I'll add all the additional "before you read" info later. I just need to get this out to my readers since it's been sitting in my folder un-betaed since... the beginning of May? Again, this is COMPLETELY unbetaed.. I might go back and fix it later, but for now, enjoy.

There was no kind of clean break in a situation this deeply rooted, especially not for the orders I had to carry out. William was used to killing, and I was only just now learning to ignore the guilt to replace it with pride. Three people down so far and only one of them was mine. I was so determined to make my grandfather proud of me in the same way that I was of myself, that when Zucco shot the kid right in the head... it startled me. William looked away from his current opponent as well. We knew what our orders were when we came here, but when it came to killing children; I don't think I could have dealt with it. Damn the Owls and making me feel so conflicted.

But it was also in that moment where I realized why he was so familiar...

"Dick, you're grounded. That was totally irresponsible behavior! Both you and Raymond should have known better!" His father was beyond angry, Dick knew that; still, who could resist running on top of a moving train with his best friend? "Now give your mother her birthday present and get meet me in the tent to practice for the performance." Dick sighed, watching him leave the tent as he looked up to his mother. The box I clutched in my hand seemed so much heavier now then it did before as I looked up to my mother's very disappointed face. I wrapped my arms around her waist before giving her the gift.

"I'm really sorry, okay? I didn't mean to ruin your birthday." I wiped a tear that came down my cheek as I looked at her. "I just- I wasn't thinking." She placed a kiss on my forehead before opening the box to gaze and it's contents.

"Oh my-" she croaked out, taking out the gold bracelet. "Are those robins?" I nodded as she let out a soft laugh, holding my close. "It's beautiful Dick, thank you- but you're still grounded."

"I know."

"Don't you realize that what you did was wreck less and stupid? You could have gotten yourself killed, and I don't want to have to ever think about losing you. I do forgive you though... just as long as you don't do it again."

"I won't." I told her with a small smile. "I'm going to go meet up with Dad now. Are you coming?" She nodded, going over to place the bracelet into her jewelry box.

"I'll be there in a little bit. Go ahead without me."

I went out the door to our trailer, walking through the crowd that soon would be our audience. I was about to call out to Dad before realizing that he was conversing with somebody; an angry expression on his face.

"The circus doesn't need any protection," I heard him say. "Haley's Circus doesn't deal with dirty crime like you're part of. I'm not going to waste my time talking to you about this any further." He noticed me standing there and frowned.

"I didn't mean to interrupt." I told him as he shook his head.

"You're not. Mr. Zucco was just leaving."

"Oh, Mr. Grayson... I would never miss a good show. I just know it's going to be absolutely groundbreaking. I just hope there are no accidents."

I gritted my teeth together as I aimed the sword at Zucco, making sure the point was just barely grazing his skin.

"I remember you," I told him. He looked up at me, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Oh, you remember me. Lots of people know me boy." William made his final kill, slipping his sword back into its holder before walking over to me. I pulled the helmet off, dropping it to the ground as I pulled him closer; literally meeting him face to face. I wanted him to remember my face, hoping it would shed some life.

"You threatened my father the same night you killed him. You have anything to do with it, huh?" I pushed the tip a little harder to get my point across, taken off guard as he started to laugh.

"I make so many threats in my line of work, you really expect me to remember? Kid I don't even know your name!"

"Grayson," I replied, watching as his eyes widened. "That's all you need to know." His eyes widened.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said, his voice more hushed them before as he gave me a once over. His smile was grim, almost evil. "So you're the kid. All grown up and bent to their will." I winced at his words. "And, to think.. you use to be quite a cute little performer." He got up from the ground and went over to look at William. "Who is this, your trainer? Did he teach you any good tricks?" He raised a brow at me before looking back to William. "Come on, I know all about your kind."

"Oh really?" William replied, taking his sword out of the holster; caked with blood and dirt and jamming it into the bastard's stomach. He lurched forward, blood running out of his mouth as he looked up at his opponent. William inched closer so his mouth was next to Zucco's ear. "Then you would know that with our kind...blood runs thicker then water."

"I- I could have done that myself!" I exclaimed. "Why did you do that?"

"Because our job involved taking care of the Court's vendetta, not your personal one." He leaned over to hand me the mask. "Plus, putting aside the fact that you have improved a lot since I first met you; I don't think you would have been able to make the kill."

"Not to sound like a whiny little kid here, but how in the hell would you know? I'm... I'm different." Dick felt lethal and strong, especially when he slipped the mask onto his head. He followed William back to the underground of the city, and into the room to store their weapons. William placed his own mask onto the table in front of him, swallowing hard as he looked at his grandson. I grimaced at the sight of William's pale and veiny complexion.

"Richard, it's not that I don't believe in you, or trust you to do what you're asked. In time, you'll do everything they need you to do without question. You are still learning, and your first night went rather well, better then what I was expecting. You did well tonight. Just... your identity. It must be kept a secret. When you're under that mask, you are not Richard Grayson; you're the Talon." I couldn't help but sigh.

"I couldn't help it. He's the reason my parents are in a graveyard. I... I wanted him dead."

