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Chapter Text

Talia al Ghul hadn’t known what to think when she was informed that her Beloved’s dead protegee had been found wandering the streets of Gotham with bloody fists and an empty brown gaze, her first reaction had been to assume it to either be an imposter or simply a mistake made by her informants in the city because Jason Todd had been most thoroughly dead for months.

And then he was brought to her, he certainly looked the part of a dead, broken boy and all of the extensive testing that she put him through pointed to the name Jason Todd. Malnourishment and physical trauma had reduced his once notable features to footnotes, the only reason she could tell that he was a mix of European and East Asian was because she had seen the boy before he had degraded in such a way. Talia was forced to accept that somehow, her Beloved’s protegee had either never died or returned from death without access to a Lazurus Pit, it was either a miracle or a curse. Her first instinct was to use the boy in the game she played with her Beloved, he could be a useful tool in manipulating him but the boy couldn’t do much for her in his catatonic state.

Her father was interested in the boy the moment she took him to Nanda Parbat, she was told to care for the boy in the same way she cared for little Damian in the hopes that he would regain his mind. She would have been lying if she didn’t hold a grudge for that, caring for her son in the League of Assassins was no easy task, she was walking on a knife edge trying to keep him safe while still skilled enough not to bring her father’s wrath down on her head. Thankfully Jason was both easy to care for and a great distraction from Damian, his return from the grave intrigued her father enough to draw his attention away from her and her son.

A month or so passed when Jason was first tested, he had remained in his catatonic state and her father’s interest was waning, he had ordered one of the recruits who was undergoing their training to attack Jason. The recruit failed spectacularly to defeat Talia’s ward, even though he was in a coma for all intensive purposes whatever training her Beloved had given him had kicked in once he was struck, his methods were deemed to soft by her father but given that he wasn’t receptive to any form of training the issue was dropped until he had regained enough of his mind to be able to learn.

The process of Jason’s integration into her life was slow, it took nearly half a year for her to see him as anything other than a nuisance or a tool to draw her father’s eye, the only reason that changed was because of what the boy did for her son.

Damian, who was barely five years old was expected to be able to wield a blade, he was expected to kill, that was what it meant to be the child of an al Ghul, not that it dulled the ache in Talia’s chest whenever she saw him in training. Her father had noticed her weakness early on, he nodded his head in understanding because she was by no means his first daughter to sire a child she loved before informing her that Damian’s tutelage would be overseen by him.

She merely grimaced and accepted her father’s words, she did what she could for her son, she cleaned his wounds, she bandaged his bruises and she comforted him when he cried but her hands were tied when it came to his actual training. During that time Jason had taken to wandering the halls of Nanda Parbat, given that he stuck close to the walls and didn’t interrupt any training he was allowed to roam, his dead stare doing more good than harm in aiding the psychological conditioning of the fresh recruits, the words ‘fiend’ and ‘zombie’ passed more than a few lips.

It was one such day where Jason had begun to wander and Damian had training that Jason earned Talia’s recognition. Her son’s current tutor was demanding, she had heard of him from her son's own mouth, he would not accept anything less than perfection from the child and he promised pain for even the slightest of missteps. She was in the middle of assessing the newest stock of recruits when one of the complex’s caretakers interrupted her. “Sayidati Talian, your ward, he…”

“He what? Speak.” She had no time for fools, if Jason had done something to earn her father’s ire he would be punished and then forgiven, as was customary for the League of Assassins when a member angered the Demon Head for the first time.

The attendant gulped down their fear before continuing their report. “He… he attacked your son’s tutor.” That was not what Talia had expected but given Jason’s life in Gotham it wasn’t too far of a reach to conclude that the harming of a child affected even his catatonic self in a way that resulted in aggression.

“Bring me to him.” The caretaker nodded before Talia turned to the assassins she was assessing. “I shall return, continue your exercises.”

The attendant brought her through the halls of her home to where Damian took his lessons, the door had been kicked in, when she entered she took in the scene before her. Damian was huddled in a corner, fresh bruising covered his left eye and he was trying and failing to contain his tears, Jason was standing above the tutor, his face was emotionless but the heavy breaths he was taking were signs of either rage or exertion. The tutor themself had been brutalized, Jason had gone for nonlethal options, likely due to her Beloved’s training but the injuries were anything if not light, with just a cursory glance she could tell that they had multiple fractures in their arms and upper chest along with heavy bruising on their face and a broken nose.

She tended to her son first, there was very little that would lead to her not doing so, she took Damian’s hands and looked over him for any wounds she had missed in her preliminary scanning of his body, other than the normal bruising from training and the black eye that was already swelling there wasn’t anything too noteworthy. “Habibi, are you safe?”

“Mami, the quiet boy interrupted my training!” While Damian’s words may have been sharp Talia could read between the lines, he was saying what he thought should be said while also making his happiness known through his tone and lack of insults, it gave her a strange warm feeling in her chest to know that her son wasn’t accepting the physical abuse her father put him through.

Said quiet boy was still taking heaving breaths and flinching at any movement directed at him, that wouldn’t do, he saved Talia’s son from pain, even if the boy couldn’t understand it he deserved some kind of thanks. She approached him gently, it was the same way she would deal with her father just after he had gone into the Pit, act slowly and make every movement deliberate, leaving no room for negative interpretations. She made her voice calm, while the boy didn’t flinch away from her obvious approach he wasn’t subdued. “Jason, you did it, my son is safe now, thank you.”

She could feel the tension in every fiber of his being as she wrapped him in a loose hug, eventually, the rigidity of his entire frame relaxed somewhat, the boy was still on guard but whatever part of his brain that still function recognized the calming gesture for what it was. The only reason Talia could hear the noise he made was because of her proximity, his voice was scratchy and stunted, like even repeating what she had said in a soft mutter was extremely difficult both mentally and physically. “G… Good?”

“Yes Jason, you did good.” She couldn’t tell if he even understood her words but his brown eyes had softened somewhat. She turned back to her son and tried her best to sound calm because the last thing she wanted to do was leave her son on his own just after getting harmed. “Damian, Habibi, if I go to finish assessing our soldiers will you be able to get to your room and care for your wounds?” He nodded and she hated that she had to leave her son while he was in pain but it was demanded of her by her father, she turned to the broken boy who she had just hugged and spoke even if she didn’t know if he could understand. “Jason, could you please stay by Damian?”

