We got in the car and Alfred drove all the way down there. I'm mad and embarrassed right now that Damian snuck in. He should have kept his composure. As we finally stopped in front of the company, both of us saw Bruce and Damian walking outside the main gate. As Damian was entering the car, I could tell that Bruce was mad. He simply had a way of transmitting that vibe without saying a word
"Alfred will take you directly home, no stops. You will not go off on your own, you will stay away from the batcave, and you will stay out of sight. Do you understand?" He directed
"I owe my grandfather a death". Damian said as Bruce closed the car door as we drove back to the Manor.
"You know what you did was really stupid, right?" I exclaimed said sitting next to him.
"Isabelle, ever since we got here, I feel you don't care about grandfather's death and how to avenge him". He said as he crossed his arms.
"You know that I'm not like that. You know that I was forced to do all of those innocent massacres. And I'm not going to let you just simply kill somebody because you're having a tantrum". I directly stated to him.
"That's why mother always said you were weak".
He knew that was my weak spot. He knew I hated the reminder of what I meant to the family. I turn my head to face the left window, avoiding his face, and stayed quiet the entire time until we got inside the Manor. I didn't want to argue with Damian right now, I didn't want to put up with it. But that silence that was left In the car let him know that I wasn't very happy with both his actions and attitude.
*****
I quickly went into the Batcave without anyone noticing, grabbed some trackers, and entered Damian's room; placing all of the miniature trackers in his clothes. Just in case something like this doesn't happen again. Then I went straight to my room since I didn't feel like talking to anyone.
"Are you alright, Miss Isabelle?" Alfred asked me outside of my room.
"I'm just a little frustrated, but I'm okay" I replied, trying to sound calm as possible
" You know ? You're different than Master Damian". Alfred said as he entered the room with a teacup.
"Why would you say that?"
"I can simply tell. In these couple of weeks, I have grown more fond of you than him. I can sense that there is some kindness in you. He probably has some too, but quite frankly he doesn't want to show it". Alfred said to me, placing the teacup on the desk right next to my bed.
" a cup of coffee won't hurt a bit. Hope it cheers you up"
"That's really sweet of you, Alfred. Thank you". I said as I took the glass and took a sip of it.
"You know miss, you remind me a little bit of master Dick. You two would have gotten along really well. I hope he comes and visits soon. His visits are very pleasant."
I look down at the coffee," I don't know. I'm not the most talkative person as you can tell. I'm barely getting used to this change." I admitted.
" I know, but I assure you things will get better. You are good company. "Alfred said, as he showed me a warm smile that transmitted both happiness and tranquility that I didn't know I needed at this moment.
*****
It was eight o clock, so I went to Damian's room to talk to him about what happened earlier.
"Damian?" I knocked on his door. He didn't answer. I open the door, to reveal the window widely open. He was gone. Good thing I put the tracker on his clothes, so I knew where he was exactly right now.
I changed immediately into my bulletproof clothes and gloves, slipped on my combat boots, and grabbed my metal escrimas. Then ran directly to the Batcave to borrow a grappling hook, when I see Alfred clearing out some gear.
"What are you doing?" He asked, probably not trusting me at this moment.
"Alfred, Damian is in trouble. I have to get him. Please don't tell Bruce".
"...I believe you. Use that" he pointed, to a pitch-black motorcycle that was next to the Batmobile. I placed my sticks in my bag, get on the bike and start to rev up when I feel a tap on my shoulder.
" You should wear it just in case" Alfred suggested, as he held a black eye mask.
I looked at it and seemed to have an adhesive of sorts. I place it on my face and feel a weird sticky substance on my forehead and all over my eye area.
"Does it hurt when I take it off?"
"It's perfectly safe. Now go"
I nod, speed out of the Batcave and drive all the way to where Damian is located at.
When I got there, I parked the bike in an alley. Where hopefully nobody steals it. Grabbed the grappling hook, and zipped into the air up to a roof, in front of some building the tracker was pointing at.
Just as I was about to go to the building, I see a big muscular guy who seemed to look like... Ubu. Damian, with the katana from this morning, crashes out through the window and slams him on the sidewalk. Both of them run all the way to the other side of the street.
I shot the grappling hook into the light post in their direction and swung to the ground just in time to step on Ubu's face, making him bleed.
"You'll get nothing from me". Ubu said weakly.
"Daman, what's going on?" I asked confusedly. He didn't answer back which was starting to make me feel very desperate and even angry.
"Either I get answers or you get the sword". Damian said as he was raising his sword in front of him.
"Damian, I don't know what the hell is going on, but you're not killing him". I said stepping in front of him with his sword still raised up.
