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barefeet-only · 7 days ago

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Shakespeare in the Park Got Nothing on This

Danny felt death in the air. He first felt it when Talia started following him. It was like he wanted to cough but just couldn’t. His ghost sense wasn’t fully activating but he knew someone death touched was near. One of the ghosts in the area gave him a description of who was following him and he knew it was her.

Despite his first instinct being to run, Danny quickly realized that it wasn’t like Talia could hurt him anyway. Being half-ghost had its perks, and his life away from the League of Assassins had taught him some perspective on threat levels. Besides, it had been nearly twenty-two years since he last spoke to her, and he had some things he wanted to say to Talia.

So Danny wandered randomly throughout the city as he thought of all the things he wanted to say to his mother. When he finally felt confident, he walked into a random coffee shop and ordered a drink that would signal to her that he knew about her presence. He couldn’t force Talia to sit with him and talk, but he hoped that she had just enough interest in him to try. As they had their conversation he could tell Talia was on edge the entire time. His presence was making her nervous, and for the life of him Danny could not figure out why.

But when she said the name Damian and the teenager walked into the coffee shop, Danny instantly knew.

“He’s your son isn’t he?”

Talia tensed, her back had been to the door of the cafe so she didn’t see the boy walk in, but she definitely heard the door chime ring. In a moment of weakness that she would normally never allow, she turned away from Danny to look at her son. Their green eyes met and Talia made a reckless decision.

The assassin pulled the knife from Danny’s hand and moved to puncture his larynx. Just as the tip of the blade reached his skin, Signal appeared next to her, forcefully grabbing her arm and slamming her onto the table. The drinks spilled and everyone in the coffee shop took notice of their situation. People quickly either took photos or fled from the scene, the baristas only stopped for a moment before continuing their work.

Spoiler stepped forward to direct the scene.

While Talia was being held down and restrained Danny got a closer look at the boy who had entered. Initially the guess had nothing to do with the teenager, but the closer he looked at ‘Damian’ the more it became clear that this was Talia’s son. The same death-touched aura that surrounded Talia was shared by this boy, likely the Lazarus Pits. Beyond the metaphysical traits, their physical traits were very similar as well. They both shared intense green eyes and warm brown skin, their lithe frames were practically identical and the sharp nose was a dead ringer. Damn, Fenton luck strikes again, Danny thought. The chances of running into his unknown half-brother had to be near impossible, and yet here he was.

Danny looked down at Talia who was seething, not that anyone but him would be able to tell. Danny would always be able to tell if his mother was angry; it was about the only feeling besides hate or indifference he was ever able to associate with her. So, in true Danny fashion, he did something reckless. He leaned down towards Talia’s ear, despite Signal loudly telling him to step back, and began to whisper.

“Good talk Talia, kind of nostalgic the way it ended.”

Danny knew there was no way to keep her away now that she was aware of his presence. But he also knew that he didn’t fear her the same way he did as a child. He no longer worshipped her as the faultless assassin, instead he felt an indifference towards Talia. She wasn’t the woman who raised him, no longer the tormentor of his childhood, just a hateful woman with no bearing on his life. If she wanted to interject herself in his life then Danny had plenty to say to her. And if she tried to hurt anyone he cared about: well let’s just say that there were plenty of ghosts that Danny could call on to hunt her down with.

Danny stood up and looked towards Damian, the teen seemed to be in a fluid flux of emotions. Indignation for the treatment for his mother, condescension at the heroes (likely because he knew that his mother could easily escape the cuffs that were put on her), and a calculating eye towards Danny himself. He was clearly League trained, and was very quickly sizing up Danny’s threat level. Danny wanted to laugh at the idea, but then he saw how viciously Talia was staring at him for even looking at Damian and all he could feel was bitterness. So she can love a child, he thought ruefully. Danny and Damian looked so similar, yet so different that a part of his soul hurt. Danny was pale in comparison to his brother (ever since he died he had never been able to get back to the darkness of his youth) and where Danny’s proportions were a little awkward, Damian had the figure of a supermodel. Whoever the teen’s dad was clearly had some killer looks, the father’s genes were clearly strong in him.

Wait, isn’t that Damian Wayne?

