Silence.

Then a horrible, tortured muttering. The incessant, subconscious whisperings of dread that punctuated the air like a million bullet holes through flesh and bone.

"No. no.no.no.no.no.no..."

No one spoke.

The murmurs stopped and the murmurer fixed his posture, rising to his full height and, with flat eyes, he seethed, "You never can stay dead, can you?"

Talia's dark, arched brows drew together and her voice snapped, "How far you have abandoned our ways. You dare to address me so vulgarly?". She reigned in her vengeance, "But of course, you've abandoned our way of life, what more am I to expect?"

It was a difficult situation. Not only for Batman and Robin, but for the others as well. What the heck were Cyborg, the Flash, Wonderwoman, Superman, Raven and Emrys supposed to do with Batfamily domestics? Spectate? Apparently so. Peacekeeping antics wouldn't work in this live-wire scenario.

Bruce had one question, "How?"

Talia turned her keen eyes towards her old lover, "My body was retrieved by assassins loyal to me, they paid for their tardiness dearly.", the easy manner in which she spoke of killing reminded Batman just why he should be so wary of her. "But that is of no consequence."

Damian narrowed his eyes, "You killed them."

Resting her hands on her hips (on the hilts of two long daggers comfortably resting over her robe) Talia pursed her lips, "Still daddy's little boy. But I'm not here to change that.", she glanced at Batman, "You've damaged him so much I doubt even I could."

Brazen as ever, Diana stepped forward- her hands too at her hips, a lasso and sword in her fingers- and boomed, "What is your purpose here then?"

"A confrontation."

Superman and the Flash raised their fists; Cyborg's arm-cannon whirred in to place; and Diana unwound her lasso.

The woman scoffed, throwing a disparaging look at the Justice League members. "Oh please, I have no notions of being skilled enough to take you all on by myself. I don't mean a physical confrontation, half-wits."

Barry dropped his fists, "Then what..?"

"By all mean leave", Talia shooed away the Leaguers, "my business is with my son. I happened to locate him when he was in your company. Purely coincidental. This doesn't concern any one else."

Not a muscle moved. Juuuuuuuust in case. You never knew with these Al Ghuls, always something up their sleeves.

Still standing in front of the woman and his son, Batman growled, "Go on. Confront away."

Being a practical woman, Talia Al Ghul was never bothered by awkward situations or all eyes expectantly on her. Thus, she began with a voice of thinly veiled fury, "I am risen from my water-grave Damian, and the first matter I attend is the League, your Grandfather's legacy. What do I find? Nothing! A handful of loyal, incompetents who resurrected me and the rest scattered! Upon tracking down many of those still on Earth, what do I hear? Half our forces banded under the control of a Light Council renegade Ringmaster supporting a coup in Trigon's realm led by the demon's sons."

That summed it up better than Raven could.

"And you have done nothing!", she concluded, not shouting but not in the least bit calm.

Emrys made a move to speak, but was silenced with a wave of her hand, "I didn't ask you. Though I can't imagine what you're doing here, traitor."

The other waited for Damian to speak, wading in foggy waters and through murky air.

"If you think I- we- haven't done anything, clearly you haven't looked thoroughly enough.", he said.

Her eyes brightened with curiosity, "We?"

"The three of us."

"Three?", she looked between her son, Emrys and Batman, then privately shook her head. Not that three.

Swathed in the shadows and wearing them like a second skin, a girl stepped forwards. The darkness rolling away from her, she removed her hood and stared the formidable woman straight in the eyes. Predicting Talia's thoughts, Raven answered, "The third would be me."

It took the woman (in the green robe and black combat suit) a moment, but the natural instincts of an Al Ghul would not be denied. A demon. And not just any demon. No...Talia had been in this girl's presence before, a long while ago. She doubted the girl would remember, after all, that child had been so, so young.

"You're Trigon's youngest.", she thought out loud, eyes wide and tone both confused and intrigued. That shock gave way to cynicism as she dipped her head, "Your majesty, another failed child like my own.", she referenced Damian.

