Dick's heart clenched.

He thought Jason was only going to leave him, to obtain his freedom through other means, no matter the methods - he even thought Jason would probably kill all the members of the Court. At times like these, the Talon within him would stir awake, the hatred within spilling over until he had to suppress his own urges to take vengeance.

But never had he imagined that Jason would return to the Court, to continue its reign.

No, you have. But you chose to ignore the signs.

That voice within him, silent for so long, resonated within his mind.

A wave of guilt and regret washed over him. If he had talked to Jason, maybe things would have progressed differently.

Talk to him. There may still be a chance.

He took advantage of Tim's communication with Alfred to sneak away, running back towards Wayne Manor.

The skeletal remains of the house beckoned him. The gardens, attended to so lovingly by Alfred, had been stomped into countless muddy footprints, the flowers grounded into dust. Half of the building had been completely demolished. Not a single window remained intact. A wisp of smoke curtailed from somewhere within.

The grandfather's clock that guarded the Cave had been shoved aside. A sharp tinge of sulfur, mixed with that of mould, wafted into his nose. A dismembered giant robot sprawled across the floor. Dick's favourite item in the cave, the T-Rex, had been moved, a Talon crushed beneath its claws.

Damian teetered in front of the computer screen as he struggled with his uniform. Dick couldn't hear too clearly what he was saying to Batman through the device, but he could see the blood seeping from the bandage on his head.

"Father, I could come with you! I am Robin - I must be by your side - especially now!"

"No, Robin. Alfred needs you."

"I don't think he does!"

"The Talons may attack the manor a second time. This is our base - if we were to lose it, we would lose permanently to the Court."

"..." Damian slumped his head, unable to argue with Batman's concerns. At last he sank into the chair. "Alright. I will protect our home."

"Very good."

Damian pursed his lips. It wasn't long before he noticed Dick.

"Grayson." He staggered to his feet, glaring at the shadowy figure. "Look at what your Jason Todd had done."

Dick slumped his back as if he'd been punched. A pang of guilt caught Damian, but he didn't know how to apologize.

"Are you okay? I heart you were knocked out." Dick didn't come near.

Damian touched the wound on his forehead, and frowned in irritation. "My teacher would never beat someone up "gently". I should be grateful that this is all he gave me."

"What happened?"

"Don't ask me. When I woke, all the Talons that attacked this place had been frozen by Father."

"And Jason....?"

Damian sighed in irritation. "Grayson, let me make this clear. Everything he does he did it for you."

Dick answered with silence.

"On some basis, we are very similar people, he and I. All we care about is the result, not the method. I can understand why he chose to do this." Damian looked at Dick with a gaze that should not belong to an eleven-year-old. For a moment, Dick thought it was Jason that sat before him. "I think you should find him ASAP. Don't let things go worse than this." Damian brought up Batman's location onto the computer screen.

Before arriving at the manor on Sullivan Island, Grayson maintained a measure of hope. After all, Jason took care to hide Damian, and he could have taken his chance to kill Batman. He could have been threatened, blackmailed.

All that evaporated as soon as he saw the bloodbath at the Court's base.

Batman did not seem surprised at his arrival. He barely acknowledged him, focusing on the tiniest clues amongst the dead bodies. Dick huddled in a corner, trying to avoid the blood, terror, and sadness that plagued him.

"Did Jason do this?" Dick ventured.

"The bodies are cold to touch, but their joints are still movable, their skin supple. Approximate time of death, at most two hours." Batman stood up from the body he'd been examining. "To get here from Wayne Manor, he must cross the entire city. The timing doesn't match up."

Dick let out a sigh.

"And most of the footprints belong to another. A height of about six foot two or six foot three - taller than Jason Todd...." Batman picked up a rough-looking heart-shaped brooch from between the railings of the porch. "I think I found something."

The Kane County was much different from the highlights of Gotham. It immersed itself in the middle of a myriad of marshes. No matter how perfectly the houses were designed, they would slowly sink into the mud, year after of year. Who knows how much steel and concrete, shadows and bones, had been buried beneath.