When Duke had seen the vision of Talia attacking their mystery man he had acted quickly. He grabbed Steph and shadow travelled them into the Batty Grind. When they reformed inside Damian entered at the same time. Signal didn’t spare him a glance, he pulled at his powers again to reform next to the table. He caught the blade just before the tip punctured the man’s neck. Quickly, Signal slammed Talia down onto the table (very satisfying by the way) and cuffed her.

Spoiler grabbed the knife that had been dropped on the table in the grapple for Talia.

“No sharp objects for you. Didn’t your dad ever teach you not to point these at people?” She teased.

Signal knew that he couldn’t keep Talia there forever, but Spoiler was quickly directing the scene to get the civilians' attention off of them. This gave him enough time to readjust his grip on the assassin and observe the target more closely.

The man had deep blue eyes and sharp facial features, Duke still couldn’t tell if he was Middle Eastern or White. He reminded Duke of Damian, so he could be mixed. However the most striking feature of this man was that he had no aura. Everyone has an aura, it’s normally just a small flicker of colour that emanated from a person. But this man has nothing, it was almost like Duke wasn’t allowed to see into this man’s soul. The same thing happened when they were in the alley as well, his Ghost Vision hadn’t let him see the potential victim, only Talia attacking. Even now when he tried to use his telescopic vision he couldn’t observe the man before him, he was too smooth, almost into the uncanny valley. Duke’s abilities kept sliding off of him like water off a duck. It was honestly kind of frustrating.

He was so distracted by his powers not working that he overreacted to the man leaning down to whisper in Talia’s ear. Signal held tighter onto Talia after the man stood up. Something about him made the hero tense up and his fear seemed justified as the man stared down Damian.

So Talia fucked Bruce Wayne…Why?

If there was one thing that Danny knew about his mother it was that she never would have a child willingly after he was born. And she clearly seemed to care about Damian, since she didn’t even want Danny to look at him. So Talia obviously had to care about Bruce Wayne to have his child but that brings up the question of why. There had to be something special about him for Talia to have a child with him.

Part of Danny wanted to ask her what about Bruce Wayne made her happy to have his child but his father made her consider filicide. But he knew he would never get the answer, just like Ra’s would never tell him who his father was. They were truly father and daughter in that aspect. So instead of cursing himself to a lifetime of what-ifs, he left.

“Thank you Signal and Spoiler, I would have been a goner if you guys hadn’t stepped in. Guess this will teach me about stranger danger.”

The vigilantes were trying to corner him and get him to give a witness statement or get medical attention for his hand but Danny wasn’t part ghost, and an ex-assassin, for nothing. He evaded them before they could get him in a bad position and gave them a salute on the way out. Danny had less than a week left in Gotham and then he was heading back home to Illinois. This would be the last time Danny would ever see an Al Ghul if he had anything to say about it.

Signal and Spoiler brought Talia to an abandoned warehouse owned by Wayne Enterprises and waited until everyone could converge in suit for a discussion. Talia had tried to escape three times in the hours they had to wait for everyone to get there. Duke’s abilities allowed him to predict what she was going to do but it did not help the stress of the situation. Especially since the assassin seemed determined to escape.

Her tenacity to presumably finish off her target had everyone on edge. Especially since the man in the cafe was nowhere to be found. Oracle hadn’t been able to get a visual on him as the footage from the cafe was too low quality and both Signal and Spoiler’s cameras weren’t able to clearly get his face. They had been forced to use a sketch made by Damian to try and find him. Not ideal but better than nothing.

Duke and Steph had been trying to get Talia to reveal who her target was with no luck. But the roar of the Batmobile let them relax, Bruce and Damian were always better at getting Talia to loosen up than the rest of the brood. Batman stepped out of the vehicle with Robin in tow.

“Signal, Spoiler, any updates?”

“Three escape attempts and no answers on who she was trying to kill.”

“Hmm.”

Batman looked at Talia and approached her.

“Talia, why are you in my city?”

Talia leaned forward and looked up to Batman through her lashes, a seduction technique she had used with him many times before.

She hummed, “Can’t I visit my beloved and child, or am I barred from even that?”

Batman growled.

“Don’t play games with me Talia, who was the man you tried to kill?”

Talia rolled her eyes and sat up straight, knowing she wasn’t going to get out of this. She’s never been so sloppy before and this was the price she was going to have to pay. However she needed to get out of here quickly, the longer she wasted time here the more time she gave to her target to plan.

