1 Mother knows best"- lies

Morning light comes too soon.

Patrol had only ended a few hours previous, leaving the rest of the manor to sleep. The dark clouds and smog of Gotham staining the sky are just starting to break, painting the world in a muted gray. Pennyworth can be heard somewhere on the floors below moving about – when does he sleep – getting ready for the day. Alfred the cat and Titus are nowhere to be seen, so what is that infernal buzzing sound? Better yet, where is it coming from? I search for my phone, expecting that to be the culprit, but it's silent on do not disturb. The only message is a cat picture from hours ago, nothing that would be going off now. So it isn't until I rise from the bed that I get an inkling. I can feel it vibrating under my feet, under the floorboards.

But that shouldn't be possible.

The only things down there are old keepsakes. Weapons, photographs, memories I can't yet part with from the league. Some things unknown to Father, to my gaggle of siblings. I pry off a couple of floorboards and search through my keepsakes. I handle each one with care until I see something I never thought I would see active again.

Something, an item, hid from even Mother.

I inspected it, thinking it could be a trap, a replica made by Grandfather. Maybe Drake found the stash and decided to mess with me, but there's no mistaking it. There is only one other like it. Made from scraps and individualized in a way only an Al Ghul could muster. Painted black with two stylized D's written in a small script. With our own rendition of the league insignia, a symbol for us both, is a two-way communicator, a receiver for each of us, equipped with anything we could need.

A communicator that has been unused for years.

One that is sending out an SOS.

It shouldn't be possible. The only one who would know the right code besides me would be him . And as Todds' show said, " two can keep a secret if one of them is dead." There shouldn't be any question about it; Mother verified his death. Its activation, now, shouldn't be possible; we vowed to take those codes to our graves. He wouldn't let out that information easily.

But it's buzzing; its lights are flashing, asking for help…

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as I set the communicator aside before packing up the rest. I hesitate as my eyes linger on photographs, showing rare smiles, before hastily putting them back in place and laying down the floorboards. Then, picking back up the communicator, I see on a small screen the racing shorthand, " SOS VID," followed by yesterday's date.

When messages go out, they are normally silent, using a small series of vibrations to let us know what's going on, but if the message remains unanswered for more than an hour, it will be followed by a beeping that gets louder as time goes on. This system worked for the two of us. We kept them on us at all times, but now with the communicator no longer in use, this could be an issue. I have to check the message; if it is truly from him, I can only hope that I'm not too late.

No one else can know. There is no point in getting Father, and the rest upset if it's not him. I'm going to have to do this in private. I glance out the window to see a brightening sky and the faint, far-off sound of birds chirping. I make my way out of my room and down to the cave, looking out for the others. It's still too early for breakfast. Nobody should be up this early after a late-night patrol, so I should be theoretically in the clear. Though there is no guarantee.

I make it down unbothered, not even intercepted by Pennyworth, and take a cursory glance at the cave. Nobody is down here yet; no one is in the medbay; the only other thing besides me is the actual bats.

So I start to get to work.

It's been a while since I've had to mess with the communicator, so it takes me a moment to remember where the memory chip is. Though once It's out, it takes no time at all for me to jam it into the bat computer and show the recording.

The screen comes to life, showing my double, my twin, my brother.

It's him; it's really him.

Our features, besides our eyes, are identical. Though looking at him like this, you wouldn't really know. He's sitting crisscross in the frame, dressed casually in a stained NASA sweatshirt and a threadbare pair of jeans. The complete opposite of my khakis and polo. He's lost some color, looking pale as death, with deep circles under his eyes that surpass Drakes'. The clothes are baggy, hiding parts of his appearance, which is a pitiful attempt on his part to conceal his stature. Danyal is thin, his hands on the verge of boney. No new scars on his face are visible, but one seems to be crawling up his neck – how on earth did he get such a thing.

I'll have to tell Mother about this.

When she returned saying that he had died, she didn't give any detail to me, only to Grandfather. Instead, she helped me craft plans to make up for his absence. She showed no weakness in the face of his death, acting as a pillar for the league and me as we mourned the loss of an heir, a brother.

When I push to play, the camera shakes a little until it zooms out to see the background behind him. Hes' on the edge of a roof, right before sunset, and fiddling with the strings of his sweatshirt. He clears his voice sounding a little rough, " Hey Ahki, it's been a while."

