Author's Note: One reader guessed correctly that Talia's book is The Red Tent. I feel like both she and Jason with his awesome feminist ideals would enjoy it :) This was a bit of a hard chapter to write. It heavily references scenes between Bruce and Talia in both the ending of Son of the Demon and also Detective Comics Annual #1. Also I totally stole... manipulated a line from LotR for Talia. More points for that recognition. Also this may be the last 'happy' chapter in a while, so enjoy it while you can!
The knock at Talia's door came unexpectedly, and she looked up from the book in her hands. She had been half way through it earlier but for Jason's benefit had started at the beginning. Now that it was late and her son had fallen asleep on the couch opposite, she couldn't quite force herself to go forward to her original place in the tome. The knock came again, and she put it down, rose from her place on the other couch, and went to the door.
Unsure of who it could be aside from her neighbor who was far more friendly and outgoing than Talia was used to, she carefully peered through the peep hole. Her eyes widened for a second, but she opened the door as quickly and quietly as she could.
"What are you doing here, Bruce?" she demanded in a whisper. Open floor plan meant that the door was technically in the living room, and if she was too vocal in her annoyance, she would wake Jason.
"We need to talk," he replied, firm but also quiet, as he glanced over her shoulder to their sleeping son.
"Many of this building's residents are LexCorp employees." Talia gritted her teeth and leaned out into the hall slightly to make sure there was no one there. "You should not have come. I would have sent Jason back to you in the morning at the latest."
"This isn't about him," Bruce said then amended. "Not only him. It's about all of us, and I have things to say that I should have said ten years ago. They can't wait any more."
"Obstinate fool," she muttered but pulled her coat from the hook nonetheless. "There is a fire escape stairwell that leads to the roof. I shall meet you there in a few minutes."
Then she shut the door on him without preamble. The rooftop was still not the most private place for whatever conversation he was insisting on, but Talia was not about to wake Jason on his whim. Even if she did, they were not having this conversation in front of him, and she certainly would not ask her son to leave. Bruce would have to leave first.
Pulling out a large quilted blanket, she draped it over Jason's sleeping form and was just about to leave before he stirred, brow wrinkling in a frown. Leaning down to brush back a curl from his forehead, Talia whispered softly, "Rest, darling. I will be back momentarily."
" 'kay, Mom," Jason muttered without ever opening his eyes and buried his face deeper into the pillow. Talia doubted he was awake enough to realize what he had said.
She was only a moment behind him and upon reaching the roof, Talia was faced with an odd sight of Bruce facing out into the night, dark trenchcoat occasionally being picked up by the cool breeze. She had absolutely no warm feelings about Gotham, but seeing him staring out into a city that was not his own was odd. Metropolis was too new, too bright especially at night, and neither Batman nore Bruce Wayne felt like they belonged there. Talia did not feel like she belonged there either, but for now it was the best option available to her.
Hearing her footsteps behind him, Bruce turned pulling his hands out of the coat pockets running his thumbs over the pads of his middle and pointer fingers in a nervous gesture that Talia had rarely seen. A milder voice in her head suggested that perhaps she should be gentler with him, but she ignored it in favor of crossing her arms under her chest in a defensive posture.
"Well?" she challenged. "Speak."
"Right," he nodded and to his credit, looked directly at her. "This is going to sound incredibly cliche, but I spent most of the time since you left thinking about where we went wrong. Not just today; I mean over the many many years we've known each other. I kept looking for that one point of no return."
"And you discovered it was lying to me about by dying father?" Talia ventured a mocking guess. "How much detective work did that take, I wonder."
"No," Bruce shook his head. "Years before. We had crossed paths in Gotham on a case involving the Penguin. It was about a month after… after Jason's murder, and sufficed to say I was not in a good place. I lashed out at everyone and everything in sight, including you."
"I remember." Talia had not known Jason then, but she recalled how the grief of losing him had twisted Bruce. Still she would not allow it to be an excuse. "As I recall, you told me never to dare and call you 'beloved' again. Congratulations: you got your wish."
"Yeah," he visibly winced, "one of my many less than stellar moments. I'll get back to that one. You'd been hurt that day, and with the two of us alone in the hospital room, you'd poured out your heart to me. You'd said that you would forsake your father, come and be with me no matter where I chose. And all I could say was… 'no'."
"Actually spitting in my face may have been less painful," her voice dripped with disdain because, by all the gods, that had hurt! The mere memory of the night felt like a punch to the gut, and suddenly she was angry all over again, though mostly with the foolishness of her youth.
