"What do you mean she escaped?"

Ra's Al Ghul's voice thundered as he saw the bloodied mess his fortress was left in, more than half of the assassins positioned there had been cut up fatally. Talia too was looking around in horror, her hands clutching Damian close to herself because seeing all that destruction, she was still shocked that Sayuri hadn't killed the boy.

Damian looked battered up too but he was still alive, one of the very few people who had survived the intense bloodshed that had been wrecked there. Yet Ra's Al Ghul was storming around in anger, unable to understand how she could have broken free from her cell.

His emerald eyes flickered towards Damian in suspicion but the boy kept his features unreadable and his head held high.

He had nothing to be scared of as long as Ra's did not have any proof against him. Besides, he knew his mother would always take a stand for him even if it meant going against her father.

Talia valued Damian a lot, not just as a soldier but also as her only heir. She might not show love in the way other mothers did but she made sure to look after him and keep him safe.

She would certainly not let her father punish Damian for something they had no proof for.

"You helped her escape," Ra's glared down at the boy intimidatingly, waiting for him to confess.

"I did nothing of the sort, Grandfather," Damian replied without any hesitation.

"Then why did she not kill you?" He was still suspicious, "she easily cut through the assassins positioned in the fort. Why did she not do the same to you?"

"Grandfather, I tried my best to stop her," he replied, "I fought alongside our assassins and I am not the only one who survived. Ask Ezar or anyone from the survivors if you still have any doubts."

Talia too had an underlying suspicion that Damian could have helped her. But his condition right then didn't seem like she had intentionally spared him.

He was injured too just not as badly as the rest of the assassins. But perhaps that was because he trained with her and was able to stand his ground better against her compared to the others.

"Father, I don't think Damian will go against our orders," she spoke up at last after much consideration, "Sayuri must have coerced her prison guard into letting her go and then killed him to remove the evidence."

"And the camera footage... Could that have been disabled by a mere prison guard as well?"

Talia did not reply immediately as she looked back at Damian who had no trace of guilt in his eyes. She didn't want to think that her son would let their most dangerous prisoner go but she wasn't fully sure about it.

"Damian," Ra's Al Ghul's hand landed on his shoulder threateningly, emerald eyes piercing through his, "you failed your duty as an Al Ghul to protect our fortress and you also failed the final challenge I had put before you. Therefore, you shall no longer be made the Head of the Demon Fist."

Something sparked in Damian's eyes and he turned to look at his mother but Talia couldn't oppose Ra's right then. So he simply shook his head obediently, "I apologize, Grandfather. But I will not oppose your decision."

"From now onwards, Mara will lead the Demon Fist. And you will stay in training until or unless you truly prove your worth to me," he retrieved his hand and straightened, leaving the courtyard shortly after.

It was evident that he was extremely angry but he had no proof of Damian's rebellion so he couldn't punish him as severely as he wanted to. 

Talia was worried by the turn of events too. They had lost a considerable number of the assassins who served them and with Damian being denied the title of the head of the Demon Fist, Talia's position in the League could be adversely affected too.

On the other hand, her sister Nyssa could have enough power to rise up a faction against her if she continued supporting their niece Mara. The Demon Fist would automatically go to Nyssa's faction as well and it would not be in any way advantageous for Talia.

But right then she had to look after the matter at hand which was her son's questionable loyalty to the Al Ghuls. She didn't want to think he could have helped Sayuri escape but there was no one else who could have helped her either.

"Come, Damian," she ordered him and the boy followed her down to the Lazarus Pit.

The sinister sheen of those green waters lit up the dark cave and there was no one else except the two of them. Before making Damian go to the pit to heal himself, Talia bent down to be at eye level with him, her hands gently resting on his shoulders.

"My son, did you help her escape?"

With his mother's emerald eyes scrutinizingly observing her and her voice softly and trustingly asking that question, Damian did not want to lie.

He took in a deep breath, trying to keep his features as unreadable as he had done so back then with his grandfather. But Talia was his mother, after all, she could see through it.

"Why did you let her go?" She asked again, her voice not accusatory but that lack of accusation in her tone made the guilt increase.

She knew exactly what to say to get him to admit the truth.

"Mother, I did nothing of the sort," he replied stubbornly but his voice wasn't as steady as it had been earlier.

And Talia could see through it.

"You have put me through so much trouble," she sighed, letting go of his shoulders as she stood up, "do you have any idea what this means?"

"I am sorry," he replied and she paused, feeling that he was about to confess. But what he said next wasn't him admitting to helping Sayuri escape. "I apologize for Grandfather putting you in a compromising situation due to me. I try my best not to give any such chance but this just happened."

"So you will lie to me too?" She looked slightly surprised but then paused, just then thinking about another route she could take to rectify everything. "Now I will have to do everything possible to win his trust back both for you and for myself. Or else Nyssa and Mara will take over the League and we won't be able to fight them off."

Damian didn't know whether it meant she had believed that he had no hand in Sayuri's escape or if she had accepted that even if he helped her, there was nothing that could be done about it.

"Go to the pit and heal yourself," she ordered, taking off his bloodied robe as she stood in wait, "then there is a lot of mess we have to clean up."

"Yes Mother," he nodded, stepping into the emerald green waters that swallowed him whole.

It was the third time for him to be using the Lazarus Pit yet he wasn't as dependent on it as his mother and grandfather. He hated the pain he had to experience while the healing waters stitched his wounds together, if it was in his power he would never step into the pit again.

But he clenched his jaw shut tightly, letting the water engulf him. Pain erupted through his body as the wounds began to heal and by the time he came out, there was not a single cut on his body.

Talia was waiting for him and covered him with the robe as he stepped out. She noticed that he was slightly trembling so she draped her arm around his shoulders, leading him up to the fort.

There was certainly a lot of mess that she had to take care of before Nyssa and Mara used Ra's Al Ghul's suspicions to their advantage and obtained his favor.

***