The Ex

2. Debriefing

  Damian and Bruce went back to the cave. Damian said that he would explain everything that Talia told him when they arrived. Once they did, Dick and Alfred were waiting for them to hear what happened as well.

"I'll just assume you guys didn't catch her then." Dick joked.

  "She got awake via stolen smoke bomb." Damian explained.

"Did you find out why she's here?" Bruce asked.

  "She said that she wanted me to come back to her. To rejoin the league of assassins and eventually become their leader. I of course, told her no. So she sent the league to attack me." Damian continued. "She told them not to kill me though, which means even with my rejection she still wants me to join the league."

"She said she would be more aggressive in getting her way." Bruce added. "We need to stop her before she does something out of line."

  "What did you have in mind?" Dick asked.

"I'm working on a solution. We still don't know where she is now or where she is going. We only know two locations of where she was. So we start there." Bruce explained. "Me and Damian will go back to the alley she attacked Damian at. Dick? Go to the place where she was spotted downtown."

"Alright. See ya later Bruce." Dick cheered as he took off.

  "Why did you bring us back here just for us to leave again?" Damian questioned.

"To pick something up." Bruce explained. "Your mother is different then most villains. Smart. Prepared. We need to be too."

  "Fair enough." Damian replied.

  Bruce went over to the weapons storage and picked up a small box. Damian recognized it immediately.

"Chemical testing? Don't you carry those type of things with you?" Damian questioned.

  "This is more advanced. Talia knows how to cover her tracks, so we need something stronger to uncover them." Bruce explained.

Damian nodded and the two jumped in the batmobile and took off. Upon arriving at the alley, Batman found something immediately. Traces of water from a Lazarus pit. Robin eventually saw it too and both took a sample of what little water remained on the scene.

  "Looks like she didn't cover up everything." Robin snorted.

"She did. She left this for us to find for a reason. The only real question is 'why?'" Batman replied without taking his eyes off of the substance. "What is she planning that has to do with a Lazarus pit, and how does it connect to you?"

  "Are you sure she didn't accidentally bring it here and then left it to throw us off?" Robin asked.

"I'm sure." Batman stated.

  They looked around the alley a little more but didn't find any other evidence to help them other then the sample of the Lazarus pit. After deciding to call it a night, they both went back to the batmobile and drove back to the Batcave. Dick was already there upon their arrival.

  "Did you find anything, Dick?" Bruce asked.

"Not sure if it means anything, but I did find water from a Lazarus pit. Could be a mistake though." Dick replied.

  "A mistake she made twice?" Bruce questioned as he held up his sample of the water. "She left it on purpose. But how does a Lazarus pit connect to her trying to get Damian back?"

"Let's be real, Bruce. If one of us knew what she was up to, it would be you." Dick joked.

  "She's plotting something bigger. She's playing a game and Damian is the prize. We need to make sure she does not win." Bruce continued. "Did you find anything else?"

"Nothing useful. She's good. Definitely an Al Ghul." Dick responded.

  "Great. So our hands are tied?" Damian asked.

"Only for the moment." Bruce reassured him. "She may be your mother, but you're my son. And nobody threatens my family and gets away with it."

  "Master Bruce." Alfred chimed in. "Should I go ahead and call Wayne Industries to explain you won't be at your meeting tomorrow?"

  "Yes, Alfred. Thank you." Bruce answered while walking over to the batcomputer.

"Good. Because I already did." Alfred smiled.

  Bruce got to work immediately to see if there were any other sightings of Talia on any security, ATM, street, etc. cameras. He looked for awhile, but realized he wouldn't be able to do this. Not alone at least.

"I'm not willing to risk this. We don't know what Talia is planning and this may be bigger then all of us." Bruce began. "We'll need help."

  "Wait. Do you mean, like Batgirl?" Damian asked.

"Among others." Bruce whispered as he sent out a quick message.

  "No. Not those sad excuses for life." Damian ranted. "We don't need them."

"Damian. We know what Talia is capable of. The things she has done in the past. We can't take any chances." Bruce explained. "We need to call them. Red Robin and Red Hood."