Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter, Batman, or the DCEU. All properties therein are those of their creators.

Note: Just a heads up, emotional turmoil for the Bat is incoming. I'm gonna be covering quite a bit in this chapter so buckle in.

Note: Some may be concerned about how soon Harry starts dropping hints for Bruce. To that I say, Jason Todd gave his first major hint during his second meeting with Bruce and the Bat pretty much puts it together from there. I mean he gets the hint, then fights beside him almost right away, already with an idea that it's him. Look it up, the Hood's identity isn't really secret for that long. I'm just cutting some of the filler out since I've already killed the Joker.

Note: I can already hear the comments coming in about why Harry doesn't use magic all the time for every little thing. So to head that off, let me explain. First, Bruce taught him not to use magic as a crutch. So it has become his last resort, not his first measure. If he can do something himself he will. Also, using magic makes him feel closer to his birth parents, and that is something he avoids with a fiery passion if he can help it. He'll use it occasionally, but not as much as Giovanni or the wand wavers.

Note: Still not great at writing group battles, so we'll see how a couple events go down here.

Note: Yes some lines are going to be really close to the film and graphic novel. What can I say, those writers are excellent and their words are too amazing to throw out completely.

Part Ten - Gotham Under Siege

"Ain't no grave, can hold my body down." Harry adjusted the lens of his rifle scope to account for wind speed, and narrowed in on his target.

"Ain't no grave can hold my body down." In his view, the two toned face of Harvey Dent came into view. He was flipping his goddamned coin in the air and laughing as one of his monochromatically dressed gal pals was feeding him grapes.

"When I hear that trumpet sound, I'm gonna rise right out of the ground." He exhaled slowly and compressed his finger on the trigger. By the time the silencer-muzzled bang reached his ears, the bullet had already carved a meaty swath through the former villain's head, coating his guest with gore.

"Ain't no grave, can hold my body down." As the girl started to scream, Harry rolled over, disassembled his rifle, and apparated back to his staging area. As he travelled he felt pride in the knowledge that he'd saved his city from yet another monster that his father continued to let walk free. Dent hadn't even been in prison two weeks this time before breaking out again. Once there he stashed the weapon in its case, and walked over to his motorcycle.

It was a thing of beauty. A Harley Davidson Iron 883. Jet black in color with crimson undertones, and best of all… Zatanna was waiting on it for him in a skin tight leather riding suit.

"Hm." He purred as he pulled her flush to his body, "I thought you were going to wait at home with the others?"

"I was…" She ran her fingers up his neck before clicking the latches of his helmet to remove the red obstruction. But then it occurred to me that we haven't ridden together since Nepal."

"Ah yes, Nepal. Good times." he mused

"Good kills."

"Our kills are always good kills."

"Well, you know what they say about the couple that murders together." She laughed as she kissed him lightly before stepping back and throwing a toned leg over the back of his seat. "Now how about you start this baby up and take me for a ride? I want a proper date night."

"And the others are okay with not accompanying us?" He asked as he complied. He loved how the engine felt as it revved to life beneath him.

She licked the back of his neck, causing him to shiver, before answering, "Tuesday is my night, Harry, and you've just finished your work for the evening. Let's go."

He smiled as he and his first girl donned regular old riding helmets before roaring out of the garage onto the streets of Gotham. For once it wasn't raining, so the streets were clear, and for a while they just took pleasure in the experience of riding around randomly, secure in each other's company. It was such a simple thing, but something about it seemed to enhance the intimacy the two of them shared.

Eventually they ended up at the gates of Gotham Central Park and he killed the engine. As they stepped off the bike, he intoned, "Erongi", took his love's hand, and together they started walking down the nearest path, secure in the knowledge that no one would notice the expensive piece of machinery.

"Do you remember this place?"

She smiled up at him and answered, "How could I not? We were walking down this path the day you first told me that you loved me."

"Yeah, and I gave you that horribly mangled wooden ring that I carved. Sorry about that."

"Hey!" She slapped his shoulder with her free hand, but didn't release her grip with the other, "I love that ring." She pulled the zipper of her riding suit down a ways and drew out a leather cord from her neck. Amongst the many objects and talismans it held, was a small wooden ring. "I never let it out of my sight."

Harry looked from her to the ring before cupping her face and pulling her in for a kiss. "I love you, Zatanna."

The witch curled her fingers over his shaved scalp as she replied, "And I love you, Harry." She glanced sharply at something behind him, and he rushed to face it. But when he looked there was nothing there. A question forming on his lips, the former boy wonder turned back to his girlfriend and his jaw nearly fell off. She'd drawn the zipper of her suit all the way down, revealing every facet of her torso without directly revealing her private bits. Apparently she'd gone commando underneath. He'd seen her naked plenty of times of course, but something about this look, this tease, that was causing the blood to roar in his veins.

She sashayed over to him and leaned her body into his, causing them both to fall off the path into the cover of the bushes and trees. "Tell me you love me again, Harry. Keep telling me."

"I love you." She unzipped his jacket and pulled both it and his shirt off.

"I love you." She unzipped his pants and reached inside.

"I-I love you." She released his length as she stretched back and shrugged her suit the rest of the way off.

"I know you do, my love." She purred as she leaned down and captured his lips with a near starving intensity, "Now show me."

The Batcave

Rose groaned again as the batcomputer alerted her to yet another body's discovery. Two-Face was dead, shot through the skull with a high calibre round like all the others. In the past seventy-two hours he, the Penguin, the Riddler, all of the Falcone lieutenants, the Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, and Firefly had all been found in similar states. Someone was making a point to wipe the most dangerous criminals of Gotham off the board. For what, she wasn't yet sure.

The deaths that worried her the most however were those of Falcone and his gangsters. Though they were gone, his territory still ran smoothly and the captains they held under surveillance seemed to be walking even taller than usual. As if they finally believed they were truly untouchable. The simplest solution was that someone had taken over the big guy's territory, but who had the stones, muscle, and charisma to eliminate the head of a crime family, woo its captains, and provide them protection enough to be as carefree as they appeared? Certainly no one she could think of.

"What do you have?" She jumped at the sudden sound of Bruce's voice speaking over her shoulder. She absolutely hated it when he snuck up on her.

"How many times do I have to ask you to stop doing that?"

"I thought you heard me coming."

