White Collar / Batman Bingo

Talon!Dick as Neal

(Dick Grayson as Neal Caffrey)

It was one of those days where there wasn't much excitement, and all they had to do was paper work, so both men were in dire need of a break from the dull office, which is how they volunteered to go out on a coffee run. On their way to the coffee shop, they passed a particularly dark and quiet alley way. Neal stopped walking.

"Neal?" Peter asked.

"I thought I saw something."

Peter had never seen Neal look so dead serious, not even during operations. He was immediately on guard, resting his right hand on his gun holster. "What is it?"

"I'm probably wrong, but I'm going to check it out. You go ahead."

"No chance. I'm coming with you."

"It's probably nothing," Neal insisted. "I don't want to waste your time."

"The longer it takes to get back to the office, the better. Let's go."

"Fine. Just... stay behind me." Neal walked into the alley,  Peter a few feet behind him. Then, completely out of nowhere, a figure leapt from the shadows, tacking Neal to the ground. Peter grabbed his gun as the figure got off of Neal and then lifted him up against the wall by his neck... with one hand.

Now that the figure was standing still, Peter could see that it was a man dressed in all black, with a cowl over his head that was reminiscent of an owl. There were knives in sheaths all across his chest, and one longer knife on each hip. "Hello, grandson," the man crooned sinisterly. "Did you really think were free?"

"I was kind of hoping," Neal said, his voice strained from being choked.

"It is laughable that you thought you could escape from us forever, child." The man gripped Neal's neck tighter. "The Gray Son must always return to the Court. It's where you belong. Your family."

"The Court is not my family," Neal spat. Peter was surprised that Neal was still conscious with the way that he was being held. He should have been unconscious, but he was still awake. Neal's face had not even become red or blue with the suffocation. In fact, it seemed to become paler. What was worrying, however, was the dark veins that were slowly becoming visibly. (If Peter looked closer, or was in a slightly less panicked state, he would see that Neal was not breathing.)

Peter lifted his gun, aimed, and then shot the man in the shoulder. It didn't seem to faze the man, so he shot him again in the hip, then in the ankle. Finally, the man seemed to get annoyed, so he threw Neal to the side and approached Peter. But before he could get very far, he froze and his muscles spasmed, as if he was being electrocuted, which, Peter soon found out he was, when the man fell face first to the ground, and Neal was holding a baton-tazer thing ("electric escrima sticks", Neal would later tell Peter). 

"Do you have your handcuffs on you?"

"Of course."

"Good. Cuff him."

Peter did as he was told. As he did, he said to Neal, "You're looking a little pale there. Should we take you to the hospital?"

"I'll be fine in a moment. But we need to wait here for a minute."

"Why?"

"This man is under JLA jurisdiction. I sent out a message saying we need help, so they should be here any minute."

"What? When did you get a chance to do that?"

Neal showed Peter a button that he had sewn into his belt. "I just had to press this."

"How'd you get that?"

"It doesn't matter." 

There was silence for a moment as the two of them stood over Cobb, making sure he didn't so much as twitch a finger. Then Peter said, "Are you sure you're okay? I feel like you should be passed out by now."

"I'm fine. I... Okay, Peter, I'm going to tell you something. But it has to stay off of my records and you can't tell anyone, okay?"

Peter, every curious, agreed.

"I mean it. Not a single soul can know."

"I won't tell, Neal. I swear."

Neal took in a shaky breath. "I'm... I guess you can say I'm a meta. He made me into one." Neal motioned to the unconscious man with his chin. "My... species you could say, are called Talons. I'm basically a walking corpse. I don't age, don't die... enhanced senses and physical capabilities... I don't even need to breathe. But it's what keeps me looking normal."

"Wow. That's..."

Neal bowed his head. "They made me into a monster. And we still haven't found a cure."

"Neal, being meta, having powers, whatever... that doesn't make you a monster. Your actions dictate that."

---

"You need to step back, sir," the paramedic told Peter has he ran up to Neal.

Peter flashed her his badge and she let him get closer to Neal. "We're gonna get you out of this," he told his friend.

"I don't think so," Neal breathed.

"Don't say that."

"You're the only one who saw the good in me."

"Stop it, Neal." Peter knew that Neal couldn't die, not even from a bullet to the chest, but it still hurt to see his friend like that. 

"You're my best friend." This was goodbye, wasn't it.

Neal fell unconscious, and Peter stepped back. He watched as Neal was loaded into the ambulance and taken away. 

---

It was just a month after Neal's "death" and everyone was very frustrated with Peter. How was it that he was coping so well when everyone else felt like they were falling apart without the CI? He was the closest to him out of anyone. 

Peter wished he could tell them, but he made a vow. He could only hope that, when it was safe, Neal would return to them and tell everyone the truth. 

Neal was alive.

Help, I don't know how to describe someone being electrocuted. I have this image of Dick/Neal creeping up behind Cobb and jabbing him in the back with his escrima stick, then shocking him, but I don't know how to describe that from Peter's perspective. Any tips?