Dick nor any of the al Ghul's would be white-washed if I owned Batman

The sun descending in the west, the evening star does shine

The birds are silent in their nest and I must seek for mine.

The moon, like a flower in heaven's high bower,

With silent delight sits and smiles on the night.

Infinity Island

March 20, 02:57 UTC

"Woah! I think this guy is trying to kill us!" Kid Flash exclaimed as he ducked under two or three energy blasts and he joined his friends behind their temporary cover. Superboy had flipped the large table in the room in order to block some of the blasts.

"What was your first clue?" He growled angrily as he did his best to keep himself in front of M'Gann.

"Just trying to lighten the mood Supey," Kid muttered under his breath while Aqualad gave them both stern looks from next to Superboy. There was an alarm blazing throughout the base, no doubt because of the sounds of shooting, they have possibly endangered the rest of the Team and they were no closer to finding Drake. Their leader was not happy.

"We need a plan. We need to get away from Epoch and find a better position to fight back from." Aqualad added, peeking around the table.

Miss Martian smiled suddenly as an idea came to her. "I got it, be prepared to run." She added on as suddenly the table, their only protection, flew forward and slammed Epoch into the wall which stopped his attack. "Come on, let's go!" She shouted as she flew out the door, the others quickly behind her.

"We're running away?" Kid Flash asked, slowing his pace to match his teammates.

"We could not have won from that position and, besides, our priority is Drake. Miss Martian, connect me to the others, I will inform them that we've located Epoch." Aqualad said, addressing Miss Martian who frowned as she searched telepathically for the others.

Superboy turned in the direction of an adjacent hallway where he could hear the rapid sound of footstep coming their way. "We can't stay here, we're going to have company fast." He said gruffly, tugging lightly on Miss Martian's arm as she frowned in concentration.

"It looks like the other group has split up, Robin and Batman are on the other end of the island but Thomas and Artemis are close."

Kid looked over at her. "How close?"

Miss Martian didn't have a chance to answer as, suddenly, a knife imbedded into the control panel about 6 inches from Kid's face. The panel sparked and closed off the corridor where Superboy had heard more ninjas coming. Kid jumped back with a squeak as he turned to identify the guilty party. He wasn't surprised in the least to find it was Thomas and, even better, he had 2 swords strapped to his back.

"Oh good, we found you." Artemis said coming around the corner where her bow was hooked around her shoulder and she had a sword in her hands and a couple of throwing knives strapped to her waist. Wally began to fear for his safety. Artemis must have seen his look for she threw a smirk his way. "Hey, I only have so many arrows and they're not going to work against a billion ninjas. The kid got us to the weapons room."

"Why haven't you found Drake yet?" Damian asked curtly.

Superboy stepped forward to confront him but Aqualad held out a hand. "We were attempting to find Drake when we ran into Epoch; he is likely right behind us." Aqualad answered and the young boy scoffed, he brought the sword up to point down to another hallway.

"Personal quarters are that way, follow the hallway all the way to the end then go to right. Drake is young and vulnerable, they have no reason to keep him in discomfort especially if they seek to sway him. He'll probably be in one of the suites." He swung the sword back down. "Leave Epoch to Crock and I."

"We'd appreciate it greatly if you kept his head attached to his body." Kid replied sarcastically, stepping as far out of range from the tiny assassin as he could.

Damian just glared at him. "The League of Assassins may have trained me, but I am still my father's son." The Team paused awkwardly, shifting on their feet. Damian leveled them with an annoyed glare. "I know Robin told you about my familial relations, there's no point in denying it." There was a loud banging sound on the door just then, most likely Epoch trying to breech the hold. "Don't worry, the villain will live to face your meandering, corrupt system of justice. Now go, find Drake before they decide to move him."

"Good luck Thomas, Artemis," Miss Martian said, floating up and following her teammates down the hall where, hopefully, they would find the captive boy. The two former assassins turned back to the steel plated door as it became increasing less sturdy, it wouldn't take much more abuse. They fell into position.

"I know it has been some time since you have used your assassins training against an opponent, I do hope you are able to manage." Damian said, readying himself for the battle he had to win, for both the Batman here and the one he left in the future.

