Mission: At All Costs [Ra's al Ghul, Outsiders]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

5 Weeks Earlier


"This needs to be done and you're not going to stop me. I know that psycho better than anyone else on the team. I'd be the prime target, that's what we need! That amount of time is what is needed to get this mission complete. And you know as well as I do that it is crucial that we get that tech back as well as the data on it. It's one thing if it is in the hands of some established street gang..when it get the the league like this, we're talking national security threat. I'm going in on this one solo as A team undercover for the most part. I want Supergirl and you to do B team. And Starfire....try to keep her to C team. We can't risk emotions ruling this mission. I'm taking the reins on this one. Ra's al Ghul is not a common thug leader or is he like the Joker. The is a serious threat even to Batman on levels. That's why I need to go in on this one solo. You and Supergirl will know the signal. I'll keep the com link on til the time you need to intervene. No arguments. My mind is made up. And one more thing.....Kory must not know the details of my work in this mission. We can't risk this mission. Nightwing out." - Nightwing to Arsenal before departure for mission

3 Days into mission

"I'm in the ranks at the time. I have yet to find the device and have yet to be found out," Nightwing reported back to Arsenal logging the detail of the mission

Dick had managed to get by security with the detail he had provided as a background for himself. His skill spoke for itself when it came to being a foot soldier ranks transfer back the the ranks of Ra's Gotham clans. It was no easy task and a lot of patching up and planning. It had been all about timing when it came to this transfer work. The bat family had their ways. And Dick knew you couldn't just join the ranks of the league of assassins. He had to actually get some data from Batman's computer as well and as secretly as possible. He has succeeded. He was merely a foot soldier. That was as close as he could get without raising alarms within the League at the moment. If the time being he would be alright. May be the disguise would help until the time came to make his move.

undercover

1.5 Months Earlier
This had been mission and a half on Rightwing's part. Not only had he spend sometime getting the information he needed from an inside source of the League of Assassins. The trail had been cover thoroughly. All leads and computer work would lead to other systems and different addresses around the globe. Dick had learned quite a bit with his sessions even with Oracle. That was the best he could do to advance himself in his work. Oracle was beyond any expert and it would be enough to keep the inside source safe as well as the breach in security he otherwise would have created with getting the information he needed on coming transfers to the US from an undisclosed locations in India. Ra's had bases set up in to many countries. Though this was the best he could fine to fit the criteria that fit what he was planning.

Dick had even traveled undercover in India as well to tail the person he would be taken on the role of. The foot soldier would be unharmed and held within the ranks and connections Nightwing had within the League. Well, at least with a member of the League that would keep this under wraps. He needed this soldier to go unharmed. They'd release the foot soldier to the authorities as soon as the Outsiders work would be complete.

This took more than planning. It took weeks of planning. All of this was going down without the knowledge of the other Outsider besides Arsenal. He knew the risks and it was for the best. Nightwing could not risk the possible failure of this mission. This device had been mission from the Russia hands for sometime as it had made its way through Canada on to the US grounds and now in Ra's al Ghul's hands.

3 Day Prior

Some of the foot soldiers had been sent through a daily inspection that was on terms for a small ground of the soldiers to be tested through as well as trained. Those that did not keep up....well if you knew too much, you were in danger. Dick had manage to get this far without having to answer many questions. The ones he did answer, he had done his research.

Ra's al Ghul would only look on to see some blonde haired ninja about to spare with another foot ninja. The idea was to blend in the stick out. The name of the soldier was common yet within recognition of other branches of the league. The similaries would be just about spot on. Dick was trained by the best.

And when he had been put into a sparing session with another fellow foot soldier, it seemed they were graced with the glancing eye of Ra's al Ghul himself. Though it was merely in passing and from a distance, Dick was glad it had been at a distance.

He couldn't risk blowing his cover yet. Even his fighting style had to change in the slightest when Ra's had been passing. Almost like he might have been holding back. Though there was a point to how much you could change in a day when you had been trained and fighting a certain way for over a decade.

Current Day

That was when he would make his move. Nightiwng had reported back to Arsenal of his finding. The device was within striking distance behind closed door. Now whether or not he could make it out of that level of security was the question. There were two parts to this tech, one of which Ra's had in possession prior to their mission. And now, he had both and the detail to go with it. Nightwinf located both but could not risk going after them in such a way. He need to buy Arsenal and Supergirl time to get the larger piece of equipment out of their and corrupt the data system to the bunker.

