"You're his uncle?" Bruce asked the man sitting in the social worker's room along with him and Dick.
"Yes," the man said, sending a kind smile towards Dick that he made sure the social worker saw.
"If you're his uncle why didn't you come forward to claim him earlier?" Bruce asked, something about this man's story not quite lining up.
"Well, I was just recently going through some family history when I found the connection between me and Dick's father," the man said.
"What did you say your name was again?" The social worker asked.
"William Cobb," the man replied.
"Well Mr. Cobb, I do believe everything is in order for you to take Richard into your custody," the social worker said. "Mr. Wayne, we thank you for taking Richard for these few weeks. You have done a great service."
Bruce gave a halfhearted smile, feeling as if his heart was being torn in two at the prospect of loosing his young ward.
Dick whimpered as the man stood and came towards him, grabbing onto Bruce's arm and holding on as tightly as his little arms could. "Bruce please... I want to stay with you," he whimpered.
The shadow of a frown crossed Cobb's face, his features darkening to something terrifying for a split second before he was back to smiles and concerned looks.
"Richard, this man is your family. It'll be best for you to go with him rather than stay with Mr. Wayne," the social worker said.
"He's not my family!" Dick cried out, burying his face in Bruce's suit. "I've never even heard of him before. I want to stay with Bruce!"
"Richard," Cobb started. "Your parents would want you to come with me, not continue being a bother to Mr. Wayne."
Dick whimpered, looking up at Bruce with teary eyes. "Please let me stay," he begged. "I... I'll clean up my toys every day... and... and I won't bother you with my nightmares anymore."
Bruce opened his mouth to argue with the social worker and assure Dick that he could stay with him, but before he could speak he was interrupted.
"Unfortunately that isn't a decision for Mr. Wayne to make. He was only a temporary guardian, and now that actual family has stepped forward to take you in he has to hand over guardianship to Mr. Cobb," the Social worker said, looking over the top of her glasses at the frantic 8 year old.
"Ma'am, I'm perfectly willing to continue taking care of Dick. He only just got settled in with me and I don't think it would be beneficial to allow someone else to take him when he's only just started to overcome what happened," Bruce argued, determined not to give up on Dick without a fight.
"You heard the woman," Cobb said, something in his voice making Bruce shiver slightly. "I am his family. You have no real claim to his guardianship."
"Are you really so desperate to take him that you'd ignore his own wishes and wellbeing?" Bruce asked, the feeling that he should keep Dick as far away from this man as possible intensifying.
"He'll come to know me in time Mr. Wayne," Cobb hissed.
"Mr. Wayne, if you refuse to allow Richard to go with Mr. Cobb we'll be forced to call security," the social worker drawled.
Dick's lip trembled, and a few tears dripped down his cheeks, but he eventually let go of Bruce's arm. "I-I'll go with him. J-just don't hurt Bruce," Dick said, his eyes darting up to look at Cobb before dropping back down to focus on his feet.
"Good," the woman said. "Now Mr. Wayne, if you'd excuse us we just have a bit of paperwork to finalize before Mr. Cobb will be able to take Richard to his new home."
—
Bruce stood at the computer, searching through a long list of search results, none of them actually showing him what he'd been trying to find. He rubbed a hand over his face with a sigh. "There has to be something on him in here somewhere," he muttered.
Alfred stopped to look over his shoulder. "Still searching for something on that Mr. William Cobb are you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Bruce muttered, knowing full well that Alfred wished he'd give it a rest.
"Master Bruce. You know I miss the lad as much as anyone, but you've been searching for something to incriminate this uncle of his for weeks and you haven't found anything... Perhaps there isn't anything to be found," he said.
Bruce squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. "There was something about him that just didn't seem right," he argued weakly.
"And was that thing simply that he had a legitimate claim to take Master Dick away from you?" Alfred asked, folding his arms.
Bruce sighed, cancelling the search and turning off the computer. "I guess you're right. I should be glad that he has some family to take him in... but I can't help but feel that something bad is going on."
"It's only natural that you'd be concerned for the child. But I assure you he'll be fine... After all it's best that he's with his actual family."
—
10 years later
—
Jason sat on one of the higher ledges of the Wayne Enterprises tower, waiting for his strange friend to show his face.
Soon enough the man appeared. His face was speckled with blood, telling Jason that he'd probably just finished with a mission.
Jason wasn't naive. He knew that hanging out with a talon wasn't exactly the smartest thing, but he knew his friend wouldn't hurt him. He'd saved his life once after all. In fact, that was what had started their friendship in the first place, so Jason wasn't the least bit nervous about the talon that sat down next to him.
"They gave you some extra time out on the town after your last mission?" Jason asked.
The talon, or simply Talon as Jason called him, nodded, not usually one for talking, seeing as the court would cut out his tongue if they so much as heard him utter a single word.
"Cool," Jason said, sitting in comfortable silence for a moment before grabbing his backpack and reaching inside. He pulled out a small bag of candies and handed it to the man sat next to him.
Talon tilted his head in slight confusion and grabbed the bag.
"These are candies," Jason said. "There's a bunch of different kinds in there that I thought you might like."