“He’s an ex-league member. He escaped twenty years ago and now I must complete the task that should have been done when he left.”

“Twenty years ago, that doesn’t make sense,” Spoiler interrupted, “I saw him myself and that guy was barely into his twenties. You telling me a four-year-old waddled his way out of the League of Emos?”

Talia glared at the blonde girl.

“Danyal is in his thirties, though I do not know why he is so youthful. He might have found a Lazarus Pit for himself and harnessed its power. However it is not his physicality that concerns me, he demonstrated a phase shifting ability as I was following him, and the knife I stabbed him with had no blood on it when I pulled it out.”

Batman looked to Spoiler and Signal, Signal showed him the dagger that had been put in an evidence bag as proof. There wasn’t a drop of red on it.

“Beloved, I know you don’t kill but you must let me complete my task. Even if you must assist me in capturing him we have to take Danyal out before he is allowed to act. If not for me, then for our son, Damian cannot be tainted by that man.”

It was not the last time Danny saw an Al Ghul.

Danny didn’t want to know how, but for some reason, Damian Wayne had cornered him while he was on a walk through Gotham Park. Now, Danny was here because it was one of the few places in Gotham that shades didn’t bother him every ten seconds. There was something about an agreed neutrality zone that some spirit told him about in relation to the park. In the end it didn’t really matter, Danny just wanted to sort out his thoughts after seeing Talia and finding out he had a half brother. Frankly, he wasn’t super thrilled about discovering he had more family from his psychotic genetic creators. Maybe the kid was chill but not likely, the League was a stifling place that made a person freeze their heart instead of cope with their feelings. In the end, Danny just didn’t know if he could keep the bitterness of his mother away from the association of Damian.

Frankly the only reason Danny had recognized the boy was because Sam had called him about some article about a gala thrown to raise money against animal testing. She even made a joke about how the goth vegan rich kid tradition did not die with her when she left her teenage years. To which he joked that he wasn’t sure if the kid was goth or just angsty.

Danny had just stood up from the bench he was occupying with the intention of returning to his long term hotel when his brother dropped down before him in full Robin regalia.

Great, more information I didn’t want to learn today.

Once again the taste of death had spoiled the identity of Damian but Danny was going to elect to pretend that he had no clue who the teen before him was. Ignorance was a gift and he certainly wasn’t going to throw it away.

“Danyal, alias Daniel Fenton, here in Gotham to supposedly sell his security device company Spectral Protection to a well-known subsidiary of Lex Corp. A valiant cover, especially with the devotion to stay in Gotham for three months, however all your effort was for nothing when a League of Assassins member spotted you. Whatever your plans are, reveal them to me now and I shall not let you fall into their hands. We both know what they do to traitors.”

Robin’s voice was cold and confident, but his unease with the situation was apparent; his hand rested on the pommel of his katana, ready for any sudden moves. For a moment, Danny was tempted to play dumb, mainly because that actually was the reason he was in Gotham. However, it was clear that his mother had spoken to his brother and told him of who he was. Well, probably not everything; because a) Talia didn’t know anything about Danny and b) she was an Al Ghul through and through, if there was an opportunity to be cryptic and withhold information she would do it.

Danny sighed and resigned himself to the idea that his last week in Gotham was going to be way less peaceful than intended.

“Just call me Danny, I hate my full name being used, gives me the heebie jeebies.”

Robin narrowed his eyes, “You did not answer my question.”

Danny rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m sure Talia gave you some bullshit reason about why you should kill me, or let her kill me. But do you think you could do me a favor and let me go home? I promise I’m not here to take over the world or something stupid like that. I’m just a guy trying to get a sweet paycheck so that I can achieve my lifelong goal of retiring by thirty-five.”

Robin did not move, if anything his glare got more intense.

“I’ll promise to never step back in Gotham again. I can even sign a contract. Lord knows I’ve been signing a lot of those lately.” He mumbled the last part.

Robin still did not move.

“Want me to throw Metropolis in there too? I know the big bat has some kind of homoerotic situationship with the Man of Steel, would that make him happy?”

