#Justice for Talia Al Ghul

[violet-2084-turkish-warrior]

I deny the rapist Talia Al Ghul and the abusive, neglectful scumbag Batman and choose to pretend they don't exist!

I also refuse to believe that Batman is a dishonorable, scumbag,loser and asshole who is abusive,neglectful and who deserves the worst,nothing and to be miserable all the time like some people paint him to be,just to make Catwoman look superior Mary Sue girlboss icon. The same goes for Talia,as well, they made her a demonic whore who sleeps around and imprisoned her in harmful stereotype (dragon lady) for the sake of it,smh.

[foolnamedjoey]

YJ inspired Jason I stare at you

[puppetmaster13u]

Y'know sometimes I wonder what Ras reaction was to the Justice League. Like he practically offered Bruce the chance to be one of his generals, straight up offered for him to be his heir, and was turned down.

Do you think he's offended. Because oh, so his organization isn't good enough, but that merry band of idiots is?!

[ashoss]

really wanted to draw some women so i made my instagram suggest some

i was gonna do just the black and white like the cass here but then i had to color kori and then i had to colour talia and then the b&w didnt look right with diana,,,, and then i had to go back and colour cass lol

[gothamundernightlight]

Incorrect Batfam Quotes

*Harley trying to cheer up Robin

Harley: Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine.

Harley: You come from a strong line of lunatics!

Damian: *thinking of his family history, from both sides

Damian: That is actually quite reassuring???

[incorrectbatfam]

Have you seen the tiktok going around that's a guy talking to his kids like "The more you sass me, the more I'm gonna flirt with your mother!" That but it's Bruce threatening to leave his comms on deliberately when he's around Selina if the baby bats don't start behaving themselves on patrol.

Bruce: The more you sass me, the more I'm gonna flirt with your parents.

Dick: Jokes on you, I'm an orphan.

Bruce: Alright then.

Bruce: *flirts with Commissioner Gordon*

Bruce: *flirts with Barry*

Bruce: *goes to space*

Bruce: *flirts with Luand'r*

Dick: STOP THOSE ARE MY IN-LAWS!

———————

Cass: *blinks*

Bruce: That's it. I've had it with your attitude.

Bruce: *goes out with Lady Shiva*

———————

Bruce: *walks in with a bouquet of flowers*

Luke: Uh... what's all this for?

Bruce: Remember the other week when you called my prototype strobe light batarang stupid?

Luke: ...Because it is?

Bruce: Well, guess what?

Bruce: *gives the flowers to Lucius*

———————

Jason: And what if I don't? What are you gonna do, let me die again?

Bruce: No.

Bruce: *opens Grindr*

Jason: You wouldn't.

Bruce: Oh yes I would.

Bruce: *slides into Ollie's DMs*

———————

Tim: It's a good thing I never introduced you to Bernard's family.

Bruce: I could always look them up in the phone book.

Tim: What year are you living in?

Bruce: I'm just kidding. I'll be back in an hour. Hold down the fort for me, m'kay buddy?

Tim: Yeah, sure.

[an hour later]

Bruce: *walks in holding hands with Lex Luthor and Max Mercury*

Tim: What the...?

Bruce: I still know your best friends' parents.

Lex: This is what you handcuffed me for?

Bruce: Shush, I'm making a point.

———————

Bruce: We go in on my signal.

Steph: This is my dad we're talking about. I'm not gonna sit around and risk him getting away.

Steph: *swings onto the scene*

Bruce: *follows her*

Steph: Stop right there, Cluemaster—BATMAN WHAT THE FUCK?!?

Bruce: *sweeps Arthur off his feet*

———————

Bruce: *lecturing Damian*

Damian: Tt.

Bruce: One second.

Bruce: *pulls out his phone*

Bruce: Hey Talia, I was wondering if you had dinner plans tonight?....Yes, Damian is misbehaving again.....7:30? Perfect!

———————

Duke: You've never met my friends' or girlfriend's parents and Jokerized people can't consent, so...

Bruce: *turns on the computer*

Bruce: *emails the immortal entity Gnomon*

Bruce: *gets a reply*

Bruce: Alfred, fetch my tux.

———————

The voice in Bruce's head: *says mean things*

Bruce: Oh yeah? Well how do you like THIS?

Bruce: *proposes to Selina*

———————

Holly: *flips him off*

Bruce: *proposes to Selina*

Selina: Again? That's the second time today.

———————

Julia: You're nothing a bloody angst-addled egotistical baby twat!

Bruce: *looks at her*

Bruce: *looks at Alfred*

Bruce: This isn't gonna work.

