A/N: I own nothing you recognize.

Big things coming up! New characters make their appearance! Can you tell I'm excited?!


Mount Justice
Monday, January 17, 2011
1544 EST

Robin, Wally, Zatanna, and Raquel were sparring in the training room when a transmission from the Bio-Ship came through.

"What's up, M'gann?" Zatanna asked, turning away from Robin to face the Martian.

"Gather the Team," M'gann requested solemnly, and the four at the Cave glanced at each other; they had never seen their cheerful Martian so down. "We have some news."

"On it," Robin said.

"See you in about thirty minutes," Conner said before M'gann shut the video.

"Wonder what's up," Wally said. Robin shrugged as he pulled up a new transmission for the missing Team members.

"M'gann wants us at the Cave," he informed Kaldur and Artemis.

"I'll head over now," Kaldur said.

"See you in a few," was Artemis's response.

Robin closed the comm and turned to the other three. "Do you wanna keep sparring until they get here?"

"Yes!" Raquel said. "I still can't get the grab-and-flip move Canary taught us down."

"I can work on that with you," Robin said, going over to her.

The four were joined a few minutes later by Artemis and Kaldur, and they joined in on sparring until M'gann and Conner arrived.

The Team walked to the hanger, and M'gann and Conner walked stoically out of the ship.

"What happened?" Kaldur asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"It's Gar," M'gann said softly. "Garfield," she elaborated for Zatanna, Raquel, Artemis, and Kaldur. "We met him during a mission in Qurac, and Conner and I have visited a few times since then. But yesterday..." Tears began to well in her eyes and Conner picked up where she left off.

"Yesterday afternoon, Queen Bee compelled Garfield's mother to drive off a cliff. He watched the whole thing."

Robin tensed; he knew all to well about that, watching helplessly as your family fell to their deaths.

There was a collective gasp around the hanger, and M'gann began to sob in earnest.

"What'll happen to him?" Wally asked heavily, the first to find his voice.

"We'll bring him here," Conner supplied immediately. "And I don't care what Batman has to say about it!" he added with a look at Robin.

Robin held up his hands in surrender. "i'll ask," he said. "When he says yes, how soon could we bring Gar here?"

"Right away, I hope," M'gann sniffled. "I want him as far away from Queen Bee as possible!"

"I can call him now," Robin offered. M'gann nodded and Robin tapped his ear piece. "Batman?"

"Here, Robin," Batman's voice came a moment later. "What is it?"

"There's a boy who's been orphaned," Robin said immediately. "His mother was killed by Queen Bee. We were wondering if there was any way to bring him here to live at the Cave."

"I'll look into it now," he said solemnly. "Tell the Team I should have answers by the end of the week."

"Got it. See you later."

"Well?" M'gann asked anxiously when Robin was done.

"He said he'll look into it and that he should have answers by the end of this week," Robin reported.

"Thank you," M'gann said softly. Robin nodded.

Sure enough, by that Friday, Batman had gotten it all sorted out. Garfield would be allowed to enter the United States as a citizen, since his mother had dual citizenship in the U.S. and Qurac. M'gann and Conner would make the trip and bring Garfield to the Cave.

The following Thursday, the Team gathered in the bay to await the arrival of the newest occupant of the Cave.

The Bio-Ship landed and M'gann walked out with Garfield, her hand on his shoulder.

"Welcome to the Cave, Garfield," she said softly.

The young boy looked around with flat eyes. As amazing as it was he was in the headquarters of the Young Justice team, it was all overshadowed by his mother's death.

As his eyes skimmed the team members, he asked, "Is this everyone?"

"Yes," Batman said immediately. "Only Conner, M'gann, and Zatanna live at the Cave, but you'll be seeing all of the Team at one point or another."

"No..." Garfield said slowly. "No, there was another person who came to my house. She said she could speak to animals."

"Oh, you're talking about Lily," Wally supplied. "She's off in Europe," he explained. "Bats says she's in some exchange program." The Dark Knight only nodded in confirmation.

"Oh," Garfield said quietly, deflating a little. "We never did get to hang out. I wanted to know what our animals had to say about us. If they liked us. If they thought we were kind to them."

"What's he talking about?" Zatanna asked Robin, and the other female members of the Team shared her confused look.

"Oh, right," Wally spoke up again. "After the Cadmus fiasco last July, we learned Lily has the ability to converse with animals. It was something she didn't brag about."

