"This is so weird," Jason whispered in Cass' ear as they watched their younger brothers faced off. The two boys, one visibly shorter than the other (who was already pretty short for his age), glared at each other in front of a pair of skeeball machines, arms crossed. They had been like that for the last five minutes.

The reason why was simple. Thanks to pure luck involving one of the Wheel of Fortune machines, Damian had managed to close the gap between Tim and him. The two were now neck-and-neck in Bat-Pizza tickets and this, the last game of the day and the year for that matter, would finally decide the winner of their months-long contest. If Damian won he got all of Tim's Bat-Pizza tickets, if Tim won then Damian had to call him by his first name from then on. It was the Fight of the Century.

…Okay, it actually wasn't, but that wasn't stopping the two from treating it like it was.

"Guys…" Jason said carefully, trying not to rouse anyone's ire. "I just want to remind you that we have to be home in time for dinner or Alfred will kill us. So if you're gonna do this, you're gonna have to do it now."

"Prepare to die, Drake," Damian growled, ignoring Jason, which was hilarious considering his high-pitched voice as a seven year old.

"In your dreams, demon munchkin. The only reason this is still a contest is because of your dumb luck," Tim taunted back.

"Why you—"

"Boys."

The boys grumbled but complied, simultaneously turning to their respective aisles and entering their tokens at the same time. Balls rolled down at the same time, and almost immediately they were grabbed and subsequently rolled back in turn. Jason and Cass watched in exasperation and trepidation as the scoreboards each increased until—

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Damian shrieked. "DAMN YOU, DRAKE!"

"AH HAH! WHO'S THE MAN!" Tim started pointing to himself in victory and pumping his fist.

"Oh my God…" Jason groaned, rubbing his forehead, as Cass, his most wonderfully behaved sibling, patted him on the arm comfortingly.

"You know what this means, Little D," Tim mocked Damian, ignoring his older brother's distress.

Damian shrieked again and was about to launch himself at Tim, until a firm hand landed on his shoulder. Another hand landed on Tim's shoulder, causing both boys to look up and wince at a very unamused Jason's glare.

"Boys. Alfred. Dinner. Now."

Pouting and grumbling, Damian crossed his arms and followed his siblings out of the play area and to the car. "I'm not calling you Timothy until New Year's," he proclaimed.

Tim opened his mouth to argue but another glare from Jason stayed him. Cass giggled.

"I. Am. BACK!" Stephanie walked into the Manor, hands in the air and twirling for good measure. "Greet me, my peoples!"

"Brown," Damian grunted. "I see your time away has done nothing to diminish your irritating enthusiasm."

"Oh, munchkin!" Stephanie squealed as she pulled a struggling and shrieking Damian into a hug. "I know you missed me!"

"I did not!"

"Li~ar!"

"Steph, let him go," Tim advised as he walked down the stairs to greet his friend. "He's just mad I beat him in our Bat-Pizza contest."

"Oh?" Stephanie looked down at the fuming Damian, amused. "Does that mean you're Timothy now?"

"Not until that midnight bell chimes, and not a moment sooner!"

"Ah, technicalities." The girl shook her head. "You Waynes sure love them."

"It's a gift!" Jason called out, entering the Manor himself with Stephanie's bag.

The Browns had just returned from their family vacation, and Crystal Brown was now stuck with post-Christmas shifts, stretching out past New Year's. So, Stephanie had been invited to celebrate the start of the next year with the Waynes instead, which she had accepted heartily.

"So, where's Cass?" Stephanie asked, now taking a look around.

"At her speech therapy office with Bruce. He wants a official report on how she's doing so they can modify her schedule to accommodate her new lessons."

"New lessons?"

Jason smiled. "Ballet and ice skating. Christmas gifts from Bruce and I, respectively."

Stephanie clapped her hands in glee. "Oh, she'll love that!"

"Yup. In fact, Bruce is taking her to the studio afterward so she can be registered in person, which is why Alfred is driving."

"Gotham traffic?"

"Gotham traffic," the boys chorused in unison, causing Tim and Damian to glare at each other again. Jason quickly noticed this and groaned.

