51. Legacy

Robin was covered in blood, breathing hard as the impossibly young William Cobb continued to pound his face into the dirt.

Dick is sick of his Great-Grandfather's whining. Constantly saying that the Graysons were supposed to be the true Children of Gotham. Angsting about how his life didn't turn out the way he wanted after his lover Amelia got pregnant and her family found out. Since she was a rich woman, they could brush him aside and cover it up since he was just a talented knife juggler.

He could hardly believe that he and his father were descended from this selfish, arrogant murderer. Did he honestly expect Dick to believe that his parents would have let him be taken away to the Court of Owls if they hadn't died? Mr. Haly had made a deal with them to present their youths to the Court in so they could choose their next assassin. Dick had no idea what they'd been holding over Mr. Haly, but there was no way that his parents would have sat by and just let them take their son away.

This mutated freak might have been a blood relation, but this wasn't the legacy he wanted to leave behind. He didn't care that this was his great-grandfather; he would take him down just like any other criminal.

52. Bones

Bruce punched him hard. So hard one of his teeth came out. "You were supposed to be one too, Dick," Bruce showed him the tooth, the electrum and the embossing of the Court of the Owls.

"I…I was supposed to be…a Talon?"

They really did want to turn him into a zombie assassin didn't they?

Beast Boy's loud voice broke the silence, "Dude, called it, zombie mind control!"

They might have been able to engrave something into his bones. But a Talon wasn't who he was.

53. Nursery Rhyme

"Mary, you can't sing him that nursery rhyme!" John scolded his wife. "It's morbidly disturbing!"

"It's about birds, and I call him Little Robin, what's the big deal about a nursery rhyme about owls?" Mary shrugged.

"Oh, you mean, 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 just a nursery rhyme honey," Mary tried to placate him.

"Nothing's just a nursery rhyme, especially when it comes out of Gotham City."

"The Court of Owls isn't real."

"You never know, but every time I hear that, it gives me the creeps." He was lying, he did know, and it definitely gave him the creeps.

54. Birds

His life was surrounded by birds. He was born on the first day of spring. His mother called him Little Robin. Robin was his sidekick name. Nightwing was his adult persona. He fought his Great-Grandpa William, again, and he kept insisting he was an Owl, a member of the Talons. Dick turned him down, because his offer was, well, for the birds.

55. Twisted

He hated the Talons, the Court of Owls and even his Great-Grandfather William Cobb. Not because they were evil, they were just another group of bad guys. What he hated was the fact that they took his childhood home and twisted it into something ugly, breaking what was good and tainting it.

56. Alike

He told himself he would never be like Slade, but he was, he just implemented it differently. Learning about his family heritage made it even more apparent. But fortunately, he didn't believe in destiny, and could shout "Screw destiny!" anytime he wanted. And it seemed he'd been doing that a lot lately.

57. Blood

"Come now, Nightwing, you have a legacy that impresses me, and I wasn't wrong when I told you we were so much alike. And I thought Raven's heritage was a surprise to me," Slade crossed his arms. "She's been evil from birth. You've had evil in your family for generations. It's in your blood."

"My heritage is not impressive, I was a kid who grew up in the circus, and had two good parents, and my apple fell very far from William Cobb's tree."

58. Broken

He's been trapped for a week in that labyrinth, they were trying to break him, turn him into one of them. Dick couldn't help but laugh. They couldn't break Bruce, why did they possibly think they could break him? His heritage was not a weakness, it was strength, and he wouldn't be a broken man when his friends and family arrived to rescue him, if he didn't walk out on his own already.

59. Run Away

John Grayson was ten years old. His dad was taking them to visit grandpa. He played on the floor while the adults talked.

"He's not ready," Frederick said, "He's too soft, you can see it in his face."

"But he's a Grayson, this is our legacy," William scowled. "We will have to see if the court chooses him."

20 years later…

"How could you not be chosen John, you are the top acrobat at Haly's Circus? You could replace that sloppy klutz Alton Carver, you, a Grayson; your grandfather is ashamed of you!" His father kept hitting him over and over.

"I heard stories about what happens to the "special" people they pick. I will not be what you are. I promise you that. Until the day I die, I will never be like you."

"You can't run away from who you are!" his father shouted.

"I can try. I never want to see you again, and you stay away from my son, Mary just had Dick yesterday. I will not let Dick become a killer like you!"

"No matter how hard you try, that bird will become a Talon. The Court has already decided that he will replace Alton."

"They can't decide that, he's only a baby."

"But I'm sure they will reconsider if you were to request it," his father's voice was almost kindly. "You don't want Dick to live this sort of life do you?'

"No, I don't, but this place is as two-faced as it gets, making children smile and laugh while on the same grounds a man is locked inside his trailer as it's lit on fire to "overcome" his fear of death! It's people like you that sicken me. I will always live to make people happy. I will not live to make them die!"

"It's be a pity if you wife found out what you really are."

"I've never killed anyone," John glared.

"Wouldn't it be devastating to her if she found out she married into a family of murderers?"

"You say one word to her, and I will kill you!" John was beyond furious. They would not drag his wife into the dark side of this family.

"Heh," Frederick smiled smugly. "So you do have it in you. No matter what you wish, no matter where you go, no matter how you squirm, we will take your son, and there is nothing you can do to stop it." John's father glared hatefully at his son.

"Over my dead body," John growled.

"I look forward to it."

60. Apology

"John, please let me see him," the voice was desperate.

"Why, you here because of family business?" John hated talking to him.

"No, John, I'm dying, I just want to see my grandson before the cancer takes me."

"Fine, you can see him," John called Dick over; "Your Grandpa came to see us." He kept his voice cheerful.

The visit itself was uneventful. He told them that he had found a dentist in Gotham who would pay for their appointment.

They went and everything seemed normal, but John saw the dentist come out and tell him that his son had done just fine during his cleaning. Suddenly, the man leaned forward.

"No matter what you do, the boy will become a Talon, we have already marked him and it's only a matter of time before we take him, whether you or your wife agree to it or not."

"You lying son of a—"

"Careful Mr. Grayson, we are in public," the dentist warned him.

So his Father lied all along, his visit wasn't just a social call, it was a way for him to gain John's trust so he would let his guard down. He should have suspected that the man would never apologize. He would never let them have Dick, even if he had to die to stop them.