'What the hell was that?' Jason was confused. He didn't like to be confused and that made him angry. Dick had been quiet the whole way back to the mountain, sat in the back of the jet with his eyes closed. There had been a series of cracking noises and Jason had noticed that Dick was breaking his fingers, one by one. When they had arrived at the mountain they had disembarked and Jason had turned on his adopted son.
Dick didn't show any emotion, he stared at the other man with blank eyes.
'Are you going to answer me?'
'You're going to need to be more specific.' Said Dick, his voice flat.
'So you're the leader of the Owls?'
'Apparently so.'
'Were you ever going to share that information with us? Or were you just going to let us continue believing you had been a prisoner for all that time?'
'I was a prisoner. Locked away in ice for two decades.' Dick snapped. 'And I held on as long as I could in the beginning. Held onto the hope that Batman would come for me, that someone would come.' His voice started to rise. 'But no one ever did. So I did what I needed to survive. I became their Gray Son.'
Jason went to yell again but Dick stood forward till he was an inch away from his face. 'So don't you dare judge me for what I did.'
This seemed to calm Jason slightly. He sighed and looked at the Talon sadly.
'We tried to find you. We all did. For years.'
'I know.' Dick was quieter now, but for some reason, he still seemed agitated.
'Dick, please don't shut yourself off again. Talk to me.' Jason pleaded. 'I know what it's like to expect rescue and for it not to come.'
'No, Jason.' There was a bitterness in his voice. 'You know what its like to die. And I appreciate that experience must have been horrific. But you don't know what its like to be trapped with no rescue, settled with the knowledge that no matter how many times they hurt you, starve you, stab you...you can't die.'
'Dick?' Bruce had listened in on the conversation and had seen the whole mission through Batman's eyes. He had seen Dick fight the Owls, seen him fight them off as though they were children and not trained killers. His speed and strength were like nothing he had ever seen and then he had run straight onto a sword in order to save the young speedster. He had felt horror as Dick had laid there waiting for his head to be cut off, he had felt relief and shock as the kid had ripped the sword from his body to defend himself. And he hadn't known what to think or feel as he watched the boy he had taken in from the Circus stand and announce himself the leader of the Court and the Parliament of Owls alike. Like Jason, he was confused at the revelation that Dick had been trained to be the heir of the Court, and by elimination was now technically their leader. But unlike Jason, he wasn't angry. He blamed himself for not being able to find Dick and hearing the young boys confession had made him feel so sad for the Talon. Whatever Dick had done, he had done it to survive the cards he had been dealt. Bruce came forward and touched his hand to Dick's shoulder. The younger's cold expression softened.
'I'm sorry.' Dick said, his eyes downcast, looking ashamed.
'Whatever happened after the Court took you was not your fault. And I do not blame you.' Said Bruce. "I'm just sorry I didn't save you from it.'
Dick nodded sadly, then his eyes travelled past Bruce and saw Ben in the doorway.
'Are you alright?' He asked the redhead, who nodded but didn't come any closer. "I'm sorry if I scared you.'
Ben smiled, glad that Dick was starting to sound more like himself. For a while, the coldness in his voice had made him seem more Talon than anything else. But even so, there was something wrong, Dick was holding himself in a strange way and he seemed uncomfortable. Damian noticed this too as soon as he set his eyes on his brother. But he said nothing about it, instead proceeding to debrief them.
Dick slowly recounted his version of events and Damian watched him closely. When he got to the part about running onto the blade, Dami tutted.
'That was an amateur move, even if you can't be killed you must have known it would slow you down.'
'I wasn't really thinking about that, I had to stop Ben from being hurt.' Dick shouted in defence. Damian smirked at him but then frowned. There was blood coating Dick's lips.
The Talon coughed and rubbed his mouth, blood smearing onto the back of his hand. The burning of the electrum in his stomach had been building to excruciating levels as it tried to heal his organs. Cobb had always told him that organs were precious as they were hard to heal while the body remained functioning. For them to completely heal the body must first be slowed down to the lowest possible functions, otherwise, the organs simply do not heal and the Talon risked doing permanent damage.