Barry raised his eyebrows at the way she mocked 'your majesty', soaking in the soap opera playing before him. Demonic family politics was so much even more interesting than it sounded. In he wasn't so enraptured, he would've asked if Vic had snacks stored in a compartment somewhere. As Robin's mother asked them to explain what the heck they actually did, Barry remembered that he was the Flash, and could get popcorn from the street nearby and be back in less that a second.

Half a second later, the sound of popped corn kernels between teeth sounded in the still air. Withering under Batman, Wonderwoman,Robin, Superman, Cyborg, Raven, the-new-guy-with-the-yellow-eyes, and Talia Al Ghul, staring at him, Barry hid the popcorn behind his back, letting Vic steal some when they stopped looking.

And so the three (Raven, Robin and the new guy, Emrys) launched in to the brilliant scheme they'd put in to work a few months back. A brilliant, brilliant scheme indeed. So brilliant, it halted Talia's anger. So brilliant, she was almost impressed.

"And so you see, mother,", Damian used the word ironically, "I haven't abandoned the League and my heritage. Neither has Emrys. Nor has Raven given up on her people." His voice was triumphant, "Most of the League's assassins not in coalition with Raven's brothers are in allegiance with us, working for us."

Raven finished off, "The reign of my brothers is slowly but surely falling as we take them down from the inside. Nothing is abandoned. Lady Talia."

After spending fifteen minutes in silence, Batman spoke, his voice both harsh and soft, gravelly all the same. "Satisfied, Talia? Or is there more?"

Barry was hoping for more. Really, reeeally hoping for more- even if it meant facing Iris' earth for being late home.

The woman, for once, appeared to shed her cold skin for something new and never before seen. There was a different look painting her eyes when she addressed her son, conflicted beyond reason. Sad, prideful, and resolute, Talia sighed and (for the first time in this lifetime of hers) let weakness flicker in her voice, "All these years I have been gone, my dutiful child has gone too. Yet, you have grown beyond measure and become what the League could never have made you. Your grandfather's legacy is safe in your hands, I see.", she blinked the smidgen of emotion out of her eyes and heart. "I'll take my leave."

Talia pulled a small grey cylinder out of one of her robe's pockets and clicked the top of it. A portal identical to the one she entered in appeared. Something akin to respect in her eyes, Talia dipped her head to the demoness then glanced over the Justice League members and Emrys, dwelling a second on Batman.

"Mother...", Damian tried, and she stopped an inch from the portal.

"Until the next." 

***

Against Raven's protests that she could manifest a portal, Batman insisted he drove them home. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but it was a heavy one with so much to be said but no words to express it. Knowing Damian would only snap if he tried to say anything, Bruce stayed quiet opting to keep to his own thoughts and glance at the girl sitting in the back.

His little chat with her at the Valentine's gala shook all doubts about her reliability away. Raven was a good kid, good for Damian certainly. She had a calming presence on anyone and everyone, there wasn't a bad word said about her- certainly not from Alfred, the young girl was a wonder of manners and curtesy, always insisting on helping the butler and giving good company.

Bruce looked in the rear view mirror, noting the same way that she always sat and stood. Like she was listening to nothing and hearing everything, at peace and warring with herself, inconspicuous and regal. A conundrum, but that was alright; there were lots of those this side of hero-ville.

The Batmobile stopped and Robin (who'd been glaring out of the rain-streaked window) sat to attention. Raven spoke first, "We aren't at the Batcave."

Batman opened the Batmobile and jumped out, "I know,", the two teens climbed out, "but I figured you two would want a bite to eat, you haven't had much since you got back from school."

The Batmobile was parked outside the Batburger, already attracting a lot of attention. Batman ignored it and beckoned the two of them inside. Shrugging, Raven followed, encouraging Damian in with a small smile- something he didn't realise that he needed.

