Chapter 17
William rests, sitting up on what he calls his bed. He doesn't truly require sleep, but having somewhere to lay down helps him to still feel somewhat human. He acknowledges he's a monster, but he is the gray between black and white, he may not be perfectly on one side or the other, but that never mattered to his sweet Amelia. Part of him wishes to be reunited with her… but he refuses his final rest, not until Batman is gone, Bruce Wayne lies dead, and the Gray Son of Gotham rules this city. Only then may he retire…
Which makes him think… What can they do to bring the Gray Son of Gotham to their light, rebirth him, baptize him into the child of prophecy…
Then it hits him…
He's still a child, that must be why it didn't work, because it was too much for his small body and that's why he rejected it. Even though his willpower is strong, stronger than any William has seen over the years, he is still a small boy… So a smaller dose oughta do it! He stands up, leaving his room and finds the owls who were helping in the rebirth of his grandson.
"I believe I know what went wrong. Come, we mustn't delay!" William states, so excited he could do cartwheels. Little did he know he was in for a rude awakening… They reach where Dick has been at rest, and find he's gone. William's heart sinks, eyes widen, then he grows uncontrollably angry. Screaming and swiping his arm back into the face of one of the Owls, they fall down, neck snapped. William steps over, leaning on the table, breathing heavily, growling. "I will kill them all… They're all dead!" He turns, storming off.
At that hospital, all tests have been done, there is blood in his skull, but any brain bleeding seems to have stopped on its own. Before long, it should be absorbed into his body. Commissioner Gordon arrives at the hospital, being the one selected to question everybody as he's friends with Bruce Wayne and would be able to get answers out of him better. Even though it's the middle of the day, he pulls his daughter out of school and brings her to the hospital with him so she can see her friend.
"Dick!" Barbara shouts, approaching his bedside immediately. Tears form in her cobalt eyes, head bowing. "How did this happen…?"
"The Court of Owls…" Bruce states.
"Since when are you superstitious?" Jim Gordon asks, crossing his arms and looking at the billionaire philanthropist.
"Since his friends witnessed them take Dick away…" Bruce answers plainly, staring forward, having given Barbara space to be by his side. "They were attacked by men dressed like owls. And they call themselves the Court of Owls." He explains.
"Wait… You're serious…?" Jim questions. Bruce just looks at him. "Well… That certainly… makes things interesting. A secret society of owls, huh?"
"Yes." Bruce answers. Barbara looks up and over at Wally who's now sitting in a chair at Dick's bedside.
"Wh-Who… are you…?" She asks.
"Wally West… I'm… I'm one of Dick's friends." Wally answers, not sure if he could call himself his boyfriend…
"He's mentioned you before…" She says quietly. She turns, holding her hand out to the fellow ginger. "Barbara Gordon." She says. He smiles a little and takes her hand, giving it a shake.
"How long have you known Dick?" Wally asks.
"It was after an accident… I won't go into details, it's not my business to tell, I'm not sure if you know or not…" Barbara says.
"If it's about his family, I know what happened…" Wally says.
"What happened to his family?" Artemis asks, playing dumb. She's not supposed to really know Dick after all.
"Can't really tell you, Arty." Wally says. Artemis's eyes narrow a bit.
"Don't call me Arty…" She mutters, crossing her arms.
"What are you doing here?" Barbara asks, just out of curiosity…
"I happened to be nearby when he was kidnapped." Artemis says. "It happened near my house." She looking away.
"Oh… Oh that must've been scary…" Barbara states quietly.
"It was… But he fought hard, he's a scrappy little guy when he wants to be." Artemis explains, looking back at Barbara.
"Oh definitely." Barbara agrees. "He's been in some fights at school. Usually because a group of kids were bullying another kid, other times someone was trying to bully him, never ends well… For the bully I mean. Dick almost always wins and when he doesn't it's because teachers were able to stop the fight." She explains.
"Wow…" That's all she can find to say.
