“Preservation”

Chapter Eight

The shots fired simultaneously. An eerily glowing green net snagged Superman, while a pat of yellow paint colored Green Lantern’s suit the offending pigment. Two ninjas jumped down to Wally’s side and kicked Flash on the outsides of his thighs, hitting the median nerve and numbing his legs as he slammed into the ground. A bucket of water was dumped over Black Lightning’s head, while two well-placed darts took out Black Canary and Geo-Force. Red Arrow growled as he reached for his quiver, but the cocking of the hundreds of guns halted any movement. Even Wonder Woman couldn’t deflect all those bullets; Batman couldn’t throw that many batarangs; Vixen couldn’t move; Hawkgirl couldn’t slam that many men with her mace.

Nightwing, Dick Grayson, held the metaphorical sword against the Justice League’s throat.

Except for the gun, which he pointed at his father.

“Nightwing,” Wonder Woman spoke calmly, “what is the meaning of this?”

“He is none of your concern,” an infuriatingly familiar voice called, and Batman narrowed his eyes at the man standing before the golden throne. “He is simply the means to your end.”

“Ra’s,” Batman growled.

“Hello, Detective. We meet once more for the last time.”

“You traitor!” Red Arrow shrieked and marched forward toward Nightwing. “After everything we’ve been through—after all that talk about not giving up or in—after Brother Blood—”

“R.A! Stop!” Green Lantern admonished as a pack of gun-toting ninjas swarmed about Red Arrow. The embittered crime fighter growled as they took him by the arms and forced him to his knees. Simultaneously, men came forward to restrain the other members of the Justice League, all except Batman.

The older man observed his son’s face as Nightwing’s enraged eyes never wavered from his own. The boy simply walked forward and undid Batman’s belt before chucking to the side. Then, he turned his back on his adoptive father and threw the gun carelessly over his shoulder.

Batman caught it, not surprised by the lightness of it. Sure enough, the barrel was empty. He dropped the gun when the ninjas came to his side, and he, too, fell to his knees.

Nightwing walked up the stairs to stand at Ra’s side, his back still toward the League. “It is done.”

Ra’s reached up to brush a thumb across Nightwing’s cheekbone. “You have done well, Richard. I am proud.”

A fury greater than he’d known before, save towards the Joker, burned within Batman, but he needed not to say anything.

Nightwing tensed, though Batman doubted anyone but he noticed, and looked away. “You have nothing to be proud of. You’re not the reason I could do what I just did.”

“But you still did it because of me, and for that, dear boy, I will take credit.”

Nightwing chose not reply and headed off toward a corridor straight ahead, and Batman knew he only had a few moments before he lost his son again—if he hadn’t already.

“What about the oath you swore to me, Dick?”

His son halted.

“You said you’d never swerve from the path of justice. How you can call working for a madman who stole nuclear weapons not perverting that?”

“That is your opinion, Detective,” Ra’s maintained, “but then again, you are the one who protects those who damage the most precious of victims.”

“Your ideal of a perfect Earth has been flawed, Ra’s, not because of your vision to help save her but your execution and your madness against innocents.”

Nightwing never turned and only flicked his hand. “I’m not averse to gagging.”

“There is no need,” Ra’s affirmed. “Move our guests to their new quarters. Ubu, kill the alien.”

“What!” Black Lightning shouted. “You can’t!”

Red Arrow struggled against his bonds. “You sonova—”

“Barbarians!” Wonder Woman effectively broke free, only for a dart to end her defiance.

“Work,” Green Lantern hissed at his ring. “Work, damn you!”

Batman’s eyes never left Nightwing. As soon as the words cut through the cavern, his son whirled, desperation and fear widening the younger man’s own. His shock outweighed his futile attempt of a neutral front, and he was moving by the time Ra’s finished his sentence. He was airborne by the time Ubu loaded the rifle with the green bullet. He vaulted over the gunman’s head by the time Ubu pulled the trigger, and he accepted the blow on the left side of his stomach. His body tumbled backwards lifelessly, slammed into the cold rock floor, and skidded to a stop before Superman’s net.

“Dick…” Superman muttered weakly, but it didn’t spur the boy to movement.

The sound of the shot resounded in Batman’s ears after its initial blow, but it paled in comparison to the thud it made when it sunk into the Kevlar.

It sunk into the Kevlar.

He didn’t hear it break the flesh.

His quivering eyes pored over Nightwing’s prone figure, resting upon the chest. Unless it hit the diaphragm or the shot had been close, or it hit just the wrong area, the boy should have been able to breathe.

Breathe, damnit! Will you just breathe!

“You bastards!”

The fierce voice dragged Batman’s attention for a brief moment as he saw the boy descend upon the battle. His movements were not as fluid as Nightwing’s, but it was obvious to anyone who knew his children that the newcomer had been working with Dick. His jeans and simple T-shirt betrayed his incensed tone, making an onlooker believe him to be nothing more than a mere child, but Batman knew Jason Todd to be more than that. A lot more of than that, though the fearful younger brother had not been one of them.

The boy pressed both his sneakers into Ubu’s back, knocking the bald man over before flipping to dismount. Whirling his left leg, he took out of three of the closest gunmen to his fallen brother, even though they had nothing to do with Dick’s current predicament.

“…Jase…” Dick rasped breathlessly, pulling himself into a sitting position with hands upon his bent knees. “…it’s okay…I’m okay…”

Batman’s eyes softened at the sight of his sons, as Jason forwent his fight to kneel at his brother’s side and hook Dick’s arm around his neck. Dick held the rifle’s ammunition in hand before fingering the hole in his trench coat.

“Good thing this is Kevlar, too, huh?”

“What is the meaning of this?” Ra’s demanded, halting before the two boys. “You disobey me?”

