Patrol had gone smoothly; everyone speaking as little as possible. Mainly to avoid speaking with Bruce more than necessary. Jason was rarely on the same page as the replacement, but Golden Boy always seemed to bring out the strangest and best in people. Apparently, that rang true, even when Dickie bird was 6 feet under.

"Red Robin, RedHood, start circling back. Be back at the cave in time for debriefing by 1"

Jason pressed a button on the bottom chin side of his helmet, and a corner light in his vision flicked to life, showing 12:31, before fading away.

"Will do Batman" RedRobin reported for the both of them. Jason rolled his eyes. He turned his bike down 7th street preparing to just head straight back; not even pretending to do one last sweep. RedRobin swung parallel to him on top of the city buildings.

RedHood could see him in his peripheral and realized he was slowing down considerably. "RedRobin, what's up?"

It took a moment for him to respond, but Tim's voice came through in his left ear, "Uhhhh, I might be wrong but I think we might have tails….and I think they might be Talons"

Jason didn't even ask for clarification or confirmation, skidding his bike to a stop at the next alley and locking the motor and wheels before propping it behind a dumpster and taking the first fire escape up. He made it to the rooftop 2 buildings over from RedRobin.

"Ok, hotshot, where are they?"

Tim's voice came back hesitant, "That's why I wasn't certain if they were tails, but they're gone now. I could've sworn I saw at least 2 black suits and their gloves were gold, one guy even had goggles like our first perp."

"So what? Now the owl assassins can actually fly too?"

"Don't be a smartass Ja- Hood, either I was wrong, which happens, or they were just seen without meaning to catch our eye"

Tim had out a small pair of binoculars and was scanning the rooftops when suddenly he whispered, "There!" and took off, knowing Jason would follow.

They tried to keep their steps light but their feet fast, making sure to lessen the weight on their heels as much as possible. It was a move Dick had taught them, balance on the balls of your feet and keeping your equilibrium felt in your core being key to most acrobatics and circus tricks; when performing on the ground. Damian would never admit that he had learned and improved his stealth and inner core balance from a Romani traveling acrobat.

Batman must have checked their comm trackers as he headed back as well because his grating voice suddenly popped into Jason's helmet, "RedHood, RedRobin, report"

"Batman, I think we just found some talons and they might not know we're on their trail"

"I have your location, do not engage until I'm at the scene. Green Arrow hasn't sent back the vials as field-ready products yet, brute force is acceptable if they are confirmed to be talons. Robin, Oracle, do you copy the situation?"

"Yea"

"Affirmative"

RedHood came to the edge of an apartment building, overlooking an old and worn down set of blocks that used to be a business district off South Street. He held up his hand to halt RedRobin at his side. Without looking, he pointed 2 fingers down to a building below and to their left, by about 2 rooftops.

On the far side of a 5 story building, 2 figures held another figure against a large generator, while another stood across from them, his stance wide and his arms crossed. None had the hips to be biologically female, so Jason assumed they were all men, all young, and most were probably talons. He smirked to himself, finally, he could really start swinging, not that he needed Bruce's say-so to be harsh in the field.

They couldn't hear what was being said, but the 3rd figure watching was most likely interrogating. Were they after answers from a civilian? Someone else? Was this about Dickie again? Just then, Bruce swooped down, all but silent. His boots crunched on the rooftop gravel before he too shifted his weight and lessened his presence.

Batman peered over the edge, immediately taking notice of the situation down below. To his wrist, so the entire team heard he whispered, "RedHood and RedRobin will approach from west and east as a distraction, I'll approach and subdue. Scatter them, and separate. Oracle bring up every camera and possible audio you can and record the encounter in case these are talons. Go"

Jason vaulted to the left and Tim took the right, they crept along the edge of the building grappled over until they could use the fire escapes to approach the rooftops unseen on either side. Just as Jason brought a hand over the edge to get a firm grip on the rooftop brick and wait for Tim to get into position, his fingers grabbed gravel instead of brick. He slipped slightly, but the sound of pebbles shifting too suddenly stopped the figures ahead of him. All 3 froze, the fourth one pinned against a wall had his head down and eyes clenched shut. They all had dark hair except for the third figure who had bright red hair, muscles protruding through his broad shoulder pads.