"If you two want to fight, fight over there," he jabbed his thumb at the living room, specifically at the TV, where Tim had set up one of his video game consoles. His younger brothers quickly obeyed his suggestion, pushing each other along the way while Jason shouted out warnings. Stephanie shook her head again.

"It feels good to be back."

While waiting for the rest of the family to come back, the four of them settled onto the couch in the living room, playing video games and snacking on some nachos Jason had quickly whipped up in the kitchen. Occasionally Stephanie intervened by pushing one or the other, putting them off their game and causing them to curse her out, while Jason watched on-and-off between reading his book. It was all very nice and domestic.

Then the lights went out.

"What the hell?" Stephanie called out.

"Did a fuse break?" Tim asked, reaching out blindly for the others.

"Maybe," Jason said, though he didn't sound very convinced. "This is an old house, but I'm almost certain Bruce already replaced the power box with something newer and more durable."

"How the are we supposed to see without the lights? Drake, go fix it!"

"Why me?"

"Because, as much as it galls me to say it, you're the best with technology in this family. Do your duty and fix the fuse box!"

"Screw you, munchkin. I am not the family's personal electric—"

The lights turned back on. Everyone froze.

Ninjas. And not just any ninjas.

League ninjas. Jason felt a bead of sweat beginning to form on his head. Shit.

"GET DOWN!" he roared, throwing Stephanie to the ground as he stood up and kicked over the coffee table, using it as a makeshift barrier. And not a moment too soon, because a second later throwing stars had embedded themselves both on the table and on the couch where he and Stephanie had been sitting on. Jason gritted his teeth as Tim and Damian crawled over to them.

Another ninja landed on the top edge of the couch, drawing his sword. Jason quickly retaliated by kicking the couch over, sending him to the floor. He looked around, and saw that all the ninjas were now staring at him, not a single one sparing a look at Damian, who should be their natural target. The former Batman was not lost on the implications, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

"GO!" He screamed at his siblings as the ninjas began to converge on him. They all looked reluctant to follow his orders, but the look in his eyes seemed to convince them, and they quickly made a break for the stairs, with some of the ninjas breaking off to follow them. Jason, knowing he couldn't follow, instead kicked off one of the legs of the coffee table and held it aloft as a makeshift weapon, using it to bash the head of the nearest approaching ninja.

As more of his opponents charged at him, Jason cursed.

"Come on, come on!" Tim shouted as he dragged Stephanie by the hand and down the halls with Damian following closely behind. They were heading to Bruce's study, so they could access the Bat-Cave and hold out in there and contact Bruce.

"I don't get it—why did those guys go after Jason?" a near hysterical Stephanie asked, almost distraught.

Tim clicked his teeth. "I'm not sure if they're here for him specifically, but he's still the greatest threat, so for whatever objective they have to succeed, they need to take him out."

"Ugh!"

The two teenagers whirled around. "DAMIAN!" Tim yelled, reaching out for his younger brother, who had been grabbed by the waist and now was trying to struggle out of the hold of one of the ninjas. Both Tim and Stephanie moved forward to help him, only for more ninjas to drop in front of them and ward them off.

"GO!" Damian screamed back, still fighting. "I'LL BE FINE! JUST GO!"

Tim looked ready to argue with him on that, but had no choice but to flee when the ninjas started firing arrows. He dragged Stephanie away, back towards the direction of the study, occasionally kicking over furniture to block the projectiles and leave more obstacles for their pursuers. Finally, they arrived at their destination, where Tim quickly ushered Stephanie in, following himself before slamming the door shut behind them. He locked it, then unveiled a keypad next to it and punched in a code. Almost immediately the door was covered with metal bars bursting out of nowhere, as were the surrounding windows.

That done, he quickly dragged Stephanie over to the grandfather clock where the secret entrance to the Cave was hidden. Stephanie watched as he turned the hands on the clock to the appropriate time, and gasped as the grandfather clock collapsed to reveal a hidden elevator. "Steph," Tim glanced back at her, "Get inside here now. This elevator will take you to a hidden bunker beneath the Manor. Once you're in there, it will go into lockdown and keep you safe until the others come back."

"But what about you?"

Tim said nothing, causing Stephanie to tear up and shake her head. "You're going back after them, aren't you?"

"They're my brothers, Stephanie. I just can't leave them behind."

