Yj Jason does not have the white streak in his hair
So far there has been no evidence of Pit-like behavior either.
My theory is he died (obvy) woke up in his grave (dug himself out) and was found comatose by Talia.
Talia, who was in Gotham to tell Bruce she was pregnant. Who wanted to leave the shadows because she didn’t want to raise a child amoung a cult of assassins. Talia, who resented Ra’s for partnering with The Light.
Then she finds Jason. Maybe she met him a few times when he was Robin. Maybe the kid cracked a few jokes that made her smile. Jason, the boy that died and took a peice of her beloved with him.
And Talia wonders how Bruce hasn’t noticed he’s alive. And then she thinks ‘Bruce will never be a father before Batman’
And now she’s scared for her child.
So she takes Jason back to Infinity Island. Demands Ra’s departs from the league, or lose Talia and his grandchild.
And Jason is still not Okay. But without the pressures from the league or the light, Jason had time to heal without the Pits. Talia cares for him and bares her child.
Damian isn’t raised within a cult of assassins. And Jason has a chance to grow with Damian - both are going to be incredibly skilled and trained ofc but shown much more compassion and love during their childhood and healing process.
Jason’s memories begin to return after fighting Dick as Nightwing. Jason does have anger, Jason is resentful but also wants to be better.
In the year after recognizing 'Grayson,’ Jason prioritizes his mental health. He trains, he’s a big brother to Damien, he meditates, all to cope with his trauma in a healthier way.
Jason isnt sure if he’s ready to return to Gotham, or Bruce. But for the first time in both his lives, Jason feels safe and given the proper resources to come into his own.
Damian stared at his inbox. There was an impossible email, addressed to him, in his inbox
Addressed to DamianinRobin’semail.
If this was a prank from one of his insipid teammates, Damian was going to eviscerate them.
Damian clicked on the email.
There were barely 3 lines of text, not even 20 words total.
And yet, 3 lines of text and a singular sign-off brought Damian’s world crashing down around him.
To: Robin encryption-B01
From: unknown
Damain, I’m alive.
Mother has found me.
Would our Father help me?
-Gemini
——
Chapter 2:
After fighting back and forth on if it was even worth it to reply, he settles on something small.
How?-is it really you?-
What happened?
Of course he would. What do you need?
There are few that even know of his existence.
Fewer still who would try it, try to claim to be his brother.
And there’s only one who ever called them Gemini.
“Danyal, we’re not Gemini, we were born in January. And anyways, the stars have no effect on our strength, nor our abilities as an opponent.”
“But we’re twins. So that makes us both Gemini. It can be like our secret name for each other.”
Gemini, the sign of twins. Histwin.
But then how??
A knock sounds on his door. Damian whips his head up.
“Damian, it’s time for patrol.” Grayson’s voice sounds through the wood.
Patrol. Of course.
He was patrolling with his father tonight. Not just his.
Danyal’s too.
He had to know.
“I will be down shortly.”
——
Damian entered the Batcave, stepping down from the last step with a slight sound.
It was enough that both Tim and Dick looked over in confusion.
Damian ignored them, staring resolutely at his father in the suit in front of the batcomputer.
Once he was within a few feet he steeled himself and cleared his throat, “Father.”
Bruce turned around, looking down to see Damian and then glancing around confused.
“Damian..? Why aren’t you dressed? I want to leave soon, there’s been trouble at the south side and I-“
“I have an issue I believe I need to share with you.” Damian interrupted.
Bruce shut his mouth with a click and Damian could hear as both Drake and Richard’s eyes bored into the back of his head.
Damiannever interrupted Bruce.
He clasped his hands behind his back in a rather desperate attempt to stop them shaking.
“Of course, what’s wrong?”
Damian paused, took a deep breath, tried to convince himself of the inevitability and then blurted out, “I have a brother.”
“Aww, Dami, you’re finally calling us your broth-“
“No.” Damian cut Richard off sharply, “From the league. I have a brother from the league.”