"Don't you want to avenge grandfather?" He directly yelled and asked me.
"Yes. No. I don't know. But what I do know, is that vengeance never leads to anything good. I know we were taught to destroy our enemy, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Believe me, I deal with that every day. I know what it feels like".
It seemed what I said didn't make any sense to him because he still had that furious expression on his face. He now was pointing his sword towards me luckily. I pulled out my escrima's from their bag just in case.
"You're just weak, Isabelle. Mother and grandfather always said you were. They were right", He yelled as he charged the sword against me. I crisscrossed my sticks against him, and as much as it pained me...I gave him a blow to the gut with my knee. His body was knocked down to the ground, but it seemed as if it did nothing to him. He stood up in a second.
I jumped in front of him, did a somersault, and started striking him at multiple angles, not too hard because I didn't want to hurt him that much. He managed to strike and slit me at multiple points in my body, and I fell.
On the ground, Damian grabs my arm tightly and I feel the blade cut the lower part of my right arm, from shoulder to elbow. Slowly.
I screamed so loud that my throat felt raspy. I immediately punched him in the face with my other arm and grabbed my arm tightly so that the bleeding would stop. Just as when Damian was going to keep fighting, out of nowhere someone swung in and kicked Damian to the other side of the ground, so hard that his sword went flying off.
When I looked to see who was holding the sword, it was a young man wearing a black leotard , black hair, an eye mask, and a blue eagle for a symbol.
"The psychos just keep getting younger". He said as he as he looked at me. I was in shock. I didn't say anything at all. All I did was gasp out for air as I looked at him.
"Are you alright?". He asked tentatively.
"Not really". I said as I was holding my arm. He bent over and extended his hand toward me. I held his hand as he gently pulled me up. As we stood up, we stared into each other's eyes for a quick moment. Bright blue eyes. But just as that happened, Damian ran aggressively toward him and snatched the sword from his hand. The stranger then pulled two metal escrima sticks out of his back and was ready to fight.
This made me feel even more guilty. The fact that someone was risking their life for my safety
"Damian stop, this is enough". I said as I run and tugged him from the back. I knew things were getting out of hand, so I moved my foot in order for Damian to trip. I move aside to see if he finally gets it. But no. He stood up trying to attack the mysterious stranger when he pulled a string zipped directly out of his belt and tied Damian's hands up on the light pole.
"We're going to talk about this when we get to the manor". I angrily pointed at him.
"Ugh". I grunted as my arm started to bleed more and burn.
"Your arm. Here let me help you". The stranger said as he pulled some bandages out of his left pocket. He then gently wrapped the bandages all around my upper arm.
"I know it's not much, but it will at least stop the bleeding ". He said as he finished wrapping them. You're lucky I had some. Who knows what would have happened if I didn't bring it". He said in a polite way.
I felt terrible for this guy. He had more injuries than I did. He really didn't have to save me because I knew that I would come up with something. But unexpectedly, he did which strangely feels kind of nice. Wonder where he might've come out from. If I have time to see him again I want to apologize for this incident and also thank him.
"Who are you?" He asked looking up at Damian.
"I'm his son. I think you know him" Damian responded. He then looked at me all confused
"I'm his...sister". He nodded and pressed at his earpiece.
"Missing something? I got a kid here, he says he's your son. And there's a girl who claims to be his sister. " He discussed, as I could tell he was talking to Bruce.
"Alright, see you soon then". He said as he hung up.
"Listen, you can trust me. I know Bruce and Alfred. He already told me about this whole mess. Ubu will be picked up from the GCPD, Batman will take him home", he paused and looked at Damian.
" And I'll be your ride," He said as he draped my arm over his shoulder and walked fast back to the alley to get the bike and return to the manor.
When we got on the bike, I wasn't sure if I should've grabbed his shoulders or something because this is my first time going in the backseat. So I awkwardly but carefully wrapped my arms around his torso him since I could barely move my arm.
"Hey, um, I suppose you have a superhero name. I just came into town yesterday and I already know Batman because.. you know. But who are you?" I asked.
He took moment and turned his head sideways
"....Nightwing". He then started to rev up the engine and drive towards the Batcave.
*****
When we arrived, Damian was on the upper second floor, waiting for me I supposed. I sat on a chair next to Nightwing, while Alfred carefully removed my mask, took the bandages off my arm, and brought in stitching supplies.
"This will sting a little", Alfred warned as he prepared the needle.
"Let's just get this over with", I replied, while noticing Nightwing's worried look in his eyes. I was twitching out of pain almost every time the needle was penetrating my skin. When he finished, I was relieved. But I knew the pain wasn't over.