Dick glared up at the man, even as Jason lugged him to his feet. “Killing Superman wasn’t part of the deal.”

“His life is of no concern to you,” Ra’s dismissed.

“You might still need him.” Dick’s knees never quiet straightened, and he leaned heavily upon Jason. “Despite what you think, the boy isn’t as strong as Superman. Wait until you know he can do it.”

“You hardly hide your true motivation, Richard, but I do not care. The alien is too dangerous to keep alive.”

“And so’s Batman and Wonder Woman and hell, even Red Arrow if you piss him off enough. Your point?”

Ra’s’s eyes narrowed, though his smirk widened. “You do not question me.”

“Never. I simply ask that you see my argument.”

“You make no demands of me either.”

“I am not demanding. I am requesting…Father.”

Batman averted his eyes as a part of him ached at the title that came through Dick’s mouth. He had once reserved the right to him, and what he had taken his boy thirteen years to say to him, had taken Dick less than four months to utter to Ra’s.

Yet it worked. Ra’s waved his hand. “If this is what you ask, then as your father, I can do no less than grant. Ubu, take all the prisoners to their cells. Richard, you have far more important tasks ahead of you.”

Dick ducked his head. “Yes, Father.”

Batman once more looked at the boys as the gunmen raised him to his feet, but Dick refused to look his way. Jason, however, turned halfway around to grant Batman a small smile, something which the boy hadn’t given him since he died.

*^*^*

“Be careful with that. Do you want to start a nuclear war before it’s supposed to begin?” Nightwing admonished, grunting through the pain of his side. Jason had brought him to the infirmary and found him an ice packet, but the agony of the shot sinking into his side still gritted Nightwing’s teeth and slowed his movements. He shook his head as the ninjas continued to move the Justice League’s various equipment about the monitor womb, separating it into necessary and unnecessary supplies.

Nightwing sighed and turned back to the computer screen as the boot steps clapped against the metal floor.

“Report,” Ra’s ordered.

Nightwing complied. “Russia has yet to inform the United Nations of the three nuclear weapons we’ve stolen, just like the United States never informed them about the one we stole from there. I doubt we need to fear about that. I’ve already set up the Justice League’s computer to relay the nuclear weapons launch codes when the time comes, so no country will know exactly what is occurring. As far as Russia will know, the United States will have bombed them; as far the United States will know, Russia will have bombed them.”

Ra’s turned back toward the JLA round conference table at the middle of the floor. “And what of the supplies on this vessel? You have made sure it will give us adequate resources and research materials?”

“Batman set them up, and he is always prepared.”

“Exasperatingly so.”

“We will have the necessary equipment to decontaminate Earth after the others destroy themselves as well as adequate protection from the radiation,” Nightwing explained. “I am thorough…Father.”

Ra’s nodded and circumvented the table, stopping at a particular seat. His hand reached into his cloak and produced a jagged dagger, which he used to caress the blue wings upon the black bat symbol. “You call me that. However, you still have yet to accept me as your own.”

Nightwing averted his eyes. “It will take time to adjust. That is all.”

“Your time is running short.” The shriek of metal against metal grated in Nightwing’s ears like nails on a chalk board as Ra’s eliminated his symbol from the Justice League’s Round Table. “I would finally accept your place at my side before my patience runs out, or I will force you to do so.”

As Ra’s left, Nightwing bowed and then stood, his haunted eyes poring over his scratched out symbol before he stalked toward the exit. He still had a visit to make before he teleported back to Earth.

*^*^*

Batman could hear Alfred’s words now.

“You should be proud, Master Bruce. Master Richard has proven to have been an apt pupil.”

Too apt.

The tubes—or cells—the ninjas and gunmen had put the Justice League in mimicked the ones the Titans of the Future had used when they chose to entrap the JLA. Tim must have given Dick a general assessment, and Dick had taken it to the farthest degree. Even Superman, after being freed from the green mesh, hadn’t been able to break through, while Black Canary practically punctured her own eardrum trying to crack the glass. They had simply to wait until they were freed or the world ended before they escaped their traps.

“Are you getting teenage flashbacks?” Flashed asked Red Arrow, crossing his legs upon the opposite end from his back. “Seems to me I remember being trapped in things like this time and time again.”

“Shut up. I won’t get to kiss my daughter good-night tonight.”

“Neither will I—or my son.”

“It always has to be about you, doesn’t it?”

Flash shrugged. “Says the guy who used to be on the cover of Tiger Beat. Just have patience.”

Red Arrow’s eyes widened. “You did not just say that.”

“I sure heard it.”

Batman’s eyes rose at the boy’s voice, and Jason Todd sauntered into the room. He walked up to the mainframe where the ninjas kept guard of the cells and patted the first one on the shoulder. “Take a break, eh, Jeebs? I got this.”

The lead ninja narrowed his eyes but quickly stood. With two pats upon his shoulder, he left, taking the two guards by the doorway with him.

Batman had to shake his head. Three guards for the entire Justice League? It was an insult to be sure.

Jason walked up to Batman’s tube, and even at the age of twenty, he barely dusted the Dark Knight’s chin. “Hey, ‘Pop.’ I bet you didn’t expect to see me.”

“Jason.” Batman’s voice lightened. “What are you doing here?”

Jason shrugged easily. “Dick told me to do something for someone else other than myself. Figured this was as good of place as any to start.”

Batman bit his cheek to feel the pain in his mouth instead of his heart. “You’re taking Dick’s place as Ra’s’s vessel.”

“You have definitely earned that title of ‘World’s Greatest Detective,’” Jason snickered before shoving his hands in his pockets. “Dick’s trying to find a way out of it, but—”

“But I think you’ve said enough,” Dick interjected from the doorway. He strode forward to slap a hand up the back of Jason’s head. “I told you not to come in here, Jase. I told you to stay of this and—”

“We know I don’t listen to orders well.”

