20 years ago:
'He is strong.'
'That he is.' Cobb and his General stood and watched from a distance while the Gray Son trained. He was skilled, growing more skilled every day. In a little under a year, he had mastered most of their weapons and could fight against even some of the highest in their ranks and little by little he was getting closer to winning their duels.
'I notice he has not yet accessed his full strength?' the General mused.
Cobb crossed his large arms over his chest. 'He is still young. His body will remain unchanged, but his mind will mature with experience. When he is ready, he will be able to unlock his full stores of electrum.' A small smirk played on his lips as he watched his Great Grandson spar. Richard was a force to be reckoned with, even with the small amount of electrum that was coursing through his body. He couldn't wait to see how powerful his heir would become once he had unlocked his full potential.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Dick knew that Annie worked at Wayne Tech or as it was now called Wayne and Power, but he hadn't realised she played such an important role. Since Bruce was retired, he only ever dealt with the business that was either directly connected to his money or when the founders of the company gathered to discuss and vote on the company's future. After the incident that led to Terry becoming Batman, Bruce had hired Annie to work on his behalf for all of the other business that went on within the company.
Her office was huge, decked out in a way Dick could only describe as 'very Annie.' Everything was organised and had its place in the room, her desk was placed by the window, files neatly organised in a metal cabinet to its side. There was a couch in the room that faced the desk with a coffee table in front of it.
'Wow.' Said Dick, years ago he had gone to Bruce's office on a number of occasions, but he hadn't been expecting Annie to be so high up in the company, she already did so much at home.
'Morning Annie.' A chirpy voice came from the doorway, Dick popped his head over the sofa and saw a small blonde woman in a pencil skirt and large round glasses balancing on her nose.
'Morning Karly.' Said Annie, raising a hand in greeting. She and Dick were currently sat on the sofa with coffee from the coffee shop around the corner.
'Oh, who's this?' Karly leaned back a little upon seeing Dick's eyes.
'This is Dick, Jason's son. He'll be staying with me today.' She raised her coffee mug to indicate to the woman in the doorway. 'Dick, this is Karly, my assistant.'
'Hi.' Said Dick.
'Not at school?' said Karly, obviously fishing for more details as to why this strange boy was in the office.
'I'm on suicide watch.' Said Dick with a smile. Karly looked alarmed.
'Ignore him, Karly. I'll be out in a minute to go over today's schedule.' Once Karly had closed the door Annie glared at her young charge.
'Not necessary.' She said, standing up and throwing her empty coffee cup in the bin.
'What, it's true.' Dick shrugged.
'That's not why you're here.'
'Then why am I here?' said Dick, slumping into the back cushions. 'Why couldn't I stay at the manor on my own?'
Annie smiled at him in a way that made him feel uncomfortable. She walked over to him and leant forward so her face was close to his own.
'You're here because you have been suspended and you are grounded.'
'I'm what?' said Dick. 'I'm 38 years old you can't ground me!'
Annie glared at him again and he knew he'd made a mistake playing that card. The woman took a deep breath and walked back over to her desk, she picked up a pile of papers, a pair of scissors and a cardboard box, bringing them back over and placing them on the coffee table.
'I am going to be in a meeting for most of this morning. You are going to stay here and cut out all of these name tags and put them in the badge holders for next week's conference.'
'But there are hundreds of them.' Dick complained.
'736.'
'Don't you have a machine that can do this?' he said, turning in his seat so he could face her while she went to the door.
'Yep.' She smiled that evil smile at him again and then she was gone.
Dick sighed before standing up and walking around the office. He had thought spending the day with Annie at work was going to be boring but spending the day by himself in Annie's office was even duller. But he had to wonder what the woman was planning. Jason had spent the entire weekend making sure Dick was not alone for long periods of time. Dick wasn't sure what Jason thought he was going to do, he had already gone through the self-harm phase while he was with the owls. Other than finding a way to chop off his own head, he was pretty much indestructible and the thought of beheading himself was not a comforting one.
But whatever Dick would or wouldn't do, Jason was worried and hadn't let Dick out of his sight for long. And now here was Annie, leaving him alone in her office for the entire morning. He was about to consider this some more when he realised the wall in which the door was set, was completely made out of glass. And on the other side of that glass was Karly's desk. Annie's assistant eyed him suspiciously and Dick regretted his earlier comment, this woman wasn't going to take her eyes off him.
Deciding he had nothing better to do, he went back to the couch and started working on the name badges. It was going to be a long day.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Annie stretched her arms above her head and groaned. It had been a very long meeting, as usual, fighting passive aggressively with Powers. Bruce had warned her what Powers would propose and had told Annie to slam the motion down. Which she had. She had never had the chance to meet Derek Powers, the original head of Powers Industries. He had disappeared before her appointment here. But his son was an absolute arse.