"And he isdead. The court wanted him dead, and now he is. And now, you will take pleasure in the gifts that being a Talon has to offer." He smiled warmly, reaching up to place a cold kiss to my forehead. It seemed to foreign, letting this man into my life who has made it a living hell. He has become almost like a partner to me.

Almost like family.

"What kind of gifts are you talking about?" I asked as William chuckled lightly to himself as he opened the door.

"The opportunity to drink from the cup of immortality."

"Commissioner Gordon, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"It's.. it's that Jason Todd kid. He's waiting for you at the front desk. Lee picked him up off the side of the road, and he's shaken up about something. We all tried to talk to him but- he just won't." Jason pulled his legs up to his chest in a effort to stop himself from shaking. The police commissioner went over to the boy and rested a hand on his back.

"Come on son. Let's get you into my office and we can talk." Jason looked up at him, nodding as he was led into the office. He looked too small in the chair, sitting in front of the desk as the commissioner sat across from him, pulling the coffee cup to his lips.

"Nice place you got here, Comish'" Jason commented, his usual arrogant voice now sounding shaken and unordinary.

"Thank you. Now.. are you going to tell me why you're shaking worse then a Chihuahua during a thunder storm?"

"Nope'" he replied. "Because if nothin' is wrong, you'll send me back on my way and leave me the hell alone."

"In this condition? Look at yourself, kid. When is the last time you ate anything; a good decent meal? You're beginning to look like skin and bone." He studies the boys eyes with a frown. "Where is your mom? Isn't she looking after you?" He receives a glare from the kid, who rubs his eyes in what looks like exhaustion. When Jim said he looked like skin and bone, he was just barely scratching the surface. Jason looked exhausted, hungry, even bruised up and broken. And if Jim didn't do something soon, he just knew that he'd find his body on the streets one day. He wouldn't be able to live with himself. "You can talk to me... I can help you."

"Nobody can help me, Gordon," Jason said, his voice low. "I've learned to take care of myself, okay? I didn't come to see you over my situation. I know about that drug deal... the massacre from last night. I heard Officer Lee talking about it in the car, that there were no survivors from both sides; but I know the truth."

"The truth? Jason, I'm not quite sure what you're getting at."

"You think there was just two mob parties there; there was another. They- they killed my friend. I-I watched him get killed in cold blood." A slight shudder ripples through the boy as he pulls his knees back up to his chest.

"Are you confessing to witnessing the drug deal... last night?" Jason nodded, closing his eyes as he bit his lip. "Where were you when this was going on?" He pulled out a tissue box from the drawer, sighting a tear that had escaped the boy's eye. He locks eyes with Jason; noticing the horrified look in his eyes.

The kid was terrified about something, and Jim knew he had to get to the bottom of it.

"I was walking... walking home; it was late and getting cold. I didn't know that Fred was involved in that kind of thing, and I saw him standing around with a bunch of men. I didn't want to get in between whatever was going on with them, and then when I saw the guns... I hid in the nearest alley I could. But that's when I saw them; the two men. In masks."

"We have plenty of those in Gotham, son."

"I know you're talking about the batman. But- these two, they weren't on the same side as the Bat... they're evil. They had glowing eyes... helmets that resembled owls. I think if they had seen me... I would have been dead. They have shown no mercy to the people they killed, and I can't get that image out of my head. Gotham is unsafe enough with the horrible people that live here to begin with; crooks, liars, drug dealers... but... this is just too much." He's picking at the jacket that he had snugly around his shoulders.

"Okay, I'll look more into this, alright? In the meantime, let's take you back ho-"

"No!" Jason jumped out of his seat, stuffing his arms back through the arms of the jacket. "I can, I can go home myself. I came here by myself, didn't I?" Jim narrowed his eyes at the boy; something was up, obviously. "Please, I can take care of myself."

After a small argument with the commissioner, Jason ended up sitting in the cop car next to Jim as they drove through Crime Alley and up to the apartment building. Jason already knew that Jim would notice the padlock on the door, and the eviction notice in the window. Gordon didn't even look at the kid, because he knew what Jason had been hiding all along.

"How long, son? You could've come to me, said something. You didn't have to live like this."

"I can take care of myself!"

"I'm afraid, even if I did believe whole-heartedly that you could... I have to report this. I need to take you to a group home, at least until we can figure out what happened to your mother, or where she went." It was then that the commissioner noticed the tears that were welding up in Jason's eyes before he wiped them away with the back of his coat sleeve. He hesitantly places a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"You won't- find her, I mean. She's not coming back."

The commissioner didn't know what he can tell Jason, especially because he knew Jason knows better. It's not like Jim could never see it coming; he's been there when his father beat him senseless, and when his mother drank herself into a hospital. Jason's home life was nothing close to perfect, and it caused the youngster to grow up fast. For a ten year old, Jason had the kind of wisdom that would knock anybody off their feet. They drove in silence back to the police station, and before Jason knew it, they were leaving again to put Jason into a home. 'Why call it a home,' Jason wondered to himself. 'Home is where you have parents that love you, and would protect you from harm. It's where your father pats you on the shoulder over a job well done and where your mother's arms are the warmest and most amazing place to be in the world.' He never had a home, not one like that anyway. Fred was more of a family member then his own parents, and now that he was gone...

