Jenny_Mythical_Witch come get y'alls juice

EDIT: TW BLOOD//MINOR CHARACTER DEATH

"He's Dick Grayson?" Bruce repeated once Jason returned from his patrol. Damian's jaw slacked in shock whilst Tim immediately felt an immediate sense of sympathy. Sure the kid punched him in the face but it would've been worse. He could've been killed. It would've been easier to be killed and out of the way. The kid had spared all of them when he could've and should've killed them. Now knowing that the Talon was Dick, he couldn't help but feel sorrowful that instead of coming to live with them as they had intended, he'd had to live there and become something he never should've been. "Yes and I'm meeting him on Saturday. I said we'd help. We are gonna help right?" Jason asked. He probably should've given them the heads up when they made the plans but he didn't have time. Dick had a tendency to run off so he couldn't spare a minute to get a vote on the issue. "It would be unfair of us to retract the hand of help we offered him," Damian stated, clearly all for helping the boy. 

"I knew that uncle of his was no good. I should've done something. He's already been with them for six months. God knows what they've done to him," Bruce rambled. The guilt was almost crushing him. He quickly went about collecting all the information they had on Talons and how they worked. He didn't want to slip up again and lose the boy. He wouldn't leave him to deal with it again. "Bruce, you couldn't have known it would end on this," Tim assured him. Bruce sighed but didn't really believe what his second eldest was saying. He couldn't. "And you're doing something about it now so it's okay. He's been there for six months but he can live with us for longer."

"Either way. We can't just take him and play happy families," Jason pointed out. Damian nodded. "When we met, there was a noise. The moment he heard it, he ran off and it didn't look like he had a choice in it," he added. "And he said something about a handler."

"I bet they're the one who makes the call. It must mean to return to base. Even if he wanted to escape, he'd have to come back once he heard it," Tim theorized. He tapped his chin as he came up with different ways to get around the problem. "Noise-cancelling headphones!" he exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "If all else fails we could tranquilize him."

"But let's hope it doesn't come to that," Damian mumbled. He'd rather not knock the kid out. 

"We'll see on Saturday."

They waited inside the clock tower impatiently. Each was looking out one of the four arches for any sign of the Talon. Admittedly, they were feeling very excited at finally having Dick in their home. Batman kept his room decorated just in case things didn't work out with his uncle. They'd filled it with a hand me downs and various circus memorabilia to make him feel at home. He hoped Dick liked it. Compared to wherever the Court had him stashed away, it would be a big step up. Two feet landed on the roof lightly and bright golden eyes met Red Hood's masked ones. He jumped back at the sudden sight of the Talon, which was returned by the other. "Jesus, you scared the life outta me," he complained. 

"That wasn't my intention," Dick responded. He climbed inside and inspected the room, recognizing the other three that he hadn't greeted yet. 

"You're looking more yellow," Robin pointed out in concern. The marks under his skin and his eyes were definitely fainter the last time they met. 

"I'm turning more Talon. Nearly stripped of everything," he replied, looking at his hands longingly. Their hearts shattered by that distant look. It begged for a simpler time when he was happy. "But that's where you come in. To help me, that is." He looked back up at them and held his hands behind his back. His posture was strained to look perfect, his expression stoic. "We'll give you asylum with Bruce Wayne. You'll be safe there."

"Awfully odd to talk about yourself in the third person," Dick pointed out. There were the makings of a smirk on his face when he caught the older's expression. "I had some extra time when I hacked into the computer at your lab. Thought I'd do some searching to give me a higher stance with the Court." Their breath hitched. "Didn't tell them." They relaxed with a sigh. 

"Oh you're a tricky one," Batman said with a small smile.

"I try."

He opened his mouth to say something when he heard the call. Before he could run off, Robin snapped a pair of noise-canceling headphones over his ears. His eyes went back to normal, questioning why he wasn't mindlessly running off to his handler. "It's past my curfew," he stated, wondering why he was still there. His hands searched what was blocking the sound of the world. Headphones. He hadn't thought of that. Probably because they were forbidden. Batman put his hand out and took the younger's. He mouthed to follow him. Dick nodded and they climbed out of the tower onto a nearby roof. They heard another call, well Dick didn't. They looked around. It sounded closer than the last time. Dick pulled Nightwing's arm and directed him to the moving shadow above the clock tower where they just were. "We're fucked," Dick stated grimly. The shadow jumped down to reveal a foot soldier. She wasn't quite a Talon since her eyes weren't yellow but she wore a similar uniform to Dick. She called. It wasn't words somehow, it was more sounds that didn't have a specific rhyme or reason to them. She raised an eyebrow when it had no effect on the boy. After a quick look up and down, she found the headphones. "Well Batman, it seems you have my property. Step away for your own good," she announced. Her glare pierced through their souls but they refused to stand down. "Very well." She drew a dagger from her belt and ran towards them. Batman met her halfway and blocked her attack. He tried to disarm her but she kicked him away with such force he was skidding to the other side of the roof. Nightwing armed himself and went in for the attack and yelled for the remaining heroes to get the Talon out of there. They nodded, Red Hood grasped his hand they began skipping across roofs to get as far away as they could. The woman groaned at this and quickly took care of Nightwing, leaving him curled up on the rooftop before running after the boys.

