The Assassins
They left a trail of dead bodies in their wake; fierce, deadly members of the League of Assassins. Twisted from what they once were, they thrive on murder. They love the thrill of the hunt. Now they hunt a Robin, the boy who was once their son. The Hunted AU.
Warning: This is going to be an M rated fic, due to the darker nature of the story, and adult themes and violence. Like I said, this a dark AU of "The Hunted" and although The Hunted is dark, I'm going to push serious boundaries with this one. If you don't think you'll be able to handle a dark fic with psychological torture, and a high body count, the HIT THE BACK BUTTON!
Chapter One: Reclusion
Ra's Al Ghul stood in his dessert stronghold, contemplating his next move. The dream of a world free of crime and restored to its former pristine glory was far from fruition. The Detective and others like him were obstacles standing between him and a perfect world. He knew he must find a way to stop the Detective, he knew that to attack him directly was a foolish decision. The Detective's Prodigy, the Boy Wonder would be an easier target, as would the butler and surrogate father, Alfred Pennyworth.
How to do that, however, would prove a challenge. There were many ways to kill a person without it appearing intentional. But Robin, he was like his mentor, clever and resourceful. His demise would have to be well thought out, well planned, and fiendishly clever. He had existed for over 600 years; he had seen many things and had many experiences. He knew there were many ways to destroy a person. He had studied the Detective and knew many things about his surrogate son.
Ra's' mind began to conceive a plan that would destroy the Detective and his Prodigy, all in one swift stroke. The plan itself disturbed him. There were many risks. The Lazarus Pit he reserved for himself alone, but in order to carry out his plan, he would have to use one as a means to an end. He hated the thought of using it on anyone else. But to destroy the Boy Wonder he would use the people he loved the most: his long dead parents.
The plan was perfect. They would reappear in his life and he would be overjoyed at their miraculous return. They would earn his trust and love and when he least expected it, they would kill him. There was still something that he thought of that he knew would jeopardize the success of his mission. Paternal instinct and love between parents and their children. He would have to convince them that their son was an enemy of true justice and had to be eliminated.
It would take time and work, but it would be worth it to see his greatest enemies destroyed. Ra's Al Ghul ordered Ubu to his private jet and they flew to an airport just outside Gotham City. They drove to Gotham City and made their way to the Gotham Cemetery. They easily located the graves and he ordered his men to dig them up.
It was the dead of night and no one was anywhere near the area. He had his men load the caskets into the back of a large freight truck and drive them back to the plane where they retreated to his dessert fortress. Ra's had his men carry the caskets into a dark, dim room. He had his men carefully remove the bodies from the coffins and place them on a concrete slab.
You will witness something that you will take to your graves, my acolytes! You will bear the responsibility of this secret for the rest of your lives!" Ra's ordered Ubu to lower the skeletons down into the Lazarus Pit, the men moved closer to get a better look at what was happening to the bodies. While they were distracted, Ra's summoned one of his other assassins.
"Lady Shiva, kill them," he ordered "No one must know about what will take place tonight besides the two of us." Without hesitation, Lady Shiva viciously attacked the other assassins, stabbing some and shooting others in the back before they could react. Within minutes, 24 bodies lay dead as the putrid smell of blood filled the air.
"Very good, Lady Shiva," Ra's said. She turned to leave. "Where are you going?"
"I do not know what I have not seen. I do not have to lie if I am asked about what you have done in this room." Shiva exited the room.
Ra's stood, eagerly awaiting the results of the Pit's effect on the Flying Graysons. Ubu said nothing. They waited for a few minutes, and then Ubu spoke.
"It has been too long, Master. They still have not emerged. It is too late for—"
There was a bubbling in the fiery liquid and a sinister smile slipped across Ra's' face. "No. They have returned. Quick, restrain them. I wish to keep both of them alive in order to destroy the Detective's surrogate son."
The unknown fiery liquid rose up in a large wave as John and Mary Grayson leapt out of the Lazarus Pit. Their maddened screams filled the room as they landed on the floor. They both stared at Ra's with wild eyes before Ubu clubbed them senseless. They were both naked; their clothes had long since rotted away. Ubu fumbled for something to cover them both but couldn't find anything for them to wear.
