A/N: I've uploaded the sequel to Things to Remember. If you haven't read it and you like this story, you should give it a shot! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Enjoy!
Chapter: 12
The next few days came and went with no incidents. Nina and Katherine would train with Damian and their father, learning how to channel their anger and killer instincts so they could hopefully go out into the streets as vigilantes of their own. Katherine had thought it was silly, but quickly changed her mind when Nina reminded her that they had no where else to train but in the cave at all. Nick would come by too, he would spar with them and train with them, Bruce was angered by Nick's back-story and felt the need to help him 'unlearn' what the League taught him. Bruce would try to find Sid and an answer to why they were coming back from the dead, but they all knew Katherine was right when she said they'd need to go to the source for the answer they were looking for, but he still wasn't giving up.
Things were also starting to change, Bruce was feeling more and more like a father rather than a stranger to Nina...Katherine as well...she's less angry at him at least, although she still calls him Bruce. It's funny how fast they've settled into the Wayne family. Another debate they're having is about schooling. Nina has already past everything in the high school level and she's only sixteen, Katherine as well even with her dyslexia. Bruce had suggested home schooling, but they both said it wasn't necessary,
"You both need to study something," Bruce said, that morning at breakfast,
"But we basically already finished high school," Katherine said,
"Yeah, they had a graduation and everything," Nick said, who had come for breakfast since he couldn't cook to save his life,
"Does that still qualify as graduating?" Nina asked,
"I don't know, but it better. I'm not going through high school again," Katherine said, sticking out her tongue in disgust,
"You might have to if you can't die," Damian said. Silence fell over the table, Nina blinked at what Damian had said, Katherine gaped slightly at their brother and Damian blinked slightly in shock at what he just said himself, "Well...I suppose there's still old age,"
"Maybe," Nina said,
"I hate not knowing something that has to do with us!" Katherine sneered, "Why can't we just go to Ra's and demand an answer from him!"
"Because he'd kill you and make sure you stayed dead," Nick said, around a mouthful of eggs,
"We're moving off topic," Bruce said, sipping up some coffee, "You need to finish your education,"
"What are you suggesting?" Nina asked,
"College," he replied,
"College?" Nina asked,
"College?" Katherine echoed, "Pass,"
"Can you even spell college?" Nick asked smirking from his seat. Katherine growled and went to throw her knife at him but Bruce snatched it from her hand,
"Ignore him," Nina said, rolling her eyes as Bruce gave her twin the 'no' glare,
"And no you can not 'pass' on college. You need to go through it to do anything in this world," Bruce said,
"We were born to wreak havoc on the world," Katherine muttered,
"And you turned your back on that so here we are," Damian said,
"We're only sixteen," Nina said,
"When you're eighteen you can go to college,"
"Don't we have to have gone to an actual high school in order to apply and take SATs?" Katherine asked,
"People who are home schooled can still go to college and you wouldn't have to take the SATs until next school year," Bruce said, "You will be able to apply for college,"
"I don't know," Katherine said,
"Maybe...but you saw us out in public on our own father, we kill basically anyone who pisses us off...Katherine especially,"
"Hey!"
"Are you disagreeing with me?" Nina asked,
"...no...but still, you're just as bad as me!" Katherine said, crossing her arms and sticking her nose up in the air. Nina rolled her eyes,
"Sure, Katherine sure,"
"I need to get to the office. Stay on Manor grounds and please don't kill each other," Bruce said, "Think about what I said," then shaking his head at the fact that he actually meant what he just said he left, Alfred walking dutifully behind him. Nick hopped up as if he had sat on a pinecone...which was very likely since Damian and Katherine were surprisingly good at pranks,
"Where're you going?" Nina asked as he got ready to leave,
"I have to get to work,"
"An ex-assassin is making an honest living...the world must be ending," Katherine said, shaking her head in mock awe,
"You got a job?" Nina asked,
"Yeah, I've got a rent to pay,"
"You could just stay here," Nina said, smiling slyly at him, Nick smiled with a hint to mischief in his eyes,
"As much as I'd love to, I can manage on my own," with a wave and a smile he was gone. Nina sighed, smiling after Nick before turning to her siblings,
"So what do you want to do?" she asked them,
"I have something to show you," Damian said, "You've never actually seen it but it's important,"
"I've got nothing better to do," Katherine said, getting up and following Nina who followed Damian.