The boy made did nothing to make her think he could understand but when she left he didn’t follow her, when she returned to her quarters Damian and Jason were both there, waiting for her. When she cleaned up Damian’s face she noticed how he looked at Jason and how the broken boy stood by his side, when she washed the blood of Jason’s hands and Damian called him Akhi she couldn’t bring herself to tell him not to. Jason had proved himself and Talia wasn’t able to keep some of the love she reserved for her son to attach itself to the boy, he may not have been hers by blood but that didn’t seem to matter to her heart.

Her father had decided against punishing Jason, both because it would likely not aid in his recovery and if he was able to defeat the tutor they must have not been a good enough instructor. He also had noticed Talia’s new attachment to the boy but didn’t say anything against it, even when he entered her quarters to find her running her fingers through his hair and resting his head on her lap. When she had called him Habibi her father had told her that he would not allow Jason to be named his heir but other than that he allowed her attachment, his interest in Jason had waned though.

It only took a few months for word of Talia’s ward becoming her son to permeate through the League, many challenged Jason in the hope of gaining some recognition from their superiors but none ever succeeded, he took them down as silently as he always was. Talia and Damian to a certain extent had learned to read his body language, to an observer the change in Jason’s posture when around his new family was unnoticeable but Talia knew, she could see the way he released the tension in his shoulders and how he didn’t flinch away from her touch as he did in public. 

It was a year of having the boy in Talia’s life when her father ordered her to bring him to the Pit, she tried to argue against it, even her father was violent and unpredictable when he was returned to life after a death not caused by natural causes, what would happen to Jason? According to her Beloved even before being so utterly failed Jason was more violent than Bruce’s previous protegee, if the Pit returned his mental faculties would those elements be exasperated?

But her worries didn’t matter, her father had chosen to bless her son in all but blood with a second chance, only his most loyal were granted that. This was his blessing to Talia taking Jason as her own, he would only accept his own blood as the heir to the League but he was allowing Jason to be a part of their family, Damian had been ecstatic for both the chance to get to know his brother as a person and that his grandfather was finally accepting him. It hurt but Talia had tried to temper his hope, that Jason might need time to adjust and that the boy’s grandfather still expected much from him even though his brother was older, her son’s naivety to the world was looked down on by her father but she loved that part of him.

Getting Jason to follow her wasn’t very difficult, since she had put Damian to sleep early that day and he followed either her or her son like some kind of duckling, he let her guide him to a seat as they boarded the private jet that was set to arrive at the Swedish Alps, the location of the most stable Lazarus Pit.

During the flight her father sat across from her and Jason after she coaxed him into a chair, the seating was spacious but there was no reason for him to do so unless he wanted to speak with her. “Najlaty, you have questions, ask.”

“I… I must admit Waaldi, I am surprised you permit my weakness in caring for Jason. If it is not presumptuous to ask, is there a reason you have been merciful regarding the boy?” Talia usually had a very good understanding of what was considered insolence by her father but when it came to Jason she wasn’t always sure.

The narrowing of her father’s eyebrows and the subtle pursing of his lips could indicate displeasure but Talia knew that it likely demonstrated curiosity instead. “Tell me, Talia, do you think I enjoy seeing a young man such as Jason failed by the man who sired my grandson? It would be a lie to say that the boy removing himself from his own grave intrigues me but to see someone ruined by the filth I aim to cleanse does nothing but enrages me. Make no mistake, I do not care for him in the same way you do but his circumstances elicit my sympathy.”

That was surprisingly forthright coming from her father but Talia could easily see his reasoning, even she felt some shame in how her Beloved hadn’t rid the world of the clown, the monster that had killed Bruce’s own son was still free to draw breath. “If he takes to the Pit what are your plans for him? I assume your wish for Damian to remain your heir hasn’t changed, will Jason be his guardian?” She wasn’t giving her father the full respect he would command with his footsoldiers but she knew, if there was one thing he truly cared for other than ridding the world of its filth it was family.

“I am currently contemplating several paths for the boy, he will need to be trained but I haven’t yet decided for what purpose. There will be time.” That was acceptable, Jason was much older than Damian, he was already trained by Talia’s Beloved and despite his denial her father respected the man, her newest son would be able to handle himself with almost any trainer thrown at him, he may even end up being instructed by Lady Shiva if his skill while vegetative was any indication.

They flew in silence for the rest of the five-hour flight, Talia didn’t want to be any more disrespectful than she already had and her father seemed content to not speak, soon enough they had arrived at the private airstrip that had been built by the entrance to the cave that held the Lazurus Pit.

The small group of veteran League members that lived to keep the Pit safe knew what to do, a contingency of them approached the jet with weapons drawn and quick steps, they relaxed when Talia’s father stepped out and wasn’t currently in the process of dying. It took Talia a bit longer to coax Jason out of the seat he was in and walk him out of the jet, her father had explained him as an oddity that he wished to question, something that would be impossible without the rejuvenating energy of the Lazarus Pit.

The League of Assassins was in possession of seven Pits all over the world, each of varying quality and value, while the Pit on Infinity Island was the purest it was also the most volatile, the one in the Swedish Alps was the one used mainly for treatment of those who weren’t Ra’s al Ghul. It was unable to return biological functions to a corpse but based on testing done by the League as long as the user maintained a heartbeat the waters of the Pit would return them to a healthy state.

Talia would be the one to walk Jason into the pit, her father had recently used the one off the coast of England due to… health complications and even he didn’t wish to expose himself to the energy of the Lazarus Pit multiple times in a decade if he could help it. Once they had descended to where the Pit proper was held she put her arm around her boy’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Habibi, I need you to trust me, okay?”

Even though he didn’t respond and likely didn’t understand Talia’s voice calmed him somewhat, as their feet began to be covered in the green water of the Pit Talia could feel the Rage trying to claw its way out, even with her physiology being better suited towards accepting the Pit thanks to her father it was still an unnecessary byproduct of the process. When the water was up to her navel she stopped and bent down to lift Jason by the legs. “Habibi, I need to carry you, can you let me do that for you?”

The only sign that Jason reacted to her words was that he relaxed even further. Talia wasn’t the strongest in the League, she much preferred seduction or agility to raw strength but lifting Jason as he was now wasn’t difficult in the slightest, he may have put on some weight with a consistent diet but he was likely suffering from malnourishment in a much longer-term way, he was very small for his age, not to a detrimental effect but it was a very noticeable characteristic.

