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Chapter one
Bruce Wayne also known as Batman stormed into the Cave completely overwhelmed and tired. He was 34 years old. He had roughly 14 years of experience as a vigilante. He trained three Robins and one Batgirl. Being a mentor was not a new experience but he still could not comprehend how one of his protégées could think it was a good idea to hack the League and steal a mission.
On the plus side, they found a clone of Superman. He was currently resisting the urge to kick big boy blue in the ass for his treatment of the clone but that was neither here or there. The sad part was obviously how much the clone worshipped him.
“So Cadmus?” questioned Nightwing who was currently spinning in the chair near the bat computer. He was watching the news which was showing the fallen building of what was once Cadmus.
Tim had already been sent back home while the League had a mini meeting about the events that happened. It seemed like Dick had waited for him to return. Tim had probably just given Dick the bare basics of what happened and hid in his room. He also probably told Dick to turn on the news.
“He wants to create his own team.” Replied Bruce and Dick couldn’t help but chuckle.
“We both knew that would happen someday. Tim isn’t like me and he isn’t like Jason either.”
There was a heavy silence when Dick mentioned Jason. Neither one of them could bring themselves to go much further than that but Bruce had to admit that Dick had a point.
Batman had been operating a long time before the League had come together. The League was currently only five years old. Flash and Green Arrow only took on protégées about three years ago. Once they did it brought attention to the fact that he too had a protégée named Robin. Many did not realize that Batman had more than one Robin.
If the League had been around when Dick had been Robin things would have been different. He probably would have wanted to meet them all but it didn't work out like that. Dick had already become Nightwing by the time the Justice League was created. He was operating by himself and didn’t want to join any teams. He had been finding himself and he turned down the Leagues offer to join them. They didn’t know that he was affiliated with Batman but they were impressed with Nightwing.
Jason had not been around long enough to be introduced to the League as Robin. The League was more or less being created while Jason was around. Jason had been trained while Dick was off-world. The two boys only met each other a total of three times before his death. Even though Dick hadn’t made much of a fuss of giving someone else his mantle he didn’t get the chance to really know Jason.
He spoke to him when he called Bruce but phone calls weren't enough to build a relationship with someone as guarded as Jason. Dick always thought that there would be time when he returned from space to build a good relationship with his little brother. When he returned to Gotham with a clear idea of the man that he wanted to be, Bruce had already buried him.
Batman had spent five years working alongside the League. He could never bring himself to tell them the truth of who lay behind his mask. Once that happened and they realized that he was actually far older than they expected. It would bring more questions. He would have to tell them the truth of Dick, Barbara and Jason when all they knew off was Tim. He couldn’t bring himself to unmask his children nor could he bring those secrets to light.
Dick would have liked to be on a team. He always had been a people person. As Nightwing, he even had several friendships with some other heroes. Kory the alien princess who he had gone off-world with when Jason was adopted. She returned to her planet to save it from invasion. She stayed there once she was crowned Queen. Dick returned to his brothers grave, a brother he had never known.
Raven had been the daughter of an inter-dimensional demon. He had befriended and helped during her time on Earth. She too went with Kory and stayed there on the alien planet with her where her powers were not so unusual. It was unlikely that they would ever return to Earth. Dick had not been as lucky as Tim, however it hadn’t stopped him from dating Zatanna. She had recently joined the League. They broke up after a couple months because of his secrets.
He supposed that he should have known that one of his kids would want to join a team at some point. He really should have seen something like this coming. The media had realized that there had been a rise in the number of Leaguers taking on protégées. They weren't in the Shadows anymore. Bruce did what he always did.
He gave Tim the rules that he would need to ensure that he would not tell anyone his identity. Then he called Mt. Justice back into service. He was pretty sure Tim could convince Nightwing to play Den mother sometimes. Then again, he really didn’t want anyone to realize the connection between Nightwing and Batman.