That was why they needed the strength of the other teammates. And Nightwing knew he was the only one who would draw Ra's eye away from the true intentions of the team's mission.

And with the stealth very much so of his mentor Nightwing set off into the depths of the bunker. The disguise would no longer work at this point. And Nightwing has to travel by foot and very few ventilation systems to get back to the room where he has discovered the device. It had taken quite skill to get by the security systems, disabling the alarms and cameras.

It took all of 2 minutes to get to the final level of team A's mission. And once the device was in sight....this seemed almost too easy. Even too easy for the skill level of a master hacker and with the levels of training to almost match his mentor in ways. Nightwing was preparing himself for a fight, though did not let on as to the intent of his plans.

[Deleted]

A row of fans ran across the ceiling of the room that stretched on for some distance, the only light shining down through these slowly rotating rotors so that spots of shadows were dotted right down to the back wall where a small box sat upon a plain black table. The room was bland, simple concrete given no decorative thought by the League, much like the rest of the partially subterranean bunker that was hid deep within the expansive forests that stretched out past Gotham's outskirts providing an isolated base far from the prying eyes of the City. This particular facility was nothing more than a storage house to supply the more prominent branch in the urban area where Ra's himself had set up office but from time to time it offered its services to the cause in a more direct and instrumental manner. As in this case it was chosen to hold the captured piece of equipment named only as Project Hypnos by the United States Government who owned it for an all too brief moment before it fell into the far more capable hands of the League itself.

As Nightwing made his way down into the lowest level of the Site where the technology had been stored, Ra's too made his way to the top priority section flanked only by a young Girl of little more than twelve who wore basic traditional garb to match his own grey three piece suit that he adorned. The League had owned this particular asset for a number of months now though it was useless without the secondary component to regulate the power of the first so as of yet it had only been trialled on a small insignificant scale yet for it to be of any use it required the other piece. Knowing that something of such importance of Hypnos would not be forgotten and covered up, Ra's judged that it would only be a matter of time before some form of doomed recovery operation would be organised by either the Government itself or more likely by a band of vigilantes. The least he could do was be an amiable host.

So when a slight murmur in the power of the lower security fields was reported from security he knew all well that it was time to retrieve the second piece. Pushing the door open, the Head of the Demon marched in with an air of calculated confidence, walking cane firmly placed in hand. The Girl that had stood by him in the elevator continued to stand behind him, cowering some what in his shadow. As unexpected as he was to see Nightwing approaching the box, he never let on, only smirking a devilish grimace as he brought the black cane around into both of his palms. "Good evening, Mr. Grayson. I applaud your infiltration skills, your Master would be proud but I fear that your search is in vain for you shall leave this place with less than you entered with." The doors behind him slammed shut and he slowly began approaching the former boy wonder, showing no signs that he intended to lash out and engage him in a pointless brawl. Instead he passed by him to the table, giving a brief glance in his direction as he gave him a quick look over. The boy had become a man, a carbon copy of what the Bat was at his age with none of the stoic arrogance. It was a shame that the Detective's indoctrination had clouded his mind so long ago.

Ra's ran a hand over the smooth oak that made up the container, feeling the detail of the carvings that ran across the hard material. Then he opened it, fling the roof off with a brisk pull to reveal that it was in fact empty. "You were expecting something else?" His eyes shot over to the girl who remained at the other end of the room, her eyes piercing through the darkness of the shadows. Ra's al Ghul wondered what secrets hid away locked behind that armoured domino mask of his.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Nightwing made this way toward the box. There was no guaranteeing that this wasn't some kind of trap. Though from all the investigating he had and navigation of this place, he knew he was close to something. What this was all about remained shrouded in a darkness to it seems even Batman. The Batfamily took everything as a threat when Ra's stole something from another head of the criminal works, Luthor.

When a voice cracked through the silent that had fallen on the building, Nightwing stopped through did not act surprised. He knew one way or another Ra's would find out and make an entrance. That's what Nightwing had hoped for at some point that night. And without fail the Head of Demans was on course with the plans.

By Ra's words he knew there would be no fight. Not hat Nightwing would admit to such a thing, there was no denying the superior skills in the marshal arts that Ra's possessed over himself or his mentor Bruce in ways. The air of confidence was plan to see that Nightwing was little to no threat to Ra's at the moment. Probably seen as a waste of time even.

