Patchwork Siblings
A Batman fanfic by Raberba girl
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Inspired by AstraEllis
Summary: Years ago, young Dick Grayson was taken by the Court of Owls and made into a Talon. When Talon is flung into an alternate universe where Dick Grayson was taken in by Bruce Wayne instead, he latches onto the first familiar person he sees.
(Or: Little Bat-stalker Tim Drake is understandably alarmed to find that an undead assassin has imprinted on him.)
Chapter 1 - The Stalker Becomes the Stalked [rough draft 2]
Talon is following orders, about to cut the throat of his assigned target, when he is interrupted.
"Now!"
"Get him!"
A swarm of colorful people burst out of hiding and attack him. Talon springs back and starts to defend himself even as he identifies the people interfering with his mission: Troia, the younger Flash, Cyborg, Tempest, Raven, Arsenal, Starfire, and Changeling. They are known collectively as the Titans, and this is not the first time Talon has fought them.
After last time, when the ones the Court wished to experiment on managed to escape and destroyed much of the facility in the process, Talon's orders regarding the Titans changed from 'subdue and capture' to 'kill on sight.' He's trying, but it's difficult. Unlike most of Talon's targets, the Titans are numerous, skilled, and good at teamwork.
Talon's right arm is broken and his left thigh has been impaled, pinning him to the structure behind him. He is failing. He will be captured soon if he doesn't find a way out of this. He scrabbles for the closest loose object to use as a projectile, but before he can hurl it, a different group of colorful people burst into view around a corner, shouting. He recognizes them as the Titans West, enemies of both the Titans and the Court.
The Titans and the Titans West fight each other. Talon is appreciative: this has given him a chance to improve his performance and hopefully eliminate any need to be punished.
He rips the metal free of his leg and forces himself to stand. He is able to ignore the pain, as he was trained, but he can't force his leg to hold him when it is so badly damaged. He sets a hand on the wall and drags himself after his original target. His leg is already healing; soon, it will be strong enough for him to pursue properly and put an end to the target. Then he can come back and finish off the Titans.
"Watch it!" Sometimes blasts the building he's touching. Talon ducks and glances behind him. A Titan and one of their enemies are grappling over an unknown type of firearm. As they struggle for control of the weapon, it emits another blast of energy.
Talon's leg isn't healing fast enough. He tries to dodge, but is too slow. The blast hits him in the shoulder.
He blinks. He's not sure what just happened. All the colorful people are gone, and there is no damage to the buildings around him. It's still nighttime, but it sounds much quieter. Instead of battle, there is simply the sound of traffic and distant music. A few people pass by, dressed in civilian clothes. They glance at Talon warily but otherwise simply go about their business.
Talon...has to find the target. He resumes dragging himself down the street, keeping an eye out for the man and hoping that his wounds heal quickly.
As soon as they do, he climbs up to the rooftops. It gives him a much better view, but he can't see his target anywhere he looks.
What he does see is something odd: a child climbing down a fire escape. Talon has seen children before, but rarely unaccompanied or looking so purposeful. He watches until the child drops to the ground in an alley and looks around.
Talon recognizes the child's face. That's the Tim-Owl, the one who sometimes speaks kindly to him and gives him things that taste pleasant on his tongue. The Tim-Owl is significantly smaller than he was last time Talon saw him, but...he's the Tim-Owl. Talon doesn't know what happened to the Titans and he is confused and this place doesn't seem right and he can't find his target and he's uncertain which orders or protocols are most important to follow, but it's all right now. The Tim-Owl will tell him what to do.
He drops down into the alley in front of the Tim-Owl and presents himself, kneeling, eyes respectfully on the ground. He waits for orders.
o.o.o
Tim's heart nearly leaps out of his chest when a figure drops out of the sky right in front of him. The person is dressed in a costume, which instantly sets even more of Tim's mental alarm bells blaring. A costume doesn't always equal 'villain,' but in Gotham City? At night? When Tim's alone? He's not going to take his chances.
The only reason he doesn't flee immediately is because, in the second he was frozen in surprise, he registered that the person wasn't attacking. The person is, in fact, now down on one knee like a knight of old, head bowed.
Tim feels...very strange, being knelt to. "Um, hi?" he squeaks. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna just, uh, be going, now. Bye!" He backs up, turning a little sideways so he can keep one eye on the bird-masked creep and one eye on his escape route.
Bird-mask lifts their head but doesn't move, and Tim feels a moment of hope that maybe he can get out of this unscathed. But then Bird-mask rises to their feet with inhuman grace and stalks toward Tim, who yelps and makes a break for the street. Maybe Bird-mask will be more reluctant to kill him out in the open with witnesses.
Tim pelts down the sidewalk, expecting to be pounced on at any moment. After he's been running for several minutes straight, he risks a peek over his shoulder.
Bird-mask is following him. Not attacking, but...definitely following him, dark-lensed goggles fixed on him. Other pedestrians are giving both Tim and Bird-mask a wide berth, a few of them on their phones (hopefully calling the police). Tim jerks to a stop, breathlessly experimental. Bird-mask halts, mirroring him.
Tim swears softly under his breath, then tries to smile. "H-Hey~! So, uh... You're, um, following me? What do you...want?"
After a moment, a quiet, slightly raspy voice says, "What are my orders, Master?"
Tim swears again, this time more emphatically. "Wow, okay!" A creepy bird-person just imprinted on him, no big deal, nope, not at all. At least Bird-mask isn't trying to kill or kidnap him? Yay? "My, um, my orders are to, uh, stop following me. Okay?"
After a long moment, Bird-mask says, "Yes, Master. What else?"