Tim had been excited to be on a team with Aqualad, Miss Martian, Kid Flash and Superboy. There had been a bit of clash over their leadership however Tim knew that Kaldur was a better fit for the role. He didn’t think that someone who would have to keep secrets from the team should be the one who would lead it. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone. It was the reason why Batman didn’t run the League alone.
As time passed and their missions grew in intensity they had other new heroes join them. Artemis, Rocket and then eventually Cassie also known as Wondergirl were just a few of the new recruits. As the trust levels in the team rose as they fought against the Light, Luthor and every other villain they came across, Tim never took off the sunglasses or told them his name.
Unlike the Leaguers who had come to accept the fact that Batman was a paranoid, grumpy man who did not believe that something like trust and acceptance could ever exist, the team consisted of teenagers. Nosey teens who often disregarded their orders when their curiosity got the better of them.
The League was content to just leave Batman be. They would speculate about him when he wasn’t around even though he knew that they did it. The team had eventually taken it as an insult when Robin refused to unmask. He didn’t always agree with Batman but in the long run he could understand what the big man was trying to avoid.
When Cassie joined, it didn’t take the two of them long to start dating. That crashed and burned about six months into their relationship. Tim couldn’t be honest with her outside the mask and there was also some drama going on in Gotham that had Batman and Robin occupied.
“Where’s Robin? This is like the third mission he’s missed this month.” Asked Artemis who had Wally’s head in her lap as they lounged in the cave.
It had been about two years since the formation of the team. No one knew anything about Robin other than the fact that he was scary smart and liked to mess with his words.
Cassie frowned, “He hasn’t been answering my calls.” She replied and Megan put a comforting hand on hers.
She knew how hard relationships could be especially as a cape. She empathized with the other girl. It was obvious to everyone that Robin’s priority right now was not Cassie. Meanwhile Cassie, always tried to prioritize her relationship with Robin even after the break up. The blonde girl had always put in a lot of effort to make things work and Robin just didn't seem to be able to meet her halfway.
She was trying to salvage a friendship even though he hurt her by not loving her back. Robin didn't seem to care that their friendship would never be the same. Or maybe he thought differently but they didn't know because he wasn't around to defend himself.
Wally had been flipping through channels when the news came on. It showed a twenty second clip that someone took on a phone in Gotham. The video showed Batman, Nightwing and Robin chasing after a man wearing a red helmet and shooting at them.
Several eyes widened as Artemis turned up the volume, “We see here Batman, Robin and the Hero of Bludhaven known as Nightwing chasing after the criminal known as the Red Hood. The Red Hood appeared in Gotham about three months ago. He immediately killed several drug lords before stealing territory from Black Mask. This resulted in a gang war which he then ended by murdering several drug lords and Black Mask himself.”
Several jaws dropped at the information when the clip changed to commissioner Gordon addressing the press, “Red Hood is not a hero. He is a criminal who is running around Gotham murdering other people. It doesn’t matter if the only people that he killed so far are criminals. It doesn’t change the fact that he cannot play Judge, Jury and Executioner. The law exists for a reason. The heroes of our world abide by several of those laws and this man is not above the law.”
Conner couldn’t help but state, “Well, at least we know what Robin has been so busy doing.”
Two months later another clip had been shown on the news. This one shows Robin and a girl wearing a purple costume, both of whom were running across the rooftops and seemed to be signaling messages to each other. The press was convinced that she was his girlfriend since no one knew who she was. It was shown on a hero gossip show.
Apparently Gotham had a new hero. It was also a little obvious that Robin had something going on with her. Cassie finally called him and dumped him even though he insisted that he had not been cheating on her with the person he called Spoiler.
A few months later, Spoiler had become a part of the team. It was obvious that Robin and Spoiler were extremely close. Cassie had blown up on him when she caught the two of them whispering in a corner. Robin had been caught coming out of her room.
