An Assassin's Rose

Chapter 14: Crossing the Line

Taking the bag off his head, Langstrom looks around "Where am I?"

"Just start talking." The Dark Knight said to him.

"Ra's wanted me to splice animal DNA to human, using advance mutagens. He would provide volunteers for me to work on." He explained.

"Obviously you took him up on it."

"I knew it would mean prison if anyone discovered that I was up to my old experiments. But how do you say no to Ra's Al Ghul."

"He has a point." Ruby whispered to Damian.

The boy wonder nods his head "Agreed."

"He wanted you to make the ultimate warriors?" Dick assumed.

"Yes. Ra's called it; Operation Air Strike. No military could withstand an army of flying super-powered ninjas. Using sonar in the dead of night"

Ruby lightly snorts, and all the superheroes can guess why.

Ignoring that for now Dick said, "But Deathstroke took over."

Langstrom looks down in regret "The Formula was my ace in the hole. I kept working on it," he explained.

"Making improvements. If I completely finished it, I didn't know what he might do."

"Where's your family?" Batman asked.

Langstrom's eyes turned cold with sadness as he gets even more nervous than he already is.

"I don't know. He let me speak to them once, briefly. My Daughter mentioned something about snow, uh...two...two mountain peaks that she said look like cat ears."

Damian and Ruby looked at each other in shock "Interlaken. Grandfather's compound." They said to the Dark Knight.

"You're sure?" Batman questioned.

"We're sure." They replied.

Looking back at the Scientist, he asked "Can you make an antidote to the Man-Bat formula. With the Right materials, the right equipment?"

"It's possible. But what about my family?"

"Leave them to us."

Meanwhile....
Deathstroke was looking at the footage that was taken at the coliseum.

"Something wrong?" Jasper asked walking over.

"What do you make of this?" the man asked rewinding the footage.

The dark pink eyed girl glares "That has got to be them. The symbol and her weapon are a dead giveaway."

Uploading it to a tablet he goes to Talia's cell and opens it.

Showing it to her he said, "I know where you took them. They fight like assassins. Like you." He proclaimed.

Talia just looks at it emotionlessly

"Your romance with the Dark Knight wasn't merely rumor. Who is? Who is Batman?" he demanded.

"Do what you must." She glares at him "I won't talk."

"I believe you." He said and starts to take his leave.

"Besides, you won't need to look for them. They'll find you first."

Deathstroke smirks behind his mask "Works for me."

And with that the door closes leaving her in the darkness again.

Back with the others....
Flying in the Batjet, Batman said, "I hope you're right about this."

"I know these mountains well. I've been climbing them since I was four. It was a part of my training. And even if Ruby has only been with us for half a year now. She has been brought here long enough to have a general run of the place."