Would y'all prefer shorter more regular updates like 100-300 words every day or like longer ones once per week?
Anyway... More talon Jaydick as requested by the amazing timdrakeisnotwhelmed ... enjoy... if you want to that is
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"Love you," Jason said placing a kiss on Dick's forehead.
Dick wrapped his arms tightly around his boyfriend's torso, burying his head in the taller's chest. "Do we have to split up?" He asked, his voice muffled.
"You'd think those two were conjoined twins not simply boyfriends," Damian mumbled.
"It's just for patrol," Jason said, running a gloved hand through Dick's soft curls. "If we hurry it'll only take a few hours."
Dick sighed, but let go of Jason, wrapping his arms around himself to help keep himself warm.
"Call in for a status report in 30 minutes," Bruce instructed. "Wing I expect one from you in 15 since we don't know how much of an effect that fear toxin you got hit with last night had on you."
"I'm fine B. Just feeling slightly more anxious that's all," Dick argued.
"15 minutes," Bruce said, swinging off into the night.
One by one all the batboys swung off to patrol their own section of the city.
—
Dick's heart rate picked up when he saw the blinking emergency beacon. His panic really picked up when the coordinates appeared to be in Jason's sector for patrol. He tried to keep himself calm as he raced towards what he assumed was Jason's location, but despite his best efforts his eyes started to glow brighter and he started to loose the grip on the control he'd previously had.
Tim and Damian happened to arrive at near Jason's location at the same time. They scowled as they scoped out the area together.
There seemed to be around 20 well armed henchmen in addition to the one man in charge.
Jason was being held up by his wrists by a hulk of a man while another man beat him with a crowbar.
Tim and Damian quickly tried to figure out some semblance of a plan, knowing they wouldn't be able to take on all of the thugs on their own, many of the men looking extremely comfortable with the weapons in their hands.
Suddenly Dick came running across the building, leaping over Damian and Tim and landing on the ground in a roll.
"Wing! What are you doing?" Tim whispered yelled.
The other didn't seem to hear as he walked out of the shadows with a glinting knife in his hand.
Jason's startled attackers quickly began to draw their weapons, firing at Dick as he rushed towards them.
None of their bullets seemed to be able to hit the acrobat as he cartwheeled and flipped through the air.
Tim and Damian jumped down, ready to help their reckless brother take down the thugs, but they froze when they watched Dick sever a head from its body.
One by one Dick took down each man, blood spraying across his suit and face and pooling to cover the ground.
Tim paled, looking like he might throw up. While Damian grabbed on to his side with a quiet whimper.
When Dick was finished he stood there completely still as Jason used the wall to help himself stand.
Jason's brows furrowed as he gazed at the carnage before him. There was no one left alive.
Dick stood there, his face blank and his eyes and veins seeming to glow through his skin.
Jason stepped towards his boyfriend. "Dickie," he called gently.
Upon hearing the sound of Jason's voice Dick snapped out of his trance, stumbling tiredly for a few seconds before glancing around himself.
Blood... there was blood all over. On his hands, on the ground... on the knife in his hand.
Dick dropped the knife he'd been holding, looking up at the carnage he was responsible for. "No," he muttered quietly. His eyes caught on the faces of his two youngest brothers. They were terrified.
Damian held tightly to Tim's side, both frozen with a look of absolute horror on their faces.
"Tim... Dami..." Dick said, taking a step forward.
Damian hid behind Tim. "Get away from us!" He streaked.
Dick's heart felt like it was shattering as he backed away, hurt flashing across his face.
Jason carefully made his way to Dick's side, reaching out a hand to lay on his boyfriend's shoulder.
"D-don't touch me... I'm a monster," Dick whimpered, backing away from the touch. He just couldn't get the image of how terrified he'd made his little brothers out of his head.
"Dickie," Jason started. "This wasn't your fault."
Dick's breath hitched. "Stay back... I... I don't want to hurt you," he mumbled as he continued to move backwards, eventually turning and sprinting away.
—
Dick ran for miles, the only goal in his mind being to get away from his family. He couldn't afford to hurt them. He paused to catch his breath, suddenly finding himself next to a more busy street.
