" Is he dead?" Oh my god I think he's dead!" ( I lived b*tch)

I get up to find a pen to jot down the coordinates, but before making a step, a soft cough stops me in my tracks. A foot or so behind me stands Pennyworth in full view of the bat computer. He makes his way a little closer to me, pulls out a small notebook, and starts to write down the coordinates. I didn't say anything, and neither did he, but we exchanged small glances at one another. Finally, after a few moments of silence, he's the first to give in, " am I correct to suspect master Bruce is not aware of this development?"

Instead of looking at him, I glance again toward the screen, " Father is not aware. Yet… How much did you hear?"

" I had just come down when I heard young master Danyal," he says, his name apprehensively. I nod and say in confirmation, " Yes, Danyal. Danyal Al Ghul." For the mention of the surname, I'm given a reproachful look, " He spoke of your Mother and Grandfather no longer being of the need of an "heir" and "spare." I have my doubts he is considered an Al Ghul anymore." I gracefully sit back down at the bat computer and restart the video. I let the full thing play out before I question Pennyworth, " Do you believe father will take this well? I've kept from him the knowledge of his child?" Of my brother.

He places a reassuring hand on my shoulder, " I believe he'll be upset. Yes, but not with you, young master Damien, at least not for long." He stops himself from continuing before thinking better of it and asking, " what was your intention of keeping the knowledge of young Master Danyal from us." I can do nothing but shrug and say, " I did not wish for Father to grieve. I was under the impression they would never meet. If I had any inkling that Danyal was alive, he would have known; I would have ensured we had done something about this."

" As long as master Bruce is aware of that, things will be fine," he says, giving me a small, sad smile, " but with that being said, I believe there are more pressing matters to attend to."

I internally grimace at the reminder. I'm about to start the next video when I glance over my shoulder, expecting Pennyworth to be there. But, instead, I'm staring at his retreating form that is almost to the elevator. He must have felt my eyes on him because he immediately turned around to say, " I believe we agreed this is a family matter, yes? So there is no better place to start than with breakfast. I believe the others should be there now; no reason to keep them waiting."

I quickly make my way to the elevator and join him for the ride up.

When we get to the dining room, just about everyone is there. With the late patrol, no one was in the mood to go back out.

We are not morning people.

It's hard to be when we typically don't go to bed until early to mid-morning. So finding Father and Drake trying to drown themselves in coffee isn't out of the norm. " Richard drowning yourself in Cereal is Unbecoming." He mumbles into his food, " I wanna be magically delicious," as if that's a proper response. Father doesn't spare his theatrics a glance while Todd goes to assist Pennyworth with the hot food.

Besides Todd, the rest of us have been barred from the kitchen.

We started eating in silence, and throughout the meal, we gained volume. Throughout all of it, I was just waiting for an opportune time to bring up the Danyal situation, but Pennyworth beat me to it. " I believe young master Damian has something he wishes to share with you." I give him a dirty look as all attention shifts to me.

I shift in my seat," There has been something I have been keeping from you." I stare at him, saying, "Father, Mother, did not just hide me from you, but also another. My twin Danyal." Any light that was in his eyes went cold. His grip on his coffee increased, making his knuckles turn white. Richard and Todd take in my words with wide eyes, while Drake is mumbling in horror, " oh god no, theirs two of you," and plants his face in his hands.

" Where is he? Why didn't Talia send him with you? Why wait to tell me?" I sit quietly, my tongue heavy as if lead. " Answer me, Damian!" Father demands coldly. " I didn't know where he was, not until now," I say earnestly.

Drake looks at me, a bit Skeptical, " Why is that? You said you're twins, right? So wouldn't the two of you have been together?"

For once, grateful for his intervention, I answered, "When we were nine, Danyal went on a mission to the United States with Mother. I was not permitted to accompany them. She simply returned. He did not. I had been told he did not make it. Up until this morning, I believed that to be the case."

Father's anger lessened as I spoke, " How did you find out he's alive?" I explain to the communicators, and Todd questions, " Are you sure it's him and not another clone? It's not the first time someone's claimed to be you?" I shake my head, "The communicators only work on a two-way connection, not just as a voice; I could also see him. We're supposed to be identical, but we still have some differences. Nevertheless, I know it's him. I have no doubts."

Richard interjected, "Videos?"

"Yes. I have the SIM card inserted into the back computer. One of them is a message for help; at the end, he gives coordinates for his current location. The other one I have yet to watch. Danyal said during the first video that he recorded some of his and Mothers' interaction which he sent along."

Richard glances around the table before slamming his hands on it and popping out of the seat, " Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna see what Danyal looks like." He stops at the door and yells, " last one to the cave cleans the batmobile," and runs down the hall.

We waste no time and rush there; no one likes to clean bat excrement.

In the end, Pennyworth was the last to arrive, much to his dismay. Father reloads the video and stares at the screen for a couple of moments before pushing play. As Danyals' face shows on the screen, Todd yells out," Damn, demon brat, you weren't wrong about being practically identical, but look at those baby blues!" Richard scoffs, " Wow, I wonder why they're identical!" he lays on with sarcasm, " it's not like they're identical twins or anything." Todd shoves him, " shut up, you dick."

It gets to the point in the video where that whirling sound is heard in the background, and the screen turns to snow when Drake forces Father to stop the Video. " That sound had to of come from a weapon, right?" I nod in agreement, " when he comes back on, he's injured."

