#so chalk it up to ra’s being … himself. if you want to keep talia out of it

[trekkele]

On one hand, I understand that both Clark and Talia got bad (if not outirght malicious) characterizations in those storylines, on the other hand, fic where Bruce has Damian already when they find Connor and so Clarks meltdown has completely different subtext to Bruce WHEN

[shauds-archived]

Impulse + Talia?

Was going to do Ras and Talia thing, but it wasn’t working out so I fell back on Talia and Jason, and it got a little long. Thanks for your request! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Talia al Ghul finds a boy stealing the Batmobile’s tires, she leaves him, trusting that Bruce will handle it. Then she finds the boy escaping from his school. Why she didn’t leave him there too, she’ll chalk up to impulse.

Or, the one where Talia kind of adopts Jason before Bruce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, she’ll chalk it up to impulse. Both her spontaneous visit to the City of Gotham, and the events that had transpired thereafter.

Meeting with the detective hadn’t been her plan, she’d just mean to check in, after troubling news that his partner had been killed and Richard outside of the public sphere for the time being. That the visit fell on the anniversary of his parent’s death was just happenstance. That she came across the car, the Batmobile as named by that insufferable boy, before she came across The Batman himself, even more so.

Bruce isn’t there, and she would leave it, continue her search for him elsewhere, if not for the fact that someone else is. At first she thinks it might been his Robin, but the child is much, much too small. And she very much doubts Richard was young enough still for such childish pranks.

It doesn’t take more than a glance at the child’s worn clothing, too slight build and cautious, hyper vigilant disposition for her to determine that he is either an urchin, or one of those for whom living care-givers make very little difference.

Already, one of the tires is missing, and as Talia, watches, too baffled by the sight to end it, he makes short work of the second. She waits for the security systems to engage, for Bruce to appear and halt the boy’s progress. Neither happens and the little vandal makes off with a second tire. And has the gall to come back for a third minutes later, twirling his tire iron and partly skipping as though he isn’t in the process of attempting to rob one of the most powerful men alive, like he isn’t coming back instead of settling with what he has already taken.

She’s acting on an impulse when she follows him, curious about where he thinks he can hide his prize’s from the bat, and then, about whether the small child will be able to get the tire up the fire escape and just how someone that young has learned such a diverse variety of vulgar language.

Small, but cleaner than she’d imagined it to be. There are poster’s covering over the larger stains marring the walls, the hovel’s only furnishings are a shelf piled with the tatters of what had once been books, the likes of Tolstoy and Kafka sitting innocuously besides children’s books, some pages written by hand, a small collection of audio tapes, and a framed photograph of a woman that Talia lifts for better inspection. It’s old, and the young woman bares the boy little to no resemblance. Merely a decoration perhaps and the worn smooth edges of the frame are from age.

When the boy returns, it’s sans a fourth tire, straining for breath and with the Batman following covertly at his heels. The child doesn’t see her exit, but she knows Batman does. He’s too busy fending off an attack by the child demanding he leave to come after her, and Talia can’t help but chuckle at the tenacity of the small boy right up until he’s effortlessly lifted up by his arm, any threat he’d posed nullified.

Hopeless though the fight is, there are many in the League of Shadows who could learn from that sort of persistence. If all of Gotham’s children possess that fighting spirit, perhaps there’s more to Bruce’s insistence on continuing to give his soul for the city.

O

O

O

’What’s the leagues interest in that boy?’

Talia’s brushing her hair out when she answers the phone call to her hotel room

”What a greeting, Beloved, I’m sure I don’t know what it is you’re speaking of.” Talia’s sets her brush aside and pulls her still damp hair over one shoulder tucking the phone between her chin and the other. “Perhaps if you were more specific?”

’Jason Todd.’ His voice is clipped, tight, not in a playful disposition then. ’The boy who tried to steal my tires.’

“Ah, and very nearly bested you in battle?” Talia chuckles and moves to looks out of the window at the sparkling city lights. “None that I’m aware off, I merely found his gall to be entertaining. I must ask, are all children in this city quite so precocious or was this boy an irregularity?”

