Chapter Text
Talia looks at Jason, and she sees him for who he truly is.
She stands behind him as he learns to live again and sees the child she is raising. She stands before him as he slides gracefully through one form after another and sees the warrior she is training. She stands next to him as he tears through the worst humanity has to offer in defense of victims he’ll never know and sees the man he’s becoming.
She looks into his teal eyes and sees a boy with missing pieces that she can’t replace. She sees a boy who, despite her best efforts, is broken in ways she can not fix.
It pricks at her, at the part of her that can find a way to solve any problem. The part of her that will keep her family safe at any cost.
The tactician in her speaks of lost potential, strategic advantage, and risk/benefit ratios. The mother in her knows how to care for the son she loves as her own.
Talia thinks about the many faces of Bruce Wayne, and she considers the man he has chosen to be.
She considers a mentor who left his protégé unprotected. She considers a parent who left their child unavenged. She considers the man who has never stopped mourning what he lost.
The man she used to love, the man who loved her back but couldn’t accept her for who she was. Who asked her to change herself into something she could never be.
The man she’s entrusted with her first son, a son she will likely never get back.
The tactician in her speaks of favors owed and won, of loyalty and leverage. The mother in her knows the impact of a lost father on the son.
Talia stands in the shadow of an olive tree in a courtyard surrounded by night-blooming flowers and watches the moon rise overhead. She twists the handle of her kris in one hand, the point of its blade pressing gently into the palm of her other hand.
Years ago, she’d made a promise to a once bright and clever child. To a child who’d lost everything, even himself. To a child she’d come to think of as her own.
أنت في أمان معي يا ثعلبي الصغير
You are safe with me, little fox
How much should she risk now, she wonders, to give her son a chance at finding peace? How deep does responsibility go?
She has stood with her son, time and time again, and let him choose. Time and time again, she has let him go, trusting that he will come back to her.
Time and time again, he has.
In the morning, the sun rises, and Talia gets on a plane.