Talia Al Ghul slowly opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times to readjust to the brightness. When her vision had cleared, the first thing she noticed was that she was sore almost everywhere, though slightly less than before.
The events of the fight were fresh and recent in her memory, and she cursed herself as she shuddered remembering the rather one-sided fight against the Batman of this world.
Unconsciously Talia brought a hand to her stomach where there were cool bandages covering her chest. Her ribs still hurt but the pain was easier to handle than when she was fighting this evil Batman.
She could never forget Batman's cold-blooded killing of those poor children.
The daughter of the Demon Head opened her eyes wide when she also remembered Nightwing saving her life. As soon as she snapped back into her seat on the couch she immediately decided it was a bad idea when the dizziness hit her hard and she struggled not to fall with her face to the floor.
"Easy, Talia." grunted Slade's voice from behind her.
Talia turned slowly, not wanting the dizziness to increase, and stared into the mercenary's one eye that was watching her carefully.
Deathstroke tilted his head to the side when the woman initially did not speak. "Do you need anything?"
"Where's Richard?" she asked, wincing slightly when she opened her mouth.
Her jaw still hurt like hell.
Slade did not comment that she had just called Dick "Richard" instead of "Grayson" but merely smiled knowingly and pointed with a nod to his right.
Talia followed his direction and she found herself staring directly at the unconscious figure of Dick Grayson on another sofa. Her eyes wandered over his bare torso, noting many old scars, the several clearly recent bruises and more bandages covering his chest and left shoulder.
Eh, his chest is really well done...
"You know, staring at his bare chest certainly won't wake him up." Slade teased her with a smirk.
Talia rolled her eyes, pretending not to be caught in the act, but she decided to save oxygen instead of scolding him for his stupidity. "How is he?" she asked instead, not even knowing why she just asked that question.
Probably because the acrobat had saved her life.
Slade gave a mysterious smirk before answering her. "He's well enough. A couple of days and he'll be brand new again, don't worry."
"I'm not worried!" scoffed Talia immediately, disgusted just at the idea of worrying about a fool like Grayson.
However...
"I'm just asking because now his injuries will slow us down." she asserted with a haughty snort.
The smirk quickly disappeared from Slade's face, which became expressionless as his gray eye flashed with anger. "I know you're not used to gratitude but that boy saved your life! If it wasn't for him you would now be fodder for that monster! Show at least a modicum of decency and gratitude toward him!" he spat venomously.
Talia growled annoyed and embarrassed. "I didn't ask him to save my life! Surely he didn't have to act like an idiot hero!"
"The only idiot here is you for antagonizing a ruthless, no-moral Batman when we specifically told you not to and as a result you were almost killed!"
Talia growled again but could not find the words to retort against the older man. "Where the hell were you instead? It seems to me that you took your time!"
Slade's eye gleamed with victory at the change of subject, and Talia was really tempted to shoot him in that eye as well to finish Adeline Kane's job. "I went to stock up on medical equipment since I knew there would be a need for it. And indeed there was."
"What if Nightwing couldn't keep Batman at bay?" asked Ra's Al Ghul's daughter with a snarl.
Deathstroke impassively raised an eyebrow. "Personally it seemed to me that it was this Batman who couldn't keep our Nightwing at bay." he pointed out with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"You didn't doubt him?" asked Talia, despite herself curious about Wilson's trust in Grayson.
"Nope." he clicked his tongue. "Not for a moment. And that's because I know that boy's true worth and you've had a little taste of his full capabilities."
Talia remained silent mulling over her ally's words and remembering clearly how brutal the younger man had been.
Before she could say anything their conversation was interrupted by sleepy mutterings from the 21-year-old. "Damn, guys. You two are like cat and dog." Dick joked, weakly opening his eyes.
"Did you eavesdrop on our conversation?" asked Talia resentfully, secretly relieved that the last Flying Grayson had woken up.
Not that she was worried of course.
"Of course not. I just heard your voices rise and fall in pitch but could not fully register your words." confessed Richard as he stood up amid several gasps and leaned back on the back of the sofa for a more comfortable position. He stared at them, his blue eyes twinkling slightly. "Were you confessing your love for each other?" he sneered.