[zeynyukine3011]

I've seen in multiple fanfics where Damian had to keep his art supplies hidden because Talia thought they were useless and didn't approve him drawing and painting.

Like dude wtf???? Talia is the one who made him have art lessons because she wanted her son to excel at everything including arts, music, strategy, leadership, etc. Like why would she disapprove his art skills that's ridiculous

I think Talia would be very proud of her son drawing beautiful things.

[borntolatetohaveaname]

He has that sadness in his eyes you only see in Eastern European gay porn

[frownyalfred]

i feel like the whole “Ras wanted him as heir to the League of Assasins” part of Bruce’s backstory barely being a footnote half the time or just reduced to “trained overseas” in Bruce’s brain half the time when his history is being recounted to the reader is so funny to me.

Ra’s probably thinks he’s always on Bruce’s and Bruce is sure laying in bed regretting not accepting Ra’s teachings. On the other hand, if Bruce is not thinking about a case and is ever thinking about his years abroad its max “hrm, i should ask alfred to make some mulligatawny soup. that was some good soup”

and like the dad he is, he never considers elaborating outside of “traveled abroad”. if it werent for talia and him dating in front of him, dick wouldve had no idea

not to mention, the JL knows even less. if u told them “batman almost became heir to the league of assassins, an international ecoterrorist organization when he was, like, 20” either the majority straight up would believe u were fucking with them or would just sigh and go “of course he did” (*cough*clark*cough*)

It’s one of those things that’s equally unbelievable and also wholly believable. Oh he was a potential heir to the League of Assassins but turned it down because that wasn’t his style? Sounds like B. He was one of the best fighters they’d ever seen and managed to beat every single person in the LoA except Ra’s? Sounds legit. He had a relationship with Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter and got secretly married and had a kid? Sure, I guess it sounds plausible.

I think Ra’s showing up to chat with the Justice League like some chatty in-law would be hilarious. Just showing off pictures of 20 year old Bruce and wistfully talking about the days when Bruce didn’t immediately throw a batarang the second he saw him.

[raindisaster]

I sincerely do not understand why in most fanfiction with a Red Hood and a Red Robin, the latter is treated like a child.

Red Robin is only two years younger than Jason in the comics. At the same time, everyone seems to forget that Jason’s body has been lying underground for 6 months and for another year due to brain damage, he is literally a walking zombie. During this time, he does not grow mentally, does not gain experience and becomes an mature.

I will never get over the idea that after falling into the Lazarus Pit, he does not remember what happened to him before the pit. It was as if he had just been a 15-year-old teenager who had gone through terrible injuries and death, only to return to a body so different from his.

It is bigger, stronger, taller and so different. He is trying. Trying hard. To accept this new reality, this new self. That’s why it hurts him more when he sees that nothing has changed after his death. For others, years have passed, for him it was like yesterday, which is why it hurts so much to see how quickly he was replaced.

He's just a teenager, scared, angry, sick from everything that happened to him and trying to figure out if it was all worth it?

When he returns to Gotham, he and Tim are the same age, although his body looks older thanks to healing. But no one seems to care, no one treats him the same as with Tim. They treat him like an adult, like a mistake and the greatest failure.

And only Talia sees this wasted weakness in him. How every mother sees her child through all these masks.

[thisiswhereikeepdcthings]

Billy showing up to Nanda Parbat: Hey, I got told to meet my grandmother? What's that about-

Talia, picking Billy up and tucking him under her arm: Perfect, Jason has finally given me a grandson. Do you like swords and tigers?

Billy, about to be Spoiled™ for the next two weeks: Boy, do I!

I can’t resist:

[kazuko-stuff]

Unexpected Conversations

Reader is Bruce Wayne’s daughter

Relationship: mentioned! Established Wayne! Reader x Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne x daughter reader, Damian Wayne x sister reader, Wayne reader talking with Ra Al Ghul

Summary: based on my written prompt on which Wayne reader gets kidnap by League of Assassins but gets a conversation of life with Ra Al Ghul

You didn’t know how you got into this situation. You and Dick were just having a nice night together in your shared apartment only to get attacked by minions of the League of Assassins. Dick managed to get rid of them but only to kidnap you while he fought back. Now you are being taken by Talia, your younger half brother’s biological mother. You stay quiet for the whole time, knowing Talia isn’t someone you should mess with. At least they weren't tied up but you were still intimidated by her presence. Despite being Batman’s daughter, your father was quite an overprotective father and you could only help out at the cave, since he wanted you to have a normal childhood and you knew you weren’t the vigilante type.

“You're quite the quiet type” Talia’s strong voice suddenly spoke up as you were in your thoughts.

