[Fic] Sins of the Father [Talia/Bruce]
Title: Sins of the Father (a/b/o verse)
Pairing: Talia/Bruce
Characters: (Alpha) Talia Al Ghul, (Beta) Bruce Wayne, (Alpha) Ra’s Al Ghul, (Alpha) Alfred Pennyworth. Cameos by (Beta) Dick Grayson and (Omega) Damian Wayne.
Summary: If you love something, set it free. Talia tries, but no Al Ghul can ever truly escape Ra's' grasp.
Author’s Note: An attempt at merging the 1987 Son of the Demon with the background Morrison came up with for Damian set in an alternate alpha/beta/omega universe. Most interactions are based on Son of the Demon but some characterisations come from more modern interpretations.
I realise this is incredibly niche, but the heart wants what the heart wants.
AO3 Link
It is said that in the beginning was the alpha man and omega woman. It is from their loins that we all descended, and even now it is the alpha man and the omega woman who represent the purest of humanity.
From the perspective of outdated beliefs, Talia, as an alpha woman, is little better than the abominations that betas are supposed to be. An alpha man perverted by femininity, taking on their form and their ability to give birth when mated with an alpha man in rut. Were it not for an alpha woman’s ability to go into rut herself, she would likely not be counted as an alpha at all.
Despite his sophistication and ability to adapt to the ever-changing social mores of the passing times, Talia knows that is how her father sees her. To an alpha man like Ra’s Al Ghul, she will always be an imperfect heir. The part of her that betrayed him is buoyed by it, validated in her feelings and actions to know he will never truly accept her. The part of her that loves him still hurts from it.
It is that part of her that rules Talia whatever she might wish otherwise. It is that part of her that makes her heart clench when she chases a lead to her mother’s murderer to Gotham.
The city of her Beloved. The city of the only beta that has ever come close to overcoming Ra’s’ prejudices. Another complication in a relationship that is built on complications. Any fondness for Bruce is tainted by the knowledge that it is exactly what her father wants - an alpha son from their joining that will finally be the heir he always craved - and yet she is happy anyway, that he approves of the man she loves.
Though it is difficult to remember that Bruce is a capable beta man that Ra’s considers worthier to be his heir over all the alpha men he knows when Talia’s investigations find him crumpled in one of Gotham’s filthy alleyways, injured and vulnerable.
A quick check shows the wound is not life-threatening, though the smell and damp clinging to his suit means it could still happen very easily. Talia makes a face as she gathers Bruce’s limp body to her; Gotham is such a dirty place. For all that she understands loyalty to causes that may not deserve it, she will never stop feeling that Gotham is unworthy of her Beloved.
Still, resting in the high tech base beneath Bruce’s childhood home, even Talia can admit that there are some positives to the place. As if summoned, Alfred interrupts her vigil at an unconscious Bruce’s side with a tray of perfectly brewed tea. Talia accepts a cup with a smile and a murmur of thanks.
“It is I who should be thanking you,” Alfred says with a regal shake of his head. “Who knows when I would have been made aware of Master Bruce’s plight otherwise?”
“He shouldn’t worry you so.” Talia purses her lips, then takes a hearty swallow of the tea. “You are much too good to him.”
“It is my job,” Alfred replies simply. As if there is anything simple about their relationship. Bruce may pay his wages, but considering what Talia knows about Bruce’s relatives, Alfred is more family than those that actually share blood with him. For Talia, whose strongest ties are to her father, it is strange to think that the most important people in Bruce’s life are not his flesh and blood. Which brings her to another point…
“It has been surprisingly peaceful down here this time.” Talia sweeps her eyes around the main cavern exaggeratedly. “Not a peep of disapproval that the great Batman’s secret headquarters is being sullied by my presence.”
“Master Dick is not here presently, if that is what you’re asking.” Alfred’s mustache quivers minutely. Talia hides her own smile in the rim of her cup and takes it as a victory. “He is out with friends.”
“Friends,” Talia repeats drily. “The kind of friends that deserve quotation marks and secret identities?”
Alfred shoots her a sharp look that expresses louder than words exactly what he thinks of questions like that.
Talia is undaunted. This man just served her food with mating season just around the corner; her instincts have marked him as ally the moment she accepted what he offered. “Does this mean I must gird myself in preparation for his displeasure when he returns?”
“That depends, Miss Talia, do you expect to be here three months from now?”
Talia blinks. “I am surprised Bruce would allow his ward out of his sight for so long. Isn’t the boy only...ah, of course, he is fourteen now, isn’t he?”
“Indeed.” There is not a hint of censure in Alfred’s bearing. Talia isn’t sure she would be able to notice if he feels any in the first place.