More blood dripped from Dick's mouth and he groaned slightly from the pain.
'Dick?'Both Damian and Jason took hold of his arms as his legs started to shake. 'Get him to the med bay.'
Jason scooped Dick up into his arms but Dick protested, fighting his way back to his feet. 'I'm fine, I can walk.' Slowly they walked down the corridor, when they arrive Jason helped Dick up onto one of the beds. The youngers face was filled with pain.
Damian pulled up his brother's shirt, noticing there were no marks, no scars. The wound from the sword had completely healed, but when he pressed on his stomach Dick yelped in pain and coughed up more blood.
'He's bleeding internally.' Damian said alarmed. 'Why isn't he healing?'
'When the Talon's were severally injured they would go into hibernation to heal.' Bruce's voice emerged from behind them filled with looked down at Dick, with kind eyes. 'I'm right, aren't I?'
Dick actually whimpered as he nodded. 'Please don't.'
'Dick you're in pain, you need to heal.' Said Jason slowly.
Dick ignored him, his eyes not leaving Bruce's. 'Please don't put me back in there.'
Bruce ran a hand through Dick's hair and sighed, unsure what to do. He could understand the boys fear, anyone could. But he also knew that he wasn't prepared to sit here and watch him wither in agony.
Sweat was beginning to form on Dick's forehead and his breathing was ragged. He clenched his jaw tight and bit back another moan. He had seen what an injury such as this could do to someone like him. His thoughts drifted back to when he had asked William about it for the first time.
Dick ran quickly behind Cobb as they entered one of the designated med rooms.
'What happened?' Cobb demanded as he entered, Dick still on his heels.
'Grand Master.' One of the Talons bowed his head. 'He was crushed by falling debris, it shattered his bones, burst his spleen and collapsed his lungs. He was trapped for four days before he managed to get himself out.'
Cobb walked over to the Talon on the bed, he was shaking and moaning in agony. Cobb rested a hand on his head.
'Rest now, hibernation will recover you.' He said almost gently. Almost.
The others wheeled in a hibernation chamber and together they shifted the shaking body onto the inner plate and lowered him down into the chamber. The Talon closed his eyes as the lid was shut and the fog of cold started the freezing process.
Dick shivered, he hated those chambers. He had been in them a few times, and each time it got harder to go back in. He hated how helpless he felt, lying there and waiting for the ice to freeze you over.
'You will learn to appreciate the sleep.' Said Cobb, noticing Dick's shiver. 'Especially should you receive injuries such as those.'
'Will he be alright?' Dick asked.
'Yes, Gray Son. A few days in the chamber and he will be ready for his next mission.'
Dick frowned, he hated being called Gray Son. He often asked them to call him Richard (not Dick, that was reserved for his friends and family), but they never did.
'What would happen if he didn't...sleep?' Dick asked quietly. The main thing he had become aware of about the Talon's was how hard they were to kill, their bodies regenerated faster than an injury could kill them. But in this instance, it looked as though the electrum and the injury were at a race to the end.
'It is the same with most injuries to the organs.' Cobb said matter of factly. 'They are harder to heal and can very easily become disabling. If you ever suffer from an internal injury you must come back here for hibernation. Do you understand Gray Son?'
'Would I die?' Dick asked, genuinely curious.
'No.' Said Cobb flatly. 'But you could enter a line between death and life. Your injury would take you to the cusp of death and the electrum would bring you back. This would continue, over and over until you are placed on ice.'
Dick thought about Cobbs words a lot. To be caught between the darkness of death and the agony of life. It sounded like torture.
'Dick? Dickie open your eyes!'
His eyelids felt heavy but he pulled them apart to see Jason leaning over him, with his hands clasped together firmly on his chest, as though he had been giving him CPR.
'Stay with us, Buddy.' Said Jason, he put two fingers to the side of Dick's neck and then turned to Damian. 'His hearts going again but its very erratic.'
As his awareness of his surroundings returned as did his awareness of the pain, only now it was even worse than before. Was this what Cobb had meant? To be shown a few merciful seconds of death only to be dragged back into life and rewarded with even more pain.
