Bringing My Children Home

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Disclaimer: I am only borrowing the Bat family to practice my art.

Chapter Twenty-three

Tim

Intellectually, Tim knew Talia did not have armor piercing rounds in a handgun, but the pained gasp Damian gave as the air was knocked from his lungs made Tim imagine the bullet had torn through two layers of armor into the kid's back. Robin could not regain his balance, and both boys crashed into the ground, knocking the air out of Tim's lungs. As they lay stunned, Spoiler and Batgirl both turned around to protect them, while Batman flung himself forward to cover them.

Spoiler's distraction cost her as she took a boot in the gut. Batgirl had to switch from Robin and Damian to defend Spoiler, which left only Batman to defend the boys. In their rush to the vehicles, they had let themselves be surrounded. Batman and Batgirl were both hampered by the incapacitated three. Batman took several hits before Damian recovered his breath.

"Get up," Damian ordered, pulling hard on Robin's cape as Tim sucked in air desperately. "You have to go."

Bruce stumbled back a few steps from a hard hit, and Damian lashed out with his blades as Tim used his staff to get up. Ninjas closed the gap between them and Bruce. There was no way Tim could leave Damian alone, surrounded. As Tim had told Damian just a quarter of an hour ago, you could not plan for everything. Talia had played the wild card and it had gone against the bats.

There was a breather in the fight as the Ninjas encircled the two boys, Batman had to fight half of them on his own, and Batgirl stood above Spoiler, who was finally getting her breath back. Tim pressed his chin into his left-hand glove, where he kept the small trackers he used. It took a moment to find an encased one and pull it into his mouth. As he swallowed it, he raised his staff again.

The ninjas had the upper hand now, and Damian was the first subdued. Tim swung out hard, trying to free the younger boy, but he already knew it was a lost battle. Needing a few extra seconds to send the tracker information to the Bat Network, he allowed the staff to be knocked out of his hand, and himself to be tripped. As the ninjas closed around him and Damian, he pressed the second of his sensors tied to the small trackers.

5, 4, 3, a prick in his neck made his limbs heavy, 2, 1. Tim let the sedative overwhelm him, hoping it was not a long time before he woke. The Ninjas would have to move fast and hard as the bats pursued them, which meant they might not take the time for a thorough search for trackers, relying on speed and restraints. He faded away.

Bruce

"Stop!" Talia cried, rushing forward as the ninjas with their two captives began to back up. "You have Drake! Give Damian to me!"

Bruce caught his breath and considered the retreating group. His com was beeping with an alert from Robin, so as Talia screamed at the ninjas and her father, Batman pulled Spoiler to her feet. Batgirl also hesitated, waiting for the order from the Bat. After a second to consider, Bruce signaled for the girls to give chase, while he played the alert over the wide com.

It contained a mere computerized voice with tracker information. Jason and Dick demanded what it meant.

"Tim and Damian are down. The ninjas have them, and they are backing out. Are you near the cave entrance?" Stephanie demanded.

"No," Jason cursed, "we found the jamming device and Dick is trying to break it out."

Bruce and his two daughters raced after the light-footed ninja group. Tim and Damian had disappeared into the black garbed crowd. Only half of the couple hundred ninjas remained able to fight. Talia was running after them, but her gun was down.

Bruce reached the closest ninja as they reached the underground entrance for the vehicles into a private wooded area on the Wayne Estate. As he lunged forward a flash blinded him, and he felt the explosion rattle above him. The carefully designed opening collapsed in on the last few ninjas and their pursuers, burying them in the rubble of dirt and concrete.

For a moment Bruce blacked out, but not for more than a half second. The weight of the dirt was crushing, and for a moment Bruce's heart panicked at the thought of suffocation, but he relaxed as much as he could, feeling dirt give. With desperation strengthening his limbs he pushed up, knocking some of the heavier rubble off his back and emerging from the dirt with a deep gasp for fresh air. Talia came up out of the dirt at the same time.

Behind them Stephanie was pulling Cass out of the rubble. Spoiler had been the slowest, so she missed the burying, while Batgirl was only partially buried.

"Bruce is ok," Stephanie shouted into the com as Bruce's breath and hearing reset. "Go catch up with them. Tim and Damian have been kidnapped."

"We're going!" Jason shouted back. "The jammer is coming down in 3, 2, 1." The crack of a small explosion echoed over the coms.

"-in Batman. I repeat, come in Batman," Oracle called over the com.

"I'm here, O," Bruce said. "Are you seeing Robin's alert? Are any of the Justice League free?"

"Green Arrow and Cyborg are on duty. Should I have them put out an alert?"

"Ask them to put someone fast on standby. Let's see what Tim is giving us. The League of Assassins attacked and have kidnapped both Tim and Damian. I would prefer not to have the Justice League involved, but if there is no other option, I want them ready to jump in."