He has taken notice to the child that had entered the room at the heels of the Demon. As the man passed by him, Nightwing would stand alert to any possible threats. He would just have to allow the arrogance of the Demon walking around him. After all Nightwing had just entered the layer of the Demon and had infultrateed more that just that.

"i'm touched you remember my name. Though you are mistaken on that last part," Dick responded. Of course, he wouldn't let on to the fact that there was a bit of surprise to the box being empty. There has been something there a few days ago. Though Ra's words came with no fault. He could tell he was not bluffing on this subject matter.

Dick caught the look Ra's has shot across the room to the child still standing in fear out of range of them. What was this sick SOB up to? He kept a mental know of everything going on. If the weapons wasn't there, then something else was a foot and he would have to find out. Though given the expression on Ra's face the child must have something to do with this. Yet, why?

" Do you really have that little faith in me? After all, I wouldn't be standing here like this without being able to get what I came for,".he repli d some what smugly. He needed to keep playing this out and get as much information as possible.

[Deleted]

How he moved from corner to corner of the small secluded vault, pacing in an equal manner to such a beast as a pent up lion, watching the world pass from its prison, eyeing those who pass it as potential next meals. And as a beast would flare its teeth, allowing the World a brief glimpse at the ferocity held beneath its serene pose, so did Ra's al Ghul to young Dick Grayson albeit with piercing emerald shot from his gaze. It was an intimidation tactic that had long been employed by the master, perfected over many a life time to the point that when men muttered the name of the Demon, it was the thought of his glaring vision that chilled their bones the most. That omniscient gaze that encompassed all, valuing every tiny detail that he looked upon so that nothing escaped his surveillance. This would only cement the myth that nothing can escape the League, for the Head of the Demon had many eyes.

Then he stopped in his tracks, the soles of his brown boots sliding lightly across the concrete floor beneath his feet right behind the young girl that stood, milling with her fingers not knowing where to look. Placing both his hands upon her shoulders, he sighed before starting. "But what you came for is not what you'll get, you have orchestrated a scheme with false intelligence and no small amount of misplaced assumptions. I wonder whether the Detective would have made such an obvious mistake as beginning an operation blind." It was known to the League that the two crime fighters were often at ends with each other or why else would the boy have promoted himself to a solo operative? Why to remove himself from the shadow of the Bat of course. "Yet here you are. Leave now and I will not seek you out for your error against my person and property. Or stay and learn what it is to be in the company of men who do not presume to be self acclaimed heroes."

With a flurry from his cape he turned from the child and paced towards the boy pretending to be a man. Evidently the result of prolonged indoctrination courtesy of the Batman, instilled with a dogmatic and simplistic view towards how to solve the World's problems: wrapped in its own self perpetuating downward spiral with only one sure conclusion. The path of a super hero is the promotion of a subservient Humanity, bound to Gods in latex who presume to stand above with their false justice. They would have no man solve his own problems. "That Child is the key to my design, the treasure you intended to loot from my pocket. She is unlike any other being on the planet; born with the ability to control other minds. It is an unharnessed power, one that I have managed to subdue for a short period of time with a mixture of my own concocting. Alas it is a temporary fix that offers no true means to control the ability, only to dull it for a period of time." For a few months she was in the hands of the United States Government, an asset they never quite understood in their brief time of studying her. Before that the Russians claimed her were also dumbfounded by the discovery. Of course all that was before she fell into the hands of the League.

"Recover a device for me, the second piece of the puzzle that is useless without the first and vice versa. Without it the Child's power will soon awake and there will be no sedating the raw anger within her. Provide me with what I need and there will be no deaths today I promise you that."

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick gaze followed Ra's Al Ghul's every movement. By now, there was no true threat of Ra's wanting to "waste" his time fighting one of the bat-family who trained under Bruce Wayne. Dick would never admit it to any one nor Bruce himself, his mentor would be able to outclass him on many levels. Though he knew what his mentor was capable of. Or at least all that he had observed over the years of growing up and working along side of Bruce.

It was no wonder Ra's wasn't taking him as a threat nor wasting his time at the moment. Bruce was almost an equal match for Ra's. And that stare he was giving. The intensity behind it was easy to tell where Bruce got his ability for this skill. Ra's on the other hand had it down to an art. Dick would not allow himself to be intimidated by this look. Even if it was more intense than Bruce's. Dick had learned how to not draw any attention to a sudden shift of his body.

