A/N: Congrats to you who voted Talon AU (about 80% lol) I chose this one! I will be writing the Genderbent AU at the same time as this one, and as soon as I finish (and I plan to put in a oneshot series after the ten-to-twenty chapter story I'm planning) I'll post the genderbent one. Shadowymoon suggested having a genderbent Talon AU, but I have two distinct storylines planned, so… no go. Sorry! No pairings other than the given Spitfire and Supermartian, though I think I'll have the Batwing (BatgirlXNightwing) pairing in the oneshot series. This chapter is buildup. We'll start season 1 next chapter! Except, not! You'll understand around chapter-three-ish!

It was cold. And bright. Too bright. Hurt his eyes, even through closed eyelids. The cold was a presence, freezing him, invading his pores. It hurt. He couldn't move. That was awful. He couldn't move. For him, the lack of movement was torture. If he could have hyperventilated, he would have. But he couldn't. He was completely controlled.

The owl-men had done this. He had glimpsed one that day before, slipping into and out of Pop Haley's trailer. Then it was performance time. He was only five, not allowed to perform without the net yet, so when it was removed for the grand finale he had been told to go back to the platform.

He had, but now he wished he hadn't. A knife flashed by. It snipped one rope, then another flew through the air and sent his family crashing down. Oh god.

They were gone. They couldn't save him. He wanted to join them in death, leave this cold hell. But he couldn't. And it was cold. And bright. Wait, now he was thinking in circles.

The owl-men had taken him. Grabbed him, tied his hands and feet. Two of them. They blindfolded him. They carried him with care, almost gently, so when they had put him in the cold… It was a complete surprise. It was cold. And bright. Too bright.

His hands were still tied, he could still feel the rope holding his ankles together. And it was cold. And bright. Too bright. They had taken off the blindfold. He wished they hadn't. Darkness was better than the awful bright cold.

It was so cold. And bright.

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They took him out. He saw the owl-men. He had no blindfold. They strapped him down to a gurney. He didn't struggle. There was no point. They had taken him out of the bright cold, that was all he cared about.

But this… this was worse than the bright cold. The scientists with white owl masks had put electrodes on his chest. They had needles. Lots of tiny doses. Two owl scientists injected a tiny vial inside of his neck. Little tiny needles. But they hurt. They pricked him. Over and over and over again.

But it was worse. The electrodes would shock him and it hurt oh god it hurt so bad but they won't stop and his insides are burning and his outsides are freezing and oh god make it stop!

Two tiny pricks at once, and a simultaneous shock. So many times. He heard an owl scientist say 'fifty' and then they detached the electrodes.

He was wheeled into a blinding white room and left there, cold and hot and hurting. Strapped down to a gurney. And Dick cried.

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They called Dick Talon. They called the owl-men who had taken him Talons, but Dick was the Talon. They made him train. And train. Then they would strap him back down. If he refused, they would beat him. The Talons. The people with owl masks just watched. His wounds healed quickly, but the beatings hurt.

And Dick talked. They hated that. They hurt him when he talked. But Dick would never stop talking. They couldn't make him stop.

Until they did.

They wheeled him into the shocking room. Dick nearly freaked out, but there was no needles. Well, there was one. It knocked him out.

When Dick woke up, something was wrong.

There was something in his throat. Cold, metal. It didn't impair his breathing, but there was something wrong. A Talon came forward, said that he had left them no choice. That they had taken his voice.

Dick went to protest because he was fine, he could talk. But he couldn't. He opened his mouth, and nothing came out. The cool metal in his throat suddenly seemed icy.

Ohgodhecouldn'ttalkhelpletmetalkI'vegottotalkhelpmeplease!

But nothing came out. And nothing ever would.

Now that they had perfected him, they didn't call Dick Talon. They called him the Gray Son.

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Another man stepped in to train him. His name was William Cobb. He was Dick's great-grandfather. Dick couldn't do anything but nod. They all kept calling him Gray Son. They had tried to make him kill someone, but Dick had adamantly refused, not caring how badly they hurt him. Dick was eight.

000000000

The Bat came. He sent the Court running. Great-grandfather had grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him along, but Dick summoned his courage and fought back. He was not going to be leaving. Batman was a hero. A superhero. Dick's parents had told him that superheroes were good. Batman would help him.

Batman caught up to them. He threw batarangs at Great-grandfather, hitting him in the wrist and forcing him to let Dick go. Batman battled Great-grandfather, forced him to flee, with a venomous promise to find Dick, or the Gray Son, as they called him.

Batman dropped to a knee in front of him. "Richard? Richard John Grayson?" Dick nodded, surprised. Batman knew him?

Batman kept talking. "I've been trying to find you for a long time, Richard. Would you like to stay with me?"

Dick nodded eagerly. He could get away. He could get away. He could get away. He could get away. He could get away!

Batman laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's all right, you can talk."

Dick helplessly opened his mouth, then closed it. He pointed a finger at his mouth to try to get Batman to understand.

Batman understood. "You can't talk?"

Dick nodded silently.

Batman looked furious and sad all at once, and Batman was angry on his behalf. Then he calmed down. "All right, Richard. Let's get in the plane."

Dick picked up a stick and wrote in the dirt… the amazing dirt he hadn't seen in years.

Call me Dick.

Batman smirked. "All right. Come on chum, let's get you home."

A/N: Again, thank you to all who voted! For the (probably very few) people who read Real Son (a RA fanfic) I'm working on it! Promise! I think I may be able to post it at the same time as this chapter… probably not tho. It's pretty late. Anywhos, Dick's mute (maybe with a few exceptions) which is why this AU will be nothing like the others. Well, actually, there's one in the Batman Comics category that's called Who We Were where Dick has aphasia… but Dick doesn't have aphasia, he's mute. Looking at the other chapters… all I can say is thank god for mindlinks. I think Dick and Bruce are so mentally attuned to each other that they don't need comm links, and the Team uses mindlinks, so… there's that. Sorry about the massive A/N.