Author's note: The fact to see my first reviews and submissions was so incouraging that I worked immediately on the second chapter. I wanted however to let know to all that I arbitrally placed for this story Gotham in New England, between Boston and New York, more precisely in Connecticut. Metropolis instead will be in Texas, on Galverston Bay, in front of Houston, because i wished to have it the most possible near Kansas, where I read once there is also Keystone City. Star City will be in the Great Lakes region, but i don't decided yet where exactly. The positions of these sites are not irrilevant to the further development of this story, and because DC Comics are so vague on the matter, i decided for my own will.

Disclaimer: DC owns Batman blabla.


Chapter two: planning the moves

Damian initated to organize carefully all the necessary moves in order to achieve his objective.

First, he started to track the positions of his mother, his grandfather and of his clone: surely his hacking abilities were inferior to Gordon (while Drake had only luck, of course, especially after the incident of the Hit list when he changed all his passwords), but still sufficient to spy his target in order to not be discovered from both his allies and friends. About the infiltration in the systems of the League of Assassins, it was sufficient to use some old codes to enter its systems: luckily for him, there weren't changed since the time of his treason. More difficult, but not impossible, instead to avoid the Oracle protocols: Damian bought in secret a new laptop (not of Waynetech: all the products of his paranoid father contained chips connected to the system of the Batcave to be localized in any situation) and instead to use the wireless connections in the manor used a simple mobile telephone as a modem: certainly more slowly, but enough effective to not be caught into the controls of Gordon.

However, Damian didn't have problems to find Talia, the clone and Ra's al Ghul. He observed the first two of them moved often and together ( the third was instead more "static"), even if sometimes her mother left him for some days ( to control the other branches of her "empire" or to set in motion some deathly plans of sort): and the young decided to strike when two basic conditions were fulfilled: Talia's relative distance from his main objective and the location of the "tube" (even the word "clone" started to disturb him very much) in one of the League's American hideouts, possibly more near to Gotham.

Damian thought also to create his own personal arsenal: for obvious reasons, he didn't wanted to relate to Batman Inc. his plan to not see later the manor invaded by hordes of assassins, but also he couldn't use his suit provided by various tracking devices. He will not be Robin for that mission, simply Damian. He realized he needed some safehouses, high tech devices, weapons, and above all money to have all of those.

He started his own business activities. He was the son of two talented CEO, after all. Generally he made some short term investments, using as starting funds money dragged from accounts of mafia lords, drug dealers, and thieves of any sort: at least, that money will be used for more better motives. However, he tried another markets where he could unleash all his experience: one above all, Superhero gadgets. In fact, he started to steal objects from his "comrades" in the Titan Tower ( especially from Superboy and Impulse… the two friends of Drake were too dumb to notice anything) and to sell them through Internet. Of course he sold them as "exact replicas" of the objects used by the Titans, but nevertheless he easily managed to sell all the various stocks: he was surprised how many idiots were fans of those two idiots ( and especially two certain persons of his knowledge towards Superboy, but he tried to not think about that), and really pissed when very few and at low prices bought the objects related to the current Robin.

After some months, Damian collected enough money to buy some apartments all around the nation and a warehouse in Gotham periphery, near the house of his friend Colin ( he was recently adopted by a good family, which worked for Wayne Enterprise, after teasing his father so much); so he had an excuse to gather weapons from the Gothamite black market (paying attention to not attire the attentions of the Red Hood: the smuggling traffics were one of Todd's strong points, and considering he could be still at contact with her mother he was the second one he wanted to avoid the most) and other stuff for his use.

Damian told Colin to cover him during his "visits". The Venom's infected child ( Batman managed in some way to temporally keep down the side-effects of Bane's drug but not to eradicate them, and the boy promised to not be anymore Abuse until his powers will be more stable) promised, but he was worried for his friend, fearing he was planning something of very dangerous; however, he had still trust in Damian's judgment.

Meanwhile, with the use of false documents and of a fake patent, Damian bought also a car. A coupè, more exactly: he needed something to cover quite far distances and manageable to drive. He went to a car dealer claiming to be a 16 year old; in effect, despite his real age he was quite tall ( however still yet lower than Drake and the others, but he was sure to surpass at least him in about one year) and muscular enough to be exchanged for a high school student. Hoewver, he encountered some problems to reach the warehouse, even with the automatic transmittion: one matter was driving a motocycle, another a car. He needed over three hours to reach his destination, and arrived in the manor just before dinner. After his first "driving experience", Damian swear to install immediately a auto-drive program on it, and then proceed to the other "upgrades". Mechanics was his forte, after all, and he helped so much in the construction of the last batmobile, so realizing his own car was like a piece of cake.

