Owen Murphy | Cassandra Cain (blackbatboy) wrote in thereincarnates, @ 2013-01-22 02:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | colin ford, owen murphy |
Who: Owen Murphy and Colin Ford
When: Late Monday night, January 14th 2013
Where: Out on patrol in Gotham, then Dick/Colin’s loft
Summary: Sometimes, the good times are greater than the bad. A real reunion.
Warnings: TOO HOT TO HANDLE. (More like PG-13 actually, unless you’re in our heads...)
It wasn’t like it was an odd occurrence for two JL2.0 members to run into each other while on patrol. It wasn’t based on a system where one person got a certain night; there was some sort of a schedule, sure, but many of the members went out whenever they felt like it. Whenever they needed it. Needs became great, and going on patrol was a great way to get rid of that tension, that anger, whatever it was that made you want to don a costume and fight bad guys at night. Sometimes, it was just nice to run across rooftops and fly.
It was cold out tonight. Owen hated when it was cold out, the way the sweat became cold, making everything clammy inside the suit. If it was windy, things blew around, and you needed to be careful of any black ice. Even the best and most extensive training didn’t prepare you for slipping on some ice and falling on your ass in front of the people you wanted to intimidate. Owen sometimes missed being back down in Arizona. Sand was easy to deal with. The cold, not so much. Hell, he even missed the rain... Owen missed a lot of stuff. But being back in the city, being back around friends, making new friends, seeing people who cared on a regular basis. Drinking with old friends. He’d gone out on patrol before, but he was feeling pretty good about tonight. It probably also had to do with the fact that he enjoyed blending into shadows, and watching some of the people go by.
“Once a bat, always a bat, huh, Cass?” Owen couldn’t help but mutter, jumping across a gap between roofs, going into a roll on his landing, to dampen the impact a little. A trick he’d learned from gymnastics, and a trick she had learned from the grand master of tumbling himself. Speaking of him, though; when Owen glanced up, he could see a figure on another rooftop over. And there was no mistaking who it was. He smiled to himself, going to the shadows and seeing if he could sneak up on him.
These days every night Colin could actually go out on patrol was a blessing. For so many months after his accident he couldn’t stand the sound of explosions, couldn’t put too much weight on one leg. Every step he took was a shaky one, every unexpected noise a threat to send him hurdling into the recesses of his mind where the reality of his own trauma was waiting for him. When people talked about PTSD they usually talked about it in such abstract terms, you could tell who had been through it and who hadn’t. Colin had never experienced it himself before the accident, but afterward? It was something he lived with every day, and only after months of hard work and support from his family and friends had he started being able to get past it. He started being able to face his past and in true Dick Grayson fashion, instead of letting it hold him back, he turned it around into his greatest strength.
Tonight he felt stronger than ever, and the night was still pretty young. He hadn’t seen much action so far but half the fun of patrol was in the waiting, at least for him. Colin didn’t mind perching on rooftops for hours on end, it was cathartic and a good way to center yourself, prepare yourself if you’re able to for anything you might find out there in the streets of Gotham. When it came to Gotham there was really no preparing yourself for anything, you never really knew what the city might spit back up at you next, but if you stuck around the place long enough you learned how to roll with the punches. Literally. Sometimes things still snuck up on you that you’d gotten complacent about though, like the sudden and very real reappearance of an ex, but these days Colin was feeling pretty good about that too.
Would you quit fidgeting? You’re making me fidgety and I’ve got a lot less room to fidget. Dick’s vocal complaints inside Colin’s head made the other bird smile, forcing himself to still with a chuckle. “Sorry, mom,” he muttered to himself, or more accurately to the voice in his head as he made a point to tense up where he was perched on the ledge of a roof hanging off one of the city’s main drags. He was so preoccupied by the catty Robin in his subconscious that he momentarily forgot to pay attention to his fast approaching surroundings.
“Quiet tonight. What gives?”