“Umm, I… well you did kidnap me all of the sudden and I know you kidnapped me to lure my father and Damian, isn’t that right” you answered the woman in front of you, not knowing what to say.

“ I guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree” she muttered to herself quietly but you pick it up anyway.

“Are you saying that you initially thought I don’t have anything related to my father except my hair color” you said out loud to her.

“Well your stubborn and smart, I have to admit that”

You then wondered if Talia just complimented you in her own way, seeing the similarities with Damian and his mother, as you remember all the times you bonded with him when he was adjusting his time at the manor as well as getting use to doing normal activities kids in his age usually do, including interrupting date nights with Dick. Speaking of Dick, you hope he would survive your father’s wrath and Damian as well.

—————————————————————————————

(Dick’s POV)

“Tell me that again” ordered the Bat as he glared at his former protege while Damian was sharpening his katana while Alfred almost fainted at the shock of the lady being kidnapped. Nightwing, in all things that terrifies himself when it comes to Bruce Wayne or the Batman, it always has to do with him being in a relationship with his daughter. When the first time he told him how he found out, he purposely sent him to secret missions as a test before that meeting to see if he is worthy of protecting his daughter. He remembers how he purposely intimidated her ex-boyfriend in high school and the time when he had to have the “talk”.

However, this is worse. He not only failed to protect his girlfriend but ended up getting kidnapped by one of Batman’s greatest foes, Ra Al Ghul. He knows it’s Bruce getting understandably scared for his daughter’s safety but he also knows that he will receive his wrath for letting her get in danger.

“Grayson” as Damian stands up after finding sharpening his katana. “I expect you are going to face punishment for failing to protect my sister” he glares at him. “ When we have our daily training next time, I won’t hold back”.

Dick knew this was going to happen. Ever since the little bat came to live at the manor, he grew attached to you since she was the only one who welcomed him with open arms despite the circumstances. However overtime, he decided to purposely get in between in his intimate moments with her, much to his chagrin. You often scold him like a child who stole cookies from the jar, whenever he tries to reprimand Damian for spoiling his dates with you.

“Get ready” as Batman suddenly spoke up as Nightwing and Robin looked at him. “ I guess mother is nice enough to let us know where sister is located at” as he looks at the message being sent to them. “Well it’s the knight’s job to save the princess from the villain” as nightwing looked at the coordinates.

“Tt, you as the knight in shining armor,like in those video games and stories in children’s books. Please, you must be joking, maybe the wandering traveler if anything” he bluntly puts in after seeing Dick’s expression of being a knight of saving his princess.

“Hey, it’s not stupid and besides, when we were kids we often played princess, where I was the knight in shining armor, y/n as the princess that needs to be saved from the monster, with Bruce being the dragon.” He snaps at the little bird as Damian was shocked that his own father was interested in this type of activity.

“Well let’s just get going. Who knows what your grandfather and mother are doing to her. She must be scared of being alone” as Dick frets over the failure of not protecting the woman he loves. “Don’t worry, I am sure that Miss y/n would make it out alright, she is stubborn as her father, so I know her strength will help her persevere” as Alfred gets the bat plane ready.

“ I am willing to fight against my mother if she does anything to my sister” as Damian enters the bat plane.

—————————————————————————————

(Reader POV)

As you got to where Talia wants you, you were surprised that instead of a prison, it was a nice room. Knowing you were taken by the League of Assassins, your best bet was that you were taken to a prison, knowing what they were capable of. But why did you get a guest room if anything?

“ I wasn’t expecting this type of hospitality” as you break the silence after seeing the place.

“ Well knowing the possibility of Gotham's princess being kidnapped may be public, the least I could do is not make it not too extreme. Also you aren’t much of a threat, so there’s that” as Talia responds to you.

“Yeah that type of news is not appealing, but you are aware that my father, Damian and Nightwing are coming, right?

“Yes I’m aware, I even sent them the message of your location here” as Talia looks at you.

“You could have even tie me up or sent me to the dungeons just like the other people you have targeted as well as giving them a threat but you didn’t” as you wondered out loud at Talia

“ Well it’s true we wanted to draw Batman and Damian out but Ra Al Ghul did want to talk to you specifically since he wanted to know the other child of your father” as Talia sits in the chair.

“ I am afraid I don’t have much to offer. Other than being the child of the man you called as your “beloved”. I don’t have any martial art skills nor am not trained as a vigilante. If anything I am just the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Former Lady of the house, nothing more, nothing less.” You admit to Talia at wondering what Ra Al Ghul wanted with you.

“I think that is where you are wrong. You managed to question me and my objectives. You are a strong willed person. You accepted my son, despite the circumstances.” As she looks at you “For that, I must thank you” as she gives a small smile.