Artemis sniffed as she secured her bow around her shoulder and steadied her sword. "You're a little snot just like your brother; let's see if you're as good as you claim to be." The door finally lost the battle and splintered apart from the wall revealing Epoch.

The villain chuckled wryly when he saw the two former assassins sprinting towards him. "It looks like I've changed dance partners, this evening just keeps getting better and better." He responded as he moved forward to engage them.

Infinity Island

March 20, 03:24 UTC

Batman grunted as he took down another half dozen zealots, he didn't even give them a glance as he strode past the now unconscious men. Either Ra's was getting sloppy with his training or the League was expanding rapidly. The idea that the immortal would need an enormous amount of bodies, regardless of their level of training, was worrisome. Once this mission was complete, Batman would be paying much more attention the League's operations.

M'Gann was keeping the mindlink at a lower level so it would not be distracting, but he could feel the children engaging against multiple opponents. He hopes he didn't end up sacrificing any of them to recover Drake. Or Thomas for that matter. His form tensed as he picked up the sounds of more assassins coming his way, good. The more he was able to disable, the less the Team had to worry about.

"We need to evacuate the base now that the Justice League knows our location. Begin immediate purging procedures and-" He wasn't sure who was more surprised, himself or Talia when his former lover passed into the corridor. His eyes narrowed, despite the fact that she was the mother of his child, she was still a dangerous enemy that needed to be dealt with.

"Your base has fallen Talia, give up while you're able and I'll do what I can for you." He said gruffly.

"If only it were that easy, Beloved." She replied mockingly as she nodded her chin causing the guards with her to spring forward to attack. Batman growled as he watched Talia run down the hall while her guards were distracting him. If she thought a couple of ninjas would keep him from the information he wanted then he really didn't deserve his title as her 'Beloved'. He made quick work of her men, grabbing the last one and throwing him roughly into the wall.

"Where is he Talia?" He demanded once he let the unconscious man fall from his grasp as he sprinted in the direction Talia had run in. He rounded a corner and found her holding a gun in his face; he ducked under the weapon and knocked it away. Grabbing her by her shoulders, he pushed her into a wall. "Where is our son?"

Her eyes were hard as she wriggled vainly in his grasp. "I do not know what you are talking about." She replied meeting his gaze head on without any shame on her face. He tightened his grip on her shoulders.

"Talia, think rationally. The League of Assassins isn't a good place for him and you know it. I'm sure you're aware of the plans Ra's would have for a boy like that, you can't possibly want that kind of future for your, our, child. He deserves to be happy Talia and he's not going to be here." He shook her again, trying for what seemed like the hundredth time to save her from herself. "Come with me Talia, take the boy and come back with me." For the first time, her face softened as she regarded him and he was reminded just why, once upon a time, he had loved her.

She brought one of her hands up to cup his face. "Oh, Bruce, you are such a good man and an excellent father." She began tenderly, "which is why you will let me go now."

"Talia," he began before she shushed him and placed a finger on his lips.

"I heard a report on my way here, it seems your young Robin is in over his head and is slowly but surely being worn down by our soldiers. The standing orders from my father are to execute any of the young heroes should they fall." She smiled again but her eyes were sad. "I have seen the future, my love, and we do not get our happy ending. You are going to let me go because you must, because a father will always put his children before all else."

He turned away from her, looking over his shoulder as if that would bring him closer to Dick. He mentally searched for his son via the mindlink only find Robin unresponsive. He spun on his heels and ran as fast as he could down the hall, leaving Talia and the information she possessed behind. He hoped he wasn't too late. Images of blood and a broken string of pearls in an alley came to him, he pushed himself harder. He would not be too late. Finally, he entered the large cavern from earlier, where at least three dozen warriors were battling.

"Robin!" He yelled, pulling out his grappling hook and using it to get above the frenzy, he spotted Dick in the middle, moving slowly and covered in blood but still alive. He let go and dived for the center, protectively pulling his partner into his cape while he took care of the nearest threats. "Are you alright?" He asked, hearing the boy wheezing. Fractured ribs for sure, multiple lacerations and bruises, though pure exhaustion appeared to be the main problem. "I told you to call if you needed assistance."