Conversations and arguments drifted around Dick, entangling his heightened senses and confusing him.
Were these orders he was supposed to take? There were too many voices.
Shouting eventually caught Dick's attention.
"Can it Janice! I know you didn't miss me!" A man yelled.
"But I did Paul," a woman replied.
"Oh go jump in the river!" The man yelled, his voice seeming to echo in Dick's ears.
That was an order...
Dick didn't want to listen, but before he knew it he was heading towards the Gotham harbor.
—
Jason swore when he saw Dick start to run away. He was in no shape to run after him, but even if he was, being chased by the people he'd been ordered to get away from wouldn't help things.
"Hood?" Tim's quiet call caught the older's attention.
Jason couldn't quite muster up the glare he wanted to send to his two younger siblings when he saw how scared they were. Of course they'd be scared. They'd just watched their oldest brother cut through a group of thugs like they were warm butter.
Bruce landed next to Jason. "What happened?" He asked.
"Dick... I... I think he slipped into talon mode... and then when he came out of it he freaked out and Demon told him to get away, so he ran off," Jason said.
"He did this?" Bruce asked, his voice taking on a note of sadness.
"We need to find him," Jason said. "He's scared and who knows what sort of orders he'll pick up from people on the street... His tracker is still active right?"
"Hold on. We're going to go after our murderous brother who just slaughtered all these people without batting an eye?" Tim asked.
Jason glared at the younger. "He was protecting me," he said.
"You're justifying the fact that Dick just became a murderer because he was protecting you?" Tim asked incredulously.
Jason clenched his jaw, prepared to give replacement a beat down. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"They don't know about his past," Bruce said.
"What are you talking about?" Damian asked.
"Dick's past," Jason said.
Tim scoffed. "Of course we know about that. He was from the circus then Bruce took him in when his parents died," he said.
Bruce and Jason shared a look. "That's not exactly what happened," Bruce said.
"All you need to know for now is that it's really important that we find Dick as soon as possible," Jason said.
Damian and Tim shared an uncertain look before giving Jason a nod and rushing off to the batmobile.
—
Dick stood on the edge of Gotham harbor's pier. Every fiber of his being urged him to jump into the ice covered water, and he was trying desperately to resist. His fists were balled up tightly, and his eyes were screwed closed... but there was only so much he could do to resist an order and his old training eventually won out.
—
The batmobile screeched to a halt and Jason jumped out, rushing towards the water and searching desperately for any sign of his boyfriend.
Dick was clutching onto a piece of ice out in the harbor, his arms shaking from the cold. He saw someone on the docks who looked like they were trying to tell him something, but he couldn't hear them over the crashing of the waves.
Jason removed his leather jacket, guns, socks, and boots, sliding his helmet back onto his head before jumping into the frigid water and swimming towards Dick.
Dick tried to make out who the person swimming towards him was, but his eyelids were so heavy and his eyes eventually fell shut, his body sliding limply under the water.
Jason panicked, diving under the surface of the dark water and searching for any sign of his boyfriend. His helmet would give him an extra minute or two of breath, but Dick didn't have that.
The water was freezing, and Jason inwardly cursed Dick's black uniform that made him much harder to see under the water.
Not immediately seeing anything Jason activated the heat vision lenses on his helmet. He saw a slightly brighter blob in the corner of his vision and he quickly swam towards it.
Bruce paced anxiously on the dock, his gaze never leaving the water as he waited for Jason and Dick to resurface.
There was a collective sigh of relief when Jason's head broke the surface of the water. He held his boyfriend's limp body over one shoulder while he treaded water.
Bruce tied one end of a length of rope around a wooden post. He tied a batarang on the other end and tossed it out to Jason.
Jason grabbed onto the rope and held on as Bruce, Tim, and Damian all helped pull him back to the dock.
Bruce grabbed Dick from Jason's arms and set him down gently on the pier.
Dick lay there completely still. Not even his chest was moving.
"Why are you just sitting there? He needs CPR!" Damian shouted.
