Unforeseen Problems
Robin gazes down at the paper in horror, all these locations, popular hotspots filled with people and hidden bombs set to go off.
"Scour Titans Tower and Titans Island, now!" he ordered.
They scowaered the island, Starfire found it, "It is attached to the bottom of the Tower!"
"Starfire, rip it out and toss it into the Ocean, and check for the timer!"
"But if I break the cords it could go off!" she protested.
"Just rip out that section of the wall!" Robin ordered.
Starfire tore out the wall and picked up the bomb, "There is a timer; it has a date set for two days from now!"
Starifre flew far away from the Tower and dropped the bomb into the ocean.
She flew back to the Tower, "The bomb is disposed of, but there are more, should we go out and find them?"
"I'd say yes, we need to disarm them, I don't care if it takes all night!" Robin ordered.
"Right!" the Titans replied. They each headed to the locations, scattering and trying to search for the bombs, but they were all very tired and trying to fight off sleep.
"Robin!" Raven exclaimed in horror, "The bombs timers have been accelerated! They only have five minutes!"
"Get the citizens out of there!" Robin ordered.
Each Titan began giving orders to citizens, ordering them to evacuate because of the bombs, people began screaming, running away in panic, Beast Boy tried to pull the bomb out of the wall, but none of the animals he could shift into could pull it out.
Cyborg tried to cut the wires, only to find that he'd cut the wrong one, Raven immediately formed a shiledd around the bomb, hoping to contain the blast. Starfire ripped out another bomb and flew it to the harbor, but it was still too far away, so she went straight up, taking it as high as she could, hoping that the impact wouldn't be felt below.
Robin gazed in horror as he attempted the freeze the bomb, there was thirty seconds left...fifteen...ten...
He was mortified; the Teen Titans had failed to protect their city.
Unexpectedly, the timer stopped at five seconds. Robin breathed a huge sigh of relief as he quickly dismantled the explosive.
He gazed up at the sky, "Thanks mom." He was so grateful to have her in the city, at that moment, he didn't care about black and white, good and evil, or moral codes, she'd saved the city and it was enough for him.
Shurik Ivanko arrived home from his favorite bar, he'd been out drinking and sulking, his employer Yuri Karanov hadn't paid him yet, it was irritating and after all the effort it took to gather materials and create his bombs. He had done well but the Russian weasel had tricked him.
He didn't even see Natasha as he entered the room, but felt her hit him as she slammed him into the wall.
"Aaah!" he screamed in surprise.
She pointed her gun in his face.
"Who are you?" Shurik asked fearfully.
"It doesn't matter. I'm just one of the bad guys, I just want you to stop the bombs, if you don't I'll kill you, simple as that."
["No Mr. Ivanko, we'll kill you first,"] a Russian man said to him, he and his goons aimed their guns at them.
["Oh, hey there fellas. You come to fix the toilet?"] Natasha sarcastically asked the band of 20 Russian gangsters all pointing their guns at her.
They opened fire, Natasha avoided the fire, yanking Shurik out of the way and returned fire.
Natasha pushed Shurik behind cover, "Dismantle the bombs, stop the timers! Now!" She pointed the gun at his head to motivate him. Shurik did as she said and turned off the timers with his laptop. She suddenly shot him in the head, letting him slump over, she threw down a smoke grenade through her wrist cartridges and rushed in as the Russian gangsters were disoriented.
She avoided gunshots with a handspring and garroted the nearest gangster, choking the life out of him as she used his body to shield herself from more gunfire.
She slammed her open fist into one of the men's faces as she hit him with the butt of her empty gun.
["'Sokay, I got more,"] she told them as she quickly reloaded her handgun. Slamming the pistol butt into his face. He hit the floor.
["Wait! Wait! Wait! I Can get you money!"] The man on the floor begged.
["I don't give a crap!"] Natasha snapped. As if she could be bribed with something as fleeting as money.
["I have money! Clean! Government rewards—!"] He panicked.
["I don't give a—"] Natasha prepared to pull the trigger.
["I KNOW WHERE SLADE IS! AND THE COURT TOO!"]
["Okay, now you have my full attention,"] Natasha lowered the gun a little, the man began to talk and boy did he talk.
The Titans arrived back at the Tower, Robin had too much of an adrenaline rush to sleep.
"Dude, let's look up stuff about your mom!" Beast Boy suggested as Robin sat at his computer.
"C'mon man, you know you want to!" Cyborg laughed.
Robin looked up her name, and was in awe of the information on his mother.
Robin gazed at the screen, stunned and silent. His mother, if he could believe anything he was reading was an experienced spy, a covert operative and a former assassin for the KGB.
One thing struck him about her, particularly a YouTube video of a Senate hearing.
"Agent, you should know that there are some on this committee who feel given your service record, both for this country and against it, that you belong in a penitentiary, not mouthing off on Capital Hill."
"You're not going to put me in a prison; you're not going to put any of us in a prison. You know why?"
"Do enlighten us," the committee member commented sarcastically.
"Because you need us. Yes, the world is a vulnerable place, and yes, we helped make it that way. But we're also the ones best qualified to defend it, so if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me."
Robin's mouth dropped open a little as he watched his mother saunter out of the senate chambers followed by a sea of photographers and press.
"Dude, your mom is amazing!" Beast Boy laughed.
"Rob, have you even looked up half your mother's exploits? Wow!" Cyborg stared at his iPad in awe, "Her work with the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., she was director?!"
"Guys I don't know what to think, honestly. She's just so different from what I remember about her. I'm just really disturbed by the high body count she has. I heard stories about the Black Widow, that people who are hired to kill her end up dead."