"Of course you did." She groused, before pulling up all of her findings. "There isn't much to be honest. With the exception of Falcone's men, each of the victims was killed by a long range headshot with the same caliber bullet. There were no shell casings found anywhere in the immediate area, and the diameter of the impact wound indicates that the shooter fired from over one thousand meters away. Whoever it is, they are very well trained."

"What's the difference with Falcone's men?"

"Well… their heads were missing. So I cannot conclusively say they were killed the same way."

Bruce nodded and stepped forward into her line of sight. "What do you make of this?"

She mock gasped, "Are you asking me to make a guess?"

"I'm asking you to give an informed opinion based on the experience you've gained working with me."

She grumbled at his inability to make a joke and answered. "I think someone new is running Carmine's territory. The supervillain's deaths are wildcards, but if I had to make a guess…" she chuckled at the man's groan, "the mob has been hurt by them just as much as law abiding citizens have. In many ways our rogues gallery of villains are terrible for their bottom line. The new head of the family could be clearing the deck, as it were, to maximize his potential returns, free of their involvement."

"So your theory is that this new crime boss is the killer?" He clarified.

"It's the only thing that makes sense right now, but keep in mind that there hasn't been a lot of evidence to bring forth other conclusions. It's possible that we're being made to think that to cover something else up."

He thought about that for a moment before nodding and stepping away. "Perhaps. I'm heading back out. There's been rumors of a particular weapon being smuggled through the city, and I need to work on tracking it down. Would you let Kathy know when she wakes up?"

Rose looked at the time display on her screen and said, "It's almost seven am, so she should be waking up soon enough. Are you sure you don't just want to wait to tell her yourself? She could go out with you."

"No." Bruce started walking over to his batcycle, "I want her and Tim on standby in case something else happens. With how fast our villains are dropping dead we need to be ready react at a moments notice."

The younger girl nodded before donning her headset and pulling up patrol deployment reports. "Don't worry Bruce, your Overwatch has got you covered."

Twenty or so minutes later a bed head tousled Kathy stumbled down into the cave and flopped down into a spare seat beside her as she perused the latest police reports on her screen. "Did Bruce come by here?" she asked.

"Yes, not long ago. He said to tell you he was running down some info on an arms deal, and he wants you and Tim to be ready to go if something else happens."

"Copy that." She yawned into her hand and Rose couldn't help smirking at the sight. Something about the impossibly beautiful woman doing something as mundane as that always brightened her day.

"Did you not get enough sleep last night?" The redhead wiggled her eyebrows for emphasis, and the dark skinned woman burst out laughing.

"Oh for sure, there was more than enough of that to wear me out. But no, I got a late night collect call from the prison. My daddy says his lawyer managed to find a technicality in his case that will get him released sooner than expected."

Rose frowned at that. Kathy's father had been a very powerful gangster and arms dealer. He was personally responsible for at least a dozen deaths that they knew of. Yet if he was confident enough in his release to call his daughter about it, then it must be true. How could that be? Had he bribed someone? Was the legal system in Gotham corrupt enough for such an act to work? As much as she wanted to deny the thought, she couldn't. After everything she'd seen over the last couple of years such an action was beyond her.

Instead of voicing her thoughts, the girl simply asked, "How are you feeling about that?"

Kathy looked uncomfortable as she said, "I'm not sure how to feel about it. He's my daddy, he raised me, and I can't help but love him. On the other hand, I know the horrible things he's done. Hell, I actively worked to tear down his criminal ventures. I know that for all the things he's done he should be incarcerated for life; I know that he's earned his sentence, but I'm still glad to know he'll be out. I'm kind of a mess about it if you hadn't noticed yet."

Rose gave the taller woman a commiserating hug before asking, "When is he getting out?"

"Next week."

"Alright. Maybe you should have Alfred pick him up in the bulletproof cadillac."

Kathy started at that statement. "Why would I do that?"

In answer, Rose gestured to her lit up reports. "Criminals have been dropping like flies recently. I can't say for sure that he'll be a target, but the less time he spends out in the open the better."

Kathy sighed and nodded. "Alright. I still have my old penthouse, so I'll pick him up and drop him there. If we're lucky we'll be able to catch this murderer before daddy starts getting antsy about being cooped up again."

"He knows you were the Batwoman right?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't know about all of this. As far as he knows, I'm just using his old banks accounts to fund my war on crime." She looked away for a moment before saying, "It's been… difficult, him knowing what I do. But at least we're actually talking now."

She got up and made to walk away, "Keep up the good work here. I'm gonna go work on my suit for a bit."

That Night

Harry lay prone on a building shouldering the bay as he observed the docks through his rifle scope. He'd received word through his informants that Black Mask had purchased something 'special' and was having it shipped by truck through the docks to the warehouse district. Now, he was confident in the skills of himself, his girls, and the League, but denying his adversaries a possible advantage was always a good idea. So he'd staged himself in an optimum position, and his girls were watching from a distance, waiting for his signal should things get dicey.

A pair of headlights in the distance announced the thugs arrival, and true to his intel he saw three men in the cab of the vehicle. Harry took a deep breath, slowed his heartbeat, and prepared to end the driver, but before he could squeeze the trigger a shadow from above gave him pause. He sighed and took his finger off the trigger. Of course Bruce would have heard about this deal, just as he had. The man had his own sources after all.

The Red Hood watched as the Batman effortlessly disabled the truck, before jumping to safety as it crashed. It was only as the man was handcuffing the drivers that Harry saw it. The 'special' item that was being transported was apparently a goddamn Amazo! That thing literally copied the abilities of superheroes. He rested his finger back on the trigger and kept track of the fight below. He'd take the bot down if he had too, because no one was killing the Bat before he'd had his revenge.

He needn't have worried however. Just as things were looking down for old Bruce, who should show up but his big brother, Dick. Together they took it on hand to hand, working with an understanding of their partners that was almost enviable. Then the damned thing started shooting lasers from its eyes and everything started going pear shaped. Dick was having trouble dodging, and the Bat was nowhere to be found. Wait, there he was! The man was hopping onto the android's back and shoving something in its eyes.

An explosion later and Harry knew what had happened. Amazo had the same weaknesses as a regular human, so plastique shove into the eye sockets and detonated into the brain was actually a pretty smart way of taking it down. If the former Robin wasn't so pissed at his old man, he might have been impressed.