Jason felt lost, alone. Scared, even. He clutched onto his jacket tightly when he was in the group home office, sitting next to Gordon.

"He's a good kid, M'am. I know he won't cause trouble. I might come check up on him from time to time, if that's alright with you. I want to make sure he's okay."

"That's perfectly alright." the woman replied, looking at Jason through her oversized glasses. "Jason, let me take you to your room. You'll be sharing it with two brothers; Kyle and John. They'll be thrilled to have a new roommate." Jim waved when she escorted him out of the office, taking his leave.

He still had a few hours before he had to be home, but he couldn't help stopping by the small apartment. Being in the group home always found a way to rattle his system. So many kids there didn't have families like he did, and it made him appreciate the two greatest people that were in his life. He quickly made his way up the staircase and through the door; looking at the faces of his children. James; 21, sitting over a plate of bacon and eggs. Barbara, his daughter who had just turned 18, peered at him through the archway to the kitchen.

"Dad? We didn't think you'd be home so soon." She took off the ovenmits, brushing a strand of red hair behind her ear. Jim couldn't help but walk over, rapping his arms around her small frame. "D-Dad?"

"Is everything okay?" James asked, placing a hand onto his father's shoulder.

"I'm just... I love you guys, and I just needed to come home and tell you both that. Food for thought before going to school, huh?" He caught Barbara's small smile as she hugged onto him tighter. In the back of his mind, it killed him deeply that Jason couldn't have something like this.

Seriously, killed him.

"Master Bruce, I have the car outside, ready for you whenever you need to leave. I must tell you that you have a press conference later today after your little... visit at the (name of group home here)." Alfred paused at the door to the sight of Bruce looking at himself in the mirror, closing the black jacket to his suit with a frown on his face. "Is everything all right sir."

"Everything is fine," he told him simply. "Except for the fact that while I was in Arkham, a massive drug deal turned mob hit occurred and I wasn't there to stop it." The male picked up his cell phone and placed into the jacket pocket before turning to look at Alfred.

"Sir, I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news, and tell you that you are incapable of being in two places at once. The Scarecrow is in Arkham Asylum, and that's good news. And, even though she's under a cowl much like yours, you can't trust that girl to stop a drug deal of that stature."

"Batgirl, Alfred? I know. She's a child. She was probably asleep when the drug hit went down." Bruce grabbed his keys, fumbling them around in his hand before walking with Alfred down the hall. "I'll be back tonight, if you need me, call." He walks briskly over to his Lamborghini and settled into his seat.

This thing he did once every couple of months; making this trip over to one of Gotham's most popular group homes, always made him somewhat edgy. He did this because he could relate in many ways to the pain these kids were going through, and he could be an example that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. He took the time to sit and talk with them, and then leave giving the organization a rather hefty check in his name. It was sad to admit that some of these kids would end up in some really bad foster homes, or adopted by people who just wanted money. He pitied them, and at times he went back home and sat in his big empty house with just himself and Alfred and wonder why he didn't just adopt a few. They'd have a better life, wouldn't they? But then it goes back to his secret, hiding behind the clock, under the house.

He protected so many people so they could live their lives with just a little less fear. Even though he'd never admit it, sometimes he felt like that mission that drives him to the point of exhaustion most nights, is holding him back from living his own life. Then he pushes that thought aside, and forgets about it until he visits the group home again. Gotham City needs Batman, especially the kids who needed somebody to believe in; somebody bigger then Bruce Wayne could ever be.

One of the real reasons he was going to the orphanage, however, was because of the news Jim Gordon gave him the evening prior. The Bat Symbol was turned on like it usually was when he met with the Commissioner, but what surprised him was the news Gordon was told, by none other then Jason Todd. The kid that tried to steal the wheels off his car, and was a key witness to a mob hit. He didn't want to bother asking questions on what the kid was doing there, because knowing Jason to be a kid off the streets, he had a couple of conclusions to jump to.

Not that those were conclusions he really wanted to jump to.

"He saw the other group of people, but... well, the only thing I could really come to-" he drags a hand up to his forehead, massaging his temples. "is urban legend."

"What kind of urban legend?" His voice came out like gravel. The wind picks up on the rooftop and he notices the way Jim shivers, even under his coat. Winter was coming and was draping the city in it's chill.

"The only one that still scares Gotham. Batman... he mentioned that these men looked like owls. Surely, you've heard of those assassins; the Talons. To be honest, I didn't think they existed... but it would explain a lot."

"A lot."

"Yeah, all those police cases that have gone unsolved. They all seemed like mob hits... but I never thought, or even assumed that myth could be reality. I'm going to keep digging, but... I'd just keep an eye open."

And now Bruce was peering into a room of children, running around with toys and paint brushes; but one kid in particular caught his eye. Jason had separated himself from the rest of the kids, choosing instead to peer out the window.

"I'll just leave you in here with them. I'm sure many of them will be thrilled to talk to you again. If you need anything, Mr. Wayne, I'll be in my office." Bruce gave her the slightest of nods and made his way over to the window seat.