Chapter Two

Within the Rig

Flamebird found a hiding spot and laid Talia down. Damian was at his mother's side quickly.

"We have to get her to the Pit that's here." Damian said as he looked to the heroine that saved him.

"Damian, I'm sorry, but I doubt the Pit can fix her heart. That was a hollow point bullet Deathstroke used. The tip will have stuck into her heart, and the way it mushrooms….it would have torn that part of her heart and the tissue around it to shreds." Flamebird remarked; remembering her ballistics studies.

He couldn't believe it…no, she couldn't be dead; but this heroine knew what she was talking about, it was in the tone of her voice. There was no one left to him now that he grew up with…sure he had his father, but he had JUST met him.

"You seem familiar to me, but we have not met." Damian said.

"You've met my twin brother…which I'm surprised he let you take up his old name." Flamebird said.

"He didn't have a choice. Please, my mother can't be….she's not burned all over like grandfather was…." Damian told Flamebird.

"There are different types of unrepairable damage, Damian; believe me, I've seen some first hand." Flamebird said.

"There's still time…we have to try." Damian said, his voice starting to crack with despair.

Flamebird knew she had to connect to this boy on a different level so she reached up and pulled her domino mask off and Damian saw her brown eyes. "I know you've seen a lot of death in your short life, but most of it was people you didn't love. When my brother and I were eight, we watched our parents fall to their death from a sabotaged trapeze wire. That's when your father took us in and after we found out the truth about who he really was, we wanted to help so that no children would feel what we did. There's a difference between revenge and vengeance, you have to find the line and make sure you never cross it."

"I'm going to END Deathstroke." Damian said as Flamebird noticed his mask was coming loose.

"That's what I'm talking about, Damian; ending Deathstroke will not bring Ra's or Talia back, but we can get justice for them by capturing him." Flamebird told the ten year old. "Dick told me about you asking Bruce if he ever felt vengeful. It's the same with me and Dick, we're vengeful every day of our lives since we lost our parents, and your father is the same way, in fact he lost his parents when he was just eight as well. Find your center, and you'll never want to kill again."

It was then that Flamebird's words sank in and Damian removed his mask. Flamebird gave a soft smile as she saw the tears in his green eyes. She knew he needed comforting, but even though he was brave, the front he had put up since coming to Gotham had fallen and he fell into Flamebird's arms, letting out all the sorrow he had inside.

"It's okay, Damian, just let it all out. I can tell you that the pain never goes away, but you will be able to use it to fuel your drive to defend the innocent." Flamebird said.

Damian had looked up at Flamebird and he could tell that she was being sincere. She then released him, put her domino mask back on and moved to pick of Talia's body. "Let's get your mom's body to a safe place, then get out of here and wait for Batman, I'm sure he's on his way."

"Very well; but…." Damian said; starting to question everything he's ever learned from the League of Assassins.

"Don't worry; we'll get out of here." Flamebird said as she smiled at her 'baby brother'.

Damian put his mask back on and gave a silent 'I'm ready'; then Flamebird carried Talia to the edge of their hiding place and made sure the coast was clear then headed out to leave the rig.

Ten Minutes Later

The guard was watching the sea through the scope on his gun, but he didn't see anything flying into the area and was not expecting to be knocked out. With no other guards on their way, Batman took the time to contact his daughter.

"Flamebird, can you read me." Batman said into his comm.

"I've got Damian, but Talia's….I'm so sorry Bruce, but Deathstroke got her in the heart with a hollow point bullet." Flamebird came back over the link.

Batman didn't know what to think, sure Talia had drugged him when Damian was conceived, but he still loved her. "Find a way out of the rig; I'm going to see if I can't lure any Man-Bats out into the open so your brother can take care of them."

"Alright; be careful." Flamebird said back.

"Always."

Batman then took off into the rig to see if he could find anything that would lead him to Deathstroke.

"So, the little bastard's sperm donor IS here, well you won't be leaving alive." A voice remarked.

Batman didn't say anything as he looked the owner of the voice right in his one visible eye. "Deathstroke."

"I'll finish you off after I finish the two brats that are running amok in my rig."

Batman said nothing more, and was ready for an attack, which Deathstroke delivered as he came at the Dark Knight with his sword drawn. The two fought and Batman was even able to get a few good hits in on the assassin, but that didn't last long as Deathstroke pulled out his gun and got to a good long distance range.

He started firing at Batman, but the Gotham hero was quick enough to avoid the bullets and get into a position to where he could get in punch/kick combos and pushed Deathstroke back right to the edge of the platform. Deathstroke was teetering on the edge of the platform and just as he gained his balance, Batman feinted a punch and went to a leg sweep, sending Deathstroke over the edge of the platform.