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t ‘Renegade,’” Red Arrow snickered and crossed his legs upon the floor. “You should’ve just stayed with Deathstroke rather than switching sides—again.”

“Cram it, Harper. And you—” Dick snatched Jason’s shirt. “You’re leaving.”

Jason slapped Dick’s hand away. “I don’t take orders from you, Grayson.”

“Oh yes you do, Todd. Now.” He pulled out his escrima sticks from under his trench coat. “Either you leave or I will make you. You wanna rematch?”

Jason’s blue eyes burned with hot fire, and his hand shot out almost faster than Nightwing could deflect. Dick’s eyes narrowed as he pointed toward the door. “I might be hurting, Jase, but I’m still enough to kick your stubborn ass. Go.”

With a curse under his breath, Jason turned and stormed out of the room a second later. A slight smirk from on Dick’s face as he turned toward the Justice League. “Comfy? I made sure you would enjoy your personal accommodations.”

*^*^*

Jason growled as he walked into his quarters. They were rather basic with only the rock walls, a dresser, and a cot, but he’d made due as Ra’s worked toward world domination and took his brother and him, too. He jumped down on his bed before he realized the presence and shot up. He kicked out before he even knew whom he was attacking, but a strong arm reached about his head. A few strong hands snatched his legs, and he hardly saw the beauty of an assassin before the vicious voice declared, “Ready to give your contribution to the mission?”

Jason spat at the woman’s face, and the darkness snatched him once more.

*^*^*

“What’s the point of this, Dick?” Flash asked, trying for the nth time to vibrate through the glass. “You can’t expect us to believe you’ve gone and joined Darth Immortal over there.”

Nightwing shrugged as he walked to the computer console on the side and hit a certain drawer with his foot. “I really don’t care what you think. All that matters is that you’re here and out of Ra’s’s plan.”

“Grayson, listen up,” Dinah snapped, her gloved hands lightly touching the glass. “I know how persuasive Ra’s can be, but getting involved with him in any way is always foolish, deadly even.”

“Spoken like a true ex-girlfriend, and anyway, there is no one here who knows how deadly and wrong it is to get in with him. Trust me.”

“Oh, yeah?” Red Arrow chuckled. “Is there a story to that teaser?”

Nightwing ruffled the back of his hair and then stuck his hands in his trench coat’s pockets. “The first we ever heard of Ra’s al Ghul was when he kidnapped me. The second time I met him, he almost took off my head, and the third time he tempted my little brother into almost bringing back the dead.”

“And yet, you’ll willingly work with him,” Green Lantern remonstrated.

“It’s not so much ‘willingly’ as ‘begrudgingly.’ Look, I’m not saying I agree with the guy or his methods, okay? But you have to at least respect his power.”

“Sorry, all evil masterminds get maced,” Hawkgirl replied. “Their lackeys, too.”

“Ouch.”

“You knew Ra’s’s plan from first time you met with Talia,” Batman asserted, drawing Nightwing to his cell. “You stole the files from Tim’s computer on Superboy and his genetic makeup. When we battled the Society, you said to check Silo Three, which held the one nuclear weapon stolen from the United States. Since then, three nuclear weapons have been stolen from Russia. You were also the person who broke inside the evidence chamber in the satellite to get that gun.”

Nightwing cocked his head to the side. “Got it all figured out, don’t ya?”

“Ra’s wants to start a nuclear war between the United States and Russia, which will inevitably create another world war. With nuclear weapons being used, most of the planet’s population will be eliminated, though the radiation will force Ra’s and his few followers off the planet, where they will seek sanctuary in the Justice League satellite.”

“Almost there…”

“You said yourself that Lex didn’t go anywhere without Mercy. Franklin Madison changed her to be him to fool us and make you realize you really had no other options. The burn marks through Luthor’s chest came from ray that mimics Superman’s heat vision, only it didn’t mimic it. It was the same heat vision because with the files from Tim’s computer coupled with the best genetic scientist on the planet, Ra’s brought Kon-El back to life.”

Superman’s eyes grew wide. “What!” he gasped.

“He was the one who stole the nuclear weapons, with your help, of course,” Batman finished.

Sarcastic claps echoed off the silent room’s walls. “Wow. You never cease to amaze me. Got it in one—except Talia broke into the evidence chambers, not me.”

“You brought Kon-El back to life?” Superman seethed, his eyes glowing a threatening red.

“No, I didn’t. Franklin Madison did,” Nightwing explained. “Of course, the Lazarus Pit is very particular in how it happens. Madison was able to successfully clone Kon-El from your DNA and Luthor’s; however, to bring back a soul, a soul must be given as payment.”

“That’s why Luthor looked so out of it when we found his body,” Wonder Woman realized. “He had given his soul for Conner’s.”

Nightwing nodded sadly. “In the end, he gave the ultimate price for the ultimate good.”

“Where is Conner?” Superman demanded, pounding his fist once upon the cell. Not even a crack defiled the glass.

“Being utilized to the fullest extent of his abilities.”

“You mean being used as a slave,” Flash accused. “If you’re going to go to the Dark Side, might as well go all the way. Just answer one question, will you? Why? Why after all these years did you finally turn?”

Nightwing met his father’s eyes for the first time since their fight at the Lazarus Pit. “Because you tried to kill me.”

Batman closed his eyes, unable to keep the gaze. “…Yes”

“After everything—you tried to kill me!”

“We established that. Yes.”

Nightwing slapped his palm flat upon the glass just by Batman’s face, causing the older man to open his eyes; in the middle of Nightwing’s palm was a single bullet. “This was the first bullet in the chamber. You didn’t even unload it at the satellite. Were you planning on using it again?”