But now the Dark Knight was stalking over to the goons, and he just knew that he'd send them to prison after giving him the info he wanted, and then they'd inevitably get out again when their lawyers found a technicality in their arrests, or when the prisons became too populated with worse offenders. He couldn't have that in his city. Harry adjusted his aim, released a breath, and fired three rounds in quick succession.

He didn't need to look to confirm his kills, but he did to make sure the Bat had actually seen him. Aw yes, there were those trusty binoculars pointed right at him. Time to run. As Bruce called his plane, he picked up speed. Across rooftops he ran, through windows he barged, and all the while he could hear the whine of very familiar engines closing in on him.

He pressed a finger to the side of his helmet and said, "Call Nyssa." She answered on the first ring and he said, "Get my bike to the train station, plant a surprise in the rafters there, and make sure the police don't catch up to me. My old man and I are going for a run."

"Understood." She said simply before hanging up.

After that, Harry led Bruce on a merry chase. He stole a car, swerved some people off the road, almost got pulled into the air via Bat Grapnel, but in the end he got ahead long enough to crash into the entry bay of a very particular chemical refinery. The same one in fact that had caused the demise of the original red hood.

By the time Batman had parked his plane and smashed through the glass ceiling above the vats, Harry was ready in the rafters above for him with a gun pointed at his head.

"Hard to forget this place isn't it, Bats?" He asked as he came into the light of the shattered roof. "This was the site of your first great failure after all. Though certainly not your last, am I right? Ah the memories."

The Batman glared up at him, "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm the Red Hood."

Batman tried to respond, but before he could, the Red Hood changed his aim and fired at the car he'd stolen, hitting the gas tank and causing the purloined vehicle to detonate. The explosion started a chain reaction with the factory's chemicals and as the Hood made his latest escape, the building went up in flames.

From the next building over Harry took a moment to wonder if he'd actually killed his foe. But then he saw the man burst out the window with his grappling gun. Good, it would be a shame if he died before knowing how horribly he'd failed.

The chase continued back through the rooftops once more, only this time they were both on foot, and each of them were displaying a mastery of free-running and overall cardio that only came with years of intense training. It was a struggle to stay ahead, but one that Harry welcomed as the roof of the train station came into sight. It was almost time to leave his first clue for the old man.

Oh sure he could have left him entirely in the dark, but that wouldn't achieve his goal. No, the former Robin wanted Bruce to figure out who he was so that he'd know exactly who was taking his city away from him.

His thoughts were derailed as a line suddenly wrapped around his legs mid-jump. He sliced it through before it could tighten, and then dropped the rest of the way down to crash through the station roof. He only had a few seconds to get behind cover, but he made it, and as the Bat crashed in behind him, the bombs Nyssa had planted detonated, throwing the vigilante to the ground with the concussive force.

Seeing a train coming around the bend, Harry revved the engine of his bike to get his old man's attention as he struggled to rise and said, "You haven't lost your touch Br-" The rest of his words were cut off by the blaring of the train's horn, but he didn't care. Given enough time he knew that Bruce would get the message. As the rampaging locomotive blocked the sightline, the Red Hood sped away into the night.

The Batcave

Bruce was hardly surprised to find Dick waiting with Kathy, Alfred, and Rose in the cave when he arrived. He'd spent a decent amount of time searching the scene of the Hood's escape, and it was more than enough for his former protege to beat him here. The group was all centered around the batcomputer, and he took a moment to give Rose a flash drive to pull up before turning to address them all.

He was interrupted however as Kathy stepped forward and pulled his cowl down first, before kissing his cheek and stepping back. "Sorry, Bruce. It's just whenever you talk to us while wearing that you forget to drop the 'batman' voice. It's a little creepy."

"Finally someone says it!" Dick crowed, along with an agreeing nod from Alfred.

Bruce looked between them all for a moment, before shrugging, and beginning his recap, while behind him Rose began to analyze his body-cam footage. "Tonight Dick and I took down an arms shipment carrying an incredibly dangerous android meant for Black Mask. What this tells us is Roman is more than likely upping his armory in response to the recent Falcone moves."

Kathy interrupted, "Did the transporters give you anything you can pass on to the police?"

"Sadly, they were all killed before I could question them more thoroughly."

"It was long range rifle fire." Dick clarified.

Bruce nodded, "Indeed, and the distance applied for it leads me to believe that the shooter is the same one that's been targeting our city's supervillains."

Kathy gasped and asked, "Did you get a good look at the shooter?"

"More than that. I met him." Bruce responded. "He called himself the Red Hood. During our chase I noticed clear signs of advanced parkour training, situational awareness, and he clearly had intensive arms training. Also… he knew things."

Having not been present for the chase, Dick was curious about that statement. "Care to elaborate on that, Bruce?"

"He knew the connection I had to that particular factory and the demise of the first Red Hood. More than that, he knew how I would move, react, and operate. Looking back on our chase, there were plenty of times he could have lost me, but he went out of his way to keep himself in my line of sight. Then, he set a perfect trap at the train station. The bombs he planted were perfectly located, exactly where I would land, and at the perfect distance to be nonlethal."

Kathy frowned at that. "Maybe he just placed them in the wrong spot. I can't imagine a killer like that going out of his way to not try and kill you."

Bruce shook his head in the negative, "No, keeping me alive fits in better with his other actions. The man literally had me at gunpoint, and if his long range skills are a point of reference, then he had me dead to rights. Yet he didn't pull the trigger then either. Whoever this man is, he wants me alive for some reason."

"Uh, Bruce, you're gonna want to see this!" Rose called urgently. As the entire group crowded around her she said, "I got to the end, where the Red Hood was talking to you before the train cut him off. I scrubbed the footage through various noise cancellation filters and… I got this."

She pressed the key to start playback and everyone became privy to the sight of the mysterious villain atop his motorcycle as the train approached. They saw him speak to the Batman, and to their mutual shock and horror, the words they all heard him say were, "You haven't lost your touch, Bruce!"

Everyone's eyes turned to the man in question, and he shocked them all by looking completely ashen of face, and whispering, "Fuck."

Against his will, Bruce's eyes turned over to the display case that housed Harry's old uniform. A constant reminder of what his true greatest failure was. That voice, that knowledge, those skills… It couldn't be.

