Disclaimer: I own neither 'Batman' or 'Castle', and the original idea for this story was inspired by a piece of fanart created by AwsomeGeek and is used with her permission

Feedback: Feel free

AN: This is set a few years after the last chapter, while Kate's started work at the NYPD; hope you like it

Detective al Ghul

As she sat in the restaurant, waiting patiently for her father, Kate- she hadn't thought of herself as Talia since her last meeting with her only remaining parent, even if she would still answer to it if it was used in her presence- wondered why she was doing this. Ever since their last meeting after her mother's funeral, she'd tended to rely on Jim Beckett as a parental influence rather than thinking too much about the man that she was about to meet, to the point that she had started thinking of him as her father more regularly than she had ever considered her actual father as such.

Jim Beckett might not have been perfect, of course- the trouble he'd had as he succumbed to alcoholism after the funeral was proof enough of that-, but at least he wasn't unwilling to show that he cared. Kate might have spent more time feeling like she was his parent rather than the other way around over the last few years, but at least she'd been dealing with someone who actually cared about what had happened, rather than just locking it all away and moving on as though nothing had happened.

As for herself, while her current role as an officer in the New York Police Department was difficult, she was nevertheless satisfied with the path that she'd chosen for herself. Royce and Montgomery had both complimented her skill at noticing small details and talking with suspects- even if the second only occurred when they were really desperate, given her own junior status-, her therapy sessions had allowed her to move past the worst of her pre-existing obsessive interest in her mother's case- sometimes there just wasn't anything that could be done, regardless of what you wanted to do-, and in general she got along well with her current colleagues.

Admittedly, given her current profession, meeting with her father under any circumstance was awkward at best- even if he'd never admitted to anything explicitly, she had heard enough conversations and seen enough on the news to have a fair idea of what the 'League' actually did-, but until he did something that she knew he was responsible for, she had long ago promised herself that she wouldn't ask any questions about what he had done. Given that her father had never done anything remotely criminal in New York, coupled with the fact that the League hadn't carried out any major operations since before her birth, she wasn't violating her oath as a cop to just talk to him, even if she knew that what he did would raise some questions at least if she'd had to examine him as a suspect in anything.

She'd never really thought much about her father's activities when she was a child- what child wanted to consider the possibility that their parents were criminals, after all?-, but now that she was an adult, she had a better idea of what he did, and while she recognised that his fundamental mission was a quest for justice, the rest of her shied away from asking what kind of 'justice' he sought.

So long as she didn't know the answer for certain, she didn't have to worry too much about what she was doing...

Besides, it wasn't like the knowledge- or lack of it- made that much difference to her relationship with him, when she got down to it, given how little time they'd spent together even before her mother's death. Since her mother's death, she and her father had- to the best of her knowledge- never even been in the same city as each other, Kate pouring all of her efforts into completing her remaining courses so that she could apply for the police academy while her father kept his word and stayed out of her life as a physical presence. Admittedly, he'd contacted her to let her know that he had set up a trust fund in order to provide her with some additional financial support, but she'd already promised herself long ago that she wouldn't take anything from her father unless she absolutely had to; her mother's life insurance and some money she'd earned from the occasional part-time job (No matter how embarrassing it had been) were more than enough to support her at the moment.

She just hoped that this meeting wasn't about the fact that she hadn't done anything with that money; if her father gave her an ultimatum of some kind, she had no idea how she'd react...

"Hello, Talia," a voice said, Kate briefly starting before she looked around in time to see her father walk around the table to sit down opposite her, smiling briefly at her.

"Hello," she said, nodding politely back at him.

"I have followed your... career... with great interest," her father said, a slight edge to his voice that Kate wasn't sure how to interpret; he didn't exactly seem to disapprove of her choices, but there was something about his tone that suggested a kind of disappointment nevertheless.

