Talon knew it was a tool.
Talon knew it was a weapon.
Talon knew it was The Gray Son, the chosen one, the one who would lead the Court of Owls to conquer Gotham City.
Talon knew that it belonged exclusively to the Court of Owls and its Masters.
Talon knew all this and more.
However, in spite of this, Talon found himself terrified at the mere idea of returning to his Master and Owls and being hibernated for who knows how long, with it being able to sense the passage of time but not being sure how much time had actually passed.
Talon could therefore not return from the Court of Owls.
Yet Talon felt empty and useless without someone to give it orders.
Because even though Talon was now no longer in the Court of Owls and this did not mean that one day its Masters would not take it back and return it to where it rightfully belonged it still remained a tool, a weapon.
And as such Talon had to belong to someone.
Ergo, Talon needed a new Master who would give it orders to be executed perfectly with no margin for error.
It was a simple and clear concept for Talon.
Talon noticed how dangerous and deadly Slade Wilson, Deathstroke The Terminator, actually was.
Its defeat against him could testify to that.
Talon did not think about how its Masters, particularly Cobb, would be disappointed if they learned of its recent pathetic defeat.
Talon did not want to think at all about what punishment they would devise for it. Because they could have thought of literally any atrocity to which to subject it.
Talon noticed how Wilson was able to conduct Talon's nonlife at his will.
So Talon decided that Slade Wilson, Deathstroke The Terminator, was its new Master whom Talon must scrupulously obey, follow all his orders and accept all the punishments he would inflict on it.
Although Talon was confused when its new Master called it Richard.
Who was this Richard?
And why had its Master called it that again?
It was probably a test that Talon had to pass, and perhaps it consisted in the fact that Talon was to carry out its Master's orders only when he called it by its real name.
After all, even the Court of Owls had made sure of this.
So Talon waited for its Master to call it by its name before getting up, just as it was ordered.
Talon was confused when the other man Wintergreen was he also its new Master? Talon thought so referred to it as Richard.
Talon did not know who this Richard was, but if his new Masters wanted to change its name, then Talon should have obeyed without opposition.
After all, Talon was a weapon, a tool.
And it would remain so forever.
"Talon is now the property of its new Master."
"Talon is now the property of its new Master."
Slade turned toward the kiddo with such speed that it was almost a miracle that his neck had not snapped. He met two golden eyes that stared at him with a blank, blank stare.
"Fuck. Tell me you didn't feel the same thing I did."
"Then I should tell you a lie, Slade."
The super soldier closed his eye briefly. "I hate the fucking Court of Owls."
Neither man missed Talon's absolutely terrified look at the mention of the Court. It lasted only a few milliseconds before the kiddo reassumed an indifferent look but still they saw it.
"Me too." there was a pause that lasted about ten seconds. "Now what are you going to do?"
Slade sighed for what must have been the hundredth time. "First of all, we need to get out of this fucking city." William nodded. "And, I can't believe I'm about to say this, let's take the kiddo with us. We can't leave him here when the Court of Owls is most likely looking for its Gray Son and shit." he spat venomously. "And let's not forget the Bat. Who knows how many experiments he will do to the kiddo if he catches him."
Randolph skeptically raised an eyebrow. "He is Batman. As bad as he may be, surely he is not a mentally ill man who experiments on any human, let alone a child."
The mercenary paused. "Point taken." he reluctantly admitted. "But I still don't trust him, so Richard will come with us."
A knowing smirk appeared between Wintergreen's lips along with a twinkle in his eyes. "I see with pleasure that you have already grown fond of the boy, Slade."
Slade stared at him as if he had grown two heads and huffed. "I remind you that you are talking to Deathstroke The Terminator." he mocked him. "I don't get attached to anyone, least of all a murderous kiddo who almost took out my other eye."
"Then why do you want to help him?" the older man asked, continuing to smile.
Slade crossed his arms, not at all impressed by his friend's sudden questioning. "Because even I recognize when there is a limit to the atrocities committed by humanity and I pity Richard. However, this does not mean that I will become attached to him or that suddenly he and I will become best friends. Happy now?" he growled impatiently.
Wintergreen casually waved a hand. "Whatever floats your boat, Slade."
The mercenary growled one more time and stormed off, probably muttering some insult at Wintergreen who merely chuckled.
In less than two hours Slade, Wintergreen and the kiddo found themselves in New York at Slade Wilson's personal home in which he went to live after his divorce with Adeline. It was a home that was completely isolated from the rest of the city and very difficult to reach: it was quite large that even included a nice outdoor garden, although partially tended exclusively by Wintergreen.
At first glance, no one would say that that was the personal residence of the world's deadliest mercenary, who on the outside had tended it so as not to arouse any suspicion.
In fact, the interior of the house, although very spacious, was almost empty of personal decorations except for a few pictures concerning Slade along with his kids: one picture showed the former soldier and a seventeen-year-old Grant, another showed him and a six-year-old Joey, and yet another showed him and a four-year-old Rose.
Again, the paintings served a function more to divert suspicion than for Slade's personal interest.
Or at least that is what he continually claimed.