"Will do, boss. That tracker is speeding up. I think it's in a vehicle now."

"It's a blue van, but I can't see the license plate from this angle. There are several other vehicles around it. Not enough to fit all of them. Some of the ninjas are on foot," Jason interjected.

"See if you can track some of them down," Bruce snapped. He scanned his daughters. Both their suits were filthy from the dirt shower, and Spoiler was holding herself a little cautiously, a bruise likely forming on her stomach. Batgirl was trained never to show pain, which meant Bruce would need to examine her closely. "Come on girls, Alfred is waiting for us in the cave. I want you two looked at while I go join Nightwing and Phoenix."

"But B, you took the brunt of the collapse. You need to get looked at too," Spoiler protested.

"Besides, going after the ninjas on foot will not work," Talia informed them. "only those tasked with taking Drake to my Father will know where to go."

Spoiler spun towards her dangerously, her eskrima sticks raised in threat. "Why should we believe anything you say? You nearly shot Tim in the head."

"I'd do it again if I believed it would protect Damian," Talia spat back. "I don't want Damian under my father's control. At this point, working with you is my best chance of getting Damian away from the Demon's Head. It's too late for Damian now. Father will consider the fact that he fought with you against the League a betrayal. You won, Bruce."

Gently Bruce lowered Spoiler's sticks. "It's okay, Steph," he said. "We may find her useful. She's right about the uselessness of going after the ninjas on foot. We need to get our prisoners out of the cave, and get into fresh suits and supplies. Tim gave us a chance with the tracker."

"They will remove his supplies," Talia pointed out.

"I highly doubt they can remove this one," Bruce answered. "You should be thankful for it. It is unlikely they will separate Damian and Tim until after they reach your father. We will have an idea of where to go. Nightwing, Phoenix, back to the cave. Oracle, see if a speedster is free to clean up our prisoners and take them to A.R.G.U.S. Waller will appreciate the chance to interrogate them."

By the time they reached the main cave again, the downed ninjas were vanishing in streaks of red and yellow.

"Anything we can help with?" Wally West asked as he paused in his work.

"Perhaps in time. We are still getting the lay of the situation. Is that Kid Flash?"

"Yes. He was with me when the request came."

"He hasn't told the Titans anything?"

"Not yet, but you know I won't stop him. I will let him know you have us on call. If you call in the Justice League, the Titans will come. Robin has put a rule in place that unless he calls for them, or the Justice League is called to intervene, the Titans are not allowed to come after him."

Bruce nodded. "Fair enough. It is unlikely a show down will take place in Gotham, so it may be acceptable for them to come, but I think it may be something we can handle. Thank you, Wally."

Jason

By the time Nightwing and Phoenix made it back into the cave, the speedsters had removed the fifty or so knocked out ninjas. They had also offered to clear the rubble of the destroyed vehicle entrance. Alfred was already coordinating the repairs with a few of the trusted Superheroes in need of employment.

"Nothing internal is damaged," Bruce said as he examined Stephanie's stomach. "Go change into a spare suit and restock the supplies. Dick, prep the Batwing. Cass, show me your back."

Jason flexed his hands, waiting for Bruce to satisfy himself that Cass's only injuries were a few bruises.

"Alright, old man, let's get a look at you," Jason said as Cass slipped away in tense silence to change. Bruce did not argue, which was concerning, unlatching his outer armor. "Timmy gave us a way to follow instantly."

"I know. But it's probably going to take us into one of Ra's strongholds, Jason. It's going to take us near a pit."

Jason's hands fumbled with the antiseptic wipe he was using to clean a gash on Bruce's forearm. It had not occurred to him that their pursuit could take them to the pit. The pit was rising in him less and less, either slowly eradicated by Tim's medicines, or his body adjusting to its presence. There were all sorts of implications about how long the pit lasted in the system, including Tim's observation that Jason healed faster than the others. What would happen if he went near the pit?

"I'll bring booster shots, as well as some of Tim's experimental stuff," Jason replied.

Stephanie

It was not even a whole hour since Tim and Damian were dragged off, before the remaining five bats, with Talia, were in the air, following the tracking device. It felt like days. They were in the fastest of the planes, which was also the most compact. There was more than enough room for them, however it was difficult to move and stretch out, which meant Stephanie's muscles were locking up and cramping before they were over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Both she and Cass were uninformed in the mysteries of flying a plane, and Jason was dozing, which left Bruce and Dick to be their pilots.

