#notbatboy

In all honesty, it wasn't all that surprising to her. Had she kept Damian with her, had she raised him within the League he would've been a much better liar. Unfortunately, he would've also been a target for her father; the last thing she wanted for him. But Damian deserved to know his father, deserved to have him in his life, and it was why she left him with Bruce. She also didn't want him to one day face her to take control of the League. It wasn't the sort of situation any child deserved to deal with and Talia knew Bruce would at least give their son a better life. And now that she was in Gotham she could make an attempt to be in his life, too. If he wanted him. Judging by his reaction to their meeting she got the feeling he'd rather not spend time around her. "It must be your father's influence. He's not a good liar, either."

Casper couldn't believe his luck when he heard it. In safe deposit box C794 at the Kingston branch of the Bank of Gotham, there were numerous corporate bond certificates that had not been reported on the owner's taxes, because they had been acquired illegally. Therefore, if someone were to steal them, the owner wouldn't be able to report them stolen, and they could be collected or resold with minimal oversight.

It was a genius plan. The Cascade and his crew would hold the bank hostage, steal the safe deposit box, and then get out before the police arrived. But of course, he had a backup plan in the event the police arrived sooner than expected. He had dozens of copies of his iconic goggles prepared and handed out to the bystanders at the bank, and planted stink bombs at strategic points. Now that he had full control over the bank's systems, he'd detonate the bombs, stink up the bank, and open the doors.

The police would be confronted by dozens of Cascades, and he and his crew, pretending to also be bystanders, would escape in the panic with the box.

It was going great… and then Robin had shown up. When there's Robin, there's also Batman.

"I can help you get out of here. follow me. are you injured?" As much as Damian usually was standoffish with strangers, his savior complex seemed to kick in when he was in costume and lead to him being a bit softer with those he didn't know. For now, anyway, as long as this person proved to be worthy of it.

“I'm okay,” said Cas, though he was hiding the panic he was feeling. Luckily to Robin, it looked like he was just shaking about being taken hostage. “But there's three others. They're in the vault now.”

Batman. He had forgotten to account for Batman!

Damian getting a full night's sleep was rather rare. So the few times he had the opportunity to indulge in sleep, he found himself waking up periodically, like it was his body's internal clock ticking off at the wrong times. So that's what patrolling practically every night did to a young boy's body - ruin it's circadian rhythm.

The boy went to get a drink of water, Alfred (the cat) having followed after him as she was awoken when Damian was. As he turned the corner towards the bathroom, Damian caught sight of Jason, and the former assassin stopped in his tracks, tilting his head, breaking the silence with an involuntary yawn.

"What are you doing?"

   Somewhere from far above him, Jason scoffed. “I could be asking you the same thing.” Sure, having Jason in the manor was a rare enough sight on its own, especially when he stayed for the night, but no matter how big the place was, it wasn’t that big. Jason had the gall to sound disgruntled about the entire situation in the first place.

It was Damian's dumb decision to come to NYC for some secret mission, leaving him alone in case of a threat. Damian saw no problem in this but one thing lead to another and he was currently hiding from a barrage of attacks from a threat that he had no intel on. Even with his training, taking on this many guys at once in an unfamiliar battleground was gave him a very slim chance of winning. He wasn't alone, though. Another hero was with him, one he had heard plenty about (word does spread- even to the decrypted depths of Gotham). So right now they were both under attack. Grand.

"You got anything you'd like to do, Spider-boy? Or am I supposed to get us out of this?"

Miles heaved out a weary sigh. Why did everyone have to take a dig at the name? Spider-Kid, Spider-Boy, never Spider-Man. It was infuriating! Humiliating! The sheer lack of respect people showed him, just because he wasn't as old as Peter. He didn't bother correcting the other hero, though, deciding he would just purposely mess up his name right back.

     { ⛓ } – DUE DILIGENCE appeared to be taken into consideration – for once. By criminals no less, though ulterior motives were undoubtedly at play, witnessing the rates of vandalism, robbery or pure manslaughter SIGNIFICANTLY DROP. Humanity adorned its shortcomings somewhat like a favourite coat, a fashionable choice in bad taste, but an article of clothing that made heads turn nonetheless. So WHY had the coat been abandoned that day in particular, when lawlessness ran amok the one just prior? Something was wrong; a detective’s intuition that regularly rang true.

It wasn’t the first time. Though experiences often underlined a darker nature, that left Bruce deliberating for what felt HOURS before the batcomputer, but was mere minutes. Hand habitually raised to his concentrated features, thick brows furrowed as he traced multiple signals lining the geography of Gotham on the largest screen. GCPD officers, news outlets, anything that sent and received information concerning the crime rate within the city. A stray thought in the recess of the philanthropist’s conscience even entertained the idea of PASSING on patrol that night, and in return, earned a sincere glower under his focus. No, he’d head out anyway.