“…Yes.”

“Why? Figured if Ra’s didn’t dunk me in the Lazarus Pit, you could have a second try.”

“It wasn’t meant for you this time.”

The younger man paused and inhaled a sharp breath. “Oh…oh…God…”

“I stopped before I saw Ra’s,” Batman said, reaching out to touch the glass where Dick stood. “You know why.”

Exhaling, Nightwing lifted a fist to punch his father in the face and instead, cursed the cells. If Superman couldn’t break through the glass, neither could he. “Yeah, I just wish I didn’t.”

“I’ll…I’ll never—”

“Well, get over it.” Dick dropped the bullet into his pocket and shook his head. “We all make mistakes. Even the great Batman. You just have to see the easy way is never the right way.”

“Like what you’re doing now?”

Nightwing smirked. “Just how long have you been waiting to use that line?”

A ghost of a smile brightened the Dark Knight’s face. “Four months, six days, twelve hours, fifty-seven minutes, and—” He looked at the clock on the monitor. “—twenty-three seconds.”

Nightwing blinked. “Are you, like, not human or something? Seriously. You even freak me out sometimes.”

Not waiting for an answer, Nightwing turned on his heel and headed for the exit.

“So, are you truly a card-carrying member of the Secret Society of Super Villains, or do you just run with them?” Black Lightning called.

Nightwing paused. “What’s it to you?”

“Jeff,” Black Canary interjected, her face paling considerably, “don’t go there.”

“Why not? After all, wasn’t the Society that dumped Chemo onto Bludhaven? A hundred thousand deaths are on your head, Nightwing, and here I would think its failed protector would try to do everything in his power to stop it from happening again. Guess I was wrong.”

Nightwing never turned; his voice never rose above a callous grate. “Yeah, I guess you were.”

He left.

Batman glared at the man, his lips tightened, his voice ever restrained. “Do you know why the Society bombed Bludhaven, Pierce?”

Not Jeff. Not Black Lightning. Pierce.

“…no.”

“Nightwing infiltrated the Society in order to track its movements in Gotham and Bludhaven. He only left it after his cover was blown saving Superman. The Society took revenge by bombing his city. I know you worked for Lex Luthor, one of the worst villains on this planet, but tell me if you in your sane mind would have or could have survived allying yourself with the entire Society.”

Black Lightning immediately fell silent before he choked. “…no, not in my sane mind. Are you saying…?”

Batman closed his eyes. He knew what happened in that apartment building, in the stairwell, on that roof. No, no one in their sane mind would ever join the Secret Society of Super Villains.

Silence reigned in the room before Green Lantern murmured, “You think he’s infiltrating it this time, too?”

Red Arrow whistled. “Hell, I hope not. I’d rather he be safe on the other side than see what they’ll do to someone who double-crosses them twice.”

Though Batman didn’t say it, he shared the sediment.

*^*^*

Keep it together, Nightwing chastised himself. Keep it together.

He barely kept the tears from coursing his face at the mention of Bludhaven. The stab had been to try to wane him out of the Society, and it worked. Or well, it would have worked if he actually was in it. Bludhaven was nothing more than an act of revenge against him, and the countless lives, the countless names…The only saving grace he had was that Tim and Cassandra weren’t in the city at the time. If they had been there…

As soon as Nightwing entered his room—a small area he shared with Jason—he went to his dresser. He knew one of his younger brother’s revolvers was still there. The boy didn’t even know Nightwing kept one, and in his own defense, Dick didn’t know why he kept it.

Taking the bullet he’d gotten from Bruce’s gun, he slipped it into the first gage before he snapped the piece back into place.

All that pain, all that guilt…

He gave his head one violent shake at the sight Catalina on top of him, peeling back his suit.

No. Not now.

He saw Blockbuster before him, telling him it would never stop.

It would never stop, Nightwing knew now.

He pulled off his mask.

By allowing Catalina to take the shot, Blockbuster had won. He would haunt Dick for the rest of his life. Catalina’s hands would haunt him for the rest of his life. His own conscience would haunt him for the rest of his life.

His shaking hand took the revolver in his hand and slowly lifted it toward his temple.

Stop.

He shouldn’t be thinking like this.

Just stop.

He should not be thinking like this.

God, just stop.

As his finger began to depress, he whirled and flung a batarang. In the shadowed part of his room, a grunt sounded, and a short, balding man fell to the ground, clutching his head.

“Why you little—”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence,” Dick retorted weakly, the gun still shaking in his hand “or else you’d be a hypocrite.”

Through the blood trickling down his face, Doctor Pyscho looked up with a creepy, self-indulgent smile. “You still want to, don’t you? You have wanted to kill yourself, and you couldn’t bring yourself to do it before. Else, you would have rid yourself of that already.”

“Who sent you after me?” Dick demanded. “Ra’s? Talia?”

“Oh, my boy, it is not that easy,” the doctor sneered and stood, taking a handkerchief from his pocket to dab his wound. “You believe you can interrogate me while under my influence?” As he took steps toward Dick, Dick gave ground until his back hit the dresser. “I am the one who holds the power, and you want to do this. You want to end it. The pressure has been too much for too long, and now, you want to finish it—once and for all. Be the hero. Become a martyr.”

Dick closed his eyes for the briefest of moments as he saw the green monster fall to his city, as he saw the blood upon his hands from Blockbuster’s head, as he saw Azrael’s face under the cowl, as he saw Jason’s headstone.

No, he’d gotten past that.

Jason was alive.

But a hundred thousand people weren’t, and…and…

His hand hardened, and Dick raised his eyes to see Doctor Pyscho’s vicious leer.

“Go ahead, boy. Do it. I’ll even tell Daddy Bat the idea was mine.”

