"Do you know this place?" Batman asked Dick, pointing at the orphanage.

"I'm not sure..." A measure of strange familiarity seeped into his heart. "I think I've been here before..."

"This used to be a children's hospital, and was renovated into an orphanage specifically for mentally-ill children," Batman said, his voice hoarse. He played with the heart-shaped brooch in his hands. It was roughly crafted, like something a child would make. "I asked Robin to do some research, and found that the pipes under this building are abnormally numerous. Even after being abandoned, electricity continued to be used in this place - and in great amounts."

"So, you think this is a base for the Court?"

"Just one of them. The Court is quite cunning, and never uses a permanent base. It does, however, have several important locations that hides their most valued secrets. That manor on Sullivan Island is one of them."

Dick had no interest in the detective's analysis; he's only concerned about Jason. "Is he here?"

"That would depend on our luck." Batman approached the front door. "Tonight, the Court is undergoing drastic changes. We could use this chance to topple them completely."

"What happened?"

"All the important members have died at the manor - an inside job." Batman seemed to hint at something, but would elaborate no further. "And the fact that all the active Talons had been sent out goes against the subtle nature of their normal operations. Someone must have skipped the authorities and gave the order to the Talons directly. This is an internal struggle for power."

"Best they kill each other."

"From what we've seen at the manor, they've already found their new leader. This is a person who lacks both the superiority complex of the upper class as well as empathy for other's lives. He will transform the Court into a scarier place." Batman narrowed his eyes. "We can't let that happen."

Dick thought of his teacher, the only one that could match Batman's description. And Jason met with him just before. Since then Jason hadn't left beyond Dick's sight, and Dick had thought the two of them had split over disagreements - he had never thought that they'd have planned this in such a short time.

"You think Jason orchestrated this?"

Batman remained silent. At last, he said: "The Talon I've captured called Todd their prosecutor."

His agitation peacking at those words, Dick increased his pace.

The building had six floors in addition to a basement. They decided to split up to save time, with Dick going below and Batman heading upwards.

The basement had no windows, and the air but stifled. It pressed down on Dick's lungs, choking out air. It added to the dreaded silence, magnifying the echo of Dick's footsteps and even his breaths.

Dick's senses heightened, in case of a sneak attack.

After descending the stairs, he switched on the infrared vision on his goggles. Green filled his vision. Thick dust almost covered the baseboards; only the metal skeleton of a hospital bed remained, toppled on its side. From there extended a winding corridor, framed by two rusted metal doors not unlike the ones in prison.

Only now did Dick remember those two doors, and that long, suffocating tunnel. He remembered stumbling through it to the stairs, and had almost tripped over a chair. At that time, he'd just been revived, his mind still muddled - all his movements had been at the orders of the Court and instinct.

Each set of metal doors revealed only more dust and garbage, and only served to increase his agitation. He'd been down here for about thirty minutes, and yet he had seen not a single guard - this is uncharacteristic of the Court.

Unless the guards had already been taken out. Who was it?

He dared not think.

Soon he arrived at the end of the basement, bare but for the scratched walls. Just as he was about to turn, he spotted an insidious snake of blood trickling along the walls; it came to a sudden end.

Upon inspection, Dick spotted a crack under the line, and felt the slightest trickle of a draft. He groped around in the darkness, gingerly feeling for the pad hidden under the bricks. He pressed it, and the secret door opened, having not been securely closed in the first place.

As soon as it opened, a white fluorescent light blinded him. Combined with the pain was the smell of blood.

Within seconds, Dick recovered enough to see before him.

Behind the door was a staircase much wider than the one he had descended. The walls were once snow-white, without a speck of dust. Now they were smeared with blood and riddled with bullet holes. The bodies of Talons were strewn across the stairs, their black hoods still intact. The blood had dried on their wounds, leaving dark stains on black cloth.

The guards of this place.

Suppressing the feeling of nauseation, Dick stepped carefully over the bodies, descending further down into the earth. Another padlocked door greeted him, encrypted with a fingerprint and pupil scanner. But the door had been opened. Another Talon, one that was missing an eye and a finger, had fallen before it.

Behind the door was a new world.

Batman was right. The orphanage was one of, if not the most important, bases. This was where the labs of the Court were located. Talons were born here, and they may also die here. The nutrient liquid that powers them were made here assembly-line style, as were the various drugs and other medications.

According to Dick's memories, there was not a single person who worked here that did not play some critical role. Clad in full hazmat suits, an army of medical personnel patrolled the place. They came quick and left even faster, lacking the basic empathy for human lives. Talons were but lab rats here. But at this moment in time, not a single living soul remained. The floor was piled with bodies.

They all wore white masks, their blood blooming red on their white uniforms. Bullet shells littered the floor, glinting under the fluorescent light.

Dick's stomach twisted together, threatening to purge its contents. He stubbornly clung to but one thought: it's not Jason that did this.

He stumbled across a glass room filled with intricate machines, and stopped in front of another lab. Other than the screen, there was only a chair with straps.