“Betas.” Talia sighs, still trying to gauge Alfred’s mood from the corner of her eye. The alpha man is frustratingly opaque, and unlike most alphas she dismisses, Talia has a feeling Alfred would not be any easier to read even after mating season is upon them. “I do not know how they have the energy to go at each other all year round. And fourteen is such a volatile age; are three months going to be enough to stop them from being at each other's throats?”
“Master Bruce and Master Dick are assuredly capable of controlling their baser instincts. There is nothing for you to concern yourself with, Miss Talia.”
And there was the censure, though aimed at her not Bruce or Richard. Talia shrugs, unrepentant. While she does not believe in the inherent inferiority of betas like her father, she is not blind to their faults. There is a reason betas make up the majority of her father’s League; their heightened aggression - especially in close proximity to each other - all year round makes them much more useful subordinates than alphas or omegas who only reach such emotional states during mating season, and is much too distracted by the actual mating part to follow orders well.
Of course, like Alfred says, Bruce and Richard are both exemplary specimens of their dynamic, and Talia knows well Bruce’s ability to rein in his emotions when needed. That ability is enough to impress her father after all, despite all the years Ra’s has lived. Though apparently not enough that a beta newly in the throes of puberty like Richard does not need to leave the nest for a while to calm down.
“His absence does explain this bout of recklessness.” Talia tries to look conciliary as she nods over at where Bruce still lies unconscious, hoping Alfred would take this change of subject as an olive branch. “He is usually above such rashness when Richard is around.”
Alfred inclines his head slightly, but, like the best of servants, does not say anything that may be construed as criticism of his master to an outsider like her.
Soon enough, the tea is finished, and Alfred returns upstairs to cook something more substantial while Talia is left alone to her vigil again. It is the greatest sign of trust she has received from the manservant, and Talia lets herself enjoy it while she waits. This rare moment of peace cannot last once Bruce wakes, and she will need her wits about her to convince him to rest - especially when she herself is itching to set off on the trial of her mother’s murderer once more. But Bruce would not appreciate her acting without his supervision in his city, and loath she may be to admit it, she will need him to accomplish her goal. Not just Bruce, but maybe even her father. It is not every day that all three of them are working towards a common objective; she would be a fool to let this chance slip away.
It is said that betas are more aggressive, more emotional, than alphas or omegas due to the instability of their standing. Unlike an alpha whose place is to sire children, or an omega whose place is to bear children, a beta may sire or bear the child of any beta any time of the year.
A beta can also bear the child of an alpha in rut or sire the child of an omega in heat, but that is rarely brought up as evidence for or against a beta’s nature. It is only right for an alpha to sire and an omega to bear even if it is with a beta. In fact, doing so supposedly aligns betas with the natural order that their very existence diverges from. It is a flawed mentality, but Talia is well aware that is what Ra’s hopes for from their union. That if he could not bring himself to make Bruce his heir due to Bruce’s dynamic no matter how suitable he may be otherwise, then to wed Bruce to his daughter is the next best thing.
Another person might rankle at that - that her wishes, her choices, do not matter - but Talia is relieved. She is used to making the best of her circumstances. She knows all too well how important it is when fate allows her father to want what she wants.
Most of all, she is happy that it is what Bruce wants as well.
Talia knows it is not a simple matter of Bruce finally bending to Ra’s’ will. As she had surmised, they need the League of Shadows and their resources to go after Qayin. They all know this. It is why Ra’s has been so accommodating, proclaiming Bruce his son-in-law and even permitting Bruce to teach his League non-lethal ways of fighting. For Ra’s, this will be the best chance he has to bring Bruce into the fold in a long time.
It is a measure of how foolish Qayin was to involve Gotham in his plans. Bruce would never stand for such meddling in his city, and now he knows of Qayin’s plot against the world. But Talia does not mind that it is these less than romantic reasons that drives her Beloved to her; Bruce is an honourable man, he would not have lain with her during her rut had he not meant his commitment to her. Perhaps he will not stay with the League after Qayin is neutralised, perhaps he expects their new bond to finally cleave her from Ra’s for good, it does not matter. Right now, they are united in a common goal, the three of them together and stronger for it, leading the League of Assassins to greater heights. Right now, her life is all she could ever wish for.
And with the dismal failure to stop the launch of the weather satellite, as well as the loss of Donal, it will be some time yet before they can worry about what comes after Qayin. Talia sweeps a critical eye over the dispersing troops that had gathered for the mission, stopping on Bruce leaning tiredly against the far wall. There is much to do, to rally their forces now that they have proof of Qayin’s connection with Golatia, but something about the way Bruce slumps uncharacteristically into himself prickles at instincts deep within her.