She was currently alone in the large boardroom, she knew she needed to get back upstairs to Dick. She had been a little harsh on him, it must be very confusing to be living on the brink of two separate lives. But he was infuriating when he failed to see that what they were doing was for his best interest. She chuckled to herself, she had never wanted kids. Being in the service had taken up all of her time and energy, even when she had moved to the US to look after Alfred her thoughts on the matter hadn't changed. Now she was too busy helping to run not only a company and a household but the background work for vigilantes. And yet here she was, mothering over a 17...18-year-old boy.
'I need a holiday.' She said quietly to herself.
It was then that the door opened, and Karly stood in the doorway looking very pale, tears rolling down her eyes. Annie's first thought went to Dick and his wellbeing, but then Karly walked into the room, a gun pressed to her back and three men followed all holding weapons.
'I'm sorry.' Karly cried.
'What's going on?' said Annie, slowly getting out of her seat.
'You Anastasia Pennyworth?' said one of the men.
'Who wants to know?' she said, already pressing the SOS button in her pocket.
'Answer the question.' The man took his gun from Karly's back, pulling her close to him and pressing the gun at her temple. Karly whimpered, her glasses falling off her face.
'Yes, yes I'm Anastasia Pennyworth.' Said Annie, fear coursing through her for her friend. The man said nothing but looked to the two others and nodded his head. They came towards her.
'It's nothing personal,' one said. 'It's just business.' He pointed his gun at her but before he could fire, she had deflected the gun to the side and brought her knee to his gut, the bullet lodging itself into the oak table. She quickly sent her leg back to push the other man away before he could grab her. He went back with a grunt, giving her enough time to swing around and kick him in the side of the head. She grabbed a throwing knife from one of their belts and threw it towards the third man. He released Karly as he moved out of the way. The blonde ran to the door, Annie went to follow but one of the other men grabbed her ankle and she fell to the floor.
Gunfire went off and she heard a thud, she looked up to see blood spattered on the cream walls and Karly lying face down on the floor, blood pooling under her head.
Annie kicked back again, her heel hitting the man on her ankle in the face. She then rolled, grabbing a gun from the floor and regaining her footing. She pointed the gun at them, each one in turn.
'Drop it.' Said the man who had killed Karly. The other two got up off the floor. She held the gun steady, hating the fact that she was in the only room in the entire building that didn't have glass panelling. Damn Powers for booking this room.
And then it clicked. That was why he had booked this room, that was why he had left the meeting in such a hurry.
'You work for Powers.' She said, and the men laughed, confirming her theory.
'That's not going to do you much good now.'
Annie smirked. 'You chose the wrong Brit to mess with.' She fired the gun at the wall, hitting her target and setting off the fire alarm throughout the building. The emergency services would be there soon, and since they were a large company the police would arrive too.
Now she just had to stay alive until they arrived.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Dick clicked his back and neck. He had been working solidly for several hours. Time to take a break. Once again, he stood and walked around the office, stretching his legs. As he walked passed the door, he noticed that Karly was missing. Curious he went out and stood by her desk, looking down the corridor to see if she was there. Someone he didn't recognise walked passed.
'Sorry to bother you. Do you know where Karly is?' he asked the woman. She didn't look confused as to who he was, so he guessed his presence was office gossip.
'She went down to reception, there were some men to see Annie.' She looked at the desk and frowned. 'That was a while ago though.'
Dick thanked her and walked back to the office door, but he didn't go in. There was something wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it. Karly had been watching him like a hawk all morning, he was sure Annie had tasked her with that duty. So why leave him for so long. If she had gone to take Annie a message, then surely it would have been a quick task. And where was Annie? She had said she was in a meeting all morning, but it was nearly three.
He walked over to Karly's desk and had hacked into her computer in moments. He brought up her calendar and found where Annie was holding the meeting. He then brought up a map of the building and found where the room was situated.
His theory of office gossip was confirmed as he walked through the building. People saw him, stared and whispered but no one stopped him or questioned him on who he was. Suddenly the building was filled with an ear-piercing ringing, even with his sound filters, they hurt Dick's ears. People started to get up, looking around alarmed. This was not a planned drill.
Something was definitely wrong. Ignoring everyone else, he picked up his pace down the corridor and towards the boardroom. It was separate from the rest of the building, remnants from the original building built when Thomas Wayne was in charge of the company. When he reached the door, he could smell blood, lots of it.
'Annie?' he called, he could barely hear himself over the alarm. He touched the door handle and pushed it down. The door met some resistance, but he pushed through it. He slowly entered the room, eyes wide as he realised the resistance from the door was caused by Karly's body.
A scuffle in the room caused him to look up and he saw Annie being held by two men with blood on their faces. It looked like Annie had put up one hell of a fight and was still struggling against them. The door slammed behind him and he was grabbed.
