Talon chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Kitty cat and angry bat.

"Wow, so that's a lot to take in." She told him as the car slowly sped to a stop in front of Wayne Manor.

"Yeah," Bruce said with a small sigh as he looked at the woman sitting next to him in the passenger seat. Beautiful brown eyes, along with black hair in a pixie cut, plus a very attractive face, made one great wife.

Selina Kyle and he hadn't always been the best of friends. They had first met each other as Batman and Catwoman; he was a masked vigilante while she was a thief. Something had sparked between them, even on their very first meeting, when she scratched his chest with metal claws that she had fitted to her gloves. After Jason had died, she had become much more important to him. He was thankful that she had given up being Catwoman; she was still a kleptomaniac, but thankfully, she limited herself to only taking small stuff from him, like pens and clothes, and those moments were few and far between. Even when she did, she made sure to return them later.

He had gone to pick her up at the airport in his Rolls-Royce, firstly because she always liked driving in it. But also because he wanted some time alone with her. Not just because she was his wife, but also so he could catch her up on what had happened.

"So, one birdie came back and brought another with him, who literally has his own bird?" She asked as they got out of the car.

"Hedwig," He told her as he took her suitcases out of the back of the car. "That's the owl's name."

"Never seen a kid have an owl as a pet," She said as she reached into the back and picked up a container with a small black kitten inside.

"Yeah, he's...unique," Bruce decided as they made their way to the front door.

"Bruce, given what you told me, he was raised to be an assassin all of his life. You can hardly expect him to act like a regular kid," She pointed out as she pressed the doorbell.

"I know, I know," Bruce said with a small shake of his head. "Still, I'm...I'm worried. I'm worried about him, Selina." He admitted.

"It'll be fine," She assured him, just as the door opened. "Hello, Alfred." She greeted him warmly.

"Miss Kyle," Alfred nodded his head to her. "A pleasure to have you back with us," He added as he stepped to the side to allow them to come in.

"Missed me, did you?" She smirked as they walked in.

"Of course," Alfred replied dryly as he closed the door behind them. He was about to say something when suddenly her cat started making a lot of noises. "Miss Kyle? I believe your cat has become distressed."

"No," Selina frowned as she put the container down. "He's not distressed. He's excited. Damn if I know why." She added as she opened the cage, once she had done that, the kitten shot off as fast as its little legs could take it. "He doesn't normally act like that."

"I think I have a hunch why," Bruce said with a thoughtful frown as he placed her stuff down. "Come on, I think it might be time for you to meet Harry." He said before walking after the cat, Selina gave him an odd look, but followed after him along with Alfred.

It didn't take them long to arrive in one of the living rooms and find Dick, Barbara, Jason and Harry all watching TV. Dick and Barbara were sitting together on a couch opposite the TV, while Jason sat on a chair with his back to Bruce, and Harry sat on the chair opposite Jason. Harry sat on the chair with his legs crossed in a meditative pose. Hedwig was perched on the backrest of the chair while Harry was petting the cat that was now in his lap.

"Hello to you as well," Harry told the cat before looking up. "Hello Father, would I be correct in guessing that this is Mrs Kyle?" He asked as he got up, holding the cat in his arms.

"Yep," Selina confirmed as she looked him up and down. "But you can call me Selina. Harry is your name, right?"

"Indeed it is," Harry nodded as he walked up to them. "Your cat is really nice."

"His name is 'Midnight,'" She told him. "But he's usually quite shy around strangers." She added, giving Harry a questioning look.

"He's good around animals," Jason stood up and walked over. "On our way here, we ended up in a holding area with a ton of dogs; they all surrounded him like he was the messiah." He finished as he stopped in front of Selina. The two stared at each other as if sizing each other up. "Remember me?" Jason asked her stiffly.

"The second Robin, right?" Selina asked, inclining her head slightly.

"Yep, that's right, 'Catwoman,'" Jason said, staring hard at her. "The last time we met, you threw me through a window."

"Was that before or after you hit a wall with my body?" Selina retorted.

"Was that before or after you tried to rob that guy?" Jason countered.

