A Gift

Tuesday 21st April 2009, 08:00.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

East End.

Everything hurt.

Every movement, big or small made his muscles protest and spam, his body screaming at him to stop and rest as pain coursed through his body. His chest which rose and fell with every breath was laboured and difficult, his lungs burning with every breath of air he took. Everything was in pain, from the tips of his hair to his skin that brushed against the fibres of his clothes, every step he took making Esau wince as he stifled a groan.

Yet pain was an old friend and in its own way, it served a purpose of reminding Esau that he was still alive. That against all odds, he had not only survived but emerged victorious against an insurmountable foe. Just as he had done against Black Mask and Deadshot, Esau overcame the odds and survived despite all impossibilities.

Soon after the Green Lantern, whom Esau had come to later know was called Hal Jordan arrived, the Undead Talons and Talon himself had all been detained. Talon was no being shipped off to Belle Reve where he would serve a very long sentence, the government were harsh against criminals in this day and age, the law was unforgiving and the sentences given were long. As for the Undead Talons, they were being taken to an undisclosed location, but one that was far away from Talon and hopefully, one that would never be discovered.

It appeared that the Undead Talons were connected to Talon mentally which is why they followed his orders. When he had been knocked unconscious by Hal Jordan, the Undead Talons had become silent and still, unmoving and lifeless like the corpses they were. Esau would not deny, he had been extremely wary when the Green Lantern had opened the door that had kept them locked away.

But his worry had been for nought as they had been laid there, dead.

Or from a certain perspective, returned to their original state.

As a result, while Hal Jordan had worked quickly to free Batman from his position underneath the debris, he had then gone and taken the undead as far away as he could. It had been under Barbara's instructions that had theorised that if they were connected mentally, then they might have to be within a certain range.

It was a good plan and while Esau had stuck around to at least make sure nothing else went wrong, once he saw everything was okay, he left.

After a quick phone call to the Black Hood supporter, David later and Esau had gotten a taxi from Gotham to the East End. Alfred had given him a lift into Gotham city itself and dropped him off at an alleyway where Esau had rested against the side of the wall.

The taxi driver appeared soon after, he too was a supporter of Black Hood and had been more than willing to give a lift to the hero he supported.

Yet not once did he ask who he was or attempt to see who was beneath the mask.

People were content to leave things a mystery so long as they had a reason to.

This all brought him to the present, Esau dragging himself along the corridor to his room, leaning heavily against the wall to help prop himself up. The cuts littering his body had long since stopped bleeding, leaving most of his outfit stained with blood and with numerous openings. It was a shame really, the suit really was good and it was already ruined, but it was still better than his old outfit.

All it would take was a good clean.

The cuts in it were negligible and the suit would still provide far more protection than his old suit, that much Esau was sure of.

Even so, the walk from the near-broken lift to his room, usually short and easy, was now a monstrous task that tested Esau physically and mentally. More than once Esau had dropped to his knees and had to use the wall for support in order to help him get to his feet.

It was safe to say that he was in a worse condition than when he defeated Black Mask. But still, it was nowhere near as bad as when he had been beaten within an inch of his life by a said crime lord because no matter how many times Esau's legs gave out from underneath him, Esau rose to his feet once more and kept going until he reached his room.

Pushing open the door to his room, Esau locked it behind him, resting momentarily against his door as he looked around his room, it was dark. There was no need to switch on the light in his apartment though, as light already started to stream in from the window.

That wasn't what caught Esau's eyes however.

No, it was the innocent suitcase resting on his kitchen countertop that caught his eye.

Blinking, once and then twice, Esau shook his head. "Fuck this shit! I'm too tired to deal with this right now, I'm going to bed." With that said, Esau dragged himself to his room and uncaring of getting undressed out of his dirty outfit collapsed onto his bed and promptly fell into a deep sleep.

-X-

Tuesday 21st April 2009, 12:00.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Wayne Manor.

Bruce Wayne was silent as he watched the news display the sight of the police raiding numerous bases belonging to the Court of Owls. He, as Batman had already given Jim Gordon the list of members belonging to the Court and all were arrested except for a few that had managed to escape the city.