It was how everyone realized that Spoiler was being mentored by Batman. The girl wasn't just a hero from Gotham. She was Batman's protegee as well. She wasn’t allowed to tell anyone her name either. It was kind of obvious that the two of them knew what lay behind the masks with all the coded words and half sentences that they used to communicate with each other.
“You did cheat on me with her didn’t you? She knows everything that you refused to tell me.”
Karen winced and so did several of the other teens in the cave. They heard Cassie finally explode on Robin. It had been about two months since Spoiler had joined the team. Cassie was still smarting over the fact that Robin and Spoiler worked together like they could reach each-others minds and that they knew each other.
When Spoiler gestured to him, he nodded like he understood her. It took a while for the team to realize that they were having whole conversations by merely tilting their heads and raising their eyebrows. They communicated without words and a few hand signs. It was hard to believe him when he said that he wasn’t dating her. They moved as one person and seemed to know what the other was thinking.
“This was a long time coming.” Muttered Tula.
Donna nodded her head. She was here visiting the team and giving her sister some advice on the hero life. Cassie had taken her place when Donna decided to return home. Cassie and Tim had broken up for about three months now.
Everyone but Robin could understand that she wasn’t getting over it. She needed to understand why she couldn’t be his priority and Robin wasn’t going to give her many answers. He just insisted that he never cheated on her but at the same time with Spoiler around and how they acted it was a little hard to believe him.
Spoiler just shook her head and face-palmed. She could tell he was handling this badly. Tim Drake was many things, emotionally competent was not one of them.
Robin kept insisting that they weren’t a couple, “Cassie she found out because she was in Gotham. She needed a mentor. You can’t share a mentor and not find out each other identities but I cannot tell you what you want to know. Its more complicated than you think.”
“Why not? If you were honest then we could be together.” She insisted and Robin just looked away from her.
Cassie growled in anger, literally growled. She was pissed and many could understand her frustration.
“I’m sorry Cassie. It really wasn’t meant to be like this. I lived in Gotham and I wanted to help so I put on a home-made costume and helped take down some baddies. Batman also didn’t want me out there. I refused to listen to him so he took me on to make sure I didn’t get myself killed."
Robin and Spoiler shared a look when she said that. There was something there that they weren't telling anyone.
Spoiler just shook her head and continued, "I even flirted with Robin when I first started training with them. It was before I knew who was under the mask. He told me he was dating someone. I respected that. We worked together for a while longer and we’re friends, just friends. We haven’t dated or even kissed, nothing ever happened.”
Cassie just looked at Robin but he put a hand over the comm in his ear and narrowed his eyes, “On our way B.”
He looked at Cassie and cupped her cheek, “I cared about you Cassie. I always will but we can’t be together. You deserve better. You deserve someone that you can share your whole life with not just a part of it. I cannot do that. Its not just about me. If one of our masks comes off you dive into a much larger world and there are other people that I cannot afford to put at risk. Its not about trust. I do trust you with my life but its also that I cannot make a selfish move like this.”
Cassie waited to see if he would say something else but Robin turned to Spoiler and nodded his head towards the exit. “We’re needed in Gotham.”
She nodded her head and left with him. Cassie started crying and Tula wrapped her arms around her friend and sighed. When push came to shove Robin had chosen his secrets over a relationship with her. It obviously hurt but in some ways they knew Robin was telling the truth. There was more at play than they knew and now they knew that for a fact. The only question that remained was what were they trying to protect?
More time passed. Conner and Megan broke up, Wally and Artemis retired after Tula sacrificed herself and Garth returned to Atlantis. Robin took over the team when Aqualad left and eventually they faced off against the Reach.
A couple weeks after the disaster with the Reach, Artemis still wasn’t allowing Wally out of her sight. After, he returned to her from the speed force it seemed like everyone was very suddenly against Robin. He was a founding member of the team but he was the only one who kept so many secrets from them. His distrust in them had only been cemented in the wake of his actions during the past six months.
He had faked Kaldur’s defection, made them believe Artemis was dead and everything else that happened. So much could have been avoided if he had been honest with them but then again Robin never trusted them all that much since they still didn’t know his name.
