Chapter 4:
Daphne stood behind a large building, eyeing Damian who was atop the building next to hers. He had stormed off right after she told him where Ubu resides. She had to follow him because she was worried about what Bruce would do to him if he ever finds out what his son was up to. She jumped onto the roof as Damian broke the glass ceiling and ambushed Ubu's penthouse. She could hear gunshots and some women screaming. She took that as a sign to go and stop Damian. She peeked through the broken glasses and could see Damian, thrown down from the bar counter. Ubu took out a pair of steel claws. Daphne watched as Damian's sword clashed with Ubu's claws. She wondered what she could do.
"Where is Deathstroke?" Damian demanded.
Smirking, Ubu replied, "Did you think it would be that easy? Just ask and I would talk?"
Damian smirked, throwing away his sword. "I don't want it to be easy," he charged at Ubu.
He kicked the man out of the penthouse, crashing onto the glass doors. He ran out to catch Ubu. Ubu jumped off onto the nearest rooftop. He tried to speed up in order to escape from Damian, but the boy was fast. Daphne watched from afar. She mentally groaned at the boy's actions.
Delphinium walked along the corridor of the stronghold in Interlaken. Deathstroke was there, planning his next move to take over the League of Assassins. He was holding Dr. Langstrom's family and Talia as hostages. She was assigned to torture Talia into telling where her son was. She didn't do much, though.
"You really love your son…" Delphinium said, putting away the whip she was using just now.
"What mother doesn't?" Talia replied, looking up at her.
Delphinium mumbled something that Talia didn't hear. The girl glared at Talia. The woman gazed into the girl's eyes. She wasn't wearing any mask to cover any part of her face as if she wanted people to know who she is.
"What is your name?" Talia suddenly asked.
Turning her back to Talia, the girl replied, "I'm not allowed to engage in conversations with you unless it's about your son…"
She exited the torture room after that. Delphinium had already known where Damian, Talia's son was taken. She didn't want to reveal it to Deathstroke because she had her own agenda.
"Miss Delphinium, Deathstroke has summoned you to his room," an underling said to her.
She nodded, heading straight to his room. Deathstroke was sitting in his chair, resting both of his arms on the desk in front of him. He shot a death glare towards the girl.
"Do you need something?" she asked.
"I'm sending you on an errand to Gotham City. You can find your sister while you're there. Stay close to Langstrom," Deathstroke ordered.
"Hmmm? Fine, I'll do it. Anything else you want?" she replied.
"I need you to report to me the first batch of our own man-bats. Whether it is a success or not," the old man continued.
"Affirmative," Delphinium replied.
She took her leave to head to her room to prepare. All she needed was her gloves and a mask. She wouldn't want anyone to recognize her there because it held a lot of her past.
Damian was tied up by Nightwing, Batman's trusted partner. He had chased Ubu out into the street and was almost about to stab him when Nightwing gave him a kick in the gut to stop him. Daphne was on her knees again, because she had just witnessed a fight between Nightwing and Damian. In her opinion, it was a fight to the death. Damian was not afraid of killing at all. Her breathing was ragged again. Nightwing was just about done calling Batman. When he saw her state, he volunteered a hand for her to stand up, even though he was in a worse condition.
"You okay?" Nightwing asked.
"Y-Yeah…but, you're not! Look at you!" Daphne's voice cracked. She was about to cry.
"I'll ask Alfred to patch me up once we get back to the Batcave. Batman is on his way to fetch us all. Ubu needs medical help too, so I asked him to call Gordon," the young man explained.
The Batmobile stopped right in front of them, along with a police car. Gordon came out of the police car to get Ubu. The Batmobile's window slid opened for the two to get in. Nightwing dragged the tied up Damian with him. Daphne sat beside Batman and they were off. Daphne took off her mask. She sighed, fixing her hair.
"It was you all along?!" Damian exclaimed.
"Who else would fall on their knees when they see a sword?" Nightwing replied.
"Daphne, I'm gonna need you with me after this," Batman spoke.
"O-Okay…" Daphne sighed.
They soon arrived at the Batcave. Alfred was waiting like always. Damian jumped out of the mobile, watching Daphne helping Nightwing out. He was put in a chair and Alfred started to tend to his wounds at once. Batman went to his computer to contact Gordon.
"It really ticks me off after all those lectures he gave me about using protection," Nightwing muttered.
"Indeed…" Alfred replied. Hearing Nightwing cringed, he asked, "Master Dick, are you alright?"
"I took the cut, I can take the stitch," Dick replied, smiling.
Daphne went beside him. She didn't look that high-spirited like she used to be.
"I'm fine, Daphne," Dick reassured her, patting her head.
The girl smiled at him. Dick was like a brother to her. When she first came here, Dick Grayson had always been there for her. Bruce was always busy fighting crime and so was Dick, but he could still make time for her. Daphne started to talk after Dick shared his past with her. She started sticking with him and training again, learning most of his moves in no time. The one thing she couldn't bring herself to do was killing people.