"Because you're Robin, right?"

Tim froze.

"You know?" He demanded in shock.

Stephanie smiled tearfully. "I figured it out after the thing with Shiva. I just…didn't know how to tell any of you afterward."

Tim sighed. It seemed all those precautions were for nothing, after all.

"Tim…let me help."

The current Robin's head snapped up, and he shook his head furiously. "No, Steph. You have no training. You'll just be a liability right now."

"But—"

"These people will kill you, Stephanie," Tim cut her off, reaching out to grab her by her upper arms as he looked at her in the eye. "I will not let that happen. I can't. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself, but I can't do that if I'm also worrying about you. Okay?"

Slowly, Stephanie nodded.

A loud banging noise caught both their attentions, and they blanched when they realized it was coming from the door, where a small dent was beginning to form. The ninjas must have found something to function as a battering ram and were now using it to break into the study.

"You need to go now," Tim hissed, pulling Stephanie towards the elevator. She stepped inside, but couldn't help turning around one last time. She gazed at Tim for but a moment, before pulling him forward, using one hand to gently press the back of his head so their lips met. Tim stilled, then closed his eyes and returned it heartily.

Another bang broke their lip lock, and they glanced again at the front door, where the dent had grown exponentially larger. It wouldn't be long before the ninjas got in.

The two turned back to each other again, Stephanie with one last pleading look. "Promise me you'll come back to me," she begged.

Tim pressed his lips together. "I promise." That said, he let her go, pressing the down button and watching as she left from view. The moment she was gone, he closed the entrance, and opened up another keypad on it. Pressing the lockdown code, he let out a breath of relief when heard the telltale sounds of metal closing over all the entrances of the Cave. Stephanie was safe.

Then the door burst open, and Tim knew the same couldn't be said for him.

I hate ninjas.

That may seem hypocritical coming from what was essentially a ninja-vigilante, but Jason didn't care. He hated ninjas. They were, like, the worst kind of minions a supervillain could have, since they had actual combat training. Jason just couldn't hit blindly with them, oh no — he had to actually time his attacks and manipulate others so he wouldn't get overwhelmed.

Thankfully, one of the ninjas had gotten close enough for him to grab his sword, which made things infinitely easier. He had been sick of swinging around a broken piece of wood and a sword was a much more familiar weapon to be using. Of course, he couldn't actually kill anyone, but that didn't mean he couldn't make it painful. The bastards had attacked him and his family in their own home, after all, so the only regret he had was the bloodstains that Alfred would be forced to wash out of the carpet.

Or at least that was the plan, until one of the ninjas appeared with a bound and struggling Damian, who had been gagged. Jason stopped cold at the sight.

"Stand down," the newly-dubbed Ninja-Asshole #1 ordered.

Jason glared at him. "He's an al Ghul. You won't kill him."

Ninja-Asshole #1 tilted his head, acknowledging that his bluff hadn't worked, and then stepped to the side, revealing Ninja-Asshole #2 holding a similarly bound Tim, who looked to be out of it. "Stand down," #1 ordered again.

Jason glared at him before dropping the sword and holding up his hands in submission.

Then there was a sharp pain struck against the back of his head, and darkness greeted him.

"Thank you for lessons, Dad."

Bruce smiled widely when heard the last word, and he pulled his daughter (his daughter!) into a hug. "It was my pleasure, Cass. Did you like the teacher?"

Cass nodded. "She…nice."

"Good." Because she was the only one to pass muster on both his and Jason's background checks. It would be a pain to find another teacher with the same qualifications. "I'm sure you'll have some great times ahead with her. I can feel it."

They continued chatting as Alfred drove them down the street and pulled them back up into the estate. He parked the car in front of the Manor and quickly got out of the driver's seat to open the door for his charges. He then went ahead to open the front door to their home, planning to drive back the car into the garage later.

And then he actually did open the door.

All three froze at the sight that greeted them.

The entire front of the Manor had been complete wrecked. Furniture overturn and broken, debris everywhere, and specks of blood scattered around the ground. Upstairs, they could see another trail of destruction could be found, leading down the hall towards the direction of Bruce's study.

There was absolutely no one to be found.

