Calvin Rose's story had begun like many others in Gotham; a poor orphan with no place to go to and no means of survival.

And just like many others who had to set out on the same path of petty crime and frugal living, he too turned to the easier ways of obtaining money for survival through stealing. However, it was never enough to last him long and he knew he couldn't live like that.

A few run-ins with the police, a few trials, escapes and a few accidents later, he came across the man who changed his life.

Not that he was a benefactor who would take him in, offer love and comfort and then turn his life the other way round. But at that time, it definitely felt promising to have a place to live and a proper meal two times a day.

That was what he had been struggling for in the past many years. So when he was offered the opportunity by Garrison Haley, the owner of a traveling circus, he accepted it.

Haley had observed that the boy could escape from any trialing situation he was put into and was skilled in undoing locks and chains in much less time than normal. Thus, he offered him to become an escapologist for his circus and he agreed.

He trained accordingly and soon Calvin became even better at his escapades. He was fast and efficient, thus making him an excellent performer as well.

Little did he know that his efficiency would result in him being given to the Court of Owls to work as a Talon for them.

The years he spent at Haley's Circus were much better than his life on the streets. He made friends, found people to call his own and it seemed as if his life had finally gotten sorted. The first friend he made was John Grayson, one of the acrobats at the circus.

Back then, John wasn't married nor was he a part of the Flying Graysons act that gave him so much fame later on. For Calvin, John was another boy like him, the only difference being that he had joined the circus when it was on tour in Romania while Calvin was a native of Gotham.

But the circus owner had other plans for him rather than keeping him in the circus as a mere escapologist. One day, he was taken to perform his tricks for a special show in which there were very few people in the audience. That show was to exhibit his talents to the then Head of the Court; Silas March.

March was impressed and told Haley to hand him over. And Haley convinced Calvin to join the Court by saying that it would be a better place for him. 

At first, Calvin thought perhaps Haley was right. He got trained extensively to become a Talon, learned new skills and was sent on missions.

He found a greater purpose.

But that was until he realized the true incentives of the Court. 

Under the pretense of keeping Gotham safe, the Court was an example of abuse of power by its Head. It was corrupt and merciless, endangering much more lives than keeping them safe. He realized that his decision to join the Court of Owls had been wrong.

However, he had delved too deep by then to escape without getting killed. But when he found out that the next Talon the Court was going to obtain from Haley's Circus was his friend John's only son, he decided to stop that from happening.

He did not want young Richard Grayson to be met with a similar fate as his own.

He met his friend as the circus was visiting Gotham again and he warned him about the Court, insisting that he must protect his son. John was shocked to learn about the inner dealings of the Court and the circus owner so he told Calvin that he would leave the circus with his family soon after the debts got cleared.

Thus, the Gray Son became the key to Calvin Rose's rebellion and sadly, the reason for John and Mary's untimely death as well. In order to keep the Gray Son within their reach, the Court had to resort to getting his parents out of the way and Tony Zucco was merely an excuse to get them killed.

By then Calvin had realized that no matter how hard he tried, he could not defeat the Court nor could he keep Richard safe from it. But that was until he crossed paths with Lavina Vikander, a woman who showed him that the Court could be brought down to its knees through careful planning and strategy.

He joined forces with Lavina because he could see that she might be the only one able to challenge the Court. With Silas March getting killed at her hands and the case of the Gray Son shut down temporarily, he thought that his motive of keeping Richard away from the Court had finally been achieved.

However, the Head who succeeded Silas was his son Lincoln and as he found out that the Gray Son case was instrumental in his father's murder, he dug it up again in order to take what his father had started to completion.

Unaware to Lincoln, that act made Calvin his enemy as well and once again he went to Lavina to deal with the situation.

The main reason he aided Lavina was that he believed she would keep Richard away from the Court. And for some time, she did manage to keep the boy safe from Lincoln's clutches.

But then Richard chose to become Batman and was put on the Court's hitlist once again. And Calvin found himself keeping the promise to his best friend as he kept looking out for his son.

Lately, a lot had made him doubt Lavina but she was the only one he knew who could defy the Court. And as she asked him to continue working for the current Head on the condition that she would make sure Richard wouldn't come to any harm, he once again agreed.

The only purpose Calvin Rose had by then was to protect the Gray Son.

And once that was achieved permanently, he would no longer have to stay bound to the chains of being a Talon.

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