NO CELESTIAL / dick grayson

fifteen, the angels

"YOU'RE SURE SHE'S being kept at Nanda Parbat?" Bruce asked.

It was just her, Bruce and Seraphina. Everyone else had been dismissed from the meeting, to the chagrin of Damian. But Bruce seemed to want to deal with this himself, without the meddling of his children and proteges.

"He doesn't have a fully secure hold on any other base. And we keep tabs on Nanda Parbat. If a prisoner was escorted out, we'd be alerted. Nothing so far. She's there." Seraphina sounded adamant, but Bruce still looked like he had reservations.

She'd hardly be surprised if Dick and Tim had been instructed to run their own investigations to make sure Talia was actually being held in Nanda Parbat at that very moment.

Damian would be sent away. Alfred was probably dealing with him right now. He wouldn't be well, knowing his mother was being held captive.

And could he be blamed for that? No child would be alright with knowing their parent was being held captive under constant threat of losing their life.

And Remiel would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit nervous as well. Talia wasn't her favourite person in the whole world, but she did somewhat serve as a surrogate aunt for her. She did care about Talia. And she didn't want Talia to be hurt (even though it was probably a bit late at this point).

Well, she didn't want Talia to lose her life.

"Might he be keeping her at one of his own bases, though? He has bases other than League ones," Remiel pointed out. "That might be a more secure option for him. He could have snuck Talia out unnoticed. It's not impossible. Nanda Parbat might be a trap." She did not fancy the idea of launching any kind of attack on Nanda Parbat. It had been chosen as the base of operations for the League for a reason. Easy to defend, difficult to attack.

And Ra's had had centuries to fortify it, to make sure it was impenetrable. Sure, they knew it inside and out too, but there was no guarantee what type of alterations Deathstroke might have made in such a short period of time. And he knew they knew the base. He might set up traps with that in mind.

If avoidable, Remiel did not want to attack Nanda Parbat. It just seemed like a suicidal choice. They were skilled, yes, but they'd be hopelessly outnumbered and out of home territory. The best battle would be on neutral ground. But how would they be able to achieve that, with Talia in Deathstroke's hands?

Even if they baited him out, he still had her as a failsafe. No. They needed to get Talia out first. They needed to make sure Talia was safe before attempting anything else. But how? Any rescue attempt was dangerous and could be easily thwarted. Talia was most likely heavily injured. She'd be in no position to make herself useful in the escape. She'd be a hindrance.

Which made it even more difficult.

"He has quite a few bases around the world," Bruce mused, "I'll see if any have become active recently. But quite frankly, it'll be risky. If he catches on that we're searching for her already, he might move her or hide her even better."

"Or hurt her," Seraphina said with a sigh. "I'll make it clear that my priorities are getting my sister out safely. I don't care about Nanda Parbat or the leadership of the League right now. I just want Talia out."

"Why do you even stay with them when you don't believe in anything they do?" Bruce asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

Seraphina's reply was simple. "Blood is thicker than water."

Remiel glanced at Seraphina. History liked to repeat itself. No doubt once upon a time, Seraphina stood in the same position as Remiel did too. Turn away, or stay? And over and over again Seraphina chose to stay. She wasn't just tied to them through duty and gratitude, she was tied to Ra's and Talia through blood.