Batman cleared his throat. "M'gann, you can show Garfield his room. Robin, I'll meet you back at the Batcave once Garfield is settled in." The Boy Wonder nodded in acknowledgement before Batman turned on his heel and walked toward the zeta-tubes.

"We'll help you with your things," Zatanna offered. The others nodded and followed Conner up the ramp of the Bio-Ship to collect the boxes Garfield had packed. With the entire Team working, it only took them one trip to Garfield's new room.

"Would you like help unpacking?" Kaldur offered.

"No, thank you," Garfield murmured. "I think I just want to take a nap, if that's all right."

"Of course," Kaldur nodded. "If you need anything, someone will always be at the Cave," he said before turning out of the room. The rest of the Team, who had waited around in the hallway, took that as their cue they could go as well, and Robin made a beeline for the zeta.

"What is it?" he asked as soon as he stepped foot in the Batcave.

"I may have found a lead," Bruce said from in front of the Batcomputer. "We're going to Seattle."


Seattle, Washington
Monday, January 27, 2011
1906 PST

"So, where exactly are we? And why are we in the penguin suits?"

"Because Bruce Wayne and guest have been invited to the private gala at the Burke Museum," Bruce said as he and Dick walked up the steps of the said museum. Bruce showed his invitation to the man at the door and they were waved inside.

"So, why is it private?" Dick asked as they followed the signs pointing them up to the second floor.

"The museum just received a selection of ancient Chinese treasures," Bruce explained.

"How will this help us find Naomi?" Dick questioned.

"Savage has always kept off the grid, and Luthor has kept quiet," Bruce explained. "But there has been an uptick in Ra's al Ghul's activity, all centered around Chinese artifacts."

"Why the sudden interest?" Dick wondered as they reached the desired exhibit. Surrounding them, in glass cases, was just a small portion of China's ancient history, and Dick couldn't help but be fascinated by it all. It was, after all, Naomi's heritage.

"I'm not sure," Bruce admitted as they stopped in front of an incomplete purple textile.

"Textile with Floral Medallion," Dick read. "From the Tang dynasty. 'This extremely rare and elegant textile is identical to an eighth-century example preserved in Shōsōin, a famous treasury in the Todai-ji temple in Nara, Japan, that houses imperial gifts from Tang-dynasty China," he continued. "Given by the Japanese Empress Kōmyō, continued to serve as pieces for the study of the art of Tang China, purple dye comes from an expensive and labor-intensive material that was imported," he finished summarizing.

"Very nice," Bruce nodded.

"It's so small, though," Dick pointed out. "And there's that weird rectangle missing," he added, pointing to the right side of the textile that was indeed missing a section. "If Ra's is looking for something to steal in the hopes of selling it, I doubt he'd even give this one a second thought."

Dick moved on and Bruce gave one last look at the purple textile before following his son to one of the flashier objects on display.

About an hour later, someone began to gently tap on their champagne flute, which made everyone else thing they had to join in. A middle-aged Chinese man stepped onto one of the benches throughout the room and everyone finally grew silent.

"I don't want to waste too much of your time," he said in slightly accented English. "I just wanted the chance to say thank you to all the donors for making this exhibit possible and for so warmly allowing me the chance to share my culture with the rest of the world. It is truly an honor." He bowed before giving a small wave to the audience.

"Here, jiù jiu." A teenager about Naomi's age offered his hand to the man and helped him down from the bench. Dick caught the teen's eyes and Dick could have sworn he winked at him. Before he had a chance to figure it out, the man and the teen turned and disappeared in the crowd, a third person, this one female, falling in step with them.

When they walked down the steps at the end of the gala, Dick turned to Bruce and said, "That was a complete waste! Nothing happened."

"Perhaps Ra's sent someone else to scout," Bruce said thoughtfully. "Either way, we're coming back. Something's going to happen."

"How do you know?" Dick asked, sending Bruce a look that asked if he knew something Dick didn't.

"Just a feeling," Bruce answered vaguely, and Dick knew that was the most he was going to get.

Batman and Robin appeared on the rooftop across the museum a minute after Bruce and Dick had driven off, and there they waited.

It was nearly two in the morning when three shadowy figures caught Batman's eyes. He nudged Robin, who had to shake himself awake before scanning the ground below. He nodded once he had spotted the shadows, and together, they silently swooped down and landed by the side entrance, whose door was already propped open. They slipped inside and immediately headed to the second floor.