You look at her gently, knowing that deep down, she truly loves and cares for her son. “ He still cares for you, Miss Talia, even if he has to fight against you” as you offer a smile.

The woman didn’t say anything else as she turned to walk out but unbeknownst to you, a smile graced her face, when she heard those words.

—————————————————————————————

You then waited, getting ready for whatever Ra Al Ghul wanted to talk to you about, as well as waiting for your father, brother and Nightwing to get here.

Then Ra Al Ghul appears in the room you are in. You then stand up straight sitting getting ready for what questions he will ask. He then sits on the chair across from you. You gulped to yourself internally, fearing what could happen but you know it’s better to stay silent since you don't know what plans he has in store.

“ So you're the young Miss y/n Wayne ?” as Ra Al Ghul spoke up. “Yes I am, y/n Wayne ''you answered his question. “ You must Ra’s Al Ghul, also known as the head of the League of Assassins and the Head of the Demon, am I right.”

“Quite a brazen young lady yourself” Ra Al Ghul chuckles as he is amused that you managed to answer his question without hesitation and are aware who you are speaking too without fear showing.

“You must know why you are here” getting back on topic as Ra Al Ghul prepares some tea.

“From what I heard from your daughter, is that you just want to talk to me since you are aware that I am my father’s blood daughter. Which I question, why do you seek me, other than being Batman’s daughter, since I don’t have any skill or power that you probably want” you asked as you see him prepare a cup of tea for you.

“I just simply want to get to know you, the world of Bruce Wayne lives, when Batman isn’t present” as he prepares himself a cup of tea.

“ Well as you know, he is the CEO of Wayne Enterprise in the daytime…” you start off tentatively, not knowing where to start off.

“ I am aware of that, my dear. I mean he does other than mundane business” Ra Al Ghul cuts off.

“ If anything, he's my dad. He does normal things that fathers do with their children. Make sure they live a happy life full of love. Sure there are some times I don’t agree with him as Batman, but as always, I told him, even before going to work, to be safe and take good care of himself.” You answered instantly because you know your dad is a good man and his desire to protect Gotham comes from wanting a bright future for the people who lived in Gotham. Even when you had a bit of a sheltered life, you knew the world has its dangers simply due to the people in it. You understand you can only help your father, brother and Dick at the cave for patrol but at least you are helping them in your own way. While it was because your father is just being overprotective, you knew that that type of lifestyle isn’t meant for you. The only thing that matters to you is your family’s coming home alive and the people they protect.

“What is it like for him as your father?” Ra Al Ghul inquired

“ He does normal things like any father does with their children. Spend time with their children, doing tea parties, reading bedtime stories and tuck you in bed, play princess with him as the dragon while the knight fights him” you mentioned a few things you and your dad did, as you remembered a time when you did his makeup for your princess tea party at age five.

“But my grandson didn’t do this father's children activities, why is that” he questions again after hearing the things you did with your father when you’re young.

“ Well for starters, he was raised in an environment where he couldn’t do those activities. You and Ms.Talia raised him to be the heir of the league of assassins. Instead of him playing, he spent most of the time with his intense training. With that type of environment, he didn’t know how to communicate without force nor interact with other kids in his age group when he was new to the manor. When he was forced to live at the manor, he was upset because he was away from a place he only knew as home. My father had to have a chance to know him and granted, it’s only Batman who is with him most of the time not Bruce Wayne, or that’s what Damian might have thought for the first few months. While I can say, Talia does love and care for Damian, she didn’t give him a room to be vulnerable with his feelings. With the initial hostility between him and my father along with Nightwing, I only saw him as a boy who needed acceptance and to show him what it is like to have what you called a mundane life. That’s why I always plan family time with my father and Damian, so they could have a sense of normalcy of a family.” You explained as you wondered what is wrong with having a regular life.

“ Aren’t Bruce Wayne and Batman the same person, what do you mean him being Batman to my grandson but not Bruce Wayne ” he wonders out loud to you

“ Even if he isn’t we’re his suit, his Batman attitude still comes up when Damian is going against his orders. As Batman, well you already know his temperament so I won’t explain that part. He scolds Damian, because he isn’t doing the rules of the Bat and Damian feels attacked because his feelings are hurt. I know Damian is doing the right thing but in ways my father won’t agree with. After all, my father isn’t good when it comes to communication, so that’s what causes the initial issues” You offer an explanation to the man in front of you, tactfully while looking at the tea cup on the table. You remember when Dick first came to the mansion something similar happened. He ran away from the manor to find Tony Zucco or when he and your father had a huge argument due to a patrol incident that led him to be more independent as a vigilante.