Reolin Orphanage and Foster home was located here. Consecutive rain had caused much of it to sink and collapse, and the bones of abused children came to light. Since then, it had been abandoned to the point that even the homeless shunned it.

There was a saying that at night, shadows would lurk therein, accompanied by screams.

The long grasses that had taken over the yard were withered, burying the rusty playground within. The walls were spotted, the wood behind the plaster blackened and gnawed by termites. In the next instant, the whole building could collapse. A thicket of withered trees locked death within the walls, their branches reaching up towards the sky in arcs of pain that split the clouds.

Jason and the prosecutor crossed the thicket, spotting the owl carved onto the pillar in front of the orphanage; a greeting for an old visitor. The rain ceased to a drizzle. Without the torrents of water, the stench of rot rose once again from the marches.

The orphanage is not just a place for taking in unwanted children, but also the entrance to the maze of the Court, the "home" for all the Talons.

Jason did not know when this all started, but without a doubt many of the Talons were once orphans who lived here.

Jason himself maintained some memory of this place, but not much. Everytime he had been called to return here, his mind had been befuddled. He could not recall where this was exactly.

But when he opened those thick metal doors, a familiar sense of disgust crept into his heart. It was as if he was walking towards his own grave. Comparatively, Thomas seemed calm - though an unnatural elation brightened his eyes, glittering like that of owls.

His demeanor unnerved Jason. He had wanted to keep Thomas as a reliable ally, someone to keep the Court in tact enough for Jason to control part of it - enough to keep Dick safe.

But Thomas' current behaviour called the plan into question. After injecting himself with water from the Lazarus pit, Thomas had shed all his disguise, physically and mentally. His dull white skin turned a somewhat more living colour, but not enough to be taken as normal. His collected and elegant demeanor, a mockery of Gotham's upper society, was all but gone - replaced by the insecurity and uncontrollable arrogance that had been eaten away at him for years.

It was amusing to watch someone sink into insanity, but also would mean much trouble.

Thomas kicked open the doors. They dropped to the floor, throwing up clouds of dust. The deafening sound echoed through the old building.

"Ah, home sweet home. Jason, you can't deny that this is our birthplace!" Thomas took a deep whiff of the dust.

Jason's brows knitted together, unwilling to respond.

"You don't seem too pleased with my arrangements, my prosecutor." The new judge was displeased with Jason's silence.

"I am," Jason replied. "We should be taking care to hide ourselves, not to announce to the world our mutiny. The Court had been changed enough tonight - we can't afford to take further risks."

Thomas's face darkened, the elation in his eyes vanished. "You are doubting my decisions? I need all the Talons to obey me absolutely. And then they'd make others obey me too."

"You just injected yourself with the Lazarus water. No matter how I look at it, you are not at your best condition." Jason said, undaunted. "You are rushing the process. The Judge is dead - the Court is yours. It's just a matter of time."

"Time? Yes. Time. I need the Court for myself now. This instant!" Thomas stepped closer towards Jason, his hands clenching at his legs; in the next instant, they could be at Jason's neck. "I'll be the king here! I will replace Bruce Wayne! I will be the savior of this city!"

"But your plan failed, Thomas." Jason raised an eyebrow, mocking Thomas as he ignored the latter's rage. "In your anger you killed all the important members. Do you think others would not know?"

Thomas burst out in laughter, the sound grating on Jason's ears. "All the ones left are nobodies! I could kill them with just one hand. And all the wealth consolidated by the Court is under the corporations at my bidding! As long as I'm here, the Court would belong to me. If they were to disobey, then I'll make them lose everything!"

Jason had to admit that before the plan had been executed, Thomas had taken due care in every aspect. As to the reasons for failure, it had to do with how much the old Judge know about Thomas the Talon - who wouldn't know that much about his son?"

"What about Batman? Jason asked. "Jason, our Bruce Wayne - was not killed by Talons. He won. He'd find the Sullivan manor. He'd find here. He'd find all the secrets. Maybe the nobodies you talked about would be used by him to defeat you. No matter what they try, Batman will find them."

Thomas's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

Jason leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "He's the best detective I've seen. He will find you. Thus, the best plan right now is to hide until you recover."

Unknown to Jason, two voices waged battle within Thomas's mind.