So used to the Batman&co walking in to diners, supermarkets and takeaways at night, the Gothamites in the fast food restaurant didn't even bat an eye at Batman walking in to the establishment. There were, however, a few curious peeks at the new girl with them. A new addition to the clan? Nah, she didn't have the symbol. She did look pretty dark though, maybe transitional? No, that was Raven from the Teen Titans. They'd heard the Titans were in town. Whadya know!

Batman did the ordering -a medium batburger, a medium vegetarian batburger, and the drinks- and appreciated the lack of absolute terror on the employees face, though he did often enjoy that look. He looked to Raven, "Milkshake?"

"Vanilla."

He looked to Damian.

"Chocolate."

Taking a hundred-sheet, he prepared to pay the employee. Robin watched in pain, "That's one hundred dollars."

Batman was apparently confused, "I know. I didn't have anything smaller."

Had Jason or Dick or Stephanie or Babs or Tim or Duke or Cassandra or.... been there, there would have been no end to the comments about Bruce's oblivious richness. Wealth was a great privilege until your children pulled out 'I'll kill myself' lines at you over-tipping a waiter. Speaking of, Batman handed the employee two hundred-dollar notes. Jason. Would. Shriek.

Raven blinked twice. She had to physically shake the mental stability back in to her head.

While waiting for their food to be ready, the three heroes/vigilantes/darkbadasses sat at an empty table. Batman studied the handful of people sitting in the building: a middle-aged couple in conversation; a few lone teenagers; a man with his daughter no older than sic or seven; and in walked a person in a suit of black and yellow. Bruce inhaled sharply.

The Signal. Duke.

The masked figure with the bat symbol emblazoned on his chest turned his head and reeled in shock. "Batman?", he looked at the others on the table as they turned around. "Robin? And...no, I don't know you..."

Duke walked over and the three of them stood up, the demoness a little unsure of her place in the Bat-meet-up. Clasping hands with his former protégée, Batman gave one of his rare smiles, "It's good to see you again."

"Yeah, it's been a while. I've been drifting around a little, haven't seen Gotham in a few months." He confessed, "I've kinda missed it."

Duke held his hand out to the the younger Robin, not entirely sure if he would take it or not. The boy was a lot taller than the last time Duke had seen him, and apparently a lot less...feisty. "I see you've returned. Do you intend to stay long?"

He still couldn't talk like a proper kid though.

"Nah, only a couple days. I've got to be in Metropolis next week.", he shrugged. Duke dropped Damian's hand and looked quizzically at the girl next to Robin. "Now, I don't see a Bat sign so is she- are you-...kinda familiar but I can't place it...", he left them to explain.

Shaking hands with the Bat-something, the demoness filled in, "Raven. I'm a Titan so..."

"Oh yeah! That's it. Hi,", he whispered, "I'm Duke," in his regular voice he continued, "The Signal.", back to confused mode, Duke pointed between the other three," Sooo....?"

Bruce saw the perfect opportunity and grasped it.

He almost-smirked, "Nightwing should've told you by now. They're together."

Duke gasped dramatically.

Beneath his breath Damian stressed with a vengeance, "Fath-errr!"

If it were even possible, Raven's paler than pale complexion blanched.

"Ohhh...oh damnnn...", Duke rewound, one hand on his chest, "Okay okayyyy, hold on. You... and that ball of anger management issues...are a thing. Shit. There's a whole ocean of detail I've gotta get from Dick because I can't even process that right now."

"ORDER NUMBER 16 READY!", the employee called, leaving the paper bag on the counter to be collected.

Leaving the others to continue talking (and hoping they'd change the subject...fast) Raven took their receipt and brought back their order. Batman was in the process of asking the -what did he call himself?- Signal if he was going to be staying at the Manor.

Duke pondered it, "Yeah, okay, sure, why not? I haven't seen the others in a while." The clock on the wall told quarter-to-ten, "Oh shut, I need to get going. I'm meeting a friend, so I'll order and get going then."

A few minutes later, he bade his goodbyes to his old mentor, the unsociable Damian, and the girl in purple, sure to see them again soon.