. . .
"You brought us to see headstones?" Katherine asked as they stood in front of two grey stoned graves,
"They're not just any headstones, they're our grandparents," Damian said, gesturing to the writing carved into the stone, "I just thought you'd want to meet them,"
"I wonder what they were like," Nina stated, petting Titus on the head,
"I wonder if they wanted this for their son," Katherine said, which was very out of character for her,
"If he had never become Batman...we wouldn't exist," Damian said,
"You mean...if they never died then he wouldn't have become Batman and we wouldn't exist because of that," Nina said, staring sadly down at the graves,
"Is it bad to feel a little glad that what happened did...since it meant we got to exist?" Katherine asked,
"I think the real question is: should we be glad that we got to exist or sad that we never got to really meet them," Damian said,
"They would hate us," Nina said, "We're killers...Thomas Wayne was a doctor who saved lives,"
"Don't say that...we're changing...well some of us are," Damian stated, looking pointedly at Katherine who glared back at him,
"I wish I got to meet them," Nina said,
"You'll meet them soon enough," a voice said from the shadows, "Even if for a few moments." In the next instant Titus started barking and a figure slammed into Damian sending him flying. He hit the wall of the house and slumped to the early February snow covered ground,
"Damian!" Nina cried, the figure who Nina deduced was Sid then slit her sister's throat, Katherine gasped and clutched her throat in shock before collapsing. Nina was starting to panic, Sid was too fast, he had always been faster than they were. He darted over to her and snapped her neck, her only thought was at least they were still on manor grounds...no rules broken.
. . .
Nina's eyes flew open and she gasped in shock, looking around the room frantically trying to get her bearings. She had no idea where she was, if Damian was okay or where Katherine was. She was tied to a chair, her wrists lassoed to the arms of the chair. Nina pulled testing the strength of the rope,
"No use in that, Empress," Sid said, stepping into view. He did not look happy, he looked furious in fact,
"Ah, Sid, nice to see you again," Nina said, putting on a smile, "Where am I and why am I here,"
"You know exactly why you are here," Sid said, "You lied about the money, after all I did to get you out of that palace, you still betrayed me. I did warn you,"
"I played you like a Xylophone," Nina said, smirking slightly, "I will admit to enjoying you actually believing I'd give you part of my inheritance," Sid snarled and jammed a knife into the thigh. Nina cried out, she didn't even see that he had a knife...there wasn't much light in the room,
"I will kill you. I said I would and I'm a man of my word,"
"And...how does my...Grandfather feel about that?" Nina stated,
"He won't know and he won't care," Sid said,
"Ouch, you leave home once and he never forgives you huh," Nina said sighing, "I bet he was so mad at you for helping me,"
"He doesn't know I helped you," Sid said,
"But I left him a note and everything. I even said, 'Give Sid my love for assisting me in getting out of this hellhole,'"
"Now that's another lie," Sid said, plunging another knife into her right hand, Nina bit her lip from crying out,
"Why don't you just kill me? Are you scared of what my big bad grandfather will do if he finds out what you did?" Sid smiled, it was an evil and creepy smile,
"I know you can't die Nina. That's why I plan on making you suffer for a long time before I officially kill you,"
"So grandfather does know something about us coming back to life all the time," Sid laughed this time, really laughed,
"You're clueless as to why you come back from the dead?"
