Titans: Rise of Talon

Voices from the Past

05:45 SST
The Island
December 3rd
....

    "I see you made it back in one piece," Wintergreen observed blandly as Slade strode into the kitchen. The old man's eyes lit up at the plain bag being dropped on the kitchen table.

    "Thank you! Now, we can have some authentic Asian cuisine later on. I'm thinking of doing something special for Sunday dinner," he rambled with a finger to his chin. No doubt, he was already filtering through recipes in his mind. The mercenary unclipped his mask and ran a hand through his hair and goatee.

   "Sure, whatever you want, Will. Just remind me that I have to pick up a payment at the end of the month," he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

    "How much this time?" the Brit asked as he rifled through the bags.

  "Two hundred thousand."

   Wintergreen whistled, "That was almost double what the job was, correct?"

   Slade nodded and turned on the coffee maker. He had been deprived of his caffeine for far too long. "The man was a fool for going up against the yakuza with so little man power. I'd be surprised if he lives long enough to pay me."

    "Speaking of," Will interrupted, "Apparently, our resident bird has had his own run-in with organized crime."

   Slade quirked an eyebrow at that, "Really now?"

  "He wouldn't give me any details, but it appears that he's formed a truce with a family in Jump City."

   "Ren Tanaka is the current head of the family in Jump," Slade supplied, "I'm surprised Richard managed to speak to him at all. His connections could come in useful in the future, when we eventually return to the states. Where is the boy, anyways? Did he go to bed?"

    "Around one o'clock, yes, but he's been up since four. I'd wager he's been exploring the island. He was worried, by the way, wouldn't stop looking at the clock when I told him you'd gone out on a job, though I doubt he will admit it. Do you think he knows?"

"About the imprint? Probably not. I didn't even know it could happen, till it did. John never mentioned anything about the psychology of a new Talon. He had already faced the Change by the time I met him."

"Don't you think Richard should see those letters?" Will asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Absolutely not," Slade growled, taking a long gulp out of his cup. Wintergreen huffed.

"The boy deserves to know the truth about his past, about his family. It's been clear that everyone has been keeping him in the dark, even that slave trade of a circus. Who knows what they could have been teaching him before his family died all those years ago."

"He wouldn't even know what he was being trained for before it was too late," Slade mused and leaned back against the counter, "Guess there's one thing we can thank the Bat for."

"What's that?"

"Keeping Richard Grayson away from the Court of Owls. He made up for my mistake."

"Don't tell me you're still blaming yourself about that," Will muttered.

"John Grayson was the only friend I had besides you, and I let him down when he needed me most because of my own self-pity. So, yes, Will, I am still blaming myself, because it's my fault!" he roared and crushed the cup in his hand.

Wintergreen paused what he was doing, and for the first time in years, he remembered what being afraid of Slade Wilson felt like as he stared into that seething, solitary eye. But his gaze didn't linger as he spotted a small shadow in the door. Oh, they were in for a heap of trouble.