Meanwhile

Harry's Safe House

***Bit of a lemon***

Harry groaned as he slid into Nyssa's warmth, basking in the closeness they shared at this moment as she stared into his eyes. His movements were slow, smooth, and filled with the depth of his love for this girl. This wondrous girl that had spent months nursing him when everyone else believed his body to be a lost cause. Without her, he would not be alive to enjoy this moment, or any of the others he'd shared with those that he loved.

His musings were interrupted as Nyssa wrapped her muscled legs around his waist to pull him deeper into her depths. "It's alright, beloved." She whispered into his ear as she lightly nibbled on it, "You can go faster."

With a pleased groan he complied, pistoning his hips into her own progressively faster and faster, and earning yips and groans from his partner at the same time that drove him wilder with every thrust until finally, she screamed, clamped him tight to her body with her legs, and spasmed beneath him. All the while calling his name in the accented voice he loved so much.

Knowing how tender Nyssa was after orgasm, Harry pulled out slowly, and just held her as she came down. When her lightheadedness finally passed, it wasn't long before she realized he had yet to finish. A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, and she slowly kissed her way down his chest before starting to worship him with her mouth.

He was all set to just lay back and enjoy the experience, but Raven chose that moment to materialize from the floor before the side of his bed. He got ready to pull Nyssa off of him, or at least cover her with a blanket for some shred of modesty, but Raven headed him off by placing her hand on Nyssa's head and shoving it down until the girl began to gag. When she was satisfied that the girl was continuing at a depth she approved off, the cloak wearing girl nodded, released her sister-wife, and walked up to stand beside the man she shared at the head of the bed.

"My familiars reported in. The Black Mask is pissed that his weapon was destroyed and he's decided to strike back by going after the businesses in our territory."

"H-How long do we have?" Harry managed to stammer out through his pleasure fogged brain. He knew Nyssa was submissive, but his other girls partaking in her kink was rather new to him. It was one hell of a turn on.

Raven smirked at his dilemma and answered, "I'm not sure as he didn't give an exact time frame so it could be tomorrow or next month as far as I know. But I'd imagine sooner rather than later. That being said…" She sat down on the bed beside him and ran her fingers through his beard as she watched Nyssa work, "I think we have more than enough time to let our girl finish."

The Next Day

The Batcave

Bruce was staring moodily at Harry's old costume when Kathy found him. As near as she could tell, he'd been standing in the same position for over an hour. She hadn't seen him do that in months. So it was a rather worried hand that took his arm and turned him to face her. "Bruce? What's wrong?" She asked.

He sighed, "Nothing. I'm just… thinking."

"Nope." She tutted while waving her finger for emphasis, "No holding back. We promised each other total honesty when you gave me this ring, now fess up. What's bothering you?"

Bruce groaned in frustration and admitted, "I had a theory, about the Red Hood, but it can't be true. I can't decide if its my analytical brain putting the small things together or my own wishful thinking."

Kathy palmed his cheek with her hand and asked, "What are you thinking?"

Against his will, the man's eyes turned back to the display case. "The man I met had physical skills on a level that I've only ever seen in myself and those I've trained. On top of that he had an intimate enough knowledge of my career as Batman to know about and reference my 'greatest mistakes.' Finally, he apparently knows who the Batman really is… and his voice, though slightly modulated by the helmet, had a very slight English lilt to it."

Though she wasn't as great a detective as her fiancee, Kathy did fancy herself something of an investigator as well. Putting those pieces together with the way she just found him, she gasped and pulled him into a tight hug. "Harry's gone, Bruce. You know that. This cannot be him."

Her man stiffened at those words, but nevertheless he wrapped his arms around her to return the embrace, only the slight shaking of his shoulders giving away the pain he was feeling. "People have returned from the grave before. Just look at Clark."

"Yes, but the boy you described to me would never do the things this killer has. He'd never murder people in cold blood."

Bruce seemed to choke for a minute before managing to say, "I know. But all these little puzzle pieces are adding up, and I'm terrified that I'm not going to like the finished picture they show."

That Night

Nightwing had a hunch. It was a long-shot to be sure, but until he had a better lead this was better than nothing. The Red Hood had taken action during the transport of Black Mask's weapon, so clearly he was making moves on the man's territory. His theory, was that if such a man was planning to make further moves, then he might be staking out the man himself.

So here Dick was, perched on the very top of Roman Sionis's building and surveying the surrounding structures through his binoculars. If his hunch was right it'd be pretty easy to tell. After all, from Bruce's description the man wore… a… red… helmet. Dick blinked. He'd been casually scanning a rooftop to the North, and there he fucking was. Just as Bruce had said. He was dressed in body armor, a brown leather jacket, and a red goddamn helmet. It seemed like a bit of a misnomer to call oneself the Red Hood and wear a helmet, but he supposed a more literal name would open one up to enough phallic jokes to send the bearer off into a murderous rampage. To Dick's mind this guy was killing enough people without the added incentive. But wait, what was he doing?

As Dick watched the man got up on one knee, reached down to something at his side and raised it onto his shoulder. He adjusted the zoom a bit and he saw… Holy Fuck! A Bazooka!

In a flash Nightwing leapt form the roof, launched his grappling gun at the nearest building, and twisted his body to send his momentum turning in the right direction. If he could just make it to the criminal before he fired….

A resounding boom and surge of crimson light behind him told the story of how that plan was going to go. He hadn't been fast enough to stop the attack, but the Hood was still in his line of sight, and he was currently swinging right at him without being noticed! As he drew closer, Dick put his legs before him, braced himself, and at the last possible second let go his line, turning his body into a flying javelin. He impacted with the villain's chest, and as the two tumbled back onto the surface of the roof, the vigilante realized how effective the body armor on his opponent must be. His feet were on fire from the impact, and if the way he was jumping back to his feet to face him was any indication, then he'd barely felt the attack. "So unfair." He groused as he go back to his own feet, adopting a ready stance.

Across from him, the Hood was clearly glowering through his eye slits. "Well, if it isn't old Dicky boy." He growled, causing Nightwing to flinch.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The older man bluffed, all the while his mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out how this monster could possibly know his secret identity.

"Of course you don't." The hood pumped his arms out in a classic boxers stance as he shuffled forward, menace following every action. "You know, I've been following your exploits for a while now, and I haven't been able to help wondering if I still have what it takes to take you down."

"Still?" Dick questioned, but before he could dive further into that particular thought process, the Hood attacked.