Jason’s size along with the density of the Lazarus Pit’s waters made it easy to lower the boy into the glowing green liquid. With her father it took mere moments for him to return even from death, for Jason it was taking longer, Talia could feel every second she spend half-submerged in the Pit weighing on her, the Rage begging to be let out, she wouldn’t be surprised if her eyes were glowing the same acidic green of the Pit.

One minute.

She felt something change, there was a bit more weight to Jason’s body and his frame had started to change slightly, it could be that the Pit was reversing some of the malnourishment he had suffered.

Two minutes.

As the changes continued to occur within Jason Talia noticed something else, a bit above where her son’s head had been submerged black hair began to float up to the surface of the Pit. It made some sense, Jason’s time in his grave may have registered somehow in the Pit as damage and it was working to undo the effects of starvation which led to hair growth, that was Talia’s best guess at least.

Three minutes.

Jason’s body was definitely changing, it wasn’t just growth, his pelvis had rotated slightly and there was proportionally more fat on parts of him that hadn’t been places where fat went, this was starting to get worrisome, she had never heard of the Pit physically mutating someone but it wasn’t exactly a science, she’d wait one more minute for Jason to come to consciousness before removing him from the water.

Three minutes and forty-seven seconds.

She felt a jolt, Jason had started to convulse meaning it was time to take him out, the water of the Pit was forming little waves against her, she needed to bring her son out of the Pit, even when her father had been poisoned, shot and drowned after some time spent in Russia it had only taken him a minute total to recover. She would rather keep her son vegetative than lose him and so she pulled him out of the water.

Except that it wasn’t her son that she took from the Lazarus Pit, not for any reason she might have expected, he didn’t fly into a rage or look at her full of fear, Jason was simply not her son because she could not in full confidence call the girl in her arms her son.

She was bigger than Jason had been but not to an unnatural amount, she looked to be around three inches shorter than Talia which was an improvement on Jason being barely five feet tall. Talia would have thought that somehow Jason and the girl had swapped places if not for how much they resembled each other, at least when it came to their facial structure, the girl looked slightly more Asian than Jason had but that could have been due to the rounding of her face otherwise they shared the same nose, the same lips, it could very well be her son’s sister. If this was indeed Jason the girl would have been around sixteen, that fact was supported by the apparent level of development she had, both her chest and hips were within the expected range for a girl Jason’s age if a bit on the larger side, Talia couldn’t help but mentally comment on how useful those assets could be in the future. Truly, the only oddity that was physically present with the girl barring the circumstances was the streak of white in her hair, a common byproduct of the Lazarus Pit.

The girl who just had to be Jason had begun to thrash, she was muttering under her breath phrases that might worry a civilian like ‘please, no’ and ‘why’d you do it?’ but to Talia, all it meant was that brain function might have been restored to her child.

“Najlaty, has there been a complication?” Her father sounded equal parts intrigued and impatient, this was only supposed to take a moment.

Talia turned back to face her father with Jason in her arms. “I must admit Waaldi, I’m unsure what to even call this.”

Even from a distance, she could tell that it was a surprise to him as well, she could hear the harsh breath he took in and she could see the narrowing of his eyes. “Yes, that certainly is unexpected, not unwelcome, however. Come, the Pit has done its work, we are returning to Nanda Parbat, bring the girl.”

It didn’t matter if Jason was a girl or a boy or whatever Jason wanted to be, Talia had claimed Jason as hers, but that wasn’t something up for debate. Her only worry was how in the world she was going to explain this to Damian.

Chapter Text

Everything hurt, usually when people said that it was hyperbole but Jason was pretty sure that literally everything hurt. It was pretty hard to keep his eyes open even for a second and while he was conscious it wasn’t like he could actually understand most of what was happening. He knew there were people around him, someone kept caressing his head and for some reason, he didn’t hate it, weird.

“Everything will be all right habib…ti, everything will be all right.” Jason didn’t know why but that voice, it made him feel safe, like Bruce’s before… before…

Everything came flooding into his mind; Ethiopia, Shelia, the Joker. Green started to creep into the darkness of his vision and emotions began welling up inside of him, he had felt bad before but this was different, it was like everything had been dialed up to eleven to physically hurt him. The anger felt like the crowbar bashing against his skull, the shame felt like knives being twisted in his gut and the fear felt like the warehouse ceiling crushing him.

It felt like he was floating through a pit of acid, feelings other than pain were like fleeting dreams, the only sort of sensation his body could feel was the agony of existing at the moment. There were sparse words that he could hear over the blood rushing in his ear as he drifted deeper into the painful green light. “Najlaty… panicking… her.” He felt like he should know that voice but all he could be sure of was that it wasn’t Bruce, had he given up on Jason? Why wasn’t he the one to be there for him, he was Bruce’s son, that had to count for something.

Reality started to leave him like sand falling through his fingers, he felt himself being hit with the crowbar and beaten by Joker’s men, images of Shelia holding a gun to him and the timer on the bond flashed in his mind's eye. He could taste the dry air and smell the oxidized scent of blood, he could hear the Joker taunting him. He needed to do something, he needed to be somewhere safe, somewhere away from the clown.

The hand running through Jason’s hair had come back with a vengeance, everything still hurt but it did hurt a bit less so he wasn’t completely against it. “Habibti, listen to my voice, relax. You need to overcome the Rage, I know you can do it.”

There was that voice again, it gave Jason the same feeling he got when Bruce stayed with him when he had the flu instead of leaving him to patrol, it made him feel safe and protected. When it said that he could do it he actually believed it and some of the green started to retreat from the center of his vision, the Joker’s voice quieted and more of the pain went away. Then, there was a pinch in his neck and everything went black.

Until it wasn’t.

The first thing that Jason noticed was that there was something heavy on his chest, his first instinct was to think he was being restrained but when he tried to move there wasn’t any resistance. Next, he opened his eyes… he wasn’t in Gotham, that much was clear, not Ethiopia either, at least the parts of Ethiopia he had visited. The room Jason was in had a high ceiling and there giant balconies that overlooked a mountain range, the design was probably Middle Eastern but it was fancy, maybe even fancier than Wayne Manor.