"Take them somewhere where they will be kept safe but secret. Then get them some clothes. If anyone sees you or questions you, kill them, Ubu," Ra's said. He turned and walked out of the room.
Ubu dragged the two bodies down the hall and placed them in two separate rooms. He found clothes that would fit both of them and placed them in each of the rooms.
Ubu made his way into another room where he found Ra's Al Ghul waiting for him. "All your instructions have been carried out, Master."
"Good, we will wait for the Graysons to come to their senses…I have lived for over six hundred years. I have become a very patient man. Convincing them to join us when they wake will not be a problem. All that is required is that we be patient…"
The one thing Mary Grayson felt first was the cold. The chill seeped through her entire body. She sat up, panicked and looked around. She didn't recognize her surroundings. She looked down at herself and realized to her horror she was naked. Her mind was a mess and her memories were a muddle. She could remember Haly Circus; the performance in Gotham City She remembered something had gone wrong. She could remember falling…falling to her death.
How had she come back? And where were her clothes? They didn't bury you naked; she knew that. She looked around and saw a pile of clothes lying on the floor. Without any thought, she put them on. She walked to the door and hesitantly opened it. She slipped quietly into the hallway.
"Take her!" Ra's said. Mary jumped out of her skin and whirled around to face him.
"What?! What's going on?!" she demanded. Rough hands grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back.
"It's quite simple, Mary Grayson. I'm going to break you down until you are completely loyal to me. You will be a member of my League of Assassins, whether you want to or not," Ra's told her.
Mary stared at him, confused. "I'm not going to do anything for you. Where's my husband? Where's John?"
"He's dead," Ra's lied.
"NO!" Mary screamed in anguish. Her husband, her best friend, her only love, he couldn't be dead! They couldn't bring her back without her husband. It wasn't fair, they belonged together. What was going on here?
The other men dragged her off to a solitary room.
"Master, what happens now?" Ubu asked.
"I'm going to break the Graysons, the fact remains that there is no logical way they would kill their son of their own volition. But, there are ways to break and mold the mind and body to what I want them to be."
"As you wish Master," Ubu said. He watched as the other assassins dragged Mary Grayson off to a cell. It would probably take a long time to break that one. But he knew Ra's Al Ghul would be patient enough to take all the time in the world to accomplish his goal. Even if it took ten years to break the both of them, they would kill Robin, way or another.
Mary Grayson was thrown onto a hard concrete floor. She tried to get up but was knocked down by a giant fist.
"Why is this happening to me?" she asked; the fear evident in her voice.
The men didn't say word. There were three of them. She was outnumbered. One of them began taking off his shirt. Her eyes widened in horror. This couldn't be happening, not to her, not after all she'd been through. She had been taken from Heaven only to wake up in a living Hell.
The other two men grabbed her and threw her on the ground. She screamed. Her life flashed before her eyes over and over as she screamed for someone, anyone to come and save her. There wouldn't be anyone.
How long it lasted, she didn't know. There were so many of them, these inhuman monsters who enjoyed raping her, she'd even lost the will to fight them off and she just wanted it to stop. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally left and she was truly alone.
Mary Grayson lay curled up in the fetal position, clenching her eyes shut as she desperately hoped her tormenters would leave her alone.
"Get dressed," one of them said. She did as she was told and was promptly dragged over to a table with manacles where she was forced onto her back and restrained.
"What's your name?" the man who had raped her asked.
"My name is—" she tried to answer when she felt water being poured into her mouth. Mary gurgled and gasped in shock. She felt like she was drowning. She couldn't breathe.
They called it waterboarding, where a person was strapped down on their back and had water continually poured in their face to simulate drowning, it was a form of torture. But why her? She hadn't done anything wrong, but that man had said something about breaking her, is this what he meant?
"You don't have a name," the man sneered. "You're no one. You're a member of the League of Assassins, and you obey the orders of Ra's Al Ghul."
"No, I don't—"
They continued to pour water in her face. This went on for hours. They continued to repeat their mantra, telling her over and over that she had no identity, that she was one of them, and that she served someone called Ra's Al Ghul.