Even now, Dick still remembered how the medical personnel had taken him to this chair, and strapped him down. What followed was the piercing of needles. He had looked out the glass then, and laughed at himself; he was about to lose all that he held dear, and yet nobody would care.

At the end of this lab was another large set of metal doors. Behind it was the Talons' cemetery. A pair of owls, carved out of white stone and reaching two stories-tall, loomed on either side - like guardian angels on a tombstone looking down on its children. Rows upon rows of blood-red coffins lined the room neatly, each one connected to a pipe containing the nutrient liquid. The pipes all conglomerated to one place, inserting into the walls.

It was like the Court were breeding pigs. They'd only wake them to be slaughtered when they needed them. Dick did not remember how he was lifted out of the coffin, but he did remember the light here - he had thought it was light of a shooting star.

The people that monitored this room met the same fate as their colleagues outside. However, one person alone stood - the one Dick wanted to see the most. He felt not elation, however, only dread.

Jason stood in front of a large control panel, his hands flying across the keyboard. Slowly, he turned, not a hint of surprise. He did not stop what he was doing. "You've arrived earlier than I expected."

"You know what Batman is capable of," Dick said, wary of Jason's demeanor.

"I've got to admit. That old bat really is something."

Dick glanced around the room. "Where's our teacher?"

Jason smirked; Dick despised it. "Wherever Batman is, he is. They are probably fighting right now. Isn't it great? Dog biting dog."

Dick gingerly approached the control panel. He did not understand Jason's betrayal. "Then what are you doing here." He'd thought Jason would refuse to answer. But he was again wrong.

"To release all the Talons."

Dick would rather believe that Jason wanted to destroy all the Talons. Maybe that's why he colluded with the prosecutor... not for... for evil.

"Don't lie to me, Jason."

"Why would I lie to you?" Jason stopped. He turned to look at Dick, amused.

"Will they die?"

"They are already dead, Dickiebird." Jason turned from the control panel and stopped a few feet away from Dick. "They will kill all the ones opposing Thomas and the Court. Oh, forgot to tell you. Our teacher says he's another successor to the Wanye family. He's gonna fight the Batman for his birthright. Who knows what's real?"

"Some Talon said you've become the new prosecutor," Dick pressed. "Is that true?"

Jason's face darkened. For the first time, Dick is afraid of Jason's calm; it was as if he had nothing to lose. A Jason like this cared not for any consequence.

"Why couldn't I be?"

Despair overwhelmed Dick. He had thought Jason must have been blackmailed into helping with all this, but no matter how he looked at it now, Jason made his own choice. Tonight, Jason Todd would inherit the Court, and become someone they've both hated.

"Many people died tonight because of what you two did. And you killed everyone here. Why, Jason? When did you become so careless about all of this?"

"They wouldn't have died if they didn't resist. Too bad." Jason shrugged. "Besides, they deserved it. Remember what they did to us?"

"But it's not on us to judge them!" Dick said, Batman's words resonating with him. "We could have turned them over to be judged by the law instead!"

"Oh my God." Jason pressed a hand to his forehead. "You still believe in justice, Dick? The old bat brainwashed you good."

"No, I know exactly what I'm saying," Dick said, unrelenting. "I know that the laws may not be sufficient to topple the Court, but if we were to judge them ourselves, how does that make us any different from them?!"

"Are you really sad about their deaths? Please, what do they have to do with us? Aren't you misplacing your sympathies?"

"Not just members of the Court died tonight, Jason, but also a lot of innocents in the city!"

"Dick, nobody is without sin in this world; even newborns carry the burdens of their parents. Remember those kids wearing the white masks in the Court? They usually come up with the most cruel decisions."

Dick fell silent, unable to refute.

"In this underground world, law can't save us. Don't be so naive."

"And so you are willing to become Thomas Wayne's assistant, to help him kill people?"

Jason snorted. "I never said I was a good person."

"It's not like you," Dick shook his head. "My Little Wing would never do this..."

"Then you never really knew me. There's nothing I wouldn't do in order to get what I want."

Anger replaced any sadness he might have harboured. It heated his entire body. "What do you want? Just to live?!" Dick snapped his head back, looking up at Jason. "How is that any different from wild beasts?! I'd rather die for justice than to live like this."

Jason lifted his head, as if seeking a sign from above in the white light. Only a minute later did he turn back to Dick. His green eyes faded, and he studied Dick as if he were an object.

This brief silence caused Dick to relieve his entire existence; his instinct wanted him to flee, but he pushed on. He must know.

"Do you really think I did this for you?"

"What did you say?"

"Dickiebird, after exposure to the Lazarus, I've learnt not to trust anything I see." Wariness creeped onto Jason's face. "Ever since I opened my eyes in the Batcave, I haven't believed in anything I've seen as real."

"What?!"

"You are all fake, a lie created by my head. But this time this hallucination was all too real - it confused me for the longest time."

