Dawn blinked as her sight returned. She had a feeling that Xander was going to either lock her up to keep her safe, or enroll her someplace absolutely boring to prevent things from happening. What happened was inevitable. Despite the absence of a lot of things, the two usual factors had combined and she'd been kidnapped. Again.

And the day started so well.

She had decided to go down to Gotham for a while. From what she heard of the place, it was a lot calmer than Sunnydale. Hey, the place even had that phony vampire, Batman protecting the place much like Angel did in LA or Spike back home.

It was a measure of how unusual Dawns life was that the thought of Vampire protectors was comforting.

Well, these guys were actually nice for kidnappers. Either that or they were very incompetent as they had left her awake, with the use of her arms and legs, and aside from telling her she shouldn't try to get away, stayed a respectful distance from her. In fact, the only time she had felt the least bit threatened by the three of them, was when they asked her to put on a blindfold so that she wouldn't find out where their hideout was.

Asked, not told her.

She shook her head.

If this was the quality of kidnappers, then Batman's reputation was WAY over-rated.

"Hello, my dear," said a man sitting on an overdone throne, "My name is Rā's al Ghūl, and I have invited you here to listen to a proposition."

OK, this described the incompetence. "Hi, my names Key. So, do you just issue invitations like this to anyone who just happens to be in Gotham?"

Rā's left eye opened up slightly, and his mouth twitched a bit. "Not really. You do intregue me, however, as I've never seen or heard of you before, but you are willing to travel freely in the Detective's city without his permission."

Dawn rolled her eyes as she sat down and accepted a glass of wine. "What do I care about the Brooding Wonder. He can't even brood right!"

'This is a woman who can truly stand up for herself' the man thought to himself, "Most people would. Oh, please try the mouhammara, my chef makes it in the old way. No, I was wondering what your plans were, and if you could help me with a small problem."

The food was actually quite good, and the meal was being held as a diplomatic matter, as the dishes attested to. Still, she had to find out a few things before thinking of, or agreeing to anything. "I would be willing to listen, but you need to tell me what type of Ghoul, or demon you are? Your name can be translated several ways depending on the inflection, intonation, or subdialect."

Rā's was surprised, "You do not mind sharing a table and food with a demon?"

Dawn shrugged, "Normal where I'm from. Now, back to the subject, your name."

"Ah." said Rā's, truly pleased. "My name is usually translated to mean Demon's Head. I run an organization that some say is criminal when it trys to repair the damage that mankind has done."

Great, some stupid group or organization that probably hasn't taken into account how the worlds changed, even from world war two. Another out of touch watcher's council. "So, tell me about your problems, and how you plan to fix them."

Dawn spent several pleasant hours nibbling while Rā's described the crimes of humanity and what he was doing and had done over the centuries to ensure that the world's ecological balance would be restored before all life on the planet was destroyed. She could easily see what he was saying, and agreed with a lot of it. It was the execution that could use work.

"Boy, you have a great idea, but have to be an idiot to execute it like you have." Dawn commented.

This was intreguing. For once there was someone who agreed with him, but was telling him that he didn't know what he was doing. "Tell me then, what should I do?"

Dawn looked at him. "You have an organization, probably worth trillions, more contacts than I can imagine, and control of entire crime syndicates if you want it. Ever think of using them to your advantage?"

"I do use them to my advantage, and the Detective always stops me."

Dawn nodded. "Because your methods haven't moved past the eighteenth century. Nowdays, if you want something done, you entice the younger generation. Global warming can be combated by simply having all the scientist that you have, combined with a number of the politicians that are not in your back pocket, pushing an advertising campaign. In fact, a lot of the ways to combat whats wrong start with three things. Product, Advertisments, Kids. You create a product that will entice kids, is entirely legal, and covers what you want, you advertise it, and sell it to kids who take your ideas to heart. Matel does it all the time."

"And this works?"

"Barbie, Tonka toys, Matchbox, GI Joe. The list goes on. The one thing I would say is don't treat the kids exactly like kids. Keep it intelligent enough for adults to cope with and the environment will have billions of helpers, especially if you do humanitarian things. You can do things like that."

A window suddenly broke apart and Batman came into the room. "Rā's, get out of my city."

Dawn stood. "OK, I'm having a pleasant meal, a nice chat with someone who is interesting, and an idiot comes flying into the room. Can you call the police?"

"Key, " came the growl, "He is a criminal."

"Is he wanted at this moment?"

"No."

"Has he done anything other than respectfully invite me to dine with him?"

"No, but he will."

"Then, Batman, you are guilty of breaking and entering, assault, probably battery, issuing threats with probable deadly intent and menance. Do you want me to go on?" Dawn stated.

"I will leave him alone when he leaves My City."

"No. You will leave him alone now. You will leave here, and if you interfere again, without cause, then I will ask for the police to arrest you. No chance of talking me out of it. Now go."

The Batman left, not able to do anything else.

"See, that's why you need to update your methods. Batman and the others can be stopped if you do it within the laws."

"My dear," Rā's stated elegantly while bowing low to Key, "Would you consider becoming my heir? I need someone who can think."