Chapter Text
Fierce pain coursed through his head, the floor tilted under the pressure of waking, and his fingers twitched to find feeling along the worn-out rug beneath his hands.
“You’re late, little bird.”
Not again. Dick’s head shot up off the floor, surrounded by the shattered glass from the night prior and blood staining the rug. The dress rehearsal started in ten minutes. This was it. He was going to be fired right before opening night.
He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the blaring pain in his head and frantically grabbed at the closest clothes he could find and pulled them on. Just as he hopped on one foot to pull on his shoes, his hands yanked on the door that wouldn’t move. Locked.
“I can’t let you go.”
Dick whirled around and found Cobb by his bed, his hands in his lap and his eyes distant and nearly vacant. He’d been so caught up in his panic he hadn’t even noticed his grandfather was in the room with him.
“I couldn’t get all of the glass up. I couldn’t even get you into bed. All I could do was ice your head.” Cobb forced out weakly. “Richard, I’m so sorry.”
“Give me the key, Cobb.” Dick snarled, already closing the distance between them and levying his height over him.
“This is the only way I can right my wrong. Forgive me.” Cobb begged, but Dick only grabbed his face and forced him to meet his murderous gaze.
“Give. Me. The. Key. Now.” Dick was practically growling, red at the edge of his vision.
“That ballet will destroy you. I can’t let you go.” Cobb stated, firmly finally some familiar edge to his voice. Fine time for him to decide to protect him, but it was far too late.
‘He’s jealous. He knows we are better. He knows I am the superior Talon.’
“Shut up.” Dick hissed out loud. Cobb clearly thought his words were meant for him as he stared at Dick as if he were a stranger in his home.
‘Let me handle this. I can make him give up the key and more.’
Dick’s mind is flooded with images of Cobb dead in the street. A fantasy unfoloded of that car actually finishing the job. His grandfather laying on the concrete as blood oozes from the trauma of impact, empty eyes and cold hands incapable of any further sabotage. How easy everything would have been if Cobb had gotten his death wish and Dick could have continued to be happy. No money from Thomas, no more of Cobb’s influence—it was all Cobb’s fault!
‘At every turn of our lives he’d gotten in the way, but you’re too weak to truly make him pay. You can humiliate him, starve him, and scream at him, but you know it isn’t enough. He’ll always find a way to ruin us. There’s only one way to truly avenge ourselves.’
The Talon was evil. The Talon was manipulative. Dick knew this, but he was so tired. He let go.
"That's it. Go under and sleep."
He felt himself plunged into an ocean—no place for a bird, but it was silent. Submerged in the depths of this endless sanctuary where the birds of prey could not reach him, he finally felt safe. No voices, no music, no Cobb, no Talon—he was alone with his own thoughts. It was a blessing he never considered one could have. Here he could remain and be of no further consequence. Kori and Wally wouldn't have to care for him anymore and they could get on with their lives. Kori would become the world-famous prima ballerina she was meant to be. Wally would find someone who wasn't out of their mind and could actually build a happy life with him. Jason would flourish in the way he'd always dreamt he could and Bruce---Bruce could finally forget him.
Here, he didn't exist.
Dick shifted in the endless peace only to be interrupted by a twittering bird.
A robin moved about the ocean unencumbered by the water as if it were still in the air. Its song was beautiful and familiar—but somehow forgotten. Despite his lacking memory, he was soothed by it, and he felt as if he could dance. But he’s long lost the understanding of that as well. The weight of the water would not allow him to move freely so he sank, content now to just listen. But the robin was not satisfied with this.
“I’m sorry–I’ve forgotten the dance. I’m sorry.”
The robin landed on his chest, using its beak to grab his shirt and urging him to swim up.
Did he even know how to swim anymore?
“All I remember is the Talon Variation.”
The robin tweeted furiously at this, releasing a shrill cry that broke Dick’s peace and suddenly the water wasn’t so safe anymore. He needed to breathe—the pressure was caving in on his body. He wasn’t meant to be here.
The dress rehearsal. He needed to swim there.
Despite the pain and grief, he pitched his body up with all of his might. His arms fought furiously against the pull of the ocean. Exhausted and nearly without the stamina, Dick finally breaks through the surface gulping in the air greedily and blinking away the burn of the salt. As his vision cleared, he could see a beach in the distance. There were people there–people he knew. Kori sat on the sand with the sea breeze tousling her gorgeous hair. His friends sat around her, laughing and chattering about. Wally had just said something very funny. Bruce and Jason were strolling down the shoreline—smiling. They seemed very happy. They didn’t mind that he was here, and they were walking away.
