Espera | R. Grayson ✔

[48]

For the next twenty four hours, Gotham city was in a state of uncertainty. The disappearance of the Mayor as well as the Joker had struck up quite a havoc.

The GCPD and SWAT teams were equally suspecting the vigilantes to be involved in the attack because after their escape, there had been no sign of them either.

However, shortly after, news of a very injured Mayor being dropped off at the State Hospital reached them and the case evidently thickened. It turned out that the Mayor hadn't died due to the shots fired at him but had been severely injured.

The most surprising aspect was that his captors had left him at a hospital instead of taking him with them just like they had done to the Joker.

Not many people knew who were the sinister masked people who had dropped in and taken Joker away while fighting off both Batman and Huntress. Only a select few knew that they were Talons but even they chose to keep silent about it.

Bruce Wayne had turned up at the Hospital immediately and requested the doctors to do everything they could to save his father. But it was clear to most that it would be impossible for Thomas Wayne to survive, the injuries were too much and his time was running out.

On the other hand, Joker and the Mayor weren't the only people who had been taken away from the Theater by those Talons. A corpse had been taken away too and that corpse belonged to none other than Henry Vanaver.

He had been in the front row of the audience watching the play too and had died on the spot as Joker had opened fire at the front row guests.

Since he was the current Head of the Court, the Talons had come in initially to save him but had failed in doing so hence the least they could do was take his corpse as well as his murderer away.

Taking the Mayor too hadn't initially been part of the plan but at the end Lavina had ordered them to take the Mayor or else he would die in all the time it would take for him to reach a hospital otherwise.

Even though Lavina had severed all her connections from Bruce, she couldn't bring herself to think that she had never cared for them all. Hence, that favor towards Thomas was indeed her way of showing that deep down she still cared.

If he wasn't taken to the Hospital in time he would have died sooner, but she wanted to give him that slight chance of survival which wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

On the other hand, Jason's wound due to a Talon dagger stabbing through his shoulder was taken care of by Helena and just like it had happened with Barbara, she found traces of poison in that wound too. 

It was almost as if the Talons kept poisoned daggers to strike lethally at their opponents.

However, Jason was not in much risk as he had been treated before the poison could spread through his body and damage him further. Richard had spent the whole night beside his unconscious brother, worrying a lot for him.

Carrie and Laurie were there too, both equally anxious for their friend. While Barbara had kept Helena updated regarding what had been going on at the GCPD.

Apparently there had been no trace of the Talons, the Joker nor Henry Vanaver and even though the press had tried to get hold of Samantha Vanaver to make a statement regarding the entire situation, they hadn't been able to locate her either.

To Barbara, all of that seemed much more than just a coincidence. She suspected that both Henry and Samantha had something to do with the Court too.

"She was there," Richard spoke up in a low tone, jaw clenched to suppress the anger inside him, "Lavina was there."

"Are you sure?" Helena asked, brow furrowing in concern.