(FIC) Legacies (Helena Kyle, Damian Al Ghul, PG)
A little weird batfamily ficlet to celebrate stalinglim's birthday! I couldn't quite write you batfamily, but I tried :) I love the tales you spin for them, I hope you have a great one!
Future AU ahoy. Daddy dearest is dead, everyone else is alive. ...I do a little 'There is no other Batman than Bruce' dance here... *does a jig*
Title: Legacies
Fandom: DCU
Characters: Helena Kyle (Catwoman III), Damian Al Ghul (Azrael II)
Rating: PG
Word count: 700+
Summary: Gotham has failed Azrael again.
“Azrael, stop.”
The man in the armor turns around slowly, taking a deep breath before letting his target get away from him. Below, in the streets, the man he has called judgment upon walks away. The file is still displaying on the mask’s lenses, the repeat offenses -a rapist, Azrael detests rapists- blinking on the screen. He has been acquitted, the justice system has failed.
It has failed him again. If only it worked better, if the people of Gotham were less corrupt, less jaded… the man who killed his father two years ago would have met his destiny long before he broke -again- the man who had taught Azrael everything he knew. By all rights, Joker should have died years before Azrael himself was born.
“Sister,” he acknowledges her. “Strange, meeting you tonight.”
“Strange? I have been following you all week, Az, and you haven’t noticed. Don’t you think that tells me all I need to know about how you’re not alright?” She uncoils her whip, walking closer to him. “I know you’re angry. Come home with me.”
“I can’t, Catwoman. Gotham needs me. She has no one else, now.”
She hums, cracking her whip against the rooftop and cocking her hips. She’s the living image of her mother. “What am I, chopped liver? Come on, big brother. You know he will wake up. A coma won’t beat Red Robin. He’s stronger than that.”
“He might never recover entirely, Helena. He might never fly again. That bastard…” Azrael voice’s cracks, and he goes silent.
“Don’t you think I know? I’m as familiar with the story as you are, and I hate him too. But he’s gone now, Damian. Joker’s dead but Jason isn’t, and he needs us. He’ll need us when he wakes up.”
Azrael scowls, his jaw set. Jason Todd hasn’t just been his brother, he has taught him all the things Bruce didn’t have a chance to. Jason was there for Damian when they lost their father. Joker took too much from his family, and Azrael knows that the responsibility falls as much in the madman as in Gotham’s people, who don’t care enough to stop the pain that is the pillar of the Wayne legacy. Gotham failed Bruce, failed Jason. She has failed them all.
“Robin wants you back home ASAP, Spoiler and Batwoman are going to cover patrol tonight. Please, Damian.”
“Robin knows I have to do this,” he growls.
“No, Robin knows you want to do this, but he knows you’ll regret it. I will knock you out if I have to, big brother. Don’t think I can’t.”
Her smile underneath the black cowl is taunting him, and Azrael grits his teeth. Helena has been driving him crazy all his life, another kid he had to share his father’s love with. His heart turns again, wishing his father was alive and could tell him Jason will be okay, that he had been alive and caught Jason’s fall. Batman would have been fast enough to catch him. Batman would have saved him where Azrael couldn’t.
“I wish dad was alive,” he relents, taking a step towards his adopted sister. “He wouldn’t have let this happen.”
She nods, her smile disappearing. “He wouldn’t blame you, Az. Don’t beat yourself up.” She taps her earpiece, offering her gloved hand to him. Azrael takes the Kevlar clad hand in his armored one, stepping towards the edge of the building and taking out his grapple gun. “Oracle, this is Catwoman. I got Azrael, we’re heading to the Cave.”
“Good work, Kitty. I got good news for you kids,” Oracle’s electronic voice rings in their ears. “Jason is waking up, and he wants to know ‘Where the hell are those brats’.”
“Tell him we’re off saving the world, as usual.” Catwoman says, smiling at Azrael. Damian swallows loudly, suddenly exhausted. “One dumb brother at the time,” she finishes off cheekily.
Azrael pulls her to him and shoots his grapple, swinging them off the rooftop. “We’ll be home in twenty, Oracle. Thank you,” he says, closing the commlink. Gotham unfurls below them, their figures lost in the shadows as they swing from one building to the next. Up in the air, it’s hard to be angry at his city. She’s broken, full of secrets and pain, hidden strengths and secret dreams, but Damian knows she loves them. She reminds him of his father.
“I can fly by myself, Az! Let me go!” Catwoman’s dark curly hair flies behind them as she picks her own grapple gun out of her belt.
