Author's Note: Thank you to MaikoYuukamiMegumi (Well you won't have to wait for long to hear Damian's message. It should be in the next chapter. Also, thank you so much! It means a lot to me to read that!), soccernin19, and IndiaMoore for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing.

Damian's back hit a wall hard, cement crumbling a little under the force of the strike. The boy gasped in pain and crumbled to the ground, an arm rising up to wrap around his ribs. Bane was laughing, dark eyes gleaming with delight. Anger roared underneath the boy's skin like a raging fire. He bared his teeth like a wild animal and rose, still maintaining that fluid grace his teachers had praised him for, and reached for another blade. He removed the last one from where it was strapped on the inside of his leg, pulling it from beneath his pants, and settled it smoothly in hand, warily watching the massive man. He had vastly underestimated his opponent, as he was wont to do, and was now paying for his mistakes in the form of many bruises and broken bones. Each breath he pulled in hurt.

"You," the massive man said approvingly. "You are a good challenge chico."

"As are you," Damian replied smoothly, fighting to keep any sign of pain out of his voice. "It will be a pity to kill you." Bane laughed again, the sound grating on the boy's ears, and lunged for him. Damian dove out of the way and rolled smoothly to his feet, slicing out with the knife to add another little cut to Bane's growing collection. When it had become obvious that skill alone would not defeat the man before him, Damian had hoped that enough minor wounds would at least slow him down. Perhaps that plan was working but Damian's mind was too blurred by exhaustion and anger to clearly be able to ascertain its affects.

The boy twisted away from another powerful blow, hearing the wind whistle by his ear, and he lunged forward, diving underneath the follow up blow. The third one clipped his shoulder, spinning him aside, and Damian allowed his body to drop towards the ground, Bane's massive hand whistling over his head. It took him a little too long to regain his feet and Bane settled a powerful kick in the middle of the boy's chest. Damian went flying. He rolled across the ground, ripping skin off his now unprotected arms. He wanted to lay there, to just give up, but the teachers Talia al'Ghul had assigned had not trained a quitter. Damian would fight to the end. He would either be victorious or die trying. Knife in hand, he rose once more to face his fate.

Jason lunged out of the Batmobile with a speed that would have turned West green with envy, leaving Dick to scramble after him. The younger man didn't look back. Big brother could take care of himself. The cape snapped out behind him, Jason rounded the corner in time to see Bane kick Damian, the small boy rolling across the ground before climbing laboriously to his feet. The blade in the boy's hand gleamed and Jason had no doubt that it was razor sharp. The League were not known for carrying around faulty or dull equipment.

Bane loomed over the much smaller figure and Jason launched a Batarang across the empty space, the razor sharp piece of metal sending the man jerking back. "Batman." Bane's voice was low and pleased, as if he'd just been given the gift he wanted for Christmas.

"Bane," Jason growled back, ridiculously pleased that the massive man's attention was no longer on Damian's injured form.

Bane's eyes fell to a position near Jason's left shoulder and the man added, "I see you've brought company."

"I was in the neighborhood," Nightwing replied and Jason could hear the smirk in his older brother's voice. "Thought I'd swing by and visit some old friends."

"So nice of you chico," came the unbothered reply. Bane and Dick had clashed back when big brother was still running around as Robin and training Jason to be his successor. The two had an established history of violence and banter which meant Bane knew most, if not all, of Nightwing's moves. He knew many of Jason's as well.

"You check on our little ninja," the former anti-hero muttered to his brother. "I'll deal with Bane."

"Got it," Nightwing replied. They moved together, Nightwing smoothly moving Damian out of range while Jason rammed a powerful blow into Bane's shoulder. The man chuckled and the reply punch made Jason stumble back a step. He dodged the next blow, pulling up every bit of martial arts knowledge Bruce and the League had imparted to him. The next couple minutes contained a flurry of blows that did relatively little to the massive man. Under the power of Venom, Bane was pure deadly muscle and Jason was fairly certain the man could give Superman a run for his money like this. The best way to defeat the villain was to cut him off from his supply of Venom but that was easier said than done. Bane knew how to defend his stash.

Fortunately Bane wasn't expecting arrows. The deadly projectile sliced through the tube attached to the back of Bane's head and Jason's next blow sent him reeling. From that point it was a simple matter to knock out Bane and hang him from a fire escape. "Bane's down," Jason informed Barbara over the comms. "Call Gordon in for pickup."

"Will do," came the reply. "Everyone safe and sound?" Jason glanced over at Damian who was none too stable on his feet and leaning heavily against Nightwing before replying.

"We're all in one piece."

"That's all I can ask." A hesitation and then, "Are you going to continue patrolling?"

"I'm taking Damian back to the cave," Nightwing said, joining in on the conversation. Batman, Arsenal, and Green Arrow can join up with Batgirl and see if they can bring in Scarecrow."

"Sounds good," Barbara said. "Stay safe all of you, or I'll bring you back from the dead to kill you myself."

"Yes ma'am," four properly respectful voices replied.

Jade paced as the cell in her hand rang and rang, worry twisting in a knot in her gut. "Come on tình yêu của tôi. Please answer me." No such luck. She reached his voicemail instead. "Roy, call me," she demanded, fingers clenching around the phone tightly as the baby kicked in her stomach. She hesitated a moment and then added, "I need to know you are safe." She hung up then and placed the phone down only to pace nervously. Her phone rang and she lunged for it, picking up instead of looking to see what was calling. "Có?" she asked, too flustered to answer in anything but the Vietnamese she had learned as a very young child.

"Are you okay sis?" Artemis Crock asked, voice full of concern.

"Yeah," Jade replied, settling down on her bed. "What's new with you?"

"I'm beginning to regret not going with Ollie and Roy to Gotham," came the exasperated reply. "Dinah and Felicity are going to drive me to an early grave."

"Too bad for you little sister," the pregnant woman replied and then froze. "Wait. Did you say Roy was in Gotham?"

"Ye-es," Artemis replied warily.

"Can I call you back?" Jade didn't wait for a reply. She was already hanging up and dialing Roy's number again.