Keeping her eyes on Bruce, Talia waves imperiously at Dr. Weltmann as she passes by. It has been over a month since Talia and Bruce arrived at the Demon’s Head, since Ra’s had revealed the criminal Bruce is chasing and her mother’s murderer are one and the same, since Bruce agreed to join forces and stop Qayin together. Over a month since Bruce and Talia had come together at the onset of her rut as proof of their commitment to each other.
Conception for a beta during an alpha’s rut is almost a certainty.
“Miss Talia, what can I do for you?” Dr. Weltmann asks, her manner deferential but distracted, eyes sweeping around the hanger.
“I need a moment of your time,” Talia replies, trying to keep her tone just as polite.
“Of course, are my services required?” Dr. Weltmann’s eyes flicker intelligently over Talia’s face, then slides to where Bruce is without prompting. She is just as aware of the timing as Talia is.
“I need you to conduct some private tests,” Talia says softly, letting her own eyes fall on Bruce as well.
It is all the confirmation Dr. Weltmann needs. “I see,” she breathes out quietly, her gaze drifting away nonchalantly as if there is nothing of interest in Bruce’s direction. “Discreetly, I presume? I promise you will be the first to know.”
The second, Talia thinks cynically, watching Dr. Weltmann pick her way towards Bruce. Whether she tries to keep it from him or not, Bruce will know the moment she does.
“I dare say our Dr. Weltmann will have her hands full trying to keep the results from our Detective until you can be informed,” Ra’s says drily from over Talia’s shoulder, a space she could have sworn was empty until now.
Tamping down the urge to start, Talia whirls around with as much poise as she can. “Father. Do you know?”
“I suspect.” The corner of Ra’s mouth quirks up. “The same as you.”
A rush of emotion sweeps through her, too tangled for her to discern just what exactly she’s feeling. Relief perhaps, that Ra’s doesn’t know anymore than they do. Apprehension, that Ra’s’ plans are finally coming into fruition, and her child may be the key; that her child may be the alpha boy Ra’s desires, or that they may not be. And, finally, tucked deep within her, happiness, that Bruce might be with child at all, their child.
“Congratulations, my daughter.” Ra’s smiles at her, full of pride.
“It is still too early to say,” Talia demurs. What if we are wrong? What if I get my hopes up for nothing? What if what I fear does not come to pass?
“There is no need to be so cautious,” Ra’s says dismissively. “But there is always next year if you are worried.”
“Next year,” Talia repeats in an uncharacteristic lapse of self-possession. She cannot imagine Bruce here next year; he would never leave Gotham that long. Ra’s may try to keep them forever, until he has his male alpha heir and after, for he truly does hold Bruce in such high regard. But Talia cannot imagine a Bruce content to stay and bear child after child for the Al Ghul cause.
Ra’s shrugs languidly, either unaware of her discomfiture or uncaring. “I suppose there is still enough time left in this mating season if you wish to stop your suppressant regime and try again now. But this mission was merely a preliminary venture; it gave us proof of a link between Qayin and Golatia. Now we plan for a strike on Qayin’s base. That will be the crux of this operation. The Detective may have Qayin, and we will have the satellite.” Ra’s stares across the room, at where Dr. Weltmann is leading Bruce deeper into the stronghold, a proprietary smile on his face. “And until then, there will be plenty of time. You will have next year, and perhaps even more.”
Talia presses her lips together. A million replies coalesce and die unsaid. It makes sense for Ra’s to prolong their undertaking against Qayin; whatever he can do to aid in tying Bruce to them as long as possible. Talia knows it will not work, but to Ra’s it is worth a try. At least it is worth a child or two from their joining, any one of which might be an alpha boy.
Her silence must have dragged on too long. Ra’s turns back to her with an elegant raise of his eyebrow. “You do not agree?”
“Bruce will not take Qayin’s life,” Talia says finally. Out of all the possible responses she can give, it is the only one that feels safe to utter.
“You do not think he would break his code for you? The sire of his child?”
Talia scowls. “You know he would not break it. Not for anyone. Not for anything.”
“Perhaps not,” Ra’s acknowledges with a sigh. “But he will want Qayin; it is why he is here. I’m sorry, Talia, but you understand why we must. We will have the satellite at least. It is more important to our plans.”
It is more important to your plans, Talia thinks resignedly. Qayin is the reason why she is here too; the whole reason why she brought Bruce here, so they can go after Qayin together. But to her father, avenging her mother’s death is already not a priority - if it ever had been. Bruce will have Qayin, to keep his opinion of Ra’s favourable, and Talia will have to be content with having Bruce and their child. For however long that can last.
It is said that just as an alpha woman is an alpha man perverted by femininity to a lower place than they deserve in the world, an omega man is an omega woman with designs for a place above their station. Not content with bearing the children of alphas and betas, but siring children themselves on omega women in heat.