“..What?” Bruce’s voice came out thick, strangled by an emotion either anger or something stronger.
“He is- was- I- I believed he was dead.”
Bruce’s fists clench and he almost growls out, “Explain, Damian. Now.”
Damian allows himself to go numb to explain it without wavering, “We were twins. Grandfath- Ra’s had no use for both of us. When we began to advance in training individually and stagnate as a pair… We fought.” He paused and forced the words out, “To the death.”
“I won. And Danyal…”
“Didn’t,” Richard finishes for him.
Damian twitches forward but hesitates as his father nearly drops himself to one knee, supporting himself on the chair next to him.
“Danyal…” His father says despondently, “I had another son… named Danyal.. and she took him from me… Again.”
Richard is already next to him reaching out.
“Perhaps not.” Damian whispers.
Both of their heads snap to him. “What?”
“I have been… contacted..by someone claiming to be Danyal. He says Mother has found him and…” Damian grows unsure, “He asked if you would be able, be willing to help.”
“He’s alive? You’re sure it’s him?”
“He used a code I’ve never shared with anyone else and that no one else in the league knew.”
“How can we be sure? I mean, Bruce’s kid? Asking for help?”
“Shut it, Drake.” Damian snaps, Drake raises his hands in surrender.
Just as he opens his mouth to talk again, his phone gently chimes with an email notification.
It’s him.
Damian races to open it.
“He says he’ll be in Gotham tonight. And that he’llfindme.” Damian says as he looks up at his father. The panic, relief and desperation warring in his own eyes reflected back at him.
“Then let’s make it easy for him. Still up for patrol, Little D?” Richard sounds with a smirk.
—-
The night is quiet but tense between Batman and Robin.
They hop the rooftops in sync, stopping a small crime here or there. There’s been no sightings of anyone unusual, even with Nightwing and Red Robin scattered across the lower districts. Even Red Hood was called in about the situation, though they’re not sure he’s really looking as all they got in response was a scoff and a derisive “Another one? Really, B?”
Damian shoots his grapple after his father over one of the main roads, only to get yanked back. For a second, he fears he will plummet into the sea of cars below.
Then his back hits the gravel rooftop.
The shouts of his family are but white noise in his ears as he stares at the dark, hooded figure in front of him.
“Hey, brother. Long time no see and the first thing I catch you doing is jumping off a building? Not a great start.” The figure-his brother- says with a sharp smirk.
Damian stays awestruck for a second before scowling, “I had a grapple.”
“Robin!” His father barks from above them, swinging down from a water tower like a vengeful shadow.
Danyal makes a suspicious squeaking sound and vanishes from sight.
Both are immediately on guard as Batman puts himself between Damian and where the stranger was.
“Are you Meta? Who are you? Stop hiding!” Father says again, growling.
As Danyal’s shape fades into existence yet again, Damian tries to push past his own questions for the sake of them all.
“Father. It is alright, this is… Danyal. My.. twin.”
Here, his father falters. Apparently, so does Danyal if the cringe he gives is anything to go by.
“I don’t really go by- anyways, yes I’m Da..mi..an’s? twin. And I need your help. Talia’s found me and she’s trying to make me join back with the league.”
Damian tensed even more as the person in front of him stutters over his name, “Why don’t you know my name? What did you call me when we were younger? The code you signed on your email.”
Something in Danyal’s eyes went pained, “I called you Gemini, because that’s what we are, even though you always emphasized that we were Sagittarius and ‘besides the stars have no effect on..”
“On our strength or abilities as an opponent.” Damian finished for him, “It is you..” he said amazedly as he stepped closer, “But how? How are you here? How are you alive?”
“Simple answer?” Danyal pulled down the hood of his black sweatshirt to reveal a head of fluffy white hair, “I’m not.”
“And as for how I’m here? Well that’s a rather complicated answer, but it all starts with one thing. Ghosts.”
Their father made a strangled sound beside them and Damian took a stuttering step back, “You’re a ghost?” “You mean, you didn’t survive? … I killed you?”