"Yea… But don't get the wrong idea, he's still a very sweet and playful kid, wouldn't hurt a fly otherwise." Barbara says.
"I believe you." Artemis says.
"I literally saw him nearly crying because he had to kill a fly." Wally says. "He sprayed it with window clearer and it was struggling so he killed it because he felt bad. Not a bad bone in that kid's body." Artemis raises an eyebrow.
"You know what, I really believed that happened… In seventh grade we had to dissect frogs and he wasn't excited or disgusted. He just kept mumbling it was a waste of a little froggy life." Barbara says. "I heard that this year they dissected rubber frogs. No doubt because Bruce Wayne pulled some strings." Barbara looks at the billionaire who is lost in conversation with her father.
"Pfff, that's hilarious. He has such a good heart." Wally says. He gently places a hand on Dick's chest. "A sweet heart… Willing to do anything… for anyone…" Barbara looks at Wally's eyes, they're sorrowful, yet loving, there's a slight pang of jealousy in her heart. Just who is this kid to her bestie…? She bows her head.
Dick coughs a bit, eyelids fluttering. Wally lowers his hand, taking Dick's hand, giving it a small squeeze. Dick squeezes his hand back. Wally bites his lip a moment, then smiles. He reaches his other hand up and pets the top of Dick's head. He coughs again, a bit heavier, a rattling in his chest. But he opens his eyes, Wally's face being the first face he sees. Wally smiles even more. Dick's eyes widen, not in surprise, but fear.
"N-No…" He mumbles, trying to get up, but his body is so weak. "Mm hallucinating…"
"No… You're not… We're here, Dick, I'm here." Wally says. Dick starts crying.
"How can I know…?" He asks, voice cracking, "Th-The maze… I… I thought… I escaped… But… I'm still there… I… s-smell the marble… the… podium…" He tries to feel under him, but his right hand is heavily casted, and his left is in Wally's hand. "M… M… Gonna die here…" Dick sobs, voice cracking more, looking up at the ceiling, staring at the lights. "But… I… I can't… I-I… have to… get back… h-home…" Dick's eyes close again, falling unconscious. Barbara cups her mouth with both her hands, eyes wide, tears form and fall immediately. Artemis hugs her but hasn't taken her eyes off Dick. Barbara turns and buries her face into Artemis's stomach, crying.
"Oh Dick…" Wally mumbles, closing his eyes, bowing his head. A soft sob escapes the ginger boy's throat. "What the hell did they do to you…?!" The little episode didn't go unnoticed by Bruce or Jim.
"Looks like I'm going to have to call his psychiatrist again…" Bruce states. "He had an appointment for next week, but… seems I'll have to see if there's any way to get him in sooner…"
"Dick sees a psychiatrist?" Wally asks. "He never told me…"
"Never told me either…" Barbara mentions.
"He hasn't seen them in about three years, said he no longer needed it. I argued, but I didn't want to force him." Bruce explains.
"About three years ago… Would it… happen to have been the winter shortly after his eleventh birthday…?" Wally asks. Bruce's brows knit.
"Yea. That winter specifically. How'd you guess?" Bruce asks.
"Just luck…" Wally says softly, he turns his attention back to Dick. "Did meeting me make you that happy…?" He smiles a little, gently placing the back of his fingers on Dick's uninjured cheek, stroking it gently. Dick leans into the touch. Wally closes his eyes. "Come back, Dick… please… I need you…"
"I'm getting some coffee. Anyone want any?" Bruce asks. Jim raises his hand.
"Black, two sugars." Jim states.
"Same." Artemis says. Wally doesn't say anything.
"…Can I have a cake pop…?" Barbara asks softly, rather child-like. She's still being held by Artemis.
"Of course, Babs." Bruce says. "Wally?" Still no answer, Bruce sighs a little. "I'll be back." Bruce leaves the room and starts for the car. Alfred stays back with the others. He steps over to Barbara.