"You know we don't condone her actions, but she's saved the world a hundred times over," Cyborg reminded him. "Her morals are different from ours, but she doesn't like killing people, she's just been trained to do that, and that's not an excuse for what she's done, we just can't put her into a category labeled "criminal" and treat her like we treat all the others. She's done a lot of legit work."
"She doesn't seem like the type of person to be your mom," Beast Boy pointed out.
"What are you going to do Robin?" Starfire asked curiously. "She saved our city, and we know it."
"Unfortunately, she's under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sanction, if she kills it's part of her mission, she works for the government and we can't get in the way," Raven sighed. "You know Robin, she was very happy to see you earlier tonight."
"I know, now I need to talk to Director Fury," Robin told them.
"That won't be necessary Robin," Natasha's voice told them, they whirled around in surprise.
"How do you keep getting in here?" Beast Boy asked curiously.
"The front door," she laughed.
"It figures the door would let her in," Cyborg sighed. The door only opened for Titan DNA and since she was Robin's mother, she'd have DNA that would open the door.
Dick Grayson realized how much he'd missed his mother's smile and laughter.
Robin spotted his mother, wearing a Tiffany Hearts arrow pendant, he didn't ever remember seeing her wear one, but then he remembered his mother's vast history in espionage and heroism. There was only one man who she associated with who used a bow and arrow, Cliff Barton.
Robin knew he'd have to talk to her about her extensive love life, but not right now.
"Besides Slade, why are you still here?" Robin asked.
"I have a list of names, locations, people, a blacklist. People I need to deal with. That sounds exciting! That's why we're all here, of course. My wish list, a list I've been cultivating for over 20 years: politicians, mobsters, hackers, spies. Bad people who need to be brought down, taken out, whatever you want to call it, and I'd like your resources, nothing more Titans."
"Why would you want our help?" Robin asked, his personal relationship with her aside, this was business.
"Because a monster is in your city, it's been here for years, it's just been sleeping, but now it's going to wake up. It's bigger than you guys and even Slade."
"What is it mom?" Robin asked.
"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."
"It's a nursery rhyme, a bedtime story to scare children," Robin told his mother, he'd heard the story for years, but in all his work with Batman, he'd not seen anything, not one sign of the Court of Owls.
"Son, in Russia, I'm a scary story told to kids at night, in Gotham so are you and Batman. The Court of Owls exists and I've been watching them for years."
"In Soviet Russia, there was a story circulated among the spies that when they tried to infiltrate Gotham City, a team of covert operatives were slaughtered by a giant bird. I've checked into it and they called it a Talon, for years I couldn't find out what it meant, until I met your father at Haly's Circus."
She smiled at him, "But enough of that now, we'll discuss work tomorrow. Now—" she moved to enfold Robin in a gentle hug. "I just want to make up for lost time."
He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly. "I missed you, mom! So much!"
"I know little Robin, I know. I love you."
"Love you too, Mom."
There wasn't a dry eye in the room.
It was broad daylight, under a hot bridge in Jump City, two construction workers glanced over at each other, they were hanging off the side of the bridge.
"Cal, hey Calvin, you okay?" John asked, curious. They'd been friends for years, they worked together, Calvin knew John's son, and they'd been the rising stars of their profession.
"Yeah John, I'm fine," Calvin Rose replied.
They'd also done the impossible; they'd escaped the Court of Owls, together.
"How are Sara and Casey?" John asked.
"They're fine and hiding in the city, like I told them," Calvin told him. "We're going to hit the Court, hard, we're going to take their money, that's what they love most."
"Casey cooked up this plan with Sebastian Clark, I don't trust him, something about him is off. I don't like it. Not one bit," John warned Calvin.
"John, are you going to find Natasha? Are you going to tell her about the Court of Owls?" Calvin asked curiously, trying to get his friend's attention. "Grayson?"
John had told Calvin everything when they were down in the labyrinth together, the Court had made an odd exception to their rules and let them team up to take on the previous Talon.
During those three days, John had told Calvin about his wife, just her first name, nothing about the Avengers until they had escaped the Labyrinth.
"I don't need to tell her about the Court of Owls, Cal, she knows, she knew everything when she married me, she knew all about them and she still chose me."
"Your wife has horrible taste in men," Calvin teased him.
"Cal, shut up!" John Grayson growled.
"She's been fighting them for years, but they never knew it was her, but she's not done with them yet, she told me a long time ago, she was going to destroy them, but she's not like you, Calvin, you want them in jail, she's going to kill them, all of them."
"How come she didn't declare all out war on them?"
"Because of Dick, she'd put him in danger, and she didn't want that. I wanted to do something, especially since she discovered the Court chose Dick for their next Talon, but she said she'd only strike when she was ready. It's going to be bad when she does, because a lot of bad guys are gonna die."
"Do you know where she is now?" Calvin glanced over at John.
"I don't know, but we'll find each other somehow, we always do."
They noticed a man near the top of the bridge, it looked like he was about to jump.
They both rushed to stop him, suddenly; the man was hit by a dozen throwing knives.
"No! Not you!" Calvin hissed.
The Talon began to laugh, "You both thought you could run away and hide? The Court of Owls will always find you. You both can never be free. The Court has plans for you both, especially you Mr. Grayson."
John embedded a pair of throwing knives in the Talon's eyes, "Go crawl back to the Court and tell them, they're not hunting me, I'm hunting them!"
John kicked the Talon off the bridge and into the water below.
Author's Note: Yes, RACHEL, now you've seen everything.