One of the problems with Cass was her reading people. And it was reading people too well that Owen had a problem with. Sometimes it would be nice to sit in a coffee shop and not know that the couple over in the corner was having intimacy problems, the man sitting by himself was trying to get through an email because he needed to go home and have some private time with himself, and the girl at the counter was trying to decide on which purse out of the catalogue she was looking through she wanted to buy. But at the same time, it did help. Avoiding an aggressive person at a bar, a glance at the driver of a car was about to go over the speed limit, other such problems. Owen wasn’t sure if the other masks had this sort of problem, and it seemed rude to ask, though he did wonder.
He wondered about a lot of things, especially lately. Coming back to the world meant a lot of things, both good and bad. You got to see all the people you liked again: good. You got to see all of the people you didn’t like: bad. You found a long lost sibling: that one was still up in the air. But with all of the people, the good and the bad, there was a sense of happiness coupled with fear. It opened yourself back up to the problems you had with yourself, and it all took awhile to get in the groove. Cass was happy to be back on Gotham, and in a way, Owen was glad, too. It was like coming home, even if the place was not your home. But if the other person in your head considered it home, then you did, too. He really needed to stop letting his mind wander, but it was almost second nature to just let someone else take over for a while, and sit back and watch.
Maybe that was why he was thinking about Cass and her strange ability. Because when he watched Colin, he could see everything. The fact that he was doing well, becoming stronger, with only a small hitch every so often. How he was fidgety, how Dick was fidgety. How he tensed up, as if ready for something to happen, and then relaxed the next moment when nothing did. Owen was tired of staying in the shadows. He just realized how tired he was of it, and he slid out from an underhang, crouching next to Colin as silently as possible. Which was really silent.
“No one wants to be out in the cold, not even Gotham’s most wanted,” This was said softly. “Except Freeze, but let’s be serious, he’s not really high on that list.” A pause. “On the other hand, Captain Cold... I’m starting to envy his coat right about now.”
Notorious for his silent entrances, Owen was more than successful in sneaking up on Colin, something that among other things apparently hadn’t changed between them, including their unconscious habit of gravitating towards each other. It was a Bat thing. Owen was his own person of course, there was no denying the man himself was something of a force of nature, but there was also no denying that his ex had acquired more than a few of Cass’s trademark techniques. Such as sneaking up on a fellow vigilante on a narrow roof, and as soon as Colin heard Owen’s voice beside him he almost groaned. Dick was never going to let him live this one down. Outwardly, though, he jumped a little at the first break in the silence before relaxing at the sound of Owen’s voice and smiling wryly to himself, throwing a sideways glance his way. Had to admit, he was pretty glad to see him.
Things had been more than a little strange since Owen’s reappearance, but that was to be expected. Their relationship hadn’t exactly ended on a positive note and Colin hadn’t exactly reacted well to Owen’s surprise homecoming not too long ago, but since then he’d been slowly getting used to the idea that Owen was back. More than used to it, actually. He couldn’t help it, and he’d forgotten how good being around Owen felt. A thought he kept to himself of course, but there it was. Now that Owen was back with the JL they were seeing each other on a regular basis, and it was a sensation that was even more impossible to ignore, but oh did Colin try. Try and only very partially succeed. Especially now that they were once again side by side, suited up, just like old times. Just like in the very beginning.
“What about Cobblepot? Bet he digs the ice. Still can’t get over the name, though. I mean, really? Of all birds, the Penguin? Who would ever think someone named ‘The Penguin’ could be trouble.” Colin’s voice was lighter as he quipped, feeling altogether at ease in his current surroundings. Perched on a roof top, dressed head to toe in the Nightwing suit (blue version, thank you very much DC reboot) with Owen Murphy by his side? Yeah. This was all nice and familiar in the best way. Thinking all of this but deciding not to voice it, Colin simply offered the other man a friendly greeting. “Hey.”
It was nice knowing that he could be a ninja for someone who actually mattered. And it was a little fun, to see that small jump, and to hear the groan. The groan of “someone is never going to live this one down” groan. It was funny, and while he didn’t actually laugh out loud, Colin could probably see the biggest smile on Owen’s face right now. He always got like that, whenever he could take a little stab at him. They were never painful ones, but theirs had always been an easy camaraderie that was easily found once again, when Owen came back.