Be that as it may, Slade gave a tour to the kiddo who merely followed him without making a sound, which slightly disturbed the super soldier but which he eventually shrugged off. Briefly he showed him every room, including Wilson's personal gymnasium accessible to everyone and the secret room where he trained with all kinds of weapons and objects possible, and all the way the Talon did nothing but nod only when Slade spoke directly to him.
This made his hatred of the Court of Owls increase even more.
Eventually lunchtime arrived and Wintergreen prepared a nice plate of Italian spaghetti, serving a plate to Slade, Richard and himself. Both men noticed how Richard began to stare at his fork and knife with a look that was indecipherable to them and then stared oddly at the plate of spaghetti and finally he stared directly at Slade, his golden eyes showing confusion about what he was probably supposed to do.
Wintergreen stared worriedly at Slade who pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why the fuck do I get the impression those bastards never fed him?"
"Don't swear in front of a child." Wintergreen scolded him and ignored Slade's glare. "And unfortunately, I think you're right."
The younger man let out a long sigh, already feeling his appetite diminish considerably. "I'm afraid that that substance you mentioned earlier is the reason not only for Richard's new physiology and abilities but also for the fact that he probably doesn't need to eat at all, if I interpreted his confusion correctly."
"Try ordering him to eat." suggested Wintergreen and anyone would wither under Deathstroke's deadly gaze but he did not even wince. "Look, I don't like the idea either but the kiddo has to eat, need or not. And if the only way is for you to give him an order, then so be it.
"You can't seriously expect Richard to be able to heal at any moment just because you long for it. It will be a long, slow process that will require a lot of time, effort and sacrifice from all of us. Even the smallest action, such as eating independently, is actually a big step forward for Richard who most likely will not even have had the free will to go to the bathroom alone." he paused briefly and then murmured. "Always if he needs it."
The mercenary ignored the last statement and sighed. He instead stared at the kiddo, who returned the gaze. "You may eat, Talon."
Richard blinked slowly, motionless and rigid.
"Eat, Talon."
Still nothing.
Slade groaned annoyed. "I'm going to kill all those bastards."
Bracing himself mentally, he decided to try to eat him first so he could give the kiddo a demonstration. Moving slowly Slade first picked up the fork, then placed it between the spaghetti, wrapped it with the fork and took it to his mouth. He chewed ever so slowly and finally after a few seconds he swallowed the food.
Although Slade just felt like he was the dumbest man in the world to have just acted in such a way, he noticed how Richard's eyes followed his every move in the same way as a predator follows the moves of its prey. Eventually he returned his eyes fixed on Slade, who nodded to him. "Your turn, R-Talon."
The golden eyes glittered slightly in what Slade hoped was understanding. Talon grabbed the fork and after a few slightly clumsy attempts he managed to wrap the spaghetti. Slowly he brought the food to his lips and after a brief hesitation he took it into his mouth.
Slade and Wintergreen stared anxiously and with trepidation at Richard chewing his food and they noticed how a few seconds later his golden eyes glowed noticeably. They both recognized that as a twinkle of happiness that, though brief, was nonetheless present. Surprising the two former soldiers, Richard wrapped his fork around more spaghetti and just as they were inches from his lips he froze, staring intently at Slade.
It took a few seconds before Slade realized that the kiddo was waiting for his permission to eat and momentarily burying deep in anger toward the Court of Owls he nodded, barely holding back a smile when he saw Richard practically binge eating.
Wintergreen opened his mouth, probably to tell the kiddo to slow down, but he was preceded by the mercenary. "Don't you dare interrupt him."
"He might choke if he eats so fast." William pointed out, frowning slightly.
"He has literally suffered worse."
"This does not, however, confirm that Richard is basically immortal. Whatever they injected him with is likely similar to your super serum, and I know for sure that you are not immortal and that you too could die by choking on food."
Wintergreen did not hide a smile when immediately Slade advised Richard to eat more slowly and the kiddo, though clearly confused, obeyed anyway.
Although a short time had passed, it was obvious that Slade cared deeply for the kiddo.
Now, if only he would admit it…
Talon was rather confused about its new Masters.
Compared to Cobb and its previous Owls, they behaved differently, in a more... gentle way.
Almost as if they genuinely cared about Talon.
But Talon knew that this was impossible.
After all, Talon was a weapon and a tool owned exclusively by its Master.
Talon was no longer a person.
So there was no reason to worry about Talon when Talon was... just Talon.
Nothing more nothing less.
Be that as it may, Talon was pleasantly surprised by what its Masters called "food." As soon as Talon put it in its mouth it felt an explosion of heavenly taste overwhelm its taste buds.
Talon had never experienced such a positive feeling since its previous Masters were only concerned with brutally training it, torturing it and sending it on missions.
However, Talon knew not to let its guard down.
Just because its new Masters were behaving kindly toward it did not at all mean that they would continue to behave kindly toward Talon.
Talon did not deserve their kindness at all.
Talon did nothing to deserve it.
So Talon should have kept its concentration high, not be attracted by their kindness, do their orders, and suffer whatever right punishment they would give him.
Because Talon deserved only that.
Because Talon was born with only one purpose.
To eternally serve its Masters until they deemed it completely useless.