But Damian, while planning and waiting, soon understood that by alone could be never achieve his objective: he needed allies. One of them was immediately at his disposal: Ace. Despite he loved cats, and he didn't cure him so much so far, however he noticed the dog was somewhat attacked to him. He started to train him in the Batcave to be more fast and ready to attack hostile enemies. His father was surprised, but he let him proceed the same after Damian replied " Now that I have this dog, at least it could be useful in some way during our patrols to harm criminals and giving us a hand… or better a tail." Bruce stated he will never used Ace for this purpose, however he agreed to let train him because he hoped this helped his son to bond more with the animal; but at the condition to not learn him to kill someone. Damian promised, and in effect maintained the promise, because there was no reason to give to the family another killer. There were already enough after all.

But a boy and a dog still weren't not enough to face an entire organization, even without facing directly her mother. Damian needed a partner. He analyzed the various candidates, considering the fact he must explain to the chosen one about the clone, to not let allow the intervention of Batman to not attire the attention of the entire League over them, but remaining in silent about the part of the plan where after an "unlucky accident" during the mission the toddler sadly lost his life, so to avoid further suspects over him. Grayson was his first logical choice, but he will informed his father for sure . Drake, was out of question. Fatgirl, she wasn't so totally incapable but also her will be reveal all. He thought also about Todd, but his ties with her mother pushed him to abandon also that option.

Remained only a suitable character: Cassandra Cain.

Both of them didn't had the occasion to meet each other so much, but he knew very much of her since he was a little child from the passionate reports his mother tell to him other her. The entire league watched over her with great expectations; she was one of the most blessed assassins in the entire history of the organization, they never renounced over her even after the change of side, and Damian once heard Talia saying to one of her subordinates that she could be "the most suitable to carry the legacy and the blood of the House of al Ghul". At that time he thought she was chosen to be the future leader of the League, as in effect was going to happen some time ago when she was ambushed and brainwashed for that function, and that angered him quite much, but now he understood her mother had in mind.

A suitable bride for him. Talia organized always a "plan of emergency" if the first planned failed in some way; in the case she or Damian couldn't gave their bodies for their ancestor, then it was better to organize the next generation quite soon. And Cain was truly gifted; in some way, she was considered for Damian as the equivalent of Batman for Talia.

Not that in end it displeased him so much.

Damian recognized that her combat, physical and intellectual abilities were hardly insuperable; and the fact Batman had great trust in her at the point to sent her in Hong Kong (probably the only city in the world capable to match the criminality in Gotham, and where the League's interests were really strong, not considering the matter she was alone while Batman here could still have the help of all his supporters) counted in some way. But there is also another thing which made the fifth Robin to chose her.

Empathy.

He knew well her past life enough to compare with his own. They both came from the same background. Both of them didn't never really knew love when they were children. Despite all, they both revered their parents, even if they hurt them. They both escaped from their past lives to be free. And both arrived in the court of the Bat, swearing loyalty to him.

He considered all the positive and negative implications of her addiction in the mission, and he was sure Cain will be the only one who could help him (but still at the condition she was at obscure of the rest of the plan).

The only problem was her location in Gotham; and he didn't know how to talk with her without attiring the attentions of the entire Bat family. So, he had only to wait for better times, starting however to think there was the risk the condition he requested to act will be never reached.

But at the start of November, (one of the most cold New England and Gotham remembered in years), when he calculated his clone was near to his ninth month, an unexpected chain of events convinced Damian his plan could be realized and in times more fast than he personally expected.

First, Drake caught a violent flu which forced him to stay to bed in the manor for some days, under the constant watch of Pennyworth; Grayson couldn't return as he followed an important case in New York, while Brown and Catwoman were on a mission with the Birds of Oracle. Because especially after the return of Todd Batman, still a normal man after all and on his forties now, fatigued quite much even with Robin to patrol Gotham with his own forces, he called the Blackbat for support. Cain arrived very soon and only after two hours she was already on patrol, without that the jetlag affected her; even his father was quite surprised about her stamina.

Second, two days after her arrival Damian's tracking efforts noticed a big surprise: both Talia and the "tube" were in America, settling for a hideout just outside Gotham: knowing her deeply, it was her personal mode to challenge Batman and all his allies hiding in their city. Whatever, the boy was sure she wasn't here for them because few hours later she moved alone towards Washington. Hmm… Damian had one of his safehouse in the capital not far to the apartment she settled… According to the League's database, it seemed she was planning in the next days a series of attacks towards the high US spheres in order to decapitate the country throwing it into total chaos… and that gave him the final idea to get rid to the final obstacle to his plan: Batman.

He will entered in action the next night; now he needed only to convince Cain that upcoming night…