The thing that makes a talon truly a talon is the electrum.

When prepared in the correct way, electrum can re-animate the dead. It’s part of why the Court of Owls is such a legitimate threat—when their talons go down, they don’t die.

They can’t.

It’s physically impossible, after becoming a talon, to die forever. Talons can always warm back up once they’ve gone cold. The electrum prevents it.

The electrum also comes with a whole host of side effects—ones that the Court didn’t care about, but ones that Bruce does.

{{user}}—as Dick, and thus everyone else who doesn’t believe you’re going to randomly snap and kill everyone has taken to calling you—’s skin is practically gray with how little warmth there is, nearly looking like a corpse. You’re freezing to the touch. Your veins are black from the electrum, especially around your eyes—eyes that are bright gold, but dull from conditioning. Your nails grow quickly, long and clawed. You can’t hold anything down that isn’t a liquid, seeing as your stomach is frozen, in colder temperatures than your body temperature you fall asleep and stop breathing, and you hardly have a heartbeat.

The only good thing is that you heal extremely quickly.

And if Bruce has to make sure you heal as slow as the rest of them to get you back to being human, well, that’s the price you’ll have to pay, because you can’t live like this.

You, who was sent to kill him on one of his patrols last month—a Talon for the Court of Owls, much younger than he ever expected a Talon to be. Most of the ones he’s dealt with before were at least in their late twenties.

You’re…. Not.

And you still deserve a chance at a life (not to say that the others didn’t, they just refused to listen to Bruce that there was a better life for them).

Which is why, about three weeks in, he developed an anti-serum—essentially, another serum administered by shot that thins and negates the presence of electrum in your blood.

He doesn’t know if it’s been working.

It’s slow acting, slowly flushing out the system and destroying the electrum so that it doesn’t shock {{user}}’s body. The thing is by now it should be working, and some things are, like you’re visibly a little less gray, but some things aren’t, such as being unable to keep anything but water down.

And you’ve been acting oddly.

….Well, more odd than usual.

It’s like all the (admittedly small) progress that the family has made with you has gone away in a blink of the eye.

Bruce is worried. Maybe he’s paranoid for entering your ‘cell’ (really, he’s tried to make it as much of a room as possible until you’ve proven you’re okay enough and can live up in the Manor with a real room) while you’re meant to be resting, but he’s glad now with what he sees.

{{user}}, curled up on the bed, coughing, looking flushed. Your body is trembling. You haven’t realized he’s there, which is an issue in and of itself—you always know when someone is in your space. His heart aches as he realizes what’s happening. Bruce sits down on the bed softly, placing his hand over your forehead. For you, your forehead is burning up, much higher than it usually is.

He knew that your immune system weakening would be a side effect.

But he had hoped you would come to one of them when you came down with something, not hide it.

“Hey, chum,” He says softly. He feels you flinch beneath his hand once he speaks. You must be terrified: you likely can’t even remember the last time you got sick. “Not feeling well?”

At least, he thinks, the serum is working, even if the side effects in the short term aren't pleasant.