"How do you feel?" Alfred asked.
"...Much better," I said, sighing from the pain and exhaustion.
My turn," Nightwing said as he took the top part of his suit and mask off and sat down so Alfred could stitch him up. When he took off his mask, I was able to see his blue eyes close now. There was something familiar about him. As he was saying something to Alfred, I looked up to see Damian staring at me but angrily. It's probably because I didn't let him kill Ubu.
"Ugh. Yeah, I hate this part of the job". He said to Alfred. Nightwing groaned so much that I started to feel guilty because of the pain Damian had caused him.
"Are you alright, Master Dick ?" Alfred asked.
So this is the person Alfred keeps mentioning. He used to be Robin. I suspected it since the beginning. There was just something about him that made sense to be him. It's probably the fact that he has contact with Batman.
He was kind of worrying me with all his groaning.
"I took the cut, I can take the stitch". He said as he softly smiled at Alfred and me.
"Maybe you need more anesthetic". Damian said with a ' know it all' attitude which I've had enough of.
"Then maybe you need to go fu-".
"Master Dick!!!". Alfred interrupted, which I'm glad he did because I wouldn't have done it as nicely.
"Maybe you should remember who the blood son is", Damian directed at him.
Damian is really the only person that I have cared for throughout my entire life. But he was being a pain in the ass today.
"Bloodthirsty is more like it" Dick fought back. Damian stayed quiet for a few moments, which honestly surprised me since I could tell he was mad.
I stood up from the chair, walked up to the second floor, and carefully tried to think what to say. "What the hell was that? Do you realize all the trouble you could've gotten us into? I asked angrily as I kept my composure
" I don't see any problems. I saw a solution". He said, staring at the robin suit.
"Fine, I'll let your father be the judge of that" I replied back, trying to really knock some sense into him since Bruce was literally downstairs at the computer hearing this whole thing. I walked down and went with Alfred, trying to calm down.
"This was yours?" Damian asked Dick, as Alfred finished his stitches.
"Still is", Dick replied as he walked in our direction Damian was opening the glass of the Robin suit, and Dick stopped him.
"Keep your hands off of it, kid". He stated as he closed it.
"The only thing that is missing is lace trim and a sun hat". Damian said mockingly.
"I Know what you're thinking, you're thinking you can be Robin, well you can't".
"I don't need some insipid costume and a bird name. I'm way beyond your simplistic training, as you saw tonight".
Dick then caught a quick glance at me, "... Don't forget, you lost that fight". Dick said as he walked down the stairs.
"How's Ubu?" Batman asked the police thru the bat computer.
"He's got more monitors than Arkham has lunatics".
"Can he talk?"
"Talk, it's a wonder he can breathe".
"I'll stay in touch". Batman said, sitting in front of the computer.
"He doesn't deserve to breathe," Damian said, standing next to Bruce. Bruce snapped at Damian and pushed hard on the chair he was sitting on, making it slide rapidly all the way to where the three of us were at.
"uh oh," Dick whispered. His comment didn't help at all. I didn't know what was going to happen.
"Do you know what you were tonight? You weren't a warrior or soldier. You were a child."
"If it hadn't been for her I -".
"If it hadn't been for Isabelle you would've been too far." Bruce interrupted, which took me by surprise since I thought he would have said Dick stopped him.
"It's easier my way!" Damian exclaimed.
"It has nothing to do with easy. It's about doing what's right because it's right and that's the only reason you need." Bruce stated.
"Seemed right to me".
"That's the problem". Bruce said as he walked towards the batmobile, and opened the roof.
"Heads up". Bruce said throwing a ninja star at Damian but he immediately caught it.
"Good reflexes". Bruce said surprised.
"What if I had missed?" Damian replied.
"It would've hurt".
"It's a league of assassin's star". Damian said looking at it. How is the league involved in any of this?
"Found in a warehouse belonging to a man named Langstrom. Ring a bell ?" Bruce said as Dick and I came closer
"No" he replied.
"It seems like there is a connection between Ra's and Deathstroke".
" Then we need to find out what it is". Damian stated
"I need to find out what it is". Bruce replied.
"I wanna help ,like he used to". Damian said pointing at Dick.
"It's bad enough you gave yourself away and let them know we're on to them".
"You never felt vengeful?" Damian asked.
"Every day", Bruce replied. "You have to keep your center Damian. You can't fight crime by becoming a criminal. From now on, stay close, that's an order".
" I can do that". Damian responded.
"Wait a minute. I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Dick asked Bruce.
"...No", Bruce simply replied
"Wait, you're saying that...", my mind starts panicking since I think I know what they're agreeing to. Damian becomes the new Robin.