The other side of the line is silent for a few moments it takes him to decide whether or not she’s being truthful, she takes the time to look at the spaces between the bright lights, at the shadows her beloved hides himself within while he protects this city. The shadows where most of its inhabitants dwell, out o reach of the light.

’We both know this isn’t your typical vacation destination, what are you doing here then?’

“Nothing of worth.” Talia shook her head, turning from the window, it was debatable whether anything of worth could be done for this city. “Not unless you would be inclined to suggest such an activity.”

There’s a snort and she can picture the put upon frown dragging down his lips. ’Goodnight Talia.’

“For the sake of my curiosity, what is it you’ve done with the boy.” She asks before he can end the call. “Are you scouting for Richards replacement so soon? You realize he’s need more training than your previous protégé at that age.” She hasn’t found any evidence that rumors of Robin’s passing are any more than rumors, but his lack of a presence may be due to something else entirely, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be returning to Gotham in the near future.

‘I dropped him off at a boy’s school.’ He sighs and there’s a burst of movement induced static, before he warns, ’But I’ll know if the league tries anything.’

”Of course, sleep well Beloved.” Talia returns the receiver to its cradle and pulls on a cord to turn off the lights, and then she gathers up the covers and rests against her pillows, where she lies, mulling over the night’s events until she falls to sleep. Her last though is of handwritten pages taped to worn books.

O

O

O

Early the next morning, before the sun rises, for no reason she can discern and no prior planning, Talia stops by Park Row before boarding the jet waiting to take her from Gotham.

The school where Bruce took the boy seems normal enough at a first glace. Like all the others of its kind, it doesn’t appear particularly comfortable, but there is bedding, an eating hall, facilities that all seem to be in order. Compared to where he’d been when her beloved had found him, the boy should have been grateful for the shelter and sanitation the place provided at the very least.

Why then is he making an escape out of the attic window?

She raises an eyebrow at the slight boy scrambling gingerly down the wall, right up until he drops down the last two floors and hits the ground with a jarring thump. Amid a litany of curses, he stands and brushes the gravel from his trousers, the same grime stained pair he’d been wearing the previous day.

If he goes missing now, Talia doubts Bruce would believe the league had nothing to do with it. Closing her suddenly tired eyes for a moment, Talia signals her driver to wait, then gets out of the car.

He’s stomping down an alleyway, still muttering to himself when she catches up with him.

“One would think a child in your position would be more grateful.”

”What the…!” He spins around, swinging a thin iron bar, but as soon as his eyes actually land on her, he trips over his feet in an attempt to keep the blow from hitting, a move that would have been unsuccessful had she not stepped from its path. He squawks as he falls to the ground in an undignified heap.

”Especially considering the fact that you’re likely to die traversing a sidewalk.” She shakes her head as he tries to pick himself up, she grabs hold of his arm and his sucks in a low breath when she pulls him to his feet. “I’ll return you to the school.”

”You with him?” he doesn’t wait for her answer before he yanks himself out of her grip and spins again to face her. “Like hell you will!” Talia has to work not to flinch at the bruising that mars his face. Fresher than anything he could have gotten before the previous night, the marks, green and dark purple both, continue down the collar of his shirt, to the bloody knuckles gone part-white from his grip on the bar. He notices her inspection and raises the bar defensively. “Try and take me back, I dare ya!”

”Batman will be displeased when he returns for you and finds you’ve disappeared.” She folds her arms and levels her gaze with his instead of on the bruising. She would have thought Bruce would have put more thought into who’s care he left the child in.

”Batman can screw himself, he’s just like the all the rest o’ em, adults.” The boy practically spits out the word, like it’s deadly poison, his whole face twisting into a scowl. “What, he wants ta keep up the supply of crooks or someth’n with that place? Well I’m out, I aint gonna learn to be no crook, no fuckin way, ‘specially not with that batty old crone.”

She keeps her expression blank and doesn’t comment on his inappropriate language. ”And you believe attempting to steal the tires of the Batmobile is less than criminal behavior?”

”Tires, not fucking museum exhibits like those assholes, and I don’t do it for shits and giggles lady; I just boost what it takes to survive. Car like that, he can prolly afford a couple new ones anyways.”

His scoff is high pitched in his frustration and stuff his hands in the pockets of his vest, when he turns his expression back on her; it’s more resigned than anything else. “You’re gonna call no matter what I say, aint ya?”