Dick had been about to call for them when a shadow dove down at him and the robin screeched in warning, but the weight of the predator pushed him back down.
A massive owl with glowing golden eyes and sharp talons shoved him beneath the surface. This time, there had been no chance to take a breath and his lungs burned furiously as he was forced back down. He twisted in its grasp, but those claws only sunk deeper into his chest and pain rushed through him. He tried to scream for help, but the water drowned him out. His blood stained the beautiful water and floated around him as the Talon's furious gaze bore down on him. It wanted his submission. It demanded that he sink. He was too weak to fight it.
His only help came from the tiny Robin that bravely flitted around the owl, pecking furiously at it in an attempt to get it to release its hold on him. Dick wanted to beg it to fly away---he wasn't worth its sacrifice.
Fed up, the Owl released its hold on Dick's flesh and wrenched the robin into its grasp. With a sharp crack, the robin became still and silent. A cry of grief tore from Dick's throat, reaching helplessly for the Owl's mercy, but it was too late. The robin had been so small and fragile, but unlike Dick, it had actually fought. It had fought and it had lost. Dick wished it had been like him--weak and cowardly because then it would have abandoned him and flown into the open sky. Its body drifted down to Dick who lifted his hands and cupped it close. Another casualty in the Talon’s wake of destruction and it had only tried to protect him. The owl looked triumphant as Dick no longer possessed the will to break the surface.
It flew away towards the shore where his friends were as Dick held the robin close to him and wept. The bottom was growing closer and there he’d stay, forced to sleep beneath the tide while everyone basked in the warmth of the sun on the shore. They'd never even know he was here—so close to them. They’d be better for it.
When his back touched the sandy ocean floor, the waters receded, and reality brutally struck him.
He was in bed. His head was resting on a pillow, a quilt pulled up to his waist—he wasn’t clothed. He was sweaty and felt the familiar lingering pain he’d felt before. He felt this when he left Thomas’s office.
It was unbearably hot. There were arms around him, and someone was pressed up against his back. Steady, sleeping breath was ghosting along the shell of his ear and neck.
Panic gripped him tightly as he collected all of the evidence of where he was and what he’d been doing. He turned his head slightly over his shoulder and confirmed his horrific suspicion at the sight of Thomas’s sleeping face on the same pillow as his own. The man was practically wrapped around him like a boa constrictor, and it was similarly suffocating. There was a discarded condom wrapper on the bedside dresser where a lamp was still on, illuminating the dreadful scene.
“What have you done?” Dick whispered; a cold sweat of fear warred with the unbearable inferno of Thomas's touch. He felt aflame, feverish---delirious with shame and shock.
‘You think after being an entire hour late for dress rehearsal that Thomas wasn’t ready to be done with us? That he wasn’t ready to replace us without the proper motivation? You should be thanking me. Especially since, once again, I’ve done all the hard work for you.’
“Dress Rehearsal…”
‘I was astonishing. I amazed everyone. Better than you could have ever done.’
One moment Dick had been fantasizing terrible thoughts about Cobb’s death and the next—he was here. He was in bed with Thomas after a triumphant dress rehearsal and apparently a negotiated exchange of sex. One that Talon had apparently orchestrated. This wasn’t Thomas’s office or the dressing room. This was his penthouse where the man held even more power than he already had—this was a completed conquest of Dick Grayson.
Maybe at least now he’ll tire of him. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is the last time Thomas will touch him.
‘Oh, don’t worry. He won’t tire of me. I have plans to ensure he’ll stay obsessed and enthralled with my career. I’ll practically be his muse.’
Dick felt as if he was going to be sick. He untangled himself quickly from Thomas and rushed to the bathroom to puke his guts out. He retched over the toilet, emptying the contents of his stomach with food he didn’t remember eating.
"I don't know why you're so upset. You were happy while you were under. I only let you back out to make you finally understand. You don't deserve the gifts you were born with. You let Cobb twist you into that blithering, weak fool you've become. I'm the man you were meant to be."
“What did you do to Cobb?” Dick asked, quietly.
Talon only laughed.
'Don't you worry my pretty head over Cobb. I'll finally be able to achieve what you could never because I'm strong. I'm perfect.'
His strength leaves him, and he crashes to the ground, trying to seek out comfort from the cool bathroom tiles—something to rid him of his agonizing fire searing in his mind and body. His breath is coming in fast and then it’s barely reaching his lungs at all. He can feel the ocean rising around him as he tries to suck in air. The world is spinning, and his body is splitting.
