"Again," Talia sat across from Jason, bouncing the baby in her lap. "What is your name?"
"Gray," he paused, "son."
She put her fingers to her temple, frustrated. "No. We've been over this. I don't know why I bother with you anyway."
Jason watched her, eyes unmoving. He wasn't really there, he was off somewhere in his own mind. The small baby let out a cry and Jason fixed his gaze on it. Talia stood up with the child in her arms. Jason watched, transfixed as she adjusted her grip before letting her arms fall to her sides and letting the baby go mid-air.
Jason's arms shot out, catching the child before he had a chance to hit the ground.
"Your reflexes are improving," Talia circled around him, watching him as he held the child in his arms. "You went toe to toe with your former idol. I am quite proud."
She rested a hand on his shoulder, "There still is much work to be done."
He looked up at her, with a look of confusion on his face. He didn't understand much of anything.
"Damian is as much mine as he is yours. I know you are aware of that. When he gets older, I would like him to train with you. Perhaps he can help rescue your memory." She noted, sitting back down, watching Jason intently.
He said nothing, but turned his attention back to the child. Damian let out another cry as Jason propped his neck up with his forearm. She felt helpless, and didn't enjoy the feeling. She was so stubborn for success it was irritating she couldn't just mold Jason how she wanted.
"You are so gentle with him," Talia said, thinking out loud. Jason looked up to her, away from the squirming child in his arms. "You have become a cold killer, but this child has made you weak."
Talia picked Damian up from Jason's arms, unnerved. When Jason had come to them, she had reservations. Especially now, with the new addition to the family, she worried Jason's memory would never return. She would never be able to return him to Bruce, as she had hoped. He would be another failure in a string of failures. She had been focusing her attention to Damian as of late, and didn't like leaving Jason alone. Talia was uncomfortable splitting her time, and would have much rather of fixed one problem before moving onto the next.
"I suppose this is still an improvement," She muttered under her breath, "But you have not gotten any better since Damian showed up. You just need…"
She paused, thinking. What exactly could she offer to help a formerly-dead robin with serious memory issues?
"You need clarity," She finally said, rocking Damian back and forth in her arms, "You need a little push into the deep end, to come out feeling refreshed."
She paused, realizing what she was saying. Ra's would never allow it. But it was just sitting there, no one using it.
Talia stood up, mind made up already. She would not be defeated when success was right under her nose.
"Get up," She commanded, and he stood up, attentive, "Follow me."
Jason curiously followed her, aiming more to protect the child. He had been a guard dog since Damian was born, hurting anyone who even had negative thoughts about the child. He couldn't explain it, even if he wanted to. Talia had guessed it was the innocence of the child, like an animal, Jason could sense when something was helpless. And somehow, he grew attached. A very clingy guard dog, at this point.
"Your body has healed, nicely," She paused, rounding a corner before climbing a staircase down at the end of the hall to the subterranean level of the large mansion. "But your mind is broken, still. And I can try to help, but at this point my attention is divided. I can't raise the both of you."
She unlocked the door at the bottom of the stairs as Jason watched, curious. She paused, looking back at him, "You need the only help I can give you. And if this doesn't heal you, then I have no choice but to keep you until Damian can defend himself, and then dispose of you when you aren't needed. There is no point to nurture something incapable of healing."
Talia opened the door, letting green light fall on the both of them. Jason's eyes widened, he didn't know what he was looking at. As she walked into the room, Jason noticed a large pool of bright neon green liquid in the center of the floor. There was no one else around, and it looked almost like the building had been built around this underground cave in the basement. He followed Talia to the edge of the pool, where he watched the child, unaware that the danger was aimed at him and not Damian.
"I pray this will heal you. I would love nothing more than to deliver you to the Detective whole and complete. Your death has traumatized him so..." She paused, drifting off into the distance before snapping her attention back to Jason. She quickly grabbed a hold of the collar of his tunic and pulled him in for a kiss. She could see in his eyes he was confused, and she was almost mournful as she felt his soft lips on hers. Only a moment later, she flattened her hand on his collarbone and pushed him backward with all of her strength, into the Lazarus Pit.