When Night Comes

Chapter Fifteen

I don't know what Talon was planning, but I can admit to myself I'm terrified. I kept feeling around the padded walls, looking for any way out. I don't know how long it had been. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? I was already going insane. But my prayers were answered when I felt the wall give way beneath my hands and I went falling out of the room, face first and only just managed to catch myself, some of my arrows dropping from my quiver and disappearing as soon as they hit the ground. I looked around at my new settings, not much different from the white cell before. It was pure white again with a few doors leading off to the side, and behind one of them was Wally. As if thinking of him, he came plummeting out of one of the doors, landing flat on his face with a disgruntled sound.
"Wally, are you okay?" I asked as I rushed over to him and helped him to his feet.
"I'm fine." He said, "Just a little ruffled up. How about you?"
"Peachy." I said, "Any idea how to get out of this?"
"Keep walking?" He suggested with a shrug as another door came down and Roy came striding out.
"Heya dweebs." He saluted as he came over, "Any clue what's going on?"
"Nope." Wally and I said in unison and he sighed.
"I guess we wait for the others to get out then. These doors don't look like they open from our side." He said.
"Whilst that is a good plan. What if they don't get out?" I asked, "I think Wally should scout ahead for us, so we know what to expect."
"Fine. Off you go KF." Roy said, "We'll wait for the others."
Wally nodded, put his goggles on, and sped off to look around for us. Not that I think he'll find anything, this is Talon's world after all. He was back in just over a second, this time with a worried look on his face.
"What is it?" Roy said as we moved over to him.
"Two things." Wally said, "The good news is that Batman got out earlier. The bad news. He's found Dick and he doesn't look to be in a good state."
"Show us." I commanded as another door opened and M'gann came flying out.
She didn't bother to say anything, our exchanged look was enough as we ran as fast as we could after Wally. I was panting by the time they came into my vision, the black cape spread like a river on the floor as it flowed off the crouched figure, and the other side of him was Dick. He was on the floor, his body looked broken and his eyes were unseeing of the real world, only his shallow breath and twitching gave any indication he was still fighting.
"I can help him." M'gann said as she knelt next to Bruce, "Both sides have given us permission to join the fight, I can heal him in here to help him fight."
"Do it." Bruce said, not letting go of Dick's hand.
Megan took Dick's head in her hands and her eyes began to glow green as she started to work.
"I didn't know she could heal physical injuries." Roy whispered into my ear.
"She can't." I replied, "Were you not listening? Every injury in here is mental, that's why I'm healed."
He nodded, slight red tinting his cheeks as we turned back to Dick to watch the cuts heal over, the bones realign and a vapour remove itself from his pores. And then Megan fell backwards, Wally moving to catch her as the vapour evaporated and Dick brought in a large breath. We watched in anticipation as Bruce knelt over him again and they both threw their arms around each other, silence their only communication. I turned away, feeling that this was a private moment, focusing instead on the perfect white condition of everything. He had been moved into a slightly different room to what I had been in. It was still pristine white but the walls weren't padded as ours had been, they were covered in spikes and I could tell they had been moving in. Talon was really trying to get rid of him for good.
"It's not your fault Dick." I turned at Bruce's voice, raw with emotion as I had never heard it before, "None of it is your fault."
"Don't bother lying to me Bruce." And Dick seemed to be okay, as if this wasn't destroying him, "I know what I need to do."
"What do you mean?" Megan asked as she stood up, still leaning on Wally slightly.
"I'll get you guys out of here." He said, "And then I'll deal with this entire problem."
"You can't get rid of Talon by yourself." I said and he looked up at me with sad eyes, letting me finally understand his plan, "You don't just mean Talon."
"You know we won't let you Dick." Bruce said, "You are my ward, it's my job to protect you. To protect my son."
His voice was hitching as he tried to hold back his sobs but Dick still did not cry. He had made up his mind already, and it was going to be hard to stop him.

I had no idea where Talon was taking me, all I knew was that I was in a lot of pain without the drugs anymore. And that if I stopped walking for even a moment he would gut me without a second thought. I had watched as he fought with the Kryptonians, seeming to produce Kryptonite from thin air and stabbing them both. I don't know if Clark survived, but I know Conner didn't. I know he looked Dick right in eyes as he was stabbed in the heart, searching for the friend that had gone. The friend I doubted was ever coming back.
"In there." I was jerked from my thoughts by Talon's first words this past hour.
I looked at the rundown store, an old butchers. I walked inside, the bell jingling as the door hit it and then closed me in. The room stunk of old meat, the buzzing of flies the only thing to be heard in the air but it was almost too dark to see anything with the windows boarded up, the sun coming in at sharp slants which only let me see the rotting floorboards which gave way to an infestation below. However, my mind came back to the overpowering stench as I moved further into the room, looking for a back door or any way out. I may have felt brave back at the mountain with heroes to protect me, but now that I'm by myself, the fear was starting to creep in. A backroom didn't reveal anything better, in fact, it just set me more on edge. Carcasses hung from the ceiling ready to be carved, knives were held in their containers, glinting in the musty light, but what scared me the most was that the room looked relatively clean as if it was cleaned often, used often. I backed out the room, turning to see Talon now sitting in a previously abandoned chair and stopped.
"Say, how would you like to join me for a minute?" He asked, "It's been such a long time since I've had a civilized conversation with someone."
"No surprise there, you haven't got a civilized bone in your body." The remark was out before I could stop and I instantly shrunk under his now amused and furious gaze.
"You're lucky you're interesting. If you weren't, I would have killed you for that comment." He stood up and moved over to me, his sharpened claws hanging loosely at his sides.
"What do you mean I'm interesting?" I asked, half an eye on his hands as he stopped right in front of me.
"I mean you interest me, Jason Todd." He began to circle me, "You knew who I was before and supported me, and then you met my counterpart and suddenly you can't stand me. Emotions are an odd concept, but yours change so violently, it is of interest to me how they work." I stiffened as he stopped behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders, his breath clouding in my ear, "I want to take you apart and see how you work."

The cave was busy again as we prepared to go on the offensive. Conner still lay on the bed, all of us cautious and quiet when around him, showing our respect for his action. We had planned out the basics of our attack on Talon, who would be coming and who would be staying to watch those still in the mental trap Talon placed them in. I would be leaving, of course, Diana, Barry, Arthur, Kladur and Clark are coming with me to find and hunt him. Dinah, John, Lian and Alfred would be staying behind, whether that be due to injury or because they are needed for other reasons.
"Jade, you ready?" I looked up at Clark as he came over to me and I shouldered my backpack.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I said, "I mean, who doesn't want to hunt down their cannibalistic husbands best friend?"
Clark gave me an almost pitying look before we both left the room to join the others for the hunt. Alfred was there already with the others, handing out food for the journey and just generally fussing. Dinah was sat on the sofa, Lian on her lap. However, the homely feel of the room was gone, instead replaced by a grim atmosphere. We knew that the day was going to be a hard one, after the toll last night took on us, we knew that some of us may not even be coming back.