***

Robin and Raven sat on the hood of the Batmobile, munching their way through burgers and stopping to occasionally sip their milkshakes. In front of them, Batman sipped his own drink (Bruce was a classic vanilla kind of man). The rain had mostly stopped, but the sky over Gotham continued to stubbornly drip every few seconds. Damian scrunched his nose as a cold pearl fell on it, taking another bite of his vegetarian burger.

Raven hummed thoughtfully, rolling her straw between her fingers and watching the wall of cloud build itself above them. The world would seem so small so high up, all the intricacies of life rendered so insignificant by sheer distance. She came back down from her cloud of thought as her skin was met with the touch of a drop of water.

After drawing a long sip of her milkshake, Raven remarked, "So, your mother is back."

Damian stared at nothing on the ground, "My mother is back."

"We should have anticipated this, but after so long...", Batman sat on the other side of his son, setting his milkshake on the Batmobile's roof. "I though she was really gone for good."

Tilting his head up, Damian searched for that flicker of starlight in the sky, but was met with unrelenting, wispy blackness. "What am I supposed to do now?"

The question sat, unanswered, just hanging around, waiting.

Raven's solution was simple, "Talk."

She continued, "Get it all out. All the emotions, all the questions, all of the baggage. Just offload. Curse the heavens for all their purity and hate the underworld for its inevitability. Just get it out."

"It's better than letting it all build up and crash back down on you. And much better than trying to work it off. Not all your problems can be punched away.", Bruce said, speaking from first-hand experience.

"How about kicked?", Damian snorted, drumming his fingers on the car's hood. "Is there a manual for dealing with relatives rising from the dead? My own personal experience still doesn't seem to be enough.", he glanced at his father, remembering them the traumas of the past an the struggle through them. Somehow Damian didn't think he would've made it through those times without Dick and Alfred.

Support.

That was it, wasn't it? Support. In simpler times, Damian would've rejected the notion of relying on others to manage his personal matters. Then again, in simpler times, he was also 4'6, still killed, almost murdered Tim Drake, and had a fuse of around three seconds. While two of those were still true about him, there wasn't any denying it: letting people help was a pretty good way of actually sorting things out. He'd discovered that the most through speaking with Raven. Right from the start, she's always been so insightful, such a good listener and good council. Perhaps she should become a therapist, then again, Gotham had a way of producing psychopathic and sociopathic therapists, so perhaps not.

And so, with a mind and a heart stuffy with a million thoughts and feelings, Damian was all to relieved to unload. The thought of his mother always brought regret, betrayal, longing and hardship with it, carrying it around like a hefty sack of flour. The thought of his dead mother alive again and seeming almost proud of him...that was regret, betrayal, longing and hardship x20. Talia would never be a true mother: never affectionate; never loving; never the woman sitting at his beside soothing her child to sleep with words of care and the promise of her adoration. But she was his mother. His deadly assassin mother who never spoke a kind word to him. His deadly assassin mother who played no role in raising him. His deadly assassin mother who he can't remember half his memories about because his own mind locked them away to stop him drowning in memories of a childhood of pain. His mother, who sought him dead, once.

But his mother all the same.

As they climbed back in to the Batmobile, Damian smiled up at the clear night sky and the stars smiled back upon him, winking their secrets but never telling. He brushed it off, "Pathetic fallacy .", and sat down.

A.N:

This shit got me in my feeeeels ngl, I'm actually a bit too sad. But happy. A bittersweet kind of thing, you know. As an author here, I've decided to just say fuck it and have a nice, sad moment with Talia rather than let her leave saltily, and do you know what? That's that. Tough. Today was just a sad chapter. Deal with it. So angstyyyyyy!

But anyway, I don't even know what to say. Just, thank you for reading, voting, commenting and whatnot. Love youuuus!

-Bats :/

As the years go by
I crawl through your veins
As the years go by
I crawl through your head
As the years go by,
Weaving

-The Years -✝️✝️✝️Crosses