Apologies to you, my readers, for not updating until now. I have been stymied with Batman's new costume, the Team, and finals which are going on right now. Thanks to all of you for being patient with me!

Disclaimer: Not. At. All. Mine.

"Recognized, Robin B01."

Once Robin materialized in the cave's Zeta tube, he was immediately smothered by his teammates' group hug and their endless stream of questions.

"ROBIN! Are you okay?"

"Man, we were so worried. Is your – I mean, is Bats okay?"

"I am pleased to see that you are unharmed."

"Who was that creep that had us?"

"When do we go back to hand that man's ass to him?"

"Guys…" Robin smiled as he took in their presence around him. "Glad to see you're okay." One by one, they released their grip on him, still maintaining the circle keeping him at the middle.

"Of course we're okay!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "We weren't the ones being kidnapped so their mentor would join the ranks of one of the creepiest villains this planet has ever seen!"

"What makes him so creepy?" M'gann asked, while at the same time Connor asked, "Why is he obsessed so much with Batman?" Robin sighed and walked over to the Mountain's holographic computer systems. "Computer, show profile of crime lord Ra's al Ghul, aka the Demon's Head, and display world map."

All team members gaped at what they saw. A man that stood at about six feet, black hair with white patches at the temples on either side, green cloak over a high-collared black vest, a white dress shirt underneath, black leather braces over each lower arm beneath the elbow, gold sash, black pants and black boots stood before them with a sword in his right hand.

"That is the man we saw," Kaldur stated. "Batman told us that he was a major crime lord, but I get the feeling there was more to him wanting Batman than what we heard. Robin, how much do you know about him?"

"Batman and I have dealt a lot with him in the past." Robin brought up a small information box next to the picture. "He is the head of a huge international criminal organization known as The Demon, which explains why his other name is the Demon's Head. The League of Assassins is a special subgroup of this organization, all trained to be the best at stealing and murdering using stealth and subterfuge. Usually, we dealt with the assassins that were trained under him, or with his daughter, Talia." A picture of the woman appeared next to the one of her father, an information box following soon after. Wally whistled.

"Wow, is she total babe or what!" he whispered to Kaldur, an idiotic grin spreading over his face. Artemis reached around Kaldur's head to punch Wally in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?" he whined.

"Robin is telling us about the crime lord that managed to not just best us but Batman as well, who might I add never gets beaten that bad, and all you can think about is how hot his daughter is?!"

"Sorry!" he yelled, rubbing his shoulder. "I have a one-track mind. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a teenage boy with hormones. I can't not notice something like that! Sorry 'bout that, Rob," he added quickly. Artemis snorted and nodded at Robin to continue.

"Ra's al Ghul has had his eye on Gotham – and Batman – for a while now," Robin continued, ignoring their antics. "He's wanted Gotham to be the testing grounds for his experiments, which mainly involve blowing it up with people inside, in order to rebuild according to his twisted utopian ideals. Batman he's wanted to be his heir for just as long, if not longer." Connor snorted; Robin glanced at him.

"You got to be kidding," the clone stated flatly. When Robin didn't respond, he pressed on. "Batman is one of the most feared founding members of the Justice League. Even if he didn't strike the fear of God into this Ra's, he would have known that Batman would never switch sides. What's the point in recruiting someone who will never join you?"

"Despite knowing that Batman would never join him, he nevertheless has continued trying to recruit him. He sees Batman as the only man who could ever be his successor and marry his daughter. When Ra's al Ghul trained Batman in most of what he knows, he indirectly trained him to take over the organization when Ra's al Ghul dies," Robin responded flatly. Several team members audibly gasped, except for Wally and Kaldur.

"Guys," Wally said, "this was before Batman first started out. It wasn't like he could've gotten the training he needed to become Batman from just anyone, especially on this side of the planet."

"Also, think of everything he knows compared to the rest of the League," Kaldur urged. "That kind of training has made him more prepared than anyone to see the connections, gave him that edge to know how to deal with the criminal element. In turn, he has helped us to be better crime fighters and detectives because of his training."

"I know," Artemis said. "It's kind of weird, though, thinking about Batman being trained by this crime lord, especially considering how well Ra's has been avoiding death." M'gann looked at her in surprise.

"How can humans avoid death? I thought all humans died eventually," she said. Robin sighed.

"That's what's supposed to happen. Unfortunately, Ra's doesn't play by the rules of nature." He typed something into the keyboard, bringing up a picture of a pit. The ground surrounding it was black and bare of anything growing. An unearthly green glow emanated from within, bubbling disturbed the otherwise smooth surface. "This is a Lazarus Pit. It has supernatural properties, particularly the ability to raise the dead or dying back to life. Unfortunately, the use of these pits amplifies aggression, paranoia, and physical strength while making the user more mentally unstable. Every time Ra's al Ghul uses the pits, he erodes more of his brain cells while extending his lifespan." Connor snorted.

"Smart trade," he muttered. "So how long has he been using them?"

"Approximately seven hundred years, at last calculation*," Robin replied. "And even that is a guess as we don't have records or found knowledgeable, talking members of his League of Assassins."

"So you don't know how long he's been around, exactly," M'gann stated.

"Correct."

