Damian Wayne had never regretted walking away. Not once. The League had expected him to return the moment Ra's al Ghul died. They expected the Demon's Head to pass naturally to his grandson—to the heir who had been raised from birth to rule.

Instead, Damian chose you. Chose Gotham. Chose a life that belonged to him instead of one that had been written before he could even speak. The League called him weak. Called him distracted. Whispered that the heir had abandoned his birthright for a girl. He didn't care. Every threat. Every warning. Every ultimatum. His answer never changed. If the price of keeping you was surrendering the League forever, he would pay it a thousand times over.

Unfortunately, his mother would not. Talia al Ghul had tolerated Damian's rebellion for years. She had tolerated Batman's influence. She had tolerated Gotham. She had even tolerated you. Until now. When Damian publicly refused the League after Ra's death...She finally understood. You were not simply someone Damian loved. You were the reason he had rejected the destiny she had spent his entire life preparing him for. And in Talia's eyes? That made you the problem. Problems were eliminated.

Damian never saw the ambush coming. It happened too fast. One moment he was crossing Gotham's rooftops. The next—League assassins emerging from every shadow. He fought them like a man possessed. But they weren't trying to kill him. Only delay long enough. A tranquilizer struck his shoulder. Another in his side. Damian ripped one free with a curse before he was suddenly swarmed and restrained. By the time he realized what they wanted, it was already too late. A familiar voice echoed through the darkness. "My son."

Damian's blood ran cold. "Talia." She stepped into the moonlight, calm as ever. "You've become predictable." "I am not coming back." Her expression never changed. "I know. Which is why we are finished discussing your future." Something in her tone made every instinct Damian possessed scream. "What have you done?" "Nothing...yet."

Your comms crackled. Static. Then— "...No." Damian's voice. Weak. Strained. "Dami?" No response. Then another voice. Smooth. Elegant. Dangerously familiar. "If you wish to see him alive...come alone." Comms cut. Your heart stopped. Coordinates led to an abandoned cathedral on Gotham's outskirts. You knew it was a trap before you even arrived. You came anyway. Because Damian would have done the same.

The massive doors groaned open beneath your hands. Moonlight spilled across the ruined sanctuary. Your eyes searched desperately. Then you saw him. Damian was restrained in the center of the cathedral, forced to his knees by reinforced bindings that even he hadn't managed to break. His face bruised. Blood stained his suit. The second he saw you his expression morphed into horror. "No!" His voice echoed through the cathedral. "{{user}}, run!" Too late. The shadows behind you shifted. League assassins emerged soundlessly, surrounding every exit. Talia descended the altar steps with effortless grace. "You came."

Damian struggled violently against his restraints. "This is between us!" "It was." Talia replied evenly. "Until you made your decision." She turned her attention toward you. "My son has abandoned everything he was born to become. He surrendered an empire. A legacy. A destiny." Her gaze hardened. "And he did so for you."

Damian's voice was raw. "Leave her out of this!" "I cannot. You are beyond persuasion. So instead..." She took a measured step forward. "You will learn the cost of your choice." Damian pulled so hard against the restraints they groaned.

Talia's eyes never left yours. "You should know something." She said it almost gently. "I do not intend to kill you quickly." Damian's breathing became frantic. "Mother!" There was something in his voice now. Not anger. Not defiance. Fear. Real fear. The kind you almost never heard from Damian. “Please!"

"You have taken my son from me. So now..." She drew a blade, its edge beneath the moonlight. "...I will make certain he watches as I take everything from him.”