Father resumes the video, and it gets almost to the end when he pauses it. He enlarges a portion of his face and points out, " When he came back, this area was scraped." Richard leans in for a closer look, " It's only been a couple of minutes; humans don't heal that fast. Are you sure this is really him, Dami? " I cross my arms, "if you would stop pausing, maybe we could finish the video?" His eyebrows raise at my outburst, but he lets it go and continues.

Once we're finally done watching, Todd picks up Richard's argument, " Demon brat, are you really sure it's him?"

Refusing to entertain his doubts, I say, " it is. He said he had an accident. That it's changed him. Faster healing could be a side effect." All of them but Todd look ready to take my words as fact," what I want to know is why we've never heard of him before?"

" We weren't allowed to. Grandfather ordered us not to speak of him." I say, getting looks full of pity thrown my way. Father looks as if he wishes to say something, but I interject before he can, " >tt< may we watch the other recording now? I need to know what happened." I need to see the truth for myself.

Father switches over the video, and when the thumbnail loads, all we see is darkness. He pushes play:

[The footage loads, it is dark and shaky, and all that can be heard is heavy breathing]

We can hear Danyal huff, "Dam, is this thing on?"

[He takes a sharp turn right and jumps over a guardrail going past a visitor center]

" Mother has gone nuts!" he complains, "Ahki, I don't know when you'll get this, but we're at 36.0583° N, 112.1273° W. Also known as the south rim of Arizona's National State Park, the Grand Canyon."

[Danyal starts to slow down when he comes upon a trail that leads farther into the park.]

"We've had a layover on the bus for our extraction in Los Angeles, California. We were close enough to the park that I asked to see it. I must have bothered her enough to say yes. She's decided to turn the outing into a training exercise, but Ahki," he says, breathing labored, " I've never seen her like this, not to me, not to us."

[ He wanders off the marked path.]

"I've only seen her like this on missions," he whispers, "she's scaring me. I don't know what to do."

[ Danyal runs until he gets near a guarded edge of the canyon and begins to walk. His breath calms, and he continues to travel in silence until the sound of footsteps creeps up on him. He turns around to see Talia rushing at him with a blade drawn and quickly picks up the pace. ]

" There is no reason to run, my love," Talia calls out, " this will only take a moment."

[ Danyal does not stop running.]

" You said this was supposed to be training! But, Mother, this does not feel like it!." Talia lets out a humorless laugh, " An astute observation."

[ Talia picks up the pace and makes a swing at Danyal. He dodges but trips over a root of a juniper tree, letting her close the gap. He turns around to face her and gets a sword shoved towards his face.]

" Why, Mother? What have I done? Why are you acting like this?" he pleads. " You? Nothing, but that is the problem. How could a child descended from Ra's Al Ghul be nothing but a failure?" she sneers. Danyal's voice shakes, " Mother, I've completed every mission–" she cuts him off. " Over twenty percent of your objectives still continue to breathe. That is not a success! You are an Al Ghul, an heir to the league. Your actions are not acceptable."

Danyal blubbered out, " Those people were innocent. They hadn't done anything; how could you expect me to do that? " She scowls, " my expectations for you are the same as your brother. For you to live up to the Al Ghul name."

[ She crouches in front of Danyal and places a hand on his cheek.]

" Which makes it a shame that I'll have to kill you."

[Danyal scoots away from Talia]

" Mother, I can do better. Please?" She shakes her head at him, " after all this time, you should know better. We do not negotiate with our objectives; we take them out."

[ Talia gets up and removes the sword from the front of Danyal.]

" The Demon Head has no need for two heirs. You, my love, have always been weak, so much unlike your brother."

[ Talia grabs Danyal. He tries to pry her hands off him, using one hand to pry at her fingers and another to grab onto the free juniper tree root. The camera only picks up the darkness as he tries to hug the ground. A moment later, a screaming Danyal is heard. When able to see again, the only thing in the frame is his stomped injured hand. He digs his heels into the ground as she drags him to the canyon's edge.]

" Mother, please! I'll do anything! Please, you don't have to do this!" His pleading goes unanswered. " What about Damien? He wouldn't want this–" She cuts him off, " it doesn't matter what your brother wants. He is not the Head of the Demon."

[ Danyal is at the edge, tired from fighting, being held by his shirt]

Danyal stares at his mother as she says, "Goodbye, my love," and pushes him off.

[Danyal and the camera go down, showing nothing but the sky sprinkled with stars. The fall is short. Suddenly, Danyal lets out a grunt and is suspended in the sky.]

" I told Ahki the rope dart was useful," he says wistfully and pulls himself up on the rope. The end of it wedged into the canyon wall keeping him in place.

[ using the rope dart and a knife, Danyal starts to scale down]

" I can't come back to you, Ahki; you're going to have to be strong for the both of us."

[ he's silent for a few minutes as he continues on his way down, more than halfway to the bottom]

" I don't know where to go," he confesses, " Fathers isn't an option. I know we're not supposed to keep tabs on him, but I saw that he lost a robin a while ago. Jason Todd, if I remember correctly. It wouldn't be fair to either of them for me to show up now, especially without you. I–"

[ He's almost to the ground when the rope dart and knife cut through the canyon and send him flying to the ground. The camera shows dust flying around and the sky.]

He stays that way for a few seconds before weakly saying, " I'm good."

[The video goes out of focus until the screen is just a blanket of snow.

End video]