"I don't need any help," Robin replied unconvincingly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were looking for Ra's and Talia." The boy continued, ducking out of the cape and re-instigating his battle. Listening to him breathe, Batman could tell that Robin was reaching his limit. He had done admirably, maintaining the fight here and away from the others, but his mentor was pulling him out. Batman reached for another grappling gun again and shot it into the support beams, he then grabbed the boy and held him securely.

"What are you doing?" Robin demanded as suddenly he and Batman were airborne. He squirmed within his mentor's strong grasp. "Let me go! You can't treat me like this, I'm not a child anymore!"

"You have performed excellently and I am very proud of the good work you did but it was time to end the fight." Batman said, finding purchase on one of the beams they had scoured earlier. "And it's not because you are a child, but because you are my child, Richard. I am not going to let you get hurt over some deluded idea that you need to prove yourself to me." Dick's anger abated as he stared up dumbly at his mentor.

"Rest here for a bit, it's fine if you need to return to the Bioship but, if you can, meet back up with Thomas and Artemis." Batman paused, "You're right, you're nearly an adult and I can't tell you what to do anymore. The decision is yours. I trust your judgement to do what's best for yourself and the mission."

With that said, Batman retracted his grapple and used it to dive down back into the fray, releasing a few smoke bombs to get past the remaining ninjas before going back into the halls. Talia would be long gone by now and it would be a waste of time to chase after her. Instead he had to stay focused on the present mission, finding and apprehending Epoch. Because as much as he hated to leave the younger Thomas here, Batman at least knew he would be safe here. Robin and the others would not have that same luxury. There was time enough to find the baby, but for now he had to put the children he already had first.

XxX

Artemis sidestepped the energy beam that was heading towards her and continued her assault against Epoch. He was good, real good. His quick reflexes and meticulous training all coupled with the strength and endurance of his futuristic suit made sure that she and the kid were on the defensive more than either was used to. This was taking way too long, Artemis was getting tired from parrying blows and they weren't able to initiate any effective attacks. They had to turn the momentum of this battle and fast.

'You take his left, I'll take his right,' she said into the mindlink, giving Damian a pointed look. He steadied the grip on his sword and they charged forward at the same time. Epoch laughed at their efforts, taking Artemis's attack without injury which causing her to bounce off and hit the floor. He then ducked Damian's sword and instead swiped the younger boy off his feet. It happened so quickly, the former assassin didn't have time to react before he was falling. By the time he'd recovered himself, Epoch was directly in front of him.

"You know playing with you kids was fun at first," Epoch said, Damian gritted, bring up his sword to protect himself as Epoch was suddenly within his space. "But you've all gotten in my way a few too many times. You and your brother did quite a number on my suit this morning not to mention you robbed me of my target. At least I got to go pick up the Drake kid, guess you don't care too much for that brother."

He leaned in closer, "My mission was almost compromised and it's all your fault you little stowaway." He was too close, Damian didn't have any room to use his weapon when his opponent was less than a foot away from him. "The little bird who flew too far from home, but there's no big brother around to save you this time." There were a few ways Damian could end this fight if he chose to use violence but he had sworn an oath to his family that he would not spill blood unless necessary.

"Think again you big jerk," Robin announced coming from behind, dropping the last of his bombs on Epoch's back before flipping over his shoulder. The Boy Wonder skidded to a stop in-between Thomas and Artemis as the bombs went off and Epoch sprawled to the floor. "I'm still new to this big brother thing but I'll always get here in the end," he said with a cheeky wink.

"What happened to you?" Damian asked, a small amount of concern leaking into his voice as he took in his battered and bleeding brother. Judging by the way he was gripping his abdomen, Damian guessed he'd at the very least bruised some of his ribs.

"Just a little roughed up is all, don't worry, it's nothing." Robin said, brushing off their concerns. The others didn't seem to believe him but they needed all the help they could get.

From the ground, Epoch was just starting to get up with a groan. "I am sick and tired of a couple of children chasing after Daddy's cape thinking that they can fight me." He ground out as he stood up. "I have travelled through time to places where you children aren't even a memory. You are dust to me, as immaterial and insignificant as-" He paused as one of Artemis's arrows stuck to his chest, beeping with continuing rapidity until it exploded and pushed him back into the wall. The boys turned to their female partner who just smirked as she prepared another arrow.