A quiet cooing noise could be heard as Talon opened the bag and grabbed one of the candies, handing it to Jason to unwrap before popping it into his mouth.
Jason watched for a moment, chuckling when Talon's face scrunched up at the sour taste of the candy. "Sour?" He asked with a laugh.
Talon nodded, using one of the few signs Jason taught him to express his dislike. He leaned over the edge and spat the candy out, watching it with his enhanced eyesight as it fell to the ground below.
"Sorry," Jason said with a chuckle. "That one was just a joke." He grabbed a different candy and opened it, holding it out towards the other.
Talon looked at the candy skeptically.
"This one's good, I promise," Jason said, watching as the other grabbed the candy and took a small bite.
Talon hummed, closing his eyes and letting a smile spread across his face as he enjoyed the delicious treat.
Jason smiled. He'd been doing this for a while, bringing treats and things for Talon to try. He'd wait on the top of the Wayne building after his patrol for the other to visit during his hour of free time. Over time their relationship had changed from a simple friendship to something more.
Neither of the two had ever really felt the need to delve into what they meant to each other, because they simply knew.
Jason felt like he could be himself around Talon, seeing as the other wouldn't judge him for the killing he'd done in the past, and he understood the pain of dying and being brought back.
Talon reached over and took Jason's hand in his own, entwining their fingers and giving Jason a look to confirm that he didn't mind the hand holding.
Jason squeezed Talon's hand, happy that he felt comfortable enough to initiate the contact.
Talon leaned against Jason and rested his head on his should, letting out a long sigh.
Jason briefly wondered why Talon was being so touchy on this particular night. He wasn't very comfortable with physical contact in general, so the fact that he was seeking out so much of it must be for a reason.
"Is there a reason you're being clingy tonight?" Jason asked gently.
Talon tensed slightly. 'Bad day,' he signed.
Jason hummed. "What happened?"
'Died,' Talon signed, burying his face in Jason's shoulder.
Jason gingerly wrapped the other in a hug, rubbing circles on his back.
A shrill whistle pierced the air and Talon sat up, looking at Jason with a trembling lip.
"Why are they calling you back? You should have at least another 30 minutes," Jason said.
Talon shrugged, jumping to his feet and moving to the edge of the ledge they were sitting on and pulling out a grappling gun. He turned to Jason and smiled, blowing him a kiss before jumping off the building and swinging away.
—
It had been a week without any sign of Talon and Jason was starting to get worried. Each day he'd go to their ledge and wait, peering into the night to see if he could catch a glimpse of his friends glowing yellow eyes or the light reflecting off of his polished knives, but so far he hadn't seen anything.
A noise behind Jason caught his attention and he whipped around, eyes widening when he saw Talon leaning against the wall with his hand pressed firmly against his side.
Jason rushed to his side, catching him as he fell forward. "What happened?" he asked, his concern flooding his words.
"Court," Talon said, his voice ragged and no more than a whisper.
Jason's panic spiked. That was bad news... "What about your magic talon healing?" He asked.
"Not... working," Talon said, turning away from Jason to cough painfully into his hand.
"I'm going to call Batman alright," Jason said when he saw the blood that was speckled on Talon's hand.
"Batman?" Talon asked, the name pulling on the remnants of a memory that was buried beneath the layer of the court's brainwashing.
"He'll be able to help."
Talon mumbled a reply, leaning more heavily against Jason's chest.
"Hang in there. Batman's coming," Jason whispered.
—
Jason had never been more relieved to see the Batmobile than when it pulled in front of the alley where he'd carried Talon after lowering them to the ground.
Bruce jumped out of the car and immediately ran toward where Jason was standing. He stopped once he was close enough to identify the man his son was holding in his arms as a talon. "Hood," he said slowly. "That's a talon... you need to put him down and back away."
Jason scowled at Bruce. "He's my... my friend, and he needs help," he said.
Bruce carefully approached. "What happened?" He asked, gently taking Talon from Jason's arms.
Talon tensed when he felt Bruce pick him up. He whimpered and reached out for Jason.
"It's alright," Jason said, taking hold of one of his hands and holding it on the way to the batmobile.
Jason slid into the back seat and Bruce set Talon on the seat next to him, making sure both boys got their seatbelts secured before he moved around to the drivers door.
—
Both Tim and Alfred were waiting in the cave when Bruce drove in. He'd already alerted the butler of the situation and had him prepare the med bay to receive the injured talon.
As soon as the car stopped Jason jumped out with Talon in his arms, rushing him over to Alfred.
The butler immediately went to work inspecting the talon's wounds.
"Bruce," Jason said, getting the other's attention. "I think the court might've injected him with something to stop him from healing himself."
Bruce's brow furrowed. "We'll have to get a blood sample and I'll see if I can reverse engineer an antidote.
Talon had long since passed out, so Jason was able to get the blood sample rather easily, and Bruce immediately started working on the cure.
"Jason? Who's that?" Tim asked, pointing to Talon.
"That's my friend," Jason replied.
"Why does he have those weird goggles on?"
"They're like sunglasses. They help things not to be too bright for his eyes," Jason replied.
