's all there."
Bruce narrowed his eyes at Richard before continuing.
"Jason, Tim, go save all the data on that drive to the main computer." He ordered.
The two left, leaving Richard with Alfred and Bruce. Alfred hasn't said much of anything. Bruce crossed his arms. Oh shit.
"Why'd you lie about why they let you go?" Bruce asked.
Richard went to deny it when Bruce cut him off.
"Don't try to deny it. I saw your hand twitch." Bruce said.
Richard closed his mouth.
"I was to be an inside man. You know about Project Kr, aka Superboy, and the Roy Harper clone." Richard said.
Bruce nodded.
"I think I have the same programming." Richard said.
"What makes you think that?" Bruce asked.
"Well, I remember going to Cadmus Labs, but I don't remember what happened while I was there. I go in and talk to the same doctor and leave." Richard recalled.
Bruce thought for a moment.
"We'll have one of the Martians look for anything that resembles the programming in Superboy and the Roy Harper clone." He said.
A thought clicked in Bruce's mind.
"How did you know Red Arrow was Roy Harper?" He asked.
Richard thought for a moment.
"I think I know who all the heroes are…" Richard trailed.
"If Master Richard knows, does that mean the Court and, in turn, the Light knows?" Alfred asked.
"It's a very real possibility." Bruce answered.
"They don't know." Richard said confidently.
"How do you know that?" Bruce asked.
"Because I figured them all out and didn't tell them. To my knowledge, only the Court and the League of Assassins know that Bruce Wayne is Batman, which also means they know Red Hood and Robin's identities." Richard reasoned.
"Guys!" Jason yelled as he burst into the room.
Tim following him.
"What is it?" Bruce asked.
"We know what the Light is planning." Tim said.