"Who cares?" Artemis cleared her throat. "The question is why act now? If he's been trying to get Batman to join him for years now, why only execute his plans now?"

"He's probably planning something big," Robin surmised. "Especially now that he has Batman, his access is virtually unrestricted to any corner of the world. He will most likely squeeze whatever consent he can get out of him as quickly as possible. I have programmed this computer to send any new data on any changes in all the countries. Then maybe we can get a glimpse of what Ra's al Ghul's plan is."

"What about Batman?" M'gann asked. "Can't we, I don't know, go back and try to rescue him?" Robin stood silently, his masked eyes cast upon the ground.

"We should," Kid Flash said. "He needs to get out of there before the League notices he's gone."

"Speaking of which," Kaldur interjected. "Should we not inform the League? They surely have more experience with this crime lord than we do. We could use any help we could get to fix this problem."

"Unfortunately, most of the League hasn't come into contact with this man," Robin replied. "Even fewer know about his activities, and that information has usually come from Batman." He looked to each of his teammates and took a deep breath. "We won't tell the League."

"You know, I'm fine with the whole don't-tell-the-League thing, but can I ask why?" Artemis put her hands on her hips.

"One, they'd go straight into panic mode. Two, they won't see it like we did. They weren't there, but most will discount our stories. Three, remember what happened to Red?" The whole team nodded.

"We had a better shot at finding out what really happened," Robin continued, "we took it, and we got into trouble after we brought Red home. But we were the ones who brought Red home, not the League. It's the same situation here. Batman is counting on us to help him get out of this mess. If he wanted the League to be involved, we wouldn't have been 'invited' along."

"That's true," Kid Flash realized. "Batman knows we don't listen to orders. Who better than us to be there to witness what happened and help him find a way out of it."

"I agree," Kaldur said. "Since this is Robin's mentor who is involved, I will allow him to lead us as we investigate." Robin looked at him in surprise.

"Uh, not that I don't appreciate you giving me the reins," Robin said nervously, scratching the back of his head, "but why not just have me advise the Team?"

"Dude, don't question it!" Wally exclaimed, zooming over to him. "He obviously knows that you are better suited to lead this mission – not that I'm saying you aren't capable, Kaldur," he added quickly. Kaldur smiled and nodded.

"The Team would benefit from someone with more knowledge about the people involved," he said. "I trust your judgment." Robin nodded, a small smile appearing on his face.

"In that case, I'm going to pull up the location of Ra's al Ghul's new hideout we were in," he stated, typing on the holographic keyboard. "Everyone, I want you to tell me what you saw when you were trying to rescue us. He may have upgraded his hideouts since we were last in them. I need to know locations of cameras, the torture rooms, the ventilation shafts, anything and everything. I'll add in what I noticed during my stay there." As he listened to what the Team threw out there and adjusted the image, doubts filled his mind.

Kaldur may trust my judgment, but if it weren't for my judgment on which road to take, Batman wouldn't be in this mess. What if my judgment is just as faulty now?

Batman stood at the head of Ra's al Ghul's forces alongside Talia. Whatever feelings he may have had for her in the past (no matter how hard he tried to push them away) were outweighed by the anger he felt at both her and her father for pushing him into this position. He gave a short tug at his new mask. This humiliating new outfit didn't help matters either. At least Robin was safe.

"Are you ready, Beloved?" He glared in her direction as he answered through the earpiece.

"I don't have a choice, now do I? Rest assured I will keep my end of the bargain up." They were attacking the compound of the Dalai Lama in Tibet. Ra's al Ghul had been upset to hear his support behind the upcoming negotiations between the Chinese government and the leader of the refugees currently in Nepal. The Chinese leader had stated he wanted to make reparations for China's actions against Tibet, starting by giving them their country back. The compound was in the format of an isosceles triangle, with a building at each corner. Talia and her men were attacking the northern building, her made man and his group the western one, and he got the eastern building.

Once the signal would come through, they would attack simultaneously, knocking out the guards and monks while his group would be kidnapping the Dalai Lama to bring back to the Demon's Head for a little talk. He had a feeling he knew exactly which one of them would aid in the interrogation.

"Beloved, we are go." Talia's command rang crisp in his ear. He looked to his men and nodded.

"Now!" he barked.

The Dalai Lama turned over on his bed to gaze out the window of his bedroom. His eyes, still hazy from sleep, attempted to focus while his ears listened carefully. He had thought he had heard a noise, not like the ones his monks and guards made. He remained still and silent for a few more moments, and then relaxed back to sleep.

On the verge of succumbing to the darkness of slumber he was rudely jerked up and out of bed by a towering monster: clothing imprinted with a strange pattern, arms gauntleted with spikes, dark grey cloak surrounding him as a mist, and a dark mask with blank slates for eyes and no opening where the mouth would be. This monster lifted him up effortlessly and close to his masked face. He was too paralyzed with fear to do much more than gape.

"You're coming with me."

The man fainted dead away.

*In general, the comics have given a range of 450-700 years for how long Ra's al Ghul has been alive. I tend to go towards the longer end because it fits in my mind for how long a man would be continuously alive while building a worldwide yet mostly hidden crime syndicate and criminal network.