"Maybe you need more anesthetic," Damian suddenly said with a sly smile.
The three looked up at him. "And maybe you need to go f-"
"Master Dick!" Alfred interrupted his words.
Damian turned away after saying, "Maybe you should remember who the blood son is."
"Bloodthirsty is more like it," Dick replied.
Daphne was called by Batman. She rushed to his side. Gordon was on the line and he wanted her to listen with him. She put on her mask.
"How's Ubu?" Batman asked Gordon.
"He's got more monitors connected to him than Arkham has on Lunatic," Gordon replied.
"Can he talk?" Batman asked.
"Talk? It's a wonder he could breathe…" Gordon replied, staring at Ubu.
"I'll stay in touch. Might even send her out again," Batman muttered, glancing up at the girl on his right.
Batman sighed while Daphne touched his arm as comfort. Damian came up to his father. Daphne backed away a bit, getting the vibe that she should not interfere.
Damian spoke up, "He doesn't deserve to breathe."
His father stood up, pushed his chair and pierced his gaze at Damian. Daphne gulped as Dick sweat dropped.
"Do you know what you were tonight? You weren't a warrior, you weren't a soldier…you were a child," Batman said sternly.
"If it hadn't been for him, I-" he pointed an accusing finger on Dick.
Batman cut him off, "If it hadn't been for Dick, you'd have gotten too far. Daphne didn't even know how to explain your actions."
"It's easier my way!" Damian replied.
"It has nothing to do with easy. It's about doing what's right because it's right and that's the only reason you need."
"It seemed right to me," the boy replied.
"That's the problem," Batman replied, walking up to his mobile.
He took something out and threw it at Damian, "Heads up!"
Damian caught it in his hand. He stared. Daphne peered her head to see what it was. It was a shuriken. She recognized the symbol.
"Good reflexes," the father praised.
"What if I had missed?" Damian asked.
"It would have hurt," Batman replied.
"That's the star representing the League of Assassin," Daphne spoke up.
Damian turned to her. "How did you know that?"
She looked down. "My sister had a necklace with that symbol as a locket. Also, a similar shuriken was left when she went missing. I looked into it."
"I found it in a warehouse, belonging to a man named Langstrom. Ring a bell?" Batman asked his son.
"No," Damian replied short.
Batman turned to Daphne. "What about you, Phoenix?"
"Hmm… I did what you asked. Apparently, Deathstroke paid a visit to Dr. Langstrom before taking him away. He mentioned something about a deal Ra's made with the professor, but I don't know what it is. They took him away after that…and they took his family too," Daphne explained.
"You went to his house?" Damian asked.
"I did what I was told to. That's my job," the girl shrugged.
She didn't mind doing anything for Bruce since he took her into custody. He even taught her about business so that she can manage her family's business in the future.
"It seems there is a deeper connection to Ra's and Deathstroke," Batman muttered.
"Umm…" Daphne interrupted.
"What is it, Daphne?" Batman asked.
"Deathstroke is Slade Wilson… He was my father's friend once. He was very kind and he never showed his bloodlust. My sister looks up to him. He always mentioned about a new successor for a business he was supposed to take over. He kept on saying that he was the one who deserve the business," the girl explained.
"How did you know that?" Damian demanded.
Daphne gave out a small smile to Batman. He knew what she meant. That was all they could get from her that night. She wasn't ready to tell the rest. Gordon had summoned Batman the very same night. He was about to head out when Damian stopped him.
"I wanna help, like he used to," the boy said, pointing the shuriken towards Dick.
"It's bad enough you've given yourself away and let them know we're onto them. But you're letting vengeance guide your actions," Batman said.
"You've never felt vengeful?" Damian asked.
"Every day," Batman replied, walking passed him. "You have to keep your center, Damian. You can't fight crime by becoming a criminal."
He turned to his son. Damian looked up at him. "From now on, stay close. That's an order."
Damian tilted his head a bit. "I can do that."
"Wait…I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Dick asked.
"Nope," was Bruce's answer.
In five minutes, Damian got out of his bathroom, donning the Robin uniform. He looked at himself. Daphne was on his bed, waiting for him. She stood up.
"You look great!" she said, smiling happily.
"Tell me something…" Damian said.
"Hmm?" Daphne titled her head to the right.
The boy was quiet for a few seconds. "Never mind…" he muttered, walking passed her and exiting the room.
Daphne sighed. Alfred came in with a smile plastered on his face.
"What's so funny, Alfred?" Daphne demanded, standing up from the bed.
"It seems like the young master has taken a liking to you," Alfred explained.
"He calls me 'servant'. That's not really liking, is it?" Daphne replied, sighing.
Alfred chuckled. They exited the room and walked to the kitchen together. Alfred made her a warm milk before telling her to go to sleep. She abided because she needed rest anyways. She didn't know that a guest was waiting for her in her own room.