Birds of the Night

Chapter 7

"WHAT?" Tigress gasped. She refrained from swearing for...everyone's sake.
Cassie stumbled backwards, covering her mouth with her good hand.
"Are you positive, Batgirl?" asked Batman, an edge to his voice that was unfamiliar. Could it be hope? Artemis wondered.
Barbara nodded, bringing up an image of the identification process on the holographic computer, her hands shaking. Dick Grayson. Unknown. Match.
Cassie felt like crying, and she didn't know if it was from relief or shock. "But...he attacked us. Why would he do that if he was really Nightwing?"
The question was there, consuming everyone's minds -and it didn't make any sense. Why would Dick hurt them? Not only was he Dick, the loving, compassionate big brother of the Team, but he was Batman's first partner, the first Robin, the first sidekick. Justice could have been his middle name.
Nightwing and villain just didn't go together. At least, never before.
Batman had to fight the urge to march out of there to find an answer. But then the short-circuited wires in his head made a connection. "Joker said Dick Grayson was dead... I think he was right," he said through a clenched jaw.
His response engendered very confused faces.
"If that is in fact Nightwing, we are no longer dealing with the person we all know. His blood may be the same...but I'm not sure Dick is still in there." Batman narrowed his eyes, swallowing the reality of the words he had just uttered. "M'gann, did you sense any kind of mind control when you were fighting?"
The Martian looked up, tears in her eyes. "I didn't get a chance. He sort of...brain blasted me."
Eyes widened all across the room. "How?"
"He thought about so many terrible things, awful memories of death a-and torture. I was too overwhelmed with emotion...with noise; I couldn't get a look inside," she got out, choking back a sob.
"Torture?" asked Robin. He looked at Batman, too numb to feel anything but the matter at hand. "Do you think they tortured him until he changed sides?"
Tigress closed her eyes. This was too much.
She glanced at Dick's family, faces rigid, like robots. How are you three not breaking down right now? Are bats really that tough? She her stomach flip-flopped. Dick was always tough. No matter what the circumstances. Could torture have been the only thing to break him?
She pictured Dick Grayson. Her best friend. Her crutch.
Broken.
She gulped."Or maybe...he no longer knows which side he belongs on..."

Dick held Batman's bloody cowl in his fingers, trembling with victory. He had succeeded in his mission. He had killed Bruce.
Laughter echoed from all around as he took in the broken body before him. The always tightened jaw slackened by defeat, the blue eyes vacant and pale. But then the body multiplied, and Dick was suddenly standing over piles of heroes-no, villains...right? There was Robin and Batgirl, and then Tigress and his parents, and the Team. A man in a yellow and red costume with a lightning symbol on his chest, auburn hair jutting out from under his mask.
Dick swallowed. He should be proud. He should be honored. But something in his gut twisted painfully.
Why?
They were all liars. They lied to him about his past, about his identity. About loving him and promising to save him. All lies.
Then the bodies deteriorated into bones and decaying flesh, the smell so powerful it hit him like a wall.
The Court appeared, but their faces were covered with real owl heads, dripping blood and feathers as they shifted. Cobb came forward and in one motion slit Dick's throat. He fell, confused, backwards into a crater.
He was engulfed by sizzling green liquid that burned into his nose and eyes like direct rays of sunlight. He screamed. His skin was pealing away, leaving pink flesh and blistering wounds. He couldn't breathe; he was drowning. Someone had always feared this way to die. Artemis? Was that the one?
It didn't matter. This was the end. He had been betrayed by everyone and everything.
Dick sprung awake, drenched in sweat. His chest heaved as he strained for oxygen. But there was plenty.
He unclenched his hands, letting go of the shredded pillow. He had strangled a pillow. In his sleep.
Was that funny? He felt like he should laugh.
But then that cold feeling washed over him again, whispers about vengeance and fear that he knew all too well beckoning him to sleep. To surrender.
And he did.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, Red."
Jason halted. Damn she was good.
Tigress twisted around, hands on her hips. "I know you've been following me. I could hear you breathing."
"Is it true?"
"What?"
"Is Nightwing really a Talon?"
When he'd heard the news from the hacked frequency he'd slipped and nearly fell off the roof of his apartment. That would be a tragic way to die again, wouldn't it? Jason Todd, resuscitated via Lazaras Pit, falls off two story building. Batman scrapes brains off sidewalk.
She looked taken aback. "I don't know why it concerns you, but yeah."
He stepped into the moonlight. Something inside of him was changing. And he wasn't sure he liked it. "I want to help."
"Why?"
I'm asking myself the same question, lady."What. I can't just have my reasons?"
Her lip curled. Then she brought her leg up to his neck and pinned him against the wall with the heel of her shoe. "I don't trust you."
He tried not to take notice of how hot she looked when she was angry. "You're even more beautiful than I remember, 'Mis."
She gasped, pressing her heel into his jugular. "Who are you?"
He grinned, though she couldn't see. "Can't tell; I don't trust you."
She released him and crossed her arms. "How do you know who I am?"
"I was a good friend of Nightwing in the past. He told me all about you and your...team of sidekicks."
She stared at him. "He would never tell anyone our ID's."
"Really? How do you know? He's a Talon! He could've gone behind all of your backs at one point." He didn't know why he was saying that. Dick would never do such a thing. And yet, who knew? He became a villain. The last thing Jason ever expected of his goody-two-shoes brother in a million years.
Tigress narrowed her eyes. "You obviously don't know him like I do. Like I did..." She turned around, hiding the sadness on her face.
Jason blinked. "Look, I know Bats doesn't want me around, and honestly the feeling is mutual, but...just let me know if you hear anything new, okay?"
She nodded without turning around, and he disappeared into the dark.