For all the armor he wore, Dick's opponent was incredibly fast. He punched kicked, dodged, and weaved so seamlessly that he couldn't have been anything but professionally trained from an early age. There was no other way the two of them could be so evenly matched. Suddenly, Dick had an opening, he ducked under a body blow and with the flexibility of a gymnast spun his body into a low roundhouse kick that impacted sharply with the helmeted man's skull hard enough to send him spinning. When Dick got in close to capitalize on his temporary advantage, the Hood spun and slammed his helmet into his skull hard enough to stagger him.

The murderer didn't waste any time as he tackled Nightwing to the ground, shimmied up his body until his knees were pinning his arms, and started raining down blows onto his face. One after the other, each hit as hard as cinderblocks, the blows came down, and in this position Dick had no leverage to topple his attacker.

He bucked, shimmied, and wriggled until his boots finally found a purchase, and he used that grip to violently raise his hips enough to topple the Hood. As the man rolled back to his feet, Nightwing did the same, hastily wiping the blood from his lip and nose away with the back of his gloved hand.

Ahead of him, Red was breathing deeply as drew a curved knife from a sheath on his thigh. "I gotta say, Dick, You're just as good as I hoped you'd be." He spun the blade into a reversed 'ice pick' grip, "But I don't have time to keep playing with you."

Again the use of his real name. Who the hell was this guy? Before he could try to question him, the Hood was charging. He was so much faster this time! Dick swung wide, trying to nail him in his helmet's blind spot, but the Hood ducked under his wing, hooked his arm with his own, and swung his body around to smash back onto the ground face first with the Red Hood kneeling on his back, still in full control of his limb. He was helpless!

"Sorry, Dick." The man said as he tightened his grip, "But I can't have you getting up just yet." A sharp yank and a horrifying pop signaled the dislocation of his shoulder, and as he screamed in pain, the Hood stabbed his knife through his good hand, pinning it to the roof floor. As his adversary stepped off of him and walked over to view the carnage his bazooka had wrought, Dick tried to get up, to free himself, to do anything! But with one arm dislocated, and the other literally nailed to the floor, he was helpless as a lamb to slaughter.

He was brought back to the present as the man that had temporarily crippled him knelt beside him and started pulling things out of his utility belt.

"You know," he said, "you ruined a perfectly good assassination attempt tonight. That explosion took out the bulletproof glass, and I was all set to put a bullet in old Mask's head. But you just had to get in the way. So now that piece of filth is free to run along and kill even more innocent people."

"And what do you call what you do?" Nightwing managed to grit through his teeth. "You've killed dozens since arriving in Gotham. How are you any better than Black Mask?"

Red paused for a moment as he considered his answer, "Typical child of Bruce. You have the same antiquated sense of morality. I call it taking out the trash. You see I'm better than the Black Mask, Batman, and you for that matter, because the people I kill are all monsters. And when I'm done with them they aren't capable of hurting anyone else again. Gotham is a better place because of what I do."

"Murder is never the answer."

"Does that stop them? Those monsters you fight on a regular basis? What good are your principles when literally no one else shares them? Do you think the families of those your villains keep murdering are happy to see you taking the moral high ground? Or would they feel better knowing their abusers can never again touch a living soul? Ah! Here we go." He pulled a portable emergency beacon out the vigilante's belt and activated it. "I imagine Ol' Bats will be here to save ya right quick now." He dropped the beacon on the ground and started walking away. Just before he hopped off the roof he said, "It was good seeing ya again, Dick. Tell Bruce I'll be seeing him soon."

He dropped into the abyss and Dick surrendered to the pain, falling out of consciousness to the accompaniment of the beacon's continuous beeping.

Harry's Safe House

Selina entered her son's temporary home to find all three of his wives (they had married in a League officiated ceremony) gathered around a table drinking tea, as the sound of rapid thumps and grunts came through the walls. She sat down beside them, poured herself a cup and asked, "Is he bedding a fourth girl I don't know about, or is he venting on the punching bag?"

It was Raven that answered. "His big brother foiled his hit on the Black Mask and Harry had to fight him. Apparently it brought back some memories and he needed to blow off some steam."

Selina raised a delicate brow at that bit of information. "He beat down Nightwing? Good for him. Though I'm surprised none of you are comforting him. Isn't that the duty of a wife?"

Nyssa scowled and said, "He's in a mood. When he gets this bad we've found its best to let him wear himself out and then comfort him. Otherwise he pulls away."

"Smart." the Catwoman nodded. "But what does that mean for the Black Mask? Conventional assassination won't be possible now that he's on his guard."

"I'll be going after him with magic once he sends his men out to strike back at our territory." Raven spoke from the depths of her hood. "My familiars watch him at all times, and when he sends his men out he'll be minimally defended. Once he's gone the only thing keeping Harry from control of the city will be the Maroni's and the Batfamily. Though it's the latter that worries me the most."

"Oh?" Selina queried. "Why is that?"

Raven gestured to the air and they could all still hear the sounds of fists impacting leather and sand. "If he's this way after simply fighting his brother, imagine how he'll feel after actually confronting his father and his replacement."

Everyone at the table winced at those words. In hindsight that should have been obvious. In concert they all looked at each other and nodded, conveying the support they were bound and determined to give their husband and son without the need for words. Then as the cadence of punches finally wound down to silence, three of their number exited the room, and Selina leaned back to finish her tea. She had a feeling things were going to get hectic soon enough, and she wanted to enjoy this temporary peace for as long as she could.

The Batcave

The usual crowd was meandering around the cave doing their regular activities. Weather they be training, working on their gear, or perusing the police bands on the radio to check for new alerts when the Batmobile came screeching through the waterfall exit and sliding to a halt in the middle of its parking space. As everyone watched, Batman launched himself out of the cab with an unconscious Nightwing in his arms.

"Alfred!" He yelled to the startled, tea tray carrying, butler. "He needs medical attention!"

With the efficiency of years spent in the military, Alfred dropped his tray, pushed aside his worries, and ran over to the first aid station to don a pair of gloves. As the resident medic this was his responsibility.

Two hours later, and Dick was awake, bandaged up the wazoo, and stable. He'd suffered a dislocated arm, a stabbing, dozens of bodily contusions, and several facial lacerations caused by blunt force trauma. To put it in the simplest terms possible, he got the shit kicked out of him.

