NOW,

HE FELL ASLEEP not soon after, slumber finally overtaking him. She sat there for two hours, sketching out every detail of him. When she was finally done, her feet was numb and her hand was cramped. She shook it out, moved over, and pulled up the blanket over Damian.

She stood there like that for a bit, staring down at him.

It was six in the afternoon. Damian might be tired, but knowing him, he wouldn't let himself rest for long. So she made rice for him as well, along with an extra portion of beef sukiyaki. She put his portion into the fridge, scribbling a note that she placed on the table before the sofa.

Food in the fridge. Feel free to take it back to yours if you want.

Beside the note was the sketch she'd done of him. She'd signed her name in the corner. He could do what he wanted with it.

And then she sat quietly at the breakfast bar and finished her own dinner.

She already had two artists down. Three more tomorrow. And a couple more next week. Then she'd have to start looking at how she wanted this to be organised, the more intricate details of how everything would work, most of which she'd need help from some of Bruce's men.

Remiel was stopping by the day after tomorrow. She'd called once, yesterday, and displayed satisfaction with her current living standards. Odile was happy for her.

And then there was her, sitting here, staring at her laptop, trying to plan this entire thing out, trying to make her dreams into a reality, and wondering if this was actually making her happy and filling her life with purpose, or if she was just trying to distract herself from feeling empty.

At least what she was doing was helpful to society.

That was good.

Odile leaned back and pinched her nose, glancing at the clock on the wall. Seven-thirty.

Should she go on patrol tonight? Who was it tonight anyways? It was usually Damian, she knew that, but since he was crashed out in her living room, she assumed someone else would take his place alongside Red Hood.

So she decided to text Jason Todd.

And then, with the answer, Odile made up her mind. Patrol night it was. She'd love to go out tonight with Cassandra Cain.

Oh, they would make such a lovely duo. Jason could tag along, or go off and do his own thing. Either way, he wouldn't be missed.

And he seemed to realise that as well, because he called her a moment later. "If you're coming, I'm swapping with Stephanie. She's supposed to be on tomorrow, but I'm sure she'll be happy to go out with you two."

"What, don't want to go on patrol with us?"

"Fuck no."

"If Stephanie wants to come tonight, absolutely. Her presence would be appreciated over yours." She was teasing him, of course.

"Where's Damian when you need him?"

"Passed out on my sofa, Todd."

"Wait, isn't his penthouse like, right across the corridor?"

"He's decided my sofa is more comfortable."

"Weird as all hell, that kid."

"He's twenty-one."

"Yeah, no, still a kid to me. You're a kid too, you know. You and Cass."

"Thank you, Jason, greatly appreciated. Is my age making you feel old?"

"You are a brat sometimes, Odile Yu Lan."

"Oh, don't use my full name."

"Sure, kid. Yeah, I'll talk to Steph now, I'll come back to you in a bit."

Odile turned, glancing back at Damian, still peacefully asleep on the sofa. And then she felt eleven again, when she'd brought Remiel, Dick and Damian to her house in the forest. Remiel and Dick had taken her grandmother's old cottage, while Damian had camped in her treehouse. Much like this, actually, albeit she hadn't had a sofa so he was on the floor.

They'd chatted until late on those days. She had been so curious about the rest of the world.

Time and time again, people who knew him had expressed surprise at how kindly he treated her. Damian's temperment was known for being volatile, but he always seemed to have a soft spot for her.

That was what made her fall for him in the first place. Even if she knew it had no romantic connotation behind it—they'd been eleven and thirteen respectively, for fuck's sake. No, it was sympathy. He sympathised with her, and was therefore more patient than with most. And after some time had passed, it simply stuck. Damian Wayne would be nice to Odile Yu.

And maybe he was just a bit lonely too, back in those days. Maybe in a way, Odile was to him what he was to her. A form of salvation. A different way forward.

She'd likely have less than an hour before she had to go on patrol. But at the same time, she had just finished dinner. Maybe some light stretching in a bit. She could get changed and onto the streets within ten minutes.