Conventional wisdom group omegas together because both omega men and women go into heat during mating season, just as alphas are grouped together because they both go into rut. Physically, however, an omega man’s wider shoulders and narrower waist make him more similar to alpha and beta men in form, while their reproductive organs are functionally no different from alpha women. For unborn children, it can be quite difficult to tell what they are without invasive tests that many feel are unnecessary when they can be done with much less fuss after the baby is delivered.
Bruce hadn’t wanted to know what their child is at all. Neither did Talia. She still doesn’t know if she wants the child to be an alpha boy or not, not when Ra’s wants it so badly. Perhaps that’s why Bruce had not allowed them to do the tests. Ra’s could have forced the issue, but in this as in many other matters he had been lenient, allowing them their self-indulgence. They would all know soon enough.
Except Qayin strikes while Bruce is still in the midst of his pregnancy, having finally wrested their location from poor Donal, and Talia might have lost her baby before ever finding out what they could have been.
Hours after the attack was repelled, hours after Bruce was taken into Dr. Weltmann’s private lab - with the most advanced medical equipment still operational in the damaged base and the good doctor’s personal attendance, after hours of Talia waiting uselessly outside the medical facility, it is the first thing Dr. Weltmann tells her when she emerges.
Her baby is alive.
Her baby is an omega boy.
Talia’s legs give out under her, and she slides down to the ground in a daze. Staring down at her hands as they lie limply in her lap, she wonders if she should be happy or sad. Surely she should be grateful that her son survived such a premature delivery. Surely she should be disappointed that he is not the alpha heir Ra’s coveted for so long. Surely…
“Bruce,” she croaks out. “How is he?”
“He will recover,” says Dr. Weltmann soothingly. “He is strong, and the procedure went off without a hitch.”
A sigh rushes out of her. Talia feels herself relax for the first time since their base was breached. And now that she has, the full implications of their foolishness hit her all at once.
They had waited too long. They should have decamped as soon as they realised they had lost Donal. But the news of Bruce’s pregnancy had weakened her. Weakened all of them. Their safety hinged on Donal’s ability to hold out, to commit suicide before Qayin can wring their secrets from him, and all of them were too concerned with the effort of moving Bruce in his first trimester to look at the situation objectively. Instead, they had exposed a beta six months pregnant to a concentrated assault on their stronghold from the very man they were hunting.
A man is never such a fool but twice, in mating and in conception, Talia thinks bitterly. How true that old adage is, for all of them. Of all people, Bruce would have been the first to force them to move once the aftermath of the failed mission had been dealt with, but of all of them Bruce is the most compromised by his pregnancy.
Unbidden, her mind recalls how...timidly Bruce had fought during the attack, overly cautious of the precious burden cradled in his swelling belly. Which is understandable, but he had also been overly cautious for her.
It’s his instincts, she knows. Not his instincts as a beta man, if he even had such a thing, but his instincts as a protector. Because when Bruce fights, he fights to protect. Always. And now his instincts are pulling him in two different directions. The urge to protect their then unborn child, and the urge to protect their unborn child’s father. Nevermind that protecting her is what put him and their baby in danger.
A hand reaches up absentmindedly to brush against the dark gems spilling from her throat. It seems only yesterday that Bruce had brought them to her, to celebrate the news of his pregnancy. She had laughed at the idea of him gifting her a necklace when he is the one with child, but he had been undeterred. You gave me a far greater gift, he had said, the gift of a baby growing in me. It had made her weak. She had promised to wear it always, when she should have been promising to keep them safe.
Had the destruction of the Lazarus Pit not robbed Qayin of his objective, would he have been willing to leave, licking his wounds? The thought had tortured her the entire time she waited. It could have been too late.
Talia forces herself to take a fortifying breath. Now is not the time to think of what could have been. Her baby survived. They all survived. And now they must live on. She turns steady eyes on Dr. Weltmann. “Who have you told?”
“You are the first to know,” Dr. Weltmann replies calmly. She returns Talia’s look with a firm one of her own. She is the most loyal of Talia’s people here, there was no need to ask; nevertheless, Talia can leave nothing to chance.
“And I will be the last,” Talia tells her, decision made almost without her conscious thought. But the moment she says the words she knows this is the only way. She needs to keep them safe.
Dr. Weltmann’s eyebrows furrow lightly. “That is easily done now when the only artificial womb still operational is the one in my private lab, but what will you do in three months when the baby is to be brought out?” There is no condemnation in her tone. Even though she must understand what Talia is implying. But as an omega woman, Dr. Weltmann understands better than most what her baby’s fate would be as an omega boy in the League of Assassins. Many in the League would not consider it a bad fate, it would not be that different from Talia’s own after all, but Dr. Weltmann will support her decision.
