#the al ghuls will gladly feast on those that would subdue them

[spacedace]

here be a snippet of my "The al Ghuls are the Addams Family of the DC universe" fic idea that I've been working on here and there for while.

(Context/au info under the cut)

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Six months ago, a young man had appeared practically at Ra’s doorstep while he’d been doing his usual check in on the Amazon Reserve he and his family maintained in Brazil. No more than a boy a handful of years older than Talia, the child had somehow not only discovered that Ra’s family owned and protected the vast acreage of rain forest, but that Ra’s himself would be there at that time.

The boy - Bruce Wayne, he’d introduced himself as, bowed low and respectful in deference to Ra’s position as head of the family - carried no weapons with him. He barely carried any supplies, despite the fact that no vehicles had carried him up to the village that housed Ra’s and his extended family. Unless something had massively been overlooked, young Bruce Wayne would have had to hike the thirty or so kilometers from the nearest true town to even get there. Even further if he’d come from a different direction.

Ercilia, who was in charge of the village and overseeing the reserve while Ra’s was away attending to other business, was understandably furious at the breech of thier security. That a scrawny boy with holes in his shoes and a patchy, unimpressive collection of beard scruff on his unshaven face was able to not only get to the village but slip past herself and all those she trained. His dear niece was howling for blood, ready to carve into Wayne’s sunburned hide until the boy was howling too.

In a different situation, Ra’s would be just as ruthless in his desire for retribution and answers. Such a breech posed an incredible threat to the reserve and his many family members that had volunteered to guard it. Nou had nearly come to the reserve in his stead so he had more time to check in on the cloning lab in Sweden that had just begun working on the Tasmanian Tiger samples they’d gotten ahold of.

If it had been an assassin instead of the scrawny boy before them now, had it been his pacifistic wife instead of him…

Ercilia and the other members of the family stationed there had some Lazarus Water on hand for dire situations. And Noukou’s vow to not rise a hand in violence did not mean she would simply permit herself to be slain like a sacrificial beast. She was just as fierce and strong as Esfir, and while she did not know how to fight she was daringly clever and unimaginably quick and would have made for a poor prey to those with vicious intentions.

These were not guarantees though. Poison could kill as easily as a blade. A person asleep could not outfox a murderer. Nou, could have very well died that night before anyone even knew there was an intruder.

And yet.

It was just a boy. Wet around the ears. Shadows in his eyes. Weary and broken.

Ra’s found no fury or rage in his heart, only faint amusement, overwhelming pity and a sharp bite of interest.

“What has brought you here, young Bruce Wayne?” He asked, watching the boy’s face carefully. Searching for the haze of mind control. The glimmer of deception. The cutting edge of murderous intent. “Surely you must have known my reputation. Did you come all this way just looking for your death?”

The boy’s face lined with grief and determination. “No.” He said, simply. “I came to speak to you.”

That Ra’s already knew. Wayne had said as much when he appeared at the doorstep of the small domicile Ra’s was staying in while visiting. Hands clear and in view, body and face open and easy to read, movements slow as he dipped in a low, respectful bow. He’d spoken clearly as he’d given his name and the reason he was knocking at Ra’s door. Why he had wandered so very far away from his home back in Gotham.

“So you said.” Ra’s demurred, one brow arching. He motioned with one hand, indicating with a small movement the situation they were now in. “I suppose we will see if that is all you are after then. You have me as your audience, young man. Though I fear your time to state your case is rather limited. My dear niece is not one for surprises at the best of times, and your sudden appearance is not so welcomed as those best of times.”

Ercilia scowled as he indicated her. Her fingers twitching threateningly at the firearm holstered at her side, not even blinking as she glared a hole in the boy’s face. “I’m more than happy to get answers out of him, Tio.” Her words as bitingly sharp as Esfir’s ancient, beloved sword.

She wouldn’t be, Ra’s knew. Not really. Ercilia, while well blessed with the terrifying ferocity that was a hallmark of the women of the al Ghul family, was not a violent person by nature. At heart, she was a deeply kind, devoted protector. Loving and gentle to those under her care, able to draw upon a seemingly endless well of strength when called upon to defend.

It was why he had chosen her to oversee the Amazon Reserve, his heart settled by the knowledge that she would love and care for the rain forest and its many at risk inhabitants as completely as he did. Why he had welcomed her into their family all those years ago when he’d first met her.

His niece was good at putting on the image of a ruthless, cold killer, but she wasn’t one. She did what she had to, when the time called for it and being blindsided always put her heckles up. But she was a gentle soul. Ra’s knew that she saw the intruder cuffed in the seat before them as he did: just a hollowed out boy a couple years shy of her youngest son’s age.

Bruce Wayne, barely older than Ra’s youngest, didn’t seem to notice her or the threat at all. Perhaps he was as suicidal as his decision so far implied. Or perhaps the boy was sharp enough to read Ra’s and his niece so well as to see the bluff for what it was.

Either way, Ra’s suspected he was going to like this young man.

I posted about the idea in more detail here, but brief overview is that I want the al Ghuls to still be the al Ghuls but replace all the racism with Addams Family levels of unhinged love for their family and shaky grasp on things like "mortality." Death is something that happens to other people, not al Ghuls.

Also give them the Addams' tendency to just adopt people who fit their freaky vibes into the family as cousins/nibblings/ect. For example: Ercilia. She's not actually Ra's niece, that's just what he decided she was after adopting her into the al Ghul family (also known as the League of Assassins.)

Look I just want them to all love each other unconditionally but also still be a deranged Bond villains trying to save the world with the most unhinged eco-terrorist plots you've ever seen put to paper, is that so much to ask for?

Anyway, specific context that probably is helpful to this is that both Talia & Nyssa's moms are alive and they are in a happy polycule with Ra's (and probably a few other folks too).

(Also the whole "Death and the Maidens storyline just didn't happen, okay? All we're taking from it is that Nyssa exists, she and her mom are Jewish and Nyssa has spent the past few centuries bobbing around trying to be a force of good in the world. Forget everything else.)

I named Nyssa's mom Esfir since as best I could tell she didn't have a name in canon and gave her a whole backstory that I'll probably post later but tl;dr is that she was raised by a bunch of criminals and one very Done (TM) Rabbi and is down to fight god and the devil in a waffle house parking lot at the drop of a hat.

I renamed Talia's mom Noukou (I decided to make her Hmong and wanted to give her a Hmong name as a result) since I wasn't a fan of her name in canon. Also gave her a whole backstory that boils down to her having half a dozen phds and a dozen or so arrest records for her part in trying to stop major corporations from destroying nature preserves and the like all before she ever met Ra's.