Although the kidnappers had an hour of lead time, they had closed the gap to ten or twenty minutes by the time they were over Africa. It was not Stephanie's first time out of the country, however it was the first time she was heading to the middle east. Tim and Dick could both speak some Farsi, while Jason was fluent in Arabic from his year living with Talia and Ra's. Stephanie was learning Mandarin and Romanian, but Farsi was not yet part of her dialects.

"It's the Demon's Seat," Talia and Jason said together as they watched the tracker slow.

"How long since you were last there, Talia?" Bruce demanded.

"Not since Jason ran away. Father was not pleased with me. I've been relegated to India for the most part, except for a few excursions to Honk Kong and Stockholm for Damian's training," Talia replied. She glared at Bruce, but he ignored her.

"Can't we catch up to them before they make it to the stronghold?" Cass asked.

"Unlikely. We aren't going to be able to land in the same place if we want any element of surprise. Ra's will expect us, but it will be better if he doesn't know when and where we are coming. Until they stop moving they have a great advantage by knowing the landscape," Bruce answered.

Stephanie filed that away in things to consider. It was an old habit from when she could only learn from the Bat by watching him, but it still was helpful, since many of Bruce's lessons only truly clicked when put into use.

"I have some satellite images," Oracle informed them from the plane's speakers. "You will want to download it to your tablets. Communications may be spotty once you are on the ground."

"Have you located Jack and Janet yet?" Bruce asked.

"No. They definitely landed in Kabul, but that was two days ago. I don't have anything further, and they haven't been reported missing by the expedition sponsors."

Bruce nodded, watching as Dick began to bring them into landing in the private airstrip that belonged to a contact.

"Who did sponsor that dig?" Stephanie asked curiously. "The Drakes have primarily always gone to European and African digs. Afghanistan is outside their usual journeys."

Bruce, Dick, Cass, and Jason all stared at her.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Oracle, we need to find out who sponsored this. It was probably Ra's himself," Bruce said.

"Of course, it was," Talia snapped. "Father has watched this Robin closely. It was not long before he had chosen the boy to be his next protégé. This has been planned out for over a year!"

"If you knew that, why would you bring Damian to me?"

"Because I didn't know until after the attack on the Gala! I was informed that Damian had joined in that battle after Father had funded Arthur Brown's mission against his daughter. It was a test!"

Bruce

Not even Dick or Stephanie was chattering as they emerged from the plane in the dark night. Cass was giving off a very dangerous air that Jason was adding to. Neither would act on it while Talia was useful, but the moment she had a hint of betraying them she was in grave danger. It was possible that Cass's lethality would be hard to restrain.

As they stretched out after the plane ride, there was none of the usual smack talk. They were all silent and watchful. Dick was playing with the communications, doing his best to reconnect with Oracle, Jason was checking their supplies one last time, Cass was removing her full cowl, leaving her upper face open, and Stephanie was scanning the area around them with binoculars.

Talia glanced at his children with a vicious glare, but it broke before she looked away, fear in her face. The terror was not surprising. Like Damian, Talia had been raised to believe she was better than everyone just because she was Ra's' daughter, but had also had to live in the fear that a misstep could cause her Father to disown her. She had been raised to be a deadly warrior, trained in ways similar to how she had trained Damian.

Despite his fury at her attempt to kill Tim, he understood why she was such a wild card. Rarely had she defied her Father. In a twisted way, she loved Damian.

"Talia, Damian belongs to me now. I think part of you wanted me to claim him, which is why you risked the introduction before he was completely initiated into the League of Assassins. Ra's has threatened him?"

She sighed and looked away.

"Yes, and now I have no chance of keeping control of him. Father will decree Damian must now learn his place in the family. If Damian displeases him… Father will kill him. One of my half siblings led a rebellion a few years back. Father executed him himself. Damian must belong to you, now. I will give my life to keep Damian away from Father,"

None of his children believed her.

"You have to know some of Ra's' secrets."

"Yes. He thinks I won't fight if he has Damian.

"If the league doesn't know you are with us, we have an advantage. What do you think Ra's will do now that he has Tim and Damian?"

"I don't know what his plans for Damian are, but Tim will be presented with the choice to be the Demon's Hand. Likely at the edge of the Pit itself, since the initiation involves bathing in the waters to see if he could overcome the madness of the Pit."

"How do we get there?"

She was silent, thinking.

"There is a way, only known to family and father's loyal proteges."

Within a few minutes they had a plan. The most dangerous part was to get to the secret entrance without being spotted. If they were seen with Talia, that way would be blocked. Once in the secret pathway, Bruce felt confident he and his children could handle themselves. His only worry was Jason.

Jason had gone pale the moment Talia had mentioned the Lazarus Pit.

"Is this the pit you were put in?" Dick asked softly, while Talia mapped out their path. Jason's wordless nod was concerning. However, when Bruce looked at him, Jason set his shoulders and clenched his fists.

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