Without Hope

Damien Al Ghul

Talia wasn't evil. Despite all of the killing and deceiving that she did daily, she wasn't evil. At least, that's what she thought. When she caught word that her Beloved was coming over, Talia sat right up in her throne, and smiled at the ninja that had told her.

"Perfect!" She continued to grin, hoping that it wasn't that sadistic of a smile. She took one of her long, red fingernails and stroked underneath the jaw of the ninja. The man clad in black stayed still, just as Ra's had taught him. Talia soon got bored of him, when no reaction was indicated.

"Bring me my phone." Talia said, letting go of the ninja's face and started staring at her nails. They were manicured the day before, and the dark red fitted her green eyes perfectly.

After talking to Ra's, she sent the ninja away, keeping her phone with her. When the grand doors closed, something rustled in the back of the room.

"Hello?" Talia said, her sweet and alluring (but deadly) voice carrying throughout the room. She smirked; it was probably Beloved and his little robins. She shuddered in anticipation of seeing her son again, Damian Al Ghul. She wanted so badly to see his reaction when she showed him his clone brother.

"Beloved, is that you?" Talia asked, getting out of her throne and pacing across the floor. She crossed the space that was between her and Batman, whom she knew was hiding in the shadows.

"Are you looking for that gypsy trash?" Talia's demeanor changed, her eyes narrowing, and her smirk sliding off of her face. She hated Richard. He had been the one to ruin her plan. She had sent her son, Damian, over to Gotham to kill both Red Robin and Nightwing. Unfortunately, Richard had turned her son against her! The insolent fool…

Talia waited, waited for her beloved to step out of the shadows and greet her. When no one moved, she sighed and put on hand on her hip.

"Damien. Come out." She looked at the shadows, waiting for her son.

"Mother. You pronounced my name wrong." Damian jumped down from the roof, a bat-a-rang in hand.

"Oh, I wasn't calling you, Damian. I was calling for my real son." Talia beckoned at the other set of masked white eyes, a boy whom looked exactly like Damian. He walked up to her.

"Damian, meet Damien. Your new brother." Talia watched as Damian's face distorted in fury.

"What is this mother?!" Damian's voice echoed throughout the spacious room, and Talia laughed cruelly.

"You weren't fit up to become the heir of the League Of Assassins. But your brother is." Talia playfully petted Damien's hair like she used to with Damian. "It's obvious that he's already becoming better than you ever were."

Damien smirked at the wild look of bewilderment in his brother's face.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Mother has said so… much about you." He said in sarcastic tone, sneering at Damian. The two looked exactly alike, besides the height and age difference.

"Listen here you little-!" Damian was cut off by another voice, one that only served to infuriate him further.

"Ugh, one Damian is hard enough to bear. Two? No thanks." Red Robin jumped in from the open balcony, holding his bo staff. Batman chose to appear then, coming out of the shadows.

"Beloved. You finally choose to come out hmmm? Well, Ra's is already on his way, and if you really want to know what happened to that gypsy trash, then why don't you just ask me?" Talia walked over to Bruce, hips swaying. Damien followed, scoffing the whole way.

"Father, you're shorter than expected." Damien stated, obvious disapproval written all over his face. Talia grinned and licked her lips.

"Talia. I'm not here to fight you. I just want to find out what happened to Nightwing." Batman was as stoic as ever.

"You're no fun! If you want to find him that much, here's a little hint," she leaned over, getting even closer to Bruce. Her sweet breath made Bruce flinch. He wanted to knock her out so badly.

"What hides in the shadows, and is not a bat? What has its Talons out, ready for a snack? What preys on evil, but no justice is prevailed? Be weary, for they know, how to make the game of life easy and slow." She laughed, and then poked Bruce in the chest.

"That's Talon with a capital T!" Talia backed up, gathering Damien into her arms.

"Now, I've given you a hint. Can you leave me alone? I've got more important things to do." She sauntered to the door, turning her head to see that Bruce had already left. Damian and Red Robin were also gone, no evidence indicating that they had been there at all.

"Tt." Damien stated, scowling. "Brothers are gross. How is he part of my brethren?"

Talia rolled her eyes. "Just like Damian."

"Except better."

And with that, Talia couldn't agree more.

"Yeah, yeah, Damien. Go call your grandfather and tell him that the Bats know about the Court of Owls."

She chuckled at his face of admiration. Unlike Damian, Talia had been there, every minute, and every second of Damien's life. Damien loved his Grandfather. She threw him her phone, and then studied her petite hands.

"Oh, and tell him to break contact with Owlman. That man had screws loose in his head!" Talia waved her perfectly manicured nails in the air. Owlman had denied telling her his secret identity! She had been very mad. Perhaps letting her Beloved destroy him would be amusing to watch.

She imagined what Owlman's face looked like, but oddly enough, the only image that popped up in her mind was her Beloved's face, steel blue eyes completed with a scowl.

Talia didn't know how accurate she was. Sighing with frustration, she stopped trying to do the impossible, and zoned in on Damien's conversation. After he was done talking, Talia smirked, a new idea forming in her mind.

"Come on Damien, let's go and see the show!" Talia took the red phone out of his hands, and started walking, trusting Damien to follow.