“ But I have one question” as you look at him directly. “Go on”

“ If you are interested in my father and daughter bond, since you seem to wonder why Bruce Wayne or Batman would do this, shouldn’t you be aware of this already? You have a daughter, didn’t you at least spend time with her ?” You questioned as you noticed that Talia’s parenting must be due to how her father raised her as part of the League of Assassins.

You notice he didn’t answer your question. “ I’ll take your silence as a no. Yes, you did cherish her but you didn’t bond with her as much. For all the long life you always had pride in, you didn’t use it to spend time with your loved ones. I know your goal is to build your version of a perfect world, but it only would create more damage. The perfect world doesn’t exist, since we’re only human. Good intentions could also cause huge problems as well. This may be an imperfect world but I know there is still beauty in this world.” As you answered your own question, knowing his goals of his utopia was with good intentions but seeing the consequences was the result of his worldview getting jaded overtime as well as the Lazarus pit side effects.

“But what about the corruption in the world? Due to that, the world has been tainted. Gotham is known for the crime and the corruption in it. How do you still see the world as beautiful” He challenged you.

“I have already acknowledged the world may have its ugly sides but I have people who taught me to never give up and they have always guided me and in turn show me all the beauty of the world. We all have ugly sides we want to hide but it’s better to accept it in order to be a better person. To improve the world, start with yourself, only then changes will happen. It may be small but it’s something” You answered his question.

You suddenly heard swords clattering. You knew your father, Damian and Dick came to get you out of here. “ You always criticized humanity for being a plague for their corruption but you also did the same things for the sake of power and control. What makes you any different from them ?”

Batman, Robin and Nightwing to the room you were in.

“Let her go” demanded Batman as he got ready to throw one of his batarangs. Robin with his katana and Nightiwng with his escrima sticks as they get into a fighting stance.

“ Fine I’ll let her go, after all she gave me a good conversation I hadn’t had for years” he admits as he stands up while you look at the whole situation, thinking a fight would happen.

“ You're letting us go that easy, what did you do to my daughter?” Batman growls at the DemonHead.

“To be honest I just simply chat with her. Quite a smart woman I say so myself” he admits as you go stand up to reunite with your family.

“I let you go off easily since this young lady here isn’t much of a threat” As Ra Al Ghul simply walks into the corridor.

“Sister, what did he do to you?” Damian asks in concern for you.

“To be honest, I don't know. All we did was just talk. He gave me tea although I didn’t drink it.” You admit since you just had a long talk with one of your dad’s greatest foes and managed to be alive as well.

“This isn’t the rescue I was imagining in my head” Nightwing admits while shaking his head.

“It’s alright, I am okay, mentally well and you guys are here. That's all that matters” you said as you pecked Nightwing's lips.

As you return home with your family in the Batplane, you relay the events that happen with your talk with Ra Al Ghul. He is just a human just like you who happens to have powers from the Lazarus Pit. He has his ideology and philosophy based on his experience but it is also flawed simply because just like everyone, he is human. However, some part of you hopes he could realize there is more to life than achieving one’s goal, something you have to remind your father now and then, because life is fleeting. Not only for the future but to be in the moment with your loved ones.

[fanfic-writer-and-rambler]

Bruce meeting his son: Damian. This is my headcanon and a comedic spin on the meet up. I just love the trope of "I have a child?!" Don't worry, Bruce loves his son, it's just a bit of a shock he wasn't rendered impotent from all his excursions as Batman.

Talia: Bruce, this is Damian. Damian, this is Bruce.

Damian holds out his hand for a handshake. Bruce obliges, but is unsure why he was being introduced to the young child.

Damian (confused): Why is he dressed like a bat?

Talia (mock sweetness): It's a thing he does.

Bruce (offended): Okay you don't have to talk about me in front of him. Why are you showing me this child?

Jason behind Bruce covers his mouth, chuckling.

Talia: He's my son.

Dick (instant realization): He's your son? That is your son? Which means... Oh wow. Wow!

Dick laughs, but stops when Bruce stares at him confused. He turns back to Talia and Damian, confused.

Damian (waving): Hello.

Bruce: Hi... And Talia?

Dick Grayson: Oh... Oh you don't get it?

Jason: He doesn't get it. Hahahaha!

Talia: Bruce, I'm going to hold your hand when I say this.

Talia takes Bruce's glove hand. Ra Al Ghul walks over holding up a camera to record the exchange.

Dick and Jason stood by waiting to see how Talia would word her reveal.

Talia: He is my son... And he is your son.