Danyal’s eyes zoned out before flaring an angry green and then settling as he looked back up, his edges going fuzzy for a second, “Yeah, I mean.. I guess? Listen, I don’t really remember much from when I- we- were 6, and I don’t much care to. My ghostliness, I think it’s why Talia is trying to get me back. I can’t think of another reason.”
Damian scowled, “Perhaps it is because she is our mother and believed you dead and lost-“
“That woman is not my mother!” Danyal shouted, glow flaring, eyes flashing as he leaned in.
He took a breath and pulled back to collect himself, “Talia was not a mother to us. You have to know that by now at least, Damian.”
Damian looked away and scowled again.
“You barely knew her,”
“Because she sent me to my death!” Danyal flung his hands up.
Batman struggled to choose a side between the two children in front of him. He had loved Talia once too, but he had also seen the toxicity of their relationship.
“Danyal, Robin, we need to focus. If Talia came to recruit one of you, she might be coming for the other.”
“She is. She kept saying some nonsense about ‘making our family whole again’ now that she’s ‘in control.’ I came because I had a feeling she’s not gonna take my Hell-No as an appropriate answer with that goal.”
Batman froze, “The League of Assassins. She’s finally been able to regain control over all of them and become the Demon’s Head after Ra’s Al Ghul’s death.”
Damian Wayne was a survivor and anyone who claims otherwise is an ignorant fool.
Damian Wayne was born into the madness of his house, a child raised in a burning house thinks the whole world is on fire.
His actions were cruel, yes, but how can you blame a delicate lamb for acting like a wolf all dressed in red when he was raised by their pack. He simply did not know better.
Jason in the league. I really like the headcannon that Lady Shiva is Jason’s real mother and to go further his real father is Richard Dragon. Anyways I also drew a bit of Jason and Rose, plus some interaction with Jason and Damian while they’re in the league of shadows. Damian only really knows Jason with the mask on since he never really takes it off when he’s around the compound. The only person that he has the mask off around is Rose. Otherwise it’s pretty much always on.
I really love the pairing of Jason Todd and Rose Wilson. Where Rose would be flirty, silly, and spontaneous and Jason is just in awe of her as he soaks it in and lets it give him the confidence to be comfortable with the mask off sometimes.
I think Jason would start off being fascinated with her not knowing he’s already got the slightest bit of a crush developing when he sees her kick ass for the first time. He has a lot of fun following her into trouble and just trails her like a lost puppy.
Rose starts off just hanging around him for the kicks because there’s no one else her age for her to interact with and this mostly stoic mysterious boy seems to like following her around and reacts to her teasing. However eventually she’d come to find him really earnest and cute.
Here Rose is just a big trouble maker with no regards for consequences. While Jason is mentally a clean slate, who’s shy of his appearance and curious of everything.
I’m thinking of a headcanon that the Lazarus pit not only turns Jason’s eyes from a pretty ocean blue to a striking green but also gives him berserker rage that make his eyes turn a glowy unnatural green. I don’t want the pit to just lower your inhibitions or go “insane”, and a strength of will or character fixes you up, there would a notable difference in demeanor. I want it to make the person go completely bloodthirsty and unstoppable until the pit breaks enough of the hosts bones and the person’s body gives out to exhaustion.I don’t want Lazarus pit madness to be a cop out for why he was Batman’s villain and now gets to be a basic antihero. I want it to be a thing of absolute horror if Jason ever lets it take control. Like when it’s in charge there’s no mercy for himself or anything around him.
I’d imagine that when he’s first brought back to life he can’t control it. So Talia guides him through it only with the experience she’s seen from her father managing himself through it. Jason can’t differentiate friend from foe and breaks a lot of things, both himself and everything around him. Nothing could break him out of the pit’s influence over him when it’s in control other than being on the edge of dying. So no power of love or caging him to reach the “real” Jason, he’ll break his body to free himself and continue wrecking havoc until the pit is satisfied (which it never is).
real messy sketch of what I have in mind but yeah he gets kind of glowy and terrifying. The room is covered in his own blood
Talia Al'Ghul. I love this character or at least her potential. She could be so cool with being Damian’s mother, and possibly Jason’s adoptive mother? I like Jason’s white streak and figured that could be something that just comes with taking a dip in the Lazarus pit. That and the glowing green eyes.