Batgirl waited patiently on top of the building next to the prison. Bruce had decided that the next place Talon...Nightwing...would strike would be the location of Tony Zucco. He had ordered the team to keep watch on the prison this week, and there were six of them tonight. Her, Bruce, Artemis, Bart, and Superboy. All people who weren't present the last time he attacked. They were probably relieved. Fighting your best friend and ex leader, watching him pick you apart like a one-man pack of wolves, sneering in your face as you pass out... awful. Pure awful. She glanced at Batman nervously. His frown was tighter than usual, and he looked freaking scary as hell tonight.
She still couldn't believe why she was here. Just last year Dick had been leading the Team, training them, laughing and joking per usual. Now he was...a villain. It just didn't make sense. Was he under cover? Was he just sick? There had to be an excuse. This just wasn't him.
He had been her best friend since middle school, and then her boyfriend-but-not really, and then the guy-she-would-end-up-with-eventually. But all her dreams, her future scenarios with them together were shredded into a billion pieces at this point. Could they save him? Would the sight of her be enough to bring him back?
Or...was she just Babs?
Batman stiffened, and her hand slid to her utility belt, fingers pulling out three batarangs at once. He tilted his head to left, listening, and then gestured quickly for them to move behind the guard tower.
Batgirl felt like her heart had taken a personal shot of Red Bull. She wanted to see him so badly. Even if he had a mask.
It was eerily silent for a few seconds, the pitch blackness of the night enclosing around them.
Then something dark leapt onto the adjacent roof, and her spine tingled. The person moved unnaturally fast, but of course, not fast enough for Bart. The kid slammed straight into the Talon, sending him sprawling, while Artemis sent a netted arrow to capture their assassin.
The Talon wriggled uselessly under the trap, and Barbara exhaled.
She didn't know what to think. Had it really been so easy? Did they really have Dick back?
Then several things happened at once.
Four explosions went off in each of the corner ventilation outputs, sending Superboy and the others sky high. A siren went off in the prison - red lights flashing wildly in all directions - and guards began shouting and giving orders as smoke erupted from the roof. A dark mass flew at Batman and they both tumbled over the edge of the building.
But before she could even comprehend what was happening, a cold glove clamped around her throat and the world around her went up in flames.