Bruce blinks not responding. He heard what she said but he was not sure what to say himself.

Damian (confused): The guy in a giant bat suit is my father?

Damian taps his chin.

Damian: Not the craziest thing I've had to deal with.

Talia: Bruce, you going to saying something?

Dick: Bruce?

Bruce (gulps): ...

Jason claps while laughing.

Jason: This is great. I am so glad I got to be here today for this.

Bruce (finally speaking): I'm sorry. I hallucinated that you just said the little boy standing in front of me is my son.

Talia (repeating herself): Bruce, he is your son.

Bruce (disbelief): No he's not.

Jason (enjoying this): There's the denial.

Talia (exasperated): Here we go again, yes he is.

Bruce (panicked): No... no he's not. I can't have kids my swimmers are broken.

Damian: Swimmers?

Talia covers Damian's ears.

Talia: They most certainly are not.

Dick: You can have kids?

Jason: I know right!

Bruce: He's not... I'm not... The kid is not my son.

Talia (uncovering Damian's ears): Yes he is! I got a DNA test done! He is your child. I have your blood from a... Not important and he is yours! The baby is yours!

Damian: I'm 9.

Dick (holding back his laughter): Oh God.

Jason walks while clapping again.

Ra Al Ghul (continuing to record the reaction): She unfortunately speaks the truth. I'm disappointed you share DNA with him, but we have the test. He's yours.

Damian: The guy dressed as a bat is my father? I'm sorry to repeat myself, but he's dressed like a bat.

Ra (Regrettably): I know. I know.

Dick: Bruce, say something other than, "No he's not." Or "He's not mine."

Bruce stands stunned and silent. His oldest son walks over to him and waves his hand across the man's face.

Dick: Oh he's actually speechless.

Talia (sighing): To be expected. Jason I'll send you a video of his reaction like we discussed.

Jason: Thank you.

Dick: You knew?!

Jason: For 9 years! Yes!

Dick: Why didn't you say anything?

Jason: I was fucking mad at him and wanted revenge and this... This is the best revenge.

Dick: I'll deal with you in a second. Bruce, are you with us?

Bruce faints, falling backwards. Damian looks down at the man in a batsuit.

Damian: I'm not sure I want him to be my father.

Ra (ending the recording): I agree with you child.

He walks off with the camera.

Ra: I'm going to burn this on to a DVD and keep a copy.

Talia (frustrated): You do that father.

Dick walks over to Damian, stepping over Bruce.

Dick: Um, Bruce is just a bit shocked he actually can have kids without adopting them. He's a good guy though.

Damian lightly kicks his father's leg, but all the man can do is twitch his leg while still unconscious.

Damian: Are you sure about that? Jason told me he was 'not bad' I'm not really seeing that.

Dick glares at Jason. Jason shrugs with a smile. Dick turns back to Damian.

Dick: Yeah, he's an amazing crime fighter and usually can compose himself. I'm Dick, by the way.

Damian: That's your legal name?

Dick (upset, but hiding it): My birth name is Richard Grayson.

Damian: Why do you go by-

Talia and Jason: Don't ask.

Dick groans annoyed then holds out his hand. Damian shakes his hand to show respect, but remains perplexed by his strange new family and that was saying a lot.

Pt 1

[snaileer]

The Messenger is Already Dead - 4

Part 1 &2 Part 3

“Talia fell in love with Bruce Wayne!?” Danny says, whipping around to the man in question.

Everything starts piecing together like the worst Fruitloop themed puzzle ever. Danny had seen his face when Batman had removed his cowl of course, and it’d looked familiar, but that could have been anything, he never thought- Bruce Wayne!? His biological father, a man who hadn’t even known he existed, who Danny had never known, was Bruce Wayne? The richest man in America?

“You didn’t know?” Tim asks and Danny wants to scream.

He doesn’t, because that would be unassassiny-like and he’s not 100% sure it wouldn’t come out as a wail- but the desire is very much there. It feels like half of his life-view is crumbling before him.

“No, I didn’t know,” Danny starts tersely, “Talia never told us who Batman- who our father was, not until we could beat her in a fight. I… never got the chance.” He winces at the last statement, feeling the way the room goes colder at the reminder.

“Tt, clearly you would not have been able to anyways.”

Danny feels his eyes flare in frustration as he looks back to Damian, “I was a better fighter than you were, it’s not like you were finishing her challenge any earlier than I was, Damian.”

“The tutors may have favored you but it was not the tutors who bested you was it?” Damian snarled back.

“Whoa Damian-“

Memories flickered through Danny’s mind.

A fight. A snowy cliff. Red. Pain. Cold. Darkness. Green-

“Danny, you good there?”