Sure, the hand on his ass during JL2.0 meetings had been nice, but they were getting older. No, they were getting old. They both had some hard truths thrust upon them all at once. The skylights), too many secrets that had never been revealed. Too many kept in emotions, not death of loved ones (too many to count), the loss of silliness (no more going through enough talking about them. Talking around was always, and would be, the easier road. Cass was going to throttle Owen if he tried to pull that stunt again, and he was glad for that.
But this really was nice. Just two coworkers, two friends, doing some of the things that they now did best. And even with the awkwardness of it all, they were also family, in a way. You never stopped being a part of the Batfamily, even if you went away, died and came back, or renounced it forever. You were always a part of it.
“Does Cobblepot enjoy ice? The Tim Burton version made sense with that stuff. Cobblepot is annoying, sort of like a penguin? I don’t know, he just needs to stop getting his greasy little hands on guns. Guns jam in the winter, though. That’s a roundabout way to get to the cold,” Owen glanced over, the black mask covering most of his face, but not his smile. Gloved and wrapped hands held onto the edge, the shredded cape providing a pitiful excuse of cover from the wind. But even with the Black Bat clothes, it was still Owen, and he responded in turn. “Hey yourself.”
“Beats me. Don’t penguins just sort of gravitate towards ice, like Ivy does to weeds?” It was clear Colin had more or less adopted Dick’s cavalier attitude towards the supervillains that filled the Bat family’s days with torment, which on most occasions wasn’t such a bad thing. Sure, it was never a smart idea to underestimate your opponent, but if there was anyone who could always spin a positive note on a bad situation, it was Dick Grayson. Or in this case, his reincarnate. When it came to Dick and Colin they were more alike than they were different these days, but that was only on the surface. They didn’t agree on everything, didn’t deal with life in the same ways one hundred percent of the time, but if there was ever anything they always had in common, it was the messy office romance. Dick was notorious for it, and whether Colin had actively tried to be or not, apparently so was he. The apple never did fall far from the tree, etc.
The man perching next to him was a prime example. Owen was special to him, always had been. And it wasn’t just because they’d dated, or that he was the first man Colin had ever fallen in love with, they were part of the same family. The Bat family. A family you never really left, even when you left town, as Owen had. The fact that Colin still had strong feelings for him was just a very dominant factor at this point in time. Chuckling a little and returning the smile Owen flashed him when he responded to the greeting, Colin shook his head and momentarily averted his gaze to the street below them, strangely feeling more alert after Owen snuck up on him. All his senses were more heightened, he felt more aware of his surroundings as well as himself (not to mention the guy next to him). Suddenly he was more determined to concentrate on patrol now that he had a worthy partner at his side. Besides fucking, kicking a little criminal ass was one thing Colin and Owen had always been good at.
“Nice night,” Colin commented casually, thinking to himself how much easier it already was to be around Owen, especially after the night of drinks and no pressure they’d had on Owen’s birthday. It was a relief, Colin thought, to just be around Owen again. Wouldja quit mooning over the pretty boy and concentrate on what’s going on down the street? You’re making me nauseous over here. Despite Dick’s sarcasm, he was kind of right, and Colin was quick to bring the bat binoculars to his eyes and train them further down the street. What he saw was definitely worthy of his and Owen’s attention, especially when the three costume-dressed men with guns in a black sedan got out, dragging along an older man gagged and bound. Looked like a hostage situation. “... Or maybe not so nice...”
“I’ve never met a penguin before. A real penguin, I’ve never even been to the zoo before,” Almost musing on that one, though maybe right now wasn’t the time to think ‘how the hell have you never been to the zoo before’? Even Cass was making that exasperated look at him, and while that was usually how she looked at him, he knew that he would do that later. Even Owen wasn’t sure if he meant visiting a zoo, or thinking about visiting a zoo. Gotham was enough like a zoo that he could probably get away with that. The thought made the smile he had grow a little more amused at himself, like an inside joke had been told. You had every rogue in their personal little sections.
Step right up-- No, that was a circus. The first section, when you walk into the zoo, is to the left. Look at those docks! Here you can see the elusive Black Mask and his crew, dumping bodies into the river. Isn’t that so much fun? A slight turn of the head. And over here, we have Robinson Park. Look at all those plants! If you look carefully, you might get a glimpse of Poison Ivy. Don’t get too close to the glass, kids, you wouldn’t want her to give you a deadly little kiss! That gave him another smile. Who here likes cats? You’ll find plenty of them in the East End, but watch out, the Diamond District is close by, and we all know that cats and birds, especially penguins, don’t mix! Owen stopped looking around, just to look at Colin for a second before looking back out at the city.