"Jason, please stay calm. If you aren't sure, then why don't you try to believe one more time? For me...."

"I've been tricked way too many times. All my patience and trust are but gone - there weren't much of them to begin with." Jason stopped, and a gentle smile permeated his face. "And you, are the most real hallucination I've had yet. And it's because of you that I've decided to fight on, and not to let them kill you. I want to protect you, to let you live. No matter what. As long as you are here, this dream will continue."

Jason bowed his head. "Dickiebird, I'm really scared. I'm scared that the real you had long since died in that middle of nowhere, buried amongst the mud..... Rather than waking up to that, I'd rather stay here, a world with you."

Dick didn't know whether to take Jason into his arms or push him away. A part of him agonized over Jason's fragile state, another part remained abhorrent over what Jason had done.

He had no choice but to steady what little sanity Jason had left. "I don't know how I can help you believe... but please stop hurting other people, okay? That's my last request."

"Why should I trust a mere hallucination?" Jason said, genuinely perplexed. "I care only about you.... As for the others, they aren't real anyway - what's wrong if they were to disappear."

The screen above the control panel bleeped. "Defrost complete. Talon release in fifteen minutes."

Dick froze, watching as Jason's look of confusion dissolved away to one of victory.

"Do you really think I said all that just to gain your sympathy?" Jason said.

He did it on purpose! Jason was delaying him!

Dick rushed towards the control panel, but Jason cut him off.

"Get out of my way, Jason!" Dick ordered, aghast. "Don't force my hand."

"Try me, Dickiebird."

Without further hesitation, Dick swung his knee at Jason's right rib. As Jason blocked, the enormous force set numbness of us left arm. Suppressing the pain, Jason grabbed Dick's leg and flipped him over. Reaching out, Dick supported himself with his hands on the floor and flipped once in midair, landing perfectly a distance away.

Now Dick was at a disadvantage. Jason pulled out the gun in his holster and started shooting in Dick's direction. Relying on instinct, Dick stayed low on the ground, feeling a bullet glance his scalp. He flung his knives in retaliation.

The blades distracted Jason enough that one was able to successfully enter the barrel of Jason's gun. The bullet exploded.

Throwing away the piece of scrap metal, Jason charged forward like a tank. Dick avoided direct confrontation, taking advantage of openings to attack Jason at his weaker points. But slowly, Jason forced Dick into a corner.

Strictly speaking Dick was a better fighter, but he was concerned about the control panel and was unwilling to give his all. No matter what, he needed to stop this. But he couldn't hurt Jason to do it.

Time doesn't allow him that luxury.

Don't hesitate, Dick. Your tolerance will only make him go further down this path.

That instant, Dick released the Talon within him.

Talon growled, charging directly towards the barrel of Jason's other gun. Dick could only watch as the bullet pierced his left shoulder. The numbing pain didn't stop the Talon, who kicked away Jason's gun and forced him down to the floor with his own weight. The next instant, he withdrew his dagger and stabbed Jason clean through his hand, nailing him to the floor. Before the Talon could go further, Dick pulled himself back, grabbing control of his own body once more.

Jason did not groan from the pain. Sweat trickled down his bleached face. His eyes glared at Dick, filled with something he could not understand. For a moment, Dick thought he made the wrong choice.

His earpiece crackled. Batman's voice came through: "Dick, your teacher is dead."

Batman was panting, and his voice was laced pain. It hadn't been an easy battle.

Dick did not report to Batman his status, instead yelling at Jason: "He's dead! Batman destroyed him. The court is done for! Jason. You can still stop now."

Jason froze. His eyes widened. Like a gambler, he had bet everything on Thomas Wayne, but for naught.

Dick lowered his head, until their faces were only a few inches apart. Watching Jason's despair, he didn't know whether he should pity him or remain angry. At last he said: "Jason, my wishes are simple. As long as we are together, no matter where, I'd be happy.... I only want you by my side, I'll make you believe I'm real...."

Pain pierced his neck. He lifted his arm, a heaviness washing over him. A needle was at his neck, the end in Jason's other hand.

Jason removed the needle when their hands touched. Dick watched him, confused, as the despair in Jason's face became replaced with a certain calm.

He crawled up from on top of Jason, stumbling towards the control panel. Several times he tripped over the bodies of fallen Talons. Jason made no move to stop him, instead yanking the dagger out of his hand. The sound of the metal hitting the floor was but a needle dropping to Dick's dulled senses.

Darkness pricked at his field of vision. His limbs refused to cooperate. Everything felt like cotton around him. His feet collapsed beneath him. Fear descended....

He was going to fall.

Jason caught him. Dick leaned against Jason's torso, feeling the numbness set in. At this point, he could only move his fingers. In his rapidly receding vision, he could see Jason's back and the cracked floor tiles, the scent of cigarettes at the tip of nose.

"Leave me, Dick," Jason's voice pierced the darkness. "Go somewhere better, prettier. As long as I'm here, you'll be safe."