Dick raised the gun and fired one single shot, grazing the side of Doctor Pyscho’s head. The man dropped to the ground, but the gun beat him to it.

Bleeding profusely, the doctor asked weakly, “How…?”

“You reminded me I wouldn’t be destroying just me,” Dick affirmed and picked up the man by the tie. “And if you can survive several stabs to the head, I think it would safe to say you’ll survive this. Now, who sent you to kill me?”

“Make you…kill yourself…”

“Same difference.”

Doctor Pyscho’s eyes were slits as he giggled at Dick. “Not kill you. That was…my idea…Wanted you scared, unconscious…I wanted something more…dramatic…for the Bat’s brat…”

Dick shook him for emphasis. “And I repeat: WHY?”

“The time has come…The end is here.”

*^*^*

` “I hope you enjoy the view,” Ra’s expressed as he walked about the rows and motioned to the large monitor screen on the far wall. “You must understand, I originally did not want you here, but I was convinced otherwise. Apparently, there are many a villain who wanted nothing more than the Justice League here to witness the destruction of the world—its greatest failure.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Red Arrow remonstrated. “We’re going to stop it.”

Ra’s al Ghul blinked at the upstart before meeting Black Canary’s eyes. “And you spared his life…why?”

“Hey!”

Ra’s waved his hand. “Try as you will, there is no stopping my plans this time. They are already in motion, and not even you, Detective, can impede their fruition.”

Batman said nothing, and sadly, he didn’t have to.

“I know what you thinking, Detective. You believe your infantile ward has been working alongside me for the last four months, and he has set measures to stop me. However, I planned for that. Even as we speak, I have one of the so-called ‘super villains’ dealing with his rebellious nature. He will not be able to spare you nor your other boy in time.”

“Then why recruit Dick?” Batman argued. “You didn’t need his help to get us here, and you have a ‘society’ of ‘super villains,’ who could have created cells such as these. What was the point?”

A thin smirk etched itself onto Ra’s lips and refused to be erased. “That is the mystery, is it not? As you know, Talia worked extensively with Alexander Luthor, Jr., the man whom at the time she believed to be Lex Luthor.” He turned his back to Batman and walked to the console on the side of the room. “Did you know Richard was supposed to die in the Crisis? The one known as Conner Kent took his place.”

Superman gasped as Batman’s mouth opened slightly. “What?”

Ra’s nodded. “Yes, Luthor foresaw that particular detail, which unfortunately did not come to pass.”

“If it did not come to pass, then it means that it wasn’t supposed to happen,” Flash argued. “I should know.”

“Perhaps, but even you cannot understand the intricacies of the web which has been woven by time itself,” Ra’s replied flippantly before turning his now embittered gaze upon Batman. “However, that simple oversight makes your ward invaluable to me. He has done what I, too, lay claim to having achieved—cheating death.”

“And so have so many others, including Green Lantern and my own sister,” Wonder Woman revealed. “How would have Nightwing’s death differed from theirs?”

“You cannot begin to imagine, Goddess.” Ra’s hit a few keys upon the console. “Before I take my position as ruler, I wish to finish one little oversight. My body, though my son’s, is old, older than perhaps you could believe, and as I said earlier, I crave youth. Now, it is time for me to take it.”

A gasp burst from Batman’s mouth as he slammed his fist against the cell wall. “Don’t you do this, Ra’s. He’s a boy, an innocent.”

“Ah, but that is the one thing your wards were never.” Ra’s clicked a few buttons, and once the screen flickered to life, Batman felt his blood run cold at the sight of Jason struggling against the bonds holding him to a surgical table. He had already worn his wrists raw, and now, a fine coating of blood wiggled in between his flesh and the leather cuff. With a huff, Jason dropped his arms to the table. There was no use. He couldn’t get out of those without a lockpick, and by the sight of his seemingly naked body covered to the stomach by a sheet, he didn’t have any on him.

A hard hand slapped his cheek, slamming the side of his head into the table. “Stop squirming. You are giving your life for the Demon. You should be honored.”

To the boy’s credit, Jason smirked. “You want to trade places?”

The ninja, of course, just slapped him across the face again.

Franklin Madison, as Batman know saw for the first time in person, turned from his work area to bring forth a syringe, causing Jason to forgo his better judgment and wring his arms again. “You know, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t like a centuries-year-old wind-bag taking over my body.”

“Bruce…” Wonder Woman murmured, but her pity and anguish didn’t help. If they harmed that boy, his heart would want nothing more than revenge. He’d already lost Jason once…

“You should be proud, Detective,” Ra’s sneered. “The boy has kept his body in perfect condition. It will be an excellent fit.”

Batman growled. “Then why aren’t you there?”

“I wanted to be here to see the look upon your face when you suffer your greatest failure and realize you cannot stop me this time.”

Though he straightened his back and resigned himself not to give Ra’s his small victory, Batman couldn’t even suppress the look of concern on his face as Madison ducked his head for a moment of regret.

“I am sorry, Wayne.”

The door flung open—

“Get a new line, Doctor.”

—and batarangs showered the ninjas and gunmen. With a stereo of curses, Nightwing swung into the room, kicking the first ninja, elbowing the second, and pouncing on the third. By the time he reached the fourth and last ninja, the room—sans Jason, Madison, and he—was empty.

“No!” Ra’s fumed, as Batman once more breathed. He should have known. He shouldn’t have worried. Dick always came through, as his partner, as his son, and as a brother.

Nightwing barely spared a glance at Madison, who shook with the remnants of the broken syringe in his hand. It was the target of Nightwing’s first batarang.

The older boy cupped Jason’s chin and grinned softly. “Hey, bro. All wrapped up? Christmas was so four months ago.”

Jason’s retort was lost to Ra’s’s contestations as he turned and pointed to two ninjas. “Go. Find The Fearsome Five and tell them to finish what Doctor Pyscho should have.”