And finally, we have one of those rare creatures, the bat. Look how colorful this one is, evolving from red, green, and yellow, to blue and yellow (this is not common in bats), to blue and black. Don’t worry about the rarity of this creature, there are plenty of other bats to keep him company. His brow furrowed. The one thing you should know, kids, is that bat blood is thicker than any other animal’s blood. They have a keen sense of smell and sound, and if you try to hurt one, the rest of the pack will be on you before you can scream. Now, we won’t go into how good looking the bats are... but they are dangerous. Especially in groups of two or three.
“They really need to get more creative with these things,” Owen pulled a face. “Three guns, one knife each. Do you want one and the hostage, or the other two? Let’s get them before they bring some more to the party.” With that, he backed up, and jumped to the next roof. It was too bad there weren’t any skylights available. He and Cass really did need to work on not just heading into a fight, but it was easier.
“You think? I call dibs on the hostage plus one.” And then they were off, Colin’s quip barely finished before Owen was jumping onto the next roof and Colin was leaping after him. Even after all this time with Dick it still amazed and partially alarmed Colin the way his own body could work. He had all of Dick’s acrobatic finesse and then some, enabling him to move with a speed and agility no normal person could ever envision themselves doing. It was a rush. No matter how many times he went on a patrol like this, Colin could never get enough of it. That feeling of literally flying through the air, the wind aiding you as you defied gravity. He couldn’t get enough of that feeling, especially now, and especially when he had someone to share in it with. How far he and Owen had come since such innocent skylight hijinx.
He moved with an easy fluidity through the air after Owen, landing on the next roof behind his partner in a front flip. His feet found solid ground and Colin immediately stooped down, crouching next to a cylinder and training his eyes on the street again. They would have to move fast. From where they were momentarily posting on the next roof there was no telling if these guys had back-up coming, and while Colin was pretty confident in his and Owen’s ability to take on a group of muscle, he’d just as soon prefer not to test that theory. - Was that thunder? At the sudden and very jarring clap in the skies followed by a few drops of rain and a brief flash of light that felt way too close to them where they were on the roof, Colin had never been so grateful for insulation in the Nightwing suit. Small mercies. The psychos and sewer scum of Gotham at our fingertips and you’re afraid of some itty bitty lightning? You disgrace me.
“I can see a back entrance from here,” Colin murmured in a lowered voice to Owen next to him once again, eyes taking in everything they could about the building in which they’d seen the crooks and their hostage disappear into. Colin’s expression was completely serious before the corners of his mouth broke out briefly into a smile as he glanced sideways at his fellow bat. “They’ve got a skylight too.”
That was good, because Owen wanted the two armed men. Hostages could be finicky, with too many possibilities of how they might react. You could have one who decides it’s time for them to step up and act the hero, now they are free from the bonds that chained them into doing nothing before. Those were pretty terrible. Then you had the ones that tried to run, and ended up running into the people who came to collect them. That seemed to always involve more guns than usual. The much preferred hostage reaction, though, was to cower in a corner and stay out of the way, until you were finished. What Cass had learned, over time, was that while you could see what they were going to do before they did it, you could never change their mind once they had decided.
They could take on a group, but like Colin, Owen didn’t really want to take on a group, if they could help it. But they could move fast; none of the Bats were metas, but they still all had a grace to them that someone off the streets didn’t, couldn’t, possess. It showed how Colin moved, when he added the front flip (who else did that?), and it showed when Owen landed silently before him. However, it didn’t show when Owen almost jumped out of his skin at the thunder. Shhhh.
“Oh, well,” Owen grinned. “If no one is going to report me...” He trailed off, taking another look.
“Someone might be at the back door, but if they’re smart, they’re making sure the skylight is looked at, too,” He murmured back. He would love to go through the skylight, but another flash of lightning brought him back to semi-reality. “If they’re smart. See those side windows? They’ll have them on either side. If we give them a distraction through the ceiling, they’ll be unprepared for the sides.” He pointed to the roof of the building. “They have some pipes, probably left over from construction. We could throw them in, though I wouldn’t mind going through...”
