It had been a long time since Damian had ventured outside in his street clothes. He preferred the Robin costume, it had a way of scaring the crap out of people, criminal or no.

It had taken him a month to prepare for the task before him. He had wanted to start immediately, but his father had insisted that he prepare, and that they wait for just the right moment. He was trying to infiltrate the White Knight's secret headquarters, which would be no easy task. He figured he could start a riot in the street, that seemed to be right along the lines of how the Knights fought their battles. He had gone through a few of his sources and had a pretty good idea of where to search, and he liked to believe he had inherited his father's detective abilities, so he didn't think it would take him very long to find these people.

He couldn't believe his luck when he saw Huntress saving a teenager from an assassin. He wondered what the kid had done, but he didn't really care that much.

After Huntress saved the kid (leaving the assassin alive of course, and the Whitey Tighties wondered why they were losing) she took off, with Damian in pursuit. Despite Damian's attempts at stealth, it didn't take long for him to get caught.

She turned around and grabbed him before he could even think about moving. "Who are you and why are you following me?"

"My name is Damian, and I want to join the White Knights. I was following you because I didn't know what to do or where to go," said Damian, keeping his tone calm and controlled.

Huntress seemed wary of his story, but she had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth or not, so she allowed him to follow her.

She silently led him to an old abandoned warehouse. Once inside, Damian was surprised by the amount of people. "It seems I'm not the only newbie, when did the Knights grow so big?"

"Nightwing's death, as horrible as it was, has been both a blessing and a curse," said Huntress sadly. "More people have joined our cause, but not all of them have chosen to fight our way. Many people are becoming "super villains" to try to fight the assassins. They've resorted to killing to bring down Batman. You know, it's almost funny that now it's the so-called super criminals working for the good side. Some of them choose to emulate the rogues, I've seen people paint their faces to look like Two-Face and I've even seen some clowns, among many other designs. It's utter madness."

Damian stayed and listened to Huntress preach to the Knights, encouraging them to not give up and to keep fighting. She then discussed battle strategies, and Damian couldn't believe the gold-mine of information he was getting. His father would not be disappointed.

As the people began to disperse and leave, Nightwing went back to talk to Huntress. There was something about her that had gotten his attention, and he wanted to talk with her some more.

"The Knights are lucky to have a leader like you," he told her once he had her alone, or as alone as they could get in that place.

"Thanks, but I'm actually not the leader. Jim Gordon used to lead, but he died of a heart attack a few years ago. Oracle leads the people now, I just help her do it."

"But still, you're great at what you do. You'll take down the Batman, no problem."

She cracked a smile and said, "You're sweet."

As she walked off, Damian decided that he wouldn't tell his father what he had found just yet. He would tell him that he hadn't found anything, but that he would keep looking. It would satisfy his father, and in the meantime he could get to know Huntress better.

xxxx

One and a half months later

The government declared war on the Batman only twenty-four hours after he sent assassins into the rest of the country, just as he had known they would. The government had sent out numerous amounts of soldiers to stop the assassins, and for the moment neither side was truly winning. The League's size continued to grow as the government sent out more soldiers, and so despite the government's efforts the assassins were still gaining ground, however slowly. They had begun by blowing up prisons and any other institutions where "undesirables" were kept. This increased their popularity with many, as they believed this was a blessing, but there were always those who refused to see the good that Batman's efforts brought.

Batman was about to leave to go out on patrol for the night, something he didn't do as often now that he had the assassins but something he still did nonetheless. He wanted to be on the front-line, but Talia caught him before he could go.

"Beloved, wait. I need to talk to you about something," said Talia, who was accompanied by two assassins whose faces were obscured by hoods.

"What is it, Talia?" he asked, a bit impatient at being held up.

"I don't want you to go out there, not with all the soldiers out there looking for you. Something could happen."

"You mean I could get killed? That's not a concern Talia, not with the Lazarus Pit."

"So you are throwing caution to the wind because you have the Pit to fall back on? If you use the Pit too much it will drive you mad."

"Talia, my city needs me, I can't just sit around all the time, ignoring their cries for help. I took this job so that I could save them, not so that I could sit back and expect the assassins to do all the work. You know I this, you know they need me."

"If I can't stop you, then at least take protection. I have here William and Raven, two new recruits who will accompany you and assist you if needed," she said as she gestured to the assassins behind her, who bowed respectfully.

"I don't need help, and they would be better used fighting soldiers and the Knights, not babysitting me."

"Please do this, if only to keep me from worrying. Please, my love?"

Batman sighed and said, "I'll take them with me if it will make you feel better."

"Thank you," said Talia as she kissed his cheek.