Once everything in front of him registered, Bruce burst into action, walking up the stairs and heading directly for his study. Cass quickly moved to catch up with him while Alfred followed at a more sedate, if still hurried pace. Along the way, they couldn't help but stare at the further carnage that greeted them. Even more furniture, including several family heirlooms, had been knocked down to create some kind of haphazard obstacle course.

Yet even that seemed like small potatoes compared to the state they found the study in. Someone had clearly activated the lockdown function that Bruce had installed into the room when he first became Batman. Unfortunately for whoever had done it, it didn't work — the door had been blown completely off its hinges, shattered into several pieces with bits of metal spread around it. The desk had been overturned, books no longer on their shelves and knocked to the ground, even the portrait of Bruce's parents slightly askew. There had been a fight in here, that much was clear.

Bruce surveyed it all, eyes narrowing at the portrait in particular, before stomping over to the grandfather clock that hid his secret vigilante base. When the requisite time didn't open it immediately, he quickly realized that the Cave had been put into lockdown as well. He slid open the hidden keypad and punched in the deactivation code, watching as the entrance swung open and the elevator quickly slid back up. He cautiously stepped inside, with his daughter and butler following him, and clicked the down button.

Unlike the rest of the Manor, the Cave was virtually untouched. The only thing anyone could find out of place was that one of the staffs on the weapons rack in the training area was missing. It quickly became obvious what happened to it when Stephanie Brown came barreling at them from behind with it, screaming loudly.

She froze when she finally got a good look at them, and lowered the staff she was holding. "Cass? Bruce? Alfred?" she spoke as if she couldn't really believe they were actually there.

"Steph," Cass whispered back, eyes wide in shock. Seconds later she had her best friend in her arms, sobbing into her neck. Hesitantly, Cass wrapped her arms around her, shooting a desperate look at her father. Bruce, for his part, pursed his lips, and exchanged a nod with Alfred.

Several minutes later, Stephanie was seated in a separate chair with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. Next to her in another chair was Cass, who had a comforting hand on her friend's wrist.

"We were just lounging around, goofing off. Tim and Damian were playing video games, I was watching and Jason was keeping an eye on all of us while reading a book. You know, what he usually does. And then the lights went off, and when they came back on there were these…ninjas…everywhere, from out of nowhere."

"Ninjas?" Bruce interrupted, face completely serious. "What did they look like?"

Stephanie shrugged helplessly. "Like ninjas. They were wearing these gray body suits with masks covering everything but their eyes. Their weapons were really archaic too — swords, and bows and arrows, you know, stuff like that."

"Did they have any symbols on them? Or said anything peculiar?"

Stephanie was about to shake her head, then paused, "…I think one of them had this weird Arabic accent. If that means anything."

Bruce exchanged another look with Alfred, before looking back at Stephanie. "Continue."

"The moment they arrived Jason told us to get down and then knocked me to the floor. And then, when he noticed they were focusing on him, he told us to run while he fought them off. Tim dragged me upstairs with Damian following but some of them stopped attacking Jason and started chasing after us instead. They caught Damian and he told us to run, said that he'd be fine and of course we didn't believe him but then they started shooting arrows and…" Stephanie exhaled. "We ran. To the study. And Tim, he locked the room down, and then he sent me here and locked it down too. He refused to come with me, said he needed to go back for Jason and Damian. He told me that he was going to lock this place down with me inside, to wait for the others — you — to come back. I tried to protest but he said I would just get killed and then…" She began to whimper, then buried her face into Cass' shoulder.

Bruce inhaled, closing his eyes. "He was right, Stephanie. You had no training. Sending you here was for the best; it meant you were here to tell us what happened, give us clues to finding them."

Stephanie lifted her head. "You are going to find them, right? Because you're Batman, right?"

Bruce didn't even bother trying to look surprised. They were currently having this conversation in the Bat-Cave. There was no point in denying it anyway. "How long have you known?"

"Since the Shiva thing," Stephanie admitted. "You were a bit too familiar with Cass and, well, after some thinking it just all fell into the place."

"Of course," Bruce sighed. Then he knelt down so he and Stephanie were eye-to-eye. "I'm going to get them back, I promise you. But I'm going to need you to stay here, okay?"