"Come, let us see if we can find something at the giftshop for Master Dick." Alfred offers, holding his hand out to her. Barbara pulls away from Artemis, taking Alfred's hand. The two leave. Jim steps closer to Dick Grayson's bed.
"I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I am Commissioner Jim Gordon." He states. He takes a notepad out. "If I may ask, can you both describe the attack and kidnapping?" Artemis and Wally look at each other, then back to the Commissioner.
"Well…" Wally starts. "I was on a walk with Dick and he thought he saw an animal in the alley, so he went to look and there was a man standing there. He had on these weird clothes, a hood that looked like an owl." Wally makes a lot of hand gestures. "He was tall, like really tall. He had these weird knives."
"I heard Wally shout and came out. The owl man tried to grab Dick, but Dick backed out of the way." Artemis explains.
"Yea, and so the owl man tried to tackle him, but Dick kicked him, and then he flipped cuz he's an acrobat, right? So, he then took off running, but then! Then, the owl guy, he threw the knives at him and they cut his arms."
"More owl guys came and grabbed us and they said that if Dick didn't go with them, then they'd kill us. Dick relented and let them take him, cuz he didn't want us to die, despite our protests for him to run." Artemis explains.
"Then we were uh knocked unconscious." Wally states.
"Alright." Jim states, writing it down, he walks and shuts the door. "Now, what really happened?" He puts the notebook away, crossing his arms. Both of their eyes widen and they glance at each other again before looking back at Jim. He smiles a bit. "Come on, I know who you two are. Artemis, Green Arrow's Protégé. Kid Flash, The Flash's protégé. And I know he's Robin."
"How…?" Wally asks.
"I may not be the world's greatest detective, but they don't just hand out the title of commissioner to just anyone, Kid." Jim states. It is a very very lucky thing that Deathstroke has left… He went after Bruce to talk to him. Wally looks down a moment, then looks back up, describing everything from square one. How he brought Dick out there so they could talk, how the Talon showed up, all the things Wally remembers him saying, even about how he said he killed someone named Alan Wayne. Which Jim finds a little intriguing. Artemis tells her involvement and how she was stabbed, showing the stitches which were done by Alfred. Jim sighs by the end of it, pinching the bridge of his nose, just above his glasses. He shakes his head.
"Sir…?" Wally asks quietly.
"The Court of Owls… They're real…" Jim states, pulling his hand away and looking at the two. "This… Changes… Everything I thought I knew about Gotham…"
"What exactly is the Court of Owls…? We haven't been told much about it." Artemis asks.
"There really isn't much to tell, as far as I was aware, they were just an urban legend. Even Batman believed so. Always rumors, whispers of their existence. Theories as to why there are so many owls carved into so much Gotham architecture. Conspiracies galore." Jim explains. "But in short, they are said to be a secret society, ruling Gotham from shadows, a title often thought to belong to Batman, some even theorized that Batman was part of the Court of Owls as he seems inhumanly strong, but that's not the case obviously."
"One of them said he was Dick's grandfather, that Dick is some Gray Son of Gotham." Wally states.
"Which is what Miss Martian told us after the incident at the circus." Artemis connects.
"Oh right, this wasn't the first attack. The first was back just before Christmas. Dick was off on a mission with the rest of our team, over in Europe. He was trying to save Haly's Circus." Wally explains.
"But then these owl masked people attacked us, effortlessly took out our team and nearly took Dick, but we all got away." Artemis also explains.
"This is certainly troubling…" Jim states.
"You think?" Wally asks. Artemis hits his arm with the back of her hand.
"I'll see what I can do on my end…" Jim states. Soon Barbara and Alfred come back in, she sets a blue and green oil hourglass down next to Dick's bed, as well as a tiny stuffed animal that looks reminiscent of a hamster, but it's not really known what it is, just that it's small and oddly adorable with big round auburn eyes.
"I'm telling him this hamster is called Potato." Barbara says. Wally snorts.