One of the figures holding the victim against the wall suddenly brought his arm forward and smashed his elbow back into the poor guy's face. His head whipped back with a solid crack against the metal generator before he was allowed to slump to the ground.

The main figure, the redhead, turned towards Jason's edge, "Come out, let us not pretend, pointlessly"

Suddenly, he was thrown forward as Batman barrelled into his back. He crashed forward into the bottom of the metal generator, almost headbutting the man on the ground before pushing himself up and spinning around, his lips twisted in a snarl.

His eyes were covered in gold goggles and his fingers and forearms were covered in gold gauntlet gloves and wicked sharp claws. Batman stood up from his kneel, narrowing his eyes and deepening his voice, "What is your goal here? At the very least you are under arrest for assault, but you are most likely smart enough to realize we know you are after information concerning Nightwing. Tell us why. NOW". His voice had reached a loud growl at the end of his demand, but the redheaded talon only frowned, he faced Batman fully, motioning behind himself for his comrades to watch the sides, most likely for Jason.

"You know nothing Batman, you think 10-20 years of catching thieves and murderers make Gotham yours? No. No. No. It is the Court's. It has always been the Court's and always will be. The Owls perch atop, seeing all. No one escapes an owl's talons. Not a robin, or our Gray Son"

Batman frowned, "Nightwing is gone, what do you want with his memory or blood"

The figure glared harder, "He is our Gray Son, we deserve him! His skills, his heart, his legacy! Not you rodents! None of you knew what you had, the potential for everlasting greatness. Wasted."

Batman took out a Batarang and brought his leg back, "We have your other talon comrades, give up and your Arkham sentence might be less severe"

The figure straightened, "Hah! Oh, you are funny Batman, no, no one will be surrendering, but like I said, you do not even know what you have. You do not have talons. No one has him. There is one talon and shall only ever be one talon. We are all just an extension of the Owl's intent, here to support Talon and his executions."

"Okay, this is getting dumb," Jason said, pulling the attention to him. He and Tim had taken the moment to climb atop the roof fully and now stood armed. He had both guns in hand, pointed at the redhead and the 2nd figure.

The man on the ground took this moment to moan out, his head falling back against the generator as he woke up, probably with a nasty concussion. As Jason looked at the man, everyone's attention focused on him as well. He tipped his dark head back and groaned in pain, his hand coming up to massage his bleeding nose and lips. The sides of his head were buzzed and slightly fuzzy with new growth and his eyes were covered, he looked almost the exact same if not for the new Batclan-themed hoodie he had on.

Jason stood up straighter, "Hey! It's Vegas man, what are you doing here?" The figure jerked his head up in Jason's direction, his eyes wide behind his mask. He did a double take and saw he was surrounded by 3 new visitors. He tried to push himself up, struggling back against the generator. The main attacker eyed him as Vegas man got his bearings, "Jacks. Markov." he barked. The other two talons seemed to know what that meant and immediately jumped for Vegas man.

Vegas man blanched before bending backward in a move that floored Jason, it was as if his spine was made of cartilage and not bone, his back curving fast and elegantly in less than 2 seconds. The talons stumbled at not being able to grab his arms easily. Jason took that moment to launch himself at the closest one, he tackled him to the floor and quickly ground his knees into his collarbone and shoulders; pinning him to the ground. The figure beneath him growled and clawed his thighs right through his suit, shredding his skin like Walmart elastic. Jason cursed and lept up and away, drawing his guns again. Once the figure didn't jump at him, he glanced down to see trails of blood down his thighs and knees, but they didn't look deep enough to need stitches.

He refocused on those before him to see Tim engaged with the other figure, Markov. Marov was wildly swinging his arms, clawed fingers pointed, and searching for arteries or vital spots on the body. Jacks was wrestling on the ground with Vegas man. They rolled together for a minute, the same alligator roll that robbed Jason of his equilibrium before stopping suddenly and launching Jacks off of his with a shove to the gut with his boot. Jacks fell back and slammed his head into the gravel. He rolled over and lept up, finding himself unfairly quickly. Jason glowered as he approached, "Hey fucker, take a chill pill would ya?"