"No, it's because we used the Lazarus Pits so many times-"
"Your grandfather used the Pits longer than you and your sister have and he still can't come back form the dead at will,"
"He was never dead when he used it though,"
"Hm, never thought of that," Sid said as he sharpened one of his knives, "But you really don't know anything,"
"Well I have a feeling you're going to tell me,"
"I'll tell you half of what I know," Nina didn't say anything, "He's the mastermind of you two coming back to life, in fact-" suddenly a door opened and a voice echoed of the chamber's walls,
"Enough," Nina blinked at the sudden increase in light before she stared at the person in shock,
"Mother?" Talia Al Ghul stared at her impassively,
"We gave you half and hour to inflict your revenge, that is all we will give you,"
"But I've barely-!" Sid started,
"We were generous to even allow you this time Sid, after all, you did help her escape,"
"Ohhh, someone's in trouble," Nina said smirking, she quickly frowned when her mother walked towards her,
"You grandfather is very disappointed with you," she said as she grasped the knives stabbed in Nina and yanked them out. Nina gritted her teeth to block out the pain,
"So sorry I didn't want to be a pawn,"
"None of that will matter though, he has to complete what he's started," Talia said,
"What did he start?" Nina asked, Talia ignored her,
"You need to heal otherwise it will never work,"
"What will never work?" Nina asked, Talia ignored her again and instead snapped her neck for a second time that day.
When Nina awoke she found herself in a different chamber with the Lazarus Pit behind her, Katherine was slumped over in a chair next to her,
"You have got to be kidding me," Nina sneered, "You're punishing us again Ra's!" her voice echoed off the walls of the room. She had no idea when she started calling him by his name instead of grandfather,
"Not punishing you, finishing what I've started," Ra's said, making his entrance,
"I still don't get what that means," Nina said,
"No, you do get what it means, you just don't want to admit it," Ra's said, smiling with no amusement, "You know exactly what I'm talking about...or at least you've guessed,"
"Feel free to enlighten me Ra's, I have no idea what you're blabbering about,"
"Fine, play the ignorant fool if you want...stop me if you already knew this. I've had a plan for the future of our empire. Siblings would rule, my heirs. One as Batman, One as a leader of the League in another world and one to be a knight for this League,"
"We know that already, what does coming back to life have anything to do with this,"
"It has everything to do with this," Ra's hissed harshly, "From the day you were born to now has to do with that,"
"You're just talking in circles Ra's," Nina said, she was stalling, trying to give their father and everyone else time to find them,
"The more I thought about my plan, the more I realized the flaws in it. What if you two died? I have plenty of enemies and you could be shot down by those idiot cops in that city you loved to run rampart in. With that in mind I then set to find a solution...and I found one," Nina stared at Ra's, waiting for him to continue,
"...and that was...?"
"Immortality," he said, smiling again. Nina blinked,
"That's impossible,"
"Nothing's impossible. You and your sister come back to life...I wish I could've done this for your brother, but your mother said that Batman...when he takes on his father's role, but as our ally...couldn't be immortal, the ideal of Batman could be immortal, but not the person," as he spoke, acolytes walked in and put something into the Lazarus Pits and walked over to a still zonked out Katherine and plugging it into her arm,
"What are they doing to her?" Nina demanded, yanking at her binds,
"From the time you were old enough to eat and drink on your own I've put the Lazarus Pit's waters in and on your food. So much that it is now in both of your bloodstreams. There is not enough to last though, so I'm ensuring that the effects will not be undone and can not be reversed. The fact that you've come back from the dead on your own proves that it is working,"
"Wait so you made sure that everything we ever ate, drank and touched had Lazarus stuff on it and it made it's way into our bloodstream," Nina asked, eying the acolytes making their way towards her,
"Every pill, medicine, and shot as well," Ra's said, his back facing her, he sounded pleased. Nina didn't respond, she was to busy trying to stop the acolyte from putting what seemed to be an IV coming from the Pit into her arm, but she was tied to the chair and couldn't prevent what they did. She started to panic as the green colored liquid filled the tube down to the needle placed into her vein. The moment it went through her arm seized up like it was liquifying into goo. It burned like it had acid thrown on it. Nina cried out in agony, flailing in her seat. Ra's whirled around and barked at the acolytes angrily,
"You idiots! She needs to be dead in order for her mind to be well, we can't have her go insane...we need her," Not stop the pain she was feeling? Nina mustered as much of a glare as she could while withering in agony at her grandfather, "Drain the Pits, leave just enough for me to use though...I still have time and unfinished business to attend to before I pass on," Ra's said, ignoring Nina's glare, "And keep killing them until the Pits are at a level I can still use...this needs to be perfect, you know how much it takes for this to be permanent," Ra's satisfied look was the last thing she saw before hands grabbed her head and jerked it to the side.