"It's still early," she said, shrugging slightly while trying to give the impression that his opinion didn't really matter as much as it did. "My captain and my training officer both feel that I've got potential."

"That is... good to know," her father said, smiling slightly at her.

"What's this about?" she said, looking at him with a stare that she liked to think she'd been picking up from Royce (A part of her wondered if the genetics of the man before her also helped, but she wasn't going to look into that particular thought in detail unless she had to).

"You always were able to see through my best efforts..." her father said, a wistful smile on his face as he looked at her before he nodded and continued speaking. "As you are aware, the League often takes on and trains a variety of new and potentially promising recruits to ensure that we maintain our numbers-"

"If this is about a recruitment drive-" Kate began.

"You are content in your current profession and I will not seek to take that away from you; I respect your decision even if I do not agree with it," her father said, holding up a hand to halt her protest before he continued. "However, as our business in the League becomes more... complicated... I must look forward to the future as well. No matter how I try, I cannot lead the League forever, and-"

"You want my help providing you with an heir?" Kate asked, looking at him with a scathing smile; if he'd come here just to suggest she act as a broodmare, she would take great pleasure in ensuring that his legacy ended with him.

"I merely wished to inform you that I know of a man with the skills and dedication that would make him an appropriate heir to my own position," her father replied, staring at her in the same neutral manner he always seemed to use when discussing personal matters. "I offer no threats and demand nothing; I merely wished to make the offer."

"Why do you even care about that?" she asked, looking at him. "You could probably do it yourself and get any woman you really wanted even if you just told her about your... public activities-"

"But, no matter where I searched, I would not find one woman that I could love," her father replied, his tone reflecting a rare moment of pain and introspection that Kate had never heard from him before.

Looking back on their argument, she still felt that her reasons for leaving at the time had been justified- she didn't want to become as detached from the common man as her father had become over the years of his own crusade-, but, at the same time, accusing him of not caring about her mother had been taking things further than she should have.

He might have stopped himself from fully registering the scale of the pain and damage he caused to others, but he wasn't so far gone that he didn't still miss her mother; he just chose bad times to show it.

"Out of curiosity," she said, looking slightly curiously at him, "who is this protégé you thought worth mentioning?"

"His name is Bruce Wayne," her father replied.

For a moment, Kate couldn't believe that she'd heard her father correctly, and then she just couldn't stop her jaw from dropping in shock.

"Hold on; Bruce Wayne?" she said, looking at her father incredulously. "As in, the Gotham City Bruce Wayne? Heir to the Wayne Enterprises fortune, one of the richest people on the planet? That Bruce Wayne?"

"The same," her father said, nodding at her with a smile. "He has a deep resolution to oppose criminals after the fate that befell his family; considering the... circumstances... that motivated you to take this path, coupled with the exceptional skill he has displayed in his training, I have seen that he possesses the same dedication and commitment that you do-"

"Not the right kind of commitment," Kate said, shaking her head as she stood up, her gaze fixed resolutely on her father. "I respect what you're trying to do with the League, but it's not the way I do things; just... consider your suggestion ignored."

It was an abrupt and potentially awkward way to end things, Kate knew, but it was all that she could think of to do right now; if she stayed here any longer, she might do something that she would regret, particularly since she wasn't even sure what she'd regret doing in a situation like this.

Given how utterly bizarre and complicated their relationship was, the idea of her father actually trying to set her up on a date was unquestionably the strangest part of this whole mess; the thought of Bruce Wayne training with the League of Shadows was strange, but she was removed enough from that particular situation that whatever he was doing with his life didn't really affect her, so she'd focus on what she could relate to and leave it at that.

Even if Bruce was motivated by similar events to what had inspired her current path- she certainly recalled reading about the death of the Waynes almost two decades ago, even if she'd been too young to register the scale of what that meant for Gotham and their company-, she wasn't going to be part of her father's vision.

Right now, all she wanted to do was get back to her apartment and have a rest before returning to another day at work...