"As if I would date a man who is from the 1700s!" huffed Talia disgustedly, who crossed her arms.
Slade stared at her impassively. "Fuck you." then turned to his former student, a strange emotion crossing his one eye before it disappeared just as quickly. "And then it's funny that of all people it was you who asked me this specific question."
"What the heck do you mean?" scowled Dick confusedly.
"Besides, you're Talia's husband." declared the older man with a teasing smirk as he blatantly ignored the question.
Dick obviously noticed but decided to gloss over it and just stared at him grimly, then burst out laughing when Talia slapped Slade on the back of the head. "You deserved it old man!" he said in laughter.
Talia was also reflecting the same enjoyment of the first Robin although she was more restrained about it.
The mercenary let out a deep sigh. "Like husband like wife." he muttered with a grin, ignoring two deadly glances. "I'm going out now and buy some food." he stated casually as he took Dick's wallet without his consent. "I'll see you in a while. I don't want to find you in dirty and compromising positions when I return. No white splash please."
"SLADE!" cried shocked and embarrassed Dick with flushed cheeks.
Talia's reaction, on the other hand, was different: she directly threw a knife that stuck in the wooden door closed just in time by the super soldier.
Dick and Talia heard Slade Wilson's laughter outside, and it grew fainter and fainter as he moved away.
"I swear, one day I'm going to kill that asshole." muttered the former Robin as his cheeks returned to their normal color.
"We'll kill him together." agreed Talia with a grunt, staring fiercely at the door as if she were actually looking at Deathstroke.
"Are you okay?"
The question diverted Talia's attention away from the door, and she focused her green eyes on the younger man's figure. "Of course I'm all right. I should be the one to ask the question." she said in a tone of voice that suggested the he had just said something idiotic.
A slow smile formed on the lips of the acrobat, who dramatically brought a hand to his heart. "I knew you cared about me!"
"Tsk! As if!" scoffed the daughter of the Demon's Head bitterly. "It's just a form of courtesy and kindness on my part since you saved my life."
"I had to." Dick nodded seriously but the glint in his blue eyes betrayed him. "I couldn't let him kill my wife."
Talia had a nervous twitch in her left eye but restrained herself from throwing a knife at Grayson.
After all, it was not very honorable to kill an injured person unable to defend themselves.
"You're not going to get involved in this too!" exasperated Talia emitted a weary sigh.
"I don't like the situation as much as you do but that doesn't mean I can't have fun!" chuckled Dick before falling into a coughing fit.
Talia frowned worriedly. "Are you okay?" she asked even before she formulated the words in her mind and she opened her eyes wide.
The question had come out without her consent!
What the hell?
Nightwing smiled but took pity on her and did not point it out aloud, much to the woman's delight. "I'm fine." he brushed off her question.
After a few seconds of silence Talia hesitated before sitting down on the couch next to Dick. Grayson raised a surprised eyebrow but said nothing, leaving her time to think about what to say.
"I... wanted to convey my gratitude for saving my life." she thanked him stiffly, her cheeks turning slightly red without her permission.
Dick bit his tongue to keep it from being noticed, and in the process found himself thinking about how cute Talia looked right now.
Immediately he froze shocked on the spot, disbelieving his own thoughts.
Where the hell had his thoughts come from?
How long had he started thinking that Talia was cute?
Eventually Dick ignored his mind, deciding that his brain was only playing tricks on him because of his injuries (he ignored the part that he had no concussion or other head injuries), and just smiled at her.
"You don't have to thank me you know. I couldn't let Br-Batman kill you."
Talia noticed his brief mistake but did not mention it, for which he was grateful. "Why? I mean, you and I are not exactly on the friendliest terms." she asked genuinely confused.
"True but you are still a human being and your life is just as important as mine." Dick explained and Talia's empty green eyes showed her confusion and bewilderment.
Dick involuntarily froze at that look.
The woman's eyes reminded him of the eyes of another person.
Damian Wayne, his little brother/son and his Robin.