“Seems like a pretty solid plan. What could go wrong?” Colin was only half-joking, knowing full well that there were still a dozen ways any one plan could go wrong when you were dealing with Gotham thugs, but Colin and Owen were professionals. They could probably pull this off. Also, joking about it helped relieve some of the tension in the older Robin’s shoulders. As well as he and Owen worked together, Colin always felt a little anxious right before a bust. He wasn’t sure why, it wasn’t a trait him and Dick shared, but it was something that had only sprung up after Colin’s accident. Residual anxiety from a past trauma under present, potentially high stress situations, Colin could guess, or some other nonsensical assortment of psychological jargon that he could try and make up on the spot.
He could do this. He’d already proven he could, time and time again after he’d woken up in that hospital bed. He didn’t let his past cripple him like it did Bruce, but unlike Dick, he’d never really thought of his past as a strength either. Just something you were supposed to learn from. Colin liked to think he had, which was why with one more glance at Owen beside him, all that anxiety in his shoulders left him and he exhaled a slow breath. There was no reason to feel anxious anyway, by Gotham’s standards this was a pretty slow night. A few guys and a hostage? Please. Piece of cake. Colin and Owen had this one in the bag. Time to go in.
“Wanna do the honors of distraction, Cocky?” Colin asked in a lighter tone, making use of Owen’s coveted code name from the early days of the JL 2.0’s birth. It still made him smile to think how insistently Owen had fought for it. With the ease of a reincarnated acrobat, in the next second Colin was tumbling backwards off the edge of the roof and swinging himself down onto the firescape where he began scaling the side of the building to get to the ground and make a run for one of the side windows. He’d wait to make his entrance when Owen did.
“Absolutely,” Owen replied, watching Colin fall off the side of the building. Just a split second, but he wanted to watch him do it, before he took off for the roof. He felt like a cat, moving quickly and jumping from ledge to ledge, finding foot and finger holds deep within shadowed brick. Playing every night for years strengthened your fingers, but only being a reincarnate helped you learn where you should place your hands. Maybe it was all that assassin training. Maybe it was just the way Owen could do these things without thinking; all instinct. He was always doing things before he could feel anxious, and even though Colin had been anxious, he’d calmed down. Maybe Owen had something to do with that, he didn’t know, but he felt calm as he climbed up the wall.
Cass nudged him to the cooling vent, right next to where the pipes were, and he picked one up, feeling the weight in his hand. Not good enough. He went to find another, when his eyes alighted on an oil drum. Not a big one, but the kind you saw people lighting on fire in the street, to keep warm on a cold night. He checked inside, and seeing that it was empty, he got an idea. He put most of the pipes he could find into it, to give it more weight, and so when it fell, it would scatter pieces around, which might be another distraction they could use. He couldn’t hear Colin, but he knew what he would do.
One. He picked up the drum, silent steps taking him to the edge, making sure not to cast a shadow onto the skylight. Two. He took a half step back, hoisting the drum higher. Three. He tossed the drum, pipes and all, into the center of the skylight, causing it to break and fall through with a loud enough noise that he was sure Colin had to hear. And if not, he would definitely hear the shouts and gunfire as Owen dove through the skylight, grapple firing so that he could swing before landing, hitting an armed man with his feet.
Colin’s body had been tensed and ready where he’d taken up temporarily against the side of the building, flattening himself to the wall and waiting for his moment. Half a second before Owen actually threw the oil drum, Colin’s keen hearing picked up that last, definitive foot fall and he’d backed himself up a few feet to gain his momentum. When Owen threw his concoction through the skylight, Colin didn’t miss a beat. At the first sound of heavy object shattering glass, Colin propelled himself feet first through the side window, an action that made it impossible to decipher between the two sounds of glass shattering as Colin saw Owen tumbling down from the skylight at the same time. It was perfect. They were perfect.