Doctor Pyscho? Batman beseeched the screen as he saw the remnants—the exhaustion and mental strains—manifesting in Nightwing’s languid expression and pale face.

“What happened to you?” Batman heard Jason ask as Dick sliced through the bonds with a batarang. “No offense, Dick, but you look like hell.”

“Feel that way, too. Happens when you almost blow your own brains out.”

Batman’s teeth gritted until his upper bite cut into his lower. Damn Pierce.

“But no need for everyone to know the details, especially Ra’s.” Dick tossed the batarang at the camera, and the screen went fuzzy.

“Stress that Richard is not to be killed yet. He is still useful to me alive,” Ra’s ordered, as the ninja bowed and left.

“You still haven’t said how,” Batman demanded.

Ra’s demonic features came to life as he leaned upon the console. In one fluid motion, he met Batman’s harsh glare. “Tell me, Detective. If you could go back in time and stop your parents from ever being murdered, would you?”

When Batman remained silent, a content grin formed on Ra’s’s malevolent face. “That is how.” He snapped at one of the ninjas. “You! Call Chang Tzu. Tell him to start the JLA experiments.”

“Experiments?” Hawkgirl echoed. “What kind of experiments?”

“You didn’t think you had been brought here to simply entertain me, did you?” He allowed the demonic qualities to twist his face. “I want to know exactly why you are the way you are, Kendra. I want to know how you are self-proclaimed ‘heroes,’ so there will be none in my utopia.” As he treaded toward the door, he called over his shoulder. “Oh, and Detective? Do not think that I will simply allow Richard to gallivant about these corridors. When he has outlived his usefulness, I will have Dr. Madison activate the failsafe I had him place in the boy’s blood. He will be dead within seconds if one of the villains does not wish to prolong his agony.”

Red Arrow snorted. “Dude, how many people do you have on staff? Seriously. It seems like the entire Super Villain community.”

Ra’s paused to regard the boy with his crossed arms and brash furled eyebrow, awaiting an answer. Ra’s complied. “I have them on retainer, Mr. Harper.”

After he left, Flash blinked. “Should we worry when he makes jokes?”

Superman shook her head. “I don’t think he was joking.”

*^*^*

Jason rubbed his wrists. “Doctor Psycho, huh? And here I thought he only had a thing for wonder women.”

“It must be the wonder. Wonder Women, Boy Wonders,” Nightwing remarked and took out two batarangs “We don’t have much time. If you were compromised, no doubt they’ve gone after Little S, and if Ra’s saw that, he’ll be deploying the Not-So Secret Society on your hind and maybe even activate the failsafe in my blood.”

“Y—You know about that?” Franklin Madison asked, tearing his gloves from his hands and pulling down his surgical mask.

“I was raised by the Bat, Madison. I know a lot of stuff I’m not supposed to. The main questions are: Can you reverse it, and if so, how long will it take?”

Madison shook his head frantically, as his eyes ricocheted back and forth with his mind’s thoughts. “The failsafe was built into his DNA structure with…” He leaned over to the desk and threw Nightwing a little vial of blue crystals. “…this. “

“Pretty blue crystals?” Jason snickered. “Oh, I’m scared now.”

“I’m not quite sure what it is, but—”

“I do,” Nightwing interrupted, hearing the clinking of the crystal against their glass encasement. “It’s not a killer but an activator, just in case I double cross him. He knew I would find this. It’s a reminder.”

“A reminder? For what?” Jason pressed.

Nightwing’s temporary shock wore off, and he graced Jason with an overzealous grin. “Not to double cross him. So, on that note: think you can get in touch with your roots? I need you to steal something.”

Jason rubbed his raw wrists. “What needs to be stolen?”

“Well, they’re certainly bigger than tires.”

“I’m always up for a challenge, but what are you going to do?”

Nightwing smirked. “What else? Double cross Ra’s.”

*^*^*

“Seriously, I have to use the bathroom.”

Batman fought the urge to roll his eyes. Even he wasn’t sure if Red Arrow actually had to urinate or was simply attempting to get out of his cell.

A gunman scoffed. “Then go. The cells are designed to clean up messes.”

Batman’s eyes narrowed. The voice was familiar, too familiar for comfort. It couldn’t be…

“So you really want me to pull down my pants in front of these ladies?” Red Arrow asked with a sheepish smile. “Please, one of them is my mother. Would you want to go to the bathroom in front of your mother?”

Faking, Batman decided, his eyes still fixated upon the gunman, and the gunman avoided his glare.

For a reason.

Hell, Batman didn’t even need to see under the mask. The boy’s build was enough of a hint.

Damn.

Of course, his little realization wouldn’t matter in ten seconds. As the door opened and the large, yellow, egg-type being waddled through, he knew there was only a certain amount of time they had until Dr. Chang began his experiments. He saw the fallout himself after going to North Korea to save Nightwing and Sasha. It wouldn’t be pretty.

“The Justice League, my own personal specimens. I should only be so lucky to have a chance to learn all your secrets,” he hissed. “Now, shall we begin?”

“If we said ‘no,’ would that stop you?” Red Arrow asked.

Dr. Chang narrowed his beady eyes at the boy. “You are nothing more than a human, dear boy. I have no use for you, and so do not presume your worth to be anything less than nothing.” The large egg’s claws scratched down upon Red Arrow’s cell. “Inject him with the serum.”

“Inject with what?” Green Lantern growled, powerless but to place his hands upon the glass.

Dr. Chang chortled. “What else? A fast-acting poison. Can’t have him struggling and perhaps saving all you, can I? I already made that mistake once with Batman.”