Talia doesn’t reply immediately, instead, she takes a breath and considers his question. Surely, her beloved would prefer having this child out of harm’s way for a time. There’s no reason he wouldn’t be more put upon by Talia removing him from the school than he would were she to remove him to a less hostile location, but where is the question.

Apparently her silence goes on too long. “Figures.” The boy huffs and starts tracing circles in the gravel with the tip of his sneaker. His posture betrays nothing other than resignation for whatever fate she decides for him.

It’s very convincing.

Then he tries to run away again and she has to grab a fistful of the grungy fabric behind his neck and press him up against the wall to keep him in place.

”Aw, come on!” He screams, throwing all of his not-considerable body weight into the twisting and pulling he does to escape her hold, his cursing a steady accompaniment to his struggles. None of it works of course, but it carries on for a good five minutes before his voice has gone too hoarse for and he has to focus more on his breathing than anything else. The technique is sloppy and he’s too weak for there to be any other outcome, but with a good training regiment and diet, there’s a good chance it might be developed. Not one of the people passing by stop to investigate, most don’t even spare a glance down the alley and those that do only cross the street.

”If you’re quite done.” Talia says once he’s gone silent, and he fixes her with a glare that borders on murderous, but doesn’t speak. She loosens her grip enough that he can set his feet back on the ground, but she doesn’t release him entirely on the very likely chance that he will attempt another escape. “You’ll be wise to watch your language from this point onward; such vulgarity will not be tolerated.”

Defiantly, the boy tries to jerk himself out of her hold in reply. Talia bites back on her a smile and turns him to start walking, keeping a tight hold on both his shoulders. Defiance can be unlearned, but the stubbornness and determination it is born of can be harnessed under the right conditions.

”’ll just bolt again later.” He mutters under his breath as he walks, once the school is in their line of sight, his shoulders sag and he cranes his head to look at her. “C’n ya at least tell Batman they’re gonna rob the museum tonight? Stuff’s old an they’re a buncha dumbasses who got no idea how to take care of it an ‘ts not like ya can just replace whatever they ruin in there. ‘S important.”

”I’ll have it dealt with.” She says. The tension in his shoulders returns bit-by-bit the closer they get to the school, and he drags his feet more. Talia increases the strength of her grip, a warning in case he thinks about running again, until they’ve passed it.

”Wait, the school.” When he tries to pull away from her this time, it’s to try looking past her, at the building they’re leaving behind them. “Where the fuck’re ya…”

”Your language Jason.” She warns and he almost stills at her use of his name, but she keeps him walking.

”How…?” He takes another look at the school before they turn away from it and start heading for the side of the road where Talia’s driver is waiting. “Did he tell ya? Hey, c’mon lady, I won’t run again, kay.”

”Even were I to believe that, you will be better off in my care than that woman’s.” The driver opens the door, not so much as batting an eye at his new passenger.

”We goin’ to Batman’s place?” Jason frowns, his brows furrowed, but he slides hesitantly into the car, with moving far enough towards the door so that she can slide in besides him.

”No you’ll remain with me until such a time that The Batman inquires of your whereabouts so that I may inquire of his planning capabilities.” As she says it, she again takes in the bruises splashed across the boy’s skin.

”’N if he doesn’t?” The boy’s brought his knees up to his chin, it’s good that the high quality leather is strain resistant, or the grime coming off his shoes would have been irreparable. She’ll have to find him something else to wear before they reach the jet.

”He’s made it clear he will.” She signals the driver to continue to their destination. “And he’ll likely put more thought into where he places you once he does.”

”Yeah sure he will.” Jason scoffs again, and turns his gaze to the window and the passing city with a petulant pout. “Big boob.”

Talia hums, but doesn’t find the insult harsh enough to scold him. She’s not sure where she’d going to take the boy once they’re on the place, or what exactly she’s going to do with him after that. It’s an impulsive decision and her planning shows for that, but it’s no matter, she’s confident she’ll have some sort of plan once she needs one. Her Beloved had warned the league off from the child, not Talia herself and she intends to return him if Bruce requests it. If he requests it. For now, she has some orders to issue regarding a museum.