"I never was too good with swordplay anyway, why should I continue to handicap myself?" The two Robins reached into their belts and pulled out their own explosives.

"I'm out, can you spot me some?" Robin asked, grinning when he saw the amount his brother had in his small hands.

"I am so glad to see you're honoring the time honored Bat tradition of preparation." Epoch pulled himself out of the wall, a visible crack now noticeable in his once pristine white suit. He hissed as he brought a hand up to inspect the damage only for the internal mechanism to spark.

"Congratulations children, you've succeeded in angering me." The villain stated coldly, all traces of his earlier humor gone. "I won't forget this, the next time we meet, you and your little friends are going to pay for all that you've done." He said as he tapped something on wrist and in a brilliant flash of light, he was gone.

Damian smashed the hilt of his sword into the wall in frustration. "We had him! We almost had him and we let him get away!" Robin patted his back.

"I don't think he went too far Tommy, we've beaten him pretty good so he's going to run off and lick his wounds for a bit but he'll be back and we'll be ready." He ruffled his kid brother's hair, enjoying his sounds of annoyance. "Now, there's been a change of plans. While we look for the Epoch and Timmy, we're also going to keep an eye out for baby Thomas." Damian's eyes went wide as his brother gave him a warm smile. "That's right, we're going to take you home lil Bro."

"Woah, woah," Artemis interrupted. "Did Batman okay that? Because I'm pretty sure he'd object to stealing a baby from the League of Assassins, even if it is his kid."

"Agreed, we can't alter the timeline like that." Damian said sternly, folding his arms across his chest as he stared up at his brother. "I spent the first ten years of my life here, if we were to change that the consequences would be-"

"What about Jason's mom? Or Tim? I don't know why no one else gets this." Robin interrupted harshly, giving his brother a light glare. "We can change the future, right here and right now. We can take Thomas away from here, bring him back to Gotham where he belongs. We could make things right, the way they were supposed to be."

Damian shifted a bit on his feet, struck by the earnestness in his brother's voice. "You wouldn't really want me there," Damian began quietly, unsure of himself. "You and Father wouldn't want to deal with me before you had to." Dick frowned, once again chastising his earlier behavior towards Thomas. Once he stopped sulking over his own petty problems, it was quite obvious the kid was desperate for a little love and acknowledgement. It made him worry once more about the kind of future Thomas came from.

"Of course we would, we all would. You're family, we want to save you from whatever Ra's and Talia have planned for you. Unless, of course, you would rather him stay here?" He finished slowly, watching Thomas war with himself internally over what he wanted.

After a few moments, the younger boy sighed. "The others will find Drake soon enough and our primary mission is to capture Epoch and bring him to justice." He paused before continuing on hesitantly, "But should we come across the child, we may consider the option of taking him away." Robin smiled and loving patted Damian's shoulder.

"Alright, so first we find Epoch and finish kicking his can. Once that's done, we'll find the baby, even if we have to tear this whole place apart." Robin grinned, "So where do you suggest we start Lil T?"

Damian looked up at him in surprise. "What did you- oh well I'd suggest we double back down this hallway. It leads to the guest suites which is where I would assume Epoch would go to recover. If not, there's a couple of other places we can look." With a nod of his head, Damian ran off down to the left, his weapons at the ready with his brother and his brother's friend right behind him.

Infinity Island

March 20, 4:01 UTC

"Where is this kid!" Superboy ground out as he came to a door and punched through it, pulling the door completely off its hinges and throwing it violently behind him. To his great disappointment, Tim Drake was not behind the door, only a couple of scared looking women and children who immediately ran screaming out of the room.

"Superboy," Aqualad said as he placed what he hoped was a calming hand on his friend's shoulder. "You must remain calm, getting angry will not complete our mission any sooner." He turned to address the others, "It is very likely they moved Drake once the realized we were here. We may need to search elsewhere for him."

"Come on, we've been looking forever. We need to get the kid out of here so we can assist the rest of the Team. I'm worried about Artemis and the others." Kid Flash groaned.