To make matters worse Luthor had been named senator which was a disaster. Heaven only knew what he was going to do now that he had that much power. It didn’t take long for him to start working against the League.
Six months into Robin rarely ever coming to the watchtower, Batman hadn’t been seen around in a while either, all hell broke loose in Gotham.
Gotham was split up into three sectors the rich, the middle class and then the docks. The area near the docks were also the areas closest to crime alley. The other parts of Gotham that were basically bleeding crime of all kinds and no matter how much Batman fought, that part of the city was just plain broken. However it also housed several different abandoned factories. The Joker decided that it would be fun to blow up every single one at the same time.
The League and the Team watched in horror as half of Gotham went up in a blaze of glory. The Joker had rigged the entire city to blow up. Batman, Robin and Batgirl (Spoiler took a new name) had only managed to disarm every bomb that they knew about. It was televised.
The Joker was ranting as Batman dragged him towards the waiting policemen, “You think you won batsy do ya? Huh? You think you got all the bombs? What about the docks? Did you check ‘em?”
Batman stared at the Joker in horror, “What bomb near the docks? You didn’t say anything about the docks?”
The Joker laughed, a sound that shivers down the spines of every person in the room, “Don’t ya see Bats? That’s the joke. Why aren’t ya laughing too?”
Someone shot the Joker in the forehead. He was dead. That much had been confirmed but no one knew who did that yet. It was unsure if they should be thanking the person who killed him or locking him up as well but for the moment the world had more pressing concerns.
“How bad is it?” asked Green Arrow.
Wonder Woman took a deep breath before pulling up pictures of the factories that the Joker had set to blow up.
“Each of these factories were located in heavily populated areas however these factories had several electrical lines that ran to other parts of the city. When the factories were blown up, several other electrical boxes overloaded and exploded as well causing other buildings to catch fire as well. I believe that the fires were merely a side effect of the bombings.”
Superman narrowed his eyes, “Why do you think that it is a side effect?”
Wonder Woman pointed to the screen, “The first factory was in the heart of Crime Alley, when it exploded several blocks were taken with it. The second and third were located near the docks and near the middle class neighborhoods. Far away from the upper side of Gotham that the Joker had been chased through while Robin and Batgirl disabled the bombs in that area. These factories were condemned buildings. No one knew that it was still connected to other buildings electrical grids.”
Black Canary picked up the explanation, “Half of the city was blown up and the other half of city has random buildings breaking out in fires. They’ve turned off all the electricity to sort the mess out but now the city is without power. Hospitals have generators but it won’t last forever. The people are rioting, gang wars, Arkham escapees, its basically all gone to hell.”
Kaldur had to ask, “The loss of life?”
Black Canary bit her lip, “Already in the thousands and climbing. Gotham is a large city, filled with nearly 10 million people. Those factories exploded in heavily populated areas. We should be expecting a death toll in the high thousands and with the crime rate spiraling out of control its possible we could hit a half a million people or more.”
“We have another problem.” Said Conner and everyone stared at the screen as Luthor placed Gotham on lockdown.
Cassie’s eyes widened, “What does that mean?”
Wally bit his lip, “It means no one in and no one out. They’ve basically cut Gotham off from the outside world. He’s leaving it burn down without any help from the outside world. All he’s doing is increasing the loss of life.”
The silence in the watchtower was deafening as the heroes realized that Batman and Robin were on their own inside a destroyed city.
Time passed slowly as Luthor refused to lift the ban on Gotham. It took seven months to open it back up and what they saw was shocking. Wayne Enterprises had come through for the city. They had already begun rebuilding what they could. They lost a large chunk of the city but Timothy Drake-Wayne had stepped up. He mustered up the rich and he was spearheading the rebuilding of their city.
Jason Todd-Wayne had taken several buildings, renovated them and opened up schools/orphanages for as many children as they could find without parents. His brother Dick Grayson-Wayne had been working with Jason and the children. He mostly worked with the police department to try and find the parents of the children, however most were declared dead.