Danny swore he heard giggling in the distance, but it was hard to tell if it was a ghost or a snooping vigilante. Both were likely options, in fact both might have happened since Danny could see some spirits very badly pretending not to listen in. Damian however, did not seem to find his semi-joke very funny. If anything the shaking seemed to be from anger if anything. His half-brother did not seem to develop a sense of humor in his time outside the League. Damian breathed deeply and released his hold on his katana.

“Do not try to distract me by making light of the situation. What are your plans?” His voice was cold and steely. Effectively cutting to the core of the problem with as few words as possible.

Danny sighed. “Exactly what I told you before, and highly unlikely but do you think you can keep the information you have on me away from Talia? I tried really hard to disappear from the League of Assassins and specifically her influence. It really sucks that a stroke of bad luck is what got us back in touch after all these years.”

Unfortunately that hope died pretty quickly because Talia’s presence was immediately detected by Danny. She had just arrived and was getting into position over by the trees to their left. Danny has spent years perfecting his ghost sense, no longer did he just have a vague awareness of when ghosts were in a general radius. Now he was able to tell their exact position once they were close enough and he was even able to get their intentions by probing into their energy. If only that trick worked on the living, it would make his life so much easier.

Danny shushed Robin, who was ranting about his foolish behaviour, and turned to where Talia was.

“Twice in one day? Really trying to make up for twenty-one years of missed birthdays aren’t you?” Robin, who looked infuriated at being silenced quickly turned to his mother who was taking aim from the tree line. “Do emancipated children qualify for child support checks, or does that only count for genetic donors?”

Three things happened at once. The assassin shot a blow dart out from her hiding spot, Batman dove down from wherever he was hiding to tackle her, and Danny dodged the projectile before making his way to his mother. Robin quickly chased after Danny, making a motion to tackle the man to the ground. He missed. Danny wasn’t sitting on his ass for all his years outside the advanced ninjas club, he knew how to dodge a tackle. Robin landed on the ground but quickly rolled and popped up next to Batman. Who had a slight death aura, but that was to be expected after nearly thirty year of vigilante work. Danny ignored both and squatted before Talia.

“Two failed assassination attempts in one day, getting rusty in your old age.” He teased.

The assassin glared at him.

“You were fortunate enough to find refuge in a city where those who protect do not kill. Had I found you elsewhere, we never would have had a conversation in the first place.”

Danny felt a rueful smile grace his face.

“It’s not like I chose the setting; if it were up to me, we never would have met.” Danny stood up and looked at Robin. “You would have continued with your life thinking I was dead, and I never would have learned you had another son.”

Batman and Robin stiffened at the information, both so identical. Almost like they were father and son. Batman took his eyes off the man in front of him and looked down at Talia.

“You did not inform me that Danyal was your child.”

Danny scoffed. “Of course she wouldn’t, she hated me from the day I was born. I’m not really her child, just the unfortunate thing she was forced to give birth to. But instead of throwing me away like any rational parent would do, she tries to kill me.”

Danny looked up to Batman, who was very stoic despite the information that was being thrown at him.

“Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’ve spent my life trying to escape from the shadow of the League. Please, if you have any sympathy let me go back to my normal life far away from here.”

Well, as normal as a half-ghost’s life is, but he doesn’t need to know that.

Batman stared at him for a long time, thinking deeply. He was seriously considering letting the man before him leave. However he knew it would be fruitless to let him go now, Talia was aware of his presence and his team had given her that information. Batman knew they were being hasty with the knowledge they shared but when Talia said his son was a risk he believed her. Talia never played with Damian’s life, for all her failings as a mother she did love her son. Her hysteria and paranoia had fed his own, and now the consequences of that choice were staring him in the face.

Danyal, or rather Danny as he liked to be called, clearly operated as a civilian. His bangs sat too far down his face to be practical, the piercings in his ears were minimal but identifiable, and his clothes were professional but not fitted. Cheap and not name brand. The “cover story” was looking to be a reality and not a fabrication to get access to the city. It was tempting to believe that the young man before him had actually escaped the life of bloodshed.

Talia scoffed. “You can’t believe his story can you? He’s playing to your weakness, beloved. Your want for the violence of the world to be gone. The desire that a person could change from their upbringing. Danyal may be a blunt sword but he is a sword nonetheless.”