With that distraction taken care of, Batman went to work at locating any Man-Bats he could.

BATMANBATMANBATMAN

Flamebird and Robin run through the building and that's when Robin sees a way they can use to get to a particular spot.

"This way." Robin called out.

"I'm sure you know this rig well enough, but are you sure it will get us out of here?" Flamebird said as she stopped running.

"It will help." Was all Robin said as he pulled up a grate and fell into the vent. Flamebird was questioning his route as it went down not out, but she told her brother she'd keep an eye on Robin, so she followed after attaching a grapple rope to Talia's body and lowered her into the vent and held on as Flamebird herself entered.

With gravity doing the work, it wasn't long before Robin, Flamebird, and Talia's body were now in a cavern and the only light came from a large pool.

"Damian, I told you; this won't work….I've seen what bringing a dead person back to life can do; it happened to someone I cared for. You aren't the second Robin, you're the fourth. After what happened to the second Robin, Bruce was always against another Robin, but the third one proved he had what it took, and you are way above his level." Flamebird started as she stared at the pit.

"What DID happen to the second one?" Damian/Robin asked.

"He was killed by Joker and your grandfather thought he would bring him back with a Pit. Jason came back damaged and turned to a life of crime. All of Bruce's moral teachings were gone, and Jason thought he could do a better job of controlling crime...by becoming a criminal" Flamebird told the 10 year old.

"But…Grandfather did a good thing didn't he; he gave father back a fallen soldier." Damian retorted.

"You don't know the story, do you?" Flamebird asked with a sigh, only receiving a curious look from Damian. "Bruce and Jason were in Europe after they found out about Joker stealing prescription medications. It wasn't till later that we all learned that Ra's was behind Joker being in Europe. Joker wasn't supposed to capture Jason, but he did and beat the crap out of him then blew up the old warehouse he was holding Jason in… with him still inside. Bruce didn't get there in time."

Damian didn't know what to say and he started thinking back to when he wanted to put his grandfather in the pit back at the League of Assassins' base. "Mother knew about this."

"I'm sorry Damian; I wish what I said wasn't true, but it is." Flamebird said.

Just as Damian started to let everything sink it, a sound was heard coming from above the two heroes. They looked up and saw Man-Bats staring at them and screeching.

"Don't worry; they won't attack unless I tell them to." A voice said, and both heroes were ready to fight.

"What are you, a cat?" Flamebird questioned.

"If that is so….then I have seven lives left. I'm surprised your father figured out my location."

"We're Bats, Deathstroke; we're always three steps ahead of our enemies." Flamebird said, making sure to protect Damian.

"Let's test that theory shall we. Kill them." Deathstroke said, and with that command, the Man-Bats dropped from their perches and were flying after Flamebird and Damian.

The two were dodging them every which way, but Deathstroke was going to stop their movements. He pulled his gun and was able to shoot Flamebird and Damian each in one knee. The Man-Bats then started piling on the heroes, but a huge fire blew about twenty of them off of Flamebird and she got up, not worried about her knee. She then ran over and started pulling Man-Bats off of Damian.

Deathstroke saw his chance to end ONE bat's legacy then he finish off the Al Ghul family so he took it and fired a bullet right at Flamebird's spine to disorient her more.

"AHHHHHH!" Flamebird screamed as the bullet entered her back and she fell backward.

Suddenly, a shadow came into the room from the same vent that the young heroes came through and it was revealed to be Batman. He pulled a batarang and threw it to disarm Deathstroke then the Man-Bats were coming for him so he pulled another batarang and when it was in the air it split into three and once they were embedded in the wall they released a supersonic sound that began to drive the Man-Bats crazy and they flew up the vent to get out of the cave.

"I'll take my leave…for now." Deathstroke remarked, and with that he went into the shadows and disappeared.

Batman ran to his children and saw that Flamebird had a bullet wound at the bottom of her spine and the bullet had exited through her stomach.

"Flamebird." Batman said as he gently picked her up.

"Hey dad… I'll live, it wasn't a hollow point, but don't know if I can be a hero anymore." Flamebird said as she looked her father in the face, then passed out from the blood lose she was suffering.

"Father, the Pit…, it couldn't save mother, but for my sister it will work." Damian said.

"Can you get here into it safely?" Batman asked his son.

"Yes; just end Deathstroke's reign of evil." Damian told his father.

"What made you accept her as a sister so quickly?" Batman questioned as he laid Flamebird at the Pit's edge.

"She only just met me and yet she risked her life to help me and mother; then she revealed to me what happened to her parents." Damian said, and with a nod, Batman took off to find Deathstroke.