I've had this bouncing around on my computer for several years now, the idea being pre New 52. This doesn't follow any sort of canon per say, but does try to keep true to the characters. I always thought that Damian and Cassandra would have an interesting chemistry between them. Damian tackling ideas like romance and real love seems very funny to me and I wanted to play around with that idea.

Note: Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon are my favorite DC couple. Not important, just wanted to share.

DC owns these characters, but if I could make money from them, I would.

Superman saved Them

Damian stood still as a statue directly in the center of the training room of the dark Batcave. The matted floor felt cool against the soles of his bare feet as he closed his eyes and concentrated. When he was a boy, Damian had been taught that the best teacher was the mind. The mind could conceive any challenge, any scenario, any condition to be overcome. And Damian had spent years learning to master his mind.

In his hands was his sword; a rare, straight edge katana uniquely made for him. It was sheathed inside its polished, black polystyrene scabbard, ready and waiting for its master. Damian, with the patience and discipline of his training, mentally envisioned an ancient dojo built in the darkest shadows of the Himalayas, the wood beam floor stained with spots of dried blood from many aspiring students. Damian then created four foes from figment, giving each opponent size, weight, experience and skill. He armed them well, with exotic weapons from the deadliest corners of the martial art world. He also gave them a lusting for his death.

Now, Damian was ready to train.

The first assassin, armed with Dao blades, attacked first. Damian's sword flashed as he drew it with his right hand and slew the attacker in one strike. But he wasn't fast enough to have stopped the man from slicing an inch long gash just above Damian's left eye. The resulting imaginary blood began to blind him.

Two other assassins carrying spears came at him and he quickly countered their flurry of blows. The sheath in his left hand became both shield and club, deflecting blows as well as giving them. One man got the sword through his eye, the other was cleaved cleanly in two from the waist.

Only one last fighter remained.

But this one was special. This assassin hadn't attacked while the others were alive. He had waited patiently, watching the young Wayne as he fought, looking for weaknesses. He was immense, as imposing as Bane with the cunning of Batman. He was Damian's greatest fear.

Damian held his blade in an expert position of defense, keeping his eyes firmly locked on his self-created challenge. He knew it wasn't real, that he wasn't really in Asia fighting for him life, about to dance with an opponent he had lost to many, many times. But in that moment, as real sweat ran down his face and his lungs burned with the effort, Damian chose to believe he was facing reality.

The final assassin moved first, forcing Damian to leap back and counterattack before it was too-

"Sword training again, master Damian?" the intrusive voice of Alfred Pennyworth shattered Damian's battle meditation, the older English man carrying a pitcher of water and a hand towel. "Killing yet more members of the league of Shadows, I imagine."

"I was." Damian muttered with barely restrained frustration.

"I thought you and master Bruce had reached an agreement that you would no longer use lethal force."

Damian sheathed his sword with a snap, walking off the training mat and over to the pitcher of water and hand-towel that awaited him in the butler's hands. In his mind Damian was killing, but the old man didn't need to know that. "It's possible to use a sword without killing anyone, I would have you know."

"I fenced in my younger days, Master Damian. The sword is used solely for killing." Lectured the Englishman as he waited patiently for the young Wayne to finish drinking.

"So is most martial arts." Damian countered. "But my father has mastered each so precisely that he can use every style known to man, and even a few he has invented himself, and be entirely non-lethal. I intend to do the same with the sword."

"So those imaginary enemies you just fended off all survived?"

Damian growled beneath his breath. He should have never explained to this walking fossil his training techniques. Damian then grinned wickedly. "Actually they did. Superman saved them. He showed up at the last second and stitched them all back up at the molecular level. Even the one with the split brain."

"I'm sure he did." Alfred sighed, "Even at his worst, master Bruce has never been as terrifying as you. I wonder how on earth you intend on...umm...shall we say...convincing Ms. Cain to accept your proposal of joining forces to defend Gotham in Batman's absence. I very much doubt she'll be looking forward to your bloodbaths night after night."

"I haven't killed in four years, Pennyworth. And I haven't maimed...much...in three." Damian reminded the butler as he stripped off his skintight training armor and hung his blade on a rack next to his other swords and headed for the showers. "Besides, I don't believe we will need to patrol together every night."

"What a relief." Alfred added dryly.

Damian had just stepped into a stall and turned the hot water on when...

"ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!" The Cave's supercomputer blared nosily as red lights flashed.

"It better not be Blue Beetle asking for help again..."

"Master Damian." Alfred had already reached the monitors, reading and listening to the emergency lines and police reports. "It seems someone was foolhardy enough to attack Iceberg Lounge during a rather special ceremony."

"You mean Cobblepot's place?" Damian laughed as the water doused him clean. "So who's getting the medal of valor?"

"Unknown. But they have taken hostages."

"Ha!"

"Including the owner himself."

"So Penguin is going to get iced. What of it? Sounds like he only getting what he deserves."

"Your lack of concern for the lives of others aside, I would normally be inclined to agree..."

"But?"

"I'm afraid the event that was taking place was for Mayor Hamilton Hill's reelection. Most of the hostages aren't crooks."

Rolling his eyes, Damian killed the shower and, dripping wet, walked naked across the length of the cave as he headed to get his gear. "The timing is uncanny."

"Shall I cancel your dinner at the White Raven, sir? I'm sure Ms. Cain will understand."

"No." Damian said as he dressed in his newly modified Robin attire. Gone were the iconic reds and greens. His new costume was made up of black and grey kevlar armor, brass-knuckled gauntlets, steel toed boots, a white cape and hood with a large white "R" on his left breast. "I'll have this mopped up in a few hours. Just push the reservation from 7 O'clock to 9."

"Erm...sir? This is the White Raven. Even Master Bruce rarely ever gets a reservation. To reschedule is entirely unheard of."

"The restaurant is built on the top floor of Gotham Memorial High Tower, correct?"

"Yes..." Alfred didn't want to even guess at what the young man had in mind.

"Then tell them that I'll buy the rest of the building beneath them if they don't reschedule and convert it into the new Arkham Asylum. We'll see how well business is for them then." Damian said as he mounted his motorcycle and sped out of the cave into the late afternoon.

Alfred sighed. "Ah yes, money and threats. The Waynes' answer to everything."

As much I as wanted to just throw the story right into the Romeo and Juliette stuff, I needed to do a bit of world building first. This will be a story with as much Batman stuff as I can do, so it won't be just fluffy stuff. There will be punches, kicks, torture, crimes and bloody murder, with the occasional kiss.

See you all next time!