He gives a small chuckle before sounding apologetic, saying, " sorry about that; by the way, I didn't want to leave you like that," Danyal pauses before saying in a whisper, "not with Mother, not with Grandfather, and the responsibilities of the league." He knocks his head back and starts to rub his eyes, " I really messed up our plans, didn't I?" Then why, why did he leave? Why would Mother claim him to be dead? " I can't say that I'm really sorry about that, but I hope you know it wasn't my choice to leave."

No, no, I didn't know that.

He huffs, " I don't know what they told you about what happened, but whatever it was, It wasn't the truth. I don't know what you remember of that time or the mission Mother, and I went on, but it was a big one. To give you a rundown, the league had found some indicators of Lazarus pits down in Louisiana, so mother brought me with her when she went to look at it."

He takes a deep breath closing his eyes, " Thankfully, we didn't find any, so that was one crisis averted." When his eyes open, they are filled with an indescribable intensity, and he says in a monotone voice, " We ended up finishing our investigation early and made our way to California for our extraction. We were trying to be inconspicuous, so we used different combinations of public transport to make our way over there. Then once we got into Arizona, we had a long layover." His voice breaks as he continues, " It was my idea, my stupid idea. We were close to the Grand Canyon, and I had always wanted to see it. So I bothered mother enough for her to let me go. Things didn't really go well after that."

He's about to start again when a loud whirling noise comes from the video, startling him. He ducks his head and rushes for the communicator. It stops in a bit of static and then leaves me with a black-and-white snow screen. This only lasts for about 5 Seconds, then jumps forward back to Danyal. When he reappears, he's dressed the same but is outfitted in scorch marks and covered in bruises. But the most worrying of it all is the mixture of blood and Lazarus' green fluid seeming to seep out of some abrasions on his face.

He doesn't mention anything about the whirling or his new set of injuries and continues on. "I don't really want to go into the details of what happened, but basically Mother went," His voice squeaks a bit when he says, " total 'psychotic villain' on me. She and Grandfather decided that we were both old enough to survive to adulthood. So the need for both the Heir and the spare wasn't necessary anymore."

He pauses, seeming to gain his composure, " Well, anyway, that plan of hers failed, obviously. Because of the circumstances, I wasn't able to come back. I wasn't able to tell you. I wasn't sure if you'd still be able to pretend that I was dead if you knew otherwise. I'm not saying anything bad about your acting skills, but I'm pretty sure mother would have noticed if you knew something was up." Tears start to form in his eyes, "I'm so sorry I left you there, Dami. But I couldn't come back. I hope you understand. I don't know the relationship you have with Mother and the league these days, but I've seen that you went to live with Father."

With laughter in his voice, he says, "I have to say Robin's colors look a lot better on you than the League's uniform. Is it nice there? What about our brothers? What are they like?" That sound, that happiness I hear in him, makes my eyes start to water. How long has it been since I've seen him this happy? We must have been little because I barely remember it.

He cuts off my musing as suddenly he starts to get serious. " I know it's been a while, but I will once again have to ask you for help, Ahki. I can't tell you too much about this. I know it's supposed to be a secure line, but there are people here who could easily tap into it, and I don't want to risk it. A lot of things have changed over the past few years. To start off, I was in an accident. It's changed me in ways that I can't really describe, but Dami, at the end of the day, I'm still me. I may not always look like me, but I am still me."

He stops and scratches the back of his head, " Oh, Ancients, does that make sense? That probably doesn't make a lot of sense, um; how about we leave it as is. If I get the chance to see you in person, I'll explain then? Just hold me to it, okay?"

I silently laugh at his antics; even after all these years, he's still the same Danyal. " Anyway, the point is where I'm at is no longer safe," he says, jumping straight back into the serious atmosphere. " At the end of this video will be a series of coordinates matching my town's location. Do you think you could get father to come with you to get me? I would just try to make my way to Gotham, but during my time here in the states, a family took me in. Damian, They're not good people. I can't stay in that house any longer. They don't know it, but I've heard them talking about stuff that the JL needs to be involved in." What could these people be trying to do? Danyal Is capable. He doesn't scare easily. Whatever they're up to has to be big for him to want to reach out.

" I hope to see you soon, Ahki." He starts to Make a move to stop the recording but stops himself at the last moment. "I said earlier that I couldn't go on about what happened, but I know you like to have all the facts. So that night, when Mother tried to 'dispose' of me, I started recording audio and visual on the comms. So when I send this message, I'll send you a recording of that night. If you watch it, I hope it gives you some clarity."

He picks up the communicator to stop the recording, says a quick "Love You," and ends it.

On the screen flashes coordinates to Amity Park, Illinois.