As the entire Batfamily fussed around him, Bruce decided to pull up a stool and actually ask him what the hell had happened out there. He knew his oldest had decided to stick around Gotham and help with the Red Hood problem, but the last he'd heard, Dick had been out on one of his regular patrols.

"Son," he started, "do you feel up to telling us how you were injured?"

His former Robin gave a look that clearly indicated that he thought he was being treated like a child, but nevertheless he seemed to understand the gravity of the situation because he answered readily enough.

"I was working a hunch about the Red Hood, and it panned out. Sadly not in time to stop him from blowing a hole in Roman Sionis's tower, but at least I managed to confront him."

"Why didn't you call me, Tim, or Kathy for backup?" Bruce asked, his mind moving a mile a minute as he tried to process the implications of this attack on the second biggest crime lord in Gotham.

"I had no way of knowing the Hood would actually show up. As I said, it was a hunch. Then when I finally saw him, I was forced to act immediately lest he harm anyone in the time it would take for anyone else to arrive. He even admitted that his plan was to assassinate Roman after breaking through his bulletproof glass."

Kathy gasped, "You spoke to him?"

"More than that, I fought him." He gestured to his battered, shirtless, bandage wrapped, body, "This is all his handiwork."

Tim Drake's eyes shot wide open. "He beat you!? But you're the best of us!"

"Nah, Bruce is better than me. But this guy… he was something else."

Bruce leaned forward until his chin was resting on his clasped hands. "Tell me everything, son."

And so he did. Richard Grayson recounted every second of his encounter with the Red Hood, finishing with, "He was a brawler, better than any I've ever seen before, and when he had the knife in his hand he definitely knew what he was doing with it. He was confident, but not over the top, and he knew things, Bruce. He referred to both me and you by our real names multiple times during the encounter. Then there's his sick justification for murder. The man actually seems to believe he's helping Gotham with what he's doing."

To everyone present, Bruce's grim visage could have been made of stone. "I only have two more questions. First, during your fight, did he ever actually try to kill you? Second, I know his voice is slightly modulated, but could you detect anything strange about his accent?"

Grayson thought about it for a second before his eyes grew wide and he said, "Now that you mention it… no. He didn't try to kill me, and he had several opportunities, especially when he started using the knife. It's almost like he went out of his way to keep me alive."

Bruce nodded, "And his voice?"

Dick thought long and hard about it, and eventually said, "Looking back, there might have been an accent. I'd say either English or Australian, but that modulator in his helmet makes it hard to say for sure."

With a sudden rush of movement, Bruce redonned his cowl, kicked his stool away and started moving back to the Batmobile. Kathy, who was already suited up in preparation of an emergency ran to catch up with him and hopped into the passenger seat. She smiled slightly when her fiancee didn't say anything against her actions, instead choosing to simply start the vehicle and peal out of the cave.

As the city of Gotham came closer in the windshield, she asked, "What are we doing, Bruce?"

"The Black Mask won't take this attack lying down. He's bound to retaliate in a big way."

"So we're going out to stop whatever he puts in motion?"

"Yes." He answered simply.

"And to confront the Red Hood?" She pressed.

Her man was silent for several moments before saying, "The pieces are stacking up into the picture we spoke about before, and I was right. I'm not liking the image it's building."

Kathy laid a supporting hand on his own. "I still don't think it's him, Bruce. But what will you do if it is?"

"I save people, Kathy. I'll save him." He growled as he pushed his vehicle into a higher gear, "Even if what I'm saving him from is himself."

Three Hours Later

The streets of Gotham were going up in panic and molotov's as Black Mask's men ran rampant. They'd been told to only target specific businesses and fronts, but the moment they started rioting all reason left them and they started tearing into everything in sight. It was enough to keep the police force entirely occupied as three men pulled a large black man out of his home and threw his body into an empty alley.

"Are you insane!" The man accused his attackers. "Do you have any idea who I pay protection to? Do you know who's got my back?"

"Yeah." the man at the head of the trio smirked as he lit the molotov in his hand. "someone who's about to be as dead as you." A gunshot rang out in the night, and the bottle exploded in the thug's hand, sending his body up in flames as his compatriots watched in horror.

Out of the darkness of the alley walked the Red Hood, the flames of the night glinting off his helmet in a hellish light. The remaining goons took one look at him and took off running. Meanwhile, the crime lord reached down and pulled the fallen man to his feet.

"Head home, Lucas. The streets are crazy tonight but they'll be back to normal by morning." The former victim nodded and took off running, not for the first time glad that he'd taken his boss's deal.

The evenings festivities were far from over however, as the entrance to the alley was lit up with several portable spotlights, illuminating the forms of four armored and mechanical mercenaries.

"The Fearsome Hand of Four." Harry mused as he pulled his pistols from their holsters. "I've heard a lot about you."

The woman in the lead activated her plasma swords as she stalked forward. "Funny, we've never heard of you. So it was definitely a surprise when the Black Mask paid us for your head."

"Kind of the point, darling. Now how about you put those swords down and run away? It'd be a shame to put a bullet through that beautiful skull of yours."

The woman stopped as he partners fanned out around her, filling the space and completely cutting off the exit. "What is this? The witty banter hour? We aren't here to talk."

"Neither am I." Harry mused as he clicked off the safeties of his guns and looked into the distance. "I'm just stalling you."

The members of the Hand stared uneasily at each other. "Stalling for what?"

Red twitched his helmet behind them. "For those two."

The foursome spun around and in the light of their own lamps stood the stoic forms of the Batman and Batwoman. Without a word they dove at the assassins, and all hell broke loose. Bullets started flying, lasers beams cut through the air, and miniature explosions tossed combatants left and right. Through all the confusion it wasn't long until the Hood and Batman ended up back to back.

"I'm both pissed off to see you and annoyed that it took you so long to get here." Red groused.

"Shut up and fight." Batman bit back as he ran back into the melee with the Hood hot on his heels. As the Batwoman handled the big ass tank of a man, they took on the other three together. Like a well oiled machine they rotated around each other, watching their impromptu partner's backs and capitalizing on the openings each provided on their opponents. It became such a smooth second nature that passerby might be forgiven for thinking they were dancing. Until they noticed the cries of pain and blood flying into the air of course.

The Hand had superior numbers, but the defenders had greater skill and weaponry. Batwoman finished off her opponent by smashing his eardrums and crushing his nose. Batman took out the cyclops with a taser to the chest and a miniature explosive that sent his body flying into the air. The swordswoman was finished as Harry slipped under her rapid strikes and drove his elbow into the back of her neck, snapping her spine with the force of the blow. The last member of the group was nowhere to be seen.