'What ELSE?!' Tim thinks frantically. "Ummm, how about this. Instead of following me, your orders are to..." He racks his brains for a positive task that won't have any chance of harming anyone. "...to pick up all the litter in Durango Park and put it in the trash. Okay?"
There's another long pause, and Tim holds his breath. "Litter," Bird-mask finally echoes tonelessly.
"Yeah, like...paper or food wrappers that people dropped, stuff that's bad for the plants, you know? I think the city has people who clean up every so often, but you can, you know. Help them out. Put that stuff in the trash cans so it doesn't hurt the plants or get washed into our water supply or something." He bites his lip and holds his breath.
"Yes, Master." Bird-mask springs, jumping way higher than any normal human could, and then they're gone.
Tim exhales forcefully and runs again in a completely different direction until he's far enough away to stop and summon a rideshare. He watches out the windows the entire way home, but he doesn't see the creepy weirdo again.
That doesn't stop him from having a nightmare later about being chased down by a bird-faced monster.
o.o.o
Talon searches for green spaces until he finds one with a sign that says 'Durango Park.' He moves through the area, picking up discarded pieces of paper and plastic and putting them in the bins set here and there around the area. Then he looks for shelter and waits there as the sun rises and makes its way across the sky.
He followed orders. He wasn't punished. But something is not right. The Tim-Owl seemed...frightened. Talon wants to stop whatever is frightening the Tim-Owl, but he doesn't know what it is. And the Tim-Owl ordered him not to follow. So Talon can't get any new orders, and he doesn't know what to do.
He learned long ago how to be completely still for as long as necessary, but as his distress rises, a few of his muscles start to twitch outside his control. Talon does not need to breathe, but he starts doing so now, carefully and quietly. He draws in each breath, holds it, and slowly lets it out again until the muscle spasms stop.
The Tim-Owl did not put a time limit on how long Talon is not permitted to follow him. He also did not forbid Talon from looking for him. Once night comes again, Talon will look for the Tim-Owl, and will present himself before he has to follow.
He hopes that whatever orders the Tim-Owl gives him will be similar to the last one. Picking up 'litter' was...different. No blood was spilled and no one died.
It was...better.
o.o.o
After the narrow escape he had last time, Tim is a little nervous about going into the city tonight, but in the end, he can't resist temptation. He is warier than usual, though, constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure he's not being followed.
He nearly jumps out of his skin at one point when he sees a reflection of moonlight on goggle lenses and realizes that his new 'friend' is perched in the shadows, watching him. He runs, and Bird-mask doesn't follow.
Unfortunately, a few minutes later, just when Tim starts hoping he might have lost his stalker, Bird-mask slinks out of an alley, picks up a piece of garbage, deposits it in a nearby trash can - then glances at Tim as if for approval.
Tim shoots them a double thumbs-up and tries not to sound hysterical when he says, "Good job! Awesome work! Keep it up! Bye now!" and power-walks past.
It doesn't work. Every other block or so, Bird-mask practically appears out of nowhere, hopefully disposing of more litter. Tim ducks into an alley to try to figure out what to do next when he hears a cry from somewhere high up and a familiar gravelly voice making demands.
Tim darts across the street, ignoring a blaring car horn, and ducks around a corner so Batman won't see him taking photos. He whips up his camera and zooms in on the building he's now across the street from, where Batman is dangling some hapless crook over the edge. A few other people have their cell phones out, but Tim knows that whatever they capture is going to be blurry at best.
He, however, already has his settings optimized, and this is nowhere near the first time he's photographed a Bat interrogation. Even as he notices the rapid rise and fall of the man's chest and worries about a potential heart attack, he's simultaneously delighted by the breeze that dramatically flares Batman's cape at just the right moment for Tim to capture it.
Tim notices but is too distracted to react to Bird-mask crouched on a ledge above him.
Batman finishes his business and lets the line drop. The man screams in terror. The line jerks to a stop just before he hits the ground, then Batman does something and the line abruptly releases and retracts. The man he'd been demanding answers of falls the last couple of inches, collapses in a heap on the ground, and bursts into sobs.
Tim yanks his hood up and hurries back over, dodging traffic again. "Hey, are you all right?" he asks.
"Can't...can't breathe...can't breathe...!"
Tim calls 9-1-1 and then coaches the man through calming exercises as bystanders either resume their business or lazily continue recording. Bird-mask, having moved to a closer rooftop, is still observing. As soon as emergency lights become visible down the street, Tim runs again.
"Master," Bird-mask calls, keeping pace above, "what are your orders?"
"Litter," Tim gasps out, then slows and slumps against a brick wall, panting. This sucks.
He tries to go about his usual activities, but it's difficult to concentrate when he's hyper-aware of Bird-mask, who is still following him while dutifully cleaning up litter along the way.
Tim finally gives up and plops down on a stoop in a back alley, putting his face in his hands. Bird-mask doesn't make a sound, but Tim can still feel them staring at him. Tim finally looks up. "What's your name?"
"...Talon."
"Why am I your master?"
"Talon serves the Owls."
Tim has no idea what to make of this. "Sooo...does that make me an owl?"
"Yes."
"What is an owl?" Tim tries, since he doubts this weirdo is referring to literal nocturnal birds.
"A master."
"Ah. Makes perfect sense," Tim says hopelessly. At least the creepy stalker doesn't seem inclined to hurt him. "So you'll just- what, do anything I say?"
"Yes, Master."
Tim opens his mouth to order Talon to go away, but then he hears two or three people approaching down the alley and quickly moves back to the sidewalk. Then his phone pings with a notification of a Rogue attack, and he calls a rideshare.
TBC