Stephanie nodded glumly. Bruce got back on his feet and then gestured to Cass to come with him. Cass took one last look at her friend before following him, with Alfred close behind. The three went into a more remote corner of the Cave, away from Stephanie's ears.

"Did you call Dick?" Bruce asked the moment they were sure they couldn't be heard.

"He's on route right now," Alfred confirmed, "Should be here within the hour."

"Good. Good. I'll start tracking down a location, search for League bases that have had any recent activity," he paused, "Or more activity than usual. And we need to contact Oracle."

"What for?" Alfred asked, an eyebrow raised.

"To help track down the boys and…to call in the Birds of Prey."

Cass and Alfred looked at each other. "Are you sure about this, Master Bruce?"

"They're my sons, Alfred," Bruce said with sad eyes, as if that explained everything, which it kind of did. "With the rest of the Justice League off-world, they're the only help I can get on short notice."

"But if you do that…you're going to have to reveal to them your secret identity. There is no way Masters Jason or Tim were able to conceal their identities during the attack."

Bruce closed his eyes. "If it gets my boys back, then that's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Oh my God…" Jason groaned as he blinked his eyes open. It'd been a long time since he'd been forcibly knocked unconscious like that, and he had not missed it at all.

"Jason?"

"Tim!" Jason shot up, only to scowl heavily when he realized that his arms had been bound behind his back. He swished his head around until he spotted his brother, similarly bound and on his knees. Next to him was Damian, also roped up, though with far more rope to the point that he looked like a brown caterpillar, and with his mouth taped shut. "What the hell," Jason demanded flatly.

"He started trying to bite our captors when he woke up," Tim explained as Damian began struggling and shrieking again, his face going red. "Apparently being the grandson of their leader doesn't mean he gets special privilege."

Jason narrowed his eyes. "You realized it too?"

"I studied all of Bruce's files on his villains, though I haven't met him before in person. And from what I understand, that's a good thing."

"It is," Jason admitted. "I, quite frankly, was not looking forward to meeting him again at all."

Tim frowned, then glanced at Damian who had now inched up to them and was now listening heartily. "What do you think that he's after? Damian?"

Jason shook his head. "If it was just Damian he was after he would've just had his men kill us and taken him."

Tim's eyes widened. "Then…" he didn't say anything else. He didn't need to.

Before anyone could say more, the doors to the room snapped open. Jason glanced to see it was a tall, bald man with a serious face. The current Ubu, by the looks of it.

"The Master will see you now," the man declared.

Jason resisted the urge to snark back with an 'Oh, really?' and allowed Ubu to haul him up with minimal struggling. There was no point in it right now. They were in enemy territory, and without help, they weren't getting out.

It had been many decades since Jason had entered a League compound, and he did not miss it, to say the least. Oh, make no mistake, the place was beautiful. Eastern aesthetics of some of the finest materials, all blended together in a tasteful mesh of subdued colors. But Jason wasn't blinded by the opulent trappings in the least. He knew what this place was — a death trap.

If Gotham City was a court, then the League of Assassins was an entirely different world. A place completely at the will of the Head of the Demon, a six hundred year old immortal who kept himself alive with magical hot springs and grew more insane with every dip. Courtiers willing to murder for currency, plotting and planning all to win the favor of one of the greatest and most vile empire builders in the world.

They were in the lion's den, and unless Bruce got here soon, not all of them would be making it out.

As if on cue, they were dragged into a grand chamber, a sort of throne room by the looks of it. From the corner of his eye he could spot a door leading to another chamber, with wafting green fumes. A Lazarus Pit, no doubt.

He looked further around. It seems that they weren't the only people here, and by the looks of it, all of them were waiting for the show. While most of them he didn't recognize — random assassins who no doubt died independent of any superhero activity — there were some familiar faces here as well. He spotted Merlyn, unsurprisingly considering his well-known association with the League, but also Shiva as well. Deathstroke and Ravager too, and Jason had to wonder how much Ra's was paying for them to stick around. Even Cain was here.

It was a who's who of assassins. The only major assassin that Jason couldn't see here was Deadshot, no doubt still under the thumb of Amanda Waller. Well, him and the al Ghuls. Next to him, he could see Tim shifting uneasily, while Damian was forcibly sat up on his butt by Ubu and had the tape on his mouth ripped off. The boy took in deep breaths and glared at everyone except his brothers. No doubt he was not used to such rough treatment outside of training. Not in these halls, at least.

