Intoxicating Desires | T. Al Ghul ✔

[17]

Dusan could not forget about the man he had met with Talia back when they had gone to drop Assam back at his home. Ever since then, those striking features and resilient eyes were burned into his memory, making him try his best to recall why he had felt so familiar.

He was in his study in one of the towers of the base at Cape Town, writing down his daily tasks in a journal he maintained when all of a sudden he paused. A thought had flickered through his head and he left the quill, wanting to verify it.

He remembered that the League kept the loot of the soldiers they went up against and it was often distributed among their assassins or in the case of weapons, the iron was molded and forged into new ones, bearing the League's emblem instead of what they were originally carved for.

A certain emblem was flickering in his memory and he wanted to check for himself if his guess was right or wrong. It had been five years since he had seen that symbol anyway, but his instincts told him that he was headed in the right direction.

He went down to the armory though he knew it was far-fetched for him to find a weapon yet to be molded and dating back five years. But luck was on his side and he discovered a very old shield, rust eating it up but the emblem engraved on it was not hard to miss.

It was a shield belonging to a soldier from the Persian Empire.

And as he held that battered shield in his hands, the memories started to get clearer, offering a vivid picture of those features that had felt vaguely familiar at first.

Saahir Shah, the Prince of Persia, and the leader of an army that had been by far the toughest for the League of Assassins to conquer. The war had lasted approximately a year and it had been extremely difficult even for a formidable alliance as the League of Assassins to make the opponents lose their footing.

It wasn't until rumors were spread of the Shah being imprisoned and the mysterious disappearance of the Prince that the soldiers ultimately had to surrender and were all killed. But from that day onwards, no one knew whether Saahir was alive or not. Whether he had been taken hostage, murdered, martyred, or wandering free.

But meeting that same man who had struck terror into them all years ago, at the moment in extremely different circumstances, Dusan did not know what to expect. A part of him wanted to go back to the League and warn Veruna to stay away from him.

Yet the rational side of his brain was urging him to stay and not make any rash decisions.

If Saahir Shah had survived the war and still hadn't aimed to strike back at the League although five years had lapsed since then, either he had no intentions of revenge or he was holding back for some other purpose.

All he could do at the moment was return to his study and pen down a letter to Talia, asking her to stay away from the peasant family and not involve them in anything. As for Veruna, he chose not to say anything to her because he trusted her to know her right and wrong very well.

He was certain that she could take the right decisions for herself and would not let herself get swept up by anger and irrationality. Much unlike his sister who he knew well enough by then to guess what exactly her reaction could be if she found out that the Prince of Persia was alive.

She would chop his head off herself and even the thought of it was enough to send a chill down Dusan's spine.

***

Night engulfed the city of crime, the darkness spread in the sky like a canopy for all those who preferred to come out at that hour. 

Batman was on his duty, looking out for the citizens and making sure that the city was safe. His partners in arms, Richard and Jason, were with him too although the elder one was making sure that his younger brother stayed away from trouble. Both of them went by Robin so it was quite confusing to the other criminals but for Bruce, the elder one was Robin I and the younger was Robin II.

It had been a few months since Jason had joined them on patrol but he had a knack for getting into the worst of fights. He was not like Richard so Bruce was having a bit of trouble getting used to him.

That night was also his first patrol night after getting grounded for a week so obviously, Jason, or rather Robin II was in quite some mood, eager to beat up criminals and hit them with his cheesy one-liners.

There was one thing the boys had in common, Bruce thought to himself as a very faint smile threatened to break the emotionless exterior, both of them had a terrific sense of humor but they tended to use it at the most inappropriate of times.

And usually, it happened on patrol nights right in the middle of a fight or when he was about to get some sense knocked into the criminals. The boys came up with the most outlandish things to make fun of and there were times even the people getting beaten up had ended up guffawing.

But Bruce didn't tell them off for it. He had tried at first but the two never listened anyway. Besides, it helped him practice how to keep a straight face always, even when it was impossible not to crack up at their jokes.

His boys, he thought to himself, a fond smile finally breaking that emotionless look. 

His sons.

But the moment was short-lived as an excited remark from the younger Robin brought him back to reality, "I spy trouble. Here we go to bust some criminal asses!"

Before he could plunge himself into the crime scene, Batman picked him up by the scruff of his neck as if he was a grumpy little cat. Turning to face both Robins, he spoke up, "you two must stay out of this. Patrol in the vicinity and come only if I signal. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Richard saluted but Jason looked pissed at the prospect.

"Why do you get to have all the fun?" He remarked, trying to follow Batman but the elder one held him in a tight grip.

"Go to Central District. I will handle this one," Batman took out his grapple gun and left the perch shortly after. 

The reason he had not let the Robins get involved right then was that he had recognized the attire of those people up to something suspicious down below.

They were Assassins from Ra's Al Ghul's League and that meant Talia would be somewhere around them too.

Batman, or rather Bruce, did not want his sons to get endangered or entangled with the League. The farther they stayed from them, the better it was for their own safety.

"Oh my, who do we have the honor of hosting?" 

A sultry voice caught him by alarm and he turned to see Talia Al Ghul, that once dressed in the Assassin attire. The only thing setting her apart from the rest of them was the absence of a mask hiding her features.

"Is it the infamous Batman?" She stepped closer and he assessed that she wasn't holding any weapon yet. The rest of the Assassins had also backed away on a single flick of her hand, ordering them to leave. "The Dark Knight... The Caped Crusader... Oh, I have heard such a lot about you."

Her emerald eyes glowed in the dark and an irresistible smile played upon her pretty red lips. He knew that look and he also knew that it was better if he got to the point straight up and ask her about the League's sudden involvement in Gotham, without letting her beat around the bush.

But it seemed she had other plans and once Talia set her mind on something, she never gave up until she achieved her goal.

***