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Damian leaves to grieve quietly in his room. His Mother had stared at their duel, her face expressionless and had left when the duel was finished. Damian does not know what she thinks, if she hates him now.
Back in the cavern Ra’s al Ghul gestures for one of his assassins to take Danyal’s body and follow him. He stops in front of the Lazarus Pit and gestures for the assassin to toss the body in. It sinks slowly, the water around the body tinged red for a moment before the body sinks into the water and there is no sign that anything was there. Ra’s waits. Perhaps his grandson will surprise him with a show of strength and come back from the dead. He waits and when he believes that nothing will happen, he turns and walks away. The assassins that guard the pool will inform him if anything happens.
Hours pass and still nothing emerges from the pit. The guards keep their positions. Then there is a shift in the air. The guards are more unmoving then even their training drilled into them. They stand stiff, their eyes unseeing, the very air holds its breath. The chittering of the bats falls silent. It is as if the world has held its breath, or as if time has been paused.
Then a hand plunges out of the pit, fingers latching onto the stone sides. A head follows, gasping for breath. A boy with black hair that seems to glow and blue eyes ringed with green. He gasps and splutters as his other hand comes out of the pool, and he digs his fingers into the stone side and struggles to pull himself out.
When he finally manages, he lies gasping on the ground, coughing up green water. He does not know how long he lays there, taking deep rattling breaths. His eyes are closed, he does not want to remember what happened. He does not want to think about how he ended up in the Lazarus waters or why. He does not want to think–
When he regains his breath and manages to sit up, he looks down at himself. His shirt is torn and bloodied from all the little cuts, and near his shoulder his shirt is nearly black with blood. His brother did this.
He fights back tears. He thought his brother cared. He thought he would not truly hurt him. But now he has killed him. He wants to sob, but his training will not let him. He must leave, must escape, disappear into the world and never be found. No one can know he survived.
He stands on shaky legs, and looks around. His eyes do not see the frozen assassins standing guard.
He flees as quickly as he can, leaving the compound and going as far as he can before he collapses with exhaustion. He hides himself in the brush by a large tree. He closes his eyes and falls into a dreamless sleep.
When he wakes the light is different. He looks around, he is still in a forest, but it is not the same one. The air is less biting, less cold, the light is warmer. He is not sure where he is, or how he got here. But he must survive.
He climbs to his feet and walks forward. He must find out where he is, try to survive. He must survive. He finds himself in a park in the midst of a large city. So far no one has seen him, and while he is good at stealth he knows that he will likely need to be seen if he wants to properly investigate where he is. He looks down at himself. He will need to find different clothes.
He wonders, briefly, if he is in the city of the Bat, his father. But then he hopes that he is not. He cannot go to his father, he will only send him back to the League, to his death. He must avoid his father at all costs.
He will find clothes, he will gather information, he will find a place to stay and blend in.
He will survive.