Wait a second, why was there hair in his face, last time he checked it was short? His eyes followed the one white strand of hair that was in the middle of his face down and to the rest of his body.

Huh, he didn’t remember having tits, that was weird. Wait, “What the fuck?!”

Even when yelling that wasn’t the same voice he was used to speaking with, it was higher pitched, softer and a bit scratchy, but at least it wasn’t screechy or anything, that was a good thing, right? Ok, why wasn’t he panicking, he should be a bit more worried by turning into a girl… wait a second, he lifted the sheet over him and then the silk pants and yep, fully turned into a girl. Back to his first point, why wasn’t he panicking, was he drugged, that had to be it, no way he’d be this calm in his right mind.

So, he was a girl, drugged and without any gadgets, he could make this work, probably. “Habibti, are you awake?”

Out of the thousands of possible people to walk in through the door to whatever weird shit Jason had gotten into he was not expecting Talia al Ghul, she didn’t even look angry, the only time she didn’t look angry was when she was talking to Bruce.

It wasn’t Jason’s best moment but the strangled sound that escaped his throat was something that definitely happened, what was he supposed to do in a situation like this, fight? Yeah, that sounded like something Robin could do, as she approached he tried to angle himself to face her and get some kind of bracing so she couldn’t push him down and…

Nope, the moment he tried to twist his chest it felt like someone was stabbing his heart with knives covered in salt and lemon juice, he flinched back and fell back into the bed, all he could was tuck his neck, draw in his limbs and wait for Talia to finish the job or do something, he didn’t really know.

Instead of literally anything Jason expected the assassin lady wrapped him up in a hug and started running her hands through his hair. “Oh, Habibti, you don’t know how happy I am to see you awake.”

While the hug did feel good, which was strange in its own way, the last time he felt this good from a hug was with Catherine, it was really weird for it to be coming from Talia al Ghul. “Listen, lady, I don’t know why you made me a girl but Batman’ll be coming for me, you can’t hide me forever.” He would have expected her to be angry or dismiss him but instead, she just looked sad.

“Jason, you’ve been in my care for a year, I don’t think that Bruce is coming.” What? She was lying, she had to be.

But… Bruce had been talking about making him give up being Robin, did he give up on Jason because he left to help Shelia. He hadn’t really trusted Jason after the incident with Garzonasa, he’d have to have noticed that Jason was gone, wouldn’t he?

He couldn’t trust her, she was an assassin who made him into a girl for some reason. “You’re lying, why would I ever trust you? Batman will come and save me and reverse whatever weird magic you used to make me a girl.”

Talia just sighed but it wasn’t an angry sigh, it was soft and made Jason think of when Willis was budgeting and didn’t have enough money to buy food for all of them so he would go without dinner for a day or two. He didn’t know why but his brain kept on connecting her to his parents, was that whatever drug she had him on?

“Habibti, none of us thought that the Pit would change your body like this, I understand that it is a bit… strange at the moment but I will try to make you as comfortable as possible.” Well, it wasn’t like it was anything too bad, even if he was drugged he didn’t mind having girl bits much, it honestly felt kinda nice- wait, wait, wait, where did that come from?

And what was that first part? The Pit, did she mean the Lazarus Pit that Bruce warned him about. “Y…You put me in that thing, how am I not crazy and killing everyone? Why’d you even do it?”

“You had been vegetative ever since you dug yourself out of your grave, my father ordered for you to be bathed in the Pit in the hopes that it would return some of your mental faculties.” Ignoring the thing about the grave because Jason did not want to think about that it seemed pretty clear what was going on, Ra’s wanted him to be one of his assassins to mess with Bruce, that had to be it. “I’m so happy it worked Habibti.” That was the one weird bit, Talia seemed to actually care about him and it wasn’t like she needed to if that really was their plan. Bruce had said that she liked to seduce her targets, did she have to change it because Jason had a girl’s body now? He was still pretty sure his sexuality wasn’t very different, he just couldn’t figure out the point of her acting all caring.

She hadn’t answered the question about Jason going insane which wasn’t the best but he could accept it well enough, there was a bit of a bigger question he needed to ask first. “But why the hell am I a girl?!”

“Tell me, have you ever been jealous of how the women around you look?” Weird question, Jason probably didn’t feel like that any more than normal, all guys thought that ladies had better clothes and that they were just more aesthetically pleasing, why else would Bruce sleep with so many of them?

But for some reason it made him feel insecure, it was like when he realized he had been staring at Barbra’s costume and even though he wasn’t looking at her breasts or her butt he felt like he was doing something wrong. “I mean, no more than usual I guess?” He tried his best to sound assertive but it was a total failure.

“Habibti, a large majority of men don’t have those feelings at all.” What, that was news to him, didn’t all dudes at least imagine a bit what it would be like to be a girl? “Just, be honest with me, please. Have you ever wanted to be a woman?” Well, shit.

While the Robin part of him wanted to say no and heckle he pushed it down both because he was at Talia’s mercy and for some reason he felt like he could trust her. He tried to figure out what that line of questioning was for, there wasn’t really any other reason for Talia to be helping him this early on, if she wanted to use him she would have waited for him to be sure that Bruce wasn’t coming for him before trying to build a rapport so the only logical explanation was that she cared and Jason should at least try to tell the truth, even if it was humiliating. “I… I guess so.” His face was burning hot from how embarrassing it was, what would Bruce think?

“Now, you can be who you want to be, the Pit changed you because this is what you needed to heal.” She said it so softly, Jason wanted to believe it, he wanted to believe that he could be a ‘her.’ He’d always felt that something was wrong with him, that he wasn’t really who he saw in the mirror but thoughts like that were bad to have in Crime Alley, he had to focus on getting his next meal and then when Bruce took him in there were expectations, too many expectations to bring those thoughts out from the deep corner he locked them in. Bruce wanted another Robin, he wanted someone to replace Dick, if Jason wasn’t who Bruce wanted he would have gotten rid of him, it was safer to just push it down even more, to lock it up and leave it in the dark. But now, now all those feelings were being dragged right into the open, it was like a dam broke and Jason knew, he wasn’t drugged or out of it, that was just how he felt, liking the body he had now was all him. “I don’t care what you choose but I think we both know that this will make you happy.”