SLAM!

And here's the main bad guy, making his grand entrance. Jason thought to himself sarcastically as he diverted his gaze to the ground. He knew he would have to look Ra's eventually, but not immediately. Submission was the best way to go. Would make the treatment easier while they waited for Bruce to arrive.

"GRANDFATHER! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!"

But of course, Damian didn't feel the same way.

In some ways, Jason was glad. The old Damian, as spoiled as he was, would never defy his grandfather like this. Not that Jason could blame him; Ra's was not the warmest of figures and was hardly ever kind, even to his blood. He was polite, but that was about it.

Yet, as proud of Damian Jason was, it didn't change the fact that this was not the time. Tim seemed to feel the same, judging by the small nudge he gave Damian, silently telling him to shut up.

"Grandson," Ra's al Ghul's voice filtered through the air, even and neutral. That was the only acknowledgment he gave the boy; Jason could feel his gaze shifting over to Tim. "And the Detective's newest little bird. I believe this is the first time we've met. I've heard great things about you."

Tim, proving himself infinitely wiser, didn't say anything. Just glanced up at Ra's uncomfortably. Ra's observed him for a little longer before shifting directions to the last of the captives. Jason knew his gaze was on him, and tightened his bound hands into fists.

"Jason Todd. It's been quite some time. I've been looking for you."

Jason said nothing.

He saw Ra's boot come into view as the man stepped closer. "Look at me, boy."

Jason did not.

"I said look."

Jason scowled as a hand forcibly grabbed his chin and made him finally obey. He glared up into the green eyes of Ra's al Ghul defiantly. The man looked hardly any different from the image that had haunted Jason for all these years in his memories. A bit younger than usual though — must have had a recent dip in the Pit.

"You're not scared at all, are you?" Ra's asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Jason remained silent. Ra's stepped back, his lips flattening into something resembling amusement. Like he knew something that no one else here did. "No," the old man said again, "You aren't scared. And why would you be? You've stared death in the face so many times that being here, in captivity, at my mercy, must hardly be a novel experience."

The second Robin lifted his gaze and locked eyes with Ra's again, a silent battle of wills. He could feel the astonishment coming from many of the assassins in the room. Few had the nerve to make eye contact with Ra's al Ghul and not flinch, after all.

"I'll admit, I didn't think much of you at first. An inferior replacement for Grayson, lost in a fit of hotheadedness against the psychopath that your mentor foolishly keeps alive. No great loss," Ra's spoke evenly, eyes flickering over Jason's entire form. "And then you came back to life. Mind lost, barely lucid, but very much alive. I sought to find the source of your miraculous resurrection, but found nothing. A lost cause, meant to be eliminated. And then my daughter dumped you into the Lazarus Pit and you changed everything."

He turned on his heel, his iconic cloak swishing behind him. "You regain your mind. You escape my compound. You contact my daughter and you convince her to take you to the All-Caste. You convince her to bring the One Who is All to you, to bring my grandson to you, so you can take them to your mentor and play family with him again. You do all this right beneath my nose and I had to find it all out after the fact, and I must admit, I was…irritated when the words finally spilled from my daughter's mouth. Impressed, certainly, but irritated."

And then, Ra's smiled. "I must admit, Jason Todd, I was wrong about you. You have proven yourself worthy of your mentor's legacy — of your father's legacy."

Jason didn't react to the praise, though he could sense the shock from his brothers next to him. Ra's al Ghul was not an easy man to impress.

"But that should only be expected, shouldn't it? You had no choice but to do that. Being the only surviving male heir of your father and all."

The world stopped. Jason's blood ran cold.

Next to him, he could feel Tim freezing as well, a panicked look on his face. Damian's eyes were wide, and he was now looking between them and his grandfather.

"Come now, don't look so surprised," Ra's was smirking now, a devil's grin that made clear to everyone that his name no misnomer. "After everything that's happened these past couple of months, you should have suspected I knew. Isn't that right…Detective?"

"I'm here, I'm here, where are they?" Dick, dressed up as Nightwing, panted, as he all but threw himself off his motorbike the moment it was parked. He froze when he saw that it wasn't usual gang in the Cave.