She tried to block out the voices, but they just kept saying it, over and over and over. Mary desperately tried to close her eyes to sleep, but they kept hitting her until she was fully awake. They also forced her to remain standing, her feet ached but they wouldn't let her sit. It was agonizing.
She was almost asleep on her feet when she thought she heard a man's voice say, "That's enough for one day, she's not going to be an easy one to break, but she will break nonetheless."
"Master, she is stubborn," Ubu said.
"She's stronger than most," Ra's observed. "Usually, any who are forced into the League will join within one day of this process, if only to stop the torture. Tomorrow we will try a different technique on her, one reserved for only the most stubborn "recruits." Leave her."
Mary Grayson collapsed in a heap and fell in a traumatized heap on the floor. They had somehow dragged her soul from Heaven and brought her back to Hell. She just wanted to die, and unfortunately, it wouldn't be the first time. So began the first day of the rest of her life.
John wasn't fairing any better. He received the same treatment as his wife. Only instead of being raped, he was cut with knives and burned with cigarette butts.
Unlike his wife, John had managed to fight back, attacking his tormentors with his bare fists. It took six of them to hold him down as they began waterboarding him.
He was also forced to stay on his feet and was deprived of sleep as he tried to stay focused and ignore the brainwashing mantra they kept repeating. He was tiring, but he desperately wanted to know what was going on and where Dick was. It was bad enough that they had been pulled down from Heaven and brought back to what he could only describe as Hell on earth; he had also been told that his wife, his soul mate and companion was dead.
He didn't want to believe it but he couldn't see her, hadn't heard her voice. He just wanted to escape, to get away from this horrible place. But where would he go? He didn't even know where he was. The building's interior gave no clues about where he was.
He had to escape, he had to find Mary, he wanted to see her again and find Dick. He wanted his normal life back and he wanted his family. If he was going to keep on living, he had to hold onto his memories.
He closed his eyes and slept, it was the only place he could go where he felt happy and safe, he tried to clutch at the fleeting memories of those who were dear to him. So began the first day of the rest of his life.
Slade sat in his lair, contemplating his next move. He hadn't had a contract in months and the money needed to carry out his plans was dwindling.
Just then, his butler Wintergreen walked in. "Master Slade, there's something on the news you might want to see."
"Turn it on," Slade ordered. The butler did as he was told.
"In a strange series of events, the bodies of the "Fearless Flying Graysons" mysteriously disappeared after their headstones were desecrated in the Gotham Cemetery yesterday," the newscaster said.
That's interesting, Slade thought. The Fearless Flying Graysons were Robin's parents. He knew enough about Batman and Robin that he had deduced their secret identities. He had never told anyone about it though, it would be pointless if everyone knew about Batman and Robin's secret identities, there would be no point in letting the whole world know who they were, especially when you could use that knowledge against them and have an upper hand on everyone else.
"Local authorities informed Bruce Wayne and tried to contact Dick Grayson who could not be reached for comment for unknown reasons. The police and the Batman are heading their own separate investigations into the incident."
Slade was intrigued. Who'd want to steal the Flying Graysons from their graves? It had to be someone who was out to get Robin. He wondered why he hadn't thought of it before, but he knew the answer.
He had no way to resurrect the bodies even if he had stolen them. But he knew someone who did. Ra's Al Ghul. How he disliked that man. All he wanted to do was kill off the entire world so he could create his "utopia". What a joke. What good was that? There was no profit from it. He'd rather take over a city and have everyone in it work for him, at least it was a way to accomplish things.
Slade had to wonder, would Robin investigate what happened to his parents? He decided to pay a visit to the gravesite, just to see, and to satisfy his curiosity as to whether or not the story was actually true.
He would love for nothing better than to see someone knock the insane kook Ra's Al Ghul off his perch. He'd rather have Robin trying to stop Ra's Al Ghul than trying to stop him. If Robin was busy chasing Ra's then he'd have no time to chase him. Besides, that man had needed a comeuppance for years now, and the only person who'd ever given it to him was Batman.
"Pack my things Wintergreen. I'm going to Gotham City."