It was then Jason sent a text. Stephanie's up for it.

They'd arrange the rest. Jason could enjoy his evening off. Odile, Cassandra and Stephanie would be in charge of terrorising Gotham's criminal population tonight.

—

FIVE YEARS AGO,

"I RAN THROUGH the names you mentioned." Today, they met in Damian's bedroom, one of the few other places in this base where they'd be left alone. "I found trails for three, but they're fairly cold."

"Cold trails are better than no trail," Odile sighed. Part of her was wondering if she could ever do this. If she could ever find out who was behind that attack, if she could ever locate a single one of the former members.

Had they all been hunted down? But if that was so, why had no one ever come after her? Surely it wouldn't have been impossible to guess her location. Or perhaps they'd thought she was already dead.

Actually, no. She did know why no one ever came after her.

She'd been lying to everyone so long the lies were beginning to blur with the truths in her head.

No, you've just been lying to yourself as well, Odile.

"Fair point." Damian looked thoughtful. "Right. The three trails. The first is for Jiang Yaqing."

Jiang Yaqing. Auntie Jiang. One of the servants in Yu Manor. She'd been in her mid-fifties when the attack had occurred.

"Of all the people," Odile murmured, "I hadn't thought she'd be alive." She must have been in one of the side rooms of the Yu Manor when they'd been attacked. So close to the centre of action.

But then again, Odile had been in the centre of the manor and she'd managed to escape. It had been a chaotic, chaotic night. It wasn't shocking she might have found a way out.

But as much as Auntie Jiang was important to the household itself, she hadn't been privy to the location or the way to the elixir of immortality. She'd be useless in that direction, but she would probably be able to identify the attackers.

"It's been three years since anyone has seen her. She last appeared in Singapore. Caught on camera for a few seconds."

Three years. "Singapore may not be the biggest country in the world, but hunting down one woman among so many people is still near impossible. The others?"

"Lang An."

Odile shook her head. "He was... he was in his late seventies during the attack. There's no way he made it out alive."

"But evidence points to him having survived. Last known location, Shanghai."

"That makes sense." Odile looked hopeful. "He used to tell us about Shanghai. It's where he grew up. Preferred speaking Shanghainese over Mandarin too."

"He was very high rank in the sect."

"He was," Odile agreed. One of the highest ranking members whose surname wasn't Yu. She'd always liked him. And he was just high ranking enough to have had access to the elixir. At least, to the box. He wouldn't be able to open it, not having a drop of Yu blood in him.

"He sounds useful. I'll keep looking into him, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to locate him." He frowned. "I used a bit of Father's resources for this, but he doesn't have all that much information on people within China. The League files are nearly empty on all members of the Eyu Sect."

"Isn't that a little strange?" Odile asked, scratching her neck. "I'd have thought the League would have files on us. They have files on the Yuannan Mountain Sect."

"I agree." Damian's eyes narrowed. He was sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at her sprawled on one of his armchairs. It was a most unladylike position, but Odile couldn't give less of a shit.

Damian had seen her in worse. Still, she'd combed her hair and done it in two plaits when he'd sent an assassin to summon her to his room earlier today. And she'd changed from her silk pyjamas into something more... presentable.

It was silly. But as much as Damian had seen her at her complete rawest, and as much as she knew there was nothing she needed to hide from him, that nothing she did would embarrass herself...

She just wanted to try. And leave a better impression. And maybe impress him a little.

Even though he didn't seem impressed at all. He hadn't even blinked at her plaits. Or stared at her clothes. He'd gone straight to business.

Maybe that was for the better.

Now Odile was embarrassed just thinking about it.

What are you doing?

You cannot seriously be in love with him.

She was fourteen. She didn't even know what love was.

Or do you? Isn't this love?

No. No, it wasn't. It couldn't be. She was far too young for that crap. She needed to get her priorities straight. This was not the time and place, and Damian was not the person for her to act like this with.