Danny jerked his head up, not realizing he’d curled in on himself, “I’m .. fine.”

“You sure? You kind of… flickered,” Nightwing said, motioning vaguely with his hands, “Like a lightbulb.”

Danny cringed, “It’s one of the side effects of being like, this,” he motioned to himself, “I’m not exactly meant to exist on this plane of existence so sometimes I.. don’t? I guess? I don’t know, ghostly stuff is always pretty hard to explain.”

A “Hn.” Is all that comes from Bruce.

Danny practically feels their stares close in on him like walls.

“Whatever! The ghost stuff doesn’t matter!” He says, throwing his hands up and rising slightly off the ground, “What matters is that Talia is after me and is probably coming after Damian, so you need to figure out how to stop her. I didn’t come to talk, I came for protection.”

Danny takes a second, mimicking a breath and collecting himself. He couldn’t blow up like Danny, not when he had to make them see him as Danyal.

An Al-Ghul shows no weakness. An Al-Ghul shows no weakness.

“Tt. There is no reason to continue to refuse to call her Mother.”

Danny feels his eyes flare as turns back to where Damian stands, still scowling. Just like he always was.

“I’ve already told you, Damian,” He says, restraining the urge to yell that Maddie was his mom not Talia, “She was not a mother to me and I will not pretend she was when she is the reason I am being hunted.”

“She raised us,” Damian says with a scowl.

Danny feels old anger spark in him, “She trained us.”

He remembers cold nights and hard floors, cruel orders and harsher whips.

“She made us stronger,” Damian says with stone in his voice. Danny hates it, hates it because it’s exactly what they were always told. ‘It made them stronger’ but that didn’t save him so what did it matter? Damian and him never did anything but fight, they never saw each other except to fight, so much so that the first time Jazz invited him to dinner he’d thought she’d poisoned it and tried to burn down the kitchen.

Danny hates it. He hates it. He hates it. He hates it.

He forces himself to let it go. This isn’t him. Not anymore.

Danny turns away from Damian completely, fists still tightly clenched as he looks Bruce- not his father, never his father- in the eye, “Now that you have proof I am who I say, how do we stop Talia?”

Back to business. Just finish this and you can go home.

Bruce turns back to the console, “First, we need to figure out her goals, and where….”

Danny steels himself as Bruce- as Batman-continues. He could do this.

He could pretend to be a ghost of himself for however long it took.

Pretend that he really had died -stayed dead- that day with Damian.

Pretend that he remembered more about his life in the league than he did.

Pretend he wasn’t an entirely different person now.

Pretend like he still knew who he was.

Pretend like every word from Damian’s mouth didn’t pull him back to a time when he was small, too small, but never weak, and-

Yeah, he could totally absolutely do this.

Definitely.

Danny cringes as the butler tells them all that a meal is ready and everyone starts to move away from the darkness of the cave. With every step into the warmly lit lights of the manor above the cave, Danny feels his hackles rise more.

It feels exposed, making him feel like his lies are muddying just by being there, the warmth of the atmosphere, tones of family, grief, growth, loss, suffocating him as he goes deeper. Knowing that he’s part of that, he’s not going to stay, he’s lying to Damian, he’s hurting him, he’s-

Danny gets one step in the dining room before he sees the family dining table sitting there, an ornate chandelier illuminating the plates laid out at each spot, favorite foods in the middle… and two slightly elder ghosts at the head of the table with love in their eyes as they watch the family sit.

He doesn’t belong here.

Danny takes a staggering step back.

He doesn’t belong here.

Damian notices his retreat, mouth opening to speak-

He doesn’t belong here.

Danny turns tail and vanishes, throwing himself back through the ground with intangibility until he reaches the cave. From there he pauses at the entrance they’d come through, turning back instead of running.

The seconds pause is enough time for someone else to notice him.

“Running already?”

Danny lurches, nearly squeaking as he startles and his visibility flickers. He follows the voice to a figure leaning against a slightly dim doorway on the side. An illuminated locker room sits behind him.

“You’re… Jay, right? The Red Hood?”

The man hums and walks closer, “It’s Jason. You’re the new kid. Talia’s huh?”

Danny wants to shrink in on himself, his muscles tightening as he gets closer, “I’m- yeah.”

Jason scoffs, looking up the stairs like he can see straight to the dining room, “God, B and this fucking family…” He turns a critical eye to Danny without moving his head, “What’s got you fleeing so soon? It didn’t look like you were causing any sort of trouble-“

“I just-“ Danny sighs, rubbing the back of his neck, “I don’t belong here okay? As far as you all know, I’m not even supposed to exist anymore. I doubt you want a dead kid messing up your family, right?”