. . .
Nina has been killed before, several times in fact...none of those times had been pleasant, but now was much worse. She didn't even have time to take a full breath before she was cast into the darkness of nothingness again and again. She could barely comprehend what was happening whenever she came back. Nina could vaguely see Katherine trying to look around and breath, the acolyte killing her before she could even mutter a word let alone breath. It was disorienting and freaky being tossed back to the land of the dead...if there was one, Nina can't remember...over and over again at such a rapid pace. It was horrifying. It was taxing too, Nina was starving and drained of energy that was needed to come back...but she had a feeling that if the Pits are drained to the right amount, they won't need to use their own energy to come back, it would just be a part of them.
Her arm still burned where the first portion of the Pits had come in, it felt like it was on fire. She tried to move it, but couldn't focus on what she was doing while she was being killed, over and over again. How Ra's could think that immortality was the way to go is beyond her, it isn't possible. Although he sounded so sure of himself, Nina just realized that she was just thinking all this while being killed like ten thousand times. She was also worried about Katherine, when she finally managed to get a glance at her sister, her eyes were glowing a yellow green like the Pits...maybe her's were doing that as well...she couldn't be sure.
Just when Nina thought she couldn't take it anymore, just when the burn in her arm was starting to finally ebb away, just when her sore neck felt like it was going to fall off, the hands that were just about to kill her again were thrown back by a nifty batarang. Nina had never felt so relieved to see her little brother,
"Robin!" Nina gasped,
"You look awful," he growled as he ran over to her, "And you can call me Damian, most everyone here already know who I am,"
"Did you come here alone?" Nina asked as he cut her bonds,
"No, Nightwing, Batman, Red Hood have all shown up, 'Shadow' as well. Batgirl was busy with the Birds of Prey and Red Robin's with his little team,"
"Shadow?" Nina asked confused, "Who's Shadow?"
"Your friend you spent two weeks looking for," Nightwing said, leaping down into the room, "What in the world did Ra's do to you?" he demanded as he took the needle out of Katherine's arm,
"Crazy shit for sure," Nina said, pulling her's out as well. Katherine was still out of it as Nightwing helped her stand, "Where's father?" Nina asked,
"Dealing with some goons with Shadow," Robin said as they started for the way out, only to be stopped by masked assassins,
"Great, the Calvary has arrived," Robin muttered, leaping at the first goon. Nightwing took out his eskirma sticks and jumped into the attack as well. Nina helped out and even a weary Katherine started fighting. They were outnumbered though,
"We need to clear a path and get out of here," Nightwing called to them, taking out an assassin as they did so,
"On it!" Nina cried, tossing an assassin into a group of others clearing a path for them, "This way!" they all darted out of the room, stepping on assassins when necessary…actually just stepping on them.
Batman and Shadow were dealing with their own small army when they arrived on scene. Bruce gave a small nod in their direction, clearly relieved that they were safe before downing a bunch of other assassins as they tried to stop their escape. Nina made her way over to Nick, smiling as he fought off a group of the people he hated most,
"So, you're going by Shadow now?" she asked, slamming her knee into an assassins crotch and tossing him into the wall while flipping over another's attack,
"Trying out the hero thing to see if it fits," Nick replied, shrugging and slamming two guys heads together,
"I think it fits," Nina said,
"Are you two flirting?" Katherine asked as she danced by, Nina and Nick didn't respond but they did glare in her direction, just continued their fighting.
Just when things were starting to turn their way, it got worse. Ra's appeared on the upper floor, glaring down at them, although he wore a triumphant smile. He nodded across the way and smirked as a new figure leapt down, Nina bit back a groan as Sid leapt in front of her, Nick and Katherine,
"You take out any others, me and Nina will deal with this creep," Katherine said, standing next to Nina, cracking her knuckles. Nick nodded and started taking out assassins that tried to attack them from behind. Sid just grinned and unsheathed his double-paired swords, his favorite weapons. With a snarl he launched himself at them.
A/N: Did Ra's plan work? Did he really just sacrificed his immortality for his granddaughters? Find out tomorrow when the next chapter is posted! REVIEW!