Bruce had always told him to focus on what he wanted to achieve and it’d happen. At the moment there was nothing he wanted more than to be her real self, not Robin or Jason Wayne, not even Jason Todd, she didn’t even know who exactly she wanted to be but she wanted it, she wanted it the bad. “I want it, I’ve wanted it for so long.” Her voice was small now, all the false bravado she used to cover up the giant hole of bottled-up emotions was gone and tears had begun to silently fall down her face.

“Then you’ll have it Habibti, no matter what my father or Beloved do you will be the woman you want to be. I will do whatever it takes to keep you and Damian safe.” Talia was back to holding her and wiping away the tears and while the sentiment was very much appreciated it also brought up questions, Bruce had always said that Talia was utterly devoted to Ra’s, why in the world would she put some… girl she just found before her dad.

Jason, a name that the new girl didn’t really enjoy but she didn’t have any other name to go by, was also confused by another thing Talia said, she sniffled before tilting her head. “Who’s Damian?”

Talia’s laugh wasn’t like the cackling the Joker did, it was soft and tittering like she was remembering a comedic memory. “I should have explained this earlier, Damian is my son. While you were vegetative both he and I became quite fond of you, he sees you as a sibling.” What? Wait but then, that would mean Talia was like her mom, not that the idea was necessarily a bad one, she was already leagues above Sheila and she was just as good if not better than Catherine had been with showing affection but still, she was Talia fucking al Ghul. Then there was also the elephant in the room, even though Jason didn’t want to she had to bring it up.

“If you already have a kid then why do you care about me?” Talia looked at her like she was crazy, it was obvious she wanted Jason to elaborate. “I mean, Bruce only took me in because Dick left but when I wasn’t as good as Dick he wanted to get rid of me, I just can’t figure out who I’m replacing for you.”

For the first time, Talia looked upset and Jason couldn’t really figure out why, it was something she had said sure but there wasn’t anything wrong with it. Even on the streets most of the time when people tried to help her it was because she reminded them of someone else, that was just how it works. “Habibti, you aren’t replacing anyone, you are your own person, no matter what anyone says. You are my daughter, you will never be a replacement.” Her tone was harder than how she had been speaking but the care was still there, she cupped Jason’s face and held a stare, it felt… really good, Jason didn’t remember the last time someone had been so physically affectionate to her and mean it, she instinctually trusted Talia, she wanted Talia to be a part of her life.

“Ok, I think I get what you're saying… mom?” She didn’t really get what Talia was saying but the woman didn’t need to know that part, Jason just wanted to make sure she had a mom now. Catherine tried but it was just a truth of life in Crime Alley that it was smart to not get too emotionally invested in anyone, she wasn’t a distant mother but she let her vices control her and the less said about Shelia, the better, she sold Jason out to the Joker to save herself, she might have given birth to Jason but she wasn’t her mother. It was funny in an ironic sense that even after getting beat to death Jason was still trying to find a mother figure, doubly so in that it was the same woman that her father figure had hooked up with multiple times who was currently at the top of the list for maternal connections.

Talia didn’t need words, she just shifted forward and placed a kiss on Jason’s forehead and she fell into the older woman’s embrace. There were too many emotions and while Jason hadn’t really been one for crying around Bruce or the criminals in Crime Alley she felt safe enough to do it with Talia. “Najlaty, I should warn you, my father wishes for you to be trained. It won’t be what you are used to with my Beloved but I promise that even if I am not one of your instructors I will always be there for you.”

It was a bit hard to speak through the tears but eventually, Jason got it. “T-Thanks.” Talia had started to run her hand through Jason’s hair again and she really did love it, when Catherine was sober she’d do stuff like that.

“Now, there is one more thing we need to address before you go back to resting.” Was it weird that Talia almost sounded like Alfred? Yes, absolutely but it was a good kind of weird, like when a tourist gets lost in the seedier parts of Gotham and had an easy-to-steal wallet or purse. “Would you like to continue to go by Jason, it is customary in the League for new recruits to adopt an Arabic name and I couldn’t help but think it could be a chance for you to choose a more feminine name.”

That was… actually a really good question, she didn’t necessarily dislike the name Jason, it just didn’t really work for her, her newfound gender crisis only added on the emotional weight that accompanied being called Jason, Bruce had a habit of only dropping nicknames when he was upset and it did hurt. “Uh, yeah, I think I’d like that… Do you have any ideas, I don’t really know Arabic?” That was another excuse, she could have waited to find a name she liked but if Talia was her mother then being given a name by her would mean a lot, too much for her to be able to explain without likely breaking down.

“Of course Habibti, although you will be learning Arabic very quickly.” Talia cupped her cheek with one hand and moved that one stubborn strand of white hair behind her ear before taking a good look at her. “...What about Khalida?”

Hmm, Khalida, the girl that wasn’t Jason anymore tried saying it a few times, it had a good mouth feeling to it, that was good. It didn’t feel like the names that Bruce sometimes had her take when they were undercover, those were always detached, something that she needed to force herself to stick with to complete the mission, Khalida felt easier than that. There was also the added effect that it felt like going against Bruce, it felt like it was something Bruce couldn’t take away like Robin.

If what Talia had said was true, Bruce hadn’t even realized she wasn’t in her grave still, green light began to tint her vision as she thought back to him. He’d always gotten mad when she ‘went too far’ but he never asked her why she did it, he just judged her, that didn’t seem very fair. From what she had seen he treated Dick better, she was just the bad copy he tried to stuff in a box, which made her angry.

It was like the fuse had been lit, feelings fell like dominos and turned sour as she thought of all the ways that Bruce had failed, if he’d wanted he could have crippled the Joker, the clown deserved it more than any of the rouges but instead he just shipped the bastard off to Arkham, that got her killed. Her breath sped up as the green began to fill more and more of her vision, did Bruce replace her like she replaced Dick? It would have made sense, she was always more of a temporary fix. If how he acted after the incident with Garzonasa, he would have probably shipped her off to a boarding school before picking another orphan off the street if she hadn’t gotten in the way and died. So what if she pushed the bastard, it was a faster death than he deserved but Bruce didn’t understand that, he, Dick and Barbara were all too focused on forcing her to be who they wanted, they wanted Jason Wayne, the plucky replacement for Dick but she wasn’t that, she couldn’t be that and they still tried to force her into a role.

