The Cave was unusually quiet that night. Most of the Team had gone home or disappeared into their own corners, but Damien lingered in front of the computer system. The bluish glow of the screen bathed his face, his jaw tight as he scrolled through encrypted files Batman had left behind.
He shouldn't be doing this. He knew it. But his instincts had been gnawing at him for days, whispering that something was off. The name popped up over and over again. Shadows.
And then, buried deeper, another name. His father's.
Damien's heart slammed against his ribs. His father—someone he remembered only in fractured flashes—had once been tied to the Shadows. To them.
He leaned back in the chair, chest tight. Was that why he was different? Why the power inside him sometimes felt too big to hold?
The door slid open behind him. "You planning to burn a hole in the screen?"
Damien snapped the file closed instantly and turned. Artemis stood in the doorway, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.
"You okay?" she asked, suspicious but not unkind.
He forced his shoulders to relax. "Fine."
Her gaze lingered on him, like she could see the cracks in his calm mask, but before she could press further, the Cave's alarm flared. The mission alert cut through the silence, summoning the Team.
Batman's figure loomed on the holo-screen as the Team assembled. His voice was cold and clipped. "Intel places the Shadows in an abandoned monastery in the Alps. Reports suggest Ra's al Ghul himself is present. This mission is to confirm and disrupt operations. Expect resistance."
The Team shifted uneasily. Even the name carried weight.
Robin broke the silence. "Ra's doesn't move unless it's important. If he's really there, this could be more than just another Shadows operation."
"Then we tread carefully," Aqualad said firmly.
Damien didn't speak. His fists curled at his sides, his mind still echoing with the file he'd read. His father. The Shadows. And now Ra's al Ghul.
The bioship cut across storm clouds, cloaked as it soared over jagged mountain peaks. Snow lashed against the hull. Miss Martian guided them into a descent until the ancient monastery came into view, clinging to the cliffs like it had grown from the stone itself.
The Team dropped into the snow, moving in silence. Their breaths puffed into the freezing air as they crept up the mountain path. Damien moved near the front, every nerve on edge.
Inside, the monastery was alive with torchlight, shadows dancing across walls carved with strange symbols. The flicker of flames did nothing to soften the weight of the place—it felt like walking into the jaws of something ancient and patient.
They followed the echo of voices until the hall opened wide. Dozens of assassins in dark robes knelt before a raised dais. And there he stood. Tall, calm, with an ageless face and piercing eyes: Ra's al Ghul.
"Ah," Ra's said, his voice carrying effortlessly across the chamber. "The prodigal weapon arrives."
The assassins stirred. The Team froze, confusion flicking to Damien as Ra's's gaze locked onto him.
"I knew your father," Ra's continued, stepping down from the dais with measured grace. "He served us, briefly. You are his legacy. A blade forged but dulled by sentiment."
Damien's breath caught in his throat. The words felt like shackles.
Before anyone could respond, Ra's raised his hand. The kneeling assassins surged forward like a black tide.
The hall exploded into chaos.
Robin vaulted overhead, hurling birdarangs that sparked against steel. Artemis's arrows lit the haze, each shot knocking weapons from hands. Wally blurred between enemies, disarming them before they could blink. Superboy plowed through their ranks like a wrecking ball, fists cracking stone as easily as bone.
Damien's blades hummed in his hands. Energy crackled around his arms as he cut down a cluster of Shadows, his strikes sharper, faster, harder than usual. But his mind wasn't clear—it was drowning in Ra's's words.
"You don't belong with them," Ra's said, his voice calm even in the storm. "They will never understand what you are. You are mine to claim."
Damien growled, unleashing a shockwave that sent a circle of assassins flying. The crimson energy tore into the floor, spiderwebbing cracks across the stone.
"Damien, focus!" Miss Martian's voice rang in his mind, laced with panic.
But Ra's was already upon him. A curved blade swept toward his throat. Damien met it with his gauntlets, sparks bursting as steel met steel. Their movements blurred—strike, counter, parry. Ra's was calm, precise, always one step ahead.
"You fight like him," Ra's said, eyes gleaming. "Wild. Brilliant. But unlike him—you hesitate."
Damien roared and slammed his palms outward, releasing a blast so violent it rattled the chamber. Torches blew out. Stone crumbled. The very walls shuddered.
The others shielded themselves as arcs of crimson lightning leapt wildly, striking columns and ceiling beams.
"Stop!" Artemis shouted, her voice cutting through the roar.
Damien couldn't. The power tore at him, raging beyond his grip. His vision swam red, the energy burning hotter than his body could bear. He saw terror on his teammates' faces, saw them retreating from him as much as from the Shadows.
And through it all, Ra's walked forward untouched. "There. Do you see it? They fear you. As they should. This power is not for them. It is ours. It is mine."
Damien's knees buckled. He staggered, clutching his head. What if he's right? What if this is what I am? What if the darkness is all there is?
A hand closed around his arm. Firm. Grounding.
Artemis.
"You're not him," she said fiercely, forcing him to meet her eyes. "You're not Ra's. You're not your father. You're you. Damien. My teammate."
Her grip tightened. "Come back."
Her voice cut through the storm. His breathing slowed. The energy ebbed, retreating like a tide. The crimson glow dimmed.
When Ra's lunged again, Damien was ready.
Their blades clashed in a storm of sparks. This time Damien's strikes were steady, controlled. He drove Ra's back step by step, refusing to yield.
Ra's smirked. "Good. But you cannot defeat me."
"Maybe not," Damien spat, parrying and slashing back. "But I don't have to."
Superboy crashed into Ra's with a roar, hurling him across the chamber. Miss Martian's psychic wave staggered him long enough for Robin to fling explosives at the dais. Stone erupted in a shower of dust and rubble.
When the air cleared, Ra's was gone.
The remaining assassins fled into the shadows, vanishing like smoke.
The bioship cut through storm clouds on the way back. The Team sat in uneasy silence, each lost in thought.
Damien stared at his hands, still trembling faintly. He could feel the echo of the power inside him, still raw, still dangerous. He could still hear Ra's's voice in his head, calling him a weapon.
Artemis slid into the seat beside him. "You okay?"
He shook his head, the words clawing their way out. "He was right about one thing. My father… he was with them. The Shadows. What if that's who I am too? What if I can't fight it?"
Artemis leaned back, studying him. Then she reached over and rested her hand lightly on his. "Then you fight harder. Every day if you have to. You're not him, Damien. You're not Ra's. You're you. And you're not alone."
Her words sank deep, anchoring him in a way nothing else had.
He let out a slow breath. "Thank you."
She smirked faintly. "Don't get sappy on me. But… you're nothing like him. Trust me."
For the first time that night, Damien managed a small smile. The storm outside raged on, but inside, he finally felt like he could breathe.