"I am too but we're all trained to handle situations like this, Tim's just a scared little boy. He needs us more than they do." M'Gann said, nervously biting her thumbnail while Kid let his head fall into one of his hands.

"Ok, I know we got to save him but can't you use your telepathy to find him? I can probably speed check most of the doors in this hallway-"

"And what if you miss him in your rush to check all the doors? This isn't a race Kid, this is someone's life and we need to give it the due diligence it deserves." The Team became quiet after that. "Kid and I will handle this section of the hall, Superboy and Miss Martian, you take the adjacent hallway and see if you can find anything. If we haven't located him within 20 minutes, we can mentally contact Thomas and ask about other possible locations he could be at." He nodded and the four of them went their separate ways.

"I can't believe we're going to all this trouble for some brat," Superboy muttered to himself as he opened yet another door only to find the lush bedroom empty.

M'Gann gave him a disapproving look. "It's our job to save people Superboy, and besides, this could be Robin's little brother we're looking for."

Conner scoffed. "If you ask me, Batman has enough kids as it is and really ought to..." He trailed off as he suddenly paused to listen. He went back to the previous bedroom he'd look in and previously found to be empty, but he could clearly make out a heartbeat coming within the walls. As he lingered in the doorway, he heard the heart pick up in speed.

"Hello?" He asked cautiously while M'Gann poked her head inside the room. "If you're Tim Drake, we're here to rescue you." He stepped into the room and noticed belated that he'd crossed over a wire which was followed shortly by the ominous whistle of a light fixture falling from the ceiling. Miss Martian gasped, catching it with her telekinesis before it collided with her boyfriend's head, not that it would have had much of an effect anyway. She set it down on the ground as they stared at the hanging lamp which had been clearly rigged to fall.

"Woah, are you superheroes?" A young voice asked from underneath the bed. After a moment, a small black haired boy with wide blue eyes had partially crawled out from beneath the plush bed. "Only superheroes can do amazing things like foiling my trap. Oh! I'm sorry I almost hurt you." His eyes widened as he took in Conner's T-shirt. "Are you Superman? Did Mom and Dad hire you to come get me? Why are you in a different costume? Why do you look so angry?"

"Did you set that up? All by yourself?" M'Gann asked the boy, watching him beam with pride.

"Yeah, it was easy. I didn't want the bad guys to come and take me away again." He replied as M'Gann floated over and settled on her knees to smile at the awestruck child.

"We are superheroes, my name is Miss Martian, niece of Martian Manhunter. That's Superboy, he's uh closely related to Superman."

The child's eyes furrowed in confusion. "I thought Superman was the only of his kind, the last son of Krypton?" M'Gann raised an eyebrow at Superboy who huffed in irritation.

"Well who cares about Superman, we have Batman and Robin with us." The child finally climbed out from under the bed and dove at Superboy's legs, clinging to them while he stared up at the stunned teen with sparkling eyes.

"Batman and Robin are here? The Dynamic Duo came all this way for me?" He asked in a high squeaky voice. Superboy was at a loss for words as the young boy continued to hold himself tightly against the clone. He gave his leg a light shake to try and detach the child but he would not budge.

"You bet, and if you come with us, you'll get to meet them. We've all been awfully worried about you Timmy, but don't worry, we'll get you home before you know it. I know this has been very scary for you." M'Gann said cheerily as Tim's gasped suddenly and he detached himself from Superboy. He stood up straight and cleared his throat.

"Well I was a little scared, but I knew someone was coming to get me. So you already know my name but I guess I should introduce myself proper like my Mom always tells me," he stuck out his tiny hand. "My name is Timothy Jackson Drake, thank you for saving me."

So here we are to week ten, right in the middle of the invasion of Infinity Island where things aren't going quite right for, well, anyone. But hey they finally found Tim after wandering around lost so that's something. Shout out to all the people who have reviewed and added I&E to their alerts/favorites. I'm so glad people are enjoying this and I hope you'll stick around for the remaining four chapters! As a random, slightly self-serving aside, I received my acceptance letter into my first choice for Graduate school this past Monday which is terribly exciting. It'll mean less writing time but better employability!