Other than that, everything was going fine.

Seemingly.

Despite everything, Bruce couldn't shake the weight resting upon his shoulder, the concern he felt and what it could mean for the future. He had lost to Talon; had been beaten when the city and his allies had counted on him the most. It was by no means the first time he had been beaten, he was not invincible after all and had never believed otherwise. But every time he lost, he had always manded to shake things off, get back up and go again, managing to emerge victorious when it counted most.

This time, however, it was only due to his managing to send out a distress signal to the Justice League that help came.

Though from what he had heard, Talon had all but been beaten.

It was certainly something to put his mind at ease, but either way, it didn't change the fact that he had lost and quite handily.

The last person that had managed to accomplish that was when he faced off with Bane, that fight ending with his back broken. It was a painful memory and while the injuries he had sustained were nowhere near as severe this time around, it was still another failure on his behalf, something that Bruce did not like at all.

It did, however, come with its good tidings as well.

In his fight against Talon, Bruce was able to learn of a weakness within himself, one that until this point, he had been unaware of. His entire fighting style was based around fighting groups of enemies and superpowered individuals. That did not mean he was helpless in one on one fights against skilled opponents, far from it. However, he did learn that against someone who, like the Talon, had a fighting style directly opposite to his own he was at a distinct disadvantage.

Yet like always, Bruce would learn from this and become stronger as a result.

Thankfully, his injuries while severe had mostly been healed, the minor ones anyway.

This was all down to the work of Zatara and his magics who had managed to heal most of his superficial wounds and help a little with his more severe injuries. Even so, he would still be unable to properly move for another few days at the minimum and it would take a week for him to be back in fighting condition, and even longer for him to be back in full form.

It was times like these that he was envious of superpowered aliens like Superman as injuries like his would be very difficult to attain for one as invulnerable as the Man of Steel. Not to mention if he did, Superman would be healed within a matter of hours when exposed to sunlight.

Still, with the Green Lantern doing most of the clean-up and Bruce being forced to sit here unable to do anything but rest, it had left him with plenty of free time.

Free time he had used to find out what he could about Talon or as he came to know him, Alton Carver.

There hadn't been much as according to the records, Alton Carver was legally considered to be dead having died in an accident around twenty years ago at age seven in an acrobatics practice accident at Haly's Circus. A quick look further into Haly's Circus showed that a number of young, talented children had mysteriously died in terrible 'accidents over the course of centuries.

Bruce was sure that this was where the Court of Owls recruited their Talons.

Though that left the question as to whether the head of the circus knew or if he was innocent in all of this?

"Well, I've done all I can downstairs," Hal said, stepping into the living room and Bruce nodded his head in thanks as he sat wrapped in bandages. "Gotta say, I was surprised you called. You're not usually the type, even when everything seems impossible for you to solve, you always managed to find a way."

"Someone opened my eyes to the truth," Bruce said gaining Hal's attention, more than intrigued as to what he meant. "We formed the Justice League to deal with threats too powerful and dangerous for one of us to face alone. Yet, outside of those threats, we're back to how we were before the Justice League. We face criminals alone and avoid calling for help even when thousands of lives are at stake."

Bruce went quiet remembering how hopeless he had felt when he had been left there, Talon having beaten him and victory in his grasp. Bruce hadn't been able to stop him, it had made him feel like the same eight-year-old who had lost his parents in that alleyway.

"The world and our cities can't afford for us to be divided by our own pride," Bruce stated firmly, knowing that he would always deal with a threat as best as he could alone. But like this time, if a threat was proving to be more elusive and a threat to all of Gotham, he wouldn't hesitate to call for help, yet it would take time to shake old habits. "Being a hero is about sacrifice, I am more than willing to sacrifice my pride as a hero if it means saving this city. That is why I called for help."

Hal was silent, temporarily speechless as he heard Batman of all people say that he called for help because he was admitting that he couldn't win. He didn't phrase it like that, but previous events and the underlining meaning of what he said were clear.