Dick stopped them from running any further and turned around with a stern expression. They wondered what made him stop and tried to pull him to keep going but he refused. His eyes were fixed on the shadow that was coming after them. He took a dagger from his belt and ordered them to check on their family. They refused, of course, but he ushered them on. "I can take her," he assured them. Robin shook his head vigorously, refusing to leave him. He'd been the most excited when they heard the original plan to foster Dick. He couldn't lose him again. He didn't want to. Dick gave him a confident look. "You have a Talon's word that I can do it. Now go." The older pair looked at one another with a sigh. 

"Just don't get yourself killed." They ran off as Dick's handler landed on the roof. She didn't bother going after them. They weren't her mission. She strode towards the boy who held his dagger tightly. The sight made her laugh to herself. She signaled for him to take the headphones off but he just threw his dagger at her. She caught it, her laughter replaced with a low growl at the nerve of the boy. "Your will is just so hard to break. I'm tempted to call this a failure." Of course, her little monologue couldn't be heard by Dick. He didn't care that he couldn't hear quite frankly. This ended tonight one way or another. So he grabbed another dagger and went in for a close attack. She dodged it with an angered groan and threw one of her own at him. It missed as he ducked and he threw another. She caught it before it hit her face, just missing the hilt and clutching the blade. She threw it down with a pained hiss. Dick saw his advantage and went in for another close attack. He managed one long gash on her stomach but she quickly repaid him by grabbing him by the throat and throwing him back. The throw didn't knock him out as hoped. He simply rolled back onto his feet with not so much as a flinch. He was holding his last dagger and decided to go all in. At full speed, he ran at the woman but she caught him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. She pulled off his headphones as she tightened her grip. "Pity you were such a failure. I order you to-"

Her sentence was cut off by her own spluttering. She looked down to see the boy had driven a dagger deep into her abdomen. There was a twinge of empathy on Dick's face as her grip weakened and he was allowed to escape. Once his feet were back on the ground, he laid her down. He put a hand on her wound and waited for the others to come back. "What're you doing?" she spat.

"Helping you. Not that you deserve it," he replied. The woman chuckled darkly. He knew this was strictly not allowed in combat. If you were fatally injured by your opponent then you weren't worth saving. He was determined not to let her die though. He didn't need it on his conscience. "Little shit." As the family of heroes neared, she brought him in close and whispered her last orders into his ear. His eyes constricted as she gave it. Orders were orders. His hands stopped applying pressure. "You were a worthy adversary Grayson. It's a shame you're no use to us." Dick hummed. Was it worth taking the compliment? He wasn't sure. 

"Dick, why aren't you helping her?" Red Hood inquired when he realized Dick wasn't stopping the bleeding. His hands were just covering the wound, no longer applying pressure. 

"Last order. It's out of respect." The woman smirked to herself before relaxing, easing herself into the inevitable death. Dick closed her eyes once her chest stopped rising. His eyes returned to normal since the task he was ordered to do was completed.

Dick daren't glance up at those standing around him. A hand was placed on his shoulder and a single tear ran down his expressionless face. Prison would be better than where he once was, he thought to himself. "You have to follow orders?" Batman's gruff voice inquired.

"Can't help it." The older nodded to himself. Dick stared at the body in front of him, now noticing that some of the blood had gotten on him. "Do you regret it?" Dick nodded, knowing he was referring to killing her. "Then we didn't see who did it," Batman stated. "Did you?"

"I certainly didn't," Nightwing stated.

"Neither did I," Red Hood agreed.

"Must've run off before we came here," Robin added. Their responses made the boy scrunch up his eyebrows and turn to them in utter confusion. 

"But I killed her." Batman knelt down to his level. 

"But you regret it. You've done a lot of things Talons don't do, one is not taking the chance to kill us. Another regretting when you did kill. Given the circumstances, you'd be better under our care than the state's."

"Plus, we already had a room for you. You know, before your uncle beat us to it," Robin commented. There was some silence before Dick gleefully wrapped his arms around Batman. A small giggle of excitement left his lips. "Thank you."

Only the conclusion left on this essay and then I'm done for ethics