"He was a mob boss," Selina reminded him.

"..."

"..."

"Fair," Jason shrugged before holding his hand out. "No hard feelings?" She stared at him for a moment before shaking his hand.

"No hard feelings," She confirmed.

"Thank God," Bruce mock-whispered.

"Now that we've established that we don't hate each other, I'd like to discuss business," Harry told Bruce. "Slade Wilson, the guy who attacked the League." He added, ignoring the kitten that had climbed up him and was now resting on his head.

"I know of him," Bruce told Harry. "I've been looking into whatever I could find about him. Born in America, spent a big portion of his life as a soldier for the military before he was dishonourably discharged. He was last recorded to be travelling through Asia. After that, there wasn't much to be found about him. Though a few years ago, a mercenary by the name of 'Deathstroke' started to make a name for himself."

"That was a nickname that some referred to Wilson by," Harry nodded while admittedly finding himself impressed that the man in front of him had managed to find so much out about Wilson in such a short time. Had his father perhaps been studying Wilson before? "He's up to something, given your secret profession, I'm sure you'd want to know what it is as well. He's not stupid; he wouldn't have just attacked the league for no reason."

"But he had a reason," Jason reminded him. "He wanted revenge, didn't he? For being kicked out."

"Yeah, but why now? Why not a year earlier?" Harry asked.

"Maybe he just finally thought he had enough manpower to make the attack," Suggested Dick, but Harry quickly shook his head.

"No, something feels off," Harry insisted. "I think it's the pits, the Lazarus Pits."

"Ra's prize possession," Bruce said with narrowed eyes. "Rumoured to bring people back from the dead,"

"Not a rumour," Jason said darkly. "So, what? Slade wants immortality?"

"I think we can find him and ask," Harry said, slamming a fist into his palm.

"There is no 'we' here," Bruce told him. "I will work out what Deathstroke is doing."

"My mother might very well be in danger, along with my Aunt Nyssa," Harry replied. "I like my mother and my Aunt Nyssa, in case you hadn't noticed. I'm not sitting on the sidelines and doing nothing."

"If it helps, Bruce, I think the kid can more than hold his own in a fight," Jason added supportively as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"And I think he's fought enough," Bruce said gently, shaking his head. "Harry, I understand your desire to help your mother. But as your Father, I cannot support this decision. I just met you. I don't want to risk losing you. I've lost one son already," He said, looking between Jason and Harry. "I'm not in a hurry to lose another one. I will investigate Deathstroke myself."

"But I..." Harry trailed off as Bruce turned around and walked off. Alfred let out a deep sigh before following after Bruce. "Doesn't that mother-fucker know it's rude to walk out in the middle of a conversation?" Harry asked everyone else.

"You mean like how it's rude to refer to your father as a 'mother-fucker'?" Dick asked in an amused voice.

"That is literally what all fathers are!" Harry protested.

(.)

"If I may ask, what is the point of this?" Harry asked as he stood in the room that he had been assigned. Alfred was kneeling in front of him and measuring him with a tape measure, reminding Harry a little bit of the time when he first came into Diagon Alley and got his wand. So far, the man had measured his top half and was now measuring his legs, starting with the waist to the ankles.

"Well, Master Hadrian, as endearing as your current outfit is, it'd be better to have you a decent set of clothes," Alfred said. Harry frowned before staring down at the outfit that he had been wearing. He had been wearing it for a while, admittedly. "I had hoped to find some of Master Dick or Jason's old clothes for you to wear until we were able to take you out for shopping, but I had given them away to a charity organisation some time ago."

"Good man," Harry said approvingly.

"A few sets of clothes should arrive early tomorrow, enough to tide you over until we get the chance to take you shopping," Alfred added once he was done measuring Harry.

"Will Father be joining us?" Harry asked curiously as Alfred stood up.

"You can ask him when he returns," Alfred told him.

"And when would that be, if you don't mind indulging my curiosity?" Harry asked questioningly.

"I must confess that I'm not sure," Admitted Alfred. "He has just left to meet with Commissioner Gordon. He should be back soon, I hope. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, thank you, Alfred." Harry nodded appreciatively.