She could vaguely hear Talia trying to speak to her but all of her anger was making blood rush through her ears, only when the older woman grabbed her by the sides and spoke louder did she finally snap out of whatever was happening. “Habibti, I don’t know what triggered the Rage but you need to calm down. The Pit is taking your feelings and burning alongside them, you need to breathe.”

Oh, that would explain the green stuff, it brought up the question of how much of her thoughts were hers and how much was whatever the Lazarus Pits did to her but she could worry about that later. At the moment she needed to do what Talia told her to do, she needed to breathe and calm down, Talia was already taking deep breaths and modeling for her and while it took a while for all of the green light to leave her vision, eventually it did. Parts of the anger were replaced by guilt, not for what she thought about Bruce but for worrying Talia, all the woman had done was ask about a name and she was a hair away from flipping out.

“Im sorry, I just… it got me thinking about Bruce and Robin and I-” She tried to start apologizing, Bruce never demanded apologies but he never trusted her after an incident before she did, it would only make sense for Talia to be similar.

She wasn’t, Talia instead held a finger up to interrupt her. “I understand, I’m honestly surprised that you hadn’t flown into an episode of the Rage the moment you awoke, my father certainly would have.” Ok, so that meant she did a good job but still, apologizing would make things better, that’s how life worked. “You will learn how to control the Pit in due time, once you are out of bed rest you will be trained for months to focus the Rage, it doesn’t concern me at the moment. What does concern me is if I need to continue suggesting names, I want to be able to say my daughter's name, not one given to her by those who didn’t understand her.”

It was surprising to realize that Talia was better than Bruce at being a parent, Bruce cared but he cared more about the mission, there were times when the love he had for his children shined through but for every movie night there were ten nights where they patrolled until early morning. Talia wasn’t like that, even in the short time they had spent together it was obvious, Talia, for all her flaws as a person, cared about her children more than anything, if she thought it was best she would do anything for them.

And so, the answer was obvious. Jason Todd would stay dead and in his place would be Khalida, the daughter of Talia al Ghul. “You don’t need to do that, I love it.”

Chapter Text

Bruce Wayne did not like surprises, he could tolerate them when coming from his sidekicks but that didn’t mean he liked them. It had been a very big surprise when Stephanie returned from her recovery in Africa a few months back and while Bruce was glad that she survived her encounter with Black Mask it still was a surprise. Surprises were emotionally debilitating, it had happened with Barbara, it had happened with Jason and now it had happened with Stephanie, Batman couldn’t afford to be off-kilter, he needed to be what Gotham needed.

The rest of his family could handle the emotional side of their relationships, Bruce could admit that he wasn’t exactly the most available person when it came to feelings and such, it was better to have the others take care of it. When Stephanie had returned Dick and Tim had thrown a party while Bruce patrolled, he would keep the city safe while they bonded, he was thankful that he wasn’t as attached to Stephanie as he likely should have been, he was able to focus on the Mission.

When Stephanie began to argue for her to take up the mantle of Spoiler again Bruce was conflicted, the Mission could always use more soldiers but the irrational side of him argued against it. Stephanie had blundered with Black Mask but Bruce could admit his fault in not communicating the necessary information to her, he was willing to give her a second chance, to see if the pain that she went through had helped her become the crime fighter she needed to be but every time she looked at her face he could swear he saw Jason, she had almost been the second Robin to die, even if it wasn’t logical he didn’t want her in danger.

It was Cassandra who convinced him to allow Spoiler to return to Gotham, all the others relied too heavily on their emotions for their arguments but Cassandra gave him the facts, if she trusted Stephanie to operate in the field then Bruce would withhold judgment for the moment until he had his own evidence. So far her performance in the Bowery had been acceptable, her impulsivity was tempered while on the field and her energy was siphoned into her work, much better than her time as Robin.

He still needed to do cleanup for her stunt with the gangs, Black Mask currently had a chokehold on Gotham’s underbelly and that wasn’t good for anyone. Unlike the assorted gangs that were under the villains of the city Roman Sionis had both the money and the ambition to be a true threat to the people of Gotham, Cobblepot came close but he had recently begun to tone down his villainy, seemingly comfortable to stay in the niche he carved for himself and expanding through more legal means. Bruce had Oracle gathering data on his crimes but the process was slow, Black Mask hid everything to the point where he had deniability from the worst of his actions.

Bruce trusted Oracle to find something to put Sionis down, he had other duties to attend to. He had just finished his mandatory appearance at a Wayne Enterprise charity gala when his phone started to ring, it would have been a normal occurrence if it was ‘Brucie’ Wayne’s phone but it wasn’t, it was Bruce’s private phone, the one reserved for his family or business with the Justice League members that knew his identity, every contact in that phone were listed by name making it a surprise when only a number showed up on the screen.

But that was the problem with surprises, they weren’t something Bruce could ignore, they were an integral part of problem-solving, he couldn’t put the phone back in his pocket, he needed to answer and get whatever information he could get. His operatives were given clearance to share that number while under physical duress, if someone had threatened one of his adopted children to get to him they were to be given that number so Oracle could triangulate their position. As he got into the limo driven by Alfred he held the phone up to his ear and answered, he was quiet, careful not to give the mystery caller any information they might not have already had.

“...Hello my Beloved.” Interestingly, after Bruce ended things with Talia she had been surprisingly silent, even when Ra’s enacted one of his plans to get Bruce to join him she had never been a combatant or an active participant in them. It took Bruce longer than he would care to admit to really understand that Talia’s love for him wasn’t a ruse, that she truly thought of him as her beloved. “There is a… situation.”

A situation, good, while they had an amicable separation Talia was what Dick would call a clingy ex, she had expressed a desire to get back together more than once, the woman who he was talking to wasn’t trying to proposition him, she was giving him information. “What is it, Talia?” Alfred flinched at the name, while he didn’t dislike her he was the one who distrusted her the most in Bruce's inner circle.

“There are two children in the League.” Bruce didn’t enjoy that thought at all, Talia had a skewed perception of age, when she said children she didn’t mean teens, she meant young children were being taught to kill. “I have… convinced my father that undergoing training with you will help their skills grow, I do not wish for them to return to the League under any circumstances.”

That was interesting, Talia had gone against her father before but never in such a capacity, Bruce had to wonder what exactly made her so attached to the children. “You aren’t asking for my permission.” That much was clear.