It was becoming more clear as to the message Ra's was communicating to him. The child had something to do with this. And he knew Ra's would not stay quiet for long. All the information is what is needed for the mission. It would unlock more to what Luthor was hiding from the public.

Dick wasn't about to back down from Ra's. He would not be intimidated or treated as if he was a child trying to fill the shoes of his mentor.

"Who says I don't have more information than the false information we were fed," Dick replied. Unlike his mentor, the cockiness of Nightwing was a trait that always carried on.

He did not adhere to the threat of Ra's giving him the option to leave or stay. He needed to stall longer and he knew the consequences where great. Leaving him in a tough situation.

After hearing the detail about the child, Dick took note of everything said. This information was important. Yet, there it was...a trade instead of a death.

"What makes you think a death threat would be enough to cause me to bend and help you," Dick replied.

[Deleted]

"If you protest that you are a hero; that you are bound to protect those who deserve no guardianship, that you will uphold a mockery of what true justice is, then your mission is to save as many lives as possible. Not every life I may add. Save this child from the carnage it will unknowingly create by providing me with the only leash that will solve the problem, a solution that you are forbidden from taking due to this shroud of heroism. You believe that it makes you stronger but you are fatally mistaken for it only weighs you down and limits essential movement." Pausing for a moment for a brief time of reflection, one hand placed a top the gold and sage hilt of the weapon that hung by his side and the other furrowing itself into the deepness of his dark beard, Ra's considered how he would persuade this young warrior that there was no way he could come out of this situation without compromise.

"Dubbing yourself the title of hero is not for the sake of those you defend, strengthening the shield with which you defend them. No I believe that it is for your own benefit; to protect you from making the necessary choice when fatal matters such as this come to the fray. You will hide behind rank, asserting that it is beyond your moral fibre to allow what I suggest for you are truly weak and lacking of any true devotion to what needs to be done." Another lull of silence, giving the Batman protégé another opportunity at considering his argument. Wayne had proved to be as stubborn as he was brilliant when it came to bowing to the required sacrifices of their work, also coddling himself in the dream of what he wanted the world to be like without taking it for what it truly is. "There is no worse evil than indecision at moments of great need so I implore you to work with me, Richard, for her sake as well as your own."

At this point all Nightwing would have to consider was whether it would be a far less evil to allow the League to use the child for a moderate and select usage or whether it would be better to allow her to live free to the point of fruition where untold madness could be born. Turning back to place a hand on the shoulder of the girl who had remained silent, running a thumb over her soft pink fleshy cheek after moving a fold of her auburn hair. Her visage was not a healthy one for she was painfully thin, a sign of a life spent on the run from forces she knew little of for reasons she could not hope to understand. What kind of life is that for an innocent of her age? Considering all that was what he was offering such an incomprehensible evil or a blessing in disguise? Her silence could be attributed to the fact that she spoke no English, not that Ra's or Grayson could not speak any Russian as they were both fluent in many a Slavic tongue.

"Call upon your band for aid and provide me with the device I require within the hour and I will not be forced to end her life. Last time she lost control of her gifts twenty three people were either killed or grievously wounded so know that I speak true when I say that with no alternative I will not hesitate." And he did not flinch as he again ran a hand down the edge of his weapon.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Vigilante. Hero. It seemed all the same to all those in this world. They both went above and against the law in ways. Superman was more of a hero compared to the counterparts and likes of the Bat-family. There were laws they broke all the time. The people they knew and tried to stop, sometimes where lose trying to enforce the laws.

The Outsiders were a prime example of that. And the contacts they held...and associates of the past. Talk about connection. How Bruce came across this one...it was hard to break the ties between Ra's and the Bat-family it seemed.

And now, here stood Nightwing being addressed by his formal name of Richard. Boy, he hadn't heard anyone call him that for a while besides on occasion Alfred.

These arguments presented before him by Ra's left him in quite the spot. What it boiled down to was, he could protect the people and the life of the girl would be lost....or he could protect the girl and their may be lives lost as a result of this.

Situations like this could not be taken lightly and were never an easy situation. His team was only a call away. Even though it seemed they were siding with Luthor on parts, Ra's was a mad man. Trying to rid the world of all people and start again....how crazy could you get.

"You plead your case before me and following with not only a threat on the girl's life, but mine included," Dick spoke up. "Your use of powers makes you better than Luthor in what way? Considering he is the one who created such a weapon."