Forthrowntotheair, who has a few questions about Talia. :) I’m grouping this under a few broad questions that should bleed into answering some of the others you mentioned.
Theprefaceof this, of course, is that all of my answers are based in the character of Talia al Ghul priorto Grant Morrison writing her. So the 30+ years of content and development we had beforehand. Grant largely ignored the fundamental pieces of her character that were recurring themes over the years, turned her into an infanticidal rapist and, generally speaking, made her as 2-dimensional as possible. His interpretation also gave Talia wildly inconsistent motives, so he is nota good measure for delving into her character.
What are her motives?
Talia has always been motivated by one thing: love. Love for her father, love for Bruce, love for Damian. Even love for the planet (though less so than Ra’s). Each step of her journey has love somewherein the why.The primary conflict for her, especially early on, was the tug-of-war between acting for good (because of her love for Bruce) or acting for evil (because of her love for her father).
The animated series stillgives one of the best summaries of Talia’s goals, too: she says that she believes in her father’s vision for the world, but not in his means (namely mass genocide).
Even in dealing with Damian (Morrison, again, notwithstanding), I think she meant everything for love (I’ll explain more in the ‘why did she raise him this way’ section).
When she throws Jason into the Lazarus Pit in Lost Days, her letter to him says that she has done this “for love.”
Despite her badassery, Talia is actually a very loving, empathic person (though sometimes she denies it). Either way, love is at the core of what she does. For her father, that love spills over into loyalty…most of the time.
Why the loyalty to Ra’s (Why has she never stood against him?)
Wellllll this is two parts. The first question: love and indoctrination. The second question: she has.
First we have to understand that Talia is pretty much a psychological trainwreck. In Batman Chronicles #8, we see one of the only stories that’s specificallyfrom Talia’s point-of-view. This and Lost Days are as close as we really get to such direct access to her thoughts.
Yeah. She’s messed up. We should note that Ra’s, despite his being just about Worst Dad Ever, does genuinely love Talia, in his own way.
Realize that Talia has been raised exclusively in Ra’s in environment (like Damian) and that the way she raised Damian was A LOT like she was raised. She’s in a place where he father is viewed as a deity, it’s this massive, powerful cult, and so there’s a level of indoctrination going on.
But that said…Even from the beginning, Talia was defying her father.
She thinks for herself and, growing through the years, she becomes increasingly agitated, worn down and plain ol’ fed up with her father. I would argue that in mostcases, she betrays him for Bruce (or Jason, or Damian) because she knows he’s wrong.
(Prior this panel, Batman asks why Talia is betraying Ra’s, and if it’s because she loves him:)
Doesn’t she seem to be lacking independence?
Here’s where I think there was a massive missed opportunity. Talia, after being shot for betraying her father in Tower of Babel, nopes out and goes off on her own. She’s fed up with both Bruce AND Ra’s.
Ra’s shows up and has Talia kidnapped to bring her back. She winds up rescuing Bruce one more time before leaving BOTH of them and heading off to Hong Kong, where she becomes a successful businesswoman in her own right.
At the time, Lex Luthor is about to run for president. He shows up at her door:
Talia becomes CEO of LexCorp. I wish so much that more happened in this era for her. She butts heads with Superman a few times (and even teamed up once and it was awesome), but it was so under-utilized. In the end, though, she runs the long con on Luthor, willfully bankrupts LexCorp and sells off the assets to Wayne Enterprises. Mostly just to spite him.
She hates Lexcorp mostly because she’s an environmentalist. And because Luthor.
So she’s this awesome independent businesswoman who manages to trick one of the smartest men in the DCU.