Azrael hugs the teenage crime fighter tighter to him. Let me go, she says. Damian smiles for the first time in a week. “Not a chance.”
Future AU ahoy. Daddy dearest is dead, everyone else is alive. ...I do a little 'There is no other Batman than Bruce' dance here... *does a jig*
Title: Legacies
Fandom: DCU
Characters: Helena Kyle (Catwoman III), Damian Al Ghul (Azrael II)
Rating: PG
Word count: 700+
Summary: Gotham has failed Azrael again.
“Azrael, stop.”
The man in the armor turns around slowly, taking a deep breath before letting his target get away from him. Below, in the streets, the man he has called judgment upon walks away. The file is still displaying on the mask’s lenses, the repeat offenses -a rapist, Azrael detests rapists- blinking on the screen. He has been acquitted, the justice system has failed.
It has failed him again. If only it worked better, if the people of Gotham were less corrupt, less jaded… the man who killed his father two years ago would have met his destiny long before he broke -again- the man who had taught Azrael everything he knew. By all rights, Joker should have died years before Azrael himself was born.
“Sister,” he acknowledges her. “Strange, meeting you tonight.”
“Strange? I have been following you all week, Az, and you haven’t noticed. Don’t you think that tells me all I need to know about how you’re not alright?” She uncoils her whip, walking closer to him. “I know you’re angry. Come home with me.”
“I can’t, Catwoman. Gotham needs me. She has no one else, now.”
She hums, cracking her whip against the rooftop and cocking her hips. She’s the living image of her mother. “What am I, chopped liver? Come on, big brother. You know he will wake up. A coma won’t beat Red Robin. He’s stronger than that.”
“He might never recover entirely, Helena. He might never fly again. That bastard…” Azrael voice’s cracks, and he goes silent.
“Don’t you think I know? I’m as familiar with the story as you are, and I hate him too. But he’s gone now, Damian. Joker’s dead but Jason isn’t, and he needs us. He’ll need us when he wakes up.”
Azrael scowls, his jaw set. Jason Todd hasn’t just been his brother, he has taught him all the things Bruce didn’t have a chance to. Jason was there for Damian when they lost their father. Joker took too much from his family, and Azrael knows that the responsibility falls as much in the madman as in Gotham’s people, who don’t care enough to stop the pain that is the pillar of the Wayne legacy. Gotham failed Bruce, failed Jason. She has failed them all.
“Robin wants you back home ASAP, Spoiler and Batwoman are going to cover patrol tonight. Please, Damian.”
“Robin knows I have to do this,” he growls.
“No, Robin knows you want to do this, but he knows you’ll regret it. I will knock you out if I have to, big brother. Don’t think I can’t.”
Her smile underneath the black cowl is taunting him, and Azrael grits his teeth. Helena has been driving him crazy all his life, another kid he had to share his father’s love with. His heart turns again, wishing his father was alive and could tell him Jason will be okay, that he had been alive and caught Jason’s fall. Batman would have been fast enough to catch him. Batman would have saved him where Azrael couldn’t.
“I wish dad was alive,” he relents, taking a step towards his adopted sister. “He wouldn’t have let this happen.”
She nods, her smile disappearing. “He wouldn’t blame you, Az. Don’t beat yourself up.” She taps her earpiece, offering her gloved hand to him. Azrael takes the Kevlar clad hand in his armored one, stepping towards the edge of the building and taking out his grapple gun. “Oracle, this is Catwoman. I got Azrael, we’re heading to the Cave.”
“Good work, Kitty. I got good news for you kids,” Oracle’s electronic voice rings in their ears. “Jason is waking up, and he wants to know ‘Where the hell are those brats’.”
“Tell him we’re off saving the world, as usual.” Catwoman says, smiling at Azrael. Damian swallows loudly, suddenly exhausted. “One dumb brother at the time,” she finishes off cheekily.
Azrael pulls her to him and shoots his grapple, swinging them off the rooftop. “We’ll be home in twenty, Oracle. Thank you,” he says, closing the commlink. Gotham unfurls below them, their figures lost in the shadows as they swing from one building to the next. Up in the air, it’s hard to be angry at his city. She’s broken, full of secrets and pain, hidden strengths and secret dreams, but Damian knows she loves them. She reminds him of his father.
“I can fly by myself, Az! Let me go!” Catwoman’s dark curly hair flies behind them as she picks her own grapple gun out of her belt.
Azrael hugs the teenage crime fighter tighter to him. Let me go, she says. Damian smiles for the first time in a week. “Not a chance.”