But staring at him was scrambling her brain. Which was why her eyes were now glued to the floor, something she disguised as her being deep in thought. Even though she wasn't. She should be thinking about the Lang An and Jiang Yaqing and what she could do about this newfound information, but she couldn't even stop thinking about Damian and his pretty green eyes.

He'd been the first person she'd ever met with green eyes.

She could stare at them for hours and get lost in them and—

Damian cleared his throat. Her head snapped up. And then she blushed. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"It's fine." Damian shook his head. "I get this is probably quite hard for you. But I might as well tell you about the third trail as well. It's the hottest trail, but the member is of relatively low ranking. Nian Ruiwen?"

"Ruiwen?" Nian Ruiwen had been seventeen during the time of the attack. Someone Odile was aware of, but due to their difference in age, they'd been in very different circles. "I know of her. But she was far too young to have known much. And she wasn't even on sect grounds the day of the attack."

"I figured out that much. She was in Shaanxi with her grandfather. But from what I've found, he died around a year ago. Nian Ruiwen hasn't done too good of a job covering up her own trail, but I assume she was never quite in danger, not having been present during the day of the attack."

"Is she still in Shaanxi?"

"No. She's in Guangzhou."

Odile turned to him, a brow raised. "So close?"

"I think we can pay her a visit. But I won't let my hopes up if I were you."

"If I get a single tidbit of information from her that I didn't already know, it would be worth it."

"I'll figure something out," he told her. "I'll track her down. You convince Seraphina we're to be let out of this base. Might take a while."

Odile grimaced. "Should I tell her the truth? Or lie? I can't tell which one is more likely to get us a ticket out."

"You can delicately omit some details," Damian suggested. "She'll know what we're up to either way. But don't tell her where we're going, she'll just send people after us."

"She'll send people after us either way, I think. We'd both be idiots if we genuinely thought she's letting us handle this alone."

Her people might not interfere, but they'd be there. A safety net, Seraphina would consider it. But for Odile and Damian, it was just annoying. They could both handle themselves. Damian had been doing this since he was a toddler. Odile had been doing this since she was nine. They didn't want someone reporting their every move to Seraphina, who'd surely attempt to extract them from any dangerous situation the moment they were in vicinity.

Not that visiting Nian Ruiwen should be a dangerous mission of any sorts.

But Seraphina's mind worked in strange ways sometimes. And she might feel some sort of strange obligation to both Remiel and Bruce to keep Odile and Damian tucked carefully in bubble wrap. Away from any harm.

Damian's eyes narrowed on her face then. "You have eyebags."

She scowled. "Thanks for pointing them out."

"You should get more sleep."

"It has nothing to do with sleep. I'm sleeping fine enough, thank you. It's just... I'm born with them, Damian."

"They didn't use to be this bad. You might have natural eyebags, but a lack of sleep is definitely contributing to it. I know how to differentiate between them, Odile." Of course he did. Was there anything Damian Wayne didn't know?

"Oh, it doesn't matter anyways." Except it did. Because she was beginning to grow to hate them. And Remiel had told her that she was still just a bit too young to start using makeup, and that there was no point. So she just had to go around with her eyebags out all day.

He just stared at her with narrowed eyes, clearly disapproving.

She got up from her chair. "If you have nothing else to say, I'm leaving."

He sighed. "Go talk to Seraphina. I'll deal with the other arrangements."

She did talk to Seraphina later that day, but not before sulking in her room for a long time. Staring at herself in a mirror, pulling and rubbing at her eyebags, probably doing nothing to help them.

She wanted to get rid of them so badly.

Really, Odile? Is this really what you're thinking about right now?

Yes. Yes. It was. Because goddamnit, revenge was important and she wanted to punish whoever had destroyed her sect, but it didn't mean she couldn't have a life along the side as well. It didn't mean she couldn't... like a boy (because that was what it was, wasn't it? She had to stop lying to herself. She had a big fat crush on Damian Wayne), or be sad because she didn't like the way she looked, or anything else. It didn't mitigate any of her smaller problems.

She was still herself. And she still had to continue living. It wasn't right to squander the rest of her life away seeking revenge. What happened after she found her vengeance? Her life couldn't just stop. She'd continue living.

