From Gotham to Cairo

The Return of Mr. Jones

"It doesn't matter if you kill us, Ra's.  We've already made contact with Oracle.  Birds of Prey operatives will be in Cairo by sunrise and will be armed with all the intel we've gathered since our arrival," Nightwing bluffed.

"Speaking of intelligence, I wonder how much of its contents you have unearthed," Ra's responded.

"All of it," Red Hood smirked, "from how you planned on distributing it from Sionis' makeup industry, to the extortion data."

"Wait, no, Todd.  I do not believe that is what Grandfather is referring to," Damian interjected.  "Do you not remember what Shiva said to us, during our last confrontation?

"Close enough," Shiva smirked.

"There is more to the flash drive than just the extortion data and Roland Daggett," Damian stated.

"Correct," Ra's acknowledged.  "Indeed you have answered my query.  I will not activate the landmine.  It will be interesting to see how far your training has taken you in your crime fighting career, and your fate will answer an age old question," Ra's concluded.

"And what might be that 'age old question'?" Nightwing asked.

"When my daughter made the decision to have Damian live with his father, I believed that the training that he would give would be insufficient.  Since then, I have been counting how many years you are still alive under his care, Damian.  I believe that if you live beyond this room, living with your father was the right decision."

The television screen faded to black following Ra's last words.

"Well, that was certainly...interesting," Nightwing said awkwardly.

Nightwing and Robin stared each other for a moment before Red Hood interjected.

"I'm sorry, but did we forget that I'm standing on an anti-tank mine?  Would it be too much to ask for a little attention on how to defuse this?"

"Yeah, of course.  Wait, but aren't you our demolition man?" Nightwing retorted.

"Well, yes, but I can't really defuse this because my foot is acting as the trigger."

Red Hood lifted his leg gingerly, while Nightwing raised the anti-tank mine, so that it would retain its pressure.

"Okay, Robin.  Remove the rubber at the bottom," Red Hood ordered.

Robin took out a batarang and cut the rubber off.

"What next?" he asked.

"Remove the plastic covering the four corners; once you're done with that, take out the four sided shape," Red Hood instructed.

"Understood," Robin stated, peeling off the four cornered shape.

"Once you're done with that, take out the plastic underneath it," Red Hood added.  "And take the spring out, too."

Robin followed Red Hood's words closely, an intense look of concentration on his face as he removed the plastic and spring.

"Completed.  Did I do it correctly?" Robin inquired.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Red Hood returned.

Slowly, and gently, Red Hood lowered his foot, and placed it onto the ground; his eyes closed.

One second passed, two seconds passed, three, four.

"Well, I guess he did it correctly," Nightwing smiled, pigment returning to his face.

"While we were having this miniature crisis, I assume the Assassins cleaned out all the intel this place had to offer.  We better get back to the hotel, and report to Babs how the mission went," Red Hood stated.