Danny glared at her but it didn’t cover up the raw hurt in his eyes. It would seem parents always knew how to hurt their children no matter how long they are apart. Batman turned to Robin to gauge his son’s reaction. Damian seemed conflicted, while he had long since become disillusioned with his mother there was still the hurt of finding out she had a child before him. That he was once again a shadow for someone else.

Bruce pressed harder on Talia.

Clearly she was worried that Danny would kill Damian. It was a fear Bruce shared as well. The prodigal son versus the one who was forgotten, a story of David and Goliath. Yet Batman wanted to believe in a world where someone who learned the trade of bloodshed, and decided to drop the knife. Someone who had seen the violence of the world and said they did not want to add to it. It was a naive thought, not suited to someone as old and jagged as him, so he looked towards his son.

“Why did you let Danyal go, mother?”

Talia stopped sneering and looked at her son, her gaze softer as she looked at Damian. It was impressive since her stoic features never betrayed her, yet something in her eyes softened looking at him. A flaw that both Bruce and her shared when it came to their son. Her brow arched at the question, the what do you mean was implicit.

Damian steeled himself and met her gaze.

“Never once in my life have I known you to leave a job unfinished. There is no world in which you would have let this man leave unless you wanted it to happen.”

“It’s because she didn’t know.”

Danny spoke up, Batman focused his attention back on the man before him. Danny seemed tense and ashamed, all the bravado he had earlier was quickly draining from his body. The broken boy was slowly being revealed.

“Her attention was drawn away from me. Some new recruit to the League that had impressed Ra’s. I was already quickly losing favor between the two, and when the new guy on the scene seemed like he was a potential successor to the Demon’s Head, I was to be discarded.”

Bruce felt his blood turn to ice. He was the reason that the man before him had to flee from the League of Assassins.

Danny smiled, but it was grim and weak.

“I had already been planning my escape for months, since Talia and Ra’s weren’t around to monitor me. The assassins pushed up my schedule, but I knew that those two were going to try something sooner rather than later. So I ran. They hunted me down and cornered me, left me bleeding out in the middle of a bazaar.” Danny shoved his hands in his coat pockets as a poor way to hide how they were shaking. “I guess they pitied me since they didn’t stay to confirm the kill and a passerby found me and brought me to the local doctor.”

Moments passed as his son took in the new information. Conflicting feelings passed through his eyes and Batman knew that this was one time where he could not help Robin. Damian looked to Talia.

“Would you have done the same to me, mother?”

Bruce felt his heart break. While he might not have approved of Talia’s teachings, he knew she cared about her son. That she was a ruthless instructor, but it was because she believed that was what Damian needed to survive. It didn’t excuse all the horrible acts she had committed towards her son – sons. But it gave context to the woman’s actions. With Damian it was never about hatred, but pride and fear. And now all of her choices were being brought back and presented in a new light, not for the first time Damian was doubting if all he had been put through had been worth it. Bruce longed to take his son away from here, where he could feel the love of one parent who would not give up on him. Unfortunately Batman could not present that weakness for all to see. He had to remain impassive to his son’s struggles else he risked getting distracted.

Talia squirmed below him, getting some leverage to force her torso upwards. She stared at Damian with all the love a murderer like her could muster.

She spoke softly. “No, habibi,” Danny flinched, turned away from his mother like the words burned him, “That never would happen to you, Damian, because you were so talented and because you are my son.”

“I was your son too!” Danny shouted.

Everyone flinched at the outburst. They turned to see the shaking form of Danny, his eyes glowing a familiar green. It seemed like air around him turned to ice as Batman tried to assess the threat before him. He still had a hold on Talia, but it was loosening. If Danny began to fall under the influence of the Pit then he would have to release her. Batman could not let Robin face a raged out ex-assassin alone.

But then the strangest thing happened, Danny calmed down. Like the strings being cut off a marionette puppet, all the tension left his body and Danny’s eyes returned to their ice blue. The man before him took a deep breath and then stepped back. He took one last look at his mother and half-brother before turning around. Danny barely even turned his head to deliver his last words.

“I’m done playing this game, I tried to do this peacefully but I’m only going to say this once. Talia, if you ever try to find me I will kill you in a way that not even your soul will reach the afterlife. Stay the fuck out of my life, enjoy the son you finally wanted and leave me alone. That goes for you two as well.”

And with that Danyal disappeared into the night. Fading far too quickly to be natural yet none of them could do a thing to stop it.

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