NO CELESTIAL / dick grayson

two, bloodlines

REMIEL FALTERED FOR a moment when she laid eyes on Tim Drake. His costume had alterations from the one Dick used to wear, but it was still similar enough to give her pause when she entered the Batcave. With the same dark brown, almost black hair and his mask on, Tim almost looked like a splitting image of the old Dick. But upon more careful inspection, the rest of their face was quite different. His face was thinner and he was less muscular. She recovered quickly, following Barbara towards the group gathered before the Batcomputer.

At the sound of footsteps, they turned. Damian immediately started walking over, giving Barbara a small dip of the head before placing himself besides Remiel. She ruffled his hair and he scowled.

"Barbara. Remiel." Bruce had changed into his suit sometime in the past few hours. He was Batman now. "This is Tim Drake. You might know him better as Red Robin."

Remiel offered her hand. "Remiel Chen."

"I've heard of you," Tim tilted his head, shaking her hand before dropping it. "Phantasma. Adopted daughter of Seraphina al Ghul."

"I see my reputation precedes me."

"Now that you're all here, I thought we might discuss something more important," Batman started. The rest of them all fell quiet, moving closer towards the monitor. Remiel let Barbara push her wheelchair past her so that she could get a better view, putting herself behind Barbara, laying her hands on the back of the chair. "Phantasma, do you have any clue as to the current situation of the League and Deathstroke?"

"No doubt Deathstroke is in Nanda Parbat. He won't be leaving just yet. He might have sent some of his men to clear out the other League headquarters, but considering he's just held a coup, he's not stupid enough to leave the main base of operations unattended for long." It was the oldest lesson in the Machiavellian book.

"We can take him there," Damian growled, crossing his arms. "I know Nanda Parbat. We could capture him while he's still there."

"What, us against Deathstroke, his own men and some potential defectors from the League? It's a death wish." Tim shook his head. "He'll be ready for us. And where's the rest of the League? Where are Talia and Seraphina hiding? What have they got planned? If we move now without a single clue of what they are going to do, we might risk ruining each other's plans."

"I don't know where either of them are, but they're likely separated right now," Remiel said quietly. "It's the usual League tactic. Separate the heads, make sure the leaders are scattered across the world so that they can't be defeated in one swoop. They called me two days ago and they were together then, but I couldn't call them back from the number."

"They'd be gathering assassins from around the world. Most of them are loyal. Unlike Slade." Damian looked angry, which was normal and expected. "Most of the assassins will want vengeance for Grandfather."

Most, in Remiel's mind, was an exaggeration. Of course Ra's al Ghul had loyalists, and they would certainly aid Talia and Seraphina in their quest to reclaim the League. But many of the assassins in the League were simply mercenaries-for-hire who found it convenient to be linked to the League. Most, Remiel had realised in her twenty-three years, cared little for Ra's goals. The League was a tool, and it mattered little whose control it was under.

But she didn't want to burst that bubble with Damian. Let him enjoy that illusion a little longer.

He was also treating the Bats like allies in this situation, when they were not. At best they were a neutral force. At worst, they wanted the destruction and capture of both the League and Slade Wilson.

Slade, Slade, Slade. He just had to make everything so complicated.

She took a moment to observe the three versions of Robin. They were missing one, she was aware, but these three... She hadn't seen Damian in a Robin costume before, but she could almost imagine it. Dick and Tim shared a similarity in resemblance, with similar skin tone, hair colour and eye colour. Damian had blue eyes as well, though his were darker, matching Bruce's more, and he had olive skin, a shade only slightly lighter than Talia's. He was quarter Arabic through heritage, after all.