'Get the chamber.' He heard someone say. He didn't know who and he didn't care. He moaned out a plea but his mouth was once again coated with coppery blood. He couldn't talk, couldn't breathe. But he could hear the sound of something heavy being wheeled in. They were going to put him back in the ice, back into the never-ending darkness. Feeling none of the strength and bravery he had felt not a few hours before while facing the Owls, Dick began to cry. Silent tears falling from the corners of his eyes and down the side of his face. When someone drew close to him and tried to touch him, he fought them away with the strength he had left until he felt them retreat. Then he led back, feeling himself fading once again.
A hand came to rest on his forehead again and once more he tried to fight them off but a voice shushed him.
'It's all right Dick.' It was Tim. 'Just stay calm, you're going to make yourself worse.' His voice was calm and soothing. 'Tell me what you're afraid of.'
'I don't want to go back in there.' Dick whispered, tired from pain.
'I've gathered that.' Said Tim with a kind smile. 'But I want you to tell me why.'
'I don't want to wake up and have missed more time.'
Tim had figured as much, but he had wanted Dick to voice his fear out loud.
'That's understandable. But Dick, you are with us now. We will not leave you in there for longer than you need to be. In a few days, you will be healed and we will wake you back up. I promise you.'
Dick was silent, a few more tears escaping down the side of his face.
'I can't.'
'Can't what?'
Dick coughed and turned his head and more blood threatened to choke him. Tim wiped his mouth and settled him back down. 'Can't what, Dick?'
'I can't do it. You don't know what it's like, lying there and having the cold settle into your body. It's horrific.'
'How did the owls do it?' Asked Tim, afraid of the answer.
'They held me down while they shut the lid. I would scream and claw at the glass, begging them to let me out. Then the freezing would begin, your body shuts down first, then your senses. Your consciousness is the last to go.'
Jason turned away, nauseated. At least when he had died it had been quick, instant. He looked down at the lid of the chamber, sure enough, there were small scratches on the glass.
'Please do..n't..put...' Dick's eyes closed again, his body going limp.
'Dick!' Jason leapt forward again, but Tim waved him off, putting a finger on Dick's pulse. There was no heartbeat, but he had a theory about Dick's condition. It was about to be put to the test. 'Dick, can you hear me? Open your eyes.'
Dick took a shuddering breath and his eyes peeled open slowly. Tim nodded to himself, it was just as he thought.
Dick moaned again as the pain returned tenfold.
'Dick, this is only going to get worse. You know that.'Tim said quietly. 'The electrum can't heal you, but it won't let you die either.'
The look in those yellow eyes told him he already knew this fact.
Damian watched the whole scene with disgust. What had those monsters done to him? The image of them holding the screaming boy down kept replaying in his mind's eye. He knew Richard had to go back into the chamber in order to heal the internal bleeding that was currently causing him so much pain, but he wished there was a way to make it easier for the kid. And in an instant, he suddenly had a thought. He walked over to the edge of the room and wheeled over a canister of anaesthetic. When he was by Dick's side, he dug in one of the cabinets and found a mask, attaching it to the canister.
Dick watched him silently but when Damian brought the mask down to his face, he grasped his wrist with surprising strength and wouldn't let him any closer.
'Richard, this is going to happen. It's up to you whether we do it the easier way or the hard way.' Damian said sternly. They were words Richard himself had once said to him as a young boy when he had first come to stay at Wayne Manor. Dick's bottom lip quivered as he released Damian's arm and allowed the young man to place the mask over his nose and mouth.
'Deep breaths, Dick. It will be over soon.' Said Tim, continuing to stroke the sweaty bangs from his face.
Dick took deep breaths, relaxing a little with each one. The pain was ebbing away, his family was here around him, they would protect him. It took longer than the average person but finally, Dick slipped into fitful sleep. They lowered him down into the chamber carefully, closing the lid and activating the chamber. Thankfully, after a decade of researching the Talons, it was easy enough to do. The fog filled the chamber, freezing Dick's body and putting him into hibernation.
'What now?' Asked Damian, looking down at the boy in the ice and remembering the sight from months ago when they first found him.