He needed someone other than Talon to soothe him. Not touch him but assure him—he wasn’t a whor*. He wasn’t—crazy. Oh god, he wanted Bruce. He wanted Jason and Alfred. They were the ones that picked him up from that bar when Thomas was tired of him. They’d taken care of him, and he’d run away like a coward.And now Jason hated him. Bruce probably hated him too.Still, he wished he knew where his phone was so he could text him. Ask one of them to come pick him up and protect him in the manor. But what would they do when he asked them to lock him inside the room from the outside so Talon couldn’t go on more escapades.
Even they had their limits. He’d already surpassed Jason’s patience with him. That might be the final straw for Bruce. Sooner or later they’d probably decide to commit him or something. Worse, just abandon him all together for all the trouble he was worth.Oh god, if Bruce knew—he’d been sleeping with his brother. Dick had been doing this for a while, but this felt different. This felt worse. This felt permanent.
“Richard?” Thomas called. “Are you okay?”
Dick pushed himself up weakly, trying to self-soothe himself back to a normal state.
‘Go back to bed and be charming or I’ll put you under forever. Consider this your last ride.’
“Oh god...” Dick whispered, horrified as he tried to wipe away the tears and recover. He can’t let Thomas know how this happened. He’ll know Dick is crazy–he’ll never let him dance. He needed the strength to suppress Talon.
It's time to turn the stage lights on. He opened the door and plastered on the best smile he could—even so, it felt so weak and unconvincing.
“There’s my pretty bird.” Thomas cooed, now sitting up with a cigarette between his fingers. Dick didn’t know the man smoked. “I heard you getting sick.”
“Just nerves–because of tomorrow.” Dick replied, slinking back into the bed, but keeping a foot distance from Thomas. The man eyed the space between them for a moment.
Even so, Thomas laughed. “I didn’t see a hint of nerves today.” He retorted, taking another pull and blowing the smoke into the open air. “Still not perfect—” Dick felt a slash of pain in his brain as Talon took offense to that. “But everything will come to fruition tomorrow when they see you–when they see what I’ve created with you. Oh, pretty bird–they’ll adore you.”
“They will?” Dick whispered.
“Of course, sweetheart. Just as I adore you.” Thomas soothed, reaching out pulling Dick to his chest so his head rested in the crook of his neck. He put the cigarette out on the ash tray beside his dresser. “You’re so docile now—I suppose all that fire you had before left, but I like this too. I get those sharp talons you had before and this sweet little robin in one package." Dick felt himself nauseous again when he saw the scratch marks on Thomas that Talon had left. He was briefly very thankful he hadn't looked in the mirror to see the marks Thomas left behind---mostly because he'd been too afraid to find Talon staring back at him. As talkative as Talon had been tonight, seeing him might send him back to the sea again.
“I’m–happy you’re pleased.” Dick whispered, resting his hand on the man’s arm, hoping this was what he wanted.
“We’ll have to wait until after the show is closed to tell everyone. I don’t want Bruce throwing a fit and disrupting all your hard work.” Thomas stated, now running his fingers through Dick’s dark hair.
“Tell everyone?” Dick asked.
“You don’t remember? We agreed you’d move in with me.” Thomas laughed. “How could I say no to those pretty blues? When you told me about Cobb locking you in your room to sabotage your dress rehearsal, I practically melted for you. I’m glad you finally saw reason and took sanctuary with me and not those friends of yours.”
“Sanctuary…” Dick murmured. The word felt like a joke.
“Yes, sanctuary.” Thomas reaffirmed. “Because I can actually protect you. Bruce didn’t protect you when you were a child. Jason couldn’t protect you. I’m the only one who actually did anything to try and keep Cobb away from you. And now, he’ll never bother you again. I’ll make sure no one in the dance world wants to breathe the same air as him and you—you’ll be the star. My greatest achievement.”
“A star…” Dick was drifting, and Thomas’s grip was getting tighter. He longed for the silence of the ocean again or for that robin’s protection, but Thomas would only break its neck.
But there was some truth to his words. Thomas could protect him as long as Dick could please him.
“Get some sleep, pretty bird.” Thomas commanded, kissing his lips before shifting so they were lying as they were before. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you arrive on time tomorrow.”
So, this was his life now. He was to be kept here with Thomas as his pretty muse. Dick thought about the kiss with Wally. Despite his disconnect with reality, that kiss had been real. And here he was in bed with the man who controlled his career. Nonetheless, what could Wally do to protect him? Wally had been talking about him to Jason—spying.
Cobb had been right to call him a whor*.
Cobb had been right about him—about everything.