'What do we have here?'
'Let him go!' Annie cried, fighting against the two men harder.
A shot rang out, the sound disoriented Dick for a moment. He watched as Annie stared ahead, eyes wide. When the two men released her arms, she fell to the ground.
Dick felt his heart beating in his chest, it felt almost painful. He slammed his head back, the back of his head meeting the cartilage of the man's nose. He was released and he dived towards Annie, pulling her onto his lap. She was alive, breathing heavily, blood on her lips. The bullet had entered through her abdomen, blood was coating her shirt in a growing stain.
'Dick.' She breathed.
'Shh, I'm here. It's going to be alright.' He took her hand and forced her to push down on her wound. 'Keep the pressure on it. You're going to be fine.'
The beating of his heart was becoming harder and more painful, something was building inside of him along with his anger.
'Dick.' She breathed again 'Powers hired them. Don't let them...get away.'
The men laughed.
'You've signed his death warrant you stupid bitch.' He clicked the safety off his gun and pointed it at Dick's chest. Dick ignored him.
'Stay awake Annie. Anastasia, do you hear me. Stay awake.' He brushed some of her hair from her face, accidentally smearing blood on her forehead. Despite his pleas, she went limp in his arms.
Dick shook with anger. How dare they. How fucking dare, they hurt Annie. The beating in his chest intensified, he barely noticed the bullet enter his shoulder. All he felt was a rush of heat as the electrum pushed it from his body.
'What the hell!' the man stood back.
Dick slowly lowered Annie to the ground and stood.
'What the heck are you?'
He looked up, small black veins bleeding from yellow eyes. He looked at them each, in turn, seeing the horror on their faces. It made him feel...excited.
One of the men fired at him again but he dodged, closing the distance between them and disarming him in seconds. He grabbed the man's arm and bent it to the side, breaking it. When the man sank to the ground, Dick grabbed the back of his head and brought it to his raised knee, knocking the man out. He turned to the others.
'Who's next?'
Another man ran at him, a knife in his hands. Dick caught his hand and brought the knife down to his attackers' own thigh, then he brought his elbow up, connecting it to the man's chin, sending his head back. He then threw the man across the room.
When he turned to the last man standing the adrenaline coursing through his veins was like nothing he had ever felt before. He felt powerful, angry and excited all at the same time. He walked towards the man, ignoring the bullets that were fired at him. He knew his body would heal them and the pain of the electrum wasn't bothering him right now. He crossed the distance and grabbed the man by the throat, lifting him up and slamming him against the wall. This was the man who had shot Annie and he dared guess killed Karley as well.
The man choked and clawed and kicked.
'What the hell are you?' He choked.
'I'm Frankenstein's monster.' Dick grinned and began to squeeze. But before the man could draw his last breath, Dick was pushed to the side. When he crashed to the floor he fought back.
'Dick stop, it's me.' Batman was using all of the strength in the suit to keep the boy on the ground.
Dick glared up at him, eyes hard. But then he seemed to realise where he was and who was on top of him. His expression softened and the black veins around his eyes disappeared.
'Annie.' He whispered. Batman released him and ran over to Annie, holding his hand down on her wound and his fingers to her neck.
'She's alive.' He stated, looking back to Dick. The Talon had backed himself against the wall, staring down at his hands that were covered in blood. He had been about to kill that man...he had been enjoying it.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Annie was rushed to the hospital; the men were arrested, and Karly's body was removed. But none of the police could coax Dick from his place on the floor.
'Poor kid.' Said an officer to Commissioner Gordon. 'Bats said the kid saw the whole thing.'
Barbra looked over at the boy who had once been her best friend, even she hadn't been able to get him to leave. He had stared into space, not moving and barely breathing. He was lost in his own world and she was pretty sure he hadn't even heard them. But she didn't want anyone to move him. She didn't know what would set him off and she didn't want any of her officers injured.
'Let me through!' To her side, Jason was fighting to get through the police tape. 'That's my son, let me through!'
'Let him through.' She called, and Jason dived under the tape and ran towards her.
'Where is he?'
She nodded her head to the corner of the room. 'He hasn't spoken. Batman said he witnessed everything.' She lowered her voice. 'Between you and I, Batman got here in the nick of time.'
Jason walked over to Dick, he was covered in blood.
'Dick?'
The familiar voice finally broke through to him and Dick looked up.
'Annie?'
'She's at the hospital, the doctors have her in surgery, but they think she is going to be alright.' Jason knelt down in front of him.
Dick nodded and continued to nod while his eyes welled up and tears flowed down his cheeks mixing with the blood. He lurched forward into Jason's arms.
'I felt it.' He whispered.
'Felt what?'
'For the first time, I felt like what they made me.' He gripped Jason's shirt, his voice barely a whisper. 'I felt like the Talon.'