Okay, I know Neglected! Daughter looking like Martha Wayne is an overused headcanon that we all love, and i personally never get tired of it bc it offers so much angst/drama potential (bruce having trauma response when seeing her, society treating her one way or another for resembling her grandmother, etc). I just love it. i'm a basic bitch
And thinking about it, it reminded me..Martha Wayne was Martha Kane first, and you know who was her older brother?
Jacob Kane. Kate Kane aka Batwoman's father. One of the few people who knows Bruce is Batman.
There's not much known about his relationship with Martha, because she's supposed to be a stepping stone along with Thomas for Batman's story. She's a ghost, haunting the narrative with her husband, but little is known about them as people. Obviously, Bruce sees them as wonderful, because he was a child when they died and they'll be forever idealised in his mind.
But how did everyone else reacted to the couple's death? We know Bruce, we know Alfred, we know the whole city gave them the Lady Di treatment, we even know a bit of Philip Kane, Martha's other brother, who was clearly sad but that's it.
What about Jacob, tho? And it made me think. We know all about Martha Wayne, but what of Martha Kane and those close to her?
Imagine being Jacob Kane, born in a prestigious family from Gotham and growing up there along with your siblings, Martha being the only girl. You love her, you protect her, you teach her how to be strong just like you'll teach your daughter a bunch of years later. Maybe you and your brothers have to be stern sometimes because Martha is a wild little thing that doesn't listen to rules and defies high society with her carefree attitude and idealist views of Gotham.
Imagine being Jacob Kane and seeing Gotham for what it is, a cursed hellish city, but your sister loves it and strives to make it better, and eventually meets a guy who shares her beliefs. You watch her grow up, fall in love and get married with the richest man in Gotham. It pushes your own family's status up, so it's happy news.
Imagine being Jacob Kane and meeting your nephew, holding him in your arms and noticing he has Martha's eyes, reminding you of the first time you held her like this too. They name him Bruce Thomas Wayne, and even thought you wish he looked more like Martha instead of taking after Thomas so much, you congratulate them. Despite being busy in the army, you send them gifts for the boy's birthday and check on them every here now and then.
Imagine being Jacob Kane when you receive news that your sister was murdered. Shot to death by a man who wanted to steal their money. In front of her son, no less.
By the time you arrive is too late. You only get to see her body in the coffin, and you watch her get buried with a mass of people watching her too. You barely process your nephew is there, an orphan now, and muster just enough energy to say you're sorry for him.
He's not there for Bruce. He can't. He won't. He tells himself the butler will take care of him and do everything and anything to ignore the pain. To come to terms with the loss, and the gawning grief. He focuses on his job more than ever, trying to drown these feelings.
He grows to hate Gotham, resent the wretched city for killing his sister. For doing that to someone who spent her life loving Gotham and fighting for it. There's an underlining sense of guilt and shame too, part of him thinking he could've done more. He should've been there and protect her, like a brother is supposed to.
Many years pass. He has his own family, his priorities, and his relationship with Bruce is cordial but not close enough to be considered family. He's not going to try and change it now, it's been too long. He finds out he's Batman and why he chose it, and seeing his eyes (so much like Martha's) shine with that unshakeable will and loyalty to Gotham, makes something in his heart clench a bit.
He decides he has moved on, that his sister is probably resting in peace watching over her boy, now a man, who's going to keep defending the city and try to improve it, just like she and Thomas wanted to.
He also hears of his sons, the boys he takes under his wing and calls his own in public. He doesn't pay too much attention, only seeing them briefly from afar in the few times he and Bruce cross paths.
He hears about his biological kids too, a girl born from a scandalous affair, and a boy dropped at his door that's widely regarded as the blood son of Wayne and his heir.
Imagine being Jacob Kane again, casually going over the news...and suddenly being hit in the chest with a picture of your sister walking down the streets with friends, smiling without a care in the world.
Except she's much younger than last time you saw her, and she's not really your sister. She's Bruce's daughter, who's turning eighteen in a few weeks and the media is itching to finally be legally accepted to invade her privacy.
His heart is beating so fast it threatens to shatter his ribs and choke him. His breath itches as he looks closer, making sure his eyes aren't deceiving him. That the photo isn't manipulated.
And when he sees her in person, he's shaken to the core. He doesn't just resemble Martha. She's identical. A breathing image of his dead sister standing before him, looking exactly like when she was a teenager. Same face, same mannerisms, even the same damn voice. It's haunting. It's terrifying. It's beautiful. He doesn't understand why isn't more people noticing it. Why doesn't Bruce see it.
For a moment, he can almost believe Martha is still there. He's taken back to when they were younger and things were simple, and his sister had her whole life ahead of her while he watched her with a fond, exasperated smile.
He's not happy at all to know this girl is neglected and left in the dark by her own family, those supposed to be there for her (if he had been there more for Martha, maybe she would've lived). He's annoyed by Bruce's excuse of "keeping her safe" (like Thomas kept Martha safe?). He can see the girl's potential, beyond her ghostly resemblance, and can't stand seeing her wasting away in the shadows, lonely and vulnerable at the dangerous claws of Gotham.
Jacob Kane takes one more look at his sister's granddaughter, who moves and smiles like the woman used to, and is resolved to not let history repeat itself. He decides this girl is going to live, no matter what, and he'll make sure of it.
And hopefully, he'll get to see how Martha would've looked like if she got the chance.