"Why Potato?" Wally asks.
"Because, he looks like a potato." She says, holding it up to show him. Wally laughs softly.
"Sure." He agrees. She sets it down and looks at her father.
"Dad, is everything ok? Did something happen?" Barbara asks.
"No. Everything's fine." He answers, smiling in reassurance. She crosses her arms, not buying it, but she knows he keeps a lot of secrets. She looks back at Dick.
"Any changes…?" She asks.
"No…" Wally answers. Barbara sighs a little and takes a seat.
Meanwhile, as Bruce was leaving, starting the car, Deathstroke climbs into the passenger seat.
"May I help you?" Bruce asks.
"I may be able to help you, Mr. Wayne." Deathstroke states. "Why don't you start driving, so we can talk?" Bruce narrows his eyes a bit, but does as Deathstroke says, putting the car in reverse and backing out of the spot, driving off. "I'm the one who rescued Richard from the Owls."
"And who are you exactly?" Bruce asks. "One of the members of the Light I don't know about?"
"Not as of yet, but that is my goal." Deathstroke answers.
"Ok. So, what are you wanting? Reward money for saving a boy that was meant to be under the Light's protection in the first place?" Bruce asks.
"Oh, no. I need no money for this deed. I was ordered to serve, and I did." He answers calmly. "I wish to make an offer. I will be Dick's shadow, watching his every move without notice, to ensure there isn't a repeat of yesterday's events."
"I'm assuming you're not doing this out of the kindness of your heart. What's the catch?" Bruce asks.
"Smart man, Mr. Wayne. Luthor praised you as such." Deathstroke comments.
"Stop beating around the bush. What do you want?" Bruce asks again.
"Your devotion and loyalty to the Light. As you can imagine, I will be watching the boy very closely, and if I catch a hint that you are contacting Batman, I may just have to lead the Court right to him." Deathstroke threatens.
"I already promised I would refrain from contacting Batman out of fear for my son's life. There must be more to your request… Something you are refusing to tell me…" Bruce mutters the last part.
"Hmm…" Deathstroke hums, then starts laughing. "I love when a man knows he's being played, makes the game far more interesting." Bruce grips the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turn white. "Easy now, no rich kid hiss fits, I am simply rattling cages." He states. "Though I do have one little request."
"And what is that…?" Bruce asks quietly.
"That I take Richard on as my apprentice." Deathstroke states. It takes everything in Bruce not to swing his arm and crush the man's windpipe. "I witnessed the strength and power the boy wields. He is very skilled, unlike anything I have ever seen in someone so young. I would like to hone his abilities, teach him everything I know."
"And that is the price for your services…? You turn my boy into whatever the hell you are…?" Bruce asks.
"Oh no, not like that. I am an assassin. I would not dream of ruining the boy's innocence. More than it has been already. No one with a pure soul, untouched by darkness is that perfect in combat. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume he was Batman's little brat. What was his name? Robin, the Boy Wonder? Though surely that isn't the case." Deathstroke states, Bruce can almost hear the smirk in his tone.
"Allow me to think about it." Bruce says.
"Take all the time you need." Deathstroke states. "I will be waiting. Tell Savage to tell me the words, "I'm ready." Hopefully the Court won't catch up to him in the time it takes for you to make up your mind." Bruce tenses even more. He makes a turn into the coffee hut drive thru.
"Want anything?" Bruce asks.
"How kind!" He remarks. "A medium cookie crumble blitz frappe with a shot of espresso. You know what they say, more espresso, less depresso." Deathstroke states, amused with himself, clearly.
"Ok." Bruce agrees. It isn't seen through Deathstroke's mask, but he is smiling. He places the order and hands the very sugary drink to the assassin who takes it and exits the car.
"Be seeing you, Brucie." Deathstroke says and walks away. Bruce's brows knit in confusion and he shakes his head. Clearly there isn't just a screw loose, it's simply missing.