"You're right," he swallowed. "You didn't deserve that. Didn't deserve me lying to you and to myself, especially since you kept giving me second chances over and over again. I left you after Qayin…"
"I had told you to go," her throat felt suddenly tight. "I had lied to you about Damian."
"That makes it worse!" Bruce protested. "My wife tells me she miscarried, and I just… leave?! What kind of a man does that?"
"One who needs to grieve in solitude," Talia said quietly. She had never blamed him for that. Her own guilt over the lie was too strong.
"Don't." He held up a hand. "Don't make excuses for me. It was a disgusting thing to do, and yet you gave me a second chance with Damian and then brought Jason back to me."
"Then this is… gratitude?" There was not a single part of her that did not hate that word, especially since all Talia could hear was her father saying it. Bruce shook his head.
"No. This is acknowledgment that you kept giving me second chances - not just with the children, but with you - when I didn't deserve them. I took it - took you - for granted, and it wasn't until I spent these last few months hearing nothing but 'Bruce' that I realized full of myself I was. And I can blame it on my self-righteous anger, my grief, whatever else, but the bottom line is I didn't deserve to be 'beloved'. "
"Do you believe you deserve it any more now?"
"No. Not yet, but I want to earn it back," he said earnestly. "I want to prove to you that your love was not misplaced, and I want to do it right. No more of this running around and hiding. As Jason correctly pointed out, I suck at having an affair, and that's probably because I hate it."
Talia felt her eyes prickle, but she'd be damned if she would let herself cry in front of him, even if his words were exactly what she had always wanted to hear. For Bruce to swallow his pride and speak honestly to her was so rare that she could have likely counted the number of times it had happened on one hand and never quite like this. Still, she was not about to give in so easily.
"I appreciate your honesty," Talia replied coolly. "Truly. If it had come years earlier when I was young and naive, I would have likely followed you anywhere. As it is, we have to work within the reality we are given. Even if my father dies, that leaves the League of Assassins with a power vacuum, and I know neither of us wants the likes of Slade Wilson or David Cain at the head."
"Of course not, but I don't think you want to be at the head of it either. The best thing is to let it dissolve."
"You do not let the League of Assassins do anything," Talia scowled. "It has been in place for centuries, and has evolved so much so that it is nearly a living entity in its own right. Have you never wondered why my father is called the demon's head? Most of its members are true believers who are not easily dissuaded."
"The Justice League can be pretty persuasive."
"I am not amused."
"I wasn't kidding." He took a step forward. "I realize that this wouldn't be an even arrangement. I couldn't give up Batman or Gotham…"
"I would never ask it of you." Talia objected, offended that he would think she would, but Bruce shook his head again.
"I know. I just want you to know I recognize your sacrifices for us and our family. A leaderless League of Assassins is a problem I will take responsibility for, even if I have to get the Justice League involved."
Talia bit her lip. "What if it was not leaderless?"
"You don't honestly want it." She could not quite tell if it was a statement - and therefore irritatingly presumptuous - or a question, but she replied nonetheless.
"I do not, but I am not the only option. My father still lives, and if we stop whoever is destroying the pits, he will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. At the very least in his hands the League is stable."
Most of the words that were coming out of her mouth were doing so without much prior thought behind them. There were many aspects of her father's impending death that would be liberating. If Ra's al Ghul ever found out that she was directly responsible for returning both Jason and Damian to Bruce against his explicit orders, there would be repercussions. That aside, Talia had many times stated that while she admired his goal of a utopian world, she abhorred his methods. But he was still her father. She loved him and despite some of his more archaic notions, Talia knew he loved her. He would never be what she wanted, but did that mean she wanted him dead?
"You want me to help him?" Bruce seemed to be uncertain about what she was asking. Talia herself was unsure if she was asking or merely speaking hypothetically, so she said nothing instead waiting to see what conclusion he would come to. He was quiet and contemplative for a long moment, then looked back up at her. "If I did, would he swear to leave us alone?"
Talia tilted her head, amused. "You mean to blackmail the demon's head?"
"Not blackmail: exchange. His life for our family. When he came to me after the boys returned to Gotham, he said that he'd leave Damian alone because Jason had been withheld for so long."
"He relinquished any claim on Damian because he knows he cannot hope to control him without my influence," she pointed out.
"Maybe, but he's kept his word so far."
Talia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. The hour was late, and it was too much. She had no desire to solve - or honestly even think about - all the issues surrounding the league or her father. It felt cowardly, but all she wanted was to curl up in bed, get a few blissful hours of sleep, and then… She could not bring herself to finish the thought and was startled when, with one last step toward her, he took her hands between his own.
"We don't have to figure it out right now. None of these are insurmountable obstacles," he said with rare gentleness. "I love you. I believe you love me. If this is true, our only chance for happiness - for peace - is to be together."
He must have known how those words would affect her. They were her own after all from years ago when she had offered to give up everything for him. He recognized her sacrifice, forgave her past deceptions, and accepted her as she was. Suddenly overcome with emotions, Talia swallowed hard.
"People will not be pleased," she tried. "The Justice League will likely wonder if you have been drugged or replaced by a doppelganger, and Gotham's elite will ask, 'Could our prince not have found a proper American woman to wed?' "
"Because their feelings are high on my list of concerns," he said sarcastically. "The only opinions I care about are those of my family, and I would like to think that includes you. Say 'yes', Talia. Say you'll come back with me."
She had no time to respond to that because he leaned forward and captured her lips, and Talia would have sworn she could feel all of his emotions, his hopes and dreams for them. It was like being in a whirlwind, overwhelming and all-consuming, but perhaps most telling of all was the fact that her first and only thought was to kiss him back with everything she had.
Left gasping for air moments later, she opened her eyes and saw him smiling. He already thinks I have consented. Talia placed both palms to his chest to bring some distance between them without actually pushing him away.
"I will give you an answer," she promised. "But not now. Now is quite late. You should go back."
Anyone else might have thought his face remained neutral, but Talia could see the barest hint of unhappiness. She bit her lip, hoping her next statement was not a mistake.
"Or you can take the second couch."
"I'll take the couch."
Hours later she wondered if the offer was a good idea after all. It was different when he was an ocean, half a continent, or even several city blocks away. Talia could put him out of her thoughts long enough to find distractions, but he was right there! Right on the other side of her bedroom door, and all she could do was lie alone in bed and stare at the ceiling as rest eluded her. How Jason had slept through their return, she had no idea.
Talia glanced at her alarm clock, and the digits spelling out 2:45 glowed a dim blue back at her. She turned away from it, in vain trying to find a comfortable position. Giving up when the clock read three in the morning, she sat up wrapping her arms and comforter around her knees. Pressing her face into the flannel duvet cover for a moment, she sighed. What was the point?
Unsurprisingly she was not the only one wide awake. When she slowly pushed open the bedroom door, Bruce met her gaze in the darkness of the space between them. He was more sitting than lying on the couch, and straightened when he saw her. Opening the door wider by way of silent invitation, Talia waited for him to tiptoe across the living room and closed it again behind them.
Moments later, with his chest pressed against her back, arm securely wrapped around her torso, Talia finally relaxed enough to sleep.
In his early years twenties, when he'd been busy traveling the world and training, Bruce could recall sleeping in everything from shabby hostels to cold drafty temples and worse. He never thought the worst place to sleep would be a plush couch in a luxury apartment building. Of course it had more to do with the alternative option denied to him, but still he felt ridiculous complaining, even to himself.
He wasn't going to pretend that he wasn't thrilled to be waking up in Talia's bed.
He had woken once again in the absolute earliest moments of dawn. Momentarily disoriented by a place he had never been to before, he quickly recentered himself, focusing on the steady even rhythm of Talia's heart against his palm. She liked to tease him that he just liked her breasts - okay, they were very nice breasts - but the simple truth was that Bruce liked the feel of her heartbeat, the reassurance that someone he loved was still living.
Content, he slept for another hour or so until she stirred, brow lined with displeasure, and Bruce found it once again amusing that she was not a morning person. Raising himself on one elbow, he leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. Without opening her eyes, she made a face.
"Half an hour?"
"As much as you want," he smiled and settled behind her again.
Less than twenty minutes later, his phone buzzed. Detangling himself from both the sheets and Talia, Bruce reached across to the nightstand on his right, picked up the device, and slid his finger across the screen.
There's a distinct lack of bacon in T's fridge so I made strawberry pancakes. That text was quickly followed by. Also there's also no maple syrup.
Bruce threw an arm over his eyes and groaned. Next to him, Talia was now almost completely awake, sitting up slightly. "Is something the matter?"
"No, it's Jason. He's complaining that you don't have maple syrup for the pancakes he made."
"Jason made pancakes?" Her face brightened, and not bothering to ask why Jason was texting him from a room away or how he knew that he was there in the first place, Talia said, "Tell him there is honey in the cabinet next to the refrigerator, and that we will be there in a few minutes."
Bruce relayed that message, and the response buzzed back a moment later.
Sure. Just please, for the love of all that's holy, be decent.