“I will deal with it then,” says Talia, forcing her voice to stay even. “Right now, this baby is our biggest weak point. The less anyone knows about him, the better.”
“Including his own mother?” Dr. Weltmann points out drily, the closest thing to a criticism she would utter.
Talia gives a sharp shake of her head. “It is too dangerous. For both of them. Bruce is stuck in his ways, he will want to protect us his own way. It will not be the best way.”
Inclining her head submissively, Dr. Weltmann sighs but says nothing more.
Talia picks herself back up; there is no more time for wallowing. “When will he wake?”
Dr. Weltmann checks her watch. “Not for hours, not with the sedatives I gave him.”
So he will be waking soon, or might even be awake already, Talia rectifies to herself, striding toward the doors leading to the medical facility. “No one disturbed you during the entire procedure?”
“No,” Dr. Weltmann replies, hurrying at Talia’s heels. “Everyone is still busy dealing with the aftermath of the attack; many of the wounded are still being treated. No one else had the time to be in attendance, I made sure of it.”
Talia stops in front of the small door that leads to Dr. Weltmann’s private lab, one of several places in the medical facility whose surveillance system is still down. “No one questioned you for cordoning off your private lab for the procedure?”
“The son-in-law of Ra’s Al Ghul and his unborn child is of course to be afforded the best care and resources,” Dr. Weltmann says primly, unlocking the security on the door with deft hands. “No one would dare gainsay that.”
It is a good cover story, especially since it’s true. With no witnesses, no one knows what happened inside except Talia and Dr. Weltmann. As long as they can keep the baby hidden, Ra’s will never suspect the truth, and neither will Bruce. It will only be until the baby is safe to be brought out of the artificial womb, Talia consoles herself. And then...then there will be another choice. Except it isn’t one, not really. There is only one way to keep the baby truly safe from all of them.
It is said that a beta’s physiology validates the supremacy of the alpha man and omega woman. All betas may have the same reproductive organs, and be indistinguishable as children, but as they undergo puberty their form grows into the age old split of male and female.
The splitting of betas into male and female is an old practice, stemming from a time when the world still believed alpha men and omega women were all that mattered. Reproductively, there is no difference; unlike alpha women and omega men, who share genitalia but go into either rut or heat during mating season, nothing bars a beta man from the same sexual role as a beta woman. In the modern world, numerous betas choose to eschew from labelling themselves as either, no matter what their secondary sexual characteristics may be.
In another life, Bruce may well have been one of them. Talia has never met a beta so uncaring of their gender identity. But Gotham high society has very strict views about the roles of each dynamic. As strict as Ra’s in some ways. Had Bruce an alpha sibling, he would not have been the heir to the Wayne fortune even as the firstborn. They also believe in strict demarcations between men and women, and Bruce’s broad shoulders relegate him to the role of beta man. A role he puts up with as Brucie for the sake of his precious civilian identity.
A precious civilian identity that could have been in jeopardy had the pregnancy continued as planned. It would have been difficult to explain why Bruce Wayne had borne Talia Al Ghul’s child. Not impossible - the Al Ghul name is a prominent one, and not just in the underworld - but not easy to make up a believable interest Ra’s could have in an airhead lush no matter how much the Wayne family is worth in Gotham.
Now, it will not matter. Not if Talia’s plan works. It will be harder than convincing the world that Ra’s Al Ghul can have legitimate interest in Brucie Wayne, but it has to work, she needs it to work, the baby needs it to work, and so it shall. All she needs to do is convince the World’s Greatest Detective, and everyone else will fall in line.
It is warm inside Dr. Weltmann’s private lab; quiet, except for the soft beeping of machinery tracking the life of what’s most precious to her. With the lights turned down, the room feels like a secret, like safety. That does not deter Talia from sweeping her eyes through the area as she enters the sanctuary unaccompanied, making the checks that come naturally to her after a lifetime of paranoia. The artificial womb is nowhere in sight; Dr. Weltmann must have concealed it before she left to find Talia.
There is a faint stirring on the cot laid out in a clear space at the centre as Talia walks further inside. Her calculations were right; Bruce is waking up.
“Beloved.” Talia hushes him, laying a gentle hand on Bruce’s forearm before he can pull out the IV. “You must lie still. You are still not recovered.”
Bruce reaches down to his belly, then looks at her, face falling as he reads the sorrow and despair Talia doesn’t even try to hide. The emotions are real, even if they are not for what Bruce thinks they are; that’s what makes it believable. Bruce’s breath hitches once. “Where…?”
Talia shakes her head and allows the tears to fall. “I’m sorry, Beloved.”