"But it's night. Why does he need them when it's dark?" Tim continued.
"I don't know," Jason replied.
"Why does he have so many knives?" Tim asked, continuing his stream of questions. "And why is Alfred only cleaning and wrapping his cuts not stitching them up?"
"Because I asked him to... and he has those knives because he's an assassin," Jason said, starting to get annoyed at all the questions.
"You have weird friends," Tim muttered, walking off.
—
It only took about 30 minutes for Bruce to reverse engineer a cure, which he immediately administered to Talon.
Barely a minute later Talon's cuts and scrapes started to close themselves, and a few minutes later his eyes blinked open.
Jason grabbed one of Talon's hands and squeezed it, letting him know he was there.
Alfred dimmed the lights considerably and Jason carefully removed Talon's goggles.
Bruce's breath caught as he looked at Talon's face. He looked so familiar... like an older version Dick Grayson... but that couldn't be... could it?
Talon glanced around the room, his gaze pausing when it came to Bruce who'd forgotten he'd removed his cowl. "Bruce?" Talon muttered, not sure how he knew the man's name.
Jason glanced between the two, not quite knowing what was going on.
"Alfred... can you test his blood against our record of Dick Grayson's?" Bruce asked.
Alfred nodded, dipping a test strip in some of the blood Jason had drawn earlier and inserting it into the computer.
The results came back almost instantaneously.
"It's a match sir," Alfred said quietly.
Bruce's breath hitched. "Dickie... do you remember me?" he asked.
Dick looked at Bruce, trying to catch anything more than a vague feeling of deja vu. "Bruce," he said again, somehow knowing that was the man's name.
Bruce nodded. "I'm Bruce. I took you in after your parents fell," he said.
Dick's brow furrowed. His parents... he didn't remember his parents... but the more he thought about it the more he gathered together a wisp of a memory.
Snap... Crack...
The memory came rushing back, followed by those of the following few months where Dick was eventually taken in by Bruce.
Tears filled Dick's eyes. "Bruce," he sobbed, suddenly overwhelmed.
"You remember me?" Bruce asked, slightly relieved.
Dick nodded. "Cobb took me... made me... this," he said gesturing to himself.
"It's all my fault," Bruce muttered. "I should've never let him take you."
"N-not your fault," Dick said, reaching out and grabbing onto Bruce's arm.
"Wait... so how do you two know each other?" Tim asked. "And more importantly, how do him and Jason know each other"
"I've told you a few stories of when he was younger, but this is Dick Grayson. I took him in after his parents died. He was my first ward," Bruce explained.
"And we met on a mission a while ago. He's saved my life a few times, and I've saved his once or twice as well," Jason said.
"Jay bring me candy," Dick said, smiling over at the younger.
Jason cleared his throat. "Well ya... I didn't want him to go his whole life without ever experiencing the joys of a sugar high," he said, his face flushing slightly.
"So are you two like a thing?" Bruce asked.
Jason's blush darkened.
"Jay my friend... bestest friend," Dick said with a smile. Now that he knew he could speak without being punished he was turning into a little chatterbox.
"So you two are a thing," Tim said with a sly smile.
Jason ducked his head to his his furious blush.
"He's got it bad," Tim whispered to Bruce, making sure it was loud enough that Jason could hear.
Dick sat on the bed, blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.
"Perhaps you two should leave master Jason and master Dick alone," Alfred said, giving Tim a stern look. "I do believe it is past your bedtime master Tim, and you get terribly cranky when you don't get enough sleep."
"I never get enough sleep. Why should that matter now," Tim grumbled as he left the cave, Bruce and Alfred following behind.
Jason sighed. "Good old Alfred," he said.
"Face is red," Dick said, putting the back of his hand against Jason's forehead to check if it was hot.
"Oh," Jason said, gently grabbing Dick's wrist and pulling his hand away. "That's called blushing," he said.
"Blushing?" Dick said. "Blushing hurt Jay?"
"No, blushing just happens when you're embarrassed. It's nothing to worry about," Jason reassured.
Dick hummed.
"Scoot over," Jason said, sliding onto the medical bed next to Dick, wrapping his arm around the elder to make it more comfortable.
Dick curled into Jason's side. "Warm," he muttered.
Jason chuckled. "So how much of your past do you remember?" He asked.
"Bruce, Mami, Tati... Cobb," Dick replied, shuddering when he said the last name.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Jason said, pulling Dick closer to himself. "But I'm glad we've got you back now."
"I... I glad too," Dick said.
The pair sat there in silence for a moment before Dick spoke again. "I... I love you Jay," he said. It was something he remembered his parents saying to one another a lot. Something to express how special they were to each other.
Jason was silent for a moment before his face softened into a smile. "I love you too."
Dick smiled up at Jason, the younger's words filling him with inexplicable amount of joy.
Jason cupped Dick's face in his hands and leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on the elder's lips. "That's called a kiss," he said.
Dick breathed out a contented sigh. "Kiss..." he repeated. "Jason... Jason kiss again," he said, moving his hands to rest on Jason's shoulders and leaning forward until their lips met again.