Damian Wayne was a fifteen year old genius so it only made sense for him to be working with his genius brother. The two of them were currently dominating the business fields. Even though the Wayne family had been trapped inside Gotham their international businesses had boomed.
The two brothers were completely ruthless when it came to business. It was kind of scary and Barry kind of wanted to throw them at Luthor and watch them destroy him. He was sure that they would be able too.
The Demon of Wayne Enterprises had brought enough income into the city even though it had been placed on lockdown to fund the rebuilding of the city and the numerous orphanages. They were also opening up community centers that helped people find work. The amount of construction needed laborers and there were more than enough people without work.
All in all it seemed like the Wayne family had held what was left of Gotham together by the skin of their teeth while Batman and Robin somehow managed the rise in crime without help from the Justice League or team.
Another month later, Gotham had opened up to the public again. There was a sense of life that the city hadn’t had in a long time. They had survived, lost a chunk of themselves and their city but they still survived. They seemed proud that they were able to do so. In the face of the end of the world, Gotham would still somehow make it through but there was no word from the Bats.
The team was in the watchtower. Mostly they were just hanging out until the zeta tube announced Red Robin. No one ever heard that name before but they knew it was Robin who ran inside the building. They could recognize him even without his traditional uniform. He was bleeding and wearing a new costume that looked burned. He typed into the computer ignoring the people in the room.
“Access O BF 0258. Command self-destruct clock tower.” He commanded as more people entered the Watchtower.
The Leaguers like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter and the Flash headed towards them all. Artemis, Wally, Kaldur, Conner, Megan and Cassie were right behind their mentors.
Nightwing entered the Watchtower first and he was limping. His suit was covered in blood and his head was still bleeding sluggishly when he approached Robin (Red Robin?), “Where is she?”
Red Robin kept on working on the computer but he replied to Nightwing, “I left her with Blackbat and Batgirl. I needed to get the assassins away from her.”
Before anyone could ask anything, two more people entered the watchtower. A girl dressed in all black with a bat symbol on her chest and Batgirl. The girl in black went to Nightwing. There was a flurry of hand signs as she spoke to him but the Nightwing just looked terrified.
Robin moved towards Batgirl and before she could speak he kissed her.
“I love you. I’m sorry, I made mistakes but I swear I will love you for the rest of my life, just don’t leave me ever again. Do you understand? I can’t do this without you. You are my clarity, my eye in the storm, my sanity and without you I will literally lose my damned mind. Don’t ever do that again, do you understand me?”
Batgirl cried, tears streamed down her face, “I’m sorry, God I’m so sorry. Its not your fault. I did so many stupid things. I made mistakes too. I lied to you, God I never meant to hurt you. You matter do you understand me? I choose you and I will always choose you. I love you, I do.” She replied to him.
Cassie just shook her head sadly. Everyone could tell the two of them were in love with each other but they always denied their feelings for each other until now it seemed.
Nightwing sighed, “I’ve been telling the two of you that you loved each other since Poison Ivy and her mutant flowers. You both choose now to realize I was right?”
Robin or Red Robin sent Nightwing the finger as he kissed Batgirl. Before anyone could ask and they had many questions more people entered the Watchtower.
Batman and a teenager with a sword strapped to his back was dressed as Robin. They were both heavily injured. The teen immediately went to the computer and gave someone access to the zeta beams.
Red Hood appeared and several heroes aimed weapons at him. He was covered in blood, had a gun in one hand and several more strapped to several different parts of his body. Everyone froze when they saw the red haired civilian woman in his arms. She was beautiful with long red hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a dirty white summer dress and she was obviously very pregnant.
Nightwing stepped forward and kissed her before taking her into his arms, “Hood?” he questioned and the man nodded to him.
“Ain’t no-one touching her Big Wing. Didn’t let anyone close enough to even try. Not a single scratch on her or the kid.”