Batman left then, followed closely by his new bodyguards.

xxxx

Damian sat with Huntress in the Knight's headquarters. He had been pretending to be on her side for over a month now, and in that time he had begun to develop strong feelings for her. This posed many problems for him, because as badly as he wanted to help his father in his crusade, he didn't want any harm to befall Huntress. He was worried about her, he didn't know what to do.

"Why do you fight the assassins?" he asked her. The only thing he could think to do would be to somehow persuade her to switch sides.

"When I was six years old, my parents were in a car accident. My mother was killed instantly, but my father survived, but with brain damage. When he woke up, he had the mind of a six year old. He wasn't stupid or anything, but he couldn't take care of himself anymore, much less a child, so he was put in Arkham and I went to live with my grandfather. It wasn't easy seeing him like that, but I couldn't have asked for a better father. He loved me so much and was always ecstatic to see me on visiting days, but when I was eleven he was killed when Batman ordered the attack on the asylum. He wasn't a threat to anyone, but he killed him as though he were some kind of criminal. I swore that day that I would stop Batman, even though I had no idea how I would do it. Nightwing took me in as his sidekick, and ever since then I've spent all my time fighting to bring the Batman to justice. He's a man who's playing God with people's lives, and I can't let him hurt anyone else like he hurt me," she wiped away a tear and said, "Why do you fight? Did he take someone from you, too?"

"Yes and no, it's complicated," said Damian, unsure if his grandfather's death counted since it had been his idea in the first place. "Have you ever thought that maybe we're fighting for a lost cause? I'm not saying Batman shouldn't be stopped," he quickly backtracked at the look she was giving him. "I'm just saying that maybe we shouldn't resist anymore. More and more people die every day, maybe we need to stop before we get all these people killed."

"How could you say that? We can't give up hope, without hope, what do we have left? Do you want to spend your life enslaved to that madman? A life lived in fear is no life at all." said Huntress. "What would you have us do, surrender to the Bat? I can't do that Damian, I just can't."

Just as Damian opened his mouth to speak, Huntress said, "Would you like to meet Oracle? She'll show you that there's still hope for our cause, follow me."

Huntress led Damian to a room he had never been in before. He had never seen Oracle, at least, not since he had joined the Knights, because she hardly ever showed herself. Oracle seemed to prefer sitting back and letting Huntress do the talking.

"Oracle, there's someone I'd like you to meet," said Huntress as she led him inside. "This is Damian, a good friend of mine."

"Huntress, I don't have time for-" Oracle froze in her chair when she saw his face. "Damian? Is that you?"

He couldn't believe she recognized him, it had been ten years for crying out loud! He decided to go on the offensive. "How do you know my name?"

"You're Batman's son, you're Robin," said Oracle as she glared at him.

"There must be some kind of mistake, there's no way he could be Robin!" said Huntress disbelievingly.

"I am not Robin," denied Damian, hoping with everything in him that Huntress would believe him, and not Oracle.

"You have your father's face, there is no doubt that you are Robin. You've come to spy on us, to help your father destroy us!"

"How could you?" cried Huntress. "I trusted you, and all along you've been one of them?"

"It's not what you think, I can explain!" he pleaded.

"Get out, get out and never come back," said Huntress, tears in her eyes. "I never want to see you again."

But Huntress I-"

"Get out!" she screamed.

Damian left the hideout, his heart broken. The girl of his dreams, quite possibly the girl he loved, hated him. She was the only girl he wanted, and the one he couldn't have.

As he walked away from the building feeling sorry for himself, he was suddenly confronted by his father.

"D-Dad, what are you doing here?" he asked nervously, silently praying he hadn't seen him exit the warehouse.

"What were you doing in that warehouse?" his father asked.

"I- nothing. I was just-"

Batman walked past him and looked inside one of the windows. When he turned and looked back at Damian, his expression was furious.

"You discovered the White Knight's headquarters, and you didn't tell me? How long have you known this?"

Damian was a great liar, except when it came to his father. His father was like a human lie detector, especially when he was upset or angry, so he knew that lying would only make things worse. "I've known for a while, and I was going to tell you, but-"

"You withheld valuable information from me? You've betrayed me son, I am very disappointed in you," said Batman contemptuously.

"What are you going to do to them?" he asked quietly.

"I'm going to have the assassins come and wipe them out, tomorrow."

"Can you ask them to spare Huntress?" asked Damian, knowing he was taking a big risk just by asking.

"Why would I do that? So that the White Knights can survive?" asked Batman angrily.

"I love her, Father. Please let her live, maybe we can get her to join our side. After you kill the others maybe she'll see reason." Damian knew she would rather die than join them, but he had to do something. He couldn't let him kill her, even if she hated him, even if he never got to speak to her again, as long as she was still alive he would be satisfied.

Batman studied him for a moment, then said, "I'll tell them to spare her."

Damian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Father."