“No…” Bruce whispers, shattering apart before her eyes. Is this how he looked on that fateful day when he lost his parents? It sounds foolish now to say that she had not thought through what it would mean for Bruce, to lose the baby he wanted so badly. Looking at him, Talia finally realises the true magnitude of her choice. There is no coming back from this.
Bruce stares at her wordlessly. He does not cry. Somehow that makes it worse.
“I’m so sorry,” Talia says one more time, flinging her arms around those slumped shoulders and squeezing the gently trembling body to her chest. She is sorry, more sorry than he can ever know.
“I am the one who should be sorry,” Bruce says brokenly in reply. “I lost the baby. Oh, Talia, I lost our baby.”
“No,” Talia shouts, folding Bruce deeper into her embrace. No, this is the true magnitude of her choice. “It isn’t you, Beloved. You did nothing wrong. I should have- Father should have- Qayin is the one who attacked us!”
“I should have been more careful,” Bruce continues, as if he doesn’t even hear her words. “I was planning to take you away, before Qayin attacked us. Take us back to Gotham. I can protect us in Gotham.”
Gotham, where all of Batman’s enemies gather. This is why it has to be done. There is nowhere that is truly safe from Bruce’s enemies, from her enemies, from her father. There is no way that he can truly protect them. Talia weeps into his hair. “I know, Beloved. I know.”
“I need to go back to Gotham,” Bruce says bleakly, pushing Talia gently away from him. “I need- I need to talk to Alfred, have him prepare for my return.”
“Beloved, I…” Talia trails off at the faraway gaze of Bruce’s eyes; he is no longer looking at her, already retreating into the protective shell of the Batman where his personal tragedies are the fuel that allows him to keep going. It is easier this way, she tries to tell herself, he is too distracted to notice her lie. It is better this way. The illusion of them as a happy family is just that. It was never meant to be.
There is no coming back from this.
Bruce blinks, and Batman’s piercing eyes focus in on her face. “What about Qayin? What does Ra’s intend to do?”
Talia wipes a hand over her eyes. “A counterattack, of course. The satellite will reach optimum orbit soon. Qayin will be sure to try to hijack it once it activates. We have to stop him now. He has lost a lot of men with this assault; there is no better time.”
“Let Ra’s know I will be joining them,” Bruce says crisply in Batman’s cadence.
“You still need time to recover,” says Talia with a frown, reaching out a hand to him.
Once again, he gives her a gentle push. “He won’t be leaving today. I will be ready when he does.”
“But-” She can’t help but to keep trying, even though Bruce is slipping further and further away with every word.
Bruce shakes his head sharply. “Go find Ra’s, Talia. Tell him. I need to contact Alfred.”
Talia presses her lips together in defeat. She walks slowly to the exit, trying to hold her head high, but Bruce does not once call her back. Without conscious thought, she stops at the door, turning towards Bruce to find that his attention is fully on the communication device in his hands.
“B!” Richard shouts tinnily from it, just barely audible where Talia is. “Where have you been?? A. says you left soon after I did, but I’ve been back for months and you’re still not here! Apparently you got knocked up by Talia Al Ghul?! What-”
Talia can’t see any expression on Bruce’s face from her angle, but there must be something there that startles Richard into silence. After a long pause, Bruce stirs. “Dick...there is no baby…not any more...”
“Oh, Bruce,” Richard says, stricken. “Oh no, I’m so sorry.”
Talia whirls back around; the necklace is a heavy weight against her chest, her guilty conscience threatening to choke her with her lies. She can’t keep listening any longer. Behind her, the last thing she hears is Bruce’s soft, even voice saying, “I’ll be home soon, Dick.”
It is said that the alpha man is the protector of the family; the one who sires but can never bear life. All alphas go into rut during mating season, as all omegas go into heat, but it is the alpha man who owns those months between September and November. He is the head of the household; his word is law.
“Father,” Talia says evenly, sweeping into the room without pausing to acknowledge the attendants hanging back against the walls. She tilts her head respectfully when she reaches where Ra’s sits, but makes sure not to lower it too far into obeisance. Ra’s Al Ghul must be honoured as the head, but no alpha child of his can lose face by giving ground. It is a fine line to walk, but one Talia has perfected over the years.
“Talia,” Ra’s responds with the same tone of voice, but well honed instincts warn her that he is displeased. Talia tenses unwittingly, only years of living under Ra’s stopping her from making any rash movements when he summons one of his attendants forward with a wave.
There is a small bundle in the attendant’s arms, one that is starting to stir as the attendant unwraps it. Watching the small face being revealed, Talia is startled by her first reaction, you can’t cover a baby like that, what if it suffocates?
There are far more vicious dangers for a baby in the League of Assassins. Suffocation might be an easier way to go, for all that she balks at the thought of a child’s death.
