Talon stood slouched on the cold railing of the balcony, still as a statue and bored. Very, very bored. But his man would have to come out eventually. He'd been staking the target out for hours outside of the warehouse where, right at this very moment, a meeting between all the mob bosses and crime lords of Gotham city was underway. He really should just stalk in there right now and kill them all. Slit their throats or shoot them or even plant a bomb. Talon's piercing, yellow eyes glittered at the thought and his lips even twitched in amusement. It could be fun... At least it would end the boredom. But a mass murder, especially a mass murder of all the organized crime leaders of the city would create absolute anarchy inside the city. Not that he cared about rusty, dusty, dirty Gotham City, but the Court of Owls wouldn't be pleased. The city had a protector...someone who would surely avenge any tampering, especially from a ruthless hitman like himself. The Batman would rear up his head and surely hunt them down until he discovered who they were and tried to interfere or take revenge. Talon would be punished for that...possibly even terminated. Both options, needless to say, were something Talon very much wanted to avoid. Besides, it was needless for the rest of the scum to die, as far as he was concerned. He only had one target...a big target; Red Hood. He would have his fun yet. All he had to do was wait until the crime lord walked out of the warehouse doors and then he could play.

Dick sighed dramatically; a huff of breath condensed in the freezing night air and let his sharp eyes wander after it until it dissolved into the murky, starless sky. He was starting to get restless now, he realized as he once again pulled a dagger from his belt and twirled it absently in his hand. The meetings never lasted this long. Dick had been stalking this guy for weeks and waited outside several of these little get-togethers, and none of them had lasted longer than one hour at most. This one, the night that Talon had finally decided to make his move, had now extended into hour number four and delayed him considerably. That didn't sit well with him. Hood was going to pay for wasting Talon's time, he decided with a sadistic smirk, re-pocketing the dagger with twitching fingers.

Hour number five came and went and Talon was inventing more and more ghastly punishments by the minute. Finally, 15 minutes into hour six when he decided joint-by-joint dismemberment and forced consumption was a worthy punishment for Red Hood's lack of punctuality, the massive warehouse doors creaked and groaned below before finally screeching open and releasing the various criminal overlords below.

Their faces were pale and one of them even fell to his knees and vomited into the garbage pile in the alley. Must be a new recruit to have that weak of a stomach, Talon smirked silently to himself, still leaning casually against the balcony railing. The audience dispersed quickly, as usual (at least they never took their time with that) and Talon grinned darkly as his target, always the last to leave the warehouse, finally emerged into the street and closed the metal door behind him. Talon wasted no time and hopped smoothly over the metal balcony, landing perfectly on his feet right in front of the man and drawing his dual swords out at the ready.

"I've been waiting for you," he smiled alluringly with a tilt of his head and a flash of his predatory yellow eyes.

Red Hood audibly laughed behind his helmet and put one hand to rest on his hip without bothering to draw his gun. If he could see it, Talon was sure the man would be smirking. Talon had actually never seen this guy's face before; he always had the damn helmet on. Maybe he had a nasty scar he didn't want anyone to see for fear of weakness, or maybe he was just very protective of his identity. Either way, ripping the damn thing off was going to be Talon's great victory; savoring the first and last expression on the Red Hood's face before he finally killed him; fear. Just like everyone else. But fear was the exact opposite reaction he received when he realized that Red Hood was...laughing at him?

"Really? That's the line you go with to intimidate me?" the man scoffed. "It's so cliche, it hurts. You had me going until you opened your mouth. Assassins should be seen, and definitely not heard in your case. Actually," he amended as an afterthought, "a good assassin shouldn't even be seen. What kind of killer are you, bird boy?"

Talon blinked in shock. He arched a brow and pointed the edge of his blade directly against the Hood's throat. "You're awfully cocky for someone who's about to die," he hummed in amusement at Hood's lack of fear. Interesting. He'd have to fix that.

"Humor me," Red Hood snorted, making Talon's skin crawl. "Come on, as a dying man's wish. Where on earth did they dig you up, hot stuff?"

"Same place you're about to go, sweetheart," Talon replied with a smirk. Two could play this game. "The pits of hell."

"Ooh, how cryptic. Much better," Hood nodded in approval. Talon rolled his glowing eyes.