With a last look around, Harry approached the bat and said, "I gotta say I missed watching you work." Then the motion sensor's in his helmet started screaming at him and he pushed Bruce out of the way by reflex, "Look out!"

An instant later the last assassin crashed to the ground where he'd been standing. He'd apparently traded out his electrostaff for a plasma knife because as he landed it cut a hardline through Harry's armor and just managed to nick through his skin and draw blood.

The Hood growled, kicked the knife out of his attacker's hands and fired both pistols at point blank range into his skull. He never stood a chance. As his blood exploded onto the ground, the two bat themed vigilantes could only stare in horror at the perpetrator and he holstered his guns with a curse.

Not liking those looks one bit, red squared up and said, "Just be glad I only killed two of them." He gestured to their weapons and armor, "They're assassins who kill people for money!"

"And what are you?" Batman shot back. Meanwhile, Batwoman retreated a step, clearly sending the message that this confrontation wasn't going to include her.

"I'm the man that's cleaning up this shithole of a city. And I'm a hell of a lot more effective than you ever were."

For a moment, the Bat actually looked like he was in pain, and then he said, "You're killing criminals, taking over mafia controlled territory, and cutting off everyone that gets in your way. You're becoming a crime lord."

"Yes!" Red threw his hands up in exasperation. "Crime can never be completely stopped or eradicated. It's embedded too deeply into the human psyche. That's what you never understood! I'm controlling it, and by doing so I can minimize it!" The more he spoke the louder his words became. "You rule this city through fear and intimidation, and that's all well and good, but what about those that aren't afraid. Those certain villains that see your costume and laugh. I'm doing what you won't, I'm taking them out!"

"Killing is not the action this city needs!"

"It's the only thing that works!"

That pained look was back in force, and Batman started walking toward him with his arms open and nonthreatening, "Tell me what happened to you. Please, let me help."

Harry's head twitched at those words, and he began to shudder. "It's too late for that. You had your chance." He reached into his jacket, pulled out a smoke bomb, and yanked out the pin. As the concealing vapor enveloped his body his words drifted out of the gloom, "And I'm just getting started."

The smoke cleared a few seconds later, revealing no trace of the man that had just occupied its space. Bruce gave it one last look, before picking up the assassins bloody knife, and dropping it into a plastic evidence bag. His suspicions were an almost certainty by this point. It was time to finish the puzzle.

Meanwhile:

Roman Sionis was sitting on a plush leather couch in his safe room awaiting news that his adversary had been dealt with. He was a cautious man, and thus had stationed every guard he had remaining outside the room, in the halls, and above and below him. There was no way anyone could sneak up to him, and even if they did, they'd need copies of his fingerprints, retinal eye scans, and knowledge of a sixteen digit door code that changed every twenty-four hours. He was completely safe. Or so he thought.

With barely a whisper of sound, Raven rose from the floor behind him. She took a moment to look around, and seeing no one present to stop her, smiled within the depths of her hood. Overconfident men always amused her. They could never conceive of situations where they were not in control. That was one of the many reasons she loved Harry so dearly. He never took anything for granted, and appreciated everything he had at all times. That of course included his wives.

With a flick of her hand a ball of black energy engulfed Roman Sionis's head, completely cutting off his oxygen supply. Immediately he started thrashing and clutching uselessly at his head. In his panic he even managed to hit his emergency response button, but paranoid fuck that he was he hadn't thought to give any of his men the new code to the door, so all they could do was stand helplessly outside with the knowledge that their employer was in serious danger.

As his struggles finally ceased, and his foot began to twitch, Raven surrendered to a moment of pity, and simply cut his head off with a scythe of arcane energy. Only once she saw the skull start bouncing around the floor did she allow herself to melt back into the shadows. She couldn't wait to let her Harry know about her successful mission. His rewards were always incredibly pleasurable.

Wayne Manor

Master Bruce and his team were in the cave, doing something or other with the Batcomputer. Alfred had offered to make everyone some tea and snacks, but Bruce had told him they weren't needed and literally pushed him up the stairs. Now, the butler was nobodies fool. He could tell that something strange was going on, but experience had taught him that when Bruce got like this there was nothing to do but wait. So here he was, dusting shelves and vases as he perused the hall of the manor.

Things had been so hectic lately, what with all the deaths, Bruce's strange attitude, and mob intrigue, that he hadn't had a chance to care for the place as he usually did. He was just making his way past the library door when he heard it. Several cats mewing in tandem. Harry's cats. His first thought was that Rose must be in there with them, as she was wont to be, but then he stiffened as he recalled seeing her working with the others in the cave.

Slowly drawing his sidearm, he crept over to the door and eased his way inside. He didn't see anything, but the cats cries were coming from several shelves over. Silently he crept along, knowledgeably stepping over every creaking floorboard and easing his head around the last stack until he had a clear view of the scene. The color drained from his face at the sight his eyes revealed. He was here. The Red Hood. And he was… cuddling with the cats? In his shock, the grey haired butler accidentally stepped on one of the creaking boards, alerting the other man, who jumped to his feet with a pistol of his own aimed at the Englishman.

The two stared at each other for a couple of heartbeats, before the Hood started laughing and holstered his weapon before picking up one of the felines and stroking its ears. "Jeez, Al, you surprised me." Noticing his opposition had yet to lower their own weapon he said, "Can you lower the piece? I'm pretty much bulletproof in this armor and I'd hate for you to shoot Shiba by mistake."

Alfred jumped. "How do you know its name?"

Red stood still for a moment before dropping the cat and reaching up to the clasps of his helmet, "I saw Bruce take the knife from the alley earlier, so it's only a matter of time until he figures it out. Might as well let you know first." The clasps released, and ever so slowly, the helmet came off, revealing the last face Alfred ever thought he'd see again.

The gun clattered to the ground, and the butler could only stare as tears began to fall from his eyes. "Harry?" He walked up to him and placed a hand on his face, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "You're alive!"

A lopsided grin appeared on the young man's face as Shiba jumped back into his arms for more attention. "Yeah, Al, I'm alive. Sorry for barging in like this, but I had a rather stressful night and I wanted to vent to my kitties here before going home to the women. I didn't want to bring the rage home with me again, and in the past these little furballs always calmed me down. Also, I think I was hoping to see you too. Before things got too out of hand."