Unfortunately, her half-sister shows up during this era in Death and the Maidens. She kidnaps and tortures Talia by murdering her over and over and bringing her back with her Lazarus Pit. This goes on until Talia’s psyche shatters.
Nyssa brainwashes Talia, first with intent to kill Ra’s. Ra’s eventually kills Talia.
When Nyssa kills Ra’s, she and Talia both continue with Ra’s mission (with Nyssa as the Demon’s Head until her death). Then Talia, still brainwashed, becomes the Demon’s Head and leads into the modern area (as with Villains United which ran pretty close up to the New 52).
Why did she raise Damian in that environment?
To put it short: because it was how she was raised and because she knows it’s the only way for him to survive. When Talia was 18 (her first appearance) she was kidnapped by an enemy of her father. Her entire life has been violence, danger and bloodshed. Her father is a powerful, dangerous man in a dangerous world.
If Damian had not been trained, in her mind, he would not have survived. I think she believes it was the best way for him to be able to protect himself. Some indoctrination bleeds through (as her raising him would be post-brainwashing, though the timeline is a bit wonky).
![First appearance of Ra’s al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #232]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/9233cf5ab36f360aaa24dbdae248266c/8544d7ca77feaed1-66/s1280x1920/39f8da9b6b58790c8b2f1e095ed3417c688c6edc.jpg "First appearance of Ra’s al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #232]")
![First appearance of Ra’s al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #232]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/3e82188e10d130a6c27645709146face/8544d7ca77feaed1-94/s1280x1920/1b653e0095d7257adea234baf1bf880c667c5ce7.jpg "First appearance of Ra’s al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #232]")
![First appearance of Ra’s al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #232]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/cdfcebae1f5c2cdd7790abe6e2f65a96/8544d7ca77feaed1-a3/s1280x1920/c84c11d015568f29e962fb6335545bb8bd189145.jpg "First appearance of Ra’s al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #232]")
![First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/31d32ddb2609b080a21cc461d314a5d9/7ca5757cd215a5d9-86/s1280x1920/233b4f89c480d0919dfc379a46fc7d7583af644b.jpg "First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]")
![First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c1195466c6ced9df9b23e1c227cef5a9/7ca5757cd215a5d9-a3/s1280x1920/fc8caf6ba501905c24ba21883a04ff33ec73a375.jpg "First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]")
![First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/08cc3e427be765cf9e35c857d64f2186/7ca5757cd215a5d9-e3/s1280x1920/c766edf65d9c07a7ac353b9e00bf74c069b6637e.jpg "First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]")
![First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3202fc3e04aaad33ef2c7dfbbc7d72d/7ca5757cd215a5d9-50/s1280x1920/f4c66283a949cc46401de875de9ffa6a0337f910.jpg "First appearance of Talia al Ghul.[from Detective Comics (1937) #411]")
![First appearance of Lady Shiva.[from Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter (1975) #5]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ec2d30df92b50c0899d7162132706d0c/f5cb4176b41d0a51-6a/s1280x1920/9d5e5959d16d35bcd18af9bafc72ade07360c565.jpg "First appearance of Lady Shiva.[from Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter (1975) #5]")
![First appearance of Lady Shiva.[from Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter (1975) #5]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ae675831900bc74aa1aa6b078e8ba531/f5cb4176b41d0a51-6a/s1280x1920/bad7789978a1d646e694247fee00614aa5ecf89b.jpg "First appearance of Lady Shiva.[from Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter (1975) #5]")
![Batman vs. Talia al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #616]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/05d267eb91aae70e0e4cf9d4d0f3fd2e/tumblr_pkcw1wgRT61rvm5qqo1_1280.jpg "Batman vs. Talia al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #616]")
![Batman vs. Talia al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #616]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6b54d83b528426b9b36e228813e7dbd3/tumblr_pkcw1wgRT61rvm5qqo2_1280.jpg "Batman vs. Talia al Ghul.[from Batman (1940) #616]")