He wasted no time in going after his two, the man and the hostage. Colin spotted them across the room, the hostage tied to a chair and Colin made a beeline for them. Were it not for his vastly improved reflexes, he might have been done for when the thug pulled a gun on him and started shooting wildly at him from where he was still fast approaching. Colin ducked and rolled, swerving from side to side as he ran, targeting the man head on; fearless, and not at all holding back. He and Dick didn’t know the meaning of that phrase, not anymore. At the last second he jumped, pulling his legs up and finding his holding in a low rafter above his head, grabbing onto it and swinging full force so he could kick out his legs and kick the gun out of the guy’s hand before he could shoot again. The gun dropped and the thug flailed, and Colin released his hold to drop to the ground and punch the guy square in the face.
“A hostage scenario? Really? What is this, a ‘90’s crime show? Get better material, Mugsy.” The thug tried to spit an insult back at him coupled with a fist swing, which Colin blocked easily before sweeping the guys feet out from under him and he went crashing to the floor. “Now are you gonna stay down or am I gonna have to put you down.” Not that Colin would ever actually kill a guy, but hey, he’d go to some pretty silly lengths for a good pun. Now for the hostage. Having faith that Owen was keeping the other guys busy, Colin immediately went to work on the ropes binding the man’s hands as the hostage flailed and uttered mufflings behind the tape covering his mouth. Ah, Gotham. So cliche it hurts.
Oh, he was definitely keeping them busy. Making sure to draw them away from where Colin was, bobbing and weaving when he had to. Knocking them out cold was fine, but once one of the guys saw that their friend was on the ground, they tended to run away from whoever was doing that to them. And Owen didn’t need them to run straight to Colin, not when he had his own part to do in all of this. Once they thought they had backed him into a corner, Owen grinned at them.
“Maybe I should have mentioned that I like corners?” Palms flat on the wall, he pushed against it, using his strength to lift himself up, just so that he could deliver a good solid kick to one of the thugs’ face. He could feel the satisfaction coming from Cass, the same kind that mirrored his own, when he heard the crunch of a broken nose. The guy went down, and then it was only his buddy left. The gun went flying with another kick, but when Owen came back up, the guy pulled out a knife. Not even a big knife, at that, he was almost disappointed in the size of it.
“You know how everyone says size doesn’t matter?” A wicked little smirk. “They’re lying.” He rushed at him, breaking his wrist, but not before he got a little cut on his arm in the process. Not the first time, and not the last time, but it always did sting like a bitch for that first second. That same arm was used to jam into his solar plexus, and thug number two went down. That was kind of fun, actually, and he looked around the room, catching Colin and the hostage, internally debating whether he should stay in the shadows or go over. Curiosity won out, though, and he walked over, eyes scanning the room just in case anyone else decided to show up.
After a few minutes it was all deja vu to Colin. Everything about the scene, from the way the two vigilantes knocked down their opponents to perfection to the way that Colin was just as easily distracted by what the other man was doing. Owen’s quips and calculating hits still succeeded in making Colin smile, even in the heat of action, which was pretty dangerous considering he was in the middle of freeing a hostage and detaining a man with a gun. This really wasn’t the time for distractions, but with Owen? It was pretty much always a distraction. Until tonight Colin had actually forgotten how good it could feel, teaming up with him again. Dick’s history with relationships wasn’t exactly an inspiring example to lead from and Colin and Owen had been through a hell of a lot, but tonight? For the first time since Owen had resurfaced in their lives, Colin felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time. He felt alive.
Was it Owen? Was it the thrill of the fight? The mere fact that just a year ago he was lying unconscious in a bed with no hope of ever waking up? Apparently it was true what had been said over and over again in Dick’s life, a Grayson always found his wings again. Maybe it was just a happy combination of all three, coupled with the nice feelings of deja vu that came from happier memories. Back in the beginnings of the JL, when everyone they loved was still alive and Colin and Owen spent their days fighting bad guys and stealing longing glances in between. Whatever it was, it was motivating Colin like he hadn’t felt motivated in a long time. Which was a good thing too, because as soon as the pair thought they were safe, that’s when the city of Gotham threw them another fun-filled surprise.