But god, it made her feel so guilty. Like she was betraying the memories of her sect. And all those lives lost.

If Remiel was here, she might go to her about it. Remiel would give some realistic advice, and Odile would argue against it, and then they'd get annoyed at each other and stop talking about it. But it would make Odile feel better.

But now she'd ran away from home. She was in Guilin, and Remiel was probably worrying herself sick wondering where she was, and now Odile just felt worse because why couldn't she have just played by Remiel's rules?

But how long would that have taken you?

And you'd have had to wait until next summer to see Damian again.

Odile felt like she was going absolutely insane.

Eventually, she pulled herself out of the room and found Seraphina, who was observing a batch of new trainees in the central courtyard.

The woman raised a brow. "Odile."

"Sera."

Seraphina nudged her chin towards the training assassins. "Opinions?"

"I'm not a teacher, Sera."

"You don't have to be."

Odile turned back towards them, squinting. After a long moment, she said, "I think you have to split them into two groups. Some of them are clearly more dedicated and motivated than the others."

"I realised." Seraphina sighed. "It gets complicated when it comes to actually separating them, though."

"This is just going to drag down half the group." Odile tilted her head. She'd seen this sort of thing happen with the Yuannan Mountain Sect. There were always a few who were better than the rest.

"I'll figure it out." Seraphina turned to her then. "I'm not stupid enough to think you're here just to chat with me. What do you want?"

"Damian and I have a lead."

"And?"

"We're going to be leaving the base. You told us to inform you of that."

Seraphina's eyes flickered back to the courtyard. Her arms went before her, holding her weight against the railings. She looked troubled. "Where to?"

"Haven't figured it out yet. Damian's figuring out the details."

"How big's the lead?"

"Not that hot. Low-ranking member. But I'm taking anything I can get."

Seraphina let out a soft sigh. "I don't suppose there's any way I'm convincing you to at least take a couple assassins with you."

"I think me and Damian are more than capable of keeping ourselves safe. And you know that Batman monitors Damian's vitals? I assume Remiel does the same for me."

"By the time your vitals indicate anything," Seraphina hissed, "it'll already be too late. At least tell me where you're going. Don't lie to me, girl."

"Not far. And it's a very non-dangerous mission."

"Any mission can become dangerous in the blink of an eye." Seraphina shook her head. "I want your destination, your means of transportation, and for both of you to have a form of contact with the League. With me."

"Seraphina—"

"No room for negotiations. That's the bare minimum. If anything happens to either of you, I'll have Remiel and Batman breathing down my neck. And Talia, if I'm being honest. I'm not risking it."

"I've never met Talia al Ghul before," Odile mused, tilting her head.

Something in Seraphina's expression darkened. "Pray you never do."

"She's Damian's mother?" Odile pointed out.

"And she's my sister. I love her, but I still don't want you to ever meet her."

Clearly, there was some story there she didn't know about. Why would Talia dislike her? She racked her brain for reasons that night, lying in her bed, and finally came up with one.

Damian was uncharacteristically nice to her. She'd been told this over and over again. And from what she'd gleaned, Talia al Ghul had made sure Damian grew up tough. She didn't want her son to be soft. In her eyes, Odile might be weakness.

And weakness was to be exterminated.

Odile gave a little shudder. Her room wasn't cold, but still, she felt a chill down her spine.

No, she'd stay away from Talia al Ghul.

No point messing with her own life like that. And besides, she couldn't think of a reason to ever meet Talia anyways.

But she's Damian's mother.

What if—

There were no what ifs. This silly little crush of hers, it would have to die soon. She would let herself indulge in it for a while, but sooner or later, she would squash it. She would not let it interfere with her mission in any way, shape or form.

And she treasured her friendship with Damian. She was young, but she wasn't stupid. It would ruin everything. He'd never be able to look at her the same way, and she'd be so embarrassed. 

we picking up the pace a little :) how we thinking about this fic so far? are the flashbacks confusing by any means?