“No!” Dinah screamed, panicked, as the gunman walked to the console on the side. Hitting a few buttons, straps flung upward to slap Red Arrow’s wrists and ankles and tug the human boy toward the ground. Struggle as he might, nothing could free him from those metal cords, so much like decel lines, and when his knees finally touched the floor of the cell, the glass lifted.

Green Lantern pounded the glass, spewing swears, as Kendra flapped her wings out, attempting to break the glass. Dinah leaned forward, resting her forehead against the cell, tears trickling down her cheeks and plunging from her chin.

Batman knew how she felt. That boy was hers in every way that counted if not in blood, and there was nothing she could do to save him.

“No…please…”

Eventually, Green Lantern turned toward Batman. “If he dies, I’ll kill your kid, and it won’t be fast either.”

Batman said nothing, did nothing, as he watched the gunman fill a vial with a light blue mixture and walk over to Red Arrow. As the needle went under the skin, Red Arrow let the fight bleed from his body, and he simply sat, blinking ever few seconds.

After about ten, he cocked his head up at Dr. Chang. “Fast-acting? How fast is ‘fast-acting’?”

The answer to his question came in the form of concussion grenades dropping onto the floor. Gunmen were tossed about the room, slamming into the walls and cells, as two smaller beings moved through the dissipating smoke, farther apart than they should have, farther than Robin and Nightwing usually fought. If need be, one of the beings could not have saved the other, but Batman needn’t worry. They dealt with the situation quickly.

As soon as the last ninja hit the floor, Robin whirled to the other boy dressed in a black cloak and pants, except for a splash of white in his tunic. “You’re supposed to follow my lead.”

Damian raised his chin. “Please. I have said this before, but you seemingly have yet to realize. Your tactics and your battle plans are meager in execution, and you fight with the prowess of a cub.”

Robin narrowed his eyes and collapsed his boa staff. “Did you just call me a ‘wuss.’?”

Damian thought for a moment. “Yes. Wuss.”

Taking in a huge sigh, Robin shook his head. “Welcome to twenty-first century slang, Damian.”

The lightness of Robin’s attitude and the lack of swears bursting from Damian’s mouth almost brought a smile to the Dark Knight’s face. His sons were slowly but surely bonding.

“Children,” Dr. Chang remonstrated, focusing the capes’ attention toward the fight once more. “They send children to fight against me.”

“Not just children.”

A blast of white, hot energy shot between Damien and Robin, hitting Dr. Chang directly below his mouth. The egg slammed backwards into the wall, his little metallic arms and legs flapping frantically in attempt for traction while the gunmen fired once more, stopping the doctor from moving.

The remaining conscious gunman pulled the mask off his head, revealing his handsome and familiar features.

“Dick?” Robin asked, shocked.

The man shook his head. “Sorry, kid.” Sean Madison fit the stun gun into the holster on his thigh before typing onto the computer. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to uplink to—”

A hard force sent his back crashing into the console. A boa staff’s end crushed his neck. “Where did you get that?”

Sean’s eyes wavered for only a second before he hit the staff away. “Look, do you want your brother to live or not? I’ve got the specs for his failsafe in this.” He lifted up a SD card like the ones used on the JLA satellite. “I’ve got to get them to my dad, so he can finish them.”

“And how do I know that’s really the failsafe, and you’re not—”

Sean put his hands up in a mock surrender position, and though his face resembled Dick’s, his expression did not. “Hey, Grayson came to me, all right? Asked for my help with this. Now, you’re welcome to break my trachea or whatnot, but that’s not going to save your brother.”

“Why would he trust an imbecile like you?” Damian inquired.

“Look, I hate to admit it, but he’s my and my dad’s best chance of getting out of this fiasco. You heroes, you can’t kill, right? Sure, Batman…came close, but…” Sean obviously quivered and wouldn’t meet Batman’s eyes.

Good.

“Well, I see the future, too. Once Ra’s or these villains are done with us, they’re going to kill us. The only way out of this is to help Grayson and hopefully help you guys make it. That’s the only way Dad and I are going to, too.”

“Robin.” Batman’s grating voice stopped the boy from doing anything. “Let him go. We don’t have much time.”

Robin didn’t lower his staff—at first. “Know the only reason you’re not flat on the floor is because you’re helping Dick.”

“And know the only reason I’m helping Grayson and not screwing up his anatomy is because of that.”

“You know, if you did, I’d take you down.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

After a long moment, Robin lowered his staff.

“By the way, about before, I am—”

“Don’t,” Robin interrupted. “You don’t get forgiveness.”

Sean still eyed the boy warily before finally turning his back and tapping on the computer. After a few seconds, the glass cells lifted and the metal ropes uncoiled from Red Arrow’s wrists. Batman immediately went for the drawer that Nightwing hit when he first entered and pulled out his belt, Green Lantern’s ring, Red Arrow’s quiver and bow, Hawkgirl’s mace, and Wonder Woman’s lasso.

Black Canary ignored the weapons, her heart focused on only one thing. Even before Red Arrow rose from his knees, Dinah snared the younger man in a bone-crushing embrace and refused to allow Roy even a reprieve. Green Lantern put a hand upon each one’s shoulder, while Flash hovered just a few feet away. After handing each member his or her weapon, Batman went to Robin and Damian.

“Nightwing called you.”

Robin nodded. “Right after you left. He told me to see where the JLA teleporter sent you and to follow—with Damian. Why, I have no idea.”

“Perhaps he disapproved of your recusant behavior,” Damian objected.

“Shut—”

Sean cut him off by putting a hand to his left ear. “Grayson, you read me? I have the specs for the failsafe. You wanna ‘em?...Your handheld? How do I send them to…‘Relay through Oracle?’ Who’s Oracle? …Yeah, he’s here.” Sean pulled out his earpiece and held it to Robin. “He wants to talk to you.”