“Do you hear tha-” Before Colin could even finish his thought, at least seven or eight costumed bodies dropped through the already broken skylight and circled around the vigilantes with weapons swinging. They were all dressed like Lady Shiva, but from each of their builds they were all very obviously male. That did nothing to comfort Colin or Dick, but it was Colin who groaned outwardly as he stepped in front of the hostage still in the chair and dropped into a fighting stance as he pulled his escrima sticks off his back. Looks like he and Owen were getting their scenario of two on too many after all. Had this been a set-up? Great. “May the best Bat win?”
Goddamnit. Not that Owen didn’t think they could take them; they definitely could. But someone, anyone, dressed up as Cass’ mom immediately put up a flashing red light in their head, which unfortunately distracted Cass just a tiny bit, meaning that Owen was distracted more than a little bit. This had to have been a set-up. Neither of them seemed to recognize who the hostage was, but they could always have missed his face on the news. The fact that assassins were here, though, meant that either they wanted him back, or, more likely, they were waiting for the two of them to show up. Perhaps not them specifically, but for someone in a mask to. That idea made it all the more concerning.
“First one with a flesh wound buys the first round,” Owen replied, a little jittery before he ran to the first one on his right. His leg kicked up, with the assassin ducking it, only to be hit with his other as he twisted his body before crouching on the floor. They both weren’t down for long, though. Sometimes these guys could be pretty annoying with the fact that they actually knew how to fight, and could kick your ass three ways to Sunday without batting an eye. Owen wondered if that’s how the people they fought thought of them as well. The costumes probably didn’t help, either. As if people didn’t think you were crazy enough.
Up until now, though, Owen didn’t feel crazy. Or even like some weird guy who got a kick out of dressing up along with other people who also dressed up and went to go fight crime at night. In fact, he felt pretty good, working alongside Colin. Then again, there had never been a time that he hadn’t felt good working alongside Colin. It was like a long time ago, knowing each other’s movements, when the other was going to strike and vice versa. To know someone else had your back, which was really the thing he had missed the most. That, and the obvious physical wants and needs that the two of them had always been more than happy to fulfill for each other. It just felt good. It felt right. For the first time in a very long time, Owen felt at peace.
“Watch out for the swords!” This feeling did help, making it easier to fight and see what he needed to see, which was needed when he realized all of the assassins came prepared. Of course they did. He narrowly dodged a blade, hearing it whistle above his head.
Dick had had his own not so stellar run-ins with crazy looking assassin types, but they weren’t too phased by it. Colin was more worried about Owen, if only for a second. As long as it took for him to look over and see Owen falter before he inevitably recovered, and Colin could breathe a little easier. Well, at least he would have been able to breath easier if he’d been given any time to, but these assassins didn’t seem all that keen on giving them a break. No surprise there. As soon as Owen jumped into action so did Colin, like clockwork, they were that fluid. Even after all this time, not only were they flawless in action by themselves, but together? They were perfection. That coupled with everything else hadn’t changed, so after only a few moments it was all too easy for Colin to get lost in the motions.
The first thing he did was drag the hostage backwards in his chair a few feet before leaping in front of him and using the electrical charge in his escrima sticks (on a lower setting, just because these guys were assassins didn’t mean Colin wanted to kill them, and it wasn’t clear yet if they were superhuman or just human) to knock three of them back and give himself another few seconds to try and get the upper hand. While Owen battled his own Shiva clones, Colin did his best to stay on top. Literally, as the case soon became when two of them tried to overpower him from behind while the third aimed a direct hit in front. Colin used his body to throw himself back into the two behind him and push his legs out to knock the third off his feet before twisting himself around in the air and coming down on the first two hard.
It was a furious battle of flying fists and kicks and narrowly missing getting hit with the curious looking weapons the assassins were wielding - weapons resembling those found in traditional martial arts but neither Dick or Colin trusted what their eyes saw enough to let themselves get too close. A theory that only worked well until the swords came out, and suddenly Colin was really wishing that Dick’s escrima sticks had come with a pair of working blades. Shut it and dodge. “No need to tell me twice,” Colin grumbled to his other self as he narrowly missed getting skewered, pulling his legs up and doing a back kick handspring to put himself back firmly in between the hostage and the assassins. He had no idea who the assassins were actually here for, but that didn’t matter, he still had a life to protect.