“They are already on route, this was merely a courtesy. An agent loyal to me will be with them, goodbye Beloved.” Just like that, she hung up, as far as surprises go it could have been worse, the only contingencies he needed was if this was a plot to infiltrate his crime-fighting operations, someone could have captured Talia and used his known habit of making children his operatives to plant their own people in his ranks, there was a simple enough fix.

That didn’t make it any less aggravating, two unknown variables would be living in the same house as him, the best case scenario was two mentally scarred children in need of a strong parental figure which Bruce could not give them, maybe Dick could be their primary caregiver instead. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed before looking at Alfred, his butler was obviously curious. “Master Bruce, might I inquire about the nature of that call?”

“Someone who either works for Talia or a villain who has kidnapped her will be bringing two children to Wayne Manor, when we arrive please prepare two rooms for two guests in the age range of five to nine.” That wasn’t what Alfred was likely expecting but it also wasn’t what Bruce had expected when Talia called him.

That was how Bruce found himself sitting in the reception room with Stephanie and Cassandra. Tim and Dick were in Bludhaven following a case and Barbara would be useless if a physical confrontation broke out, they were all dressed in their civilian clothing but there was a tenseness in the air. Only a few minutes after Alfred joined them in waiting the knocker slammed into the door twice, whoever was meeting them wanted to be dramatic, the doorbell was right there.

It was Bruce who got up to greet them with Cassandra and Stephanie flanking his sides, while Alfred could hold his own it wasn’t smart to have him answer the door to a possible assailant that could beat Talia. Every muscle in his body tensed as he reached for the doorknob, he categorized every advantage he had, his suit was resistant to damage so if a fight broke out his first course of action should be to protect his neck, that was where League assassins were trained to attack.

The door opened to a young woman, under her fitted white suit and red shirt he could tell she was muscular, less lithe than Talia but more powerful, the majority of her black hair was gathered into a ponytail but one strand of white fell over her face. Her tanned complexion and facial structure pointed towards a mixed heritage but Bruce couldn’t be sure until he saw her eyes, she wore rectangular sunglasses even though it was Gotham. Behind the woman were what were likely the two children, one was a boy who held his chin up and was staring at Bruce while the other was a girl who was a bit older and standing behind the woman.

What was a bigger surprise was how Stephanie reacted to seeing the woman, she tensed even further, stiffening to the point where a confrontation had to be coming. Except it didn’t, the woman just smiled and put an arm around each child to pull them forward. “Hello Mr. Wayne, I hope you got Talia’s message.” She had a slight but noticeable Arabic lilt to her voice and she was hiding something behind a mask of civility, Bruce would ask Cassandra later. “May we come in?”

“Please do.” Meeting Talia’s supposed agent helped to alleviate some worries, she moved like Talia, that didn’t happen after a few months of training, it took time. The woman ushered the children in, the boy looked around with poorly disguised wonder but the girl was skittish, she avoided anyone’s gaze. Once they were all seated in the entrance hall Bruce continued. “May I have all your names?”

The boy went to begin but the woman put a hand back on his shoulder and shook her head before turning to the girl. She tried to look Bruce in the eyes but it only lasted for a second before her gaze fell to the floor. “I… I’m Maya.” 

“Full name, Habibti.” The woman's tone was harder than it had been, like a commanding officer.

Instead of flinching Maya moved her eyes back up to look at Bruce, her voice held less of the nervous energy it had but it was still there. “Maya Ducard.”

“What happened to her father?” Bruce had known Morgan, he wouldn’t give up an asset like his daughter to the League of Assassins without a fight.

Maya drew into herself the same way Cassandra once did when they talked about Lady Shiva, she was conflicted. The woman ran her hand through her hair and answered for her. “Morgan Ducard got complacent with a pupil he took on, I doubt he even realized he was poisoned until it took effect.” Maya buried herself into the woman, they trusted her, that much was certain, she was likely some kind of caretaker in the League.

“I suppose I shall go next father.” The room froze, given that information Bruce could easily extrapolate the mother, his relationship with Talia lined up with the timeline and the boy shared their features. It was Alfred who had the most visible reaction, Bruce could only guess the conflict of Talia being the one to bear Bruce’s child and the mere fact that he existed. “My name is Damian al Ghul-Wayne, I will endeavor to be an heir worthy of your name.”

It was rehearsed but not disingenuous, the boy seemingly wished to make Bruce proud, his caretaker however just sighed and shook her head slightly before turning to Bruce. “That brings me to the second piece of information for the day, if I catch wind of you putting them in danger before they are at least fifteen, me and Talia will skin you alive and feed you to the bats you keep in that cave.” Stephanie was ramrod straight and Cassandra was coiling up to launch herself at the woman as she reached up to her face and removed her glasses. “Are we understood?”

Her eyes were neon green, like two miniature Lazarus Pits all to themselves and they were actually glowing, the only time Bruce had seen that was with Ra’s and it meant he was unstable. “Of course, I am nothing like the League.” While physical de-escalation was an option Bruce opted for the communicative form, she wasn’t violent at the moment and he didn’t know what would happen if he initiated a confrontation around the children.

“Hmm, are you sure? I mean, you’ve barely avoided going two to six for dead children under your watch.” He clenched his fists at that reminder, Jason’s death and Stephanie’s near-death were avoidable tragedies, their actions led to their torture by two deranged men. The woman rose from her seat and put her glasses back on before turning to the door. “No matter, I’m sure you’ve rationalized it all, I can see myself out.”

Damian looked upset but he couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to look at Bruce or his caretaker, perhaps he thought that she wasn’t going to be leaving that soon. “Ukhti, are you sure you can’t stay, I know you dislike-”

“Ahki, you will need to learn to live without me around, I love you but to become the man you wish to be you must find your own path.” Well, aside from the implication that Talia had other children it was advice that Bruce could understand to an extent, he himself needed multiple teachers to be where he was today. The woman ran a hand through Damian’s hair before turning to leave once more, as she opened the door she looked over her shoulder. “Stephanie, it was good to see you again. Remember, the offer is always open.”