One voice was the old Judge, his ghost lingered behind his back, his voice earnest as he instructed him patiently: "Your student is right. You not only exposed the existence of the Court, but also weakened it. Bruce Wayne would use this chance to destroy it permanently."

The other voice was the most loyal friend of "Lincoln March": Bruce Wayne, prince of Gotham. He wore a pristine tuxedo, his lips curved in an elegant, mocking smile. "You could only become mayor with my help. You are nothing without me but a chess piece for the Court of Owls. You can't beat me. You can't do anything without help."

A young boy materialized in his mind. His face was pale, the colour of corpses. In his hands he gripped a sword dripping with blood. "Stop thinking about it. You are no Wayne," he said, the gaze of his grey eyes piercing Thomas's body. "You are but an orphan. You were born here, and you may die here. You can't hold a candle to Bruce Wayne. You are nameless."

The boy snicked. "But you have a chance to change all this. Maybe you'll succeed, and get everything you wanted."

Jason watched as Thomas's face twisted in a myriad of emotions. The man was embroiled in the hallucinations concocted by the Lazarus Pit.

As if to confirm Jason's suspicions, Thomas waved the weapon his hands, screaming at nothing. "You can't defeat me!" He burst into maniacal laughter. "I am Gotham! I'm nobody's subordinate, nobody's toy.... I'm not..." He whirled around the floor, destroying anything he could see.

Jason teetered backwards, his eyes locked on Thomas's every movement. Annoyance pricked at his mind, already fragile with minimal self-control. More than anyone else he hated Thomas's arrogance - it was what caused their plan to fail, and for everything to come to this. But he had no choice but to continue supporting him.

The Court needed an insider as their leader, someone with enough influence and power to control both the members and the Talons. Without brainwashing, the Talons could easily kill all the members - like what happened at the manor.

If there were no one to control the Talons, what would become of the Court?

The thought blinked into existence in Jason's mind, and refused to leave.

Thomas's eyes met his. Like two predators they sized each other, gauging, waiting.

Unlike Jason, however, Thomas's gaze seemed more confused than wary. "Are you the demon sent to kill me? No.... you are a spy sent by Thomas... you must be... otherwise my brother couldn't have survived my attack.... I already arranged for my men to infiltrate..." He muttered, unable to recognize Jason.

Jason's heart sank. Given the circumstances, things would only get worse for Thomas. The Lazarus may grant life, extend youth, but could also sink people into perpetual insanity. It doesn't plant the horrors, but rather magnify what's already there.

Not even a saint could escape this. The dirty little thoughts would feed off of the host's life, grow bigger, until one day they take up the entire mind. Jason thought himself but such a host.

The price for cheating death.

"Who are you?" Thomas asked.

"Jason Todd."

Thomas fell silent, straining to recall his memories. "Then who am I?"

"Thomas Wayne, the indestructible judge of the Court of Owls," Jason answered, enticing his darkest thoughts.

Thomas's expression softened as he heard the words he wanted. But then insecurity took over once more. "Jason, will I take over this city?"

"You will." Jason wanted nothing more than to kill this man right now - maybe everything can start from level zero - but that's impossible.

Thomas resisted the tempting tone of Jason's voice. A wicked smile curved his mouth as he remembered. "I know you, Jason. You are only helping me to use me. Everything you've done for the sake of your little lover. Ha!" His laughter was shrill, the sound of owls screeching at night. The sound turned Jason's blood to ice.

When Dick and Jason first met this man, he also laughed like this - a laugh indicative of having found something amusing.

"Don't try to fool me, Jason. You want nothing more than to kill me, and yet you could only rely on me! I will not give you want you want, but I can't kill you either - I also need you."

Jason did not hear the rest of the rubbish Thomas spoke of, his mind plagued by irritation and an unspeakable rage - he wanted to destroy the man before him but can't - and Thomas was but the same.

"What do you need me to do," Jason asked, but did not lower his gun.

"To free all the Talons. I will forge a path in the blood of anyone who dares to stand in our way." Thomas played with the dagger in his hands, the blade glimmering in the darkness. "No matter who... no matter what..."