Something in Jason’s face twitches, his shoulders shifting, “Take it from me, kid… they haven’t even considered that.”

Danny tilts his head, really looking at Jason for the first time, something tickling at the back of his senses.

Jason doesn’t hesitate to meet his eyes.

He looks back through the exit tunnel, turning back a second time, “Tell ‘em I’ll be back okay? Just… not now, alright? But I’ll be back.”

And Jason nods, a silent guarantee.

Danny returns it, finally turning and flying full speed through the tunnels until he meets open air.

It feels slightly sticky compared to the coolness of the cave, but Danny simply looks around to get his bearings before turning into the distance with determination.

He doesn’t stop until he sees the shine of a golden globe pass under him. He enters the hotel straight through the walls of the elevator shaft, dropping his ghost from the second he hits carpeted halls.

And then he pauses…

Which room were they in again?

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to wait long, as one of the doors gets thrown open moments later by the lumbering figure which can only be his dad.

“Ghost!” Dad says as he bends through the doorway, ghost-finder in his hands as he looks around until finally spotting Danny, “Danno! You’re back!”

The incessant droning of the ghost-finder is overshadowed as Danny struggles to breath around his Dad’s hug, “He..y.., Da..d” He wheezes.

He sees Jazz come bursting out of the hotel room next. She gives him a hard look before they’re both swept into Dad’s arms and practically carried back into the room.

His mom is there, tinkering on a tool Danny himself had helped design a few weeks ago.

His dad, of course, goes straight for the fudge in the mini fridge. Danny steals the remote from Jazz and plops himself down on the bed free of machine scraps.

Even as he has to keep Jazz from smothering him with a hotel pillow, Danny smiles. He feels his shoulders loosen for the first time all night.

This. This is where he belongs.

—

The demon brat’s twin was… something. They hadn’t really had the time to start forming real expectations, but most of them didn’t expect.. a ghost.

Tim can see the way Bruce’s eyes linger on the wafts of snowy hair, aching guilt lining his body whenever Danny’s back is turned even just slightly.

It doesn’t go away as they all file up to a late dinner. By Alfred’s order, they all go, pair by pair trickling up to the dining room like the most awkward yellow brick road ever.

Somewhere in the stilted chaos, Jason manages to slip out from the group, probably the first time he’s left the manor without fighting with Bruce in months.

Of course that hardly matters when the moment they step into the dining room, Danny freezes by the door, flickering again.

Tim watches as his eyes jump across them all, the table, the room, the chairs- Danny steps back and-

Vanishes.

Damian is lurching towards the door, “Danyal!”

But it’s empty. All of them had felt his presence leave, even if they hadn’t realized that’s what it was, suddenly the room is a few degrees warmer and just a bit emptier than before.

Tim looks to Bruce.

They don’t know what that was, why Danny left. Was he just scared? Or could something have happened to him? They didn’t know enough about ghosts, and what they did know said they weren’t very strong. Boston Brand couldn’t interact with the physical world without possessing someone- Danny had already said he wasn’t meant to exist on this plane, had he run out of strength?

Dick approaches Damian still brooding in the doorway, setting a hand on his shoulder- Damian throws it off immediately.

“I am fine,” he snaps, “Danyal is a coward.”

Bruce stands, “Damian, don’t say that-“

“Why shouldn’t I!? What does he have to fear!? He ran away like a coward and left me behind!”

Silence settles in the room.

Tim decides to break it, “Any chance you’re not just talking about him not staying for dinner?”

A knife pierces the wall behind him.

“I will end you, Drake.”

“Master Damian! I do not have enough portraits to continue covering holes in the paneling!” Alfred scolds, standing at the doorway.

Damian stops, glaring at them all before turning to Alfred, “I’ll take my dinner in my room please, Pennyworth.” Then he turns on his heel and strides from the room. It is too fast to be anything but fleeing.

Steph slumps into the chair beside Tim, “Boys are weird.”

Tim scowls, “Oi.”

“I stand by my statement.”

Tags:

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Also btw, I’ve added this to my Drabble/oneshot collection on Ao3. It’s under my same Username(snaileer) with work name ‘Things That Could Exist’

Hope you enjoyed!

[kitschysandglass]

I swear to god they're so annoying I wanna squish them.

[gothamundernightlight]

Incorrect Batfam Quotes

*Damian trying out social media

Damian: Is anyone else’s parent not gullible enough to be lured into a cult, but they are nosy enough?

Bruce: Wha– I am not nosy! And I didn’t join a cult!

Damian: Oh really? Where exactly did you meet my mother then?

Bruce: …