Once more, Hal found himself feeling a great deal of respect for Batman.

He sure as hell didn't like Bruce, he was too antisocial and just...off.

He certainly wasn't a people person despite what his persona would have you believe and Bruce didn't make any effort to change that part of him. But even then, Hal did respect Bruce for the bravery and determination it took to face off against the threats they had to on a near-weekly basis and do so without fear. There were some guys out there that terrified him, a Green Lantern and yet, Batman, a human, faced them without an ounce of hesitation.

No matter how much one disliked him as a person, one couldn't help but respect him for that fact alone.

Nodding his head, Hal floated up into the air. "Alright Bats, but don't make this a habit." With those parting words, Hal flew into the sky with speed surpassing that of a jet.

Yet despite his words, both knew that if the other required help, the other would be there to give it.

Feeling his phone vibrate, Bruce saw that the caller ID said, Jim Gordon.

Bruce respected the Gotham City Police captain, not only because of his daughter but because of Jim's character. He was one of the few cops in this city that hadn't been corrupt and had since, been a good ally and even friend of Batman. Bruce had no doubts that Jim probably knew or had strong suspicions as to who Batman really was. The fact was, Jom never shared his findings with anyone because he understood that Batman was more than a vigilante.

He was a symbol, a figure of hope to the good people of Gotham and a symbol of fear to the criminals.

An unbeatable figure of justice that would never fail in his task of bringing criminals to justice.

People still debated as to whether Batman was even human.

It was for that reason, Bruce respected Jim as he understood that Batman was a symbol and despite knowing or suspecting the person behind the mask, never revealed that information.

All because knew, that Batman needed to be more than just a man.

If the information that Batman was only a man with no powers was leaked, it would only embolden the criminals even further.

Neither would allow that to stand.

Answering the phone, Bruce brought it to his ear. "Gordon." He greeted, the voice modulator on his phone making his voice sound deeper and similar to that of Batman. "What seems to be the problem?"

"We have arrested everyone on the list except for a few of the wealthier ones," Jim informed, Bruce nodding his head, having already suspected this would happen, but still liking to having it confirmed. "But we've got a few problems. First, a few of the inmates at Arkham used the chaos of the last few days to escape, we don't have exact names or numbers yet." There was a hidden question there, Jim wondering if Batman might know more than he or perhaps, could look into it personally.

It wasn't a huge concern at the moment though, criminals that escaped Arkham usually laid low for a few days before making a move. At which point, while not in perfect form, Batman would still be able to move throughout Gotham and handle any threat that came about.

"And the others?"

"We found evidence linking numerous members of the Court of Owls to various crime families and syndicates in Gotham, practically the entirety of them."

That was not good news at all.

In most cases, this would be good news, but Batman was not able to make a move, not in the state he was in. As a result, without Batman breathing down the necks of the criminals of Gotham when conflict broke out, he couldn't quell it. Neither could Batgirl nor Robin create the illusion of him being present, leading to people getting bolder and bolder.

Even then, conflict was inevitable, whether Batman was around or not.

But without him there, things could very quickly get out of hand.

This was something Jim knew, but Bruce would not let him know Batman couldn't be there.

"But the main problem occurred when searching for the caches of Fearless Toxin, or one in particular." Jim continued, not aware of the crisis Bruce was facing.

"What do you mean?" Batman demanded, sitting more upright as his eyes narrowed in concern. The locations of the Fearless Toxin had been unknown and he had no doubt that maybe a few of the crime families may have attempted to find and take some for themselves. If that happened, chaos would begin again and this time, he would be out of commission for at least a week.

"I'll send you the image." A file came through and after opening it up on his phone, Batman clenched his fists tightly.

"I'll be in touch," Bruce responded and Jim didn't even argue, just remaining silent as Bruce hung up the phone.

For a few moments he remained silent, his fists clenched and his form tense as he stared blankly at the wall in deep thought.

Then he pulled up the image once more. 'What are you planning now?' He questioned as he looked at the image of the area where a cache of Fearless Toxin should be.

However, in the place of the Fearless Toxin was a Joker card.