"Are you going to put up a fight and attempt to give me a challenge, or are you going to stand here flirting with me and make my job easy?" Talon retorted without missing a beat. Before Talon could blink, Hood unexpectedly knocked his feet out from underneath, twisted one of his swords out of his hands and aimed it precisely above his rapidly beating heart. Talon stared up, frozen in awe; no one had ever managed that before. But then, no one had ever casually flirted over their own deaths before, either. Hood was good...definitely not a stranger to hitmen antics or attempts. No matter. Talon was no ordinary hitman.

"What? I'm not allowed to make a little foreplay? You must be one of those strictly 'down to business' kind of guys," Hood shook his head sadly.

"I prefer to think of it as 'hit and run,'" Talon grinned at his own pun before kicking the weapon out of Hood's hand, repossessing it and jumping up fluidly before kicking Hood into the nearest wall and strutting over with something of a swagger in his hips.

Hood grunted from the force of the impact and shook his head swiftly to gather his wits again. "Your sense of humor might just be a deal breaker."

"I can live with that," Talon smirked. Jason snorted before launching himself at the assassin, who danced almost gracefully out of the way before snatching the back of the collar on Hood's leather jacket and slamming him down against the ground. Hood retaliated by twisting and kicking Talon's feet out from underneath him again and rolling on top to straddle him and pin his wrists high above his head.

"You know, you look really hot, all sprawled underneath me like this," Hood commented, reaching for the gun at his side.

"You should see how flexible I am," Talon added breathlessly before proving his point and using his legs to wrap his ankles around the man's throat, effectively throwing him off and switching their positions. He smiled seductively and took the chance to press his hidden dagger against Hood's throat. Unfortunately, however, Hood had already reached his gun and had that pressed point blank against Talon's forehead, so they were in a very provocative, not-so-stand off.

"Aw, did you get shy?" Hood mocked when Talon hesitated. "Or did my big package scare you off?"

Talon snorted and rolled his eyes before pushing off of the criminal and backing away cautiously. "Don't get so cocky. It's not the biggest I've ever seen."

"It's not the size that matters, sweetheart, it's the firepower," Hood laughed, never once wavering his aim as they circled each other. "And let me tell you, it packs one hell of a punch."

"I'm sure," Dick replied dryly, darting his eyes to his two discarded swords directly behind his adversary. How was he to get to them without getting blown up by a Desert Eagle...hmm.

"So. Now that I have the advantage, you can either run and live to hunt me another day, or you can try and get to your swords, in which case I'll blow your head off. What's it gonna be?"

"You're giving me a choice?" Talon tilted his head suspiciously. "That's not usually how you work. Red Hood doesn't negotiate."

"Did it sound like I was compromising with you?" Hood retorted. "I thought it sounded more like a friendly ultimatum."

"But why give me the chance to get away?" Talon insisted, honestly at awe at the stupidity and/or tenacity of the man.

Red Hood audibly chuckled. "I like to spice things up. Why are you trying to kill me anyway?"

Talon hummed and smiled seductively, taking one cautious step forward. Hood cocked the gun without hesitation and Talon froze once again. "It's nothing personal, Red. You're just another name on the list. I don't ask why. I just have fun with it."

"You must be having a ball right now," Hood audibly smirked.

"You have no idea. You just made the game interesting," Talon smiled dangerously. "I don't normally need effort for a hit. The fact that you actually present a challenge just made the game significantly more interesting. My victory will be so much sweeter in the end when I finally kill you. You know; lose the battle, win the war thing."

Hood groaned and sighed. "Again with the cliches," he shook his head before lowering the gun and holstering it easily. Dick arched a brow and watched as the man turned to pick up the dual swords behind him and admire them in the light of the street lamp.

"These will make a nice souvenir," he commented with a smugness that made Talon's lips twitch in irritation. "I think I'll hang them up on my- guh," he choked as a flying assassin leaped and twisted through the air to land a kick and drop him on his ass. The swords clattered to the floor and Talon lifted them to return them to their holsters on his back almost lovingly. Then he turned back to the wheezing crime lord before him and smirked down, shaking his head and tsk-tsking him condescendingly.

"Those are mine," he leered, kneeling down so that he was looking the man directly in the eyes (or the white eye lenses of the helmet, anyway). "Touch them again...and I'll make a sheath out of one of your orphices."

"Kinky," Hood retorted, making Dick roll his eyes.

"You have no idea," he repeated, pulling the man forward by his chin and pressing a fierce kiss against the cold metal of the helmet. "I'll see you again, Hood. Watch your back," he stood and strutted away slowly. "As well as your front," he added with a smirk before leaping back up onto the balcony he had watched from earlier and disappearing into the night.