Jacks glanced at him briefly before refocusing on Vegas man, he tensed his body in an obvious way before launching at Vegas man. Jason saw and read the movement, pulling his gun and shooting Jacks in the waist. Blood spurted out quickly, but he was barely phased, not even clamping a hand over the leaking wound. He made another move for Vegas man, when Jason shot him again, this time in the shoulder. Jacks snarled before finally turning to Jason.

Jason gapped when Jacks didn't even flinch at the second gunshot wound, "What the fuck! These guys really are meta zombie things"

Jacks smirked as if Jason's claim was a fearful one and launched himself at Jason. Jason growled and pulled his second handgun, unloading the entire clip without a second thought. 5 holes made themselves known in the assassin, the final one in his throat.

Jason grinned smugly as blood spurted out like a clogged up fountain finally having somewhere to go. The dark blood quickly coated his chest and the gravel beneath him as he choked, eyes wide, he clawed at his throat. Fingers slippery with blood, he fell to his kness and less than 30 seconds later he slammed face down into the rooftop gravel and lay still.

Jason was about to turn to Vegas man when he saw Tim struggling with Markov. Tim's arms and chest looked just as shredded as Jason's thighs and knees, he was stuck on the defense as Markov pushed him back towards the building ledge.

Jason approached and without a second thought unloaded his last clip into the back of Markov's head and back. Tim's eyes went wide when Markov jerked suddenly, spitting up blood over his chest and chin before collapsing similarly to Jacks.

Without checking on Tim, he turned to see Vegas man crouched against the generator on his knees. His back was bent forward and his fingers gripped his hair furiously. His eyes were shut so tightly, there were wrinkles in the corner of his eyes and Jason would safely bet his eyes would be sore and puffy later; like when you cried too hard. Maybe the talons gave him something but Jason didn't see any needles.

His teeth were clenched and Jason was floored by the urge to run to him. He had a split-second desire to kneel down and check on the guy, maybe lay a hand on his back and-

"RedHood!" RedRobin called suddenly. Jason whipped around to see Tim and Bruce had cornered the first talon on the far side of the roof. Bruce's side was slashed once, but besides that, he seemed to be fairing the best against those clawed gloves.

"Who are you?", Batman demanded.

The redhead smirked before pulling a large curved hand hunting knife from the small of his back. He twirled it twice before dropping his smirk and glaring.

"Why are you convinced Nightwing is alive and with us?" Batman tried again.

The redhead frowned. "We were incorrect, this matter no longer concerns you"

Batman was about to say something when Redhood held his gun to the back of the talon's head, " .Move"

The man froze but turned his cool gaze on Jason instead. The clip was empty but no one knew that but Jason.

The man opened his mouth to say something when his gaze flicked to Jason's shoulder and his eyes widened. "No!" The man exclaimed before rushing past Jason. Jason tried to swipe at him with the pistol's butt, but the man leaped forward just shy of the gun. Jason spun around to see Vegas man on the ledge of the roof, one hand still cradling his head as he peered below, trying to make an Irish exit while they were preoccupied.

The main talon tackled Vegas man by the waist and they both went flying over the ledge. Jason cringed as Vegas man's chest hit the edge of the next building, something undoubtedly cracking before they slid 5 stories down and hit the pavement of the alley between them and the bats.

Jason, Batman, and Tim didn't waste any time. Quickly leaping over and scaling their way down. The redhead already had Vegas man by the throat against the moldy brick wall, his claws drawing blood on either side of his throat.

Jason hadn't noticed before how tall and solid Vegas man really was. He was more defined than any of the other talons and was a few inches taller than his attacker.

Nonetheless, he was acting anxious and avoidant in response to this redheaded fucker.

Vegas man was frantically shaking his head to something that was just said before he froze, his eyesight locking onto Jason's form.

Vegas man's distraction caught his attacker's notice, the redhead peering over his shoulder and growling at the bat's continued presence.

"I already informed you, this has nothing to do with you" he spat back at them.

Batman stepped forward, "Drop him. Now"

Vegas man was staring at the Batclan, his brows furrowed. His lips were moving ever so subtly as if he was muttering or reciting something under his breath. The attacker pulled him forward and slammed him against the wall in one solid move before moving one hand to grasp his chin and jaw, shoving his head up and back. "How many times do I have to tell you, they are your past, we are your future. This is getting tiresome, Talon will not be pleased, much less Grandmaster"

Vegas man blanched at the mention of these figures and Jason took the moment to be grateful Bruce ordered Damian and Barabara to record as much of this chase as they could.