She slammed the door, the moment the woman left everyone other than the children looked at Stephanie who at least had the decency to look ashamed. “Okay… So, when I was in Africa that lady kinda sorta tried to kill me a few times. She’d just been standing there when I left my tent and then attacked me so I thought at first she was hired by the mob or Black Mask or something to go after me and Doc Leslie cuz, you know, so I fought her off but then the next day she shows up again and it just kinda becomes routine.” Stephanie didn’t seem very worried that a would-be assassin was here in Gotham so there must have been more to the story. “Then, she starts giving me tips so I thought maybe she was trying to recruit me or something for the League and yeah, she’s a part of it but she never even tried to give me a sales pitch, we’d just spend an hour or two sparring or meditating or whatever. After a few months, she was just like ‘you are ready, no more dead robins’ and left after telling me to find her if I needed more training and so I was ready to fight and healthy and stuff so I got Doc Leslie to get me a boat back to the States and came back to Gotham.”

Throughout that entire story, she only managed to breathe twice, it was impressive at a physiological level but Bruce could do without all the superfluous additions. “Was angry, able to hide why but very angry.” Meaning she had trained with Lady Shiva or someone like her, Cassandra’s input was the inverse of Stephanie’s, she gave only the bare minimum and while Barbara had taken it upon herself to teach the girl she hadn’t taken to language very well.

But, she hadn’t become a problem and he had two new children to care for, two assassin children, ground rules needed to be established. “Now, Damian, Maya, I want to make it very clear that this is not the League of Assassins, if someone dies at your hands there will be severe consequences.”

“Y… You mean you won't make us hurt people?” He did not expect Maya to be reduced to tears by his declaration but that was good, she had maintained her morals even while being raised by Morgan.

It was Stephanie who stepped up to be the emotional support, she had wrapped the young girl in a hug. “Of course, the big man might offer to make you Robin eventually but if you don’t want to, you can say no.”

Bruce resented that, every protegee he had taken on had been willing, if Maya didn’t want to fight crime she was free to live as a civilian. “That is ridiculous, I will be the one to take up the mantle next, Uhkti may have implemented that absurd rule but once I am of age I will prove my value as the true heir.” Damian’s pride was close to being smug but Bruce was surprised by how cordial he was being, the League wasn’t very well equipped to teach a child social interaction.

“Can still spar, prove yourself through training.” Cassandra had gotten up and was smiling now, Damian turned to address her, his movements were still stiff and formal but somewhat more relaxed.

He examined Cassandra like she was bacteria in a Petrie dish, whatever he was looking for he seemingly found. “Uhkti has spoken of your skill, I would be honored to train with you.”

“Baby brother!” Cassandra scooped the boy up in the air and while he tried to fight her grip for a moment he eventually gave in.

Damian’s face was somewhat flushed as Cassandra put him down. “I suppose you and Brown are acceptable siblings, I withhold judgment for Grayson and Drake, however.”

Well, that was easier than anticipated, it was likely because in the League women weren’t seen as worthy heirs but Bruce wasn’t going to be upset that his son was willing to be a part of his family. “Alfred, I think the children have already had a long day, could you show them to their rooms please?” Given how Tim imprinted on Dick and Stephanie imprinted on Barabra it would seem the two newest additions to Wayne Manor had found their surrogates in Stephanie and Cassandra, which made things easier.

“Of course. Master Damian, Miss Maya, if you would follow me.” After Alfred took the two of them away Bruce began to contemplate the facts, there was obviously evidence of the League of Assassins trying something, either something in the upper ranks forced Talia to take the children to a safe place or there was a plot in Gotham that required double agents, while the children seemed sincere he couldn’t be sure.

At least when Stephanie decided to open her mouth again it wasn’t just a quip. “Alrighty Cass, looks like the big guy’s doing that thinking thing again, imma see if there are any more waffles in the freezer, wanna come?”

“Eat to many but yes.” The teens left Bruce to his contemplation, the League always wanted to establish themselves in Gotham but why now?

It would have been better when the gangs were at war to swoop in and carve themselves a spot but they didn’t do that, those chose to begin interfering while Black Mask had a chokehold on the city, could it be they wanted to demolish Sionis’s empire? That was a possibility but it wasn’t like the League, they attacked when their enemy was weak, it was their philosophy as assassins to do so. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the woman who trained Stephanie was among the group that arrived in Gotham, if Bruce took the statement ‘no more dead robins’ at face value it would imply some form of care for his protegees, perhaps taking down Black Mask at the height of his power was meant to impress some of Bruce’s operatives and tempt them to join the League… but then why the children, what could their role be? 

He would need to check them for bugs or communication devices, that much was certain. Perhaps he could ask Barabra to set up facial recognition of the mystery woman, he knew full well that the cameras around the manor caught her face and those eyes were distinct and recognizable, once he had found a pattern in her skulking he could draw further conclusions. He could find a way to flush her out into the open eventually, he always did.

It wasn’t very long before someone sent him a message, while ‘Brucie’s’ phone was on vibrate Bruce’s phone gave an audible noise when a notification arrived, when he checked the phone his brow furrowed, this threw his previous line of thought out the window.

Dick: Bruce, have you seen this?????

After that message Dick sent a link to a news article that had just been posted by the Gotham Gazette titled ‘Head Industries Partners With LexCorp to Announce “New Gotham” Nonprofit Organization, What Does This Mean For Gotham?’ While the title held Vicki Vale’s customary dramatic spin, the announcement couldn’t be good.

Skimming the article he read that Talia ‘Head’ had announced the project and then introduced the COO, the exact same woman who had delivered Damian and Maya to his house in the exact same white suit she had been wearing whose name was Khalida ‘Head.’ The project itself didn’t sound too malicious taken out of context, it was focused on affordable housing for lower-income Gothammites, resources for working minors to aquire their GEDs, access to contraceptives for poor women, systems for reporting abuse and crime and everything that made it seem like she truly had the interest of the working class at heart. For an assassin she sounded remarkable well informed about the struggles faced by the poor and the character she was playing was very convincing, it was like a toned-down form of ‘Brucie’ with more of an idealistic and innocent tone that contrasted but didn’t ultimately clash with her muscular form.

To be blunt, it was everything the League would be against, for an assassin to so thoroughly expose their position would be a disgrace if Ra’s got word which only meant there was a deeper plot at play, he would have Barabra investigate this New Gotham program, he wanted to know everything.

Bruce wanted every detail about Khalida al Ghul, she was in his city and she was a threat, no matter if his son called her his sister. Batman didn’t abide threats in his city.