Jason shook his head.
All at once Dick's eyes flew open. He turned onto his side and started coughing up all the water in his lungs.
Jason rubbed Dick's back until his coughs faded to ragged breaths.
Dick slowly pushed himself up. "Get a... away from... gotta... gotta get... away," he mumbled, starting to drag himself away.
"Where's he going?" Tim asked.
"One of you two dipsticks told him to get away and he took it as an order," Jason said sharply. "Dickie... Dickie that order's over. You don't have to get away anymore," he reassured the older, pulling him into his arms.
Dick slumped into Jason's arms, shivering violently.
Bruce wrapped the two boys in his cape and ushered everyone back towards the batmobile.
—
"So... so what's going on?" Tim asked when they were all on the way home, Dick and Jason swathed in a mountain of blankets in the back seat.
Bruce sighed. "Have you ever heard of the court of owls?" He asked.
Damian and Tim nodded.
"The circus where Dick grew up was a breeding ground for the court's talons... Dick's parents tried to protect him from the court, but when they died he was taken... The court had him for 13 years." Bruce's breath hitched. "He'd only been with us for about 3 years when I adopted you Tim."
"Grayson is a talon?" Damian asked, his face portraying his shock.
"Was," Jason said, thoroughly glad that Dick was asleep. He hated hearing about the court, and what he'd done today was sure to make him immeasurably upset. "Dick was a talon, but he worked so hard to break free from the court."
"But he's a killer," Tim said.
"He didn't have a choice," Bruce said in something close to a growl. "
"What was that today then?" Damian asked.
"I'm guessing it was related to the fear toxin still in his system from yesterday. He hasn't gone that far in a long time," Bruce said.
"And... and what about the orders?" Tim asked.
"That happens sometimes... when he gets a little more talony... it's usually when someone he loves is in danger. It takes a lot out of him, being in that state of mind, and after he's extra susceptible to suggestion," Jason explained.
"That's why he ran away when I told him to go away," Damian said quietly.
Jason nodded.
The car drifted into silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts.
—
Dick stirred, his eyes flickering open. He groaned when he felt the familiar fatigue wash over him from going full out talon.
"How ya feelin'?" Jason asked quietly, lacing his fingers together with Dick's.
"Crappy," Dick mumbled, arching his back in a stretch as he yawned. What had he done to make himself this tired?
Dick froze as he remembered what had happened. His memory had a few holes, but it was clear what he'd done. "I... I killed," he whispered, a tear running down his cheek.
"Hey," Jason said, taking both of Dick's hands in his own. "Look at me."
Dick brought his sorrowful eyes up to meet Jason's.
"It wasn't your fault ok?" Jason said. "Your need to protect those you love coupled with the residual effects of the fear toxin overpowered you."
"But I still killed them," Dick said, bringing his knees up to his chest.
"I've killed people too... and I can tell that this wasn't a choice you were able to consciously make yourself. The people you killed were hardly innocent, but if you'd been in control I know you would've chosen to let them live," Jason said, coming to sit on the edge of Dick's bed.
"If I can't even trust myself to be in full control how can I ever go out and patrol again?" Dick asked.
Jason sighed. "Well for starters we can make sure you avoid fear toxin, and I'll try to stay out of trouble-"
"None of that fixes the fact that I can't control myself," Dick shouted, burying his head in his knees. "Sorry," he mumbled a moment later. "I shouldn't have yelled."
"It's ok. You have a very valid reason to be upset, but you also need to accept that it wasn't your fault," Jason said, drawing Dick into his lap.
Dick frowned slightly. "O-ok..." he said after a long silence. "But promise me you'll stop me if that ever happens again."
Jason placed a gentle kiss on Dick's forehead. "If I think you are a danger to yourself or anyone else I will try to stop you." He said.
Dick breathed out a sigh of relief and relaxed against Jason's chest.
Jason smiled and ran his hand through Dick's hair. "Get some sleep Bluebird," he said with a quiet chuckle.
Dick hummed and snuggled closer to his boyfriend. "Love you," he mumbled.
"Love you too."