"In that case, I wish you a good night." Allfred nodded to him before a hooting noise was heard. "And, of course, a good night to you as well, Lady Hedwig," Alfred added to Hedwig, who was perched on Harry's bed. Hedwig gave him a nod in response, deciding that that was sufficient. Alfred turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Now?" Harry looked at Hedwig, who gave him a thoughtful look before nodding. "Now," Harry confirmed before heading towards the door, he gingerly opened it and peered his head out.

Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he walked out while closing the door behind him. He slowly snuck forwards, using all of his training to keep as silent as possible. It didn't take long for him to eventually reach the old grandfather clock on the lower floor. He opened it and pressed the button needed, taking a step back as the wall slid open to reveal the elevator doors. He quickly got in and pressed a button, the doors closed, and he descended down to the Batcave. Once the doors opened, he realised that his plan to sneak into the cave had not been as successful as he had hoped.

As evidenced by the grinning face of Dick Grayson, who was standing in front of the elevator with his arms crossed.

"You know, I was kind of glad you decided to sneak in here," Dick revealed. "Otherwise, I would have been stuck in this cave for nothing."

"You're welcome," Harry replied as he got out of the elevator, not sure what else to say. "Look, Dick, I get that you and Father have the best of intentions, but I can handle myself in a fight. I need to do this, it's my family on the line here."

"Okay,"

"And I...wait, what?" Harry blinked.

"Okay," Dick shrugged. "Come on then," He gestured for him to follow. Harry blinked once more as Dick turned and walked off. Harry absently followed after him as he saw Jason and Barbara at the Batcomputer. Barbara was sitting in the chair, while Jason was standing next to her. He looked away from the computer and grinned at Harry.

"Took you long enough," Jason told him.

"What is this?" Harry couldn't help but ask as he and Dick stopped next to them. "You all were waiting for me." He realised.

"Hey, I've been working around Bruce since I was nine years old," Dick shrugged. "Barbara became Batgirl despite his complaints, and Jason wasn't exactly the picture-perfect child."

"I resent that," Jason said with mock offence.

"The first time he met you was when he caught you stealing his tyres," Barbara pointed out in amusement before turning to Harry. "We get what you're saying, Harry, and we get what you want to do."

"We also know from personal experience that we won't be able to stop you, not for long," Dick added. "You have that look in your eye, the one we all do. The one that says you won't stop when you're doing what you believe is right. So, if you're going to go after a crazy madman, then fine, but I will also be going with you. That part is not debatable." He added firmly.

"That's really not necessary," Harry said flatly.

"Yeah, it is," Barbara replied. "Unless you want us to tell your father about this."

"I'd say 'snitches get stitches', but given that you already survived a bullet to the spine, I don't suppose that that will mean much to you." Harry sighed. He took a moment to think over what they were saying, despite his preference to do it on his own; he couldn't deny how valuable their help would be. Besides, more allies and fewer obstacles would make things easier. "Fine, I agree."

"Great, perhaps you can help us out then," Barbara said, turning back to the computer. A picture of Deathstroke in his orange and black mask appeared on the main and centre screen. "I've been looking into as much as I could find about him. Nothing so far has come up that could give us a clue to where his location is."

"You don't need to search for him," Harry told her. "Search for his men, they'll lead you to him."

"You got someone in mind?" Dick asked.

"Ryan Grooms," Harry replied. "In the League, we knew him as 'Ubu'; he was Deathstroke's right hand. He left when Deathstroke did. Apparently, he was fond of coming to Gotham to indulge in less than polite activities."

"Got a name, won't take long to find him." Barbara smiled.

"Less than polite activities?" Jason repeatedly amusedly.

"Yeah, like drugs and fucking." Harry nodded absently as he watched Barbara work.

"You don't have much of a filter, do you?" Dick let out a small laugh as he looked at Harry.

"Not when I don't need to," Harry admitted. "So, how mad do you think Father will be at all of us once he finds out?" Harry asked, not sure what he was supposed to expect. He certainly hadn't expected all three of them to answer at the same time.

"Very,"