Robin made a face and then reluctantly took the small machine. “Bro, there better be a damn good reason I have Madison’s ear juices now in my own…Pluh-leeze. I don’t have to uplink to Oracle. I know your ISP by heart. We can cut out the middle woman.”

A few quick clicks on the keyboard led to Robin’s hand shooting out, and Sean wordlessly understood, putting the SD Card in the boy’s hands. Less than five seconds later, Robin stood straighter and cracked his knuckles. “Done. Should we move on with mission?...I thought we had only one plan…Dude, it’s not cooler if we name it, and even if it is, I’m not calling it that.” He paused before muttering, “I missed you, bro. You left me with the demon-spawned—literarily….Yeah, I know, but …still…alright later. But we’re still doing it.”

He pulled out the earpiece and handed it back to Madison as Batman put a hand on his shoulder. “Going where?”

“He gave us orders,” Damian said.

“Orders?” Superman questioned. “Dick gave you orders?”

“What? Did you really didn’t think Dick didn’t have a plan, right? He always has a plan.” Grabbing Damian by the cape, Robin headed toward the door. “Good luck with your part.”

Damian wiggled free from Robin’s grasp. “I am not your servant. You cannot expect me to—”

“Damian, listen to Robin,” Batman commanded.

Immediately, Damian bowed his head. “Yes, Father.”

Robin mouthed, “Thank you,” before dashing out the door and dragging Damian with him.

“So all four of your sons are here,” Wonder Woman pondered. “That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

Batman shook his head. “No.”

“So, if Dick’s the one coming up with the plan,” Flash wondered, “what’s our part?”

Batman whirled to Sean. “What’s your part?”

A green light flashed before Batman, and in a blink, Sean was restricted by a green straightjacket.

“What did you inject Red Arrow with?” Green Lantern demanded, his voice rivaling Batman’s fierceness.

Sean’s eyes trembled. “S—Saline,” the younger man croaked. “Grayson told me to switch the poison. I dyed saline blue to get the same color.”

“Grayson told you?” Black Canary asked, a hand still around Red Arrow’s neck.

Sean managed to nod. “He—He came to me on the satellite and asked me to look over his blood for the failsafe. I told him I would map it as best I could, and he said to hurry and to infiltrate Dr. Chang’s party. He said something about a loud-mouthed redhead would say the wrong thing, and I’d need to intervene and stall for his brothers to get here.”

Green Lantern turned to Batman. “I take back what I said. I want to kiss your son.”

“Get in line.” Batman pushed Sean onto one of the cell platforms. Hitting a button, the glass fell, entrapping the young scientist.

“Hey!”

“Dick might have trusted you, but I don’t,” Batman proclaimed.

“So, if Grayson has a plan,” Black Canary began, “what’s our part?

A blast from above rocked the very foundation of the cave.

Batman looked up at the slowly crumpling ceiling. “It’s about time we found out.”

*^*^*

Ninja literarily meant “assassin” in Japanese, which was ironic to Nightwing. These men would all be murdered for the self-righteous cause of Ra’s al Ghul, not be killing, unless, of course, they caught him. That would be easier done than said, considering he wore one of their outfits and moved just as stealthy.

The only difference was he veered off where he shouldn’t have and entered a restricted lab. This one differed from the one he’d been confined—tested—in, the floor, ceilings, and even walls metal—lead, probably. A step down was a semi-circle about a glass cell, where a broken figure huddled. The green lighting in the cell wasn’t kryptonite, though by the way the boy fell to his knees, clutched his stomach, and hunched over with tears, one would think it was.

Nightwing fell to the boy’s side and lightly tapped the glass. Piercing blue eyes glowed red, then white when they met his gaze before peeked under the mask. A hopeful expression grew upon his face and brightened his pallid and morose features.

“It’s okay, Conner,” Nightwing promised and put his hand on the glass, his own eyes tearing at the boy’s predicament. “Just hang in there, okay? I’m going to get you out.”

Wordlessly, Conner understood. He dropped his head again, resting it against the glass as if he could feel Nightwing’s hand.

Nightwing hated to pull away, but he needed to. The scientists had obviously left for the final stages of the mission, leaving Nightwing alone to work the machine. He knew that was just wishful thinking, but he had to save Conner. Hell, the boy was practically his cousin. Granted, his half-alien, half-human clone of a cousin, but hey, didn’t everyone have one of those?

After a few moments of looking over the console, Nightwing wished he’d brought Robin with him but began to infiltrate the system. It proved easier than he originally thought, and once the cell opened, he jumped down the stair to grab Conner’s trembling form and pull the boy against his body.

“Get…back…” Conner rasped, futilely attempting to release himself.

Nightwing simply held him tighter. “It’s okay, Conner. I know the risks, and hey, if you think this is the first time I’ve been exposed to radiation, then you’re sorely mistaken. I have a cell phone.”

The bad joke wasn’t wasted on Conner, whose laughter depreciated to a hacking fit. Nightwing rubbed the boy’s back and cursed under his breath.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that they were going to do this to you. That’s no excuse, but—”

The door flew open, and Nightwing had only a few seconds to put himself in front of Conner. A few sets of barrels pointed toward him, and he put up his hands.

<Hey, guys. No need to get trigger happy. I’m just here because Ra’s asked for this boy to be transported to the satellite to continue radiation testing,> he said in Cantonese.

<Funny,> the lead man said, stepping closer to Dick. <That’s what he told us.>

At the last word, the man lunged forward to grip Nightwing’s mask and pull it from his head. His hand eased of tension at the sight of the familiar blue eyes and black hair but not of the familiar face of the son of Ra’s al Ghul. The man’s features were fairer, more round and boyish.

Romany.

Dick Grayson, son of Bruce Wayne and Batman, was back.

To Be Continued…