"Women? What?"

"I'm sorry, Alfred, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got places to be, criminals to slaughter, and wives that need some satisfying." He winked and dropped Shiba back onto the floor again. "Thanks for finishing that book for me, and thanks for looking after my cats. It's a relief to know they were cared for."

"Wait!" Before Alfred could say anything else, a cloud of smoke filled the room and when it dispersed, Harry was gone.

The Batcave

Bruce, Kathy, Rose, and Dick's eyes were all glued to the screen before them as the computer analyzed the blood from the knife that had cut the Red Hood. Any second now it would display the results and they'd hopefully have a face to match to the mask, or helmet, as it were. They were still staring at it when Alfred stumbled down the stairs, gripped Bruce by the cape and yanked him around to face him.

"Did you know!" He screamed at him, causing everyone else to flinch as the computer dinged with its results.

"Alfred," Bruce tried to reason with his oldest friend, but the man cut him off once more.

"Did you know Harry was alive!" All sound ceased in the cave, and as Bruce looked over at the computer and saw the positive match between the blood and Harry's stored DNA file, something inside him broke.

"No. I had suspicions, based off circumstantial evidence, but I wasn't completely sure until these results confirmed it. I didn't voice my suspicions because I didn't want to get your hopes up if I was wrong. How do you know already?"

"He was here." Alfred released him and practically fell into the nearest chair. "In the library. He was just, playing with the cats. I confronted him, he showed me his face, and then he left before I could stop him. He's alive, Bruce. Our boy is alive."

Those four words had a profound effect on everyone present. Bruce looked haunted. Dick appeared as if he'd been kicked in the groin as he held his mangled hand. Rose had tears streaming down her face. Kathy was looking at her fiancee with worry, and Tim kept looking between the glass cased Robin suit and the DNA results with unadulterated horror.

All of them were sharing the same two thoughts. 'How was it possible that Harry was alive?' and 'What had happened to turn him into a killer?'

Infinity Island

Two Days Later

The stillness of the night over the fortress was broken by the screech of the Batwing soaring overhead and banking hard as the almost indistinguishable form of the batman shot out of the cockpit and started gliding toward the roof, blending seamlessly into the night as he did. Could he have performed a more stealthy entrance? Yes. Did he feel like it? Hell no! He'd exhausted every other method of resurrection he could think of in his investigation, leaving him only with this island.

The moment he landed on the roof of the League of Shadows headquarters he started beating the shit out of roof guards and then he kept up the pattern. Every League member he found hit the dirt, every door that barred his way found itself knocked off its hinges. Over and over he rampaged through the facility until he finally reached the chambers of Ra's al'Ghul. With a roar he barreled through the door, intent on driving the man's face into his own desk and demanding to know what the hell he'd done to his son.

He wasn't expecting the man to be absent, nor for his daughter to be waiting for him alone before the Demon's lit fireplace.

"Hello, beloved." She said softly as she gestured to a seat before the fire. Seeing his disbelief and wandering eyes looking for guards, ninja, or other traps, she hastened to add, "I have called off the alarms and guards. We can speak civilly, you and I."

Batman was having none of it however. "Where's Ra's?" He growled as he made himself loom over the woman.

He should have remembered who Talia's father was. "If you think to intimidate me, you will find yourself disappointed. As for my father, he was called away on other business in Europe. I'm sure I can answer any inquiry you have. So please, sit."

When he remained standing she sighed in annoyance and resignation, before taking one of the seats for her own. "Suit yourself, beloved, but I at least shall be comfortable. What would you like to talk about?"

"You know damn well why I'm here."

She sighed, and stared into the flames. "Yes. I guess I do. So he finally revealed himself did he?"

"You knew? About Harry?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

Talia wouldn't look at him as she said, "Long enough."

Bruce's glare could have melted steel at that revelation. "Why didn't you tell me the moment you found out?"

"Because I'm loyal to my father, Bruce. He gave orders. Harry isn't just a pawn to the League, he's its heir. In this society he is known as the Demon's Hand. Do you think my father would allow such a man to be spoken of without repercussions?"

If she'd said anything else he might have shot back with any number of barbs, but the revelation of just what his son had become was justifiably shocking. He still refused to sit down, but Bruce did move to stand beside the woman he had once thought he loved. "What exactly happened to him? Tell me everything."

"Are you sure you wish to know, beloved? This knowledge will hurt you greatly."

"I deserve the pain."

"On that we disagree, but I will heed your wish." She nodded her head. "It all started when your son saved my half sister from a fate worse than death. On that day he killed his first man…"

And so Talia recounted every grisly detail she knew. She started with how Nyssa had retrieved Harry's body in Bosnia, reanimated it with the Lazarus Pit, and cared for it even after it had slaughtered so many of its other caretakers. Then she recounted Zatanna and Raven bringing his memories back. And finally, she spoke of the pain he'd felt upon realizing that Bruce had not avenged him, and how that hurt had transformed into a need to gain vengeance. A need that Ra's had capitalized on to tie him to the League.

When she started recounting the vast numbers that Harry and his impromptu 'family' had slaughtered in the League's name, Bruce promptly threw up. How could this have happened? How could his boy have turned into this?

"You're scum. All of you." He groaned after wiping his mouth.

"Why?" Talia asked, "Because we saved his life?"

"You made him a murderer!"

The woman before him could only stare at him for several seconds, before bursting out into laughter of all things. "Please, beloved. You give my father far too much credit. Did he provide Harry with the tools and training to get the job done? Yes. But as for becoming a murderer, that was his choice. He was offered the chance to leave many times, and refused to go. I suppose it's to be expected. You betrayed him, and he turned against every ideal you stood for."

Talia suddenly found herself pressed hard against the fireplace, Bruce's hands digging deep bruises into the flesh of her shoulders. "I have never betrayed my son!" He roared.

All at once, Talia's voice gained an edge of sympathy, and her eyes became warm as amber. "That's not how he sees things. I am sorry, beloved. I did not agree with my father's choice to make Harry his heir. Nor did I enjoy watching his fall to darkness. I knew it would hurt you, but it was not my place to speak."

Bruce slowly released her and made his way back to the door, "It should have been. If I really was your 'beloved' then no orders from on high should have been enough to keep this from me."

Before Talia could respond, he was gone.