When they entered the exhibit, three League of Assassin members were going around the room, carefully opening the glass display cases without tripping any of the alarms. Their heads were covered with deep hoods, but the all-black fitted uniforms revealed the archer was the only female of the trio.

She was the first to spot the Dynamic Duo, and she drew her bow. The Leaguer armed with two large tiger claw knives drew his weapons and started to charge. Robin threw a Batarang at the archer, slicing through the bow string. She cursed and yelled at the knife wielder as she stopped to restring. Batman threw a weighted line at him. He swung to cut the cable, but it slipped under his swings and tangled his feet, causing him to stumble at Robin's feet. Batman kicked the knives out of reach while Robin turned his attention to the third League member, who had continued to work calmly.

Robin's eyes landed on the unimposing purple tapestry they had spotted earlier, and found the last Leaguer raising his hand to it.

"Really?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow. "That one?"

The thief turned, and Batman got a clear view of him. He was dressed identically to the other two League members in black pants, boots, and jacket, which was belted closed. A hood was pulled over his head, and like the others, it threw the upper half of his face in shadow. His lips twitched.

"You obviously know nothing about Chinese culture," he snapped. "This textile is beyond rare, thought to have been lost to the ages. But now that it has been recovered, it deserves to be hung somewhere it can be appreciated."

"Isn't that what museums are for?" Robin pointed out.

From behind them, a feminine voice called out in Arabic, "Remember the mission, Maharib Alttanin."

Batman glanced behind him and saw the woman had restrung her bow and was back on her feet.

The young man standing at the purple textile took a deep breath and said, "You're right, Eayan Alnnusr." Batman turned back to him as Maharib Alttanin straightened, smirked, and then lowered his hood. Around them, the others did the same.

"Batman!" Robin whisper-exclaimed. "They were at the exhibit!"

"Yes," Maharib Alttanin smirked. "Very observant of you, Dick."

Without waiting for a response or reaction, he drew his sword from its scabbard and slammed the pommel against the glass case. It shattered and alarms immediately started blaring.

"Let's go!" the last man said, already dashing toward the stairs.

"Makhlab Alnnamr is right," Eayan Alnnusr said sharply. "We've wasted enough time with these amateurs."

"Amateurs?" Robin muttered. "I'll show you amateur!" He lunged at Maharib Alttanin as he was carefully, almost reverently, folding the textile. Eayan Alnnusr notched two arrows and aimed them at Robin's feet. They tangled around his ankles and caused him to fall flat at Maharib Alttanin's feet.

Eayan Alnnusr shot another arrow at the ceiling. As she rapelled herself upward, she swung past Maharib Alttanin. He caught hold of her hand and let himself be carried up by her grapple arrow. They landed by the man, Makhlab Alnnamr, as he threw down smoke pellets even as Batman and Robin shot their own grapple lines. The teenager's voice carried through the smoke, but the rushing wind made it impossible for Batman or Robin to hear what he had said.

By the time they landed on the balcony and charged through the smoke, the League of Assassin members had vanished.

Batman sighed as he called the Batwing. "There's no use trying to follow," he said. "They're too good."

"He wanted us to see him," Robin commented as they stepped onto the plane. "I saw him at the gala, and he winked at me. He was accompanied by a male and a female then, and he was accompanied by a male and a female just now."

"Yes," Batman nodded. "I noticed that, too."

"Did you recognize any of them?"

"Dick, Ra's has hundreds of League of Assassin members at his disposal," Batman reminded. "There's no way I could have met all of them, even during all my encounters with them."

Robin peeled off his mask and idly fiddled with it in his lap. "Do you think Ra's is going to become a bigger player soon?" he asked out of the blue.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did," Batman answered immediately, and it made Dick wonder if Bruce had been thinking the same thing too.


A/N: Jiù jiu: uncle (specifically, mother's brother), Chinese

So...Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins have made their debut...what's going to happen with them?

The three League of Assassins here have Arabic names in addition to their given names, an idea I took from the CW Arrow show. Each of their Arabic names hints at who they are, their personality, or any special talent.

Maharib Alttanin: Dragon Warrior

Eayan Alnnusr: Eye of the Eagle

Makhlab Alnnamr: Tiger's Claw

Textile with Floral Medallion is a real textile that was on display at the Met at one point. The little history lesson behind it is real too.

Let me know what you think! Any questions, speculations, let me know! I'd love to hear what you think the Ra's connection is, and I'm more than willing to answer any questions you might have.

Until next time.