Wally tried to hide his disappointment when the boy didn't show up on the roof of the building the next day. He did his best to attempt to watch the sunset, but he couldn't focus on the color scheme with the swirling blend of emotions that were suddenly rising inside him.

It was a mistake to invite him. What if he was scared off? What if he left for good?

He couldn't focus, jittery nerves making him shake and vibrate everywhere he went. The team noticed that something was off later that night when Wally showed up for their training with Black Canary—especially when they noticed his lack of flirting with their blond teacher.

"Is everything alright, Wally?" M'gann asked him kindly, turning away from Connor. "You just seem really jumpy today."

Wally blinked at her, and ignored Artemis's scoff in the background.

"I'm good, Miss M," he answered, grinning at her half-heartedly. "I just didn't have that great of a day at school, that's all."

She smiled at him in sympathy.

"Would some cookies help?"

Wally jumped in excitement—he had been getting pretty hungry, after all.

"You bet, beautiful! Lead the way!"

He wondered if that was the last he would ever see of the mysterious owl boy again. Maybe it was a good thing, if just not seeing him for a day was destroying his concentration like this.

It was probably for the best.

He went to the roof the next day anyway, and found the boy waiting for him, sitting in the exact same position that he had been in last time Wally had seen him. Wally had honestly not expected him to be there, so his surprised shriek (It was a manly shriek!) was perfectly justified.

The boy's lips curled upwards in a tiny grin as Wally spluttered, struggling to find words.

"What are you doing?" he finally gasped out, scowling at the boy's face. "Stop laughing!"

The boy shook his head and rolled his eyes. Wally peered at him for a few seconds before sucking in a quick breath of air.

The boy didn't have his goggles on.

Wally was amazed that he hadn't noticed earlier—The orange tinted equipment that he had grown so used to remembering were lifted, perched on top of the boy's head instead of in their usual spot over his eyes.

His eyes were blue, Wally could finally see. And they were full of all the mirth and mischief that he had expected them to be.

He didn't comment on the change, however. He still didn't want to risk scaring the boy off.

"So, how was your day?" Wally asked, already reaching for his cabinet and pulling out a small bag of chips. He wasn't expecting an answer, and he didn't get one, so he settled for tossing a chip at his silent companion. "Mine was okay, I guess. My science teacher assigned us way too much homework, not that it's that much of a problem for me. I'm pretty good at science. Oh, but don't get me started on my math teacher..."

Wally did what he did best—he talked. The boy clearly didn't want to, or couldn't, and Wally wasn't about to pressure him into doing something he didn't want to. So he shared his chips and ran his mouth, and they sat in semi-comfortableness as the sun set below the horizon before them.

Some days, the boy showed up. Some days, he did not. That was alright with Wally. He wasn't there sometimes, either, because of team missions and training, so he supposed that made it fair.

On days where they both showed up, they fell into a routine—Wally would talk, and sometimes share food. A few times Wally would bring a card game, too. He talked until his mouth ran dry or until the sun disappeared, and then he would leave, shooting down the steps to try and catch a quick glimpse of the boy before he vanished.

He was never successful.

The boy himself was still a mystery. He still refused to say a word, although his facial expressions grew more and more elaborate each time Wally saw him. And there were still lines that Wally wasn't quite willing to cross—they always stayed a few feet away from each other, as if the space between them was a physical separation that could not be breached. Wally wasn't sure if that was ever going to change, but he wasn't going to risk it.

Once, Wally brought up Gotham City during one of their meetings (the team had completed a mission their earlier that day, with Batman's glaring eyes on them the entire time), and watched as the boy's entire body froze, every muscle seizing up at the name.

Wally's eyes widened at the reaction.

"Um..." he began cautiously, and then took a step backwards when the boy rose from his position, suddenly turning a fierce glower towards him.

Wally gulped. Okay, so Gotham City was a topic to stay away from. Message received, loud and clear.

"Sorry," he apologized nervously. He didn't ask for an explanation, and the boy's expression faded into something different, that Wally had seen many times when the boy was staring at the sunset—

Deep sadness, and regret. His bright blue eyes were haunted by shadows and a past that Wally almost didn't want to know about.

"Hey," Wally said. "My bad, man. So, did you hear about that robbery Captain Boomerang tried to pull off today? I almost laughed my butt off when I heard..."

The boy sat down as Wally successfully changed the subject, but Wally could still see the tenseness running through his muscles—the boy didn't fully relax for the rest of that day.

Wally decided not to bring up Gotham City again.

"So," Wally began, plopping down into his spot and waving at the boy lazily in greeting, "I've got a question for you."

It had been almost a month since their interactions had first started, and they still mostly consisted of Wally talking. He was okay with that, but he was sick of referring to the boy as "the boy". It was kind of lame.

"Do you, uh, have a name that I could call you? It doesn't have to be your real one, just... something so that I..."

He trailed off, suddenly anxious that the boy wouldn't react well to his probing, but the boy only cocked his head to the side and stared at Wally for a moment, eyes narrowing in thought.

"Ah, you don't actually have to tell me if you don't want to!" Wally yelped hurriedly. "It's just that—"

The boy waved a hand at him, and Wally closed his mouth.

After a long moment, the boy nodded, and Wally smashed the excitement down in his chest before any of it could make it onto his face.

Then he reached for the belt slung across his chest and pulled out a knife.

Wally's heart stuttered in his chest, and he froze, forcing himself not to move an inch. The boy spotted his sudden nervousness and rolled his eyes, flipping the knife around so that the blade was facing towards his own chest and away from Wally. He pointed at the hilt, and Wally leaned forwards.

He knew this knife well—it was the same design as the one he had in his room, from one of his earlier meetings with the boy. There was an owl carved onto the metal was in mid flight, wings stretched wide over the hilt and claws extended. It kind of looked like it would hurt if held, but the boy handled it with practiced ease, fingers slotted perfectly among the sharp edges.

Wally stared at it blankly for a moment, until the boy jabbed a finger at the owl design and Wally remembered what they were doing.

"Oh," he said. "You want me to call you Owl?"

The boy made a face, and pointed again, this time running a finger across the owl's feet.

"Claws, then?" Wally tried, grinning. "Nice, that's much cooler than Owl."

The boy scowled and ran a finger over the claws again, and sudden Wally realized what it was.

"Talons," he breathed, and the boy nodded once. "Your name is Talon."

Talon didn't react to his name except to nod, and Wally winced when he saw the familiar darkness brewing in his eyes. This name was riding on dim, dangerous memories, and Wally wasn't so sure it was wise to encourage them.

"Is... is that okay?" he asked tentatively, but Talon snapped back to attention, waving a hand and flashing Wally a small smile.

"Alright," Wally said carefully, lifting a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Talon." He held his hand out in silent offering, and grinned when Talon accepted the invitation, shaking his hand. He had a strong grip, for such small hands.

Wally had the feeling that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

If you know who the Court of Owls are and what they do, I can imagine you have some idea of what's going on. I'm still keeping some secrets from you, though, so be careful! Things aren't always what they seem!

If you don't know who the Court of Owls are... well, you will soon! Be patient with me! I know stuff is still boring right now but I can't just jump straight into the action (even though I wish I could, because I'm terrible at dialogue...)! Wait just a little longer! Updates are coming! I had today off of school, which is why this chapter is up so quickly :)

By the way, yes, the team and Batman still exist. Superboy was still rescued from CADMUS. Nevermind the details. This story isn't really about them, anyway, although they will play a big part a bit later on.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews! You guys are the best, and it was nice to see some familiar usernames along with the new ones! Glad you guys are still enjoying my stuff!