Thinking they were too preoccupied, Tim had lengthened his bo staff and approached quietly.

Suddenly he lept up and lunged, swinging down on the talon harsher than usual. The redhead lunged to the left, letting his victim sag against the wall. He spun quickly and grabbed Tim by the throat, Tim choked and froze as gold claws suddenly dug into his carotid artery swiftly.

Vegas man's expression froze and without missing a beat, joined the fray, "No!"

He tackled the redhead and they barrelled into the piss-stained brick wall. Vegas man pulled his fist back and slammed it into his attacker's jaw, throwing his head to the side with a splash of spit and blood. Vegas man snarled into his face before bringing an elbow down into his chest and collarbone, shattering something quite loudly. The redhead howled before shoving him off and jumping for his waist. In a move so perfect, it appeared choreographed, Vegas man let the tackle proceed, falling back onto his spine and with a swift curve, he wrapped his thighs around his opponent's body and pushed off into a violent handstand, throwing the other body into the wall face first with a crack.

Batman threw 2 batarangs, pinning him to the wall as Vegas man stepped back, breathing heavily.

Jason, already being relatively close, laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hey man, are yo-" Vegas man jerked suddenly at this presence before jumping back like a scared cat, eyes wide and shoulders hunched in defense.

Batman had gone to RedRobin and confirmed quickly that he was not in critical condition. He turned to RedHood, but suddenly the alleyway filled with screeching tires and bright red and blue strobing lights. "GPD, HANDS UP!"

Batman tensed and whipped his head to the far end of the alley. "Batman?" One officer called.

Batman didn't respond, looking back to his left to see that RedHood, the victim, and the redheaded attacker were all gone. Batman frowned and dropped his shoulders in frustration. He looked up to see a grappling line still attached to the top building on their left.

RedRobin answered his train of thought," Hood is waiting so GPD doesn't cause a fuss at him being around after that last beating he gave that guy on 4th"

Batman brought his comm to life with a tap of his fingers, "Robin we are heading back to the cave, be ready to receive us, inform agent A, and send a reminder to Green Arrow to speed up that Freeze cryo delivery to Lucious"

"Understood"

Batman didn't even bother reacting to GPD at his back, vaguely hearing the main officer call on his walkie-talkie for Commissioner Gordon.

RedRobin approached for Bruce, "Hey there guys. It's all wrapped up here. Just some follow-up investigation of ours. Please put out a BPA for anyone with gold goggles and gloves though. Let Gordon know we will be in touch"

Without waiting for Bruce, Tim scaled up the building to wait with Jason. Bruce watched his middle child go. Tim was the lankiest and least built by far but his mind far made up for his lack of brawn.

Recently Ra's had even started to address his strange invites and letters to the Batman and his recent worthy protégé. Leaving Damian to fall into deference with Dick and Jason.

While Talia had disobeyed and brought Jason back in a ploy to gain Bruce's attention, the Al Ghul line had always looked down on Dick for his gypsy heritage and Bruce for elevating a street rat. It made Bruce hesitant to consider Ra's a possible ally as time went on but he knew that at least half his kids were safe depending on which League of Shadows member had them.

Talia might not be a bad source of information if this continued without many clues or sources.

By the time Bruce made it to the roof as well, he saw his sons hunched over a small pocket iPad screen. Tim sensed his approach and without looking up, informed Bruce, "Mr. Punch first and ask later, thought ahead for once"

"Fuck you, replacement"

"Language…what did you do?"

Jason finally looked up before using 2 fingers to zoom in on the screen in front of him, and turned it around it show Bruce. Bruce took the small tablet in one hand and saw a stereotypical map of downtown Gotham. There was a large blue dot with a wider circle of about 100 feet around it heading east. Bruce used his fingers to drag the screen and accommodate the moving circle before looking to Jason, "Is this our perp, or victim?"

Jason smirked, "Vegas man"

Bruce looked down again, "He's heading to Blud Haven. Be prepared to move out in under 24 hours"