“Why is there a criminal in the watchtower?” questioned Wonder Woman and Batman sighed.
He looked at the people in the room and nodded his head before pulling off the cowl, showing a handsome man with black hair and blue eyes. It was also obvious that he was older than they thought he would be. No one spoke, not really sure where to start with their questions.
“I am far older than you all expected Diana.” Said Batman and Superman nodded his head.
“I became Batman at the age of twenty two, fourteen years before the Justice League was created. My name is Bruce Wayne. Two years into my crusade I found Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson in a circus. His parents had been murdered and I saw myself in him so I took him home and adopted him. He is the first Robin, my eldest son. A few years into his time as Robin, Barbara-”
At the mention of her name the red haired woman in Dick’s arms waved to them.
Bruce rolled his eyes, “Barbara is the police commissioners daughter. She wanted to keep her father safe so she donned her own costume and created the first Batgirl. I took her on to make sure she didn’t kill herself.”
By this time they were all treating each other, “When Dick was sixteen he went off-world with a friend. He left the title of Robin behind. Barbara retired Batgirl to spend some time with her father. I missed working with a team and I needed a partner. I adopted my second son Jason Todd and made him the second Robin.”
At the mention of his name the Red Hood took off his helmet. He left on the mask he wore underneath the helmet hiding his eyes. His hair had a weird grey streak in it. He didn’t say anything to them, just kept his back to the wall and rested his hands on his guns.
“He is your son?” shouted Superman.
Bruce sighed, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes in frustration, “He is my son. Its more complicated than you think Clark.”
“How is it complicated? He murdered so many people. He runs the drug trade in Gotham.” Replied Green Arrow.
Bruce looked so tired as he thought about it all.
“When Jason was fifteen, The Joker, beat him to death with a crowbar. My son died and I buried him. A few weeks later Dick returned to Gotham wanting to build a relationship with Jason and it was too late, he was already dead. The Joker also shot Barbara in the spine before I could catch him. She’s paralyzed for life.”
There was dead silence in the room before Artemis spoke, “How is he here then? If he died?” she asked.
Every Bat in the room flinched at the question. Bruce just kept talking, his voice cold and detached.
“I couldn’t bring myself to kill the Joker nor could I deal with the death of my son. Batman became more violent and reckless. This was around the time the League was forming and I wasn’t in a very sane place.”
The founding members of the League were shocked. They didn’t even realize that Batman had been unstable when they met him even though a couple months later he seemed to be less dark. They thought he had just become a little more comfortable with them.
“Timothy Drake knew who Batman was. He figured it out years ago and he had been a fan. When he saw I was getting dangerous he became Robin to give me balance. When his parents died I adopted him. I didn’t let him out for a year while I was training him. In that year I met Cassandra Cain and I adopted her."
Several people glanced at her and then back to Jason.
She is the daughter of Lady Shiva from the league of shadows and David Cain. They tried to make her a weapon. I made her my daughter and showed her a better way. She doesn’t speak.”
Blackbat waved at them but Black Canary narrowed her eyes at him, “You didn’t answer the question Batman. How is he alive?”
Jason sighed and pulled of the mask revealing eerie teal eyes to them that were ringed with red, “Talia Al Ghul tossed my body into the Lazarus pit. I came back wrong Lady. I didn’t remember at first. There was only anger."
Megan flinched away from him. He radiated anger in an uncomfortable way.
"Talia used the anger to train me in the ways of the League but I wouldn’t let her control me. I escaped from the League but I was driven insane from the waters of the pit."
His eyes kept flashing between poisonous green and blue.
" I was driven by rage, bloodlust and the voices in my head. I managed to work my way through the pit rage but I still have episodes, I’m not safe to be around unless you’re a bat. Its why I don’t come to these places. Right now I’m semi-sane but I only ever killed criminals, never an innocent.”
Bruce looked at his son sadly, “You’re doing better Jason. You haven’t killed anyone in a while and your PTSD is getting better as well.”