Bruce, Cass, and Alfred were expected. Stephanie, not really as surprising as it should have been. But Huntress and Black Canary? With Bruce in his Batman suit and his cowl down?

"Dick," Bruce spoke evenly as he gestured his eldest son over.

"Names?" Dick asked uncertainly as he approached the group.

"Names are fine," Bruce said gently, which was just weird to hear.

"Right…" Dick glanced at Huntress and smiled sheepishly. "Helena."

"Grayson," Helena said back, not bothering to glance back.

Dick winced, then looked at Black Canary. "Dinah."

"Dick," Dinah gave him a single nod.

"Okay then…" Dick directed his attention back at his mentor, face becoming serious again. "Did you find them?"

"Oracle is closing in on them right now. We're just trying to make up a tentative plan for when we have to attack. For the five of us."

"Five of us." Dick then took notice of what exactly Cass was wearing, and blanched. "Are you serious?"

"This is Ra's al Ghul, Dick, and we need all the help we can get. She's as good a fighter as Jason and she knows how to follow orders. That's enough for now."

"Jason is going to kill you when he finds out."

"Then at least he'll be alive enough to try," Bruce immediately shot back.

Dick stopped cold at his words. "Bruce…"

"Enough, Dick. Plan, now."

He knows.

He didn't dare look back at Tim, who was no doubt stiffening and betraying the truth for everyone to see. Nor at Damian, who even at seven was far from foolish and no doubt connecting the dots right now. Instead, he kept his eyes completely on Ra's, not even bothering with the facade anymore. Jason could feel the cold mask of Batman settling onto his face, his nerves cooling.

"Talia told you?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. It had to be Talia — the All-Caste wouldn't have dared.

"After one of her men informed me of her strange behavior," Ra's confirmed. "It took some convincing, but she came around eventually."

Jason narrowed his eyes. "What kind of convincing?"

"MOTHER!"

At the sound of Damian's distraught voice, Jason whipped his head around towards the direction of the sound, following his younger brother's line of sight to see Talia being dragged into the room by her arms, then laid out on her front, completely unconscious. Treatment very unbecoming for someone who had al Ghul blood, in an al Ghul compound.

Jason didn't like this. At all.

"That kind of convincing," Ra's ruminated beside him, sounding slightly regretful. Jason ignored him, standing up with a wondering look in his face. He slipped off his bonds, causing the assassins around him to tense up, but a hand from Ra's stayed any further attack.

Jason had his eyes completely focused on Talia, only peripherally aware of how Tim and Damian were also approaching her. He crouched down, gently turning his old mentor over, and stilled.

He trailed against her arms and her face, the bruises and the blood. "These are torture wounds," his voice was neutral, betraying nothing, and yet it echoed throughout the chamber with the kind of weight and severity that he knew was disturbing a great amount of the trained killers here. But he didn't care for them.

What he cared for were the brothers who had turned their distressed eyes on him.

"What?" Damian asked quietly, as if Jason had just spoken gibberish. Tim quickly grabbed their youngest brother's arm, trying to calm him, while Jason turned his attention back to Ra's.

"Your own daughter, huh?"

Ra's looked only slightly repentant. "She is stubborn, my daughter. I did what I needed to be done."

"Of course," Jason's lips quirked up mirthlessly. "Of course. That's all you've ever done, right?"

Now Ra's was the one to remain silent. He could sense the sarcasm, that underlying mocking tone, and wasn't going to dignify it.

"What do you want, Ra's?" Jason demanded, no longer willing to beat around the bush.

"You already know, Detective," Ra's answered back, voice svelte. "You already know, and you already know what will happen if you don't give it to me. And while I'm sure you don't care for your own life," his eyes flickered towards Tim and Damian, "they are a different matter."

Jason glanced at his brothers, his eyes softening.

"I'll give you the day to think it over." Ra's looked back at Ubu. "Take them away."

And now, we're entering the final stretch of the first story. That's right, first — I've decided to split this story into two, and make this a series on AO3. Once I complete this story I'm going to take a major break to plan out the second half. You're going to love it, I'm certain.

Next chapter: Ra's al Ghul.