Talia is so caught up in her thoughts, it takes her a moment to realise why the baby looks so familiar. It’s not until the necklace wrapped around that tiny exposed neck is revealed that the truth crashes down on her. She could not have kept her breath from hitching if her life depended on it. Even though her baby’s life does depend on it.
“I do not understand why you would do this, Talia,” Ra’s says in a deceptively sorrowful voice. “He was found with a civilian couple, one without even the ability to conceive their own children. An ordinary household, who have not even taught him to walk unassisted despite him having already reached one year of age. Why would you do this to him? Why would you cripple one of the Al Ghul blood?”
She is pinned in place by Ra’s’ unblinking eyes as he proclaims his judgement. There is no justification she can make. None that will satisfy him.
“Is it because he is an omega? Despite all the values I have sought to instil in you, do you believe the outdated mentality that your son is not good enough just because he will go into heat every year?”
“No!” The word bursts out of her, riding on the wave of all her emotions that she dare not identify. Talia takes an abortive step forward before she can stop herself. “Never!”
“Then why would you cut him off from us? There is so much we can give him, so much we can teach him; as an Al Ghul, he deserves the world we shape. He deserves to be a part of that shaping. Everything I have ever given you, my daughter, would have been his. Will be his.”
That is the problem, Talia doesn’t say. For all that she doesn’t regret how she was brought up, Talia does not want this life for her son. And yet, isn’t Father right? The opportunities that being an Al Ghul gives her, the resources, the teachings, even Batman. What would she have without being Talia Al Ghul? What would she be without her upbringing? Is it not selfishness unbecoming of a father to deny that for her son? Faced with her father’s implacable condemnation, it is difficult to remember why she made that decision over a year ago. “He wasn’t safe…”
Her father’s face crumples in grief. “Oh, my foolish daughter, how short sighted you are.” He waves again, encompassing both the baby and the attendant. “He would never be safe. If I can find him so easily, then so can so many others. Here, we can protect him, we can teach him to protect himself. What protection could those civilians have given him?”
Unbidden, Talia’s eyes are drawn to the necklace again, and what she had thought at first was a dark shine over the gems are actually, she finally realises, splatters of blood. She is overwhelmed by the absurd urge to swipe the necklace away, and scrub all traces of blood off that vulnerable little neck. The blood that she had put there, because of her choice. She had thought an omega child wouldn’t matter to Ra’s, that he would tolerate the loss of someone who could never be his male alpha heir. But of course Ra’s would never abandon his family.
“You know your Beloved would say the same,” Ra’s intones, the final nail in her coffin. “Send his son away? To be brought up by strangers? He would never agree to such farce.” Ra’s smirks, the cold triumph on his face sends familiar tendrils of icy panic running down Talia’s spine. “But that is why you never told him, did you? Such a momentous lie, could he ever forgive you once he knows? But I am merciful, Talia, I am willing to give you one more chance. Name your son as an Al Ghul, accept him as one of us, and I shall help you keep this secret even from the World’s Greatest Detective.”
The attendant steps forward, holding the baby out. Talia lurches towards them instinctively, taking the precious bundle into her arms. This is the first time she has held him; she had not dared to, watching Dr. Weltmann prepare him for the orphanage after his removal from the artificial womb, it had not seemed fair when Bruce never got the chance. Looking down at a frown that seem too old for such an innocent face, Talia realises that she doesn’t know what name Bruce would have wanted to name him; like everything else they were putting off until the baby was born, this too had become a lost opportunity. Bruce might have wanted a name that honoured his parents, likely Thomas, but Ra’s will not be satisfied with that. “Damian. I name him Damian Al Ghul.”
“To conquer, to tame.” Ra’s nods. “A good name. With all here as my witness, I accept Damian Al Ghul as my family, to be afforded the same rights and privileges as any of my line. He will be taught by the best of the best, to help us in the shaping of the world for our ultimate goal. And one day, when a male alpha is born of his womb, I will accept his son as my heir.” Ra’s lays a gentle hand on Damian’s forehead as he speaks. Talia locks her joints together so that she will not give in to instinct and pull away. “It will be the greatest honour I can bestow him.”
Talia forces herself to take deep breaths. There is nothing to fear. The life Damian will lead is the life she has lead. She has no regrets; neither will he. But the hand on his head seems to have roused Damian from his earlier grumpy contemplation of the world. His face wrinkles up, and a choked whimper passes his lips.
Ra’s frowns. “There is, of course, much training to do, and bad habits to unlearn.” His hand leaves for a moment, and then returns in a harsh slap that cuts off the beginning of a cry.
Damian’s eyes widen, mouth pursing together as if...as if he has already learned the consequences of making noise. Talia’s entire body is rooted to the floor, has been since she saw Ra’s raise his hand in the air, only her eyes are free to dart to the attendant, who stands with bored eyes staring into the distance.