Jason snorted, “But I’ll never be the same B. I was dead and when I came back something broke. A shattered mind no matter how much you try and fix it will always have missing pieces. I’m not a hero.”
Dick shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. You’re family, no matter how hard it gets we’ll help you. No one needs to recognize you but us.”
Jason gestured to them with his head, “They will never accept me Dickie. Its why I never wanted to come near the others.”
The heroes looked away from the obviously broken man not knowing what to say to him.
Bruce gestured towards Batgirl, “Stephanie Brown is the daughter of Cluemaster. A villain in Gotham. She donned her homemade costume, named herself Spoiler and set out to spoil her fathers plans. She didn’t want to give up the life so I trained her to make sure she didn’t get herself killed."
His voice lost some of its coldness as he said, "It seems like she’s going to be my second daughter in law. Barbara made her the second Batgirl, passing down her legacy when she decided to become Oracle. She’s our eye in the sky and voice in our ear, a vigilante hacker while we’re running patrol.”
Tim rubbed his temples as he blushed, “Dad just slow down. We just had our first kiss, just pause.”
Bruce simply shrugged, “I told you she was special son. Lastly, we have Damian Wayne. He is my biological son. His mother is Talia Al Ghul and I didn’t know about him until he was ten years old. Talia sent him to me and while Tim was Robin on the team Damian was Robin in Gotham. They shared the mantle for a little while until Tim made his own name but he chose to keep operating as Robin on the team.”
Cassie just looked at them all in shock, “That’s why you never told anyone who you were because once we know one of you, we can figure out the rest. You’re all part of the Wayne family by adoption, marriage or blood.”
Tim nodded, “Dick didn’t want Nightwing connected to B or the team or the League. He was dealing with Barbara and their relationship and our family drama. He didn’t need more. Jason isn’t always sane. He knew that you wouldn’t approve of him and he didn’t want to deal with it. He had enough to deal with trying to work through the PTSD and the Pit madness."
Tim sort of smiled at them, "I worked on the team and Damian was raised in the League of Assassins. B kept him close until we were sure we could trust him and that Talia wouldn’t be coming back for him. His presence on the team could have become a danger in the Shadows ever came for him. We only recently dealt with the Talia situation.”
Artemis narrowed her eyes, “What about Cassandra? Why didn’t she join the team?”
Dick was the one who answered her, “Cass lives in Hong Kong. She only comes to Gotham for emergencies. She has her own show running there.”
“Why tell us now?” asked Wonder Woman.
“We needed the med-bay here. You saw them all associated with me. It didn’t matter anymore, you already knew that we were all connected.”
Kaldur was the one to ask, “What do you mean by deal with Talia?”
Stephanie answered him, “Ra is no longer leading the League which meant that he has fewer resources now. We always expected Talia to make another play at Damian.”
“What do you mean another play?” asked Superman.
Damian looked uncomfortable before answering, “Two years after I was sent to my father, my mother demanded I return to her. I refused and we fought. It ended badly, wounds on both sides and we both retreated. She swore I would pay for turning my back on her.”
Bruce nodded, “Talia took advantage of the recent mess that Gotham became and planned an attack. She targeted Barbara knowing that she was pregnant. Damian would go with her to protect her but we figured out her plan. Talia is no longer a threat.”
“Why? No offence but why would she just give up?” asked Superman.
Damian scrowled darkly at the man before he spoke, “I told her if she forced me to return to the League I would kill myself before we reached Grandfather. I would live free or die trying but I would not be a solider or a slave ever again. She was forced to admit defeat and left Gotham stating that I was dead to her. I returned the sentiment.”
No one knew what to say to the teen and it was obvious that he no longer wished to speak of his choices. Everyone just kind of drifted away, leaving the bat family to fix themselves up after an obviously difficult battle.
“Well it seems like we have all our answers.” Muttered Flash and everyone just nodded their heads.