Chapter Text
“Dick, hey, it’s alright look? Look, I’m fine, see?”
Dick choked down another sob, curling tighter in on himself as he peeked up at Jason and...
“See?” Jason whispered again, gesturing to himself with a gentle expression on his face. “I’m fine. I told you, I had armor. You didn’t hurt me, I promise. Hell, didn’t even get a scratch.”
“I-I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you didn't, it’s okay,” Jason soothed, holding up his hands. “Everything’s okay.”
“What’s happening to me?”
“I don’t know but we’re going to figure it out,” Jason swore. “You have my word.”
Dick swallowed thickly. “What happens now?”
“Now we’re going to go back and Slade’s going to help us plan what to do next,” Jason replied. “Okay? Right now, you’re not safe out here. The Court could be looking for you and none of us want them to get you again.”
“You can't stop them, Jason,” Dick whispered. “No one can stop them. Not when they want something as badly as they want me.”
“Well, you clearly don’t know how stubborn Slade can be,” Jason replied with a small smile before holding out his hand. “We won’t let them hurt you, Dick. Not again. I swear on my life.”
Dick hesitated before slowly, tentatively, placing his own hand in Jason’s. “Okay.”
…………………………..
When Jason and Dick returned to the apartment, Slade was quick to lock the windows and doors, closing the blinds before sitting them all in the living room and explaining everything they knew to Dick.
“Is that why I feel so weird?” Dick asked softly after they explained his accelerated aging as the Court’s serum wore off and his body attempted to get to the height, weight, and general proportions it should have been at twenty-three, had he aged the way he was supposed to.
“Mentally, you’re between thirteen to sixteen,” Slade explained. “But physically, you’re about nineteen.”
“That’s…” Dick shook his head. “Weird.”
“You’re going through an accelerated puberty, of course it’s weird,” Jason remarked. He paused. “Did you ever even get the sex talk?”
“Not now, Jason,” Slade cut in, before looking to Dick. “We’re not going to let The Court get you.”
“It’s so...confusing,” Dick murmured, shaking his head. “I remember The Court, but barely. I remember all of you, but...barely.” He shrugged. “My entire body feels sore and off and I just don’t feel...like me.”
“You went from being an eight year old acrobat to an enhanced assassin and now your body is trying to catch up to your actual age as fast as possible,” Tim told him. “You’re bound to feel some pain and discomfort.”
“Richard, is there anything about The Court that you can confidently recall that might help us?” Slade asked. “We know next to nothing about them, any information you have might be helpful.”
Dick pressed his lips together, thinking. “I know that...there were two serums,” he tentatively replied. “One for enhancements and one for...immortality.”
“You don’t have that one,” Jason pointed out.
“I don’t know why,” Dick said. “Just that my trainer...wanted me immortal and any time he...went to ask, he always came back upset.”
“So he wanted you immortal, but the head of The Court said no,” Tim guessed, making a note on his computer. “The question is, why?”
“He’s too soft.” Everyone looked over at Slade who directed his attention to Dick and explained. “When I first met you, you were more interested in looking at me and getting to know me then killing me.”
“But a normal Talon would have killed you on the spot,” Jason guessed.
“They told me to kill you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Dick sucked in a soft breath. “I don’t know.”
……………………………….
“We caught sight of The Gray Son earlier.”
“And?”
“We lost him.”
The Grandmaster did not sigh, did not make a sound, instead regarding William Cobb before him for quite some time before asking,
“Do you have a plan?”
“We know he’s being protected by Deathstroke.”
“That is not what I asked.” Cobb shrunk back. “I asked if you had a plan to reclaim him.”
“I…” Cobb cleared his throat. “No sir.”
The Grandmaster was quiet for a few moments. “The serum will have fully worn off by now,” he remarked. “In a few days, his body will have fully shifted to age appropriately to his accurate twenty-three years.”
“Yes sir.”
“He will no longer be a child...at least, not in body.”
“Sir?”
“Keep a close eye on him, Cobb. When the time to strike is right, you will be given your order. The Court will have it’s Gray Son, at any cost.”