“It will be your job to keep him quiet from now on, Talia,” Ra’s says firmly, turning away now that Damian has fallen silent.
Finally, with her body hers again now that Ra’s has dismissed them, Talia pulls Damian in as close to her as she can. Hunching over him belatedly as if she can protect him from the threat that has already passed. “Of course, Father, I will make sure he meets your standards the next time you see him.” I will make sure he is kept from you for as long as I can.
This time, Talia keeps her head down as she sweeps back out of the room, Damian clutched in her arms. She walks swiftly down the corridors, only long practice stopping her from breaking into a run and revealing her turmoil to everyone she passes.
Talia stares down at the red print already darkening into a bruise on Damian’s face. What could you have been without being my son?
A/N: The beauty of an AU, of course, is that I don't necessarily have to follow canon. Maybe Talia says screw it after this last scene and goes straight to Bruce. It won't be easy revealing that she lied about their son dying, but Bruce will be sympathetic to her wanting a better life for their son away from all the dangers their lives entail. He'll take Damian in, and Ra's will leave them be because he at least trusts Batman to educate an Al Ghul more than two civilians. Talia will try to stay away because of the guilt, but Bruce keeps her updated with each milestone Damian reaches and keeps offering visitation and eventually she makes regular trips to Gotham (I guess the Lexcorp arc could happen at some point around here earlier than the comics though Lex Luthor wouldn't be President at this point). Dick is gonna hate her for life for the trauma she put Bruce through though.
OR Instead of sending newly Lazarus Pit-ed Jason off on his own while she distracts Ra's, Talia jumps the cliff with Jason because she's worried that Ra's will take Damian away from her with this disobedience (since in this universe Ra's already has grounds to be suspicious of Talia's upbringing of Damian). Basically, the moment she decided to put Jason in the Pit she's decided to bring two sons back to Bruce. This might actually be the timeline that's hardest for Talia; on one hand you've got Jason as fucked up by the Lazarus Pit as Lost Days canon and wanting to kill Batman just as much when he finds out Joker's still alive, except this time you've got Talia and Damian along (just the three of them because of Talia's people she either doesn't trust them with both kids or doesn't want them caught up in Ra's anger) so Talia has to keep trying to descalate Jason before they get to Gotham while fighting the worry that to protect Damian she might have to kill Jason again and not knowing if she can actually go through with it, and on the other hand you've got Damian all jealous that Talia had been spending time with this other guy instead of him, and this guy knows Batman! Has been chosen to be Batman's son! And Batman's Robin! While Batman doesn't even know he exists! Talia probably seriously wonders whether she should even take them to Gotham, since Bruce'll surely never forgive her for both making him think two sons of his are dead and now she's bringing them to him while both are pretty murder-y, but Ra's is still on her tail to take Damian away from her because he no longer trusts her with Damian's upbringing (and probably wanting Jason dead too since he's so murder-y now) so she doesn't have a lot of choice. At some point I suppose she tries to stall Jason like in Lost Days and Egon happens and she has hope again. Maybe Nyssa still comes after Talia (a bit earlier than the comics again I guess) and helping stop her is what gives Jason that push.
OR Talia hides Damian from Bruce all the way until the resurrection of Ra's storyline because the longer she keeps Damian from him the harder it becomes to come clean and also Death and the Maidens screwed with her mind like in the comics. But with Damian in danger of being taken over by Ra's as his host body, and Talia losing control of the League of Assassins because of Ra's' return, she has no choice but to go to Bruce at last. Bruce is probably the least welcoming to her in this timeline because she didn't choose to come to him, but was forced to because of circumstances. Also she set Jason on him. But at least it's not as bad as having to deal with Jason's issues and Damian's issues all by herself while trying to keep away from Ra's. Meanwhile Jason strolls in because he heard Talia's in Gotham only to find that while she had been acting all chummy with him she was keeping secret that she has a son with Bruce, and he doesn't miss the fact that he and Damian are both omegas and now he's wondering if that's why Talia saved him...And Tim is upset about the whole situation because he still gets captured with Damian and almost gets used as Ra's' host body even though neither of them are even alphas (the drive to survive is apparently enough to make someone set aside their sexist views), and also Damian keeps threatening to kill him/Dick/Jason once he finds out about that guy to prove his true son-ness, but at least he doesn't have the chance to actually try like in canon. Dick just hates Talia for life for making Bruce think he miscarried and then 10 YEARS of keeping up that pretence, and also training Bruce's kid to be all murder-y and hiding Jason's resurrection from them and inadvertently turning HIM all murder-y too.
Man, Dick hates Talia for life in all of these.