The look so empty and so lost in Talia's eyes was completely the same as Damian's when Dick, during the time that lasted more than a year while he was Batman while Bruce was lost in time and believed dead, explained to him the concept of love, good actions and happiness.
At that time Dick quickly realized that Damian was not at all used to a comfortable, warm environment like Wayne Manor, and the acrobat had cursed in a hundred different languages that Damian grew up in a place as violent and completely unsuitable for children as the League of Assassins.
But now, in this moment, Dick realized something else he had never realized before.
Talia had also grown up since childhood in a place as ruthless as the League of Assassins and she, just like Damian, had learned nothing but death, violence and killing without remorse.
It was not her fault that she had been raised without a childhood (like Damian for that matter) and that every life had a different value to her.
This was a completely baffling and shocking realization that had just caught him off guard.
And now that Dick thought about it more deeply, he noticed that Talia's behavior was pretty much the same as Damian's in his early days except to a greater extent but this, he quickly realized, was normal since Talia had spent many more years in the League of Assassins than Damian and she had been much more affected, abused and broken.
Dick returned to the present when Talia snapped her fingers in front of his face and jerked, reflexively taking her hand but just before he threw the woman across the room he stopped just in time to realize who that hand belonged to.
"Sorry." apologized Dick embarrassedly, letting go of her hand.
Instead of the fierce or disgusted look he imagined, Talia looked at him slightly impressed. "You have good reflexes."
"I would call it more Bat paranoia."
Talia giggled at his comment and they both froze at the sound of her laughter. Slowly a huge smile made its way along Dick's face and he smiled broadly. "Did you just-"
"No!"
"Uh uh." said Dick not at all convinced, continuing to smile with a big grin plastered on his face.
Talia crossed her arms and looked at him sternly. "You seemed to be lost in thought."
The Bludhaven vigilante smiled at the change of subject but decided not to bring it up. "I was." he admitted quietly without elaborating, though, and Talia did not push him further.
"As I was saying, I would never let that monster kill you and know that I don't regret it at all. I would give my life for yours just as I would give my life for Slade." declared Dick in a serious and firm voice, no hint of doubt or uncertainty in his voice.
She scrutinized his face, investigating the sincerity of his words, and Talia found herself surprised when she took a few seconds to believe him without ever having doubted in the first place.
"Then you are stupid." declared Talia bluntly, and Dick exasperatedly rolled his blue eyes. "But" Talia hesitated briefly before continuing. "that gives you much honor, Richard."
The last Flying Grayson opened his eyes wide in surprise. "Did you just call me Richard instead of Grayson?"
Talia looked up but she had a small smile on her face: small but it was there and Dick, for a reason unknown to him, treasured it in his mind. "I dare say you have earned my respect. You are not such a fool as I thought."
"Careful Talia, too many compliments will ruin your reputation as a ruthless assassin." Dick joked.
Talia huffed but added nothing more, instead she glanced blankly at a random spot.
Dick immediately recognized her gaze: it was the same haunted look he had when he saw tragedies happening without being able to do anything to prevent them.
Right away the acrobat understood what the woman was thinking.
"It's not your fault those children died." he reassured her gently, hoping she would not explode in his face.
Surprisingly she did not and merely frowned. "I am aware of that. However..." she finally sighed. "They were smaller than Damian."
Dick's heart broke a little at her words. Unfortunately, he himself knew what she was feeling at that moment and he easily understood her: he had seen many such episodes as both Robin and Nightwing.
"I'm sorry." was all he could say to her, and Talia simply nodded.
After all, as Dick watched and silently examined her, perhaps there was a chance that this interdimensional trip would help Talia try to be a better mother to Damian.
God knows Damian needed it.
They fell into a pleasant silence, both happy with the mutual intesta they had just established.
Dick solemnly promised himself that he would be patient and try to change Talia for the better just as he was able to do with Damian.
Mother and son were not so different after all, and Dick would never, ever give up on Talia.
Just as he never gave up on Damian.
There was a chance of redemption for Talia and Dick would do everything in his power to make her a better person and mother.
This had just become his mission.
...
"Talia-"
"I would rather die than call you by your unpleasant nickname, Richard."
"Well, I had to try."
