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Its masters had ordered it to kill him.
Its masters ordered it to do a lot of things.
Instead Talon had continued to observe him, watched how he moved, listened to the noises he made. The way he smiled as he fought and rescued people in need of help. It intrigued Talon.
He wasn’t of this world, Talon had overheard, he came from a different dimension. The Court of Owls called him a beacon of hope and light called Nightwing with disgust in their tone. He was Talon’s counterpart, a perfect copy if not for the healthy color of his skin and his eyes still being blue, not ruined by the electrum like Talon was to turn it into one of the undying weapons of the Court of Owls. He still wore the name that Talon was no longer.
He had no designation like Talon did. Like its masters had.
His scent was nice, not too much for Talon. Like its masters were sometimes. Talon always tried its best for its masters. It hurt to dissatisfy them.
So Talon was confused. Its masters ordered it to kill him. Instead Talon followed him back to his universe.
It would have been punished for not doing its duty, but its masters were back there. Not here, in this weird dimension, like Talon was.
Where its counterpart came from.
Talon followed him home and kept watch from the shadows. It wanted to get closer.
The omega contented itself by looking through its counterpart’s apartment whenever he went out as Nightwing or as Dick Grayson and stealing things from the laundry basket to take back to its nest.
It made Talon happy to watch its counterpart get confused as to why his shirts went missing. Though, Talon contemplated. It shouldn’t just take. Its masters had done so, they behaved like it was owed to them.
Talon didn’t want to be like its masters, it wanted to give back. It wanted to court its counterpart. Show its counterpart that Talon wanted what it had once lost. It—himself.
Yes, that’s what its omega instincts told it. Talon thrilled, its decision made.
So it left behind well polished trinkets, oftentimes also scented by Talon, and food that Talon hunted whenever Talon chose to enter the apartment to steal another shirt.
The trinkets got a better reaction than the hunted food did.
Its counterpart looked freaked whenever he found something Talon left behind. He frantically checked every lock on his windows and doors, looked through the cameras, which Talon knew how to avoid.
Its courting was failing.
Talon left behind one of its knives, hoping it would show Talon’s worth to its counterpart, and watched as its counterpart came home, caught sight of it and immediately blanched.
Talon frowned. No. A weapon was a nice gift, right? A step up from trinkets. It chirped sadly to itself, still watching.
It had no Court of Owls here, no masters to direct it.
Talon faltered. It had no purpose.
No. It shouldn’t think that. It would not give up.
Its counterpart looked outside, clutching the knife close. His expression settled on a determined one.
Talon mirrored it.
It followed its counterpart, keeping watch as he patrolled. Talon saw how he pushed himself, how he saved people while nursing injuries, how tired he was.
Talon wanted to bring him to its nest and make him rest.
It looked around, feeling how slick the ground was beneath it today. It was raining a lot and heavily. It didn’t like thunderstorms, the sudden brightness of lightning always hurt its eyes even with the googles on.
Nightwing was moving sluggishly through the heavy downpour. Talon watched in worry when its counterpart took on a large number of men, who had been terrorizing the homeless camps near the bridge.
Nightwing fought, taking the men down, one by one, but Talon saw how he flinched when water dripped down his hair and the men got too close, their breath hitting its counterpart’s skin.
A shiver ran through Talon.
It recognized that look. It was painfully familiar.
One of the men got a lucky hit in and Nightwing slipped. A look of terror flashed across his face as the men moved to straddle him, grabbing at his arms to keep him down, jeering and hollering.
Talon couldn’t watch anymore.
It moved.
Slashing the men with practiced movements, Talon hissed lowly, its golden eyes beneath the googles glowing as it made sure to down everyone in its vicinity. It struck quick, hit low, then high, kicked out its leg, then the other with a twist of its hips.
It stilled when it was the only thing standing, its back turned to its counterpart, shielding him from the view.
“You…”, Nightwing gasped, then began coughing, spitting out rain water.
Talon’s head turned to glance at him.
Nightwing gagged, eyes wide beneath his mask. His chest heaved as he met the omega’s gaze.
“Guess you’re the stalker. Huh.”, Nightwing murmured, looking Talon up and down, eyes lingering on Talon’s knives strapped to its chest. “A Talon, right?”
Talon slowly nodded.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”, Nightwing accused.
Talon tilted its head, then shook it softly.
“Are you here to finish the job? Is that why you followed me?”
Talon shook his head. No, it did not want to kill its counterpart. Not wanting to kill him had brought him here.
Nightwing wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, keeping his eyes on Talon as he got up from the wet ground with a grimace.
He shot the group of men a look, all laying on the ground not moving. “Are…Are they still alive?”
Talon shrugged. Nightwing sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead and brushing his wet hair out of his face.
“You’re coming with me.”, He decided.
The omega suppressed the urge to chirp happily and nodded. Yes, it could follow its counterpart. It had already crossed dimensions for him, it would never think to not go with Nightwing.
It recognized that look. It was painfully familiar.
Talon had displeased its masters. It deserved the punishment its master had decided on.
It bit its tongue as its ass was struck. It was used to pain. It didn’t really hurt much even. But the humiliation burned, the way its masters sneered and jeered made it want to curl into itself.
Another slap was delivered to its ass, before one of its masters turned it around to lay on its back, legs spread far apart.
Its cock was locked away. It didn’t need it, its masters always told it, yet they still loved to jerk it to make the omega jump.
Talon’s fingers twitched as his pussy was slapped, the hit echoed with a wet squelch. Talon forced its fingers to stay still.
Multiple slaps landed on its pussy. Talon took them all.
Fingers delved between its folds, thrusting and twisting in its insides, stretching its hole open.
Talon felt them pull out, fingers still splayed wide to catch at the rim of its hole. A cock immediately pressed against its smarting hole, smearing slick all over the tip.
Its master pushed in, using it for its master’s pleasure. It was a warning not to displease its masters or it would never leave the nesting room.
Talon had witnessed it happening to other Talons before, whenever they were an alpha, beta or an omega like Talon was.
Its master came inside of it and pulled out with a satisfied groan. Then another one of its masters pushed inside, filling the omega up.
All of its masters would have to be satisfied for its punishment to be over. That was the rule.
Talon was a weapon. Its masters made sure to polish it with every punishment Talon took.
It wouldn’t disappoint its masters again. It swore.
It failed.
In the end, Talon would always manage to receive a punishment. Its masters got displeased very easily.
Talon was sure it wouldn’t take long for it to become a toy only. Another nest mate like many Talons before.
Then Nightwing appeared in Talon’s dimension. Talon’s counterpart. Who wore a smile as he taunted his opponents and still had their blue eyes.
Its masters ordered it to kill him.
Talon looked away from the heavy rain hitting the glass from outside. It wasn’t back there anymore. It had left the Court of Owls behind.
A towel was draped over its soaked self. Its counterpart, who had handed it the towel, was observing it.
It was a nice change of pace. Talon didn’t like being stared at usually, but its counterpart was allowed to do so. Talon liked seeing that shade of blue stare at him. It had almost forgotten how it looked.
“Why did you follow me?”, Nightwing asked, peering at Talon suspiciously.
Talon hesitated. It wasn’t sure how it could explain it.
It pointed at Nightwing, then at itself. “You’re…me.”, It hissed quietly. It wasn’t used to talking, the Court of Owls preferred their Talons to be silent killers.
If it spoke it would surely receive a punishment.
Nightwing raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?“
Talon nodded, slowly sliding its mask off, keeping only its googles on. Nightwing hummed.
“So my alternate self followed me because of just that reason?”
Talon’s fingers twitched. “You’re…me…before…the…Court. Was curious.”
“You were curious? Is that why you stole my shirts?”, Nightwing questioned.
“For nest.”
“My shirts are in a nest?”
“Mine.”
Nightwing blinked, then sighed, brushing a hand through his wet hair. “Okay, okay. Why did you start leaving stuff here after running off with my shirts? Cleaning up the dead animals was not pleasant, I tell you.”
Talon pouted. Nightwing had been supposed to eat its hunted meals, not discard them.
“Was…courting you.”, Talon admitted.
“Courting me?”, Nightwing repeated. He cleared his throat. “As in…?”
“Courting you.”
Its counterpart huffed. “Yeah, I got that. You seriously followed me into my dimension, then decided to court me…because I’m you before the Court?”
Talon nodded, giving Nightwing a happy chirp. Nightwing blinked at the noise.
“You’re very bird like, huh?”, He said bemusedly. “With all the courting, nesting, giving me dead animals and those noises.”
Talon tilted his head. Nightwing’s smile widened.
“Honestly I’m not sure where to go with this.”, His counterpart admitted. “I don’t think you want to go back to your dimension, do you?”
Talon’s face fell. “No! Please…I want to stay.”
Nightwing nodded, smile softening as he saw Talon’s panicked expression. “Then let me give you some ground rules, yeah? Try not to kill people?”
Talon fiddled with its towel. It would make a good addition to its nest. “I’m…unsure. How?”, It was a trained killer after all. Its masters always ordered it to go straight for the finishing blow.
“I will teach you, don’t worry.”, Nightwing reassured Talon. “I think you’re going to get the hang of it quickly though.”
They stared at each other. Nightwing shifted, clearly thinking something over before he said it.
“So you like me, huh?”, He grinned awkwardly, wincing immediately after saying it. Talon was rather charmed.
“You’re…good. You smell nice.”
Nightwing laughed. “I’m flattered that my alternate self thinks so.”
“But you’re tired…need rest.”, Talon added on. “A good nest and care.”
Nightwing rubbed his eyes at the mention of him looking tired. “Are you inviting me into your nest then?”
Talon perked up. Yes, Talon wanted that. It wanted that a lot. “Oh! Yes. I want…you there. I…will care.”
Nightwing chuckled. “I didn’t think I would acquire a different me from being transported to another dimension, but well here we are.”
He took a look outside, like Talon had earlier. “You can show me your nest once the sky clears up, yeah?”
Talon beamed, nodding. “Once the sky clears up.”, It repeated.
Nightwing stood up to make them some tea, while their hair dried and they waited for the rain to stop. Talon had made the right decision to follow its counterpart.
It was content.
It felt alive, seeing how his counterpart moved. Nightwing’s demeanor was infectious.
He spoke to Talon like an equal. Unlike Talon’s masters.
Those masters